WordPress and Yoast: A Match Made in web Heaven

Ever since WordPress hit the scene it has revolutionized the way people create blogs and websites in general. The best part of WordPress is that there is a level of software appropriate for every user and ability level. While WordPress touts its simplicity of installation and user-friendly nature, the simplicity to which they refer is, of course, relative. That is, installing and navigating WordPress is a cinch for experienced programmers, but potentially challenging – though not impossible – for beginners or those with a modicum of tech savvy.

The Progression of WordPress

Originally, WordPress was developed as an easy way for bloggers to create and manage their content. Thanks to the open source nature of WordPress, programmers were soon using its themes to create even the most complicated websites.

If you are a blogger who’s not interested in managing your own FTP site, WordPress allows you to manage your blog via their WordPress.com website. This is an easy, installation-free way to experience the foundation of what WordPress has to offer – sleek themes, easy updates and back end navigability.

For the more experienced designer or webmaster, WordPress is a cakewalk. But that’s not to say that it lacks power! In addition to being open source software that is completely free, WordPress boasts thousands of customizable plug-ins and themes, many of them also completely free. For those without programming experience, premium themes are available for nominal fees, and an experienced programmer can download a free theme and customize it to their liking.

All New WordPress Plug-in

One of the hottest new plug-ins on WordPress is the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. Yoast boosts your site’s SEO by showing you where you’re struggling, and how you can improve the weakest areas of your website. The plugin analyzes page functionality, allows you to create meta descriptions templates for multiple pages, and previews how those descriptions will appear when searched for in Google. Yoast has developed add-ons for its plugin, including local, video and news SEO options. The latter is available for free, while the other two are available for purchase.

Yoast has incredible features for publishers, helping you to promote your content every time it’s updated. If, for example, you’ve recently purchased an article through a site like TopicBay, Yoast gives you the option to implement an XML Sitemap. The Sitemap alerts search engines that new content has been published to your site, and ranks your page according to this new information. Once you’ve opted in to this feature of the plugin, all subsequent posts and updates will be added to the Sitemap. The map is then submitted to the major search engines.

Utilizing Content Resources

Another critical component to making your site SEO friendly is finding quality content. TopicBay definitely provides a solution for that. There are actually two ways to purchase content from this source. Either you can buy an existing article from the many choices on the site or you can request to have an article written for you that will be customized to your subject matter and keywords. Then the various writers will create content based upon your specifications and you will get to choose the one that fits your site the best. With quality content so readily available, it makes operating your WordPress site even easier.

The Complete Package

Yoast is the chocolate topping on the WordPress sundae, the yin to WordPress’ yang. It allows you to make the most of the software by addressing each area of SEO for you. By exploring the functionality of each area of the plugin, including meta descriptions, breadcrumbs and image optimization, Yoast guides you through the latest and greatest SEO techniques. The plugin is particularly helpful for blogging, publishing, and updating an old site to incorporate the latest and greatest optimization techniques.


Written by: Andrea Gressman

Speedy Whois: Think Fast! Who Owns That Domain?

Speedy Whois is the fastest way to get all of the information you need about the owner of a particular website or domain name. The main landing page features a search box that allows you to enter the domain name you wish to inquire about (do not include “www”).

Through this process, you will be able to locate tons of information about the site you entered, including the first and last name of the owner, their email address, physical address and even their phone number. Additionally, you will be able to see when their ownership expired, where they registered their site and what their domain servers were.

The coolest thing about Speedy Whois is that you can find all of this information with one click, regardless of the size or scope of the website. You will be able to find all of the information listed above on sites like IMDB, Time Magazine and NBC. Unlike other sites that you may have tried, none of the entries you will search for using Speedy Whois will come up blank.

Speedy Whois Will Help You get the Domain of Your Choice

If you are currently in the process of creating a new website, and the domain name you want is already taken you now have another option that you did not have before. Thanks to Speedy Whois, you will be able to see who owns the name and when it expires. You will also able to contact the owner and ask them if they were willing to sell. Armed with info from Speedy Whois, you will know that they hadn’t been actively using the domain name for several years and you will know that a sale will be more likely because of this.

Sister Site for Webmasters

Speedy Whois also has a sister site just for webmasters. With it, you can create your own Whois website using open source software that is completely free. Written in PHP and distributable under the GNU General Public License, Speedy Whois for webmasters is simple to install and share. Speedy Whois allows you to modify the content, use it however you like, and distribute it to other users. The best part is that you can link back to Speedy Whois – or not. It’s completely up to you.

The Speedy Whois for webmasters site features step-by-step installation instructions, a detailed listen of the download contents and the direct contact information of the programmer who developed the site. Support is also available via links on the bottom of the main landing page. I found the installation process to be very user friendly and straightforward.

By using Speedy Whois for webmasters, you can create a site that is geared toward a particular industry, brand or type of website. For instance, you could create a Whois search site for Internet marketing companies or for gardening websites. While Whois has the power and interface to complete a totally comprehensive search of all web domains, creating multiple sites for specific search purposes will help drive particular types of traffic to your site, leading to more lucrative advertising opportunities. It’s also helpful to see whom the big companies are using for their domain manager.


Written by: Andrea Gressman

We apologize for the recent bug

There was recently a bug with activating your account on Speedy Net. We fixed this bug and you can activate your accounts now. Remember to enter your correct email address when registering to Speedy Net, you need to confirm it for activating your account.

Speedy Net Blog is powered by WordPress, as well as the Advanced Custom Fields plugin and the WordPress SEO plugin. Thanks to all the people who developed WordPress and these plugins.

Some of the articles we publish on Speedy Net Blog were bought at TopicBay – a website where you can order articles for your website and buy them. Thanks to all the people responsible for creating TopicBay and writing those articles.

Thanks to all the people who contributed to PHP, MySQL, Linux, Ubuntu, Apache and Octave. Speedy Net and Speedy Composer wouldn’t exist without you!

The Future of Open Source

Open source software either eliminates or reduces copyright restrictions on freely available source code and does not restrict the number of times or the manner in which the code is used. The majority of open source software is free to download and use and many applications allow users to distribute the software under the same license agreement. Most open source software is authorized for use under the GNU General Public License, which was developed by Richard Stallman in 1989. Stallman is featured in the 2002 book Free as in Freedom, which documents his ongoing fight for a free and open Internet. The most dynamic developers, programs and websites are implementing and encouraging an open source market.

The Benefits of Open Source

Open source software saves consumers money. According to research conducted by the Standish Group, the choice to use open source over propriety software has saved consumers some $60 billion per year since 2008.

Implementing a free license from Copyleft is one way to save money when using source code or other software. It ensures that all subsequent versions of distributed content maintain the same adaptability, thus encouraging the growth of the open source movement.

The Most Popular Open Source Software Programs

Popular open source software programs, such as PHP, MySQL, Linux, Apache, WordPress and Octave have opened up a new world to consumers, programmers and designers alike. In lieu of HTML, web designers use PHP to create dynamic web pages and server-side scripting at no cost to them. Today, over 75% of all Internet websites call PHP their coding language of choice.

WordPress

WordPress, the most widely used content management system on the Internet, employs the MySQL open source relational database management system. WordPress allows users to create blogs and intricate websites using templates and source code, and is one of many open source software programs that use MySQL for database management. In addition to flexible licensing and a variety of paid and free services, MySQL offers a plethora of free support forums and open access to the application manual.

Linux

Linux is an open source operating system that powers the majority of the world’s super computers. Under the GNU General Public License, corporate and individual users of the Linux system can modify and distribute its code for use within mobile, television, video game and tablet applications. In fact, the majority of Android cell phones utilize Linux.

Many of the original developers who created open source software have become open source activists, and supporters of a global movement to make open source the norm, not the exception. The Apache Software Foundation was founded in 1999 by a global network of web programmers who wished to create free open source software and operating systems. In the past 13 years, the Foundation has authored the Apache HTTP Server, six different database systems and numerous Java frameworks and implementations.

Speedy Net and Speedy Composer

Speedy Net and Speedy Composer are two cutting edge examples of open source innovation. Speedy Net is a social networking site for the vegan and vegetarian community, while Speedy Composer allows users to create and download music files for use in online videos. Both sites use open source software and allow their users to do the same. With this kind of specificity and content value, it’s clear that open source has made the move from poor quality freeware to high quality software. And the best part – the more people use it, the more companies will follow suit, and the more we, the consumer, will benefit from the ensuing competition.


Written by: Andrea Gressman

Speedy Composer – Short Summary

During my studies in the Department of Computer Science of The Academic College of Tel Aviv – Yaffo, I did a project called Speedy Composer – an Artificial Neural Network Melody Composer. this project had also a research part, because this area has not been researched much before. The project’s target is to write a program that will compose music, that is based on parameters & chords given by the user. The final target is letting a user select parameters, chords & possibly the beginning of a melody, and then the program will compose a new melody for the user.

Artificial Neural Networks are a new area in computer science. This area is called like this, because in a way, it imitates the human brain. An Artificial Neural Network is a set of simple processing units (“neurons”), that are connected to each other in a parallel network. Each unit (“neuron”) implements a simple mathematic function, but the global structure of the network makes the network able to to perform complex calculations. This processing method is similar to the method used in the human brain, that is consisted of billions of neurons, and with a very complicated connectionism is able to perform actions like seeing, hearing, motorical coordination, intuition, thinking, understanding, memory etc.

Although Artificial Neural Networks contain a much smaller number of “neurons” (usually, not more than a few tens), they already have some ability to learn & generalize. for example, if we have a list of events that can be numerically measured, and there is some regularity among them – it is possible to train an Artificial Neural Network to try to predict the next event, when receiving the few previous events as input. Artificial Neural Networks can also be trained to identify specific patterns (visual, vocal or other patterns), and implement programs that identify these patterns by using the trained networks. Artificial Neural Networks are used, for example, to identify pictures, and especially human faces, handwriting, and printing.

In this project, I used Artificial Neural Networks to compose melodies, using this method: a network is trained on well-known melodies, while for each note – the network is given all previous notes as an input, and is trained to predict the next note. A network like this is trained until the prediction success percents are as high as possible (about 55% success. The network structure does not let it reach 100% success). Then, the network is given some basic input, and we start composing note by note. Each note is selected randomly, with probabilities based on the network output (The reason for selecting the notes randomly, is adding more interest to the melody, and composing a new melody each time). After each note is composed, it is added to the network input and the network is used again in order to select the next note. And so on, until we compose the entire melody.

At first, I trained each network on an input representing the notes alone. As a result, the composed melodies lacked global structure. But, after talking to composers, I learned that most human composers usually compose according to a given progress of chords. I decided to implement it with the network, and added chords to the network input. It was then necessary to select a progress of chords before composing, and the network composes a melody based on these chords. As a result, the melodies were more interesting and with global structure.

Although, a program like Speedy Composer can’t compete with professional composers, but it can definitely compose nice & interesting melodies. If we compare, for example, the composing ability of the program to my own personal composing ability – I think the program’s ability is better and more diverse. Here, like in chess, for example – a good computer program is not better than every human, but it can definitely compete with some people. Of course, in this area there is still place for a lot of research and improvement, and I believe that in this area too we will reach better results in the future, and the program’s performances will be able to compete with the ability of many people.

Now, we can ask, is there no place for human composers any more? Well, of course there is still place for humans – currently, humans are still more creative than computers, and are still better than them in many areas. But, the more we advance in technology, and especially in the area of computer science – the ability of computers improves, and becomes closer to the ability of the people who created them. And, in some areas (for example, complex mathematical calculations), the computers’ ability has long ago become better than the ability of any person. It appears that this machine has already become better than its creator.

Philosophically, some people claim, that there is no meaning to the words “composing” (or “creating” in general), if the composer does not have feelings, and expresses his or her feelings in the composition. But, in my opinion, the melody in itself does not contain feelings – it’s just a progress of notes that makes us feel something when listening to it. And, in my opinion, the quality of the composer (if we don’t have a previous opinion about him) does not influence the emotions we feel when we listen to music, read a book or see a movie – what counts is the quality of the composition itself.

As we know, every book, article, melody or picture can be represented by computers as files, made of a set of bits which are 0 or 1. And, in my opinion, everything that can be represented by computers, can in theory be created by computers too. There is no theoretic reason, for example, why computers will not be able to compose symphonies like Mozart’s or Beethoven’s, write novels like Shakespear’s, or create pictures that seem real, even if they have no connection to reality. But, it’s clear that we still need to progress in this area a lot, before we will enjoy reading a book, watching a movie or listening to symphonies created by computers.

You are welcome to listen to the melodies composed by Speedy Composer. Please tell me what you think about the composed melodies – I’m interested in your opinion. If you want you can also use Speedy Composer to compose new melodies – just enter Speedy Composer, create an account and start composing!


Written by: Uri Even-Chen, Speedy Software.

How to Compose Melodies in Minutes with Speedy Composer

Now that you have verified your Speedy Composer account it is now time to compose melodies for the first time. Whether you require a new melody for your website or you need a new tune for your next ballet residual, Speedy Composer is simple to use.

Firstly, choose your chord progression, from major to minor. Here you can select from a number of great sounds for every occasion. By clicking on the selection and scrolling down the list, you can sample each sound.

Next in composing your melody is to choose your accompaniment style. Speedy Composer has a number of options for you to choose from and by changing the tempo of your melody will set a different mood for your music.

When you have composed your melody, Speedy Composer will automatically play back your composition. If you are happy with your composition, you can share it with friends or even make it public so other Speedy Composers can listen.

With Speedy Composer, you can work with friends to compose melodies to go with lyrics you have already written.

You will notice that a list will appear of all your compositions, to identify each tune you will need to re-name each composition. By clicking on the composition, a drop down list will appear and by clicking “Re-Name” you can name your melody. Giving your composed melodies names will make finding them easier.

If you decide that not all the composed tunes are what you are looking for, you can easily delete your file. By ticking the box and hitting “delete,” you can make room for new compositions.

There are endless combinations available for you to play and experiment with using Speedy Composer. You will not need any specialized computer programs, as Speedy Composer will do all the hard work for you. Speedy Composer has taken all the hassle out of putting a song together. To compose melodies you only require your own imagination and willingness to try different combinations.

You can save all of your melodies and it is just as easy as composing our tune. By clicking on either MIDI or MP3, you can automatically save to any device. Just follow the on screen prompts to ensure a successful download of your composed melody.

You can then share your composition on Speedy Composer with other budding songwriters. By making your music public, you can display your talent and encourage others to do the same and compose melodies and share their tunes.

To create a folder, click on “Create New Folder,” re-name the file and you can then start to compose melodies. To keep track of your recordings you can add notes to your account.

At the top of the page click on “Edit Profile” and you can add pages, groups and share melodies with others. To compose melodies with friends, encourage them to login and share all of your compositions with the public. You do not need to be a musician to use Speedy Composer.


Written by: Jodi Unger

Easily Compose Melodies with Speedy Composer

Speedy Composer is an open source project that allows its users to compose melodies. The biggest advantage to this is that those who are musically challenged do not have to create the original melodies and the musically gifted will enjoy it too. It is an opportunity to put a spin on popular songs known to several generations.

After signing up, there are no instructions. The manner in which the system is set up allows you to easily transition from one task to another. Users are presented with a selection of chord progressions, and then it is on to accompaniment style. From there, choose the tempo, which can make tunes as slow or as fast as one would like. The steps do not have to follow that order. So even without instructions, it is easy to follow without explicit details.

Make sure you do not follow my initial lead. I could see the timed bar moving as if I had created something, but could hear nothing. This resulted in feelings of anger when I first started to compose melodies. Then I realized that my speakers were not hooked into the PC. Someone had inserted a set of headphones and I did not notice. None of my family members would cop to it. So make sure your speakers are hooked in and your volume is up before getting started.

One con to the service is that the compositions are only 30 seconds long. I have to figure out how to string them together for one unified sound. You can download the compositions in an mp3 format. That is ideal for someone who wants to easily place them on a compact disc. Then you can share the sound without the use of a PC.

Another great feature with Speedy Composer is that you can share your compositions. There is an option after you compose melodies to make them available publicly. If an individual is brave about their creation and open to criticism, make it public. Make sure to rename them before doing so, to keep track. If you do not like them, deleting them is an option as well.


Written by: Rokkee

Top 5 Sites for Free Music Downloads

Finding free music downloads can be a challenge. The biggest problem is the number of fake sites that are always claiming to give free song downloads. Many of these sites will need you to either register or download something. In the worst case scenario, some sites will actually lead you on for hours taking you from one useless step to another until you eventually tire. But in the midst of all these, there are several sites that offer the real deal and will give you something that you can actually listen to. Here are a few of these sites:

1. Beemp3.com: This is a favorite among many people. Beemp3 is one of the longest running sites offering free music downloads and there are few sites if any that can claim to have a larger database of free songs. Beemp3.com is not just free but also quite easy to use. All you will have to do is enter a “Captcha” and you will be set to download at very good speeds.

2. Mp3Raid.com: Is also a great site and they also have a good database. Searching for songs is very easy here and their well organized database will allow you to find songs and artists quickly. The downside is that it takes two or three steps to get to the free music downloads.

3. Mp3.com: This is the site with the easiest name to remember and just like the name, the site is also very easy to navigate. The songs on the site are carefully grouped according to genre so if you are not looking for a particular song but just a particular type, say jazz, this site will give you a much easier time. The downside is the small size of its database and there are many songs that you would not find here.

4. Alfamp3.com: This is also another good site and offers not just free music downloads but also music videos so it can be lots of fun. There is a good deal of clicking required to get to the songs so patience must be exercised.

5. Plazamp3.com: This site definitely works. The problem is that the sheer number of ads will overwhelm most people and it is easy to click on an ad thinking it is the download link. If you know your way around ads you should be able to get something out of this site.


Written by: Charles Aol

Where to Get the Best Legal Free Music Downloads

There are many sources of downloads available online, but most are either not complete downloads or are illegal. There are, however, a few great places to find legal free music downloads of complete songs by a wide range of artists.

Amazon.com regularly offers free music downloads in the form of singles and entire albums. Pages with free song downloads are available for the U.S. at amazon.com/Free-Songs-Music/b?ie=UTF8&node=334897011 and the U.K. at amazon.co.uk/MP3-Music-Download/b?ie=UTF8&node=77197031

Many artists offer free music downloads, sometimes only for a limited time, on their official website pages or on their other pages, such as those found on MySpace. Follow your favorite artists on Facebook or Twitter to get the latest news regarding their free download offerings.

SPIN magazine offers free iTunes music downloads for readers that anyone can obtain by first going to their website’s iTunes page at spin.com/itunes. On it there will be a code that is to be used in order to download the latest free legal music download offerings. There is also an expiration date for the code listed.

They are not the only magazine that offers free music downloads for readers. People magazine also has a website page devoted to giving readers and others free iTunes music downloads. Their free music downloads page may be found at styleentertainment.timeinc.net/people/countryplaylist/.

Glide magazine is another great source of legal free music downloads to check out. The page for their free downloads is glidemagazine.com/downloads.php.

Freebies blogs and websites also regularly list a variety of sources of free singles and albums that can all be downloaded legally and free. The best way to utilize this type of resource is to subscribe so notification will be received immediately. Some offers are limited and only those quickest to respond will get the free download.

Some sites offer one free download at a time, rather than multiple songs or albums. A few examples are the radio station K-Love at klove.com/music/store.aspx and the Artist Direct website at artistdirect.com/nad/freestuff/0,,,00.html.

The offerings from all of the aforementioned sources of legal free music downloads change regularly, giving the music lover an opportunity to obtain quite an impressive music library for no cost.


Written by: Daniella Nicole

How to Compose Melodies with Speedy Composer

Speedy Composer is a brand new site that will help people compose melodies for free by simply selecting chords, accompaniment styles and the tempo of the music. Here is a step-by-step introductory guide on how to compose melodies with the help of Speedy Composer.

Step 1 – Create an Account

To create an account at Speedy Composer, you need to be a member of Speedy Net. Simply create your user account at Speedy Net by selecting your choice of username and a password. You then need to provide only the bare essentials to create an account such as your gender and birth date. Click on the activation link that is sent to your email ID and your account will be activated at Speedy Net as well as Speedy Composer.

Step 2 – Log in at Speedy Composer

Use the same login credentials at Speedy Composer and you will be welcomed at the home page where you can begin composing music according to your preference by choosing from three drop down list boxes – chord progressions, accompaniment style and tempo.

Step 3 – Choose Chord Progression

There is a range of selection available for you to choose from. From C Major to A Minor, A Major to E Minor and G Major. Just choose the chord that you wish to use from the list of selections and move on to the next drop down list to pick out the accompaniment style for your musical composition.

Step 4 – Choose the Accompaniment style

Unlike the wide range of selections for chord progression, you can pick from four different accompaniment styles:

• Accompaniment Style #One (for 4/4)
• Accompaniment Style #Two (for 4/4)
• Accompaniment Style #Three (for 4/4)
• Accompaniment Style #Four (for 3/4)

Simply choose your preferred accompaniment style and you can move on.

Step 5 – Choose tempo

The next thing to do is to select the pace of the rhythm. Are you looking for some soft gentle rhythm or a fast racy number? Just set the tempo to the beat of your choice and you are done.

Step 6 – Compose Music

There is a compose button right below the tempo drop down box. Once you have finished picking out your composition features, click “Compose” to have the music composed for you.

The composed music will automatically be saved as “Composition #1” in your folder. You can rename the composition with a more meaningful name to identify it. You can also make separate folders at Speedy Composer in order to be able to categorize your music compositions in the genre that it falls in without it being cluttered all in one folder.

Please note that steps 3 to 5 do not necessarily have to be carried out in sequence. You could also work your way backwards from 5 to 3 or start directly with the accompaniment style before you move on to select your chord and tempo.

Once you have composed your music, it can be played directly at Speedy Composer or you can also download it to your desktop in MIDI format or MP3 format.

Additional Features

Besides composing your own music, there are still additional features that Speedy Composer has to offer. You can share your music with friends at the site or make it public for all the users of the site to enjoy. However, these features are completely optional. If you prefer to keep your music to yourself, you can do that by listing it as private.

It does not matter if you are inexperienced as a musician, with this range of options and the ability to mix and match chords, styles and tempo, you will soon develop an ear for music and be able to compose melodies of your own for free.


Written by: Andrea Gressman