Sunday 21 December 2014

Use your hosted AdSense account to show ads on your own site or blogspot blogger

Are you wanting to use your AdSense account for a Blogger blog via an already created AdSense Youtube Account? Look no further as I will walk you through how to do this.

I too had this issue, where my Adsense account showed the blog URL as 'Live' but my aAds were showing blank.


Background 

This issue is for those who have originally created an AdSense account via YouTube. Most create it via YouTube as it gets approved straight away. If you originally created the Adsense account via Blogger you shouldn't have this restriction and be able to add other blogs and YouTube accounts. 

When you create an AdSense account via YouTube you create what is called an 'Hosted account'. Even though blogger is a Google product, if you try to add your blog to the Hosted AdSense account it will not show the Ads.


Solution 

The only way to have you Ads displayed on a blog is by applying for a an account upgrade  on your YouTube approved account.

To request an account upgrade you need a top level domain (i.e. www.yourblog.com, you can't submit a .blogspot or other subdomain URL for an upgrade request). Also, you can't display ads on blogspot without an upgrade.

The only other solution, bar an account upgrade, is to close your AdSense account and create a new one via the blog then add your YouTube to this account. The main risk of doing this is you don't know when or even if you will you will be approved.

Official instructions for an account upgrade can be found here:

https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/2534771?hl=en&ref_topic=2811251&rd=1


  • It can take up to a month to have a host account upgrade request reviewed. Just make sure you've implemented the code on the blog, just wait for them to review it. 
  • The notice in your account will stay there until they've completed the review and send you an email.

If your upgrade request is approved for the domain you submitted, then you can display AdSense on any URL you own that meets the guidelines and policies.

I will be doing a step-by-step guide on how to have your AdSense account approved using a GoDaddy domain, so watch this space.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

OnePlus One Invite Giveaway

As most of the traffic to my blog is via YouTube I'm guessing you have come across this post from there. 
Needless to say, I am a big fan of the OnePlus One. It originally started life as a spare phone but after extensive use and the fact that £ for £ this is the best value for money mobile phone out there, I have completely fallen in love with it.

Win Win Win!!!

I have 4 invites to give away absolutely free (maybe a couple more). I will open this for the next 4 days and then on the 4th day randomly pick the winners. 

All you have to do is the following 3 easy steps:

  1. Subscribe to my YouTube channel techsavvystuff
  2. Like the video on YouTube and post your name as a comment
  3. Add a comment to this post on my blog with you name


Winners will be announced on the 30th November 2014.

Granted my aim is to get more traffic onto my YouTube channel and blog site. Depending on interest, topics suggestions and subscribers I get I can use it as a push for me to dedicate more time and publish more helpful and useful info for you guys our there.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Activator

Best and easiest activator I have found. 

How to install: 

1. Download and extract the zip file below. 
2. Right-click and run as administrator to launch application (may need to hold shift key)
3. Click on install 

















Download Activator

Monday 18 August 2014

Finally got my OnePlus One.. Unboxing!

After a much anticipated wait I finally received my invite from OnePlus One.

For those of you that don't know, OnePlus is less than a year old, but it has already slapped a great big wet fish across the faces of major mobile phone manufacturers. Its first phone, the OnePlus One, has many of the same specs as their £500+ phones, but costs just £229.

The One is slightly different, however, as it didn’t go the network route, preferring instead to oversee the entire retail aspect itself – sort of like how Google retails its Nexus devices in Google Play. The phone itself comes unlocked, meaning the consumer is free to shop around for the best tariff in the country. Also, because doing things this way allows OnePlus to keep additional, variable costs (marketing, advertising, distribution) well below those undertaken by Samsung and HTC, it can pass on the savings to the consumer.


Not heard of OnePlus or its One phone? As the nerd phone sensation of the year, it's a sign you may have healthy social skills and a non-dysfunctional relationship with the Internet. Well done you. But I think it's really about time you two got acquainted.

Availability

Every heard of 'rare as hens teeth', well this most defiantly applies here...

This is probably one of the main things that consumers are currently getting annoyed with. As the marketing is done via OnePlus themselves it means you cant just choose to buy one but have to be selected by them via an invite. Only then can you receive the phone. 

If you register on the website you will be made aware of competitions or invite giveaways. This is normally something to like 'smash the past'  where you break your current phone or promote the brand via social media. Register and keep an eye out. 

I received the invite last week and as is to be expected, the invite is only open for 24hrs. As such I didn't waste time and snapped up the offer. I selected the Sandstone 64GB version.

I will be posting the review and specs soon so watch this space.

See below for my unboxing;




Monday 4 August 2014

What is NVRAM / PRAM and how to reset on Mac Macbook Mavericks

NVRAM and PRAM

Learn about your Mac's PRAM or NVRAM, and when and how you might want to reset it.

Your Mac stores certain settings in a special memory area even if it is turned off.  On Intel-based Macs, this is stored in memory known as NVRAM; on PowerPC-based Macs, this is stored in memory known as PRAM.

Information stored in NVRAM / PRAM includes:


  • Speaker volume
  • Screen resolution
  • Startup disk selection
  • Recent kernel panic information, if any
  • If you experience issues related to these functions, you may need to reset the NVRAM or PRAM. For example, if your Mac starts up from a startup disk other than the one you've specified in Startup Disk preferences, or if a "question mark" icon appears briefly when your Mac starts up, resetting NVRAM / PRAM may help.


Resetting NVRAM / PRAM


  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
  3. Turn on the computer.
  4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
  5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
  6. Release the keys.
After resetting NVRAM or PRAM, you may need to reconfigure your settings for speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, and time zone information. If issues persist, your Mac's logic board battery (not a portable Mac's rechargeable battery) may need to be replaced. The logic board battery helps retain NVRAM/PRAM settings when your computer is shut down. You can take your Mac to a Mac Genius or Apple Authorized Service Provider to replace the battery on the logic board.

Resetting NVRAM in Open Firmware

If your computer is Open Firmware-based and you are unable to reset NVRAM as described above, you may alternatively reset the NVRAM and Open Firmware settings using the steps in the Solution section of Message “To continue booting, type 'mac-boot' and press return”.

In some cases, an Open Firmware-based computer may not respond to the keyboard commands noted above, and may not allow starting up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command, Option, O, and F keys during startup.  If you are unable to get to an Open Firmware prompt (and your Mac supports doing so), try holding the power button held down continuously during start up.


Resetting PMU on PowerBook or iBook computers

In some troubleshooting situations, if resetting PRAM does not resolve an issue, resetting the PMU may be the next appropriate step. For information on when this is appropriate and for instructions on how to reset the PMU in your PowerBook computer, see Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU).

Third-party displays

If you have screen resolution issues with a third-party display (monitor), and resetting the NVRAM/PRAM does not help, try using the display's built-in menu system if it has one. For details, see the manual that came with your monitor.  There may be buttons on the front of the display to configure the internal settings and screen geometry. The display may include an "automatic" adjustment mode too.

Contents of PRAM on earlier Macs

Some earlier Macs store these settings in PRAM:

Status of AppleTalk
Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
Alarm clock setting
Application font
Serial printer location
Autokey rate
Autokey delay
Speaker volume
Attention (beep) sound
Double-click time
Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
Startup disk
Menu blink count
Monitor depth
32-bit addressing
Virtual memory
RAM disk
Disk cache