I’m writing this to help all of those out there who are running into WPA2 wifi issues with Ubuntu 12.04. Warning: The instructions below may mess up your computer, delete essential software, or render your network connections void if done incorrectly. Only proceed if you are VERY familiar with Ubuntu and accept the consenquences.
For weeks now I had been struggling to connect and when I did, it was a 50/50 chance it would work, there were password issues, and sometimes it wouldn’t connect unless I rebooted my computer. The result of dozens of trial and error tests has revealed this amazingly easy fix!
-Step 1: Install Wicd (+the GTK program for it), and then go into Startup Applications and make sure it loads in the tray when your PC boots (not required but helps you see when it connects). I used an unsecure WEP network for the install because Ubuntu connected to the WEP signal I had just fine.
Click here if you’re curious where the phrase came from =)
This phrase is true both offline and online. Knowledge will always give you the upper hand with shopping, conversations, and general living. Today I’m going to focus on the online portion of the phrase though. Many people (myself included) like to be extremely informed about new technology, recent computer events, and dozens of other updates. People who do not wish to be informed will often resort to fear (which turns to paranoia) about technological issues.
I remember when I was first learning to drive in California, someone told me “stay off the freeway whenever you can”. Immediately I wondered why, in a state made up almost entirely of freeways, I would avoid them. If I always took side streets, I would be unprepared for what it’s like to drive on a freeway should the need ever arise. The same goes for online work.
Several relatives of mine will tell me how they don’t “use that PayPal site” or “never open emails with attachments”. First off, PayPal is very safe, it’s the businesses offering PayPal that are the questionable part. Secondly, keeping away from emails with attachments may cause you to miss out on events (like family photos) or let online bills sit unpaid. There is no reason you should remain naive about the workings of the computer or various Internet news. Like it or not, you WILL have to use a computer at some point in your life if you live in modern America.
You should simply do a quick online search for any questions you may have. There are millions of websites that can have your answer in a matter of seconds. Trust me, you will feel much worse if you avoid learning and then one day are asked to check through some emails for your job or write up a spreadsheet. Still on topic, if you have any questions about web hosting, feel free to personally ask me through www.HostArmor.com; I will give you the simplest answer I can think of.
1. Using more than 1 level in a drop-down menu (exception would be control panels with tons of options).
If you can’t convey your important links with just one drop-down level, you should re-think the priority of those links. Is there a reason for there to be a F.A.Q. page? Can you put all your products onto one page? What is the best way to deliver content fast to customers? Those are the questions you need to be asking if you find yourself creating a spiderweb of menu links.
2. Putting too much content on a page.
You should never crowd a site. Your website is viewed much the same way as a store. People can’t buy your products or services if they can’t find them. The Internet is all about the “here and now”, but you still need to make room for solid site design. Make sure your prices are clearly listed up front and don’t push too many add-ons towards new customers. If they want extra services, they should be able to order them at any time and have knowledge of the services because the site structure is logical.
3. Putting too little on a page (contact info and a pic is not a website… sorry).
When you want a mini site, then make one. There are plenty of styles you can do when creating a 1-page website, unfortunately a vCard is not one of them. Your website is a storefront, if you style your “storefront” as a business card, people are just going to move on to the next site. Landing pages are good, but they must always be used sparingly and should never be the homepage of a site, just a side page used for promotions.
4. Making it hard to get in touch with you.
Don’t ever for any reason hide your contact information on your site! I understand that many people feel it is easier to just have a contact form and nothing else, but that is the #1 to lose customers. You need to have a phone number clearly listed and if applicable an address. Customers like to see that you are a real person and that you reside in this country, if you hide that information you are creating a faceless site.
5. Using more than 3 fonts (this tends to play tricks on the eyes, especially if they are varied in style).
Fonts are all fun and games until someone gets a headache. I personally love to use fonts that have a very solid feel to them. If you like more creative fonts, that is fine too, but always keep consistency with your website. The logo should probably be a different font than the rest of the site, all the headings should be the same font, and all the text should be the same font… that’s three!
6. Using backgrounds more colorful or detailed than the site itself (HostArmor™ has very subtle background stripes).
Many sites have exciting backgrounds, but is it really something YOUR site needs? If the background is brighter, bolder, and looking better than the content of your website, something needs to change. Try choosing a background and background style that blend with your site. Metal on metal, wood on wood, and so forth.
(This post is a study of better web design techniques; conducted in part with www.HostArmor.com)
PayPal released a new version of their site today (I happened to see it early while they were testing it a couple days ago). When I took a look at the new and improved site, I noticed they simplified the design greatly. No more was the cluttered layout of the old site, a new and more modern interface is now in play. Looking at your own site, you should take into account how it is set up, what the strengths are, and how you can share your business message as simply as possible. People today spend only mere seconds on a website, if you are giving them tons of information without stating your true purpose, you are throwing customers away. Look at the PayPal site, they list three simple things you can do with their service and no more. The background photo silently says “You will have peace of mind using our service.”
We revamped our website www.HostArmor.com last month. You should consider 2012 YOUR year to reach every customer in the world. Happy designing!
According to online sources, Facebook will roll out and update that forces all users to have Timeline on February 1st, 2012. Already this update is being met with aversion and will likely upset the addition of new users in the future. I for one have already been searching for an alternative and the best I’ve ever seen would be www.SocialGroovy.com
True there is no solution to switch back from Timeline once the 1st comes, but the next best thing is finding a social network that promises to never change their layout! The speed and features are quite comparable to Facebook. I love the lightweight chat system, and privacy features myself. Check it out for yourself, and best of luck for anyone who chooses to stay with the soon-to-be-stalker-friendly Facebook.
Here is what I’ve noticed from looking at VPS hosting websites:
ArmorVPS.com – Cheaper VPS hosting, good bandwidth allocation (1TB or 1000GB at the lowest plan), and takes only 2 levels to get to 700+ MB of RAM (recommended for cPanel). Unmanaged but you can contact them if you need full or partial management options. Multiple backup add-ons are also available and you have more choice over the VPS size. Uses a custom control panel for the VPS. The size is limited to 16TB bandwidth at the maximum plan. No complaints.
HostGator.com – More expensive, bandwidth is comparable with the disk space but not outstanding, and it takes 3 levels to get to 700+ MB of RAM (again recommended for cPanel). Fully managed if you get level 3 plan or higher. Only backup option is the built-in HostGator one, it’s off-site so it should be reliable. Uses VIRTUOZZO Power Panel for management (learning curve?). The size is limited to 3TB of bandwidth at the maximum plan. Have heard complaints about the VPS service.
KnownHost.com – Cheaper than HostGator for pricing, bigger bandwidth allocation (500GB at the lowest plan), it takes 2 levels to get to 700+ MB of RAM (for cPanel). Fully managed support according to their site (not managed just good support?). Backups every other night, not much detail about that. Uses Virtuozzo PowerPanel like HostGator. The size is limited to 5TB at the maximum plan. No complaints that I know of… no pun intended.
LiquidWeb.com – Seems like the most expensive out of the 5, generous bandwidth but the price reflects it, and it takes only 1 level to get to 700+ MB of RAM (for cPanel but didn’t see cPanel price listed). Full management available but again no price for that. I don’t see anything about backups. Also don’t see anything about a VPS control panel. The size is limited to 2TB of bandwidth at the maximum plan but it looks like they can create a custom plan. Have heard a complaint from one of my clients about their service.
GigaTux.com – Very good starter pricing, 10x bandwidth allocation, and at the 5th level you get 700+ RAM for smooth cPanel usage. Unmanaged VPS but 24/7 support is available. Extra storage is available for use as a backup if needed (backups could be preformed with the control panel too). No listed VPS control but you receive root access like with most VPS’s. The size is limited to 2.4TB bandwidth at the maximum plan. No complaints.
I didn’t list prices since each host has different prices based on what software you may require. Best of luck with picking one! I may not have personal experience with all of these companies but you can decide for yourself based on these observations. Leave a comment if there’s a host you’d like to see added to the list or if this was helpful to you finding a new VPS host!
Today marks the official launch date of ArmorVPS.com! Their services span 6 datacenters and 3 continents. Everything from a small website to a large store can be run through the awe-inspiring VPS services. Right now is the perfect time to start your next online business.
Google, Yahoo, and other search engines take approximately 2 weeks to visit through all the pages on your website and begin ranking it based on links, keywords, and content. Given the current timeframe, this will make your site ready by New Years! With shared hosting you get exactly what you pay for, shared resources, shared disk space, and shared processing power. For a lot of websites this is completely fine and can handle a good amount of traffic without issues.
VPS hosting on the other hand gives you a Virtual Private Server that allots a set amount of resources to you, and you alone!* Whether you have the next social network up your sleeve or you need to stream music videos right off your site, VPS is the way to go. The plans at ArmorVPS™ are not just limited to one website either, you can use WHM/cPanel (Web Host Manager/cPanel Control Panel) to start your own shared hosting business. What better way to start your site than to build upon the best?
Plans start at just $20 and include a terabyte (1024 gigabytes) of bandwidth PER MONTH! This allows your site to be capable of transferring thousands of megabytes of data each and every day. There are premium backup solutions available and additional storage starts at just $10 for every 25GB storage node. Your site is meant to grow, and your hosting plan with ArmorVPS™ will grow along with you. We have a full-featured VPS control panel and power most of our servers with CentOS**. Join our Cloud family today and see why cloud computing will take your site above and beyond the limits of a computer!
*Most VPS hosting companies, even larger ones, give you shared resources, or what’s called “equal share”. We however give you dedicated CPU power.
**Different configurations or operating systems are available upon request.
By now you may (or may not) know that Ink Ignite is run by none other than HostArmor™. They proudly employ our services for web design and we proudly look to them for hosting. We’ve learned that they have plans underway right now for VPS hosting. This will include dedicated VPS plans!
All of us here are very excited for the new launch of their site, www.ArmorVPS.com. When the site launches many of their current customers, and many of our future customers will be given discounts, upgrades, and transfers to take full advantage of the powerful system. In addition to it being faster and quicker to deploy, the new systems are also rumored to have outstanding uptimes.
We’ve been asked by HostArmor™ to pass along that if you would like to pre-order VPS hosting, just contact them via www.HostArmor.com. They are even going to give free shared hosting on their standard servers until the VPS is ready to launch!
Just like the change from WEP wifi encryption to WPA and now WPA2 (or so I hope you’re using); Internet Protocol (IP) addresses must also be updated. Almost every cell phone is now capable of being connected to the Internet, adding a whole new wave of new devices. Along with mobile connectivity comes expansion. Economic trouble or not, the Internet is growing every second of every day. Just last week I registered 5 new domain names and plan to register another this week.
So what is IPv6 and why should you care? IPv4 is a simple string of numbers that is the driving force behind a domain name, instead of typing 192.168.1.1, you simply type InkIgnite.com (this is an example, that IP address is used for LANs and routers, not the actual Internet). IPv6 looks more like FE80:0000:0000:0000:0202:B3FF:FE1E:8329. Looks like something out of Star Trek right? Well take a good look because that is the future. Right there is what is going to be the new driving force behind WWW.
Fortunately for most of us our ISP, web hosting company, or datacenter will deal with the messy updates. For the end users this will mean a lot more opportunities. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) relies in part on individual IP addresses. Hopefully this new protocol will also help keep your website from becoming blacklisted just because you share the same IP as a spammer.
Continuing to keep the Internet a dynamic place is how modern society is progressing. Sadly, many things go overlooked and we still have major flaws. Let’s show IPv6 as a proud moment in history and make the most of it!
(Note: www.HostArmor.com – our hosting company – is working with our datacenter to ensure IPv6 is properly setup and ready-to-go when the time comes!)
StartUpLift allows organizations, companies, and startups to gather valuable feedback from would-be visitors. During the launch process of any website, it is important to find what your visitors love and what they could do without on your site. Being a professional web designer, I’ve seen many businesses launch a site without second thought to the color scheme, hard-to-read fonts, or even blurry graphics. A website is a product, and any product must go through many stages of testing. Once the initial code testing is finished, many business owners should turn to StartUpLift to view aesthetic flaws from a third-person point of view.
Not only can StartUpLift collect user reviews for your website, they can also provide them for your mobile app as well. In this day and age it is important to keep up with the technology through new trends; like mobile apps. The feedback of a dozen or even one user can be valued many thousands of times over. StartUpLift gives businesses all the tools they need in a simple, clean-cut, and success-bound format!
Official Website: www.StartUpLift.com
Facebook is most certainly strapping down and preparing for their biggest challenger to the social network market since Myspace (RIP)… GOOGLE+. I’ve tried out the beta and I must say that the streaming news concept seems oddly familiar (I’m sure Zuckerberg wishes he trademarked it). I found it to load in a nice amount of time and seeing that Google reigns over the Internet in speed and reliability, I might say that Facebook is going to look like a dinosaur pretty soon.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually love Facebook but the new set of changes seems like a step in the *wrong* direction considering Google+ is about to launch any day. The social network war will break out, and it will be a test of time to see who wins!
Now how does this all relate to your business? Well taking into account that Google is the primary path of people finding any and all information online, it will only be a matter of time before their social network incorporates this fully and leaves businesses who don’t conform to fend for themselves. The ever-growing Google Analytics is a great way of tracking users and will show your support of Google when used for sites. In turn this will most likely affect your ranking amongst their listings.
Right now the iron is hot and it’s the time to strike if you want your business succeeding! Potential customers will always follow the company who keeps up with the latest trends. So what do you do to ensure you can integrate Google quickly and efficiently? Find a host who can support it. Sounds like a lot of work? It is! We’ve taken the hard part out and added Google Analytics Integration directly into our hosting control panel with a simple one-click installation. We know you want to be successful online and this is going to be one of the ways you can do that. HostArmor™ is ready to help you do that and we can provide assistance if needed.
You can quickly request more information from us at: www.HostArmor.com
Your business needs to be hand-in-hand with Google; let us help you do that! We are giving away a special promo code to save you 30% when you sign up for any of our plans on a monthly cycle: GOOGLEPLUS
We officially launched our web hosting site yesterday. Not only does it run on some of the fastest servers on the planet; the rates are also amazing. $6.99 for a Linux-powered, 99.9% uptime guaranteed, website with access to 4500 web templates? I think the templates in themselves are worth at least $50/month, but that’s just me. We offer have custom plans if you need additional support like transferring your site from an old host.
In addition we don’t even make you register a domain name with us (although we have some great suggestions if you need a good domain registrar). You can buy or use your domain name wherever you want and then just point it to our servers.
Everything is nicely powered by cPanel and right now we have two themes to choose from when managing your site. The default one being dark and clean, and the light one being crisp and clear.
(Default cPanel Theme)
Our billing system is securely managed by PayPal. However we are planning to add the option to pay through AlertPay (for our international customers). Live chat support is provided through the hosting site just like on this site. Feel free to hop on over to www.InkIgniteHosting.com and check our our extraordinary deals. We’re always stretching the limits every day to provide the best service to you!
I recently read an article (honestly can’t remember the source) that advised new web designers to find a niche and stick with it. My only question was, “why?”
Why would any web designer in their right mind only stick to one niche? There are hundreds of clients, thousands of possibilities, and millions of ideas. Web designers should be ready to take them all on in a heartbeat. I’m not saying it’s bad to have specialities (one of mine is WordPress) but sticking to only one type of site design is foolish and will only lose you business.
It’s true that most of my clients are small businesses. But if a church or photographer wants to come along and hire me; I’m going to instantly adapt to fit their needs. Limiting oneself to a specific niche is like trying to do surgery while wearing a full-body cast. It simply won’t work and you’ll hurt more people than you help in the end. When it comes to web design it’s all or nothing. You either can do A to Z design, or you can’t. Now we all have our limits, but creativity should fill in most of the gaps. After all, web design is an art form, nothing less.
When you consider the idea of a designer sticking to a specific niche; it seems like he/she almost wants to limit himself/herself. Specialising in certain areas always brings a uniqueness to your skillset but you should always have all the bases covered, even if that means hand-coding an entire site or working overtime on a project because you need to learn a new skill. Any web designer who takes a bold step and says “I am a Real Estate web designer.” is going to trip the next step when a client requests a blog, and again with the next client who requests a forum. Before you know it, you’ll be drowning in requests that you have no likelihood of fulfilling.
I’m going to end this by saying: if you have limits or something you don’t like doing (like PHP coding) then acknowledge them, but by no means quit learning. Every second of the day new ways of designing are discovered or invented. Try keeping up with just a small portion of them and you will certainly find success at every turn!
APLUS
Although I didn’t use their hosting services for very long I was quite disappointed. Limited storage, rude support, and overall the hosting just wasn’t very good. Sure they have a $5/month special but my guess would be that they are doing that before they go out of business. I would never recommend them.
Rating: ★
GODADDY
I’ve personally never had an account with them but I have helped several clients with accounts so I’ve seen their backend. I’ve gotten lost more than once trying to figure out their ridiculous maze of options. Yes, they have something unique and not like cPanel but I personally like cPanel and it’s a solid system. Don’t fix it if it’s not broken. Also, I’ve seen a guy with an e-commerce site built on WordPress and hosted by GoDaddy, the site crawled. Another host I wouldn’t recommend.
Rating: ★
HOSTMONSTER
I’ve been using HostMonster for about 3 years and their service is pretty acceptable. It was only until recently that I’ve noticed extended downtime and slower load times. Their support team is U.S.-based so there was no issues with that, I just started to feel trapped. Also, Ink Ignite’s initiative to become more “green” wasn’t well supported by their hosting service. I suppose it was nelect or just the fact there was no need to question HostMonster (until now) but they are a sister company of Bluehost. Bluehost is known for having huge issues with their clients and trimming down resources just to save money. I would imagine it is only a matter of time before HostMonster follows in her sister’s footsteps. There has also been some talk of them not allowing SEO plugins. I would recommend them as a second choice for hosting if you just need a site but nothing amazing.
Rating: ★ ★ ★
HOSTGATOR
Ink Ignite (and all the sites we host) have been successfully moved over to HostGator as of a few days ago. HostGator is not only giving back to the environment, they also offer features that are above and beyond what is needed. They transferred, for FREE, all our files from HostMonster. The option also exists to change cPanel themes once you log into the backend (something I didn’t know existed when using HostMonster). Wind and Linux -powered servers is what they offer for most of the hosting plans. Pricing for their packages is about average and they don’t lock you into a contract. There’s hosting, and then there’s hosting right!
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
INK IGNITE HOSTING
We have taken it to the next level and now provide our own hosting. Obviously this review isn’t very fair since it’s our own hosting company but we really have used our own signup systems and billing systems. They are easy, all in one place, and you get emailed everything. Plus our integrated billing/support system ensures your trouble ticket is always #1! You can always view the live status of our servers as well as checking network issues. We securely process payments through AlertPay and you can use your debit or credit card to pay. With over 4,000 FREE web templates included in all of our plans and 99.9% uptime, we really do offer some of the best web hosting you’ll ever see! www.InkIgniteHosting.com
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I’ve just installed the latest release of Firefox and am writing this from FF4. Everything works so fluidly and calmly. Lately I’ve been using Google Chrome for it’s speed but have been eagerly awaiting to use Mozilla’s perfect browser. One of my favorite features is the Paste & Go. It also have a much smaller menu and so forth, seems compacted but in a good way. Here’s a great article about how to install it in the latest Ubuntu releases http://www.webupd8.org/2011/03/install-firefox-4-in-ubuntu-1004-1010.html. If you haven’t updated yet, do so!
On March 3rd the sixth release of GnackTrack was opened to the public. (I realize the post is a bit late but I was revamping this site.) One of the most prominent features of this release is the addition of a single button that themes the entire system to look like Windows XP. It overall is a very good and graphically pleasing penetration testing Linux distro. I hope that future releases encourage software designers to take a good look at the security of their products and that they benefit from systems like this; to test and re-test their software before rushing it to the market. I’m sure Microsoft Windows could take quite a few pointers before coming up with Windows 8.
It seems that old practices of business still find their way into the modern world. For example, web design. There is absolutely no reason that a client and designer should ever have to sit down and discuss a site. Whether they both are in the same room or 2000 miles apart, no amount of physical meeting is going to express what the client has built up in his/her head as the design. This is a struggle for web designers to understand the client’s wishes but that is part of the process; getting to know the client. Even clients that I have sat down with have proved to have no more of an impact on the design than ones I’ve never met. As an international and country-wide web design firm; Ink Ignite cannot meet with each and every client.
I have astonishingly been hung up on just because I can’t physically meet with the client (living in the mountains makes it very inconvenient to visit clients, with no guarantee they will even show up or decide to hire me). Not only does that show the client isn’t truly ready to be part of the Internet, it also shows he/she is not ready to receive modern business. After all, the whole point of a website is to meet customers or visitors without any physical interaction, so why can’t that be the point of a designer?
Another reason clients may desire physical meetings is because they’ve been cheated out of money in the past. And so they feel that meeting the designer face-to-face is going to provide extra security. However, how many people have money stolen from them from legitimate companies on a daily basis? Thousands if not millions. The important thing is to just read the designers website (we explain everything and provide assistance for further inquiries), make sure he/she is verified through the proper payment systems (Ink Ignite is PayPal and AlertPay verified), and make sure you have proper measures put into place to ensure you don’t get your money stolen (Ink Ignite only asks for a deposit for projects and then the rest of the payment once the site is 100% functional, we also have Terms of Service and a Return Policy that you can access at any time).
Bottom line, if you don’t trust your web designer, then why should your web designer trust you? Always use safe practices when purchasing online, and look through the entire site. If something seems shifty then be sure you really get to know the company before purchasing from them.
That title is correct; Ink Ignite is going to be offering 100% FREE web hosting to anyone who wants it. There is just a couple limitations (like disk space) but other than that is works perfectly! We also fully support you asking us for web design using the service, as in we can design you a full website with our hosting. It supports email accounts, subdomains, and SQL databases. Everything a good host should offer!
Our new subdivision, InkIgniteHosting.com, will now carry on the responsibilities of providing high-tech hosting to clients and visitors. The hosting service provides people with a way of having a free website, although we strongly recommend you have Ink Ignite design you a website to gain the full potential of this offer.
Technical support is provided free of charge as well. It is very easy to open support tickets from within your user cpanel. As always we are available via phone if you need help setting it all up. The service is fairly straightforward and we foresee no difficultly with people using it. Everything is automated so the registration goes very fast. There is no obligation and we will never spam you.
Yes, yes, I know it’s an odd name for a blog post but let’s be creative! The only reason I like St. Patrick’s Day is for one particular dessert that you can only get from one place. Shamrock Shakes from McDonald’s! I spend the entire year craving their minty flavor and on St. Patrick’s the planets align and the fast food industry gives MickieD the power to give us green shakes. Or something like that. If you haven’t had one yet and if you aren’t in the 2% of people who don’t like ice cream, then go out and get one. It’s worth the $4 or whatever ridiculous price they charge. One of these days I’m convinced to buy a shake-maker and fill it with mint ice cream. It would be like selling hotdogs at a baseball game.
Alright, enough temptation of desserts (I do apologize if I made anyone break their diet). On to the second part of the title. A plugin. This particular plugin is for WordPress, is my favorite. And comes with lots of wonderful updates. It’s known as Fluency Admin from Dean Robinson. I personally have found it to be the best plugin I’ve ever used. In addition to making it compatible with WordPress 3.1 (the plugin now stands at version 2.4), he also adding in a “Just Write” function which cuts away everything except the post/page editor. It is quite useful for long posts where focus on content is important and eliminating distractions is essential. Here’s a screenshot: 
Along with the Just Write feature he also added in a setting to change the administration menu color and made the drop-down menus of the admin bar rounded. I suggest you try it out on your WordPress-powered site. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without this plugin. As always, Donating to him always helps the plugin development stay alive!
It’s here! It’s now! It’s stunning!
I just updated all the site’s of my clients who are running WordPress, as well as this site.
(I’ll write a more comprehensive review once the adrenaline wears off.)
Alright, WordPress 3.1, not only is the software itself amazing to use, it’s built on firm foundations. WordPress as certainly grown from just blogging software to a fully-featured Content Management System (CMS). It’s open-source, which encourages the community to fix bugs, troubleshoot WP-powered sites, and expand the use of it. From themes to plugins web designers and users everywhere can make WordPress do almost anything. This site itself serves as a perfect example of what you can do with it.
The most notable feature of Version 3.1 would be the admin bar. It used to only be available on WordPress.com but is now offered freely to self-hosted sites as well. The bar simplifies the process of editing content and accessing common areas of the dashboard. In addition it should also be pointed out that the Post and Page editing screens have been simplified so it’s easier for beginners not to get lost in too many features. (The sections can be brought back using Screen Options at the top of the post/page editor.) With over 820 fixed issues, this is definitely a proud moment for WordPress and open-source in general. Along with all of that the theme management page in the admin panel has also received some updates; like a feature filter and links to quickly update widgets and menus..
The official WordPress download counter has declared over 400,000 downloads (and it’s only been ~24 hours since the release of 3.1)
http://wordpress.org/download/counter/
(If you are curious to see the admin bar in action, you can simply make an account on this site;
About > Login > Register and then login.)
PureOS is a very enchanting Debian-based distro. It features a clean icon set, a stunning wallpaper, and a program dock. One of those distros which could grow with lots of potential. Designed off the testing branch of Debian, it includes some of the latest software. My only complaint was that it didn’t include wifi support from the livecd, however that was a minor setback compared to the overall system. Below I’ve included a screenshot of the OS in all its beauty. This was certainly a treat to test out and I look forward to using this on one of my computers in the future. I personally recommend trying PureOS if you want to test out a new Linux distribution.
I recently started catching up on and then regularly watching a comedy show called Outsourced. Due to its small episode length I was skeptical about the quality. However, it turns out to be a very funny show (assuming that the accents don’t bother you). It has been a very pleasant show to watch, a good comedy, which is rare to fine in this age. Below I embedded a little Hulu video player that lets you watch episodes right from this post. Enjoy!
First off I know the title contains an outdated phrase: “World Wide Web” is now known as just “The Internet” by virtually everyone you meet. However, the use of that term is more appropriate for this post. Let us consider for a minute what would happen if the entire planet went technologically dark. Does our generation even know how to function without Wikipedia, Google, and YouTube to explain things like simple recipes? Is the human mind losing or gaining memory? How dependent are social, economic, and everyday experiences on computers?
I’ll start with the first question, in a nutshell, no. How many people even own an atlas? Could you visit grandma without using Google Maps? Both those questions can probably be answered with another “no”. Then let’s consider everything else, the weather, email, instant messaging (IM), or Facebook. How long would it take before you’re stuck in a blizzard, lose contact with your best friend, and never remember a single birthday? Lots of questions, answer in a comment or just think about it.
Now we move onto the human mind; can you remember all those contacts in your iPhone? What about remembering an email? A phone number? Your own password? As technology grows, so does our ability to manage, store, and retrieve “memories” at will. No more pulling out the photo album when you can just pull up a Facebook album (I point out Facebook because Myspace in just a year has gone from hero to zero). Feel like you’re forgetting simple stuff if it isn’t written down? You’re not the only one.
My last big question. (Obviously there’s millions more but I just wanted to stick to these three.) When is the last time you stopped to talk to someone at the store verses talking to five people at the same time on your Intel? What is the proper way to start a phone conversation? Who ends that conversation, the caller or the callee? (Callee is a real word, I used Google to verify that, see my point?) How about asking someone on a date without texting it?
My entire point being; people need to think for themselves. If we can’t function without technology then what makes us any better than that dusty Mac computer sitting in your attic? Are we ourselves computers? What is software without the hardware? Nothing. Online society is an easy way of killing offline society. (A side note to any readers, I love technology but I love friendly tech, things that better the world online and off- like WordPress. Try limiting your time on social networks, read a book, not on the computer. Take the time to remember things yourself instead of having your harddrive do it for you. Trust me, your brain will thank you one day.)
You would not believe what Ink Ignite has to offer now. We took it up to a whole new level for 2011. There are more options to choose from, faster turnaround times, and the best graphics our company has ever produced. That’s only the web design layouts! Our static sites are now being produced with XHTML. Our WordPress themes have a high level of elegance. And our graphics are to die for.
We now offer the chance for you to get even more from our designers. Imagine Ink Ignite taking your old site and converting it into a professional, clean-cut, and modern design. Not only do we have a variety of choices for you to mix-and-mash, we also have characters and backgrounds to enhance your business potential. We are taken professionally online and now it’s time for you to be too.
Contact us for all your web design needs, we’re more all-inclusive than ever before! The revamp of our site serves as a perfect example of just how committed we are to providing quality content.
*Check out the new FAQ page and the updated Portfolio*
When I moved from North Dakota back to California; I decided that paying for long distance phone service has gotten redicious. Since I had gotten cable Internet that had a minimum connection of 11mbps, I wanted to use some type of VoIP system to handle long distance calls that required a land-line. Around 50 websites and several hours of searching finally yielded netTALK. Now before you leap at the next opportunity to by it, keep in mind that the service is relatively new so there are still bugs to be worked out. (My voicemail still doesn’t work.)
The device itself costs $70, which considering that you get unlimited calling with a local number and free domestic calling, is actually a good deal. It only costs $30/year to keep your phone number and connection to their service. So all around it costs the price of one month’s phone bill in a year. Good deal right? Right! The service is great (you must have a very fast Internet connection though, DSL won’t cut it), I’m able to easily manage voicemails, and the best part is that you can take the device with you and use it anywhere with Internet. On top of it, you don’t have to keep a computer on like with MagicJack or Skype, it plugs directly into your router or modem. All in all it is a great idea!
I’ve only had a few issues with it. One of them being that the voicemail doesn’t work. The other problem arose when I first ordered the device and they shipped to the wrong place, but then made me wait for the return before finally sending out another one (took me over a month to finally get it). Their customer service is also very short with you, no lengthy, helpful, or understandable people. Otherwise this is one of the best inventions I’ve ordered.
V is a SyFy remake of an old TV show about aliens that come down and trick the world into trust before taking over. So far in season 1 we’ve met the good aliens, the bad aliens, and seen a little bit of what happens and what is planned. But like every good show, there is always a twist. In season 2 we finally know what the “red sky” is that occurred in the season 1 finale. We also see what is planned with Tyler and why Anna is so obsessed with him.
So right before I’m about to finish and publish this…. they cancel V. Again. Sorry readers, there’s not much to talk about since the show is cancelled indefinitely. Just in case them cancelling the rest of the season wasn’t bad enough, I recently was met by this notice on Hulu: “Streaming rights for full episodes are no longer available.”. That almost makes me believe that V was somehow sued.
*UPDATE* Alright, I guess I was wrong about it being cancelled; I just watched the latest episode tonight. But seeing as they cut the first season off, you see my wariness about this season. I still am unable to watch episodes on Hulu, it’s unfortunate they lost the rights because I can’t always catch it on TV and Hulu has never let me down until now.
Since my Clear OS post from two years ago has been still generating traffic, I thought I would do a follow-up now. For anyone who doesn’t know, Clear OS is a network, gateway, and server platform (that’s right off their site). It is a culmination of a lot of projects, most noted would be that is it based in part on Cent OS. With such a firm server foundation it is easy to see how they have created such an enjoyable system. After installation I was greeted by a clean post-installation-settings page which cleared up some of the other settings (language, network, timezone, etc). Following that I was presented with this amazing administration screen…
ClearOS definitely made me feel like I was living in 2011. Servers should present admins with a please, clean-cut administration panel. And this operating system did that and more! I hope this Linux distro will be adopted by more web admins everywhere to better the web by making graphical servers the new black (no pun intended). I would highly recommend this OS for anyone in need of an all-in-one server solution.
(I do apologize, I couldn’t even write a proper review because the movie was so mind-blowing.)
The best movie of the year! There is no doubt that nothing this year will come close to the pure talent of Tron. Not only was the musical score crafted just for the movie, it’s effects were top of the line. If Avatar was the movie of 2009; then Tron was THE movie of 2011! The characters blended together, it fit perfectly with the first one, and the animation was stunning. If you haven’t seen it then you must. And I know 3D movies always cost more but this was definitely worth it!
There is not one critique to have with it, it was absolutely flawless. The best part is that “Encom OS” was a variant of Unix/Linux, my favorite part of the movie. Daft Punk did a great job in portraying a futuristic computer-world, the actors gave it life, and the 3D made it follow you home! Disney outdid themselves on this movie. I personally think they should turn the Space Mountain ride into a Tron ride now.
