Sometime soon this website is going to become a portal to aggregate content from all of my various blogs. When I’m done this will be the one stop spot for all things Daisy Olsen.

It seems that security and hacking are  also on the mind of others. Lorelle from Lorelle on WordPress has just posted an article with a collection of links that would be worth a read if you are not sure about the security of your site.

I’ll be working my way through this list of articles to find out what I still need to do to make my sites, and those that I manage, as secure as possible.

Firewalling and Hack Proofing Your WordPress Blog « Lorelle on WordPress.

As the mom of a newborn I am finding that having my hands free to take care of the baby is essential. As someone that also relies heavily on typing I thought that it might be helpful to be able to dictate text to my computer. Today I decided to give the speech recognition functions in Windows Vista a try. After running the tutorial and one of the training sessions I was able to begin typing text into Notepad and Wordpad by speaking into a microphone. Once you’ve learned the basic voice commands for various tasks in Windows it is fairly easy to maneuver around. I can switch between applications, open and close applications, access menus, and a variety of other functions.

After training the computer to recognize my voice, and training myself to use some basic voice commands, I set out to begin dictating text into the computer. After several unsuccessful attempts to dictate into Firefox and Microsoft Word 2003, I found that dictation does work in Notepad and Wordpad. While being limited to these programs for consistent dictation results is inconvenient I can dictate into one of these programs and then paste the text into the program I want it to appear in.

I don’t know that I would say that dictation is faster for me since I am a relatively fast typist, but it is nice to be able to have my hands free to do other things, without having to stop working.  I plan to see if I can get my Bluetooth headset working with this so that I can gain even more flexibility and possibly not have to be right next to my computer to dictate.

Unfortunately for me, I discovered this built in (and free) feature of Windows Vista after I had already ordered Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred. The software will be here next week and I plan to do a review to compare and contrast between the built-in Windows Vista speech recognition and  Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred, which will hopefully handle a variety of programs more effectively.

photo credit: todbaker

WordPress, by default, supports two similar, yet unique, types of content - Posts and Pages. It’s important to understand and distinguish between these two types of content when writing for your blog.

The first type of content is a Post.  Most blogs rely primarily on this type of content. Posts are the part of a blog that keeps the site fresh with constantly changing information.  Posts tend to be listed on the front page of a blog in reverse chronological order, ie most recent content first.  In order to allow filtering of posts categories and tags can be assigned to a post. This allows readers to select a subset of content from the website.  Posts also appear in RSS feeds.

• Posts are Listed in Reverse Chronological Order
• Post listings can be filtered by author, tag, category, date, etc, using the built in WordPress archive linking system
• Posts are listed in the RSS Feed for the website

The second type of content generally found on a WordPress blog is a Page. A page is distiguished from a post most often by it’s more static and long term availability. Pages will contain the same types of information that you would find on a traditional, static website.

• Pages generally contain content that is intended for long term availability
• Pages are NOT included in the RSS Feeds for the website
• Pages can be created in a hierarchy with top level pages and sub-pages

When would a Page be used rather than a Post?

• Content that will be structured more like a traditional website with a page/sub-page hierarchy
• Content that should always be available from every page of your website

Basic Examples of Pages

• About Us
• Contact Us
• Services Provided
• Legal Policies
• Media Kit or Advertising information

Other Resources:

• WordPress codex article on pages
• WordPress.com support article on pages vs posts
• Screencast covering Pages vs Posts (older version of WordPress shown in video)
• Pages vs Posts

Suggested Reading:

• WordPress For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
• Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read
• Easy Guide to Blogging (vol.1 ) – Wordpress Blog Basics

photo credit: mattfoster

Time breakdown of modern web design – The Net is Dead.

[poll id="3"]

The end result is that, while there is still room for improvement, the new interface is taking things in a positive direction. The ability to edit the contents and layout of the dashboard and the Write screen are enough of a benefit that I can overlook the minor frustrations of having to scroll down to find menu options when I have too many menus expanded in the dashboard navigation.

I’ve upgraded my own blog and plan to begin upgrading my clients blogs sometime next week. If you would like to get an overview of some of the bigger changes check out this very professionally produced screencast:

photo credit: EMMEALCUBO

For those with difficulty adjusting to change you will be in for a shock. The admin interface has undergone an even more drastic change than it did for version 2.5! Personally, I like it, fewer clicks is always a good thing!

Initial Setup

This was not the very easiest printer setup I have encountered. In addition to the normal hardware drivers and software utility installation it took a bit more work to connect to the Wi-Fi than some other Wireless networked printers that I have set up.  It was necessary to actually connect via hard line initially.  From there the wireless security settings are set from a networked PC.  Once the initial connection is made the printer can be moved to it’s new, wireless, location. It now works like a dream!

Black and White Text Printing

Nothing beats my laser multi-function printer for basic black and white printing and copying but I was happy with the quality of the ink jet pages that were produced. The speed of this type of print job is definitely a plus.

Color Printing

On regular multi-purpose paper the color printing is mediocre but I’d blame that more on the paper than the printer. For jobs where quality is not important but having color is, it will be very useful. Printing on higher quality paper would solve this problem for when quality is necessary.

Photo Printing

Using the sample 4×6 photo paper I printed a couple of quick photos and was extremely impressed by the quality of the prints. I can honestly say that if I were to mix the photos in with a stack of photos printed from a professional photo print shop I don’t think I’d know the difference. The colors were crisp and the quality of the Epson photo paper was excellent. I did find that my initial instinct to place the photo paper right side up was wrong. The paper needs to be placed face down to avoid a big wet ink mess.

Scanning

A couple of scans of drawings my 4 year old had made showed that the scanner is quite fast and very easy to use with the provided “Epson Scan” software. It took me a few minutes to determine that the scan didn’t need to be initiated from the printer.

Copying

I love the document feeder, this is really a must have for me when I need to copy several pages at once. The out-of-the-box settings produced copies that were a little on the light side compared to the originals. Adjusting the darkness and the copy quality settings helped to correct this.

CD Printing

Gone are the days of Labeling CDs and DVDs with a Sharpie. I love having the ability to print full color labels for my CDs directly onto the CD/DVD!

Conclusion

This printer will not be replacing my laser multi-function for most of my day to day duties but I love the fact that I can produce my own photographs and creative pieces. The quality of the prints have come along way from my last Epson photo printer, which I loved, and I’m proud to call myself an Epson Artisan Owner.

It happens that the wonderful people of One2One Network have teamed up with Epson and have a special offer for the Epson Artisan 800 printer along with extra Ink. I encourage everyone to check it out, it’s a great piece of equipment and the price is very reasonable considering all the features that are packed into this gem.

Within a few hours of arriving home I had placed the order for a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Laptop Computer.

Here is what I love about this new machine:

• It is portable enough that I can toss it in a shoulder bag
• It runs a full version of Windows XP Home
• 3 USB ports compared to the 2 ports in my old computer
• Integrated SD card reader.
• VGA port to connect a monitor
• True Dual Monitor Support!
• Solid State Hard Drive
• Crowds tend to gather when I pull it out of my bag

Things that could be better

• The function keys stop at F10. Firebug uses F12.
• The apostrophe key is displaced on the sized down keyboard which causes me to make carriage returns when I type anything with an apostrophe in it.
• The hard drive is small and fills quickly
• No internal optical drive

My final conclusion is that this was one of the best computer purchases I have ever made and I’ve extended it’s abilities significantly with the following peripherals:

• Small USB Hub
• Logitech V220 Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks
• GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS Receiver
• External Portable Slim-Line DVD Drive
• Power Inverter for recharging in the car
• 16GB SDHC CARD

I have to give this computer high marks. It does not feel at all flimsy or cheap, it’s attractive, and definately meets my needs when I”m out and about. Not needing to worry about whether or not my portable device will have the sofware I need is a real bonus, I use the same software I would use on my full size computer.

What this computer is: A lightweight portable laptop that can handle most day to day tasks.

What this computer is NOT: A graphics intensive computer to do graphic design of high end gaming.

It certainly exceeds my needs and my expectations in a very small package.  My only regret is that the integrated Web Cam was not available at the time I placed my order. My husband was so impressed (and jealous) that he ordered one for himself.