I knew I had to do something about it so I decided that the best thing I could do to get back on track was to publish a Weekend Roundup. I’m glad that I was able to finally overcome it and I hope that I could keep this up and continue to post updates in the coming days.

Hope you guys like reading this edition of the Weekend Roundup. Enjoy!

Blogging

• 5 Essential Tools Every Blogger Should Use
• Is it Time to Make Blogging Your Career?
• 5 Ways To Increase Blog Comments
• If I Were the Blogging Police…

WordPress

• 7 Benefits of Blogging with WordPress
• Year of the Meetup
• Creating a Shared Content Box Across All of Your WordPress Blogs
• WordPress Security Threats – Jan/2012

SEO

• The 10 Golden Rules to Attracting Authority Links
• 4 Social SEO Mistakes to Avoid
• Why Not Use Alexa for Competitor Analysis?
• 7 Blog Writing Tips With An SEO Focus

Social Media

• 9 Ways to Integrate Email and Social Media Marketing
• Getting The Most Out of Great Content in Social Media
• Google Begins Country-Specific Blog Censorship
• 5 Ways Writers Can Break Out of the Tired Old Social Media Box

Technology

• Surveillance Cameras Used To Study Customer Behavior
• Computer Program Reconstructs Heard Words From Brain Scans
• Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist
• Microsoft Releases Kinect For Windows

Gadgets

• Spark – KDE Tablet
• Mad Catz Cyborg MMO 7 Mouse
• Boxx Eco-friendly Electric Bike
• Hot Wheels RC iNitro Speeders

Pinoy Blogs

• Using WiFi hotspots without permission: Cybercrime Prevention Act violation?
• How to update your LG Optimus Black to Gingerbread
• Android Users in the Philippines Increased by 300%, iPhone Users by 62% in 2011, According to Smart Communications! Smartphone Users to Rise Sharply in 2012!
• Jollibee On-Line Delivery via Facebook

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or would want to share your article or any interesting story that you found in the Internet and have it featured in the next Weekend Roundup, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page.

Have you seen or tried the new Gmail interface? The new look was officially announced and launched last week so I’m sure some of you have already seen it, tried it or even already using it. The new Gmail interface features a cleaner and more modern look, an elastic density design and gives users more control by providing more customization options. It also features a new toolbar that displays icons of basic options/features and a new search box that makes it easy for users to find stuff.

Here’s an overview of the improvements and features of the new Gmail look:

Screenshots:

Main interface

HD Theme

Improved Conversation View

I really like the new Gmail look/interface. The new toolbar makes it very convenient to do the basic stuff you need to do with your emails like Archive, Delete, Move To, Label and Report as Spam. The same goes for the new toolbar that allows users to find exactly what you’re looking for. You can specify the folder name, name of sender/recipient, subject title, specify certain keywords, specify whether it has an attachment or not and provide a specific date.

Another cool feature is the Elastic Density design which allows users to view their Gmail inbox nicely from any device or screen size because space elements now automatically resize based on the display you’re using. The interface also automatically changes when the browser window is resized. Display density can be manually configured via the Settings menu.

I like my inbox clean and simple so I haven’t tried the new HD themes. If you’d like to use one, just click on the gear icon on the upper right portion of Gmail and select Themes. Then head on over to the HD Themes section and select a particular theme that you like.

To learn more about Gmail’s new interface and features, check out the dedicated page for Gmail’s new look.

For those who haven’t tried the new Gmail interface, you can enable it by logging in to your Gmail account and click on the “Switch to the new look” link found at the bottom-right corner of Gmail.

Anybody else tried or are using the new Gmail interface? How do you like it so far? Do you prefer the new look or the old look? Please share your thoughts.

Whether you create music for a living or just simply do it as a hobby, I’m sure a lot of people will be happy to know that GarageBand, a popular music creation app which was previously only available on the iPad is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I haven’t tried GarageBand myself but I’ve seen several videos of people using this app to create beautiful music.

For those who aren’t familiar with GarageBand, this app turns your device – iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into a touch musical instrument and a full-featured recording studio. Play pianos, organs, guitars, drums and basses using multi-touch gestures and make use of 9 built-in amps and 10 stompbox effects. GarageBand allows users to record/mix up to 8 tracks, save it as an audio file (AAC format) and/or sent to the desktop version of GarageBand. The app also comes with 250 professional samples to help users get started.

Screenshots:

GarageBand version 1.1 Features:

• Universal app designed for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
• Create custom chords for Smart Instruments
• Support for 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
• Reset song key without transposing original recordings
• Transpose songs in semitones or full octaves
• Additional quantization options for recordings including, straight, triplet and swing
• New audio export quality settings for AAC and AIFF (Uncompressed)
• Arpeggiator available in Smart Keyboard
• Adjustable velocity settings for Touch Instruments
• Numerous enhancements, including automatic fade out and improved audio import options

NOTE: GarageBand requires iOS 4.3 or later and is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd gen), iPod touch (4th gen) and iPad. Users who already purchased GarageBand for the iPad can re-download and install the app on their iPhone or iPod Touch for FREE.

GarageBand is now available on iTunes for $4.99.

Anyone using GarageBand? Have you tried using GarageBand on the iPhone or iPod Touch?

Just want to share and inform other WordPress users who use the WordPress for iOS app that there’s a new update available – version 2.9.1 which was released yesterday. This version is a bug fix update and at the same time contains the following changes – stability improvements, crash fixes and an improved read speed & navigation (Next/Previous Read item navigation added) on WordPress.com.

In case you don’t have version 2.9 and are still using an older version of WordPress for iOS, here are some of the new features and improvements from previous versions:

New Features:

• A Feature-Rich Content Editor – Now you can easily format text, make bulleted lists, create links, and do all kinds of other fancy stuff.
• Full Screen Editing – No more teeny-weeny content editor — now you can view more text at a time while you post on the go.
• Reading Made Easy – Keeping track of your favorite blogs has never been easier. Browse all the latest posts on blogs you follow in one place, right from your iPhone.

Updated Features:

• Quick Photo will now use the post format for images (if your theme supports it).
• You can now post pictures that you’ve already taken with Quick Photo.
• Your stats referrer links and comment links can now be opened right from this app.

NOTE: WordPress for iOS 2.9+ requires iOS 4.0 or later and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

I’ve upgraded the app on my iPhone 4 running iOS 5 and everything seems to be working fine – no bugs, crashes or any issues whatsoever. Anybody else using WordPress for iOS 2.9.1?

WordPress for iOS 2.9.1 is now available on iTunes or via the App Store.

Whether you’re celebrating Halloween or not, you’ll be glad to know that you won’t need a costume and go trick or treating to get some goodies. The folks from ThemeFuse is having a Halloween promo where they’re offering a 75% discount on all their premium WordPress themes. This means, you can get a Standard license theme (worth $49) for only $13, a Developer license theme (worth $79) for only $20 and a Developer Pack containing all themes (worth $349) for only $87.

Here’s a lineup of all premium WordPress themes being offered by ThemeFuse.

Medica

Probably the best WordPress theme when it comes to Doctor’s websites, Health Clinics, Dentist’s Offices or anything medical related.

Writer

Writer has all it takes to be a really great option for bloggers that want a stylish and premium look for their personal WordPress blog.

Brand Crafters

The ultimate corporate WordPress theme that will guarantee to make your business website stand out from the crowd.

MobilityApp

A theme best suited for smartphone developers that need to promote their iPad, iPhone or Android mobile applications.

Qlassik

Be it your corporate business website or your personal web design portfolio, Qlassik will definitely deliver in both situations and more.

Lifestyle

An online magazine oriented WP theme that also fits perfectly as a news, fashion or even a celebrity & gossip blog.

Welcome Inn

If you need a hotel oriented wp theme, you have to try our latest project. It comes in 2 additional flavors: ski resort and spa. Enjoy!

Freshfolio

An original, awesome and efficient way for showcasing photography, design, illustration portfolios’ or even paintings and art.

Envision

Try our most complex wp theme to date. It has shortcodes, 5 different sliders and a bunch of awesome features. You name it, we’ve got it!

WebStudio

This theme can be used to showcase photography, illustration, design, paintings or art, in a simple, awesome and efficient way.

Exquisite Works

WP theme designed for someone who needs a classy and stylish presence on the web for their corporate website.

Clean Classy Corporate

Be it web products, cloud computing or SaaS, C3 has a clean corporate feel to it which caters to the new breed of web entrepreneurs.

Art Gallery

Showcase your art, photography, design work or even print. If you think of your work as art, this is the wp theme for you.

Creative Juice

We’ve crafted this wp theme with a showcase portfolio in mind. It can be easily used by web agencies / studios or small design firms.

SiliconApp

We’ve built this wp theme with a software application wordpress template in mind, be it a mobile or a standard desktop product.

Bon Apetit

This wp theme is destined for a restaurant or coffee shop website but it can be also used for a pastry, catering or recipes portal.

To avail of this special discount/promo, just go to ThemeFuse.com and select the theme or themes that you want and enter the promo code TrickorTreat during checkout. This promo is a one-day deal only (October 31, 2011) so don’t waste this opportunity to grab a copy of these beautiful, original premium WordPress themes from ThemeFuse.

Don’t miss out and get your premium WordPress themes from ThemeFuse right now!

DISCLOSURE: JaypeeOnline is an affiliate of ThemeFuse.