Monday 10 March 2014

Increasing Accessibility by Scraping Information From PDF

You may have heard about data scraping which is a method that is being used by computer programs in extracting data from an output that comes from another program. To put it simply, this is a process which involves the automatic sorting of information that can be found on different resources including the internet which is inside an html file, PDF or any other documents. In addition to that, there is the collection of pertinent information. These pieces of information will be contained into the databases or spreadsheets so that the users can retrieve them later.

Most of the websites today have text that can be accessed and written easily in the source code. However, there are now other businesses nowadays that choose to make use of Adobe PDF files or Portable Document Format. This is a type of file that can be viewed by simply using the free software known as the Adobe Acrobat. Almost any operating system supports the said software. There are many advantages when you choose to utilize PDF files. Among them is that the document that you have looks exactly the same even if you put it in another computer so that you can view it. Therefore, this makes it ideal for business documents or even specification sheets. Of course there are disadvantages as well. One of which is that the text that is contained in the file is converted into an image. In this case, it is often that you may have problems with this when it comes to the copying and pasting.

This is why there are some that start scraping information from PDF. This is often called PDF scraping in which this is the process that is just like data scraping only that you will be getting information that is contained in your PDF files. In order for you to begin scraping information from PDF, you must choose and exploit a tool that is specifically designed for this process. However, you will find that it is not easy to locate the right tool that will enable you to perform PDF scraping effectively. This is because most of the tools today have problems in obtaining exactly the same data that you want without personalizing them.

Nevertheless, if you search well enough, you will be able to encounter the program that you are looking for. There is no need for you to have programming language knowledge in order for you to use them. You can easily specify your own preferences and the software will do the rest of the work for you. There are also companies out there that you can contact and they will perform the task since they have the right tools that they can use. If you choose to do things manually, you will find that this is indeed tedious and complicated whereas if you compare this to having professionals do the job for you, they will be able to finish it in no time at all. Scraping information from PDF is a process where you collect the information that can be found on the internet and this does not infringe copyright laws.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Increasing-Accessibility-by-Scraping-Information-From-PDF&id=4593863

Monday 3 March 2014

Grepsr scraping service Review

As we reviewed web scraping software and services, we stumbled upon an interesting cloud scraping service called Grepsr. This service is dedicated to extracting consumer requested data by its own specialists with the possibility that the user may control scrape scheduling and some other data extraction steps.

Grepsr focuses on a project for scrape. You don’t need to worry about choosing an extractor, the environment to run it or DB for data storage; everything is done for you. Just give a precise description of data you need and your request will be processed. The sample request I composed took them just over 30 min. to complete the data extraction. The pricing hinges on the down payment for a project and the number of scheduled projects per month regardless of the data amount you scrape. One shortage of the UI is when scaling the page up, fonts remain the same size, irritating the eyes.

Make a Sample Project

You don’t need to log in to Grepsr before you describe your target data for a sample project.  To point at the data you might want, use the visual tools at Grepsr, the mark up box or just enter notes. The online specialist is prompt to chat with you. As you describe the extraction details and leave your contact info, a confirmation letter will be sent to you and your project will be indicated as one in process. In the following picture, I marked the needed info using the inbuilt box with the comment box appearing under the table. I was able to compose the request quickly. 

Moreover, you may specify any search filters or login info for target page(s) if needed.

Data Synchronization and Storage

For each project, you choose the way to get the data synchronized, depending on your needed output format. You may request CSV, PDF or HTML files delivered to your FTP, Dropbox or Google Docs account. Also, you may request notification about your extracted data through alerts via Email or HTTP POST.

There is currently no limit for account data storage amount. However, if the storage amount becomes excessive (GBs), the data may either be archived or deleted or there may be a cost for storage.

Payment

The project development cost is $129, regardless of complexity unless the task has a very unique requirement (then custom pricing is used). The one-time extraction limit for new project is 50K records from 1 website. The first sample will be free – but to be able to download the data daily, there will be a $99 setup fee and $50 per month per project payable after viewing the sample data, regardless of the data amount extracted.

Scheduling

Scheduling is well organized, as shown below:

Summary

Unlike many other data hunting/scraping services, Grepsr provides usable tools to manage projects and scheduling. The service is user-friendly with prompt support. If you know nothing about programming and web scraping, but you need to get a data from the web, this service is for you. But if you are a programmer and know how to extract web data, you may use another web scraping solution to have more freedom with a lower cost.

Source: http://scraping.pro/grepsr-scraping-service-review/

Getting Back Into Internet Marketing

Today I am getting back into internet marketing. In the last few weeks I have completely stopped internet marketing to focus on property. There is so much more money to be made easier in property than internet marketing and I can see now how property can provide me with financial freedom a lot quicker than internet marketing ever could.

Although I do have a problem. Property doesn't take up a lot of my time. Doing property deals is an elongated process and takes minutes of your time spread throughout each day and each week. But then you have the dilemma of what you do with the time in between. I could do nothing, but that isn't exactly me, I always love to have my head full of something.

So after much consideration I have decided to start getting back into internet marketing. Property will still be my focus, and will be my focus until I am financially free, but I realise that internet marketing will be good for me also. Firstly it will generate income which will increase my borrowing power, secondly it will give me something to do, but most importantly it will give me an outlet for which to teach.

I have come a long way in the last 6 months when it comes to understanding wealth and actually being in a position where I am moving forward into wealth. I am currently still in negotiations on my first property deal and I am looking to do my second deal within the next month.

It will be very different teaching wealth from a place of wealth (or really moving towards) than just from a student's perspective. In the past I have always been the student of wealth, someone who knows a lot but not someone that had a lot of money. In fact I worked just enough to scrape by so that I could spend my time studying wealth. This meant I had great knowledge but no money.

I do believe that knowledge brings with it finance. The size of your bank account will increase to fit in with the size of you as a person. If you are rich on the inside, you will naturally gather and grow money to reflect who you are on the inside. If you are poor on the inside, even if you win lotto, your money will naturally shrink to fit who you are. So I am so glad that I focused on increasing my capacity instead of working harder for money.

I haven't really planned out exactly what I am going to do when it comes to internet marketing. This blog exists as my own outlet for my life, so it won't be part of my investment plan. I am not trying to make money from this blog. Although I have a few other things in mind.

I have grown a large subscriber base over the last few years (about 1,500 subscribers) but making money from my subscribers has always seem to elude me. So to combat this I plan to create my own course to market to my subscribers. It will be a course to teach people about the financial basics that I have been learning for the last 6 months. The financial basics that have allowed me to purchase my first property and start generating passive income.

I also want to continue to market and grow my list. I have around 1,500 subscribers. Ultimately I want to have 60,000+ subscribers and to get them I will be writing articles and submitting them to article directories.

I also want to eventually create a "How to make money with Aweber" course. I free course that I would market and get people to sign up for. The course would be free and I would only make money through affiliate sales of the Aweber service.

Basically I am trying to keep my brain occupied and have a little bit of fun in between doing each property deal.

Your next step towards becoming rich is to increase your financial IQ through education. By educating yourself in the area of finances you will be able to get a greater return on investment and you will be able to earn more with less work and less risk. Does that sound good to you?

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Getting-Back-Into-Internet-Marketing&id=3744975