Splash of Style...Macs, Photography, Design, and other Passions

Google Books

February 26, 2009 by debbie T | Books • CSS • Digital Photography • Internet • Web Design • Web Development • XHTML

I know I knew about this before, but never really looked into it….but Google has a very large collection of books to browse.

http://books.google.com/books

Add the books to “Your Library” so you can save them for later. There’s tons of web design, html, css, and photography books available, with links to Amazon & Barnes and Noble. Very cool!

Copyright Respect

February 1, 2009 by debbie T | Internet • Ramblings

This afternoon, I am going to rant! I apologize if this offends anyone, but I am just ticked off today!

Who do these so-called bloggers think they are!? They convince themselves that they are offering some sort of service to their visitors. Pretending to be “authors” but all they are doing is stealing someone else’s copyrighted content.

Case in point, this “gentleman” decided that he would create a blogger blog and just blog about all his favorite useful content from other various web sites.

He took the text from one of my other web sites and copied it to a blog post:
http://rootsweb.blogspot.com/2007/09/web-design-made-simple.html

Just in case the post is removed, here is a screen shot of his post and the original content on my web site.

If you look at other posts on this particular blog, as well as his many other blogs, it is an unusual occurrence that he has an original thought of his own. It’s all created by someone else!

Sure, he thinks he is doing his bit by adding a link back to the original site, and he probably thinks that it’s flattering to the author that he is parroting their content. But bottom line, he is a thief and he has no idea that what he is doing is wrong, and probably never will.

Hello! If you want to collect links and useful content, open a delicious bookmarks account, don’t steal it and post it to blogger!

I contacted this gentleman a few weeks ago, but he ignored my request to remove my content from his site. So, today I wrote a letter to Google to explain my situation and hopefully they will take action.

For those that have also been compromised by someone on blogger, whether it be text content or photos, or whatever, you need to contact Google by mail or fax. They will not accept email contact on copyright issues. Here is the info on Google’s web site:
http://www.google.com/blogger_dmca.html

I apologize to all my regular visitors for this rant. I try not to be too judgmental on this site, but it just angers me that these clueless people are out there! Thanks for listening!

Sending a Web Page Link by Email

January 27, 2009 by debbie T | Internet

This is a very basic, very beginner’s tutorial. It’s for my Dad, especially since he loves to share Craig’s List items with me and my Husband.

It’s very easy to send a web page link to others by email, especially if you use email software like Thunderbird, Outlook Express, or Apple Mail.

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Disconnecting Windows in VMware Fusion

January 15, 2009 by debbie T | Internet • Mac Software • Windows on the Mac • Wireless

Since I am not running any anti-virus or anti-malware programs while using Windows XP in VMware Fusion, I don’t want Windows to connect to the Internet. It’s very easy to toggle my network connection in Fusion.

Click the little “double arrow” icon in the bottom toolbar in Fusion. Choose to Connect or Disconnect from the network. Very easy.

fusion-wifi

Relearning CSS & Web Design

November 29, 2008 by debbie T | CSS • Firefox Browser • Web Design

One of my older web sites is in desperate need of a new web design; the problem is I am so rusty and out of practice. sigh, one of the perils of getting older! You don’t use it, you will lose it!

I needed to re-learn CSS positioning and layout, so I took a couple of days and read through Chapter 8 of the CSS Anthology book by Rachel Andrew. Fantastic book for learning the bits and pieces of CSS.

So, I think I now have recovered enough knowledge to tackle my project.

Back a couple of years ago, when I was regularly designing, designers had to worry about coding for horribly outdated browsers like IE 5 for Windows & Mac and Netscape 4. Thankfully, the browser stats for the site I am redesigning show an insignificant number of visitors using these outdated browsers. I still have to deal with IE6 (which still shows about 30% of my visitors) but the design will be simple, so I don’t foresee a problem. Uh oh, I probably just jinxed myself!

And while we are on the subject of IE6, who ARE these people still using that insecure browser? The cool thing is the stats show about 17% of visitors are using a version of Firefox. It is not a techie site, so that is good news!

Want to learn more about positioning and layout using CSS? Check out these other sites:

Emails from fortitudehosting.com – Legitimate or not?

November 22, 2008 by debbie T | Internet

A few days ago, I received an interesting email regarding paid advertising on one of my other web sites:

Hi my name is Jeff and I came across your page http://www.debbietdesigns.com/learn/13/web-hosting/ which would be great for a text link to my client, www.geekcertified.com .

What I am looking for is a small text link, web hosting, incorporated into the article.

If you keep it for at least a year, I will contribute $75 up front by check or pay pal. Which would you prefer?

Jeff Watson
Marketing Manager
Fortitude Hosting
www.fortitudehosting.com

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New Themes for Gmail Web

November 21, 2008 by debbie T | Internet

Check out the new theme settings for your Gmail web account:

Click Settings (top right), then choose the Themes tab.

It’s cool because some themes display night or day graphics depending on where you are located! Type in your zip code, or for privacy reasons, type in an approximate zip code. (Note to my Dad: random Boston zip code: 02116)

I am loving the “Tea House” theme right about now. So cute.

Attaching an Image File in Gmail Message

November 20, 2008 by debbie T | Computers • Internet

Tutorial written for my Dad, but if others find it helpful, that’s a bonus!!! My Dad uses Windows XP, and that is the OS the tutorial references.

Let’s start by launching Gmail with Firefox (or with whatever browser you use to access the Internet.)

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Adagio Teas on Twitter

October 30, 2008 by debbie T | Internet • Ramblings

ooh cool, my favorite online tea site is on twitter.

http://twitter.com/AdagioTeas

I love their teas, and it’s easy to order online. Since I live very close to them, I receive my order by the next day. Hmm, I am running low, I think I will place an order tonight.

Adagio Teas

If anyone would like a $5 gift certificate for a future Adagio Teas order, email me and I can get one out to you. You get $5 off, and I get 10 points toward my “frequent cups” rewards.

Oh and I love their IngenuiTEA tea pot. I have been using the 32 oz pot for about a year, and I adore it. It makes a nice big cup of hot tea or I throw some ice in a glass and it makes ice tea too.

No Internet Access w/ Linksys WRT54GS Router

October 1, 2008 by debbie T | Internet • Wireless

What a day! It was a geeky day, and I’m glad that I figured out my problem (I think)

Last night, I went to bed before midnight, and the Internet (wifi) was working fine. This morning, it was extremely slow, and then non-existent. I phoned my husband who wakes up and leaves for work hours before me, and he said he was had the same problem when he tried to use the wireless connection this morning.

I tried unplugging both router (Linksys WRT54GS) and Comcast modem (the modem is on battery backup, so that was not very helpful) to restart, and I even bypassed the router, and connected directly to modem; it was the same…no connection.

I phoned Comcast, and she wouldn’t help unless my laptop was directly connected to the modem. Geez, what evah.

She told me how to reset the modem by hitting the small reset button at the back of the modem. Oh yeah, I forgot about that! I have to remember to use that button more often!

Anyway, after I restarted my laptop, voila, the internet was back….and the next part was kind of strange, but she said (paraphrasing) that my router might still be the problem, and that just because the connection worked now, it might not when I connect my router.

I disagreed and informed her that I didn’t think it had anything to do w/ the router, and I told her that I would be fine troubleshooting that on my own anyway.

And guess what, she jinxed me! Plugged in the router. What? No connection?! Oh no!

I tried everything! Unplugging router, restarting laptop, updating router firmware, resetting router to factory settings, etc. and nothing worked. I knew it couldn’t be wired cables, because I was connected to my Linksys router and could access the setup/admin through my browser, using both wired and wireless connections. And the cable running from the modem worked when plugged in directly to my laptop.

At this point, I started to blame Comcast, thinking it was some sort of conspiracy. Today, October 1st, was the first day that they began their new “bandwidth limit” so of course they messed up my router, right?

Anyway, I figured that I would just have to go out and purchase a new one. sigh. Came home w/ a new Linksys WRT54G2. Plugged that in, started it up, and nothing. No connection. What? Okay something must be wrong.

And then it dawned on me. Somewhere in my google travels today, trying to troubleshoot the problem, I read advice that each item needed to be restarted in a specific order. Modem first, router second, then computer.

Okay, let’s try one more time. I shut down the laptop, unplugged (electricity) the router, and then I reset the Comcast modem (with the little button on back). Right after that finished booting up, I plugged in the Linksys router. Then I restarted my laptop.

Oh joy!! I have internet. Both wired and wireless. Okay, so let’s find out if I can get my old router working instead. Yep, went through the whole process again, and yay, it worked.

I will return the new router, and keep my old one!

So, in summary, when troubleshooting your Comcast connection w/ a router, follow these steps:

  1. Shut down computer
  2. Unplug electric cord from the router
  3. Hit small reset button on back of Comcast modem
  4. After modem boots up, plug the router back into electricity
  5. When router boots up, restart computer