I love my new computer but I’m getting more and more frustrated with getting it work just the way I want. I finally got the home network running correctly. I have three computers in a workgroup sharing files. WooHoo for me!

Unfortunately, I still can’t get my speakers to work on the new computer. That’s a big problem! I need as many sound machines as possible and this computer is definitely part of that collection. It needs to work and I intend for it to work this weekend, no matter what.

Who thinks I’ll make it happen?

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I’m planning to move one of our computers to the basement so the kids can take their friends down there to play games and hang out. Then, if I get my new one I can put this old one in the family room to run the internet through. And when Nick and Brit move to their apartment out back, I’ll have to get a repeater or signal booster to bring the connection out there.

The more I think about this the more I wish I’d known about the internet and networking back in 93. I could have gotten all our network cables and had them installed throughout the house. That’s definitely something to consider the next time we build.

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Since always, travel advisories have been focused in their instructions, i.e. to follow the well known vacation packages. That means getting a cheap airline ticket on any regular airlines, followed by stay at the well known las vegas resorts in one of the discount deals they offer. Most deals comprise of cheap car rental and stays at a comfortable travel lodge. Even those deals are very interesting.

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Even though I was very disappointed that I didn’t get to return to Hawaii this month, I was a little relieved since my rolling computer case seems to be malfunctioning. One of the zippers is stuck halfway around and the telescoping handle gets stuck either up or down and takes a good 10 minutes to un-stick. That makes for much aggitation in the aisle of a plane.

It’s really kind of upsetting because I’ve always had very good luck with Samsonite luggage in the past. I’m going to search through my papers to see if I can find the receipt for this; I’m pretty sure it’s still under warranty for this kind of thing. Otherwise, I’ll jsut have to revert back to the bag that came with my laptop. Ouch! My shoulder is aching just thinking about it!

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I’ve been really paying attention to my blog’s Page Rank and popularity scores as well as my site stats. I’m trying to find the best way to market and promote my blogs. I never really had time for that before but now that I’m not going out to work each day I’m trying to invest my time in my site. So far, it seems to be paying off.

I have a number of forums that I visit each day and one of my favorites is the V7n Search Marketing Forum. I found this one by following a link from another blog and I’m so happy I did. It’s turned out to be one of my favorite daily reads.

I’m a sociable person so one of the most important things about any online community is friendliness. The people at the v7n forums are very friendly and make it easy to fit in. I felt comfortable jumping right in, introducing myself in the newbie forum then getting to know the other members throughout the site. Really, I think you get the most out of a community you’re willing to contribute to and members who welcome newbies make the transition into a new forum smooth and painless.

My biggest gripe with the forum is the sheer volume of information that is there. It’s a one-stop site for all things website related. Anyone who is interested in promoting, marketing, building, designing or monetizing their sites ought to make this a daily read.

The Marketing forums range from SEO to money making strategies and everything in between. The Web Development boards cover graphics, templates, domains, hosting and just about anything else you can think of that has to do with being a webmaster. This is where you’ll find loads of great help from the very generous members.

There are also seperate areas for discussing blogging in general as well as a Marketplace for buying and selling services. And getting back to that “one-stop” comment I made, there’s even a general internet/computer forum for any technical problems you might have related to your computer or legal issues relating to the internet.

Seriously, the v7n folks have thought of everything. This is one of the best online webmaster communities I’ve joined. If you’re serious about being a webmaster and you enjoy lively discussion and a friendly, helpful atmosphere, this is the place to be.

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Am I the only one who thinks that Steve Jobs is the most patient genius ever? He just pushes along, offering solid, dependable technology, perfectly happy to be the sure and steady tortoise to Gates’ hare. Rather than running Microsoft’s race, he sets his own goals. The iPod is a good a example of that. And now, there’s the iPhone and all the great, anticipated Apple iPhone accessories, which are rumored to be compatible with existing iPods. Simply genius.

Admittedly, I don’t really keep up with the latest mobile phone news. I’m more inclined to drool over the latest and greatest CPU from AMD or be tempted by the most recent price drop in LCD monitors. But I was reading about Apple’s iPhone at a new forum, CellRants, and I must admit I’m lusting after this one.

Since I really hate the cell phone I have, and I’m no longer under contract with my cell phone company, I’m keeping any eye on this. Can’t wait till the July release!

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When I worked at a small ISP, I would often watch as three of the owners would gather around a speaker phone to conduct their board meetings with the partner who had moved across the country. The four partners were good friends before starting a business together and you could tell that they enjoyed these weekly meetings. I wonder, though, how much more effecient the meetings would have been if they’d used video conferencing instead of a simple speaker phone.

While video conferencing looks to be the ideal solution to this type of business of situation, I was really interested in the streaming video services. I know of a blogging conference coming up in June that I’d love to attend. Streaming video would be a really great option for those of us who may not be able to travel for this great opportunity. In fact, I wonder how many conferences also provide streaming video for those unable to attend. That’s something that should really be considered.

Pssst! Are you conference organziers listening?

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My friend Owen is a whiz at WordPress plugins and FireFox extensions. Even more important, he’s a very generous man. After all, he created this great plugin for the WordPress community just because someone asked for it. What a great guy!

Owen’s Comment Email Responder allows the administrator of a blog to respond to a comment as usual. The difference is, the response is also emailed to the commenter. Isn’t that a great idea?

Previously, whenever someone would comment here on my blog, I’d try to respond to the comment. Sometimes I’d also copy and paste my reply into an email to send off to the commenter but other times I neglected to do that. Many times I’d go back to email my visitors who took the time to respond and forget which emails I’d sent and which I hadn’t.

(Using POP accounts with Thunderbird on two different computers doesn’t help with my organizational shortcomings, either.)

I’ve installed Owen’s Comment Email Responder Plugin and it’s working flawlessly. Owen is just so generous to spend time making this and offering it to all of us. He based this plugin on the work of Andrew Flusche. If you find this useful, please drop Owen a comment and thank him. Better yet, blog about it. Pass the word along about this great plugin. Let’s show Owen how much we appreciate this great Plugin!

Oh, and digg it, too.

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I’ve been back from Hawaii for just over 2 weeks and I’m already missing my husband and sons. I know that when Brian and Nick get back I’ll still miss Jesse. I hate to be so far away from my guys.

When I was there, I thought about leaving my laptop for Jesse and buying myself a new one. That way, I could set him up to talk to me. In fact, I could wet him up with a webcam and we could do our own little video conferencing when we want to talk to each other. Problem is, I think I’d want to see Jesse more than he’d want to see dear old mom.

If something happens, like a miracle, and I get to go back to Hawaii, I might just leave my laptop there. I sure would like to see my boys more often.

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No, my page is not broken. It looks like this on purpose. I’m part of the 2nd annual CSS Naked Day, promoting Web Standards through the proper use of xhtml and css.

All of my usually witty, insightful content is here and still readable so please don’t go away. Just enjoy the pure simplicity of my site in all its nakedness.

My normally lovely, eye-appealing Dandelion Patch will return on April 6, fully clothed.

And a special welcome to those who are stopping by here from the CSS Naked Day Host Website.

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I finally contacted someone today about doing a redesign of my blogs. I’m getting bored with this look and really need something new and exciting. I love blogging and I can write html and css but I really lack the visual creativity to make my blog look really good.

Now that I’m making a little money blogging I don’t mind spending some of that money on professional services to make my blogs better. Design is first on my list but I also want to look into SEO and perhaps talk to someone about market research for a few niche blogs I have in mind.

They say you have to spend money to make money. Yeah, that’s true. I spent money on my domain and now I’m making money from it. So it’s time to spend more money, in order to make more. I think I’m getting the hang of this.

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