Computer and Web Articles

1. http://tinyurl.com/3scrsyv - Watch this 1 and a ½ minute video clip. Please. Let the message sink in; it has meaning that extends far beyond the text you choose to place in your website. If you’re the emotional type there’s a small chance you might get teary eyed for just a moment. But no matter what type of person you are, I sincerely hope it makes you stop and think, if only for a moment.
2. http://tinyurl.com/3l7w5bu - A great iPad wallpaper collection. Theme: The Great Outdoors.
3. http://tinyurl.com/3u5sg9z - Fifteen fun stickers for your Macbook. (Manyof the stickers also come in sizes that fit seamlessly on the back of your iPhone or iPad.) Options range from classic to humorous to scary and include Banksy, zombie princesses, Simpsons, and Magritte.
4. http://tinyurl.com/3dv848q - A short, thought-provoking article asking the question “Is the Internet making us stupid?” Hopefully it won’t be too challenging for you to get through.
5. http://fb.me/sQ5PwIN5 - An all-around very fun, very cool, 1 minute video clip that surely took many, MANY minutes to create. You should watch this.

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Really, Your Company Might As Well Have a Hole In Its Wallet

1. http://tinyurl.com/3c2f4gt - Shopping for a new phone? Have you by chance considered the new Tag Heuer Link Android smartphone? People who purchase the Tag Heuer Link get to choose whether their case has an 18k rose gold finish or a titanium finish. They also get to choose whether they’d like a calfskin, alligator, lizard or carbon leather trim. Lastly, they get a phone that actually runs on the old Android operating system. Amazing, no? The best part: the phone is an absolute steal at just $6,750.
2. www.BumpBargains.com – Are you pregnant? Are you going to be pregnant Is your wife/girlfriend/? Do you know someone who’s pregnant? If you answered yes to any of these questions, BumpBargains.com might be of interest to you. Run by local Silverthornian Leslie Mountfort, BumpBargains.com features one designer maternity clothing piece at 50% to 80% off, for one day only or until it’s sold out. Each day BumpBargains offers a new designer maternity piece at a bargain price.
3. http://tinyurl.com/6yz5qbb - Even for those of us who are not pregnant, never plan to be pregnant, and/or know no one who is or is going to be pregnant, these 26 Parenting Instruction illustrations are absolutely hilarious. Each illustration has a simple Yes example and No example that make it easy to understand what one needs to do when taking care of baby in various situations. In the “Stimulating Baby” illustration, you’ll learn that putting a mobile above baby’s crib = good. Mounting a TV to one end of the crib and angling it down for baby to see as he falls asleep at night = bad.
4. www.OecdBetterLifeIndex.org – Many of us Summit County folk have a definition for quality of life that differs from the definitions of those held by big city folk. How do you define a better life? This site allows you to “compare well-being across countries, based on 11 topics.” Quite fun to play around with the settings on the homepage and watch the graphics instantly adjust accordingly.
5. www.EclipseCrossword.com – Nope, this has nothing to do with Edward or Bella. Simply feed EclipseCrossword your list of words and clues and, within seconds, the program will generate a custom crossword puzzle for you. This is a unique, fun idea for teachers, parents, webmasters, educational institutions, and companies/organizations that send out email or print newsletters.

If you don’t use Twitter much (or at all), you’ll want to skip this tip. Trust me. It will bore you.

Easy reminders via Twitter? Yes, ridiculously easy!

Simply send a DM to @timer (for example: d timer 70 call Mr. Smithington) where “70” = the number of minutes after which you’d like your reminder and “call Mr. Smithington” = the reminder you’d like to receive.

When the minutes are up, @timer sends you a DM with your reminder message. In this case, in one hour and ten minutes, @timer will send you DM that says “Call Mr. Smithington”.

Of course, before you can use this service, you’ll need to follow @timer so they can DM you.

1. http://tinyurl.com/6e3jj75 Beautiful!! It’s like watching colorful, glowing, digital fireflies. These videos show the movement of 880 iPhones in Europe during April 2011.
2. http://abstrusegoose.com/354 - One illustration. Eight words. I *love* this. Hilarious
3. http://tinyurl.com/yk2n64w - 100 ways to find ideas for your blog posts. No more excuses.
4. www.BanksyiPhoneApp.com – If you love Banksy (like, LOVE love Banksy) and you have an iPhone, you want the Banksy location app, trust me. Check the 40 second video, click the huge “OUT NOW” button to the left of the video, and read the details.
5. http://tinyurl.com/38g2p8o - 62 ways you can use Twitter for business. Not all items in this list will apply to you, but perhaps you can find a few new ideas.

It’s just how things go. Sometimes websites go down.

Your website, your bank’s website, your favorite news site. Your favorite pirating site, your favorite weather site, your kid’s school’s site. Big or small, simple or fancy, sometimes websites go down.

But we all know that when your website goes down, it doesn’t matter that “it’s just how things go sometimes.” It’s not okay. In fact, the stress you feel when your site goes down (or the stress you will feel if you’ve not experienced this yet) is not unlike the stress you’d feel if you discovered the apocalypse was arriving in half an hour.

Yes, your site going down is akin to the end of the world. I know this because I’ve received frantic, screaming, SITE-DOWN!! emails from clients. I’ve received SITE-DOWN!! phone calls during which I swore I could hear hair being ripped from the scalp. Indeed, over the years I’ve been the recipient of some quite powerful horror-shockwaves that clients have set off during their temporary SITE-DOWN!! psychoses.

But here’s the thing: Oftentimes people think their site is down when it’s actually not. A variety of explanations exist as to how someone can’t view his own site when everyone else can. Sometimes DNS isn’t flushed. Sometimes things go weird with host files. Sometimes domain name changes haven’t propagated. Sometimes individuals attempt to visit their sites by typing in an incorrect address (yes, I’ve seen this). Etc. Etc.

In other words, it’s not unlikely that you might someday believe your site is down when it’s not. Thus, the next time you fear your site may be down—before you get yourself too worked up and before you contact your webmaster—visit www.DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com.

Just type your website address into the box and click the blue, underlined “or just me” text. You’ll find out right away if your fear is justified and there indeed could be an actual problem with your site that’s preventing everyone from seeing it. On the other hand, you may discover that it really is just you, that everyone else can see your site, and that there’s no reason to panic so intensely. You still might wish to contact your webmaster at this point, but hopefully you’ll now be able to do so with a mind as calm as the ocean.

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The DIY Way to Uncover Problem Areas in Your Website