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How do you say this and that?

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“Between the two” OR “among the two”? What is the best sounding and most probably the right phrase to use between the two or should I say, among the two? Is there a tool that can help me with this?

Francesco Benetti from Italy had the same problem so he created Phras.in, a website that helps you decide on what phrase to use.

Simply enter two phrases that’s making your day miserable and watch the site show you the number of results instantly. Hit the contextualize button and see a side-by-side comparison of the two phrases based on its results. It’s a cool tool but does not necessarily mean that it’s a neat one. It’s still best to have a thesaurus and a dictionary close to you because the assumption that having higher number of results indicate common use and probably the right phrase does not really sound right. Phras.in, however, is a fast tool that’s nice to have around especially when you’re in search of the right phrase.

So let me go back, “between the two” or “among the two”? Let the results speak for itself.

The Evolution of Email

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Ever wondered how long email has been around and how old the @ sign is? Our friends over at the Blog Herald sat down together with the crew of Infographiclabs and analysed the evolution of email. The result was another awesome infographic and looks at the history of email, how email functions, the spread of spam and some daily numbers for email.

I bet you all knew that Brazil the main spam provider is, followed by the USA, and not China?

In the teaser image below, a short timeline of the history of email. View the complete infographic over at The Blog Herald.

Yahoo Publishes Style Guide For Web Writing

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Writing for the web is not an excuse for poor writing. This has always been a problem since there are a lot of bloggers and web site writers who have great ideas and excellent know how, but are sorely lacking in writing skills.

On the other hand, there are some good writers – in the traditional sense – who have encountered problems when writing for blogs and other web sites. Tech terms may prove to be difficult; formatting is another issue; and the list goes on and on.

Unlike academic writing, there really are no clear cut rules about writing for the web. Well, there are many rules – it’s just that we haven’t all agreed on one particular way of writing. That is, until Yahoo published its own Style Guide.

I am not that big of a Yahoo fan, but I am quite impressed that they took the initiative to create this Style Guide. It contains a huge amount of information covering the many aspects of writing for the Internet. From word lists (e.g., it’s 3D and not 3-D) to formatting tips to tips on how to write strong headlines – the Style Guide has a lot to offer.

Now I haven’t had the time to look at the Style Guide intently, but it does look promising. Access Yahoo’s Style Guide, the online version, and see for yourself. If you want the hard copy, you have to wait for it to be released on the 6th of July. I am happy to take a look at the online version first.

Let us know what you think about it.

Significantly Speed Up Your WordPress Blog in 9 Easy Steps

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Improve WordPress SpeedYour blog’s loading speed affects more than just user experience but is now a factor used by google to determine an overall ranking for your site. The reasoning is clear: according to Google and other search engines’ goals, which is to provide the most relevant search results from sites that offer the best user experience. Site speed is definitely something we cannot not ignore and should take advantage of every opportunity to improve.

Here are 9 effective techniques and tips that can be easily implemented to make your blog lightning fast.

1. Disable Unused Plugins

This is one of the easiest things we can do to reduce load times. I know many of us get carried away trying out the thousands of cool plugins available but we need to bear in mind the fact that they use system resources. Assess whether you need the plugins that you have installed and determine if they necessarily serve a useful purpose. Also, deactivated plugins that are not deleted can possibly create loopholes and back doors that hackers can exploit so delete them and maintain security for your blog. [Read more…] about Significantly Speed Up Your WordPress Blog in 9 Easy Steps

Five WordPress Plugins for Integrating Facebook to your Blog

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Facebook recently made some waves into the social media scene when it launched the new Facebook social plugins – a set of tools that would enhance your reader experience on your blogs and websites. But prior to this, if you want to integrate various Facebook functionality to your WordPress blogs, you can already do that through various Facebook-relate WordPress plugins.

Here we give you five Facebook WordPress Plugins that will help you integrate some Facebook functionality to your WordPress blogs.

1. Facebok Social Widgets

This WordPress plugin allows your users to have an engaging social experiences within your blog. It is hosted by Facebook so your blog readers can still participate in your blog discussion even if they haven’t signed up for your site.  This plugin allows you to add the following social plugins to your blogs – like button, activity feed, recommendations, like box, facepile and live stream. (Download link) [Read more…] about Five WordPress Plugins for Integrating Facebook to your Blog

Survey Says: Smartphones are Being Used for Travel

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Today’s smartphone will not be called as such if  it isn’t smart enough to perform day-to-day functions that affects our lives. One proof? – the plethora of mobile applications available on various platforms. These mobile apps vary from the most useful to the most absurd ones. One  app which smartphones are supposed to come in handy is for travel purposes.

There are various travel-related apps available on various smartphone platforms. But are these applications being maximized by users? Compete’s analysis of available data shows that indeed, smartphones are being used for travel purposes. The bad news is, the usage is not significant enough, leaving more room for, growth perhaps?

Compete’s study utilized behavioraly targeted surveys that asked smartphone users whether they use their smartphones for travel research and booking.  Surprisingly, 69% of the respondents to Compete’s survey said that they do not use their smartphone’s for travel purposes and 78% said they don’t use smartphones for travel booking as well.

Quite interestingly, the survey also revealed that respondents see their smartphone’s usage more for post-travel bookings. These pertain to following up room availability, check-in time and other travel-related activities that you need to do.

The survey thus revealed that smartphones are not replacement tool but rather additional tools that aid users in their travel-related needs. And smartphone’s usage to follow-up bookings and other travel-related purposes are still growing despite the relatively low usage.

The fact is smartphones can be used in various ways that we can possibly imagine. And one of these is for travel bookings and other related information.

via Compete