Widget for Websites

I found a neat widget that will allow webmasters to easily add user interactivity and fuctionality to their sites. Check out this link and copy & paste the code into the body container of your page's code and you will get the same effect as demonstrated on my site by highlighting a word or phrase.

Try it out on this phrase and check out your options. [Just highlight the text, any text, and see for yourself]

"FinderFox is a simple, unobtrusive widget that you can insert into your websites. It is similar to the "Lookup Word" button on NYTimes.com, but has more features!

* Your readers will be able to tweet a quote with a single click.
* Your readers will be able to look up unfamiliar terms quicker.
* You will engage your visitors better by increasing the usability of your site-specific search.
* Your website will stand out and look cooler!

* Because FinderFox loads asynchronously it should not negatively impact your page's load time.
* Results open in a new window so your visitors will not redirected away from your site.

FinderFox adds a "search bubble" that pops-up when your visitor selects/highlights a part of the text on your website. You can customize the search bubble to include your own site-specific search engine. FinderFox is also available as a Firefox extension. " Quoted from FinderFox page.

Made it home from Florida!!!

Well, I made it home from Fl just barely. But it was worth the trip just for the exceptional brainstorming my partner and I did. This site will take many months and much money to implement but I think it will change fun on the internet.

Without giving out to much info we plan to integrate online gambling with real world contests via web cam. I can say no more. Wish us luck!!!!

Brainstorming wit my partner on the road to florida about a new site that is going to revolutionize fun on the net

Conticreative - An obscure blog with amazing information

Ok, there are blogs like mine that don't really offer much and then there are ones like my friend at CONTICREATIVE.COM.

If you are into web design especially CMS tricks and tips, you owe it to yourself to take a look at his sight. I mean I call it a blog but it is way more than that, there is web hosting, online training and a ton of free articles that walk you through difficult techniques with grace and wisdom. The folks there know what they are doing that's for sure.

And trust me I have no deal with Conticreative. Don't even know the folks there although I would love to get to know them and thank them for all their wonderful information. I just wanted to spred the word around about this site and it's myriad of resources!

Mike Dee 1080p

LinkedIN - T H E Professional Networking Site

I found LinkedIn a few months back. Quickly made my profile not thinking it was such a big deal.
As I had time I added more to the profile, started a group, participated in a few groups and quickly made a few really good contacts. A few weeks ago I began getting eMails from people needing my services. Since then I have gained 3 different clients and made a fairly decent profit. And it has been growing since. If you are in ANY field you gotta check this out. You never know whom you might meet.

Also, my new group is Website Visionaries we are trying to connect programmers, visionaries or idea-men, designers, investors or financial backers together. In this group, I would like to be able to openly discuss ideas, questions, help with problems and ultimately the connection of a team for a great site idea. How I see it working is a Designer needs a Programmer and they both may need finances to get there project rolling. The investor inspects their business plan and they go from there. A visionary could have a great idea but no way to implement it, here comes all the aforementioned professionals.

If you are interested in this and don't have a LinkedIN account please join up. I just made the group so everyone is welcomed to join it if you already have an account.

Free Online Web Training Resources

As I have mentioned before, I am completely self-taught at web design and implementation. I have no certificates or anything like that and I am by no means "the best web developer this side of the Missisip!" But I have learned many different things over the years of self-teaching. The most important lesson that I feel obligated to pass on is "YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR TUTORIALS".

I had to learn this lesson the hard way. But before I continue, let me say this, if all else fails and you cannot find the free learning resource you need. Then sites such as Lynda.com, KillerSites.com and others are not a bad alternative. The tutorials they provide, while not free and usually not cheap, are of the absolute best quality. And sometimes, especially with Lynda.com, they have older tutorials or just special offers that will allow you to view them for free. With that said, let's talk about the free resource sites. These are the sites you should seek out first when learning about web capabilities.


w3Schools.com

Basically this site is the epitome of free training resources for everything web related. I love this website and it still astounds me when I head there for reference or a refresher and realize that all of their content is absolutely free. They are on par with Lynda.com and I would say even better if you don't mind reading your tutorials.

Of course, they have video & documentation training, but the really cool thing about w3Schools is their Try-It-Yourself examples. With this feature they provide you with an online sandbox to experiment and practice with any language or scripting that you are trying to learn. It's really cool. In most cases they will provide you with code already placed in an example box and then you are free to change it around, add or subtract script and see the results on the same screen. It's simply a perfect way to teach yourself web implementation.

The only negative, and I am reluctant to even call it that, is that they do not provide tutorials or documentation on programs such as DreamWeaver or PhotoShop. I cannot speak highly enough about w3Schools. It's simply an outstanding resource for ANY web developer no matter the skill.


Entheosweb.com

So you have exhausted all the information at w3Schools or you are looking for some free training resources on the Adobe suite of web development software. Then Entheosweb.com has what you are looking for. I personally have not used their site much but that is because I learned the hard way and paid Lynda.com a lot of money to learn DreamWeaver, Photoshop and Fireworks. If I would have known about their site I would have saved a lot of money to be sure.

They do not have video tutorials but from the looks of their documentation, who needs them! They take you step by step through common and advanced techniques with Flash, Dreamweaver, etc. On most tutorials they will have a link at the bottom to learn more via a video tutorial. For the most part, these links will take you to an external site that is selling video tutorials, but I have noticed that many are free. Now you won't get the entire training series for free, but from the looks of the Flash training course I went to they had at least an hour of online training videos that you can just click on and start watching without registering or buying anything.

The bottom line about Entheosweb is that it is a great site for those needing a free alternative training solution that will actually help you and not confuse you. So please, before you start shelling out hundreds of dollars on training videos, give this website a shot and I'm sure you won't regret it.


Webdesign-Tutorials.com

Another ridiculously awesome web training resource for the broke or frugal. Webdesign-Tutorials.com is basically a portal to obscure sites that offer free (for the most part) training resources. Now usually the free stuff is not in video format, however their documentation is usually well written and easily understood with step by step instruction.

The thing that I really like about this site is that they go out and find little obscure blogs and such that are covering some strange technique in Flash for example. On their home page, you are immediately greeted with the most recently added tutorials. Off to the left in the side navbar are links to every conceivable technology you may ever want to learn. Such as CGI coding, Cold Fusion, CSS, HTML, you name it they probably have a link for it.

If you are having trouble finding help on a small problem I would suggest checking here before taking any other action. Search their site for what you need to learn and if I had any money to bet, then I'd bet you'd find it at Webdesign-Tutorials.

All the above sites are free to learn, and you usually don't even have to register to gain access to their material. Although, if you find yourself using one of these sites a lot I would suggest that you register and even donate if possible. The folks administrating these sites are doing all of us web dreamers and internet entrepreneurs a favor by providing free web training when others are charging outrageous sums for practically the same thing. Also, don't forget to checkout my links to the right. I have a few obscure blogs and small sites that offer free resources and training material. And I add more every week or so.

The Alpha Post (All Others Won't Be As Boring)

This is the very first post of my revived blogging effort. At one time, I had 3 completely different blogs that I kept up with, usually adding at least 2 posts per week per blog. It was a relaxing hobby for me at the time, and I genuinely looked forward to coming home after work with something interesting to blog about.

When I used to blog, I worked primarily in construction, frame carpentry in particular, and I worked VERY hard. Ten hour days, six days a week with a small side-job on Sundays. I had to work that much, not out of choice, but out of necessity. My wife had just given birth to our daughter and was not employed. At the time, we lived on the Big Island of Hawaii and the cost of everyday items, gas, milk, diapers and the like were so expensive that I had to sacrifice so that my fledgling family had that solid foothold that every family needs. Actually, "sacrifice" is not the right word. I gladly worked hard for the comfort of my two girls and enjoyed seeing them happy. I guess duty or responsibility would be a better fit, but no matter the word it was a tough and stressful time in my life.

After a long day, I would retire to my "office", a rickety desk I made from scrap lumber that set in a sweltering corner of our laundry room, and add funny, stupid, weird, serious, political, or religious posts to one or more of my blogs. Whatever had struck me as something interesting to discuss during the work of the day, while chatting with co-workers at lunch or some news snippet I caught as I left home in the morning. I never had a set subject for any of my blogs. Of course I tried to focus on a certain topic but inevitably the blog would breakdown to mere ramblings, rants and raves about something or other. The point, as I perceived it, was to have a place to let my mind run wild with nonsensical posts about how some local "bruddha" had snaked a wave from me while surfing, or why it seems you must have nearly super-human strength to slowly lower a 10-pound sledgehammer to your nose then raise it back up. That type of blogging was fun, I must admit, but rather unproductive and inefficient. But as I look back I see that it was more my love for computers and IT that drew me to blogging.

For as long as I can remember I have always been fascinated with computers and information technology. When I was 11 and the WorldWideWeb wasn't so worldwide, I ran my own BBS (Bulletin Board System - And yea I am that old). I used a program called WWIV (someone out there is going to get a kick out of that) to run my Board and I could never figure out what the WWIV stood for. World War 4? At that time, ANSI drawings were all the rage and 1 vs 1 Doom deathmatches over dial-up blew everyones mind, if you had a 600mb harddrive and 16mb of RAM then you had a top of the line computer. Several of the other local BBS administrators and myself created an intranet between 5 or 6 of our computers with the ability to transmit messages from BBS server to BBS server, updated every hour. This sounds ancient and ridiculous, but it was the coolest thing to me and it stoked the fire that is my obsession and love for everything to do with computers.

Ever since those days and no matter what field I worked in, I always studied and learned everything I could about IT. Eventually, I moved out of construction and into more technical fields, starting with Satellite TV installation and moving up to fiber optics and networking, all the time learning and practicing with server side technologies, web design and implementation in my free time. Recently, I decided to pursue my love of computers and IT as a full-time career.

With that in mind and having stumbled over this interesting discussion via LinkedIn about blogs taking the place of resumes. I decided to start blogging again and this time make more professional and coherent (hopefully) posts about subjects pertaining to the many fields of which I have knowledge. Ultimately, maybe I will help someone with an informational tid-bit, maybe a potential client or employer will find my blog a refreshing addition to my portfolio of work, or at the very least maybe I'll just have fun again. Blogging.

I hope to address numerous subjects with this blog, from Joomla! implementation to how to build a deck onto your house! I am sure I will get off track from time to time, but I promise to always strive to make every post helpful and informative in some way.

Here is to the future of the Blog, the open-source CMS, Web 2.0 platforms and smashed keyboards everywhere. Here is to the fence you built with your own two hands, the remote controlled ceiling fan you installed with the help of your wife and here is to every swing of the hammer that misses your thumb. May you all find joy in everything you do and life itself.

-Michael