Archive for April, 2005
· April 7, 2005 at 3:57 pm · Odds & Ends
There is more than one way to skin a cat and more than one way to do a search Online. Thanks to a few folks who had some good ideas, there are even more options out there for you to choose from. Searching is something that we all do from time to time. Even if you are one of those folks who only search Google every 6 months for your own name, these tools can be very helpful to have.
The first one is hard to say, so you had better get ready to bookmark it. YaGoohoo!gle is a nice little tool that allows you to search both Yahoo and Google at the same time. It does this by opening your search results up in two frames. If you are still using an 800 by 600 screen, I wouldn’t recommend this for you. However I have plenty of screen space to take up, so reading through both frames is no problem for me. I also tend to use Yahoo and Google more than MSN’s new search. Old habits are hard to break.
The second searching tool is called Find Forward. Instead of having to remember long prefixes to put before your search, you can now just select the way you want to search from the sub-menu and get to work. One of the sidebar quotes asks, “Why isn’t Google doing this?” and I have to tell you I don’t know. You’d think this would be more handy than having to memorize prefixes to search in specific ways.
Check them both out and let me know what you think! Are there any other cool searching tools I haven’t stumbled across yet? Leave me a comment with a few of your favorite ways to search and I’ll be sure to take a second look.
· April 6, 2005 at 1:17 am · Odds & Ends
It is time to face up to the facts folks, RSS is not just for blogs anymore! Many big time Web sites are getting onto the syndication band waggon and are reaping the rewards. Now if somebody could only convince the Web hosting world of this. I have talked myself blue in the face trying to get more Web hosts to figure out that RSS is the way of the future, but alas many have turned the other way.
The folks over at Dev Shed have written up a great article about how RSS is being used in so many different ways. They even mention Lockergnome and the distribution of the File of the Day.
Contrary to popular opinion, RSS is not only good for delivering content from your blog, although blogs are what made RSS so popular.In fact, RSS can be used to deliver a great variety of content and content types. If you can break down your content in to individual stories or individual pieces, you can deliver it via RSS.
Just to give you an impression of the power of RSS, here are some examples of content you can publish using it …
MarketingVOX is using RSS to deliver Internet marketing news to their readers as it becomes available. Instead of having to wait to receive all the news in a single e-mail newsletter, RSS users get them as soon as they are ready.
Amazon.com is using RSS to announce their bestsellers and to help their users keep track of releases they are most interested in.
Some affiliate managers already communicate with their affiliates using RSS. You can of course use it to communicate with any other target audience as well, such as your employees or team-members, and even your company owners.
FindSavings.com uses RSS to deliver savings coupons and related information.
Lockergnome uses RSS to provide visitors with the latest downloads and relevant software. Yet again other companies are using RSS to deliver product updates and patches directly to their customers, just as they become available.
Be sure to read the rest of the article and let me know what you think!
· April 6, 2005 at 1:04 am · Odds & Ends
For all the writers out there, this might be of some interest to you. WebHosting.Info is reporting that Amazon.com has bought BookSurge LLC, a printing fulfillment company, based in Charleston, South Carolina. So does this mean we might start seeing Amazon dealing with printing books on demand? I sure hope so. Although my Web hosting book, Lockergnome’s Guide to Web Hosting, was distributed via PDF, printing on demand is a very nice option to look at for future projects.
BookSurge maintains a catalog of thousands of titles that can be printed On-Demand and are available for sale on Amazon.com. BookSurge offers its inventory-free book fulfillment network to publishers through BookSurge Publisher Services and to authors through BookSurge Publishing.
“Print-on-demand has changed the economics of small-quantity printing, making it possible for books with low and uncertain demand to be profitably produced,” said Greg Greeley, vice president of media products for Amazon.com. “BookSurge makes it possible to print books that appeal to targeted audiences, whether it’s one copy or one thousand. Our new relationship with BookSurge will provide Amazon customers an ever-expanding selection of titles that are not available through other channels. Thanks to print-on-demand, ‘out of print’ is out of date.”
I hope they release some more information about this soon, because I am pretty excited to hear more! If you’d like to learn more about how to get Amazon.com to distribute your own eBook, then check out this article that Matt wrote some time ago on the topic.
· April 6, 2005 at 12:46 am · Odds & Ends
Lots of places try to create a sense of community by adding tools and other things to their Web sites to make people stick around. Yahoo is doing the same thing, except they are doing it backwards. Now, instead of creating the tools, they are creating the community. Really, they had all the tools at the first, so there is not sense in reinventing the wheel. Just make these tools talk to one another easier. That is pretty much what Yahoo 360 is all about.
For the average guy on the street who is a big fan of Yahoo, this is the perfect tool to get almost all your Yahoo services and Web pages bundled into one spot. With the addition of a place to blog, as well as the addition of RSS feeds this is a beautiful thing indeed. Things couldn’t be simpler and that is a both a high point and a low point for Yahoo 360.
You see there are already many folks out there that already have one or two blogs in production right now. Other services such as Typepad and Blogware offer many more customization features that Yahoo! 360 just doesn’t have right now. Hopefully though, we will see a few more customization tools as time goes by.
One thing I am looking forward to is the ability to plug my own RSS feeds, (for Mitchelaneous and The Web Hosting Show) into my Yahoo 360 Web page. I’ve seen it teased a few times on my Yahoo 360 Web page so it must still be a feature in the works. Once they get this under control, then I won’t feel so pressured to find something to do with the blogging space I have over there.
Overall I would say it is a great tool and you should check it out! For people new to blogging who love Yahoo, it is a match made in heaven. For those of us who have been around this block before, I am still waiting to see what the finished product will look like. I am excited though. If you need an invite, I’d be more than happy to give a few out. Just drop me an E-mail, and be sure to let me know what you think once you get things set up and running.
· April 6, 2005 at 12:18 am · Odds & Ends
That’s right I will be in the next two editions of Ping! Zine, one of the best Web hosting magazines out there today. The fine folks over there sent me two more magazines last week from the first issue I was in so I’d have one ready for framing. How cool is that?
So if you are a subscriber to Ping! Zine, be sure to be looking for more of my articles with them in every new issue. If you aren’t a regular Ping! Zine reader then what is wrong with you? This is some of the best Web hosting help, information, and articles out there. You know how much it costs you? Nothing!
Just click here to get started. Just let them know that it was your old buddy Mitch who sent you there. It also wouldn’t hurt if you let them know you want to see even more “Mitch-like action” in every issue. There really isn’t a feeling like seeing your name in print, one of the coolest things to happen to me this year so far. I hope I can continue to write for Ping! Zine for many more issues to come.
Who knows, you might see me in The Web Host Industry Review magazine next! Hush though, that is a totally different negotiation going on right now.
· April 5, 2005 at 4:26 pm · Odds & Ends
Within the time span of one year I have installed, reinstalled, deleted, and created more than any one person should on one computer. Due to the fact that I have to look at hundreds of Web sites and dozens of programs week after week, you can only imagine how much junk gets onto my personal computer. Well about a week ago I figured it was about time I did a little spring cleaning. What did I do? I totally reformatted my machine and put Windows XP back on just like it came out of the box.
Why in the world would somebody do that? You’d be amazed how much quicker a machine is when it is brought back to the first settings it knew. Since I go through so much junk on here I like to do this at least once a year. True, I could probably hunt down and clean up everything by hand and not have to go through the trouble. For me though, it is just easier to go through the Windows XP reinstall.
So what programs to I make a note of installing first? What do I use most often and what do I find the most effective? Here’s my basic list. If you have a list of your own, feel free to share it with me! I’m always looking for new programs to tinker with.
TweakUI, Every Geek’s Friend
Windows has a long lists of things that need to be done to it before I will even touch it. Every good geek knows about TweakUI. For those of you who don’t, it really is one of the first things you should put back on your machine after a Windows XP reinstall. For me, I just really hate my shortcuts to say, “Shortcut to”. There are a million and one other reasons why you should give it a second look though.
A Good Feed Reader, FeedDemon
There are hundreds of feed readers out there today. What makes FeedDemon so different? It actually does everything I need it to do. Heck, it even has features on top of features I haven’t even found a use for yet. If you haven’t gotten yourself set on a way to get your RSS feeds to you, give it a shot.
Browser Wars No More With Firefox
I gave up on Internet Explorer about a year ago. Sure I still use it for a few Web sites that look horrible in anything else, but other than that I use Firefox all the way. I used to hate it because it never seemed to work right for me, but for the past year or so it has done me no wrong.
SmartFTP for the Brilliant Minds
I have gone through many FTP programs since my background is all in the wild and wacky world of Web hosting. That all changed once I found SmartFTP. So far I haven’t found another FTP program out there that has given me enough reason to change.
Trillian, for IMing My Little Heart Out
I don’t really use instant messaging as much as I did when I was in high school. Every once in a while though I get the urge to talk with a few friends. The only problem is a few folks I know are on AIM, others are on Yahoo and a few more are on MSN. Trillian lets me talk with all of them without the need of running three programs at the same time.
OpenOffice, for my Processing of Words
I just recently downloaded the beta version of OpenOffice and I am impressed. I never did use Microsoft Office, other than at school, and here I used to use Microsoft Works. So you can only imagine how much of a step up using OpenOffice was for me. It just still amazes me that it is free.
NoteTab Pro, For My Internet Writing
For all the Online writing I do, as well as any Web page work or anything else of that nature, I use NoteTab Pro. I’m not one who needs anything too fancy. With NoteTab Pro I can just select the features I need then I am ready to sit down and write a few hours. That is what this article here was written on! Try it out!
Audacity, for my Podcasting Passion
I tried several different expensive programs when I started recording my podcast, The Web Hosting Show. That was till somebody turned me onto using Audacity. Audacity isn’t just for podcasting though. Anybody who is interested in editing any sound out there should give it a shot. Along with Open Office, I don’t see how this program is totally free.
Well that is my list, did I miss something? Let me know if you have a program you love to use over and over again and I might make mention of it in a future article.
Update! Several people have asked why don’t I have this program or that program listed for various reasons. There are several other programs I use for other reasons. For spyware, I’d suggest Spybot Search and Destroy. For a good anti-virus program I would suggest AVG Free Edition. If you have any other questions about what I use for other problems or things I might do on here, just leave a comment and I’ll be sure to let you know!
