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Category Archives: What is
What is Google Plus?
Google announced their new service, Google Plus at the beginning of June 2011. Basically, Google+ is a combination of a lot of services and social networks we are already used to. Google+ includes many features which may be familiar to you but according to Google, are much better.
Circles
Google+ Circles is a way to group your “friends” into different categories. Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and Following. You can also create your own group if you have a specific category you would like to categorize you “friends” into. This allows for better organization and more sharing options. From the circles page you can drag and drop your contacts into each of these groups.
Hangouts
Hangouts are virtual hangout places where you can video chat with up to 10 people.
You are able to select who you want in one of your hangouts by inviting the circles of your choice. Hangout has some neat features such as switching the person you see in your main window automatically.
Sparks
If you are a Google Reader user, Sparks might seem familiar to you.
Sparks brings content you are subscribed to directly to you through Google+.Each topic you subscribe to gets its own Spark Page which provides descriptions and direct links to the articles, videos, photos, and related content.
Google+ is currently an invite-only beta. So, to get in, you have to know someone currently using Google+ willing to send you an invite.
As Google+ grows, so do other social networks. Google+ could be the next largest social network.
Leave your thoughts below. Tell us what you like about Google+ and if you believe it will grow larger then Facebook when opened up to the public.
What is WordPress?
WordPress (WP) is an excellent way for people who do not have the knowledge to setup their own websites or don’t really want to learn. Now a days you don’t even need to pay for a domain name or even web hosting. Combine all three and you have an awesome free website of your very own.
The main feature of WP is actually blogging. You have a lot of control and some of the features actually include adding authors and writers to your site so others may write blogs for you to either be pre-approved by you personally or post them immediately.
Once you have a domain name and a hosting site in place, you may want to install WP using the following steps.
The steps in creating a WP site are very simple, WordPress has setup a simple 5 minute installation guide found here.
- Download and unzip the WordPress package, if you haven’t already downdload here
- Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as MysSQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
- Rename the wp-config-sample.php file to wp-config.php.
- Open wp-config.php in a text editor and fill in your database details as explained in editing wp-config.php to generate and use your secret key password.
- Place the WordPress files in the desired location on your web server:
- If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (but excluding the directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your web site (e.g.http://example.com/blog/), rename the directory wordpress to the name you’d like the subdirectory to have and move or upload it to your web server. For example if you want the WordPress installation in a subdirectory called “blog”, you should rename the directory called “wordpress” to “blog” and upload it to the root directory of your web server.
At this point you should now have a working WP site of your own and may log into wordpress to edit it’s contents. Another cool feature is the amount of WP themes that are available and many are free. Just search WP or WordPress themes in your favorite search engines and download which ever theme fits your blog the most.
To learn more about WordPress, visit WordPress.com and WordPress.org
Linux Mint 9/10
Mint 9 Logo
Over the years, I have enjoyed and struggled with many versions of linux operating systems (OS). There was a time when the only people who could actually install them were true hard core geeks whom picked up on how to navigate around the OS using the command prompt easily, ummm, sorta. But now with a graphics interface, it has become an OS almost everyone can use.
I say almost because there are still some limitations to certain programs you can run on any linux distribution. As years went by, more and more people began testing the OS waters and reporting what hardware they were able to get to work or not work. Eventually a HUGE list of compatibility hardware was developed and people could see if they could install and run linux. This hardware list included graphics, network, modem, sound adapters, ports in the PC and external devices like web cams, printers, scanners, etc.
There is very little difference in with how linux works and looks. To make it easier for Windows users, they have KDE and Gnome for people that like a completely new look. I personally love Gnome desktop layout and have used it for years.
I use to be a long time follower of Ubuntu Linux, but most recently have fell in love with Linux Mint 9. It was a super easy installation on my tower and my Dell mini 10.1v netbook and seems very fast. Linux Mint seem to come with the right programs I use most including OpenOffice suite, xChat and many others pre-installed allowing me to just turn it on and work or play. Keeping in mind other distributions come with the above as well though some may have to be installed. With thousands of free programs at your finger tips, using the software package manager is a snap to install what you may be looking for.
I highly recommend you try Linux Mint 10, like others it also saw special hardware like my HP 3330 multifunction laser, so I could print without installing old printer drivers (which I have no idea where I put the CD if I need to re-install them on my XP machine lol). Linux just seems to work as OS’s should. Computers were designed to help make life easier, not harder.
Please take some time to learn more about Linux Mint 9/10
Context and Chat Slang
The biggest problem with any text chat is how people will read or miss read what is being said. Just the other day, the chat was a bit heated with drama. (Drama, that’s another blog lol). I posted my favorite phrase in the chat that I use as sarcasm all the time “Good Times!”. They read it as if I were attacking them directly.
The main thing missing when typing in chat rooms is emotion. Without emotion people sometimes don’t understand the context at what things are being said. To get your emotions across we have emoticons or smileys. Using these, we can relay emotion so people understand what you mean by what you have said most of the time.
Examples: Happy 
Shock :O Sad 
Angry >(
Here are some examples of emoticons:
http://www.n2h.it/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/emoticons.PNG
Another interesting topic is shortcuts or chat slang. This comes in handy to save having to type a whole phrase or sentence and is limited to a few characters. You may have seen some being used in chat like brb, lol, rotfl these mean the following:
brb = be right back
lol = laughing out loud
rotfl = rolling on the floor laughing
you can learn more about chat slang at:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_internet_slang
If you have questions while in chat about a slang, don’t be shy to ask what it means
