Keeping It Clean and Simple
After months of debating whether or not I was happy with the website, I finally came to the conclusion that it just didn’t look right. I tried many different themes but none seemed to give me the look I wanted. I was trying for a clean and simple look for my personal website. Just when I was about to give up and try a modified sandbox theme, I found Tapestry by Brian Gardner. It gives me the clean and simple look I was shooting for and, after a few minor modifications and upgrading to WordPress version 2.3.1, I’m pretty excited about the end results. Clean and simple really works for me.
Upgrading WordPress was a fairly simple task. As with any version upgrade, several of the plugins I was using stopped working. I wasn’t really all that concerned since I planned on doing a total overhaul. Simplifying the website was a priority but proved more difficult than expected. I spent hours searching for and testing different themes before stumbling upon Brian Gardner’s website. As soon as I saw the Tapestry theme, I knew it was what I wanted. I only made a few minor css and template modifications then added a header icon and it was done. The last thing to do was install the necessary plugins, five total. Below is a list of what I installed to get the results seen here.
- WordPress
- Tapestry 2-Column Theme
- KG Archives
- flickrRSS
- AddThis Social Bookmarking
- Feedburner Feedsmith
- Lightbox 2
Just in case someone is interested, the header icon came from Icon Archive. They are an excellent source for free high quality icons and pngs.
Building a New Computer
After putting it off for close to a year now, I finally decided to get the ball rolling again and start building my new computer. The last time I upgraded my computer was more than three years ago so I am pretty excited about the new project. I have spent about an hour each day for the past week reading reviews, researching new technology, and hunting for the best prices on computer parts. It took some time figuring out the best configuration using the new motherboard I bought last year, especially since the technology has changed since then. My new plan is finalized though, and I started ordering the parts.
After plenty of debate about going with the newest technology avaiable, it just was not worth the extra cost involved. There is virtually no performance increase over the new motherboard and memory I already have so that money is going toward a new case. Below is the new computer configuration.
(1) MSI RD480 Neo2-FI motherboard
(1) AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 dual core processor
(4) OCZ 1024MB PC-3200 DDR400 EL Platinum Edition memory modules
(1) Western Digital Raptor X 150GB Serial ATA150 hard drive
(2) Western Digital Caviar SE16 400GB Ultra ATA100 hard drives
(2) ATI Radeon X1600 Pro PCI-E video cards
(1) ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI tuner card
(1) Thermaltake Truepower Cable Management 750W power supply
(2) Sony DRU-830A 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW disk drives
(1) Logitech Z-2300 speaker system
(1) Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3200 Laser keyboard and mouse
(1) Dell UltraSharp 2007WP 20″ Widescreen Digital Flat Panel LCD monitor
(1) Lian-Li PC-A10A aluminum case
(1) Lian-Li CR-33A media card reader
(1) Microsoft Vista Ultimate edition
(1) Microsoft Office 2007 Professional edition
Well, that is the list of component parts and software for my new computer. So far, I already have the motherboard and memory which I bought a while ago. The processor and copy of Vista was an awesome deal I just could not pass up. I basically got both for the cost of the processor. The hardest decision to make was which case to use. I must have looked at hundreds of different cases before making my choice. The last case I bought was from Lian-Li and it has been incredible, so I was leaning in that direction right from the start. It was still difficult because there are so many nice cases on the market. It finally came down to the overall quality and craftsmanship. The new case should be here sometime later in the week. I cannot wait to start building and sharing the process with everyone. Stay tuned for more.
Cool Project: 2,000 Bloggers
While I was making my daily visit to 9rules I stumbled across a very interesting project a fellow blogger has undertaken. His name is Tino Buntic and he has started the global project to create a blogroll that consists of the faces of 2,000 bloggers from all walks of life. Any type of blog is acceptable and he doesn’t care what the blog is about or why the person blogs. He is including anyone that leaves a comment with their name and a link to their blog. The only requirements are that the blog must have been started before January 1st of this year and include a picture of the person somewhere in the blog. That’s pretty simple, although he has a lot of work to do making all those thumbnails for his listing. This is some pretty cool stuff!
The Basic Internet Necessities
Using the internet is an important part of what many people do each day. I became heavily dependent on it when I went to college a decade ago. That’s when I found out just how valuable a resource it could be to education. Since then, the amount of time I spend online has grown. Today, I spend about three to four hours each day online. It’s a hazard of my job, scientist and teacher, and one of my hobbies, web development. There are a few important tools that everyone should have to make life easier online: Firefox, Trillian, and a good webmail account.
The most popular web browser is Internet Explorer simply because it’s what comes with all Windows computers. According to the computer world though, the best web browser is Firefox. It can be fully customized to match how each person uses the internet. It even comes with a standard built-in search box that lets you choose which search engine to use. My favorite standard feature though, is the tabbed browsing. You can open multiple web pages in a single window and easily switch between them by clicking the tabs at the top of the window. Closing a tab closes the web page and you can close them all at once simply by exiting the browser. I don’t really have a favorite add-on feature because I use quite a few of them. Probably the two that I use the most are the Web Developer toolbar and ColorZilla color finder extensions. They’re both valuable tools for anyone that’s into building web sites. I could go on and on about why people should use Firefox but the simple truth of the matter is that it’s a better, faster, and safer web browser. Also, did I mention it’s free?
Instant messaging, or chatting as the kids say, has been around nearly as long as the internet but was made popular by AOL and it’s millions of users. Now, there are so many instant messenger services available that it’s hard to keep up. The most popular are AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ. I have accounts for each of them and it used to get crazy when I would have all of them running at the same time. It got to the point that I didn’t like using them anymore. Then, I was watching a show called The ScreenSavers and they were talking about a program they used that worked with all the popular instant messenger services. The program is Trillian from Cerulean Studios and it has made instant messaging fun again. Trillian allows me to access all my accounts at the same time, it’s loaded with features and easy to use. Also, did I mention it’s free?
Where would we be today without email? We can send someone a letter without paper, envelopes, stamps, or waiting. When you sign up with an internet service provider they usually give you one or more email accounts. It’s actually better to use on of the free webmail services like Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail. Web access allows you to check your email from any computer with access to the internet. They also have features that will automatically scan for viruses and filter spam mail, the two biggest worries with using email. The only problem with Google Mail is that you will need an invitation from someone with an account in order to sign up, but I do have plenty to give away. Also, did I mention they’re free?
That’s it in a nut shell. If you use the internet as much as I do these are the tools that you shouldn’t do without. They will make your online experience easier, and that also means more enjoyable. These are my basic internet necessities and by now you should know the best part, they’re free!
