and on SWiK

URGENT! how can I duplicate this blur effect for a project due tomorrow. Help please

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:52:50 -0700

I am using photoshop. Thanks!

F|R Crib Sheet: 15 Sites to Cut Your Startup Operating Costs

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:47:46 -0700

Clever founders always eke the most out of every buck. But economic conditions being what they are, even the best bootstrappers could use a little extra help.

By now you’ve probably heard of web sites like GasPriceWatch.com, GasBuddy and MSNAutos, which help consumers find the cheapest fuel prices at gas pumps in their geographic area. Such “cost-optimization” sites are now proliferating across all sorts of verticals directly relevant to your most basic startup operating expenses. We’ve assembled a list of a few we like that can help you shop for everything from health insurance to web hosting to wireless service plans and more.

If you’ve discovered, or possibly even built, additional tools for cutting commodity costs, please add them to our list via the comments section.

1. Phone Service/Wireless Plans

Carriers make it hard to do head-to-head comparisons of their plans. BillShrink.com will help you find the cheapest plan for your immediate needs, and then monitor your usage pattern over time to continue to match your needs to the carriers’ constantly changing service offerings. Like many sites included here, BillShrink (funded by David Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners) is designed for consumers, not businesses, but as co-founder Schwark Satyavolu notes, startups find it handy, too: “The vast majority have fewer than five employees so they use family plans or extended family plans that go up to 10 lines, the very same services consumers use.”

Also try MyRateplan.com and Telebright.com, which does energy expense management as well (more on this below).

2. Credit Cards

Many founders bootstrap their operations in the early days using credit cards. There is nothing wrong with this, so long as you do lots of research up front and remain extremely vigilant about managing your accounts. Credit Cards.com does a nice job of winnowing down and showcasing the many different small business credit-card offers out there.

And in coming weeks, BillShrink plans to add a credit card service that will, like its wireless service, marry your borrowing patterns to the best-available credit card offer. Whether you carry a balance or pay it off, BillShrink will assess your “cost of ownership” on each card, and rank them for you. Stay tuned.

3. Insurance Plans

Most Choice.com offers you custom quotes for all kinds of insurance, including health plans, liability policies, even directors’ and officers’ liability coverage. See the left column of various listings, go to Group Health Insurance and in the search field use the tab for Professional Scientific and Technical Services.

Vimo.com, another Bessemer-funded site, is directed at helping consumers source insurance plans and physicians, and generally get more out of their health care expenses. Its tab for small businesses is where you can also get quotes for group plans.

4. Web Hosting

We found this category to be particularly tricky as there are so many different kinds of hosting (shared, dedicated, co-location, etc.). One choice is FindMyHosting.com, an independent site that, despite a cluttered home page, has a simple field where you can enter your parameters and get a quote. Also check out its Guide to Budget Web Hosting.

For comparison shopping, WebhostingClue.com simply displays a list of competitive offers.

There are fewer optimization resources for co-located hosting, but one that came recommended is WebHostingTalk.com, a discussion site where you can ask questions in topic forums, get tips, even special pricing from vendors. Note, however, that the rules strictly prevent lead generation or advertising.

5. Storage and Remote Backup

Founders tells us this is even harder to source than hosting, but we suggest you try BuyerZone.com.

6. Office Supplies

You want 24-inch LCD screens to prompt your developers’ creativity? FatWallet.com aggregates and publishes the best prices for office wares from a range of retailers including Wal-Mart and Buy.com.

Roosster.com aggregates content from the aggregators, including FatWallet. Penny-pinching expert Schwark Satyalovu of BillShrink built this site, also. “I bought ALL of our office equipment, including our computers, LCDs, projectors, printers, by finding the best deals on these sites — including 24-inch LCD screens — for only $299.” They’re no longer quite that cheap, but still not bad.

7. Electricity & Other Utilities

Everyone will tell you that the first thing you need to do is get an energy efficiency audit, where someone looks at your electricity usage profile and recommends ways to save. “You may be tempted to switch to solar power,” says Hannah Russin, of Sungevity.com, which specializes in turnkey solar systems for homeowners. “Solar is a years-long investment. It’s not a good idea for a startup if you don’t know what your income stream will be in five years.”

Instead, hire someone to do an electricity audit for you, such as Silicon Valley-based GreenNowUSA.com.

Even better, do your own “usage overhaul.” Russin highly recommends the blog MichaelBlueJay.com. Michael explains a few electricity myths, offers up explantions as to why your bill is so high, and shares tips on how you can to cut down on your electricity bill, including mandating that your employees kill their screen savers. (Active screen savers mean your computers never actually sleep.)

Earlier we recommended Telebright.com, which offers wireless and energy expense management. For straight cost comparisons on your power vendors, also check out WhiteFence.com, which serves many geographies.

Descàrregues

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:45:32 -0700

Techno Consultancy Web Portfolio-SEO Consultant London-SEO London

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:04:55 -0700

Techno Consultancy Web Portfolio for SEO Consultant London, SEO London for E-Mail marketing, SEO consultant UK, SEO UK, SEO consultant, SEO and SEO services London.

Techno Portfolio: Email Marketing, Email Marketing London, SEO UK

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:02:44 -0700

Techno Portfolio for Email Marketing in Email Marketing London likes SEO UK, Email marketing solution UK, effective E-Mail marketing UK, SEO London and SEO consultants UK.

ContactUs: Online Marketing, IT Outsourcing, Website Consultants UK

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:57:26 -0700

Techno Consultancy Careers: IT Outsourcing, Website Branding, IT SEO for web site branding, website branding services, website branding services and SEO UK.

Web Special Offer: Web Marketing London, Website Consultants London

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:56:42 -0700

Web Special Offer for Web Marketing London, Website Consultants London likes web marketing, website consultants services London and website consultants London business.

Support-Techno Consultancy: Website Designer UK, Website Designer

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:55:31 -0700

Support-Techno Consultancy for Website Designer UK, Website Designer Middlesex and website designer London offers web solutions UK & e-commerce solution UK.

GIF Animated Banner Creation ?

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:56:23 -0700

I used to use flash for designing gif pictures.But sometimes it fails due to the support of 256 colors.

Any other method ?

Pantone Help Required!

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:02:00 -0700

I've been working in CMYK colors for long time - but I got an order from a client couple of days back and he wants his logo and stationery in Pantone colors.

I have 2 questions about it just to start.....

First thing, which color mode should I start with? I am using Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended.

and secondaly, the biggest confusion, :helpsmilie: which Pantone color scheme I should use? there are too many of them!! :wacko:

Thanks in advance.

Spring Framework Training Summary (July)

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:43:08 -0700

SpringSource is pleased to offer the new Developing Rich Web Applications with Spring course. The first presentation of this course, offered in Washington D.C. August 5 through August 8, will be presented by the Spring Web Team Lead, Keith Donald.

All courses are delivered by the people who build and sustain the Spring Framework. For full details, please visit the main training information page. Here is a summary of some of the upcoming courses and venues:

USA and Canada
- Core Spring: July 22nd - 25th, Ottawa, Canada
- Core Spring: July 22nd - 25th, New York, NY
- Core Spring: July 29th - August 1st, Seattle, WA
- Core Spring: August 5th - 8th, Salt Lake City, UT
- Developing Rich Web Apps with Spring: August 5th - 7th, Washington, DC
- Core Spring: August 12th - 15th, San Francisco, CA
- Core Spring: August 19th - 22nd, Raleigh, NC
- Core Spring: September 2nd - 5th, Toronto, Canada
- Developing Rich Web Apps with Spring: September 3rd - 5th, New York, NY

Europe & Middle East
- Core Web Services: July 24th - 25th, London, UK
- Core Spring .NET: July 30th - August 1st, London, UK
- Core Spring: August 12th - 15th, London, UK
- Core Spring: August 26th - 29th, Athens, Greece
- Core Spring: September 16th -19th - Hamburg, Germany (presented in German)

Australia/Asia/Other
- Core Spring: August 5th - 8th, Melbourne, Australia
- Core Spring: September 9th - 12th, Sydney, Australia

... plus others

Freelance web designer gone walkabout

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:57:42 -0700

I think it must be something about this terrible Scottish climate that turns a lot of graphic and web designers into globetrotters.

One of our regular freelance web designers has decided she would like to see more of the world and is taking a year off - first trip Australia. So we will shortly be on the look out for an experienced freelance web designer that can fill her shoes (no companies). We would require to see examples of web projects already carried out, the time they took, how much they cost and know some background about you. If interested you can contact us via our g3 creative contact page.

Call footer in index.html

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:55:01 -0700

I want to call this code in index.html

Because I want to use one footer in whole website.
How can I do this in .html page????

Changing colors in a gradient?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:58:34 -0700

Sadly enough, I can't figure this out.

I'm working in illustrator and trying to make a blue->different blue gradient circle. However, whenever I try to make a gradient, it automatically makes it a grayscale gradient.
I've tried double clicking on the color in the gradient box, and then when I try to change it, it just makes the circle completely that color, not gradient at all.

Anyway, if this makes any sense, I'd appreciate some help! Thanks. :)

Remote Controlled Fart Machine!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:57:41 -0700

I usually fart enough that I don’t need this machine to scare off my family members but with the Remote Controlled Fart Machine, you can guarantee someone is always farting during dinner.

Embarrass your boss, friends, and family! Press the remote button and set off one of 15 different fart sounds from up to 100 feet away! This is the greatest gag gift ever made - just hide the 3″ battery powered speaker on or near the vicinity of someone, press the remote button that is small enough to keep in your pocket, and watch the embarrassment begin! Requires 9v battery not included.

via thefartmachine

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Remote Controlled Fart Machine!

portfolio tips anyone?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:59:31 -0700

Anyone got any advice on getting the best out of a pdf potfolio?

Any good examples would be appreciated as well!

Spring Batch 1.1.0 Released

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:43:02 -0700

Dear Spring community,
We are pleased to announce that Spring Batch 1.1.0.RELEASE has been released!

Downloads | Web Site | Changelog | Announcement

comments on a blog roll

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:59:43 -0700

Hey guys, at the minute i have a client that wanted a blog on their website. This was no problem, took it from blogger. But now they want their comments to show up on the website as well. The website is You Got Me Thinking.

Can anyone help?

travel blog

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:54:23 -0700

2006 October " Incremental Operations

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:54:32 -0700

${jetty.home}/start.jar

My blog, please leave feedback comment on it

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:56:48 -0700

Dear everyone,

Here is my blog website:
http://creativityportfolio.blogspot.com/
I’ve already posted a lot of graphic design of myself. Some are for fun, some designs are for exercises at college.
I would like to share with you guys and listen to feedback comments from all of you to improve myself more.
Thanks and regards,

Hung

Crazy About Fitness

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:47:52 -0700

Crazy About Fitness is a site having to do with everything from exercise to fitness nutrition, equipment to supplements, mens fitness to womens fitness. It deals with anything having to do with health, staying in shape physically and emotionally.

sliding panels for menu.

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:56:52 -0700

Hi gang, I'm searching for a way to create this but using java or something similar so that it's smoother and you can actually see it sliding when clicked. I need to create a left and a right panel.

Has anyone seen anything like this and can point me in the right direction?

I did check out moo.fx and I saw the Fx.Slide there, and that may be what I go with, but I'm not totally sure it will work with both a left and right panel. I could create it in flash, but I currently suck at flash and would like to try to find a different way.

Thanks in advance!
~B

OpenLDAP + Samba Domain Controller On Ubuntu 7.10 | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:50:08 -0700

Charity graphic design in exchange for some good copy & links

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:57:57 -0700

I work for the charity family support partnership and I'm nearly finished designing a not-for profit sector news site, focusing on innovation within the charity arena.

You can see the site as it stands here: ThirdSectorLab

I'm looking for some help on 3 small elements of the site...

- I'd like a small 'lab' related logo to replace the orange bar (topleft). I'm thinking something like a test tube with bubbles or similar.

- I'd like the search bar image changed to something more fitting with my theme/colourscheme.

- I'd like to have the colours changed on the arrow/dot design features next to archives etc.

I can send you any of the images as they currently stand and you'll find the green used on the site: COLOURlovers :: Color / 9CBD00 / pretty puke

We don't have any budget for this but I'd like to offer a few things in return:
- A link on Family Support Partnership Lanarkshire Home to your site/portfolio (We currently get around 700 new unique visitors per month, I can provide anymore site stats if required)

- A link on ThirdSectorLab to your site/portfolio

- An article on the logo design on Third Sector Lab

- I'm also more than happy to feature on your portofolio and/or write a reference for potential clients

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Caribbean Vacations: Sandals Caribbean All Inclusive Vacation Resort

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:11:15 -0700

Caribbean vacation wrap you up in all the luxury and comfort of an all inclusive Caribbean vacation resort.You are invited to relax and kick your sandals off in the pinnacle of Caribbean world class service and luxury resorts.

Where does one begin?

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:45:57 -0700

I have said it before, and before that, and probably even before that. I really do intend to be better about posting — to be more deliberate and consistent — each time I say it. It's not that I don't have things that I want to say or share on this site, but I guess I have a hard time getting up the motivation to actually sit down and write, not to mention that we have a 2-year-old running all over the place.

Well, my department leader at my job has inspired both me and Lissa to take up what will hopefully be some more regular posting. That, combined with the fact that Lissa and Brennan are out of town this week, has given me some motivation to technologically update the site (mostly under the hood) and write this. Needless to say, much has happened in the past 27+ months since my last post when Brennan was born. I will try to recap in some semblance of chronological order:

We made it home from the hospital safe and sound (as you probably guessed), and got little sleep for awhile. But, Brennan is amazing and good, so everything has gone smoothly overall.
We paid off Lissa's car. No more car payments!
We paid off Lissa's last student loan. No more student loans!
We are debt free except for the house! (Sensing a theme?)
We led a Financial Peace University class at church.
We traveled to Nashville to be trained as Certified Financial Counselors. Yes, both of us! Note: Financial Counselors, not Financial Planners. There is a huge difference.
Brennan turned one. We rented a pavilion and attempted to have a cookout to celebrate, but it was freezing, and we ended up back at our house.
After much prayer, discussion, angst, and advice-seeking, I applied for a web development position with The Lampo Group, Inc. in Nashville.
I — and actually Lissa too — had several e-mail and phone interviews with Lampo over the next 3 months, and when they were seemingly about to hire me, I turned down the job. It's OK. That particular position just wasn't a good match for me.
We took a vacation to South Padre Island with my parents (my mom was newly-semi-kinda-retired), and we hated it. The trip and the company were great; it was the area that we hated.
While in South Padre, Lampo got back in touch with me about another position that matched exactly what I had told them I was hoping to pursue!
<<Insert more e-mail conversations and phone interviews here.>>
Lissa and I traveled to Nashville without Brennan for final in-person interviews.
I accepted the job as Lampo's new System Administrator, I tendered my resignation to Idearc, I did a knowledge transfer at work, we worked endlessly and tirelessly on the house to prepare it to sell (with immeasurable help from friends), we moved to Nashville, we lived temporarily in a condo, I began my new job, we accepted an offer on the house after three days on the market, we found a rental house in Nashville, we traveled back to Dallas to pack the house and move, and we moved everything we own to Nashville (ourselves) and into the rental house...all in the span of two months! <<Deep breath.>>
We are completely debt free and have a fully-funded emergency fund.
Brennan turned two.
We experienced the remainder of what have likely been nine of the craziest, most exhilarating, most difficult, most rewarding, most faith-challenging, most relationship-challenging, most emotion-draining, greatest months of our lives as we learned and fought and grew and prayed as a family.
... Oh, yeah. Then we got called by our former neighbors in Dallas to tell us that their had been a police standoff at our old house, and a man had been shot and killed on our front steps by a sniper.

All in all, it has been fairly quiet and calm in our lives since my last post.

Our Googley advice to students: Major in learning

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:46:44 -0700

Management guru Peter Drucker noted that companies attracting the best knowledge workers will "secure the single biggest factor for competitive advantage." We and other forward-looking companies put a lot of effort into hiring such people. What are we looking for?

At the highest level, we are looking for non-routine problem-solving skills. We expect applicants to be able to solve routine problems as a matter of course. After all, that's what most education is concerned with. But the non-routine problems offer the opportunity to create competitive advantage, and solving those problems requires creative thought and tenacity.

Here's a real-life example, a challenge a team of our engineers once faced: designing a spell-checker for the Google search engine. The routine solution would be to run queries through a dictionary. The non-routine, creative solution is to use the query corrections and refinements that other users have made in the past to offer spelling suggestions for new queries. This approach enables us to correct all the words that aren't in the dictionary, helping many more users in the process.

How do we find these non-routine savants? There are many factors, of course, but we primarily look for ...

... analytical reasoning. Google is a data-driven, analytic company. When an issue arises or a decision needs to be made, we start with data. That means we can talk about what we know, instead of what we think we know.

... communication skills. Marshalling and understanding the available evidence isn't useful unless you can effectively communicate your conclusions.

... a willingness to experiment. Non-routine problems call for non-routine solutions and there is no formula for success. A well-designed experiment calls for a range of treatments, explicit control groups, and careful post-treatment analysis. Sometimes an experiment kills off a pet theory, so you need a willingness to accept the evidence even if you don't like it.

... team players. Virtually every project at Google is run by a small team. People need to work well together and perform up to the team's expectations.

... passion and leadership. This could be professional or in other life experiences: learning languages or saving forests, for example. The main thing, to paraphrase Mr. Drucker, is to be motivated by a sense of importance about what you do.

These characteristics are not just important in our business, but in every business, as well as in government, philanthropy, and academia. The challenge for the up-and-coming generation is how to acquire them. It's easy to educate for the routine, and hard to educate for the novel. Keep in mind that many required skills will change: developers today code in something called Python, but when I was in school C was all the rage. The need for reasoning, though, remains constant, so we believe in taking the most challenging courses in core disciplines: math, sciences, humanities.

And then keep on challenging yourself, because learning doesn't end with graduation. In fact, in the real world, while the answers to the odd-numbered problems are not in the back of the textbook, the tests are all open book, and your success is inexorably determined by the lessons you glean from the free market. Learning, it turns out, is a lifelong major.

Posted by Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior VP, Product Management

Drop down menu covered by swf image

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:55:34 -0700

Hi there!

I'm new to this site. I have a question regarding my website.

I have a drop down menu on my website. I tried to put a swf image right under the menu. When I move the cursor to the menu and the sub-menu drops down, it appears the the drop down menu is covered by the swf image:duh:. I guess there might be a conflict in coding.

Can anyone give some advice to me?

Thanks!
ken.

I Found The Secret to Hogan’s Golf Swing!

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:54:49 -0700

Okay, this does really happen to me every couple months. That is that I find the secret to the golf swing.

You go to the golf course and return with this “amazing” feeling that you’ve finally mastered the game of golf, or at least just the golf swing in this case.

Let me tell you how it happend and the secret too.

I have been on a long-trail of hitting balls on the range and really not practicing my short game or putting.

Well, yesterday, I go to the range at Harding Park GC, and found that the range closes early on Mondays. Of course, this was my first time going to the range after 6pm on a Monday.

So, I decided to practice my short game for 2 hours. What happened after that was amazing.

For the first hour and a half or so, I was really struggling to hit these hard-pan lies. After trying several things, I hit a goldmine, the secret to my golf swing.

You see, the secret is in the dirt just like Ben Hogan said. Literally, I found it in the hardpan dirt, where it’s practically impossible to hit the shot good unless you strike the ball perfectly.

As such, I found the secret of the golf swing as the following:

Your full swing is an extended version of your short shots. It’s never the other way around.

For example, you are hitting the 2-iron really well. You miniturize that 2-iron swing on the short pitch shots. It might work and it might not, simply because what’s working for the full swing isn’t guaranteed to work on the short shots.

However, if you are hitting your 30-yard pitch shots from a hardpan lie perfectly (as you do need to hit it perfectly on the ball in order to avoid chunking it or thinning it) and you extend that short swing into a 2-iron swing, you will find that 99% of the time, the swing works.

This is why tour pros practice their short game so much because the rhythm and the swing technique flows into other longer shots.

Now, that is how I found the secret, let me tell you the “technical” details of my findings:

You need to feel that on the downswing, you are rotating everything including your stomach, shoulders, arms, and hands to the left while your weight is centered over the left foot. You also need to feel you are standing very tall.

Here’s the important part, you need to feel like your wrists are uncocking upwards toward the sky just after impact.

If you take a careful look at Hogan’s after-impact position, you will notice that his wrists are actually lifted toward the sky. This really helps you to hit the ball perfectly while minimizing wrist action through impact.

Now how to achieve this feeling?

It’s pretty simple, try to imagine there’s a giant ball hanging from the sky sorta like the above picture.

Then, try to rotate your body to move that ball foward toward your target. Also try to hit the big imaginary ball with your elbows, this will automatically uncock your wrists the correct way by letting your wrists lift upwards.

I tried this and boy, I am going to the PGA Tour Q-School next year baby!

and on SWiK

URGENT! how can I duplicate this blur effect for a project due tomorrow. Help please

F|R Crib Sheet: 15 Sites to Cut Your Startup Operating Costs

Descàrregues

Techno Consultancy Web Portfolio-SEO Consultant London-SEO London

Techno Portfolio: Email Marketing, Email Marketing London, SEO UK

ContactUs: Online Marketing, IT Outsourcing, Website Consultants UK

Web Special Offer: Web Marketing London, Website Consultants London

Support-Techno Consultancy: Website Designer UK, Website Designer

GIF Animated Banner Creation ?

Pantone Help Required!

Spring Framework Training Summary (July)

Freelance web designer gone walkabout

Call footer in index.html

Changing colors in a gradient?

Remote Controlled Fart Machine!

Related posts

portfolio tips anyone?

Spring Batch 1.1.0 Released

comments on a blog roll

travel blog

2006 October " Incremental Operations

My blog, please leave feedback comment on it

Crazy About Fitness

sliding panels for menu.

OpenLDAP + Samba Domain Controller On Ubuntu 7.10 | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

Charity graphic design in exchange for some good copy & links

Caribbean Vacations: Sandals Caribbean All Inclusive Vacation Resort

Where does one begin?

Our Googley advice to students: Major in learning

Drop down menu covered by swf image

I Found The Secret to Hogan’s Golf Swing!