Recommended Web Tools Archives

What is mind mapping?

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but mind mapping is no more than a way to organize your thoughts on paper. It is, in some ways, a method of note taking. In other ways, it is a means to gather information on any topic and present it to any interested party. Mind maps have been used to organize thoughts around personal matters (finding a job) to work related matters (gathering user requirements for software development). Mind mapping can be used for any creative endeavor, writing, business, planning, project management, learning, studying and memory improvement.

Mind maps can be constructed using paper and pen or via software. I will review two mind mapping programs later.

The technique and structure of mind mapping is simple.

Start with a concept/idea/problem. I will use the example of “finding a new job”. Take a sheet of paper, place it in landscape position and write the phrase in the middle of the piece of paper.

Write “places to work” in the upper right, “people to contact” in the upper left, “websites to visit” in the lower right, and “resume to do list” in the lower left.

Each of these new categories then can have subpoints or branch out to new thoughts, etc.

It is hard to describe in words, a quick visit to the sites listed below will quickly give you the idea.

Think of mind mapping as a graphical means to do an outline or a decision tree.

Why talk about mind mapping on a site like this?

The goal of this site is to provide beginners with a comprehensive resource of tools to enable them to build their own websites. Mind mapping software is a tool that could help future web developers and content writers organize their work and their writing.

One last note, mind mapping is a technique and a tool. Like all such things, it may not prove to be useful to some people. It is not perfect for everything. I have found it useful for initial brainstorming and for organize thoughts when I need to write a longer article. Give it a try and leave your comments.

For more information on mind mapping check out the resources below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_mapping

http://www.mind-mapping.org/

http://www.mapyourmind.com/

http://www.buzancentres.com/

Simple Server Monitor Review

Is your server down? How would you know?

Would you like to know when it goes down?

Simple Server Monitor offers a desktop tool that allows users the ability to monitor their servers.

Simple Server Monitor offers more than just a simple ping utility to test the status of a server. It has the ability to actually login to a service and logout thus testing to see if an application is actually up and running.

The possibilities with Simple Server Monitor are mainly for the intermediate to advanced user. While SSM can be used to tell if a website is up or down, it maybe overkill for beginners to use it for this purpose especially at a price of $50. However, if you host applications on shared web hosts, then this tool will be worth the small investment. SSM is ideal for those who host their own websites on their own machines or who are in charge of maintaining a series of servers. I would hesitate to say whether it is ideal in an enterprise environment. It seems more geared towards the individual and/or small business. Though as a secondary form of alert, SSM seems like it could serve in the enterprise environment as well.

You will have to adjust your firewall accordingly to let SSM reach the servers you have set it to test. When I first fired SSM up, it tested my website and told me it was down. I went out and checked and it was most definitely up. The problem was my firewall. The firewall had kept SSM from sending out it’s test ping and when SSM did not receive any packets back it assumed the server was down. I am not a network expert by any means, but if there was a way for SSM to detect the presence if not the blockage of a firewall, this would help users immensely.

The interface is clean and easy to use. Setup (other than the firewall issue) was very easy as well. If you have a small business and manage multiple servers or websites, SSM may be the right tool for you.

Disclosure: Paid Review

Small Business should learn to leverage Google Maps and Yahoo Local

Google Maps and Yahoo Local Search are powerful tools that often go unnoticed beyond their ability to give directions.

However, for the small local business there is a tremendous amount of advertising power by getting your business listed.

Where is the best place to go to learn about these tools? Head on over to the Understanding Google Maps and Yahoo Local blog.

In particular check out these two posts:

Best Practices for Local Success

Which business classes benefit most from Local Search

These posts will help you generate ideas for getting your brick and mortar business listed on Google Maps and Yahoo Local Search.

[tags]google, yahoo, maps, local, search[/tags]

Underwhelmed by the offerings of online file backup storage

I spent a portion of this weekend evaluating online backup solutions. I am trying to create a comprehensive backup plan for myself and figured off-site online storage should be a part of this plan. I tried 5 or 6 different solutions and ended up frustrated and unimpressed.

First and foremost, online backup solutions need to think like Lightning McQueen: “Speed. I am Speed.” I don’t want to wait a day for my backup to be completed. One service took 5hrs to get a 200mb zip file at 35%. I realize the file is large, but I have several files this size and larger. Transferring over HTTP is laborious at best. Some services stated upload speeds would be equal to the speed of my broadband connection. Not so. I am now determined to find a service that offers FTP upload as this offers the speediest of all upload/download capabilities. This may cost a little more, but the speed will be worth it.

Second, I want simple off-site storage. Most of the current so called Web 2.0 services offered a more complex service with video and file sharing. It made me wonder what business they were in. Are they in the online backup business or the file sharing business? To me those are two different things. As a potential online backup customer I don’t care about sharing my music and photo files. I just want to back them up.

Third, several had desktop clients which claimed to increase the upload speed. Nada. Plus, I bit the bullet and even downloaded and installed .NET to test out one of the clients. I have put off installing .NET. Sort of peeves me that I have to install another platform on my PC for software that doesn’t show very good performance. The desktop client I eventually installed was slow. Clicking through the folder structure took several seconds to open each level. Painful. The issue could have been with my PC, but again, it needs to work for me and this clearly didn’t. I don’t understand companies having to rewrite a simple Windows Explorer interface in the latest bloated computer language.

There are several others I have yet to evaluate and will post a review of those that are worth your time. Time is precious even when backing up your files.

[tags]backup, storage, files [/tags]

How to use cPanel to backup your website

You’ve heard it a million times. BACKUP YOUR DATA!

The question is, are you?? If you are not, you really need to be doing so.

Again, let me repeat, you really need to be backing up your website.

Beginners probably have their website hosted on a shared environment with cPanel running as the administrative tool. You can easily backup your website (files and databases) with cPanel. Here’s how:

1. Go to www.yoursitedomain.com/cpanel

   

2. Enter your username and password – if you do not know this information please contact your web host.

   

3. Click the ‘Backup’ icon located on the main screen

   

4. Click ‘Generate/Download a full backup’

   

5. The “Full Backups” screen will display

   

6. Select your backup location (choose Home Directory)

   

7. Make sure your email address is correctly entered (once the backup is complete you will be emailed)

   

8. Click Generate Full Backup button

   

9. Backup file will be created in your home directory

   

10. Once the full backup of your account has been completed you will receive an email message to the email address you specified

If you cPanel looks different from above don’t freak. Some web hosts setup cpanel differently. Here is an example:

1. Look for a main toolbar icon labled “Tools”
   
2. Click “Backup” from the left menu
   
3. Follow instructions above starting with number four (4).

The backup file will be created on your home root directory. It will be a tar.gz file. This file can then be FTPed off your server to a local drive or CD (or both!) for safe keeping. I recommended doing this weekly at the LEAST.

You will have noticed during this process something stating the following (or something similar):

Full Backups allow you to save a complete, compressed copy of all of your site data either to your home directory locally or remotely to an FTP server. Full backups CANNOT be restored by CPanel automatically. Only your server administrator can restore a full backup automatically. If you want to be able to use CPanel to restore your backup files, you must use the separate HOME, SQL, ALIASES and FILTERS backup features, and then you can restore them below.

While this is a true statement keep in mind the following:

• The full backup contains A LOT of information. It contains MORE than you NEED but ALL that you WANT.
• Don’t worry! While this file cannot be restored automatically via cPanel, the correct pieces can be extracted and restored manually. It is just one huge zip file. Know that every file has been backedup as well as SQL statements generated for recreating and restoring databases.

Using cPanel to backup your website piece by piece is a post for another day!

[tags]backups, backup, website, web, cpanel[/tags]

How to get raw webserver logs from cPanel

For beginners, accessing the raw webserver logs may seem a bit of a mystery even a tad intimidating. If you are interested in looking at your own raw logs and are using a host that uses cpanel (most do) then this little tutorial will show you how to do it.

Most cpanel installations are the same. However, hosts can choose to customize the interface. These instructions follow the more common generic set up.

• Find icon that say Raw Access Logs
• Click it
• A list of logs appears.
• Typically, the log that appears here is only todays.
• Hover over the link.
• Name of the file appears in the bottom status bar.
• Name will look something like:
  

  http://www.yoursitename.com:2082/getaccesslog/

  accesslog_yoursitename.com_9_7_2006.gz


• Notice the date connected to the file.
• Right click the link
• CHoose save as and save the file to your desktop.
• You can then look at the file at your leisure via your favorite text editor.

There are several web statistics applications that look solely at your log files. If you are interested in using an application to interpret your raw logs for you, take a look at Logaholic (I am in the process of reviewing logaholic but won’t have a review up until maybe October.)

Since it is a pain to log in and download your log files everyday. You can set things up to save a monthly log file.

• Find the icon that says Raw Log Manager
• Click check box that says “Archive Logs in your home directory at the end of each stats run [every 1 day(s)]
  “
• This message may vary depending on your web host.
• Click save.
• Cpanel will then begin to accumulate all daily stats into a single monthly file that is accessible either through the raw log manager or directly from your home directory.

[tags]cpanel, logs, raw[/tags]

Opera Browser Review

Opera has been the “background” browser. During the browser wars, it sat in the background as IE and Netscape battled for browser dominance. It has been in the background riding the coattails of Firefox as it has surged in popularity. With a larger emphasis on alternative browsers nowadays, Opera may now indeed be getting some of the credit it has deserved. I have known about Opera for years, but never have given it a try. I felt it was time I downloaded Opera and give it a test spin.

The very first thing I noticed once I opened the browser was the clean look and feel of the interface. This was refreshing. I tend to like software that has a good interface and carries itself “lightly”. The only default toolbars are the Address and Tab bars. Using the minimum of toolbars helps create the clean interface. Other toolbars can be added of course, but I’ve found I like it with less.

I was concerned how well Opera would render web pages. Would it break sites? Does it break this site? Overall, the answer to this is no. Pages, by and large, are displayed correctly. However, I did notice one wrinkle. I tested Opera on a dial up connection. At one point I was downloading a file while browsing. When the connection is slow and/or busy, images in particular were not rendered completely. Sometimes, elements would not download at all which would affect the overall layout of the site. In order to determine whether it was a browser issue or connection issue I opened the same website in both IE and Firefox. The sites were correctly displayed in both other browsers. This is not a big concern since I only noticed Opera doing this once or twice. I have to test it out some more to figure out why it behaves this way.

There are several built-in features that I liked a lot. When a file download is initiated, Opera opens a Transfers tab. On this tab all downloads are tracked. A status light indicates the state of the download. Columns record the name, size, progress (%), Time left and speed of the download. I found that using a tab instead of a separate box like Firefox was a little more user friendly. Opera’s method reminded me a lot of the interface of the Reget download tool I had used ages ago.

Three other cool features:
-Links – this tool displays all the links that exist on a page.
-Notes – make notes and record anything you want. This can be used as a more advanced clipboard (sort of). Often repeated text strings can be recorded here and then copy and pasted when needed.
-Hover – mousing over a tab displays a mini-view of the website being shown on that tab.

Overall, I was happy with my Opera experience. I will be using it more often, especially for managing downloads. It is definitely worth downloading and trying it out. I would be curious as well if anyone has run into the rendering issue I discussed above.

[tags]opera, browsers, web+browsers[/tags]

FRSBIM – Feed Reading Social Bookmarking Information Management

There is an abundance of social bookmarking sites. I have my favorites. But I don’t have the time to check all of them out. So, here is my request list. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction.

While it is nice to tag and share and all that, I want to be able to track my own actions with each bookmark. In particular I want to be able to mark the following:

1. Write/Blog about it
2. Mark it as read or action taken

When I bookmark something, I want to be able to go back and and check little radio buttons for each of the tasks above. I bookmark some stuff I want to write about. It is irritating to bookmark it AND add it to my to do list. OR create a empty draft post with the link to it (this becomes overwhelmingly cluttered).

There is some stuff I bookmark that I want to read LATER. I often forget. Would be nice to login and see what has been read and what hasn’t. Bookmarking services shouldn’t equate a bookmark with having read it. Bookmarks are of course, just placemarkers.

I am finding social bookmarks to be an inefficient means to create task lists off of.

Wouldn’t it be great if my Feed Reader, Task Manager and Social Bookmarks all worked together?

So here’s an idea for someone, anyone. Name the service PlaceMarker. Create a Feed Reader, Task Manager and Social Bookmarker that works together. Posts I read in my feed reader can not only be flagged or tagged but ALSO added to my Task Manager for some action to be done later (either read it or blog about it). Likewise, items I bookmark would work the same.

It is time to start integrating some of these apps – FRSBIM (freeze-bim).

[tags]social+bookmarking,feed+reader,task+manager, tasks, bookmarks, rss, feeds,to+do[/tags]

Moving Tasks from Very Good to Excellent

I’ve been working with Tasks over the last couple of weeks and I have really enjoyed it. It does most of what I want from task management software. Now, if it added the following four items, I would be reallllly happy:

1. Print – I hate printing the browser screen.
2. Export – nice to have a text backup
3. The ability to move an item from one category to another. I’ve looked, but unless I’ve missed it, it is not there.
4. The ability to do a Mass Add. It does have the ability to add tasks quickly one at a time. However, I want to be able to choose a category and then have ten blank fields that I can enter 10 tasks at a time.

Overall it has proven to be a good tool.

[tags]tasks, king[/tags]

Hierarchical Task List Management with Tasks Jr.

Tasks Jr. is a web-based task manager that uses hierarchical organization to manage personal or professional to-do lists.

Tasks Jr. is the free version of Tasks. Tasks is developed by Alex King who maybe more known for his work with WordPress Themes and Feedlounge. The thing I love about Alex King’s work (especially with Feedlounge) is his emphasis on friendly user interfaces. Tasks Jr is no exception, it is very easy to use.

Tasks Jr is installed either on a local pc web server or on your own hosted web server (like WordPress). This distinguishes it from other to-do list services which are predominantly hosted solutions. While the thought of installing an application is daunting to beginners it is not difficult. I have posted some tips on installing it. If you are able to install WordPress, you can install Tasks Jr.

There are two main items I like about Tasks Jr.

• Everything in Tasks Jr is hierarchical. Create your own main categories and have as many subtasks as is necessary. Subtasks can have subtasks, and those subtasks can have subtasks. Thus, the organizational possibilities are just about infinite. This kind of flexibility rarely exists in other task management programs.
• The use of icalender format via phpcalendar. There are several hosted solutions which state they integrate with ical solutions, but I have found them kludgey at best and very limiting. Tasks uses phpcalender directly and it is easy to get up and running.

I would definitely recommended giving Tasks Jr. shot. I think you may find it easier and more powerful than a lot of the more highly touted task managers. Upgrading to the full fledged Tasks is priced at a reasonable $30.

An enterprise version, Tasks Pro, is also available for multiple teams which enables collaboration.

Visit King Design for a complete description and comparison of features.

[tags]tasks, tasks+jr, king, to-do+lists, project+management, task+management[/tags]

Tips on Installing Tasks Jr.

These instructions add a little more detail, than the instructions that come with Tasks Jr. However, they do assume knowledge with certain tasks. If you try Tasks Jr. out and need help, please comment or email and I will be glad to assist.

1. unzip zip file. There will be a main folder called tasks_jr. You keep the folder name or change it. This will be the name of the web folder from which tasks jr will be accessed.
2. Tasks_jr is meant to be uploaded to a webserver either locally or on a hosted site. If you have a website you can easily add Tasks Jr as a sub folder.
3. Upload the complete contents of the tasks_jr folder. You will need to use a FTP client to upload it. Determine the location in which you want it installed. Let’s say your website is www.mysite.com. The root of this site will be inside the public_html folder (There should be an index.html or index.php file there). To install it on the root, simply drap and drop the tasks_folder here. If placed here, it will be accessed by entering www.mysite.com/tasks_jr/.
4. Setup the database. These instructions assume the use of Cpanel to control your website. Click on MySql Databases. Make sure a user with admin rights has been created. If not, create one. Next, create a database, call it “tasks” (or anything you want). The database name becomes a combination of this name with your cpanel user name. So if your cpanel user name is smith, then the complete database name is “smith_tasks”. ASsign the user your created to this database.
5. Edit the database.php file in the tasks_jr folder (or whatever you may have renamed the main folder.) Enter the database name where it says to enter database name. Leave table_name alone. Enter the username and password created in step 4. Remember the user name is a combination of your cpanel username and the database username ie smith_admin.
6. Edit the config.php. Scroll down to $custom->tasks_URL. Enter the Url where Tasks Jr is installed, Remember step 3. This is most likely “http://www.mysite.com/task_jr/” or “http://www.mysite.com/tasks/”.Scroll down to $custom->ical_URL. This is the location of the iCalendar. If you installed Tasks Jr as above, then this URL should be “http://www.mysite.com/task_jr/phpicalendar” or “http://www.mysite.com/tasks/phpicalendar/.
7. In your browser, enter “http://www.mysite.com/task_jr/install/index.php” This will create the database table and get things up and running. It should only take a second.
8. Enter http://www.mysite.com/task_jr/ in your browser. YOu should now be ready to use Tasks Jr!

Keep in mind that there is no user authetication (ie password protection) for Tasks jr. You will have to upgrade to the full Tasks ($29.95) for that. However, via cpanel you can password protect the “tasks” directory that will prevent unauthorized use of your Tasks Jr install.

Send and Receive Faxes By Email

Need the ability to send and receive faxes for your small business?

A fax machine, an extra phone line, and paper expenses can add up quickly.

Consider using a service that will let you send and receive faxes via email. Typically, PDF’s are used to both send and receive faxes. The great advantage of this kind of service is being able to send and receive a fax anywhere where there is web access.

There are several services out there. The biggest factor of course is price.

The cheapest deal I was able to find was provided by MaxEmail.

MaxEmail offer two kinds of service Lite and Plus. The Lite service is what I will discuss here.

MaxEmail offers a 30 day free trial which allows users to receive up to 50 faxes/voicemails and send up to three faxes. Surprisingly, several other services do not offer a trial version. It is important for any service offered over the web to provide a free trial. Credit goes to MaxEmail.

MaxEmail Lite provides a non-local telephone number (815 area code) that is used as the fax number. The service allows users to receive up to 500 faxes and/or voicemails a month. Other services do not provide the ability to handle voicemail.

What does it cost?

• Setup fee $10
• Annual fee $24
• Inbound Faxes/Voicemails – first 500 included, over 500 each page/voicemail received is $0.05.
• Sending Faxes – $0.05/30 seconds of transmission time. A two page fax will cost around $0.10.

• Basic initial year cost: $35
• Basic initial year cost plus sending 100 two page faxes: $45

I compared this service with a comparable service of a provider that is well advertised. They did not offer a trial version per se. They had a free version, but this does not allow the user to send any faxes. Their comparable “lite” service has the advantage of letting users to select a local telephone number. However, that comes at a price. The cost is $13/month, with a $13 setup fee. Sending faxes costs $0.10/page, and the account can recieve only 130 pages per month.

• Basic initial year cost: $169
• Basic initial year cost plus sending 100 two page faxes: $189

The cost difference is substantial. You will have to ask yourself several questions. Do you need a local number? Will local companies be faxing you or will out of state companies be faxing you? How many faxes will you receive versus how many will you send?

MaxEmail also offers a Plus service which includes a local phone number. The annual fee is $84. Still much less than competitors.

For testing the fax to email waters, MaxEmail Lite is the place to start. With the few faxes I have sent and received so far, it has worked great.

For other fax services take a look at Top Ten Reviews.

[tags]maxemail, email, fax[/tags]

Keeping Yourself Organized

Beginners trying to develop their own websites will soon find the great need to become organized!

Unfortunately, for some of us, keeping and (staying) organized is a small miracle.

There are a few online tools that just might help in the endeavor however. Solution Watch has a great list of available to-do list and project management tools. I don’t totally agree with their top five list, but the list in total is a very helpful compilation. Backback, Basecamp and Ta-da Lists get a lot of press and are definitely worth anyones time to consider. However, they are not the only fish in the sea. The trick with any of these services is finding the one that works for YOU! So, I offer you my opinion.

For keeping your personal life organized (and maybe a few work items) consider Remember the Milk. It has one of the easiet interfaces I’ve seen in a while and is whipcrack fast. See my full review of RTM here.

For small scale project management, I think Voo2do is worth a look. I define small scale within the bounds of the independent developer up to a team of 3-5 people. I am not quite sure how well it will work beyound that size. I like the quick accessibility to the actual task list (one click!) and the ability to have sub-tasks/sub-projects. Read my full review of Voo2do here.

UPDATED:
I would also add Tasks Jr. to this list. While it is missing some of the printing and exporting features I like, it is very easy to use and very speedy. Plus, it can be installed on one’s own server and not hosted with someone else.

Remember the Milk. Check your list

Of all the online personal to-do lists, I think Remember the Milk does a lot right.

1. Easy. Very.
2. The interface is fast, crisp and clean.
3. Individual lists or a weekly calendar can be printed.
4. Tasks can be prioritized with eye-catching colorful indicators.
5. Multiple lists can be created. As many as one wants.

Lists are presented on individual tabs. Tasks are listed in order of date and/or priority on each tab. Lists and tasks can be shared with other RTM users.

The right navigation panel holds additional information on the focused item. For a list, it shows the number of tasks, the number due, and the number complete. It also includes the ability to print the list, connect the list to an iCalendar and an ATOM feed for the list. For individual tasks, the panel shows due date, time estimate, tags, url, notes plus a few others.

By using tags, users can further define their tasks. For a list called “House Projects”, each task could be tagged with the particular room the task is to take place.

One other key piece of functionality is the extensive use of keyboard shortcuts. With the ajaxy world upon us, this kind of feature is coming to the web in full force. It seems like a small thing, but once keyboard shortcuts are learned they are far quicker than using a mouse.

[tag]remember+the+milk,lists,organize,tasks[/tag]

Voo2do Online Project Management

After using a few online task management tools I was able to identify one that met a good portion of my needs (not all but most):

1. Print the list. Seems silly in todays online age, but I want a piece of paper that I can mull over as I sit somewhere outside of the usual din of work.
2. Export the list. This exported text file serves as a backup.
3. Have multiple layers: sub-tasks and sub-projects. I do work on multiple websites. I need to set up each website as a project. Under each I have a standard set of 4-5 to-do lists, each focusing on a particular aspect of the site.

Voo2do enables me to meet all these requirements.

Voo2do is not the prettiest nor the slickest. But it has the FUNCTIONALITY that I want and need.

The highest level of organization are called contexts. These could be home, work, school, etc. Or, like in my case, they are particular web projects I am working on. A project in Voo2do is actually the task list.

For example, I have a RWT context (RWT is short for Recommended Web Tools, this site). I have five projects within that context: RWT Blog Posts, RWT Articles, RWT Admin, Firefox Posts. RWT Blog Posts is my largest list, containing sites to review and things to write about. RWT Articles contains a list of finalized web tool recommendations to write. RWT Admin contains website administration tasks like X is too big, Fix this border, etc. I created Firefox Posts as a separate project because I had numerous items that I wanted to write about Firefox.

There are a few things I wish Voo2do would improve. First, speed. It is not as quick as other online management tools. Second, I would make further improvements to the interface. While these things are important, I will choose functionality first. While an app maybe pretty, that doesn’t help me if it is useless. I have found Voo2do to be useful and will continue to use it as long as it meets my needs.

[tags]voo2do, project+management[/tags]

Test Internet Connection Speed

Are you really getting the speed your provider has advertised?

Use InternetFrog to get an assessment of your connection speed at your pc.

Using this in a corporate environment might yield weird results. Corporations typically have a variety of filtering systems on their bandwidth which can be perceived as a slow connection. Give it a test whirl and see what happens. Run it two or three time to get best results.

via About Websearch

Akismet Review

Akismet is a comment spam blocker for WordPress based blogs. With the release of WordPress 2.0, the Akismet plugin comes standard with the install.

I began using Akismet when I upgraded this site to WordPress 2.0 earlier this year. I give it a thumbs up!

Akismet works a little differently than other comment spam blockers. Instead of the spam algorithm being based inside code that resides on the host website, all spam detection technology is housed on the Akismet web server. Whenever a comment is left on a website, the Akismet plugin sends the comment back to the home web server. Akismet then performs its detection at that point. Akismet returns the comments back to the website either as a legitimate comment or lists it as spam. Users never need to check the spam. A spam comment is kept around for 15 days just in case. After 15 days, the spam is deleted.

The first weeks after implementing Akismet I kept a keen eye on the comments. In the end, it had only let one spam comment through and there were no legitimate comments caught as spam. Now I hardly pay attention to it, I just let it do its thing.

The advantage of providing spam detection offsite on another server is the collective “learning” that the spam detection software can amass. Instead of learning from just one site what is spam and what isnt, Akismet can learn from thousands of users.

I do recommended users watch Akismet in the first few weeks after installation. Watch and learn what comments it catches and which it lets through. If it makes a mistake, correct it and help it learn.

Requirements for using Akismet:

-WordPress based blog (maybe this is enough for some of you to make the switch!)
-WordPress.com API Key (simply sign up for an account at WordPress.com)
-Akismet plugin installed in the plugin directory of the WordPress installation

Tinyurl Review

Have a list of favorite books you want to email your friends?

Do you want to email this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743482832/sr=8-1/qid=1140451955/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9964526-3370252?%5Fencoding=UTF8

or this:

http://tinyurl.com/rcvn3

The latter is much much cleaner!

Webmasters can face similar issues in posting links on their site. Long URL’s can create messy looking code.

Tinyurl helps resolve this problem by creating shortened/redirected URLs for any long URL. Tinyurl creates a random 5 or more character code that is attached to the main tinyurl.com domain. This link is permanently redirected to the long URL. While these shortened URLs never expire, keep in mind that if Gilby has a fatal unicycle crash all may be lost (Gilby runs and maintains tinyurl). However, Tinyurl has shortened more than 15 million URLs. Its very popularity will guaranteed some level of longevity.

Uses for Tinyurl:

• URLs in emails (long URLs often break inside of emails)
• hide affiliate codes in URLs
• cleaner looking code especially if working with map urls or product item urls
• cleaner bookmarks for favorites or social bookmarking
• Ever wanted to post an item about a crappy website but didnt want to give that site a link? Tinyurl the site and use the tinyurl link instead.

[tags]url, utilities, tinyurl[/tags]

Teaching Computers to Beginners

Gadgetopia recently posted about teaching computers to beginners.

Here is what I think should be taught:

• turn on a computer
• turn off a computer safely
• how to use a mouse
• keyboard shortcuts
• cut, copy and paste
• create desktop shortcuts
• create and save a document
• file folder organization and usage
• how to connect to the internet
• how to bookmark favorite sites
• how to use a search engine
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Disk space utilization software

Need an easy to read bar chart that displays folders and the disk space they take up?

Enter DISKdata. I have used this tool for years on my PC to evaluate disk space. It is very helpful tool in the overall maintenance of a PC. It helps identify space hogs.

Here is a link to a screen shots page.

Learn About FTP

Over at FTP Planet, the creators of WS FTP, they have two resources available for those wanting to understand FTP. Beginners wanting to get into web development will have to face FTP sooner or later. Here is a great place to learn. First, check out their FTP New User Guide. Once that is digested take a look at their FTP Technical Guide which provides a more advanced look at the technology behind FTP.

(just beware of the sales pitch at the end of each of the articles)

Best Freeware Tools

Tech Support Alert maintains (read: regularly updates) a list of the Best Freeware Utilities available. While readers my not agree with his choices, at least it is a helpful resource.

Basecamp Review

Much has already been written about Basecamp by 37signals. I have been using it for the past two months to help me keep the development of this website organized.

Basecamp is a project management tool. Essentially, it is another in a long line of organizational tools. Do we need another organizational tool?

I often have told myself that if I can’t get myself organized using a simple day planner (or a simple calendar), then I shouldn’t shell out the money for expensive software or a palm pilot etc. Since Basecamp offers a free version, there was no harm to the wallet for trying it out.

Basecamp provides a Dashboard that provides an basic overview of all the projects in the account. Entering the project page, the user is provided with five distinct areas: Overview (sort of like the dashboard but only for this particular project), Messages, To-Dos, Milestones and People.

Being that I do not have a team of people working for me nor any clients, I cannot speak to the collaborative functionality that Basecamp offers under the People section. Milestones keeps track of key dates and integrates with any calendar that uses iCalendar technology. Messages is used to send and keep track of notes for all team members. I used it mainly to make notes for myself.

I skim over these other parts because it is mainly the To-Do’s section that I have used and is in some ways the core upon which all the other components are built around.

The To-Do’s section is a collection of one or more lists. That is it. Lists. Sort of a let down isn’t it? However, organization is really nothing more than a list. Does organization really need to be anything more? Kudos to the Basecamp people for following the KISS principle: Keep it Simple Stupid.

There is amazing power in a simple list. Basecamp has made it extremely easy to create lists, add items to lists, reorder items on lists, reorder the lists themselves, delete items, complete items (i.e. check items off), etc.

I know people are still thinking, that’s it? It is just a big To Do list collector?

Here is the catch with ALL organizational tools: they are highly dependent on the ORGANIZER. NO TOOL will KEEP you organized if you yourself fail to use the tool. That is the power of Basecamp. It is simple. It is not tedious to maintain. It is not complex. It is not cumbersome. However, simplicity has a second edge as well. One does have to be a little more savvy and creative to use lists for maximum efficiency. Again, the onus is on oneself.

There is one key improvement I would make to the To-Do lists. I would love to be able to add the same item to multiple lists. For example, I want to create a list entitled “Things to do Today”. I want to be able to drag and drop items from other lists onto my “Today” list. Checking an item off either on the Today list or the original list would complete the item on all the lists it was included. Now we are talking about some real organizational power, yet keeping it within the realm of simplicity.

Other minor improvements: flag items of importance (Yes, I could move it to the top of the list, but that doesn’t scream at me “THIS IS IMPORTANT” as a different color or a little flag next to it would. The Dashboard and Overview screens could be improved. I find it hard to place exactly what bothers me about them, other than they could be tremendously more helpful than they are.

I have discovered that my original question “Do we need yet another organizational tool?” is misguided. My question should be turned into an imperative: We need simple organizational tools. Most organizational tools get fall into misuse because of two problems. Either they are too complex or too cumbersome. Basecamp is simple and lightweight.

For the beginning web developer it is handy tool to begin to organize the development of websites. Make lists of bugs, articles to write, sites to review, tools to implement, changes to make, etc. I have opened up Basecamp every work day for the last two months. I think that is a record for me and my usage of organizational tools.

Keep in mind Basecamp is not for organizing email, or contacts or anything of that sort. It is project management made simple. The project to manage could be your very own life. Once I am able to upgrade and add a second project I plan to do just that. Finally! Well, I hope to anyway.

UPDATE July 12, 2006:
There are a few other functions I wish Basecamp included. I wish I could print a list. I wish I could export a list. I wish I could backup my lists. I wish it took me only one click to get to my list instead of two. I still recommend it as a tool to consider. One just has to find a tool that indeed works for you.

[tags]basecamp[/tags]