And in some cases, a bad fonts choice can distort your message and maybe even scare customers away.  Consider this font fail.

YIKES!  Needless to say, this store owner made a bad font choice.  Imagine the customers that took a quick glimpse at “Megaflicks”  and walked away before taking a closer look.  In this case, a cleaner font would clear-up the message and help get more customers.  Well, at least a better font would not scare people away!

The lure of “cutesy” fonts on a website falls in the same category as Flash intros and over-the-top animation.  While these design elements may seem like a good idea in theory, they distract from your website and dilute your message.

On the Web content is king.  And while a nice looking website is like catchy art on a book cover (in that it may get your attention), it’s the words on the pages that keeps you coming back for more.  The same is true for your website.

Consider the following study…
Two groups of people were given a set of instructions. One group received directions in a simple Arial font, and the other group received directions in a fancy, or harder to read Brush font.

The people who received the simple font estimated it would take 8.2 minutes to complete the directions whereas the people who received the complex font estimated that it would take 15.1 minutes to complete.

A simple font change, and people estimated that directions would take around 86 percent longer.

What’s that mean to you?

Given that web surfers are very A.D.D., a distracting font means users are less likely to even start reading your content.  And just like those people who misread “Megaflicks” and kept walking, you can loose potential customer before they even read the first word on your website.

Think of what you want when you are surfing the web.  Often fancy intros and busy websites can be distracting when what you really want is information.

Font Advice

• For content, stick to the basic fonts:  Arial or Times Roman
  If you look around at other major website, these are the fonts you will see (at least for content)
• It’s important to create contrast between your font color and background.
  Studies have shown that on the Web dark fonts on a light background are easier to read.
• Don’t go crazy with different font colors as it could make your website look cheesy.
  Use the same color font with bolder font weight for emphasis.
• Refrain from using more than 2 different font types on your site. It becomes confusing and your design goes from distinguished to disgusting.
• You can use fancy fonts on logos or titles, but be consistent and practical when selecting your logo font.

Don’t let the fonts on your website be a megaf#%*!

While many states already ban texting and driving, this nationwide law will take it a step further so that even a chat on a cell phone is a crime if done while behind the wheel.  It turns out the “Failure to Control” laws that have been on the books for a long time could cover texting and cell phone use while driving as well as other stupid stuff.  So these anti-texting laws were total a waste of taxpayer money.   And studies from places with texting bans show no significant decrease in traffic accidents.  So there is no reason to believe a nationwide ban on cell use while driving will make the roads safer.

Yet the real criminals still allowed to run on the side of busy roads exposing their ripped abs and sweaty bosoms.  The insanity!

Honestly, if we ban all cell phone usage while driving we should just ban driving all together.  Driving is very distracting.  Imagine how much safer the roads will be with no one driving.

Everyone will be safer if we just nip it in bud and outlaw driving, except those auto-insurance companies whose hefty profits will drop like the Titanic. But if there are anti-cellphone laws then insurance profits will soar due to higher premiums from the increase of traffic citations.  Um, makes you think about who these laws are really trying to help.

And hotties running are road hazards that cause whiplash as drivers spin around to get another look.  This in turn contributes to rising health care cost.  Cell phones do not cause whiplash, making hot people an even more menacing problem.

How much more proof do you need.  Hot people running must be outlawed!

Just to be clear, people who are not hot should still be allowed to run.  I mean, we don’t want to encourage laws that are biased against the ugly!

I tried to bring attention to this problem several years ago (see Stop Hot People from Running).  However, this latest recommendation from the NHTSA shows that we are missing the point.

We need to clean our roads so they do not look like an Abercrombie and Fitch photo-shoot.
Call your Congressperson and tell them we need to stop this:

E-waste Recycling
Everyone has old electronics taking up space.  Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Staples has a free program that allows consumers to recycle their electronics easily and free.  Simply drop off old technology at a the service desk of a Staples store, and Staples will send the devices to a certified electronics recycler.

Google Maps
Google maps save paper and is so much easier to use than a conventional map.  But Google maps also has green tips with biking directions (available in over 200 U.S. cities and in nine Canadian regions).  This feature illustrates bike lanes, hills and route suggestions, making it easier to leave your gas guzzler behind.

Google Transit can map the quickest public transit routes in more than 470 cities around the world. And if you want to carpool and avoid traffic, the Traffic layer displays real-time traffic conditions on your route.

As an extra perk for those of you who drive electric vehicles, you can easily find electric vehicle charging stations by typing “ev charging station in [your city]” directly into Google Maps.

Stop Receiving Unwanted Catalogs
If you buy a candle at Pottery Barn then you will get catalogs for life whether you like it or not.  Want to go clean and green with your traditional mailbox?  The website https://www.catalogchoice.org/ can help.

Each year, 19 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers. All those catalogs require more than 53 million trees and 56 billion gallons of waste-water to produce — and many of us don’t even know how we got on so many mailing lists! So grab that stack of catalogs piling up on your coffee table and clear out the clutter. Visit https://www.catalogchoice.org/ to put a stop to unwanted catalogs.  Within 10 weeks, your mailbox will be empty of unwanted catalogs. A less cluttered mailbox means less pollution, less waste and less of the pollution that causes global warming.

Follow Green Celebrities on Twitter
Green celebrities are almost a cliche.  Here are just a few you can follow on Twitter who tweet about the environment and other green topics.

• Edward Norton – Twitter: EdwardNorton
  Checkout Edward Norton’s Earth Day article:
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-norton/earth-day-2012-this-isnt-_b_1442104.html
• Ellen Degeneres – Twitter: TheEllenShow
  Animal Rights
• Ian Somerhalder – Twitter: iansomerhalder
• Brad Pitt – Twitter:  bradpittupdates
  Website: http://www.makeitrightnola.org/
• Sheryl Crow – Twitter: SherylCrow
  Rock star and longtime environmentalist
• Leonardo DiCaprio – Twitter: LeoDiCaprio
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LeonardoDiCaprio

For more hot green celebs:
http://www.click2houston.com/entertainment/-/1735500/10960228/-/oeg3w7/-/index.html

For more Green Technology news on Twitter, follow  -  Greentechsystem

To help insure a better user experience and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your website it is highly recommended that pictures are re-sized and optimized before loading them on a website.  It is best to keep image files under 200KB in size.

Many websites suffer from performance issues because image files are not optimized for the Web.  This sluggishness can be due to a many reasons.  The biggest factors are the the end user’s Internet speed and PC power (CPU size, RAM, operating system).

When a large pictures file is used on a website, the large file still has to be loaded to the user’s browser.  This means it uses Internet bandwidth to deliver the large file.  And local PC resources are used to re-size the picture to fit on the user’s screen.  Mobile users suffer the most from websites with big image files, and mobile users are the largest growing demographic on the Web!

Here’s an easy procedure for optimizing image files for a website.

• Measure the pixel dimensions of the space on the website where the picture is to be placed.  Most pictures on websites are no larger than 500px BY 500px.  Anything larger is usually just a waste.
• Recommendation:  Use a tool like Snagit from TechSmith:  http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html
• Use a tool like Snagit to capture the image and size it the measured pixel dimensions
• Save to a file in JPG format.
• Upload this “fitted” JPG image file to the website and place it in the desired location.

This procedure only takes about a minute but will have a positive impact on performance. Furthermore, this procedure will not impact quality.

Another reason to optimize pictures is SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  Websites that have large size picture files that hog Internet bandwidth can lose Google ranking.  

For a WordPress Website, here’s how to upload a picture AFTER it has been re-sized for your website from a local hard drive.

• Put your cursor in the post/page where you wish to insert the picture
• Click Add an Image:
• The following box will appear:
• You can drag the file into the “Drop files here” box.
  
• OR you can click the “Select Files” button and upload with a file manager
• Fill in image parameters and click
• If necessary use WordPress to fine-tune the picture to the correct size.

This will help your WordPress website perform better and help with SEO!

A picture of the Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton texting went viral.  And when Hillary saw it she thought thought it was funny.

Here’s the link to the blog:
http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/

Checkout this video of an unsuspecting text-walker who almost becomes unwilling bear-bait as he texts and nearly comes face-to-face with a bear!

Here are just a few things we would sacrifice rather than give up the Internet for the year:

• 73 percent would give up alcohol
• 69 percent would give up coffee
• 77 percent would give up chocolate

The following info-graphic compiled from a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCS) shows just how addicted we are to the Internet.

The Internet economy of the G-20 nations will reach $4.2 trillion by 2016.  This is about 1.7 times the size of the Web economy in 2011.  Were it a country, the Internet economy would be in the top five, behind the U.S., China, Japan and India and ahead of Germany.

Well, at least our Internet “crack” addiction is good for the economy!

“The Robo-Glove has the potential to reduce the amount of force that an auto worker would need to exert when operating a tool for an extended time or with repetitive motions,” Dana Komin (GM’s manufacturing engineering director) said in a press release.

The glove is covered in pressure sensors which can tell when you’re picking up a object such as a heavy tool. Grasp it, and the glove’s “tendons” retract — holding the tool in position until you’re ready to release it. The amount of force required to hold an object using the glove is reduced by about ten pounds.

The glove adds about two pounds of weight. Plus there’s the battery pack you’ll need to wear as a belt.

So you can’t fight crime, but you can fight carpal tunnel.

While there are not yet any plans for a commercial version of the Robo-Glove, it’s fun to think about how it could be used around the house.

How would you use this glove in your life?

The most notable feature from the upgrade is a quick-access camera icon on the power-up screen. Sliding the camera icon up will reveal the camera app from your lock screen. This means you can get to your camera quicker making it easier to photo and video your friend in embarrassing situations. Just what the world needs – more pictures and videos on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube of people and pets doing crazy things!

The most confusing issue is for AT&T iPhones. After upgrading owners will notice a signal indicator that shows they’re now on AT&T’s 4G network. YEAH! But wait…

This could be a bit misleading…sorta. Users who connect to AT&T’s HSPA+ network—which is more like 3.5G than 4G—will see the 4G icon. Because the connection provides 14.4 Mbps data, Apple calls it 4G, even if it isn’t the same 4G LTE offered by Verizon.  “4G” is not a technical specification, but a marketing term for the newest generation of mobile data networks.
Maybe we can call it pseudo-4G or faux-4G.

The funniest new feature is that Siri now speaks Japanese! If you though Siri was fun in your native tougne, wait until she hear her “turning Japanese, turning Japanese, I really think so.” Sorry – couldn’t resist the reference to the one-hit-wonder from “The Vapors – Turning Japanese.”

Click here for a full list of iOS 5.1 features.

It uses the phone’s location to determine if there are weather alerts in your area.  It is listed for just $9.99 and is one of those “must-have” apps, especially during storm season.

Here are some links for this life-saving app:
http://www.imapweatherradio.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imapweather-radio/id413511993?mt=8

Here are some more online resources to get prepared for the unexpected, including hurricanes, Earth quakes, and even zombie apocalypses: (seriously!)
Online Help in the Face of Disaster