It's been a bit of an ordeal to swap the templates to the new version - overwrite upgrade my bottom! - but the site it back up and running, so now I can restyle it and find out what customisations I can do.
But less about me and on with the blogging.
]]>Mainly I've been looking into Internet Marketing for various clients - and on my researches, came across this site which has a load of videos for free - not a bad thing!
12 Hours Of Marketing Coaching For FREE - Click Here
Some of it is a bit old, but still useful, especially if you're starting out.
]]>The most valuable commodity today is attention. And there are many ways to get it. From sex videos to stupid pet tricks to talking bad about Muslims. The real trick is what you do with it once you have it.
...and why every webdesigner should pay attention to her! (Which is what she wants in the long run...)
]]>Why your email address is about to compromised!]]>
Who am I? I'm the guy who just received your email address from Steve, after he forwarded yet another chain email - this one was about a dying baby.
Rachel Arlington
Claim: AOL and ZDNet are donating 32¢ to the care of Rachel Arlington, a child with brain cancer in need of an operation her parents can't afford, for every e-mail forwarded.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000]
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/arlington.asp>
Pretty old baby by now!
Now, I'm all for passing on a joke or two - but poorly thought out chain letters really get up my nose. And especially when they are just cc'd on, with everyone else's email address still embedded in the original letter from the dozen or so other forwardings from gullible Internet users - which in the long run will be harvested by those naughty spammers who for some reason think I've got a small member and need some help in my sex life, or that I really want a Rolex watch, or any of the other types of spam.
That's if we're lucky - there are still those miscreants who think they're funny by spreading virus's about via collected emails, which if you're lucky will just install porn links onto your computer - if you're really unlucky can actually physically destroy your computer.
So, do you forward the email on now?
If you receive a chain looking email, do a quick bit of research in Google and Snopes.com - you'll see they're hoaxes, and should be consigned to the bin, to eventually die away.
A quick fact - with the sheer volume of email being sent - 80% of which is spam - it's starting to get more expensive to send than a normal letter with a stamp through British Mail - and the ISP's are thinking of charging for you to send an email, buying stamps effectively.
So what now? You've received a funny email, and I've hopefully scared you enough to think twice about forwarding, well do think, email etiquette is something that is as relevant as etiquette in real life, follow the steps listed below and make your friends smile and keep them safe from spam:
More info' at http://www.emailreplies.com/
- Check it's not a spam, chain letter.
- Think about who would appreciate the message.
- Edit the title - remove the FW RE FW FW:
- Delete any email addresses from previous senders.
- Put people that you're sending to in the BCC - otherwise don't send it, CC should be used sparingly.
- Tidy out the >'s it's not easy to read a message broken up with those marks.
- Think again before hitting send!
And if you receive an email you really don't want, then email them back to this site for a polite message:
http://www.thanksno.com/
Hopefully this will be taken in the spirit of education and not as an attack, the Internet is getting to be a dangerous place - trust me, I've seen a lot of it. Now BCC this onto several thousand people and win a Bugatti Veyron!
Tim Knight
Caxton Theatre Webmaster
Hmmmm? I think they should look into this and possible correct it?
]]>Being There is using the Wordpress 2.0 blog engine, as was requested by the site owner - it's the first time I've really had a stab at using WP since I first started blogging a year and a half ago - back the it was WP1.5 or so, and I didn't get on with it as well as I did MovableType - it has come a long way since then, and in some respects it's easier to use than MT - especially with the dynamic php method it uses to display pages, which stops that ever so slightly boring wait encurred with MT's static web page creation method.
But in the long run, I think I prefer MT - probably due to me getting my head around the templating system more and not liking the fragility of WP when it's Dugg too much.
But I think I'll start exploring WP properely now and begin on some new tutorials on how to use it for first time bloggers.
]]>The backend has changed a touch, with a few new tweaks - and the inclusion of a widget template tag. I'll have to have a look around in the manuals and find out how to implement this without trashing my templates as they are.
]]>Also while away, I wondered how the site was fairing after not updating it's design in six months and how it fairs in the world wide web.
A really useful tool I found is Sitescore by Silktide, pretty useful for general SEO techniques, general checking of your site for compatibility and for how it ranks in search engines. This site fairs pretty well, though I need to get more links from other places, which means getting my finger out and writing up some good articles and tutorials for you all. It also came in useful for another site I run Lincolnshire Wolds Railway's, as I had not thought about a few simple tweaks that should improve it's search engine placement which Sitescore pointed out for me.
]]>The Meniscus Film Festival is currently taking films for its annual 5 min film competition. Films are all submitted based on a single title idea, that varies each year. This years title is ‘TIMING IS EVERYTHING’. You may also add you own title.
]]>• MUST be no longer than 5 minutes. (Including titles)
• MUST be titled or subtitled ‘TIMING IS EVERYTHING’.
• MUST say in the Credits produced for the MENISCUS Film Festival 2006.
The interpretation of the title is left to the creative talents of the filmmaker. The winning film is determined by the audience vote on the competition night. Successfully short-listed film makers will be sent a pair of complimentary tickets to the screening on the 11th November at the Whitgift Film Theatre in Grimsby. The event is open to the general public and is a blast!
The Winner will receive (for 1 year) the prestigious RAVENSCROFT short film Trophy and a prize to the value of £500. Please send DVD or Mini DV Screening copy to address below. There is a £3.50 entry fee. Submission form can be downloaded from www.meniscusfilms.com or by emailing info@meniscusfilms.com - this is not limited to people in the local area - we have had entries from all over the world, so do please send in a submission.
DEADLINE September 30th
You must hold or have copy right permissions for any work you submit including soundtracks and music.
Contact; Meniscus c/o 158 Welholme Road, GREAT GRIMSBY North East Lincolnshire DN32 9LP
I'm downloading it now for use in my VJ lifestyle!
read more | digg story
Even though it's almost the middle of the year, time for a spring clean around here ;-) and to queue up a few new ideas I've had swimming around my brain.
]]>Great reading, keep up the great posts. Peace, JiggaDigga
While nice and inoffensive, I think I've worked out the methodology. It's a nice message, you OK it, and depending on your MT set-up, that address jiggadigga@yahoo.com becomes a trusted commentator - which will allow future comments to be automatically added to posts, and I'll bet they won't be as nice/useful/inoffensive - or in short SPAM!
Blacklist the email or change your MT set-up to manually verify comments.
I only spotted this, due to the fact that I maintain several blogs for myself and other people, and had the same message on all of them even though they are a wide spread of blog types and are not interrelated.
]]>When a page is not found, obviously I look into it and correct the problem if it's something that is broken and fixable - images with incorrect paths, or articles where I've corrected the spelling in the title, etc. But to find a long list of references to a Wiki directory that does not exist on my site, is plainly weird.
]]> So I'm a bit baffled as to what has caused this - either it's a Wiki search engine that's trying to catalogue the site, or some other type of search spider/bot that has gotten lost and is looking for content. When I have a spare minute, I will have to download the raw logs and see what I can find.Here is the full list of errors, none of which exist on the site:
/w/index.php
/wiki/special:recentchanges
/wiki/holiday
/wiki/category:geek_holidays
/wiki/special:random
/wiki/march_14
/wiki/mathematics
/wiki/special:whatlinkshere/pi_day
/wiki/astronomical_unit
/wiki/julian_calendar
/wiki/list_of_topics_related_to_pi
/wiki/december_21
/wiki/mole_day
/wiki/special:upload
/wiki/zu_chongzhi
/wiki/pineapple
/wiki/time
/wiki/talk:pi_day
/wiki/24-hour_clock
/wiki/pie
/wiki/april_25
/wiki/radian
/wiki/november_9
/wiki/category:pi
/wiki/special:recentchangeslinked/pi_day
/wiki/current_events
/wiki/gregorian_calendar
/wiki/wikipedia:contact_us
/wiki/pi_%28film%29
/wiki/1592
/wiki/square_root_day
/wiki/orbit
/wiki/newtonmas
/wiki/kate_bush
/wiki/pi
/wiki/help:contents
/wiki/pi_day
/wiki/leap_year
/wiki/november_10
/wiki/mathematical_constant
/wiki/united_states
/wiki/july_22
/wiki/decimal
/wiki/history_of_pi
/tutorials/stats.js
/wiki/calendar_date
/wiki/earth
/wiki/ides_of_march
/wiki/massachusetts_institute_of_technology
/wiki/pi%c3%b1a_colada
/wiki/april_26
/wiki/towel_day
/wiki/albert_einstein
/wiki/proof_that_22_over_7_exceeds_%cf%80
/wiki/main_page
/wiki/darwin_day
/wiki/wikipedia:community_portal
/wiki/pi%c3%b1ata
/wiki/december_20
This is mainly thanks to the MovableType tutorials and especially to the Category Cloud one using CloudNine, which has created some quality feedback and links to and from other sites. All of which has given me a good moral boost to get working on other tutorials and general design ideas for inclusion on the site.
To celebrate, I bought a link space on Stu Nicholls' site CSS Play, which also supports his work which has inspired me on a few occasions.
]]>