So before you reboot, I implore you to: GOOGLE IT.

Seriously. Google the problem and look for an answer. It will probably take you less time to fix than waiting for your computer to restart, which could take a looong time if your computer is more than a few years old.

In fairness, you could also “Bing it” if you want to…it just doesn’t sound as cool.

With WordPress, the installation process literally takes me less than 5 minutes. I can now take a Photoshop design and slice it into HTML, then plug it into WordPress in a matter of a few hours. I have been only too happy to adopt WordPress as my CMS of choice, and use it on every site I am currently working on.

Is WordPress the best CMS? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s the one I know and am comfortable with, and that means a lot going into any new project. I’m not against learning new things, and I think it’s great to have a bunch of tools in your tool belt, but for now I’ll take WordPress over any blogging software or other web site creation tool. In a nutshell, they take care of all the stuff you don’t want to worry about so you can focus on what matters: creating your web site.

By the year 2000, after everyone stopped freaking out about Y2K, we saw the uprising of faster connections, known as broadband (DSL and cable). A few people hung on to their second phone line, but most upgraded and saw a pretty nice increase in speed. With that increase came an explosion of Flash web sites, where animation ruled and people were still willing to wait a few seconds for a site to load, especially if it had a spinning icon to keep them preoccupied. But, maybe ironically, Flash was truly a “flash in the pan” and has been demoted to serving up banner ads and sometimes even navigation.

As we head into the next decade, the accessing of information has reached breakneck speed. Thanks to free services like Twitter, you can post an update on your FREE web site and have it sent around the world instantly to anyone who is interested in what you have to say. So I ask, where do we go from here? It sure doesn’t seem like we can get information out to the world any faster. I have even had to cut back on the RSS feeds I read and the people I follow on Twitter, as it just became too unreasonable to digest all the content I was receiving. Will we ever see a decline in the amount of information, or will people continue to jump on the “next big thing” in technology to get their message out?

Ever wonder if your web site is down? Now, you don’t have to worry whether it’s your own personal blog, or a client’s site. You can offer fast and easy checks as part of your web design services by using this free site, AreMySitesUp.com! I originally signed up for the free account, then recently moved up to the paid upgrade so I could monitor all my sites and get an iPhone app free!!

Sign up now, and let me know what you think. I love being able to instantly check all my sites without having to load them all separately. What will YOU use it for?

<input type=”text” name=”password” autocomplete=”off” />

Let me know what you think and if you try it out, as well other things you use to increase security in forms.

The other obvious time this would come in handy is if someone changes their name, such as when a female gets married and has a new last name.  Instead of having write down all their personal settings and redo everything on a new account, now I can just change the username along with the account name.  In short, it makes my job a heck of a lot easier.

- Thanks Dan Frakes, from Macworld.com

1. Facebook
2. Twitterific
3. FSS Hockey (air hockey)
4. Pandora
5. WordPress
6. YouTube (already preinstalled)
7. Google Earth
8. Free RSS
9. Football (paper football)
10. eBay

First we have to switch over from the Visual editor to look at the HTML code. Here we see our image tag:

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-192" title="screen-toaster" src="http://openwaves.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/screen-toaster.jpg" alt="screen-toaster" width="490" height="127" />


Then we insert a small line of code to override the CSS properties coming from the style sheet:

style="border:none;"

We couldn’t realistically use this to completely change the look of the site, but it does help us take back a little customization and control of our website. Here’s what it looks like now:

<img style="border:none;" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-192" title="screen-toaster" src="http://openwaves.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/screen-toaster.jpg" alt="screen-toaster" width="490" height="127" />

Now we have our image minus the border. Have you used this at all on your blog? Feel free to post examples or ideas.

A new free service now lets you record screencasts for FREE!! It is a web-based program that records all or part of your screen, and can include audio and a webcam. The service allows you to upload your published screencast to the website (you have to register) where you can tag it and even add subtitles! Or, you can export it as a movie (avi). Coming soon is the ability to upload directly to YouTube or export as a Flash file. I gotta say I’m pretty excited about this as I was considering buying software to do this. Of course, that software would have had more options and features, but you can’t beat free for now! Hopefully soon I’ll record a few and post them here, so watch out for that in the next few weeks. What do you think of this? Try it out and let me know!

P.S. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux!!

Link to ScreenToaster

1. Facebook -  there are so many uses for this I can’t even count.  Find old friends, promote an ad, start a group, share photos/videos, post links, play games, the list goes on.
   
2. Twitter – short updates, like the status update on Facebook.  Took me awhile to sign up because I was a bit skeptical.  Now, I’m addicted!  You get just 140 characters to tell people what you’re doing.
   
3. Status – a private Twitter-like service for groups.  Use for work, family, or friends about anything.  Can also be exported to Twitter.
   
4. WordPress! – you may not think of this site as social networking, but I think blogging is one of the biggest ways people can communicate.  Everyone gets their own space, and I can comment on a post or search for your site based on a topic I’m interested.
   
5. Tumblr – share text, photos, quotes, links, chat, audio, and video.  Very quick and easy.  I use it mostly for video that I find on YouTube that I think is hilarious so I can find it later.
6. FriendFeed – “helps you discover and discuss interesting stuff that your friends and family find on the web.”  I wish more people I knew would catch on to this, as it would make my life a lot easier.  Import all your sites into one site so your friends only have to check one and can see what you’re doing everywhere.
7. MySpace – self explanatory.
   
8. LinkedIn – only one on this list I haven’t joined yet, so I guess technically it shouldn’t be on the list.  But, I think I will at some point.  strengthens and extends your existing network of trusted contacts.
9. flickr – photo sharing.  I set up an account but I mostly use Facebook for personal photos.  If I ever become an amateur photographer I’ll probably use it more.
10. delicious – social bookmarking.  I use it off and on because it’s nice to be able to take your bookmarks with you wherever you go and not be tied to a browser or even computer.  Also, you can install a plugin on your browser that makes adding to your account quicker.