All posts by The Artist

In The News

British School Children Told To Avoid Copying From Websites

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Sigh! School children of the internet generation are having it so easy. They could check up on the internet anything that they want but the bad thing is that they are COPYING them wholesale and handing them up as their own work.

I remember back when I was a student, we had to check up on text books and if we do not have the relevant books at home, we have to go to the library for reference. Now, everything is available at home on the computer at our fingertips.

Indeed, if I were a student now, I too would be heading to the web for every little piece of information that I want. Even if I know the answer already, I too would go online to double confirm my answer. LOL

Computing & Internet

Self-Hosting A New Blog

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My friend, Carey, sent me a message last night asking me to help her set up a blog. She even provided me with a user ID and password. I asked her if she wanted a blog hosted on a free platform or one that is self-hosted. I told her that if she is serious about blogging, it is best to host her blog herself. After all, free blogs have limited features, though they are very friendly, especially to a newbie blogger.

Carey knows nothing about blogs, websites and hosting so it’s like teaching a total newbie the differences in a self-hosted blog and a free blog. I didn’t have too much time to explain in detail but I told her that she could read all about web hosting from AlreadyHosting.com. She should have already done her homework by making a search online but she is not computer savvy.

Anyway, through the website, she should be able to compare for herself the top ten web hosting companies for 2010 based on pricing, hosting features, technical support and independent user reviews.

Actually, even for veteran webmasters, it is not always easy to keep tabs of web hosting services offered by the top hosts so a web hosting review website like Already Hosting helps a lot in keeping us updated with the latest news on hosting.

*** This post has been sponsored.

Computing & Internet

Yahoo! Mail Highlights Email Just From Friends

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This feature may have come a little to late now that a whole bunch of previous Yahoo! Mail users have moved on to Gmail but it is still a great feature for those of us who are still using Yahoo! Mail.

With this new feature, Yahoo! Mail now allows highlight of messages from people who are our friends. This is great for users who have more than ten email land in their inbox daily. I receive almost fifty new email daily “only” and have been caught selecting all unread and moving them to the trash, unfortunately. I have also emptied my Spam folder by just clicking the “empty all” link without even checking what’s inside. Sometimes, legitimate email will be wrongly flagged as spam, unfortunately, but dealing with all the email on a daily basis just gets too much to handle.

Even though I have already informed all the important people of my new email address, I still have people writing in to my old Yahoo! email address by mistake. Whatever it is, with this highlight, it will make such messages stand out from the long list of junk mail that I get daily that goes to my inbox. Phew!

General

Busy PC Fair Preparations

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A couple of my friends will be on duty during PC Fair this weekend. But even before the start of the Fair this Friday, they are already busy with preparations. Needless to say, this will be a busy week for them and their work load will only ease the day after PC Fair when they have finished moving their stocks back to their stores and back on the shelves for display. One of these friends told me that in the last PC Fair, he was so exhausted that he went home and slept for a full 48 hours! And to think that he is a sportsman!

Besides arranging for transportation for goods and hiring of part time staff and providing them with a crash course in sales training, my friends also have to source for display stands and velcro display boards. Some would be rented, some would be bought. They say these are very important as without them, though, they would not be able to hold and sales presentation.

North Sculpture Displays is a company that deals in high quality customized trade show displays. A customer just has to let them know what he requires in his display boards to effectively market his products and North Sculpture Display will be able to come up with a solution through customized display boards.

*** This post has been sponsored.

General

WordPress Theme For WordPress Powered “Website”

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I run a website that I am planning to install WordPress and convert it into a WordPress powered website. I have another “website” like this but when I think of the work this would entail, I chicken out.

I have found a couple of WordPress themes that would be suitable for a WordPress powered website but still, they would require plenty of customization. It’s too bad that my skills are still just at beginner level even though I have already hosted my own WordPress blogs for more than three years now. Not too long but I guess I just don’t have an inquisitive mind!

Actually, I have a lot of ideas in my mind for my personal website. It is functioning now but I am afraid that once I take it down I would procrastinate so much that it would end up with an “under construction” notice for way too long. So far, I have only searched for WordPress themes and installed Dreamweaver on my computer. Bah!

I wish that I have an assistant who would take care of these things for me for free but I guess I am not the only blogger or webmaster looking for such a person!

General

Crystal Clock Oscillators

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My friend, S, who is a trained engineer, told me that he has a new project going on. Actually, he has a new hobby where he would create a new item from parts that he harvests from broken down things. As you could imagine, I have supplied him with many of my unused or broken down things through the years. The funny thing is that I usually do not even understand what he tries to build!

Right now, he is looking for cheap Crystal Clock Oscillators for his new project, which is not unveiled yet. At first, he only wanted to look for used ones to keep within budget but new ones will do too. After all, they are inexpensive.

Frequency Management International is a manufacturer of crystal clock oscillator products. Going through their website, I marvel at the various products that are available for sale for all industries that make use of crystal oscillators.

To be honest, I get confused reading the product descriptions because my mind cannot handle anything technical but I am sure that for people who have use for crystal clock oscillators, they would welcome the detailed product description that is available for every item.

Of course, I am going to let S know of Frequency Management International so that he could procure what he needs and proceed with his mysterious project.

*** This post has been sponsored.

Computing & Internet

Baidu Fills The Void Of Video Sharing In China

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As Google’s YouTube remains blocked to web users in China, along with other user-generated content websites and social networking websites like Facebook, Baidu is planning to start a new website exclusively for video sharing similar to YouTube.

Baidu is one of the most visited websites in China and it enjoys the larger slice of the search market pie in China and I think that if any video sharing website has the potential to be as big in China as YouTube is around the world, Baidu could be the one.

Whatever it is, even if Baidu’s new video sharing website may be big, its content will still be regulated. It’s just that it will be easier for the authorities to control it compared to international websites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. What are your thoughts?