I set up a Lifestream using Sweetcron and I have to say that I think that it is pretty cool.
What’s a Lifestream?
Good question! I like the following definition:
A Lifestream is a blog-like website featuring real-time flow of a person’s activity across various websites.
Right now I am only aggregating my Twitter, Flickr, and blog feeds, but I’ll add other feeds as it makes sense.
I’m hoping that my Lifestream will reduce some of the guilt I feel when one of my blogs goes a week without a post! If you can relate, you might give Sweetcron a try.
A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon (not by using StumbleUpon) a site that offers the ability to upload, edit, and download ringtones for free. Audiko.net is very easy to use and after visiting the site my total number of iPhone ringtones went from 2 to over 50!
I’m really proud of my sister Hilary. She’s a young stay-at-home mom who has recently started a business of her own called Simply Yours Designs. She has a pretty niche product that I can only describe as cute Blogspot templates. She definitely caters to the female demographic. The design that she does kind of reminds me of what you would expect a scrapbook to look like, you can check out some of her designs here and here.
Hilary’s prices are really competitive and her site is a great place to buy “cute” blogspot templates. How’s that for a shameless plug?
So… here’s my SEO tip for the day: If you want to show up on search engines for keywords that are relevant to your website/blog, new content/regular posts are key.
And no… I don’t practice what I preach! (Any content is better than no content, right?)
On a very unrelated note, I got some new golf clubs today and I am still a lousy golfer. Very disappointing.
I am a very late-comer to the Twitter scene. I have only recently started using it regularly. For the longest time, I just couldn’t see the point. I wondered, “What does Twitter offer that Facebook or MySpace don’t?”
Twitter allows you to keep in touch with people, just like those other guys. It’s a quick and easy way to get your thoughts, questions, and ideas out to anyone who cares (and even to those that don’t). One thing that Twitter has on Facebook, MySpace, and other social media is that it is incredibly easy to use and the concept is very simple.
After using Twitter for a few weeks now, I have realized that there really isn’t a point to it, it’s just fun! Stop trying to understand it and just use it, I bet you’ll like it!
So, I’m no longer piggybacking (stealing) internet at home, all of my neighbors have wised up and secured their WiFi networks. I am waiting to get hooked up with fiber optics so that I can blog again!
One thing that I really love about Dreamhost is the ability to upgrade Wordpress with a One-Click Install. It is as painless as can be and it keeps me using the most up-to-date version of Wordpress.
I upgraded to WordPress 2.5 a day or two after it was released and haven’t looked back. There are a couple of things that I really like about WordPress 2.5:
The admin panel is much more user-friendly and helps me to do the things that I do most frequently (i.e. write a post, approve a comment) very quickly.
Saving a post in progress and previewing it without ever leaving the future post is a huge timesaver!
Collaborating on a post is much easier because WordPress 2.5 notifies you if someone else is editing a post at the same time.
The ability to upgrade plugins automatically!
The media gallery is great, even though I doubt that I use it to its full potential.
I have been asked quite a bit lately why it is that I blog. I don’t keep an online journal and I don’t even have a picture of myself on this blog (not that there is anything wrong with .blogspot.com that kind of blogging), but why do I blog? I do it for a couple of reasons:
I love the freedom of expression that a blog provides.
Blogging helps me to learn about all sorts of cool stuff, i.e. FTP, SEM – PPC & SEO, HTML, PHP, and all manner of web-related acronyms.
Blogging helps me improve my writing skills. (Or so I hope!)
Blogging is fun!
Freedom of Expression
There is something very empowering in the thought that my ideas and opinions could be read by anyone in the world. I know that there are only a handful of you who read this blog because Google Analytics tells me so, but the possibility that I could contribute information on a global scale is still there!
Search Engine Marketing & Internet Technology
I work at a technology company that specializes in local internet marketing for small businesses, so I pretty much have to keep up on how search engines are working. Through blogs, I have learned how to optimize a website and its content show I can show up for relevant terms on the search engines. I’ve learned about site tracking and I’ve even run pay-per-click campaigns to drive traffic to my blogs. Blogging has helped me learn HTML and even a little PHP, stuff that I have wanted to learn ever since I first logged on to America Online.
Blogger is to Blogging as Writer is to Writing?
I don’t consider myself a good writer and I have never enjoyed writing, but under the guise of a blog, I actually like to write. It’s magical. I just wish I would’ve felt this way in 11th grade English!So that’s why I blog, why do you?
I use Skype to video chat with non-Mac users (I just use iChat with other Mac-users) and for a long time I was singing Skype’s praises- the audio and video quality is good, lag isn’t a problem, and best of all, it’s free! But things have changed.
Lately, I’ve been getting all kinds of nasty spam through Skype and it really irks me because I have my privacy settings set to the max.
You need to understand that I only have 6 Skype contacts and that I have never published my Skype username anywhere. Somehow and some way my contact info was compromised and I get porn spam like crazy. Skype’s support page on the subject is absolutely worthless, here are their instructions for taking care of the spam issue:
People keep sending me spam messages or abusive calls, what can I do?
If you are getting chat messages or calls that you consider to be spam or abusive we suggest you use Skype’s built in privacy settings to filter out any unwanted communications.
You can select only to allow calls or chats from people in your Contacts list that you’ve authorized.
Select Tools -> Options -> Privacy
Check the box next to the option “Allow calls from only people I have shared my details with” and/or the box “Allow chats from only people I have shared my details with” and then save the changes.
Then random strangers and people not on your contact list cannot contact you anymore.
Well, I have done that and I still get spam like crazy. I’d like to keep my Skype username, but I’m considering creating another account, or looking in to other options.
Have you had issues with spam on Skype? Let me know.
