How to extract text from images online for free!

EVER need to extract text from images? Well, now you can do so online for free and also without sign-up.

You just have to upload an image (PDF, JPG, GIF, TIFF or BMP format) and the text will be extracted.

Languages supported are: English, Gerrman, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish.

Oh, remember one thing, though, your uploaded file can’t be bigger than 2mb.

Publish text, images and hyperlinks in an instant webpage – no sign-up needed!

YOUDRAFT is the answer when the question is where you can create an instant webpage that features links, images and text.

Create and share content instantly without registration. The WYSIWYG editor allows fast and flexible drafting. You can give others the right to edit or only read your page and add replies.

From youdraft

Question

Why do I really need youdraft?

Answer

If you ever wished to upload some text together with images online and make it available to all, then youdraft is for you. Even if you have a blog/website, youdraft will still come in handy when you need to upload easily accessible information that quite doesn’t belong to your blog/site.

Given the fact that the service is completely free the features they offer are mind-blowing. Depending upon your experience, you can use the WYSIWYG editor to style your webpage to your heart’s content.

Format your webpage with the standard wysiwyg editor

In case you are wondering what the symbols in the picture above mean, chances are, you are new to WYSIWYG editors. But that’s no problem. In the following tutorial, I will show you how you can create a simple webpage using Youdraft. You will learn how to use text, images and links in your new webpage.

Right on the homepage you will find a dialogue box that tells you to fill in the necessary details.

Beginning youdraft is easy

When you are done, click the Start drafting button.

On the next page they give you two url’s for you about to be generated webpage. One allows you to read AND edit the contents later. That means, you can allow others to edit your webpage. While that’s a great privilege when more than one author is involved, please be cautious. If you inadvertently give it to someone who should not be changing the contents, then that might spell trouble. The second url is the one you should be distributing to people for viewing purposes.

Two different url's - read/write and read are generated

Now let’s get to the contents part. We will begin with text, because that’s the easiest part. Then we will deal with images and lastly, with links!

Text

To put in text, just start writing in the main body. Alternately, you can copy text from somewhere and paste it.

Image

I always love to see good images on a webpage. Images provide a break from verbal thinking. besides, sometimes images are what matters most!

Youdraft enables you to either link to an online image or upload one from your computer. Now, isn’t that convenient?

To upload an image from your computer, just click the insert/edit image icon in front of the Font icon.

Upload images either from your computer or from a website

A dialogue box will open. Now click the Upload tab.

Upload tab lts you get images from your computer

Now hit the Browse button and choose the image from your computer that you want to upload. Finally hit the Send to server button. When the image is successfully uploaded you will be taken back to the first tab that says Image Info. If you know how to fill in the extra info there, just do it! Or else, click ok.

To link to an online image first copy the image url from the desired site and come back to your Youdraft window/tab. Now click the insert/edit image icon. When the dialogue box opens, hit the Link tab.

Upload an online image

Click ok.
Your image will turn up in the main body!

Linking

You might need to link some text or an image to a webpage. Doing it is very easy!

To link text, select the text and click the Insert/edit link button. The icon looks like a tiny globe (with a chain at the bottom).

Create hyperlinks

When you click the insert/edit link button, a dialogue box will open. See the picture above. If you are linking to an external webpage, don’t change the parameters. Just fill the copied  url in the Url field. If your copied url already has http:// included, then please delete the http:// carefully.

If you link an image, the viewer can see another webpage when they click on the image. To do this, just select the image from the main body and click the insert/edit link button. When the dialogue box opens, fill in the url field like in the instruction for linking text.

When you are done creating your webpage, don’t forget to hit the Save button at the bottom!

If you need more help about using Youdraft, just ask for it!

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I have spent a great deal of time researching for a web service like Youdraft. If you think it is a great tool and/or if you think the tutorial is newbie-friendly, then please consider telling others about this post via email or social bookmarking

How to compare search results at Ask, Yahoo and Google simultaneously

HOW does your blog fare in different search engines? What’s the result for a keyword at different search engines? Ask, Yahoo and Google are three major search engines and now you can compare results in these three search engines in one page.

Just click the image above to figure out the results for the search term “Netty Gritty”.

What does AskYahoogle do? It lets you view:
-Analysis Chart
-Agreement Bar
-Combined Rankings and
-Individual results

Not bad! But um…..why does my Yahoo look so blank under Individual Results? Don’t forget to check the site and tell me if Yahoo returned no links for the search term you entered.

Grab an invite for new web 2.0 services (available at Mashable)

New Web 2.0 services await; all you need to do is grab your free invites over at Mashable Invites!

Pogobrowser Invites
Pogo is a new 3D web browser. …
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Torrent search …
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World’s best email experience:Zenbe includes a calendar, task list…
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Swedish torrent site, mostly TV …
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From the site.

I haven’t provided the links to individual services. Rush to Mashable to get your invite! Just click on the image to do so!

How to embed a poll from Polldaddy in a wordpress.com blog post

FINALLY here is a way to have a poll in a wordpress.com blog that actually works in a wordpress.com blog!
Polldaddy is a rocking polling service that now provides codes for wordpress.com blogs.

Available Features

* Unlimited free polls with unlimited votes per poll.
* 14 PollDaddy skins to choose from or create your own in CSS.
* View poll results online, as XML, CSV, or subscribe to them via RSS!
* Polls provided in HTML or Flash depending on your needs.
* Full foreign language support.
* Block repeat voters by IP address or cookies.
* Create single choice or multiple choice polls.
* Close polls after a certain date, randomize answers, allow text entry ‘other’ field, show or hide results from voters and much more.
* New: Track individual votes, get voter location and detect fraudulent votes. (Pro Account only)

From the site

To have a poll, first sign up for an account.
Creating a poll is very easy.
First write your poll question.
Then you are asked to enter the answers in multiple fields. Just use as many “Answer” fields as you need.

You can set the poll to randomize answers, to allow poll takers to choose multiple answers or write their own answers.

You can choose a language for the poll. If your language is not listed, just ask them and they say they will add it to the list! Well, now they are really talking my language!

Now you are all set to set a style for your poll. . Choose an available theme or if you know CSS, then roll up your sleeves and create your own theme!

Here are the available themes. I have painstaking created these screenshot so that you can have a sneak peek even before you sign up!

After you are done creating a poll, they will give you the poll code. Choose the code for wordpress.com. Paste the code in a post/post in your blog and the poll will appear there! And it actually works in your wordpress.com blog! This is the first time a poll works right inside a wordpress.com blog, so here is a big yippeeeeeeee!

***

I like Polldaddy a lot. But um..

Problems
I have some grievances.

1. If I set the poll to allow users to write comments, then the user is taken to a separate Polldaddy page where they can write a comment.

2. The poll can be created to let the readers enter an answer on their own. The problem is, when the “Results” button is clicked, the actual answers are not seen in “Other”, it just shows the result bar.

3. Another thing is, you can’t paste the poll in the side bar of your wordpress.com blog.

4. Some polling services allow the poll creator to use images in answers. You can’t do that at Polldaddy.

Solutions (but not all)
1. There’s no way to overcome the first problem. No, wait! Maybe there is! Don’t set the poll to allow users to post comments at all. Instead, urge people to write comments in your post. That way you keep the readers in your blog.

2. I don’t know how to get over this problem. Any idea?

3. About the second problem, well, why not link to your poll in your side bar using some text or some image?

4. I have no idea how to bypass this problem, other than to use a different service from the list found in the link under this post.

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Important Update

It is now possible to embed a workable poll in the sidebar of a wordpress.com blog. So I have one less grievance about Polldaddy!
This is such a good news indeed! I know that many users of wordpress.com almost left the platform because they couldn’t embed a workable poll right in their blogs. Now we have it all! WordPress rocks!

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A friendly suggestion

If comments about a poll are important to you, then I suggest that you embed the poll in a post or page and not in the sidebar. Provide a link to your poll post in your sidebar. That way, your poll will get full exposure in your blog at all time.
If you think that polls really belong to the side bar, rather than in a page or post, then you might want to put a text link under the poll, which will lead the reader to a post where they can write their opinions to encourage discussions.

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Further readings
Create free polls and free surveys for your wordpress.com blog
This post lists features of a lot of good survey and polling services that are wordpress.com compatible. You can even check out sample surveys and polls before you actually sign up for one!