Friday, March 20, 2009
Are you planning a party? Do you need some music for your party? You can find the world's largest free jukebox at www.groveshark.com. This is way in which to create a play list of music without infringing any copyright laws.
Simply search for your music by artist or song and create a play list. Turn up your speakers and enjoy an evening of your favorite music.
Simply search for your music by artist or song and create a play list. Turn up your speakers and enjoy an evening of your favorite music.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wii
Our latest purchase was a Wii a couple of months ago. I have never taken much of an interest in gaming. But this Wii is more than a gaming system. It gets you off the couch and is quite interactive. A sports package came with the console, so we had some fun playing with the 4 sports on that. The bowling and boxing seemed to be the most popular in the beginning.
Because we are golf enthusiasts we decided to pick up the Tiger Woods game. Well, talk about impressive. So much more than just a game. No wonder they want $60 for these games. Then we picked up a Star Wars game and Sim City Creator. The Sim City game is more for exercising your mind. You are the mayor of a town you create and manage.
Our latest application for the Wii is the Wii Fit (the reason we purchased the Wii). Can't wait to start using this exercise program.
The Wii is much more than a game console. It will literally change your life!
Our latest purchase was a Wii a couple of months ago. I have never taken much of an interest in gaming. But this Wii is more than a gaming system. It gets you off the couch and is quite interactive. A sports package came with the console, so we had some fun playing with the 4 sports on that. The bowling and boxing seemed to be the most popular in the beginning.
Because we are golf enthusiasts we decided to pick up the Tiger Woods game. Well, talk about impressive. So much more than just a game. No wonder they want $60 for these games. Then we picked up a Star Wars game and Sim City Creator. The Sim City game is more for exercising your mind. You are the mayor of a town you create and manage.
Our latest application for the Wii is the Wii Fit (the reason we purchased the Wii). Can't wait to start using this exercise program.
The Wii is much more than a game console. It will literally change your life!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Facebook and You Tube
Two of my latest crazes are Facebook and You Tube. Facebook is a web site with millions of members where you create an account and a little space for yourself on the web. You can add friends and join networks and groups. It is a great way to express yourself on the web and keep in touch with old and new friends.
I recently created an account on You Tube as well and posted a couple of short videos I created. I also posted videos created by others I have enjoyed watching and this gives me a place to store them all together on the web in order to share with others.
Two more great reasons why I love the internet. They are free and offer hours of entertainment.
Two of my latest crazes are Facebook and You Tube. Facebook is a web site with millions of members where you create an account and a little space for yourself on the web. You can add friends and join networks and groups. It is a great way to express yourself on the web and keep in touch with old and new friends.
I recently created an account on You Tube as well and posted a couple of short videos I created. I also posted videos created by others I have enjoyed watching and this gives me a place to store them all together on the web in order to share with others.
Two more great reasons why I love the internet. They are free and offer hours of entertainment.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
I think it has been almost 3 weeks since we received mail in our mailbox on the side of our house. We are living in a paperless world now. All of our monthly statements are delivered to us via email and we have a "No Junk Mail" sign on our mailbox. I receive the cable and power bills electronically and Darlene has all the bank statements set up to come in electronically also.
Hats off to Eastlink for superb customer service.
I was receiving my statement from them electronically. They had made some changes to their web site and account system back in December and I was unable to access the accounts area, their system not compatible with my Mac OS...I called Eastlink and reported the problem...receive an email from a supervisor the next day advising me to try again and sure enough, all is well again...
I am over visiting a friend in Newfoundland and booked my tickets online through the Marine Atlantic web site and just signed on this morning to see that the Ferry is on schedule today. One little problem though, we checked DRL Bus Service web site to see about taking the bus from the ferry termial to Stephenville and their web site is a little out of date. I think having a web site with incorrect information is worse than having no web site at all.
Hats off to Eastlink for superb customer service.
I was receiving my statement from them electronically. They had made some changes to their web site and account system back in December and I was unable to access the accounts area, their system not compatible with my Mac OS...I called Eastlink and reported the problem...receive an email from a supervisor the next day advising me to try again and sure enough, all is well again...
I am over visiting a friend in Newfoundland and booked my tickets online through the Marine Atlantic web site and just signed on this morning to see that the Ferry is on schedule today. One little problem though, we checked DRL Bus Service web site to see about taking the bus from the ferry termial to Stephenville and their web site is a little out of date. I think having a web site with incorrect information is worse than having no web site at all.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Atlantic Lottery Playsphere
It is football season and that means 3 games every Sunday to watch on TV and purchasing a Pro Line ticket from Atlantic Lottery to make it even more exciting. The process of puchasing a ticket in past years was studying the nfl.com web site on Saturday night, then dashing to the local store on Sunday morning to ensure I had a ticket prior to 2:00pm kick off on Sunday.
Now, with ALC Playsphere, I purchase my ticket online at alc.ca. I signed up for an account and it is all quite official. You receive your information in the mail by registered letter to ensure privacy rather than an email, so takes a little time to get officially setup with an account. But it is well worth the wait.
I can add funds to my account by purchasing web cash at a Lottery outlet. It is very user friendly and easy to add funds and purchase tickets. With the colder weather coming and wanting to relax on Sunday's, no more dashing to the store on Sunday mornings to purchase my ticket. I do it now in the comfort of my home on Friday night. I purchased $10 worth of web cash so that will last me 5 weeks and if I am ever lucky enough to win, the funds will be just added to my account and if it is ever enough to actually want to withdraw the cash, I can have it transferred to my bank account from my Playsphere account.
Hats off to Atlantic Lottery for having this technology in place. Seems the Maritimes are keeping up with the rest of the world when it comes to technology...I read somewhere not long ago that the Halifax Library web site won some sort of an award. Although I do not use it often, it is very convenient to be able to log onto the library web site and put holds on books, etc...without having to actually go to the library to do so.
It is football season and that means 3 games every Sunday to watch on TV and purchasing a Pro Line ticket from Atlantic Lottery to make it even more exciting. The process of puchasing a ticket in past years was studying the nfl.com web site on Saturday night, then dashing to the local store on Sunday morning to ensure I had a ticket prior to 2:00pm kick off on Sunday.
Now, with ALC Playsphere, I purchase my ticket online at alc.ca. I signed up for an account and it is all quite official. You receive your information in the mail by registered letter to ensure privacy rather than an email, so takes a little time to get officially setup with an account. But it is well worth the wait.
I can add funds to my account by purchasing web cash at a Lottery outlet. It is very user friendly and easy to add funds and purchase tickets. With the colder weather coming and wanting to relax on Sunday's, no more dashing to the store on Sunday mornings to purchase my ticket. I do it now in the comfort of my home on Friday night. I purchased $10 worth of web cash so that will last me 5 weeks and if I am ever lucky enough to win, the funds will be just added to my account and if it is ever enough to actually want to withdraw the cash, I can have it transferred to my bank account from my Playsphere account.
Hats off to Atlantic Lottery for having this technology in place. Seems the Maritimes are keeping up with the rest of the world when it comes to technology...I read somewhere not long ago that the Halifax Library web site won some sort of an award. Although I do not use it often, it is very convenient to be able to log onto the library web site and put holds on books, etc...without having to actually go to the library to do so.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Printing Photos
I purchased an Epson Stylus printer a few years ago, in fact wrote about it here on the blog. I was so pleased with the idea of having a "real" photo printer. Then last year purchased a colour laser printer and sure makes a difference with printing photos. The quality is much better. The price was much steeper than the inkjet printer and the toner cartridges are going to require applying for a mortgage when time to replace them, but because there are 3 coloured cartridges and one black, hopefully, only one will go at a time and just gradually replace them. I have had the printer over a year now and have done a fair amount of printing and it is just now showing the yellow cartridge getting low enough for a warning while the others are holding their own.
Another consideration when printing photos is paper. At first I only purchased 8.5 by 11 sheets of glossy photo paper to print my photos, would print a page and then cut out the individual photos...was a bit of a chore and very difficult to maintain an unified edge around each of the photos. I discovered the 4 X 6 photo paper and it is definitely the way to go if you are just needing snapshot size photos.
A little tip if you are using the 4X6 paper....You will have to go to your printer wizard or settings and setup a paper selection for your 4X6 paper, once you have done so be sure to save this setting for future use...so each time you print photos, simply recall this setting and you are good to go. Also, some wizards may refer to this setting as postcard instead of 4X6.
Besides email changing the way we communicate, I would say the introduction of the digital camera and high quality coloured printers are the greatest tech items to come to the consumer with this age of technology. I remember working on my school yearbook and taking photos with a 35mm camera and spending countless hours in the darkroom generating sheets of thumbnail photos then enlarging and processing them with all those horrible chemicals. Kids today have it so easy!!!!!
I purchased an Epson Stylus printer a few years ago, in fact wrote about it here on the blog. I was so pleased with the idea of having a "real" photo printer. Then last year purchased a colour laser printer and sure makes a difference with printing photos. The quality is much better. The price was much steeper than the inkjet printer and the toner cartridges are going to require applying for a mortgage when time to replace them, but because there are 3 coloured cartridges and one black, hopefully, only one will go at a time and just gradually replace them. I have had the printer over a year now and have done a fair amount of printing and it is just now showing the yellow cartridge getting low enough for a warning while the others are holding their own.
Another consideration when printing photos is paper. At first I only purchased 8.5 by 11 sheets of glossy photo paper to print my photos, would print a page and then cut out the individual photos...was a bit of a chore and very difficult to maintain an unified edge around each of the photos. I discovered the 4 X 6 photo paper and it is definitely the way to go if you are just needing snapshot size photos.
A little tip if you are using the 4X6 paper....You will have to go to your printer wizard or settings and setup a paper selection for your 4X6 paper, once you have done so be sure to save this setting for future use...so each time you print photos, simply recall this setting and you are good to go. Also, some wizards may refer to this setting as postcard instead of 4X6.
Besides email changing the way we communicate, I would say the introduction of the digital camera and high quality coloured printers are the greatest tech items to come to the consumer with this age of technology. I remember working on my school yearbook and taking photos with a 35mm camera and spending countless hours in the darkroom generating sheets of thumbnail photos then enlarging and processing them with all those horrible chemicals. Kids today have it so easy!!!!!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
One Web Day
September 22nd is the first annual One Web Day. As of May of this year there were nearly 22,000,000 Canadians surfing the internet. This is worth a celebration so CIRA has come up with One Web Day. CIRA is the Canadian Internet Registration Authority which is mandated by the Government of Canada. It operates and manages the dot-ca top-level domains and also develop and carry out other Internet-related activities. So if you're a CIRA member, have a dot-ca domain name or if you're simply interested in the Internet, you can help shape the future of Canada's dot-ca top-level domain by taking part in CIRA activities.
Registering a .ca domain. If you are wanting to purchase a .ca domain name, you can do so at www.canreg.com and do a search to see if the domain name is available, once you determine it is, pay for it and then you will be required to register it with CIRA. A little tip...be sure that the contact email you use is one that is going to be existing for a long time or at least as long as you want to use the domain name. It is quite a process to change this, a process that involves a statement in writing and using snailmail (yuck!) if you wish to change the contact's (owner of the domain name) email address.
How can you celebrate One Web Day?
You can start by exploring your favorite websites, send an email, Google something, message a friend, listen to a podcast, or check out how the rest of the world is celebrating by visiting onewebday.org. Whatever you do - do it online. You'll make history by being part of the first ever One Web Day.
September 22nd is the first annual One Web Day. As of May of this year there were nearly 22,000,000 Canadians surfing the internet. This is worth a celebration so CIRA has come up with One Web Day. CIRA is the Canadian Internet Registration Authority which is mandated by the Government of Canada. It operates and manages the dot-ca top-level domains and also develop and carry out other Internet-related activities. So if you're a CIRA member, have a dot-ca domain name or if you're simply interested in the Internet, you can help shape the future of Canada's dot-ca top-level domain by taking part in CIRA activities.
Registering a .ca domain. If you are wanting to purchase a .ca domain name, you can do so at www.canreg.com and do a search to see if the domain name is available, once you determine it is, pay for it and then you will be required to register it with CIRA. A little tip...be sure that the contact email you use is one that is going to be existing for a long time or at least as long as you want to use the domain name. It is quite a process to change this, a process that involves a statement in writing and using snailmail (yuck!) if you wish to change the contact's (owner of the domain name) email address.
How can you celebrate One Web Day?
You can start by exploring your favorite websites, send an email, Google something, message a friend, listen to a podcast, or check out how the rest of the world is celebrating by visiting onewebday.org. Whatever you do - do it online. You'll make history by being part of the first ever One Web Day.
Monday, September 04, 2006
External Hard Drives
Is your internal hard drive running out of space? Perhaps you should consider purchasing an external hard drive. If you are downloading music, movies and games, your hard drive will fill up quickly. You may want to consider a 500GB drive with a case which will cost you approximately $200. It is also an easy way to back up your computer's important files. I never leave home without mine, it is portable and if I want to watch a movie, I just hook up the hard drive to my computer via usb and I have an entire list of movies available while on the road without having to pay the high rates hotel's charge to rent a movie...yikes!!!...save your money to spend during the next sale at Staples....
Is your internal hard drive running out of space? Perhaps you should consider purchasing an external hard drive. If you are downloading music, movies and games, your hard drive will fill up quickly. You may want to consider a 500GB drive with a case which will cost you approximately $200. It is also an easy way to back up your computer's important files. I never leave home without mine, it is portable and if I want to watch a movie, I just hook up the hard drive to my computer via usb and I have an entire list of movies available while on the road without having to pay the high rates hotel's charge to rent a movie...yikes!!!...save your money to spend during the next sale at Staples....
Monday, August 07, 2006
Itunes and Podcasts
If you haven't done so yet, you may want to download the latest version of Itunes at Itunes. This is Apple's jukebox. This little beauty is compatible with both Mac and Windows platforms.
Open Itunes and goto Music Store, select Podcasts, scroll down to categories and start searching the hundreds of free podcasts available. Subscribe to each one for absolutely "free".
To view and listen to your Podcasts click on the link Podcasts in the left hand source column. You will see your collection of Podcasts. By having a subscription the latest podcast will be downloaded for your enjoyment.
No internet connection - no problem! Simply download your podcasts and you will have hours of listening material to enjoy while you are relaxing at the cottage this summer with your laptop.
If you haven't done so yet, you may want to download the latest version of Itunes at Itunes. This is Apple's jukebox. This little beauty is compatible with both Mac and Windows platforms.
Open Itunes and goto Music Store, select Podcasts, scroll down to categories and start searching the hundreds of free podcasts available. Subscribe to each one for absolutely "free".
To view and listen to your Podcasts click on the link Podcasts in the left hand source column. You will see your collection of Podcasts. By having a subscription the latest podcast will be downloaded for your enjoyment.
No internet connection - no problem! Simply download your podcasts and you will have hours of listening material to enjoy while you are relaxing at the cottage this summer with your laptop.
Friday, July 07, 2006
New Gadgets... Apple powerbook, Samsung camcorder, and Creative Zen Micro
I am a member of the Mac World now that I have purchased a Apple Powerbook. Quite a little machine. I picked it up this winter while on an adventure throughout the USA. The best part of the purchase was the price. Apple merchandise is very expensive so I thought if I was going to pick up one of these little gems the best place was New Hampshire, where there was no sales tax. Even with the exchange rate, I figure I saved approximately $500 or so purchasing the unit in the USA.
I found the Mac OS X operating system a little different at first and took awhile to figure out the navigation. I am enjoying the change actually...I still have my Sony Vaio laptop but the Mac was to be a luxury...just another gadget to have some fun with. I am slowly discovering it is much more than a gadget and is opening a whole new world up to me...I am getting pretty attached to the Mac World...
I also purchased a Samsung video camcorder with digital camera...it is quite a little unit...allows you to take video and still digital photos. The most important thing I have learned so far with this gadget was not to use the usb cable provided with the camera to download the video to my laptop. I purchased a firewire cable and use that to transfer the video to my laptop. With the usb, the transmission is in analog format which is a much poorer quality than the digital format transferred through the firewire cable. Another learning was, I had to buy one firewire for the Sony laptop and a separate firewire cable for the Apple Powerbook because of different connection heads for each.
One more tip today...I received a Creative Micro Zen for Christmas this year. What a little beauty this is. An mp3 player that stores a ton of songs, much more than I will ever need...it was compatible with the Sony but not the Mac...I was not too disappointed as long as I could use it with one of the laptops...but I understand these mp3 players are about $300 so be sure you buy gadgets that are compatible with your OS...of course the IPOD is compatible with both PC and Mac...way to go Mac!!!
I am a member of the Mac World now that I have purchased a Apple Powerbook. Quite a little machine. I picked it up this winter while on an adventure throughout the USA. The best part of the purchase was the price. Apple merchandise is very expensive so I thought if I was going to pick up one of these little gems the best place was New Hampshire, where there was no sales tax. Even with the exchange rate, I figure I saved approximately $500 or so purchasing the unit in the USA.
I found the Mac OS X operating system a little different at first and took awhile to figure out the navigation. I am enjoying the change actually...I still have my Sony Vaio laptop but the Mac was to be a luxury...just another gadget to have some fun with. I am slowly discovering it is much more than a gadget and is opening a whole new world up to me...I am getting pretty attached to the Mac World...
I also purchased a Samsung video camcorder with digital camera...it is quite a little unit...allows you to take video and still digital photos. The most important thing I have learned so far with this gadget was not to use the usb cable provided with the camera to download the video to my laptop. I purchased a firewire cable and use that to transfer the video to my laptop. With the usb, the transmission is in analog format which is a much poorer quality than the digital format transferred through the firewire cable. Another learning was, I had to buy one firewire for the Sony laptop and a separate firewire cable for the Apple Powerbook because of different connection heads for each.
One more tip today...I received a Creative Micro Zen for Christmas this year. What a little beauty this is. An mp3 player that stores a ton of songs, much more than I will ever need...it was compatible with the Sony but not the Mac...I was not too disappointed as long as I could use it with one of the laptops...but I understand these mp3 players are about $300 so be sure you buy gadgets that are compatible with your OS...of course the IPOD is compatible with both PC and Mac...way to go Mac!!!
Monday, September 05, 2005
Creat a PDF file for free!
Want to create a PDF file without having to shell out a few hundred dollars to purchase Adobe Acrobat Writer? You can do so now online at Adobe's web site. You can sign up and do the first 5 conversions free or pay $9.99/month or $99.99/year US$ and have this service available to you. I have used this service for quite some time now and it is a quick and easy way to convert any text documents, newsletters, brochures, etc...to PDF so they are in a format to post to your web site.
Want to create a PDF file without having to shell out a few hundred dollars to purchase Adobe Acrobat Writer? You can do so now online at Adobe's web site. You can sign up and do the first 5 conversions free or pay $9.99/month or $99.99/year US$ and have this service available to you. I have used this service for quite some time now and it is a quick and easy way to convert any text documents, newsletters, brochures, etc...to PDF so they are in a format to post to your web site.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Add Babel Fish Translation to your site
Bring translation capability to your site. With AltaVista Babel Fish, your users can translate passages of text or entire Web pages among nine languages, or they can quickly translate your page into their language of choice.
Get Babel Fish Translation for your web site.
Bring translation capability to your site. With AltaVista Babel Fish, your users can translate passages of text or entire Web pages among nine languages, or they can quickly translate your page into their language of choice.
Get Babel Fish Translation for your web site.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Just read an interesting article on www.devwebproca.ca web site, written by John Metzler.
How web design can affect search engine rankings
Many shortfalls of web sites can easily be attributed to designers who just don't keep the user or search engines in mind. Search engine algorithms are quickly improving to try and list the most user-friendly sites higher, given that the content and link popularity are there to back it up. So first and foremost, know your target market and make your web site work for them before focusing on search engine optimization. If you build it (properly), they will come.
1. Size Matters
Search engines love content.
2. Graphics-Based Web Sites
Although graphic-based sites may be esthetically-pleasing, small amounts of content will not result in top rankings. If your site is graphics or flash heavy, you may want to consider creating an html-based side of your site that is also available to visitors.
3. Dynamic Web Pages
If your web site is generated by a large database your content is changing regularly, may be difficult for a search engine to index all the pages. Offer your visitors a site map listing all your pages containing permanent content.
4. Proper Use of HTML
Pay particular attention to properly formatted HTML coding. Avoid font and position formatting by using cascading style sheets.
5. Choosing a Domain Name
Choose something short, either your name or your product name and if .com is not available try .ca, .net, .biz, etc...
6. Using Frames
Don't use frames. They are from the 90's and in internet terms that is eons ago.
7. Update Information
Web sites that continuously update and grow their content usually experience higher rankings than stagnant sites.
How web design can affect search engine rankings
Many shortfalls of web sites can easily be attributed to designers who just don't keep the user or search engines in mind. Search engine algorithms are quickly improving to try and list the most user-friendly sites higher, given that the content and link popularity are there to back it up. So first and foremost, know your target market and make your web site work for them before focusing on search engine optimization. If you build it (properly), they will come.
1. Size Matters
Search engines love content.
2. Graphics-Based Web Sites
Although graphic-based sites may be esthetically-pleasing, small amounts of content will not result in top rankings. If your site is graphics or flash heavy, you may want to consider creating an html-based side of your site that is also available to visitors.
3. Dynamic Web Pages
If your web site is generated by a large database your content is changing regularly, may be difficult for a search engine to index all the pages. Offer your visitors a site map listing all your pages containing permanent content.
4. Proper Use of HTML
Pay particular attention to properly formatted HTML coding. Avoid font and position formatting by using cascading style sheets.
5. Choosing a Domain Name
Choose something short, either your name or your product name and if .com is not available try .ca, .net, .biz, etc...
6. Using Frames
Don't use frames. They are from the 90's and in internet terms that is eons ago.
7. Update Information
Web sites that continuously update and grow their content usually experience higher rankings than stagnant sites.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Check out this really neat tool, the MSN Encarta Right-Click Dictionary
A fast way to find Encarta definitions for words and phrases on a Web page.
It is so easy to use...
To find a definition from the Encarta online dictionary, right-click your highlighted words or phrase, and then choose Encarta Definition.
Download MSN Encarta Right Click Dictionary
A fast way to find Encarta definitions for words and phrases on a Web page.
It is so easy to use...
To find a definition from the Encarta online dictionary, right-click your highlighted words or phrase, and then choose Encarta Definition.
Download MSN Encarta Right Click Dictionary
Friday, October 29, 2004
Be prepared to add your URL www.yourcompanyname.ca to:
• Your e-mail signature line
• Media and Press Releases
• Literature
• Invoices
• Newspaper Ads
• Envelopes
• Letterheads
• Flyers
• Shipping Labels
• Posters
• Telephone Book Ads
• Cheques
• TV Spots & Commercials
• Business Cards
• Bumper Stickers
• Apparel- tee-shirts, hats, etc.
• Billboards
• Packaging
• Published Articles
• Classified Ad Pages
• Banner Advertising
• Ads in Internet Publications
• Your e-mail signature line
• Media and Press Releases
• Literature
• Invoices
• Newspaper Ads
• Envelopes
• Letterheads
• Flyers
• Shipping Labels
• Posters
• Telephone Book Ads
• Cheques
• TV Spots & Commercials
• Business Cards
• Bumper Stickers
• Apparel- tee-shirts, hats, etc.
• Billboards
• Packaging
• Published Articles
• Classified Ad Pages
• Banner Advertising
• Ads in Internet Publications
Saturday, October 09, 2004
.htaccess is something I have been using a bit on web sites. Firstly, I have used it to password protect a certain area of a web site. I have also used it to created a customized error page.
In order to use .htacess your web site has to be hosted on an Apache server. So check with your hosting company to ensure they have an Apache server and it is configured properly to allow you to use .htaccess. Don't just trust that because your hosting company has an Apache server, .htaccess will automatically work...they have to configure the server so you can actually use it...I have learned this one the hard way...thinking I had incorrect code and it was actually because the server was not configured properly to accomodate the use of .htaccess.
Two web sites that are helpful in assisting you with setting up a password protected area on your web site with .htaccess are:
In order to use .htacess your web site has to be hosted on an Apache server. So check with your hosting company to ensure they have an Apache server and it is configured properly to allow you to use .htaccess. Don't just trust that because your hosting company has an Apache server, .htaccess will automatically work...they have to configure the server so you can actually use it...I have learned this one the hard way...thinking I had incorrect code and it was actually because the server was not configured properly to accomodate the use of .htaccess.
Two web sites that are helpful in assisting you with setting up a password protected area on your web site with .htaccess are:
The second web site is where you will have to go to do the password encrypting. This is a critical step. Once you have decided on the username and password goto that web site and enter in the username and password and the program generates an encrypted password for you that is to be put into your .htpasswd file.
The thing I had the most trouble with was figuring out the path to the .htpasswd file. I searched the internet high and low and this answer is not to be found. Only the company hosting your web site knows this answer so contact them to be sure you have the right path.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Here we go again...another Municipal election in HRM. Only this time we have two candidates running...Krista Snow is District 2 and our good friend Eva Moore in District 11. Ginny is full speed ahead helping Krista again this time and I of course are taking care of their web sites. Check out Krista's at www.kristasnow.ca and Eva's at www.evamoore.ca.
It is amazing the amount of municipal candidates using the internet as part of their campaign. I must say though, some of these web sites have been placed on personal web space type servers provided by their ISP, which means not being able to point a domain name to it. Not sure how effective it is to have a web site name that is not easy to remember. Also, there are a few with domain names but the content is out of date and scarce. There are very few candidates who were able to effectively use the internet to assist with their quest of getting elected. If you choose to use a web site as part of your campaign perhaps you should consider the following points:
- Use a domain name and keep it simple, such as yourname.ca
- Spend the extra buck and get a reputable hosting service for your site, not some fly by night or free service that has winking blinking nightmares of advertisements splattered all over the web page
- keep the site fresh with updated information about the candidate, testimonials, voting information, and contact information
- include photos of events attended by the candidate and include a schedule of events the candidate plans to attend
- Provide a volunteer form that can be completed and sent to the candidate and also an avenue in which a person can make a donation to the campaign
- Like any other web site, follow the simple rule of keeping it simple yet informative and easy to navigate.
Perhaps someone should produce a set of guidelines about the dos and don'ts of political web sites for municipal, provincial and federal candidates and elected officials. Hmmmmm, something to work on this winter.
Monday, June 07, 2004
Check out our latest web site Tips, Tools & Techniques. Valarie had a web site already created, she just needed us to spruce it up a little. We continue to maintain the site for her by posting a by-weekly article that she does for the local newspaper in the Homes, Etc. section. Valarie is a professional organizer.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
We have added two more web sites to our portfolio. Crystal Canadian and Spring Water Inc. are two companies that deal primarily in bottled water. Our friend Krista Snow ran for Councillor of District 2 in Halifax Regional Municipality last fall and we created a web site for her. Since she was elected she continues to use the web site as an information tool for her constituents. Her web site can be found at www.kristasnow.ca.
We have tackled our first newsletter and that can be found on the Candians Abreast web site. Another site we did for the National Women's Breast Cancer Survivor's Dragon Boat team. You can check out their site along with their newsletter at CanadiansAbreast.
Speaking of newsletters. Michael Katz, the newsletter guru from Blue Penquin Development has launched a new web site. For all you newsletter buffs it is www.enewsletterchat.com. If you want to sign up for Michael's newsletter which is probably one of the best on the net, goto Blue Penquin Development.
We have tackled our first newsletter and that can be found on the Candians Abreast web site. Another site we did for the National Women's Breast Cancer Survivor's Dragon Boat team. You can check out their site along with their newsletter at CanadiansAbreast.
Speaking of newsletters. Michael Katz, the newsletter guru from Blue Penquin Development has launched a new web site. For all you newsletter buffs it is www.enewsletterchat.com. If you want to sign up for Michael's newsletter which is probably one of the best on the net, goto Blue Penquin Development.
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
A site we have been working on is www.johnwmacintyre.com. Tons of interesting tid bits and stories at this site.
Friday, November 01, 2002
Ten More Website Designing Tips
- Slow Download Times
Strive for a balance between image quality and image size. Image should look good, and file small enough so it will download quickly. Your graphics should enhance the presentation of your information, not overpower it. - Background and Text Colours
Use black text on a white background for a business site. If you stray from this combination, be sure the combination is appealing to the eye and easy to read. Also, ensure links and visited links are readable against the selected background colours. - Animated Gifs
Use sparingly - avoid the winking blinking nightmare. - Frames
In theory they sound like a great tool; in practice, they are usually anything but. Frames could provide a very convenient navigation for a site, but most of the time they don't. Invariably, the dimensions are just off by a hair and you end up with the horizontal scroll bar. Or perhaps a window approximately 5 pixels high to try to scroll. Frames can cause a problem for some search engines in indexing your site as well. - Endlessly Scrolling Page
Better to break your content up into short to medium length, linked pieces instead of one long page. - Under Construction
If it is not finished don't list it or link to it - Background Sound
A no no for professional sites. - Consistent Design/Layout
Keep design/layout/navigational items consistent throughout. - Designing for a Specific Browser/Colour Setting/Screen Resolution
Happy medium is best. Middle of the road browser versions and screen resolutions are safest. Design to work with these. - Spelling and HTML Mistakes
Avoid at all costs
Friday, October 04, 2002
We launched another new site this week. Check it out at www.sip.ca. I used a menu from www.brothercake.com. The drop down menu is a great addition to any website. Also, I downloaded Map Edit, an map imaging tool from www.boutell.com/mapedit. This program allows you to easily map images, a worthwhile function to use on any website.
Tuesday, September 03, 2002
Ten items to consider when designing a website that is usability friendly are as follows:
- Be sure the flash intro has an option for the user to skip it.
- Avoid loud sounds placed on any of the pages of the website.
- Default the "Save As" function for any forms, documents to the users hard drive.
- Format data input from the users with drop down boxes and choices. Do not allow human brainpower to format your data.
- Do not cripple the back button.
- Do not hide essential information, have contact information available on every screen.
- Don't demand passwords and email addresses, at least not on the first visit.
- Avoid pop-ups and the new craze, pop-unders.
- Keep the privacy policy short, avoid an extra long one on a single scrollable page in a tiny non-resizable window.
- If you choose to have a search engine on your site use Google or another first rate search engine.
Thursday, July 25, 2002
Have you ever had a "Page can not be displayed" error message when you tried to access a specific website that you know exists. An internet accelerator may be the problem. Some of these work by caching the IP address of web sites. If these addressses change, you won't be able to access the site. Use the PING command to determine the IP address of a website. Open a DOS window, type PING www.yahoo.com. The IP address will be displayed and the computer will attempt to connect to it four times. Go to another computer and perform the same operation. Compare the IP addresses. If they are different your system may be caching the IP addresses and not updating them correctly when they change. If this is the case, check for a file named HOSTS in your Windows folder on the C: drive. Renaming it HOSTS.OLD should solve the problem. Disable any internet accelerator uitility that may have caused the trouble in the first place.
Saturday, July 20, 2002
Two software applications worth looking at if you are a farily serious web producer are Xara Webstyle, Version 3 and Adobe Go Live 6.0. The Xara application allows you to develop menus, buttons, page dividers and many other interesting graphics that can be added to your website. The Adobe program is a very powerful editor. I downloaded the 30 day version and it is pretty straightforward to use with existing websites. Besides a HTML editor, it contains a javascript editor, a css editor and an XML editor. It is quite a treat compared to a free editor such as HTML - Kit. But the $400 USA price tag is a bit difficult to swallow. HTML Kit works quite well for my basic html coding needs so I think I will stick with that for now.
Sunday, June 02, 2002
Subject: HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ADDRESS BOOK!
I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in it simplicity. As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address book, and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates. This trick won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact, that the worm has gotten into your system.
Here's what you do: first, open your address book and click on "new contact" just as you would do if you were adding a new friend to your list of email addresses. In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in AAAAAAA. In the window below where it prompts you to enter the new email address, type in WormAlert@somewhere.com . Then complete everything by clicking add, enter, ok, etc.
Now, here's what you've done and why it works: The "name" AAAAAAA will be placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. But when it tries to send itself to AAAAAAA, it will be undeliverable because of the phony email address you entered WormAlert@somewhere.com . If the first attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no further and your friends will not be infected.
Here's the second great advantage of this method: If an email cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your InBox almost immediately. Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed to WormAlert@somewhere.com could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of it! Pretty slick huh?
If everybody you know does this then you needn't ever worry about opening mail from friends.
I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in it simplicity. As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address book, and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates. This trick won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact, that the worm has gotten into your system.
Here's what you do: first, open your address book and click on "new contact" just as you would do if you were adding a new friend to your list of email addresses. In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in AAAAAAA. In the window below where it prompts you to enter the new email address, type in WormAlert@somewhere.com . Then complete everything by clicking add, enter, ok, etc.
Now, here's what you've done and why it works: The "name" AAAAAAA will be placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. But when it tries to send itself to AAAAAAA, it will be undeliverable because of the phony email address you entered WormAlert@somewhere.com . If the first attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no further and your friends will not be infected.
Here's the second great advantage of this method: If an email cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your InBox almost immediately. Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed to WormAlert@somewhere.com could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of it! Pretty slick huh?
If everybody you know does this then you needn't ever worry about opening mail from friends.
Friday, May 24, 2002
Karen Kenworthy's web site is one of the best. Check out her powertools on her web site www.karenware.com. All her applications are free but you can order a CD for a very reasonable price that contains all the downloads with a few extras. Also, you can sign up for her newsletter which is full of interesting and valuable information.
Thursday, May 16, 2002
I did some work to the Autism web site today. This was the second web site I created after Bosom Buddies. I couldn't believe the code I used. Imagine putting a break at the end for every line and two at the end of a paragraph instead of just simply using the p tag. Also, the consistency throughout the pages was unbelievable. Navy text on some pages and Magneta text on others. The few pages that are there now have a more uniformed look. I realize today just how much I have learned in the last year or so. At least the code I do now looks a little more like the way a properly designed site should appear. I think the next thing I will study is css, cascading style sheets in order to have a look that appears the same in all browsers, at least that is what I think this function does from what I have read about it so far. Also, what the heck is up with this ASP.NET ? I went to Chapters last week and there was a whole section dedicated to this subject, probably as large as the OS section; I guess I better check into this. I tend to miss some of this stuff, in fact I think I was the last person on earth to find out the Linux penguin's name was Tux.
Here is a tip:
If you have more than one printer you wish to use, pick yourself up a data switch box. This is a great little device for about $23. I picked one up at Staples yesterday. Here was a bit of a snag though.....there were 3 connections on the back of the box, one for each printer, and one to hook the box up to the computer. So you will need an extra cable, but...... The back of the box had holes and the back of my computer had holes, but the cord has holes at one end and pins at the other. For a mere $23, the cost of the data switch box, I had to run out to Radio Shack and pick up an adapter so my cable now had pins at both ends to fit into the holes of the connecter on the computer and the holes of the connecter on the data switch device. It was well worth it though, now when I want to switch between the two printers I simply turn the button on the data switch box without having to disconnect and reconnect cables on the printers.
Here is a tip:
If you have more than one printer you wish to use, pick yourself up a data switch box. This is a great little device for about $23. I picked one up at Staples yesterday. Here was a bit of a snag though.....there were 3 connections on the back of the box, one for each printer, and one to hook the box up to the computer. So you will need an extra cable, but...... The back of the box had holes and the back of my computer had holes, but the cord has holes at one end and pins at the other. For a mere $23, the cost of the data switch box, I had to run out to Radio Shack and pick up an adapter so my cable now had pins at both ends to fit into the holes of the connecter on the computer and the holes of the connecter on the data switch device. It was well worth it though, now when I want to switch between the two printers I simply turn the button on the data switch box without having to disconnect and reconnect cables on the printers.
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
It's been quite awhile since I posted to this log. Been busy lately, had a trip away for a couple of weeks and am getting caught up with web site work. Working on some proposals, so keeping busy with that stuff. Purchased a new digital camera, FujiFilm 2600 Zoom. It is user friendly and because I have XP I didn't have to download the FinePix software that came with it because XP Professional does a great job of handling all your photo needs. The main purpose of this camera is to capture photos for the web, so I wasn't looking for something with a ton of megapixels, 2.1 will be fine for now. I did print out a few to see the quality and they turned out pretty decent, good enough to pass on to the subjects of the photos. I am sure the clarity of the photos will become better as my knowledge of digital photograhy expands.
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Tech TV
With our recent installation of digital cable came TechTV. Some pretty interesting stuff on there, and very informative. Screen Savers is a great show but you have to pay attention, it goes at a fast pace. Dave Chalk and Steve Dotto have some great shows. Steve Dotto's shows are on the Canadian Learning Network as well. Check out his web site at www.dottotv.com.
With our recent installation of digital cable came TechTV. Some pretty interesting stuff on there, and very informative. Screen Savers is a great show but you have to pay attention, it goes at a fast pace. Dave Chalk and Steve Dotto have some great shows. Steve Dotto's shows are on the Canadian Learning Network as well. Check out his web site at www.dottotv.com.
Sunday, March 10, 2002
Scanner
Visioneer 7600usb
Compared to today's standards this is a pretty basic scanner. I purchased it about 2 years ago as a result of it being highly recommended in a review from one of the computer pages, probably either cnet or zdnet. It is a 36 bit scanner, there are 48 bit scanners available today. The scanner came with PaperPort software for adjusting your photos. When I went to Windows XP there was a little challenge to download drivers and get a later version of PaperPort. I contacted Visioneer and everything was in order in a pretty reasonable time. So in conclusion, Visioneer offers a decent product and also very good service to its existing customer base. I use the scanner mostly for scanning photos for websites so I don't require something with alot of precision. This scanner works great for producing normal quality images for web publishing. Doesn't look like they are selling this model through the Visioneer website any longer, but the 7700 model is available for about $130 US.
Visioneer 7600usb
Compared to today's standards this is a pretty basic scanner. I purchased it about 2 years ago as a result of it being highly recommended in a review from one of the computer pages, probably either cnet or zdnet. It is a 36 bit scanner, there are 48 bit scanners available today. The scanner came with PaperPort software for adjusting your photos. When I went to Windows XP there was a little challenge to download drivers and get a later version of PaperPort. I contacted Visioneer and everything was in order in a pretty reasonable time. So in conclusion, Visioneer offers a decent product and also very good service to its existing customer base. I use the scanner mostly for scanning photos for websites so I don't require something with alot of precision. This scanner works great for producing normal quality images for web publishing. Doesn't look like they are selling this model through the Visioneer website any longer, but the 7700 model is available for about $130 US.
Saturday, March 09, 2002
www.Robotnik.com is where I buy most of my hardware. Great prices and fast delivery. The Celeron 800Mghtz has proved to be a good buy for $499 base price, so far. I added a few extras to the basic system, extra RAM, 40 gigabytes Hard Drive, and a Writable CD Drive. It was delivered to the door for about $800, a good deal, I thought. The bundle included a mouse, keyboard and speakers. The operating system of choice is Windows XP Professional, only because I have a friend who works for Microsoft and she sent it to me. Office XP Professional is a nice luxury, but only because I acquired it from my good friend as well. I decided to go with the more expensive 19 inch Samtron 96B monitor and it was money well spent. Going from a 15 inch to a 19 inch screen was like going from driving my Chevrolet Chevette to driving my Honda CRV.
Printer Preferences
Epson Stylus C-80 is a good choice if you are looking for an affordable unit to take care of your photo printing needs. Currently it is selling at Future Shop for $199 after rebates and discounts. There are 4 separate color cartridges that sell for about $18 each. The software provides a user friendly wizard that allows the user to easily produce high quality photographs.
Epson Stylus C-80 is a good choice if you are looking for an affordable unit to take care of your photo printing needs. Currently it is selling at Future Shop for $199 after rebates and discounts. There are 4 separate color cartridges that sell for about $18 each. The software provides a user friendly wizard that allows the user to easily produce high quality photographs.
Friday, March 08, 2002
My first experience with web developing started a year or so ago. I discovered www.homepage.com and signed up for some free web space. It was there I started creating the web site for Bosom Buddies. Bosom Buddies is a group of Breast Cancer Survivors from Halifax, Nova Scotia who use Dragon Boating as a form of support and therapy.
I continued to use the free web service till all of a sudden one day it disappeared and never surfaced again. Now it was time to learn HTML and do things properly. It was time to move to the next level. We were fortunate enough to be offered some space on one of the Breast Cancer Network's servers. We aquired a domain name and got the ball rolling again. It was a slow process but as I gained knowledge the site began to develop into something more informative and enjoyable for the visitor.
I found several sites on the internet to help with coding. My personal favorite is HTML Goodies and it continues to be my main source. Once I became more familiar with HTML it was time to advance from Word Pad to an actual HTML editor. I have looked at several and my personal favorite is HTML-Kit which can be downloaded from www.Chami.com. This is a very flexible editor and services all my coding needs. It also has a FTP drag and drop feature built into the application which is very convenient.
I continued to use the free web service till all of a sudden one day it disappeared and never surfaced again. Now it was time to learn HTML and do things properly. It was time to move to the next level. We were fortunate enough to be offered some space on one of the Breast Cancer Network's servers. We aquired a domain name and got the ball rolling again. It was a slow process but as I gained knowledge the site began to develop into something more informative and enjoyable for the visitor.
I found several sites on the internet to help with coding. My personal favorite is HTML Goodies and it continues to be my main source. Once I became more familiar with HTML it was time to advance from Word Pad to an actual HTML editor. I have looked at several and my personal favorite is HTML-Kit which can be downloaded from www.Chami.com. This is a very flexible editor and services all my coding needs. It also has a FTP drag and drop feature built into the application which is very convenient.
