The big reason I decided to pick up this book was because a good friend of mine, Meilena Hauslendale is the author.  I worked with Meilena while she was at Lunarpages, and she had always been a good source for advice and guidance.  Plus, if you can’t plug you friend’s creations – who’s creations can you plug?

Back to the book, Stop Complaining: Guide to Living Life Instead of Complaining About It really does help you stop and think about what it is you complain about, and if it is really worth it or not.

Through ten chapters, Meilena does an excellent job at helping you identify the things you complain about, how complaining can be healthy or unhealthy for you, and helps you break the habit of complaining about thing that you really don’t need to waste your time complaining about.

I’m not usually the self-help book type, however I’m happy I read Stop Complaining because I do think it has had a positive impact on how I look at issues, and has helped me reduce my own stress by complaining less.  To pick up the book for yourself, or to learn a little more about the lady behind it, go check out imotivate.org.

WooRank is an impressive new web site analysis tool worth singing the praises of.  I have several of these types of online tools bookmarked, and I have written about most of them.  The thing that separates WooRank’s analysis of a domain over any other tool is the plethora of information they provide to you.

After submitting mitchelaneous.com to the site, I found out tons of information I can turn around and use to make my web site even better.  Here are some of the details this online tool provides to you:

• Visitors
• Content
• In-Site SEO
• Home analysis
• Inside analysis
• Website compliance
• Off-Site SEO
• Popularity
• Directories
• Social Media
• Usability
• Website information
• Server
• Domain
• Related websites

WooRank is definitely my new favorite tool to find out how I can make my web sites better.  I got a WooRank of 53.1.  Can you beat me?  Plug your own domain name into WooRank.com and see what score you get.

Are you looking for a way to spark your creative fuse?

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

- E.L. Doctorow

I love to write, and have done so semi-professionally for the past seven years or so.  Sometimes though, a good topic to write about it hard to find, or you might be out of creative muses to inspire you.  That is where the web site Write for Ten comes into play.

This web site serves as a writing sketchbook. Writers from all skill levels and of all types can come any enjoy this resource.  It is handy for a number of reasons.  It can help inspire you with an idea.  It can keep you in writing shape, if you have a hard time finding the time in the day to do so. 

Via the Write for Ten web site, here are several ways you can participate:

• Take ten minutes now and write! Grab a notebook, open a text editor, sign up for an account, or post a blog.
• Write a ten-minute post using the Write for Ten site. Your posts are published at http://writeforten.com/users/username.
• Grab a timer and write a blog post for ten minutes. Add our badges to the bottom of your posts.
• Make a habit of writing everyday. Use this site or your favorite blogging platform (e.g., Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, Posterous )
• Tweet your posts with the hash tag #writeforten or #wf10.

This free writing exercise is an excellent way to get over writer’s block. 

Want to join in on the fun?  Point your browser towards writeforten.com.

The last time I used the web site commenting service Disqus, I was really less than impressed.  Back in July 2009, I tried it and for lack of a better term, it was sloppy.  While the core of the system worked, it seems as if nobody there paid attention to detail.  However, everybody deserves a second shot.

Fast forward to about a week ago, when I decided to re-install Disqus again on Mitchelaneous.com, FirefoxFacts.com and WebHostingShow.com.  As a reminder, here are the flaws the system had before:

Now I’ll cut to the chase, and tell you why.  It seems that no matter how I tweaked around with WordPress, I could never get DISQUS to pick up on all my trackbacks and comments.  One or two a day would get stuck going to the internal WordPress comment engine (which is practically blocked from you after you install DISQUS).

Now, while this is still true, Disqus does a better job now at picking up all the comments, so none get missed.  If you have trouble with Disqus missing comments or trackbacks, try these steps out:

1. Login to your WordPress administrator section, and go to Settings > Discussions.
2. Be sure to leave these unchecked:
   + Users must be registered and logged in to comment
   + Automatically close comments on articles older than X days
   + Enable threaded (nested) comments X levels deep
   + Break comments into pages with X top level comments per page…
   + Anyone posts a comment
   + A comment is held for moderation
   + An admin must always approve the comment
   + Comment author must have a previously approved comment
3. Under “Comment Moderation” be sure to bump up the link number to something ridiculously high, like 200.  This way WordPress won’t try to moderate the incoming comments and will leave that job to Disqus.

Also, be sure to save your settings after making those changes. Ever since I made those changes, I have had no problems with WordPress and Disqus, and hopefully neither will you.

The real benefit in using Discus is it gives your commenters a way to login to comment via multiple different services. For example, you can now login using these services to comment right here on Mitchelaneous.com:

• Disqus
• Facebook
• Twitter
• OpenID
• Yahoo

I also really like the fact that in the usual “trackback” section, you can show people’s recent tweets about your pages too.  You can skim Digg, Twitter, and a number of other social web sites. I can also stay in touch with all of you better too because Disqus gives me one place to check out all the most recent comments from across all my blogs.

So Disqus, I take back the bad things I said about you.  Just keep up the great work, and I’ll be a happy fan boy.

When you change a regular tab into an app tab, it moves it to the left side of the tab bar and shrinks the tab down to the size of the favicon shown for the web site.  I have to have four or five browsers open just to cover all my bases on a day to day bases – so getting any type of extra tab real estate in Firefox is a good thing for me. 

To open a new App tab, just right click the tab bar and select App Tab from the context menu.  When your done with an App tab, just close it – or you can set it to restore the App tab every time you start the browser. 

If you want to enjoy this Firefox 4 feature before it becomes a standard, the App Tabs add-on for Firefox is the perfect tool for the job.

MindMeister.com – With mobile, offline and online mind mapping tools, this brain storming tool is perfect to mind map with, no matter where you need to do it from.

XMind.net – XMind is the self proclaimed coolest brain storming and mind mapping software package out there.  It does provide a great way to share ideas, and comes in both free and paid for versions.

Mindomo.com – Mindomo lets you organize your ideas, solve everyday problems, plan and track projects, manage tasks and define goals.  One of the better mind mapping tools, and worth the price.

Web.DropMind.com – Collaborate, and share your ideas with others.  This unique mind mapping tool is a little more affordable than the others. You can create FREE mind mapping account in 40 seconds, to test it out too!

Know of any more mind mapping tools, either free or premium, that are worth checking out?  Be sure to leave them in the comments so we can all check them out!

I have spent a lot of my free time the last few months playing Fat Princess, a PlayStation Network game for the PlayStation 3.  Over time, you come to lean a few things you should do – and a few things you probably shouldn’t do, to keep the experience enjoyable.

Things to Remember in Fat Princess

Here are the things that you should do, or might come in handy:

• Work with your team, rather than going out on your own.  Pay attention to the map, and if there is anybody with a microphone – listen to how they are trying to organize.
• Unless there are bombs around, best to use the fire mage rather than the Ice mage – since it charges faster.
• The ice mage does come in handy when slowing down somebody with a princess, however don’t freeze the person holding the princess if somebody like a warrior is attacking them.  You’ll end up protecting the princess thief with your freezing on accident.
• Join a clan if you are seriously enjoying the game.  There are a lot of different groups out there that schedule different training games and battles between the clans.
• Watch and learn.  If your lucky enough, you might get put on a team with some experienced players – watch what they are doing, to find the best ways to play.

Don’t Do These Things in Fat Princess

Here are a few things you should stay away from doing, at all costs:

• Study up on some of the glitches people like to do, and usually suggest you don’t do.  If they don’t mention it in the game, some of them can be found on the PlayStation forums.
• If you have a microphone, you can ask and maybe advise on what should be done – but don’t be a little Fat Hitler.  Saying, “Build those damn doors, or I’m calling you out!” is just silly. Remember you are on a team.
• Speaking of microphones, keep your conversation at least kinda remotely related to the game.  Not even your friends care what you had for breakfast.
• Never give up!  Just because the countdown clock starts doesn’t mean all is lost.  I’ve seen many games where a save was made even in the last second.
• Don’t be that guy everybody hates.  Sure you might get your jollies out blowing up your own doors, or playing polka music at full blast over the microphone – but you’ll soon be muted or by yourself, as other players find another game without you.

I am by far not an authority on the game, I just enjoy playing.  If you have any suggestions on your own tips on what to do or what not to do, share them in the comments.

Fat Additonal Tips

Update – Just posted about this topic and article over at the Fat Princess forums for some more feedback, be sure to check out some more tips and suggestion here.

From neoitvaluocsol - Ice is so awesome if someone is trying to make a jump/wall climb.  I remember icing someone when they were tyring to make a jump in the top of coco cliffs and it made them fall off and die, or by that spot in hot sauce you freeze them and they can fall in the lava sometimes and not get back out haha.

From bblow_up – I like your point about using fire over ice, but I think you should mention that it also does more damage as well as knockback (which is great when you’re fighting on cliffsides and lava levels and whatnot).

Fat Resources

Here are a few more resources for you before I send you on your way:

• Fat Princess Strategy via the Titan Studios blog
• The Official Fat Princess PlayStation 3 forums

Also, I’ll toss in there – if anybody ever wants to play with me, my PlayStation Network ID is cheasym.  I’d love to run around and rescue the princess with any of you out there.

Often our web site statistics we gather are there to help us do better, but very rarely are we rewarded for them doing well.  GoingUp! is not only a great new web site analytics tracker, but it will also pay you back in return.

Having a good web site analytics package is key to having a successful web site.  You have to know what your visitors like, what they don’t like, and where you could improve.

What type of information will GoingUp! track?  It does just about everything:

• Complete Web Site Stats
• Keyword Position Tracking
• Actions and Goals
• Google PageRank Tracking
• Recent Visitor Maps/Locations
• Heat Maps
• Page Optimizer Tool

Plus it features a customizable dashboard that will help you pull up all the data you need to see, right off the bat.  GoingUp! integrates popular analytics and search engine optimization tools in one easy-to-use interface to see how your website is performing from all points-of-view.

• Free Web Site and SEO Tools from GoingUp!

So where does the payback come from, that I mentioned before?

GoingUp! now lets you earn points while using our web analytics tracking. Soon, you’ll be able to use these points for premium services such as search engine promotion, keyword rank monitor and more. Plus, you can even turn your points into cash or prizes.

That is a unique spin that will defiantly entice a few to give it a shot.  The best part about it all, is that it is free to try – so why not give it a spin?

You can learn more about or sign up for GoingUp! at GoingUp.com.

Having some free time on my hands over the holiday weekend, I decided to clean the finger smudges, dirt and grime from my Wii remotes.  To make sure I didn’t screw anything up, I figured it would be a good idea to check Nintendo’s web site for some pointers.  The advice was good, but one thing really stuck out.

Here is how Nintendo says you should clean your Wiimote:

Try cleaning the buttons of the Wii Remote using the cleaning instructions below, being sure to follow the directions carefully.

What you will need:

• 1 clean toothbrush (no toothpaste on it)
• 1 cup of warm tap water
• 1 paper towel

Instructions:

1. Remove the batteries from the Wii Remote.
2. Get a clean toothbrush (no toothpaste) and a cup of warm tap water (not too hot). Do NOT pour or submerge the Wii Remote in any type of liquid.
3. Slightly dip the toothbrush in the water (the toothbrush should not be dripping wet) and scrub the area of the Wii Remote around the buttons.
4. Work the bristles down around the sides of the buttons.
5. After cleaning the Wii Remote, dry it off with a paper towel.
6. Let the Wii Remote air dry with the buttons facing down for at least a couple of hours.
7. Test the Wii Remote for proper response.
8. Repeat the steps if necessary.

Wait a minute, do they have to really point out the fact you should not use toothpaste to clean your Wii Remote? Not only do they do this once, oh no – they think it is important enough to bring up twice.  I will testify to the fact that the cleaning steps mentioned do work – however find it really funny somebody might try to brush their Wiimote as they would brush their teeth.

How can you do the same?

How to Create a Google Docs Form

First step, would be to go to the Google Docs web site.  Now click on the button labeled, “Create new” and select Form.

That should take you to the Google Docs form builder, where you can easily create a web site form to use.  You can add any number of:

• text boxes (single line and paragraph sized)
• multiple choice
• check boxes
• choose from a list

There are a lot of ways you can customize your form to fit your needs.  Now once your form has been created, and you are happy with the results – you will want to embed it onto your web site.

How to Embed a Google Docs Form

Click on the button labeled, “More actions” and then choose Embed.

Once you do this, a window will pop up with the code you need to copy and paste into your own web site to make your form work.

What does the final result look like?  You can see it in action here:

• Web Hosts on Twitter
• Submit a Question to the Web Hosting Show Podcast!

When somebody sends you a result, it saves it into a spreadsheet you can check out from the Google Docs interface.  A pretty neat way to save yourself on some e-mail and save your hosting account on system resources a hosted script might take.