Validated frustration

Posted on December 9th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

I apologize for the lack of posts. I have a long list of topics I plan on addressing, but I’ve been spending most of my time working on the layout of the Wordpress theme that I use: Vistered Little. I really like how my blog is starting to look, but I’ve made a decision to postpone fixing the validation of the poll (right sidebar) and RSS technology feed (left sidebar) until I have an extended amount of downtime from my other commitments. Thus, the checkmarks for CSS and HTML validation are no longer present on the right side. I hope to resolve everything by the end of this month.

2 comments.

Poll Results: What do you think of my site?

Posted on December 9th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

0 comments.

I feel validated

Posted on December 2nd, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

As a newbie to web design, you may stumble upon small obstacles that can turn into brick barriers if you aren’t familiar with certain unwritten rules. I came across my first one the other day. Fortunately, in the webmaster community, there are plenty of avenues to find assistance even if you have a very limited understanding of web building code (i.e. xml, css, javascript, sql, etc.). In attempting to make adjustments to my blog footer, I was informed that my code needed to be validated. I started thinking to myself: How could I possibly make adjustments to a code for a template that was designed by an expert in xml? At first I wanted to put off this process because I fully expected it to be an arduous task that would take me away from adding content to my site. Then I started to realize that the only way I was going to get the help I needed to resolve my problem was to actually take the time to check my webpage for HTML and CSS errors. While there are many ways of checking a web page for errors, the W3 Consortium established a standard that is generally accepted in the web design community. Since there are explanations of where the errors occurred and the possible cause, the process was not as time-consuming as I expected. While my blog is far from the best out there, it felt good to know that my web page was better optimized for viewing. Thanks to assistance from other webmasters I also found out that in the “mad world of browsers” getting something to appear correctly in 3 out of 4 browsers isn’t too bad. Thanks moshu.

For a further explanation of HTML and CSS Validation: HTML and CSS Validation

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Spoiled by a fox

Posted on November 29th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

We’ve come a long way from WorldWideWeb or even Mosaic for that matter. Today’s feature rich web browsers allow us to carry out tasks that once required the installation of separate desktop applications. As high bandwidth speeds become more widespread and numerous OS platforms create a very diverse computing environment, web based applications will become more and more prevalent in conducting daily activities at work and in our personal lives. As we spend more time “plugged in,” various tools have been developed to enhance our web experience. While there are numerous browsers to choose from, I use Firefox most of the time due to the numerous add-ons that improve my productivity as well as a few that can serve as pleasant diversions. Below is a small fraction of the numerous Firefox extensions that are available to improve your surfing.

Fire up your Web experience with these 5 Firefox add-ons:

1. Web Developer - A great tool for web designers who are looking for another method to view, edit, and validate code displayed on a webpage. This tool is especially useful in working with templates that use multiple php files.

2. Foxytunes - Allows you to control your music library from your web browser. Compatible with numerous media players, including Itunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, RealPlayer, & Musicmatch.

3. Cooliris Previews - Preview a web link before actually going to the page. This tool is a great time saver when doing research or looking for a very specific web page.

4. Pronto Shopping Messenger - Once you know what you want, how do you know you’re the best deal? This add-on makes the search simple by providing you with numerous merchants carry the product you are searching for.

5. Diigo: Highlights and Sticky Notes - This tool allows you to go one step further than simply bookmarking a page; another big time saver and one less thing you have to remember.

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She doesn’t even know my name.

Posted on November 27th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

The she I’m referring to is Google. Many people searching for ways to market their website and products are constantly inundated with terms such as search engine optimization (SEO), page rank, and meta tags. A simple concept such as Page Rank (or PageRank) has turned into a convoluted debate over the optimum way to tweak your site in order to manipulate the system. Unfortunately, many people will spend tons of money paying on consultants, books and software for information and ideas that are basically ported from old-school (pre-dot com) marketing techniques. Does this mean you shouldn’t even bother allocating money towards marketing your website? Absolutely not. I’m simply saying that before spending tons of money purchasing a domain name from someone or paying someone to draw popularity to your site, try using the many free resources made available to give you an idea how complex/simple marketing your website will be. I personally feel forums are a great means to get feedback on ideas and tools to use. I found out about one of my favorite tools called Good Keywords through an online financial forum. Good keywords is a free Windows utility that provides many useful tools such as “Keyword Suggestions” and “Site & Link Popularity.” The “Site & Popularity is a great utility to see how your website or other pages are ranked according to various search engines. For instance, cnn.com has a Google PageRank of 9 and an Alexa Rank (IE based) of 34. There are 3,080,000 sites listed in Altavista that link to cnn.com and MSN has 1,376,706 links associated with the site. The 4 links I have from Altavista show that I have a long way to go, but I’m not too worried. That number should go up once I begin to focus on marketing my site. For now I need to concentrate on adding useful content that will get people coming back to my site.

For a good explanation of Page Rank vs. PageRank check the link below:
Page Rank vs Google PageRank

Update 11/30/06: Technorati Rank - 2,224,978

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I made the switch (changing root domain)

Posted on November 26th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Changing the root or primary domain for my website was much easier than coming up with a new domain name. About a week ago I changed my domain name from www.twoplustwoentrepreneurs.com to www.singleidea.com. For most webhosts, the simple process will require that you contact your host provider to make the change. It costs about $5, but all email addresses are automatically configured with the new domain name. Just remember to adjust any settings in any third-party email client (i.e. MS Outlook) you may be using. It is very important to backup any subdomains and addon domains to insure that data isn’t lost when making the transition. Also be sure to backup any blogs, forums, web pages that you have associated with the initial domain. Luckily for me, I didn’t have too much content on the site, so I was able to complete most of the transition in less than a day. The only speed bump I encountered was in attempting to upload my Wordpress backup file. Fortunately, I was able to locate the contents in a php file and used Dreamweaver to copy the contents to Wordpress.

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PS3 winners & losers

Posted on November 18th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

I know that it’s early, but I would have to say that Microsoft’s XBOX 360 may be the early winner in the frenzy that took place in yesterday’s North America PS3 release. In a rush to release Sony’s next-generation gaming system a decision was made to provide a supply that would’t even meet the demands of the NY Metropolitan area. After initially projecting the availability of 400k units at launch, the number dwindled to half that amount earlier this week. With thousands of disgruntled consumers waiting upwards of 48 hrs to purchase a $600 system, I could just imagine the frustration that will develop when the first complaints of defective machinery start popping up across the country. And let’s not forget about eBay and Paypal. While eBay’s attempt to thwart fraud was admirable, they failed to realize that such anticipation and hype would bring out every single exploit imaginable to take advantage of the hysteria surrounding the PS3. With bids reaching $99 million it was clear that fair play no longer existed at the world’s largest online auction. I’m sure there are many hardcore gamers (i.e. pc gamers) who are shocked by the mania created by a system that would have trouble competing with a high-end gaming rig. (And yes I know about the PS3’s 1.8 TFLOPS GPU.)

So what does this have to do with the Xbox 360? Well, after deciding to wait a year to make a choice on a system to purchase, I am left with the same option I had last year at this time.

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A domain name by any other name is just another website

Posted on November 17th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

I have been having trouble deciding on whether to rename my site and choose a shorter domain name that’s easier to spell. After using services such as domainsbot.com and google searches for “deleted domain names” I began to realize how difficult it is to come up with a clever domain name that also tells people what the site is about. I really wanted to avoid numbers but it seems like every imaginable word (with less than 10 characters) is taken. Someone even owned sprezzatura.com. Then I started thinking about the big names: Google, Yahoo, Myspace, Youtube, Newegg, Ebay, Amazon…and wondered whether I could build a solid, very useful website that would draw attention by spawning my own name. Considering the fact that I have already set up 5 different email accounts for this domain alone, I better decide soon.

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Welcome Entrepreneurs!

Posted on November 16th, 2006 by nano.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Welcome everyone. I hope to use this blog to keep people up to date with the Forum project. I also intend on providing any interesting tidbits that may help improve your site.

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