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Bye bye windows, almost.

// June 21st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Web Development

I’ve recently got an ASUS EEE PC 1000 that came with a linux distro instead of Windows. Now, I’m not very techy when it comes to Linux so I thought it was going to be a steep learning curve and I’d get too frustrated with it.

The linux version that came with the netbook was Xandros, and was for netbooks and their small screens. It worked fine and I was impressed at just how usable it was. I will admit that I haven’t mastered the terminal yet, but thankfully you can do a lot without resorting to the command line interface.

It wasn’t long before I started looking at what other distros were available. Ubuntu looked like a good choice, and a version of it called Easy Peasy (sorry, but that’s a rubbish name) which was specifically for the ASUS EEE PC. So I gave that a go. Again it all worked and installed without a hitch.

Then I heard that Ubuntu had released 9.04 Jaunty Jacolope (great name) and a version for netbooks. Now Easy Peasy is a derivitive of Ubuntu with a few tweaks, but I wanted to get as close to the main stream Ubuntu as I could, so it got installed. Piece of cake, and worked without any issues.

I was beginning to become a fan of Ubuntu despite still not really knowing all the ins and outs of running linux.

I then thought that it could bring my knackered Acer laptop back to life after I’d stuck it in a cupboard after it became far too slow with windows on it. So today I downloaded the iso from ubuntu.com and wiped my windows laptop and got ubuntu up and running. I’m using it now and it’s great. So I now have a laptop again. The netbook is great of course, but the screen just isn’t big enough for development work. So I can now sit on my sofa with my feet up and do the things I need to do on my other web sites, including redesigning and rebranding my photography forum which is long overdue.

So that got me thinking, and gave me the idea for this post, just what do I need windows for? Can I get rid of windows on my desktop computer too?

So let’s think.

Email and web browsing. Well I run all my email through a google apps account, so it’s all online. So all I need is a web browser, and ubuntu comes with firefox, so no issues there.

Web development. Well all I really need is a text editor, so again no issues. I’ve found Bluefish to be pretty decent for ubuntu so that sorts that out. But hang on, what about graphics. Now, this is where I start to hit problems. I use Adobe Photoshop to produce graphics for my web sites, and it’s not available for linux. Bugger. But there is a decent graphics program for linux called GIMP (great name) which will do everything I need it to, just not quite in the same way as photoshop, so a little learning is needed, but that’s not a major issue.

Right, this next one is a problem. Microsoft SQL Server. I need this for when I work at home as it’s the database that powers the web sites I work on for my day job. With my current knowledge of linux, this is a problem. I believe there is a windows emulator where I could run SQL Server, but I don’t know how well that would fit in with the dev environment I need. So some research needed there.

Perhaps the main sticking point for me Adobe Lightroom. I am really into photography and I use this excellent piece of software to manage and work on my photos. I can’t do without it. I have seen similar software for linux but I haven’t really tried it and I’m sure it’s not going to be as good as Lightroom is.

Thinking more about it, it is only SQL Server and Adobe Lightroom that I need windows for. So if anyone knows a solution for those two, then I can finally get rid of windows all together which will be great!

Why do I hate windows so much. Well without being too rude, it’s a pain in the arse, clunky and all the software costs lots. Linux is now a viable alternative. The interface is very similar to windows so using it is very simple. Some things are done slightly differently. The file system is a lot more secure, no bad thing, there are loads of good, free applications for it which cover just about anything you need to do on a computer and best of all, it’s free. No stupid licensing, serial numbers or ways for microsoft to keep tabs on you.

So as soon as I can find a solution for the two sticking points, it will be bye bye windows and I shall drink many cups of tea to celebrate when that day comes.

Do you want to know another good thing about linux. By downloading the iso and putting it on a cd, you can run ubuntu on your windows machine without actually installing it. So you can try it and see what you think while keeping windows as it is. How good is that. Imagine running windows without having to install it…. I don’t think so.

That is all.

The A Team of design

// November 22nd, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Web Development

Ok, no one smokes a cigar, or has a crazy hair style.

I joined TheHut.com in August this year after being a freelancer for 3 years. Nearly 4 months later I thought it was about time I named and shamed the great team I work with. While I am still not sure the term ‘designer’ fits me too well, being a ‘Design Team Leader’ is great and I’m not regretting going back to the 9-5 (well, 8-8 lately) grind.

So who are these people that have to suffer working with me.

First of all there is Darth AppleMac, or Ross as some people call him. He’s the man in charge of us all and he has a worrying obsession with computers of the fruit variety. Nevermind eh.

Then in no particular order…. well ok, the order we sit round the desk… we have the Wheel aka Nealy Wheely aka Neal. King of the pack shot, master of automated scripts, wearer of hair gel, and drinker of not much before he wobbles. A big fan of pink too… the colour not the singer.

Then we have Deano or Dwayno as he’s known by some. Partial to running round with 10 other men in a field trying to score and maker of many brews.

Next is Michelle…. well there are packets of biccies that come next on the desk before we get to Michelle, but they seem to disappear pretty quick. Apart from being a slightly crazy scouser, Michelle is a bit of an artist and creates lots of weird and wonderful characters.

Then we have Stacey, hidden away behind a sea of macs. Stacey dreams about imovie and time lines and has been known to flash occasionally too…. that’s Adobe Flash, nothing rude!

Next is Nikki, the resident polo dealer and DIY expert. If you need minty floorboards then Nikki is the top choice.

Last and by no means least, we have Matt. A big fan of Motorhead and The Spice Girls and a drinker of pear cider. He has to suffer sitting next to me but does his best to ignore my by plugging himself into his ipod full of shouty metal music and talking to Nikki about poo……. don’t ask!

So that’s the design team I work with (although they might not want to after reading this) and it makes the hellish commute most mornings all worthwhile… awww.

Take a look at their sites too, we’ve just introduced most of them to wordpress and I think they are all convinced it’s the mutts nuts and are working hard to get their sites sorted.

“The rebel base will be in firing range in 7 minutes”

Adsense, back to a dollar a day

// August 9th, 2007 // 5 Comments » // Web Development

Ok, not really much to shout about, but I’m pleased that I’m now back to an average of a dollar a day from adsense earnings after the dip I had over the last few months.

A large amount of this is due to a mini site I made. A one page site with information about a particular niche, keyword rich, but still reads well, and some adsense ads. My forum and other few sites are still pulling in a little too, but the noticeable gain has been via the mini site.

When I set the site up, I linked to it from this site and posted one comment on a popular blog on a similar niche and google didn’t take long to find it and start sending people my way.

OK, so what next?

Well, more one pagers I expect for now with my next target being $5 a day average which is a big jump. I’ve also got an idea for a larger site on the same theme as my current mini site, so that may help a little too when I can get round to building it.

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Domaining

// May 25th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Web Development

Domaining is basically buying and selling domains, a bit like stocks and shares. Sometimes you might make a site on the domain to get some traffic to further increase it’s value, other times you might just sell the domain for a profit.

With porn.com recently selling for $9million, domaining can be a lucrative thing to get into, but obviously getting your hands on a domain like that is not an easy thing to do. So is it worth it, well yeah. There are plenty of niches left to target, think a bit laterally, think about what’s happening in the future that may be worth a domain or two and don’t ignore domains like .org or .org.uk for instance. With all the popular .com and .net domains being bought up, it can be profitable to snap up the other domains too. Maybe not as profitable as a .com but hey, even if you make a small profit it’s worth it.

Sites like SEDO allow you to buy and sell domains, but it’s worth watching what sells and what doesn’t for a while to get an idea what words to go for.

I must add that I am no way near a proper domainer. I don’t buy and sell…. just buy at the moment, and I have a small collection of domains with not much happening on them, but maybe they will prove worth it later down the line.

Have a look at some of the domains I own at randomdomains.co.uk. I’m open to offers if you fancy any of them!

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Site earnings update

// May 25th, 2007 // No Comments » // Web Development

A while ago I wrote about how I was looking at was to make some money from my forum and other web sites. I had made a few changes and said I would report back on it. Well, here is the report…

In my last report I said I had been using the google adsense heat map for forums to position my adsense ads to try and get maximum benefit from them. I positioned them on several of my pages on my Dynax Digital forum and used different adsense channels for each ad so I could track their progress.

After doing this I noticed an increase in earnings, but I only got back to the level I was at before I reskinned the site. Most noticeable was that the adsense ads positioned at the top of the first post in a thread performed the best, earning nearly 4 times as much as the second place position which was the ad placed at the top of the list of forum boards.

Unfortunately the amounts aren’t anything to write home about (but maybe enough to blog about) but I got back to a level where my monthly hosting was covered…… but….. recently these amounts have dropped again. Why this is, I don’t know, but it’s annoying.

I have pulled in a little bit from my other sites too, but the forum forms the major (if you can call it major) source of adsense income.

As a bonus though, I got a ad deal with shopzilla which is part of bizrate.co.uk, a price comparison site. This deal gives me income for a year, paid quarterly and is enough to cover my hosting. So again, not loads, but it all starts to add up doesn’t it.

I am now expanding the forum site a little which should provide more opportunities for affiliate schemes which may prove a better source of income. I read a post on selfmademinds about using one big site (I know I keep going on about that site, but it is good!) which confirmed, for me, that this would be a good way forward.

I’ve still got a long way to go before I can retire on web site earnings alone, but with a few small steps in the right direction I might start making some inroads into that dream.

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New mini site – Zoetropes

// April 20th, 2007 // No Comments » // Web Development

I have set up another mini site, this time all about zoetropes, as a site to test a few thing on. If you don’t know what a zoetrope is then you’ll just have to check out my site.

I do have bigger plans for this site but they will not be happening for a while so I thought I’d get the site indexed and see what traffic arrives. I am using no ads, so obviously it’s not going to make any money. It is just a one page website with a page of relevant and original content and one image.

I’ll be using google analytics to track the traffic on the site and will report it’s progress.

Making money from a forum

// April 8th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Web Development

I have been running a forum for owners of Konica Minolta or Sony DSLR cameras for a while now. The membership continues to grow, but slowly. So far there are nearly 600 members, although like most forums, not all of them are active.

Initially I ran the forum with phpBB, which although was good, seemed to be updated every other day which got to be a problem. So I made the switch to SMF or Simple Machines Forum which was opensource but much much better than phpBB in my opinion. The look of it and the operation and administration was a major improvement over phpBB, so all was good.

I ran adsense ads on the forum, a banner at the top and a long tower ad down the right hand side. This was bringing in a small amount, on average about $2 per day. $2 a day doesn’t seem like much, but that’s $60 a month which is enough to pay for my hosting so it was good for me.

When SMF updated their forum, I changed the forum theme to a nice looking new one, with a few modifications made by me. I dropped the adsense ads for a while as I needed to make sure the forum was running properly. I made the decision to keep the forum ad free for registered users, an incentive to register. So I am now trying to monetize the forum again, but for guest visitors only, and see if I can bring back the earnings to pay for my hosting, that’s my first aim at least.

Using the adsense ‘heat map’ for forums, which gives advice to where ads perform best on forums, I have now placed adsense ads before the first post on the thread display page and before the first board/category on the homepage, but only for guests. I’ll be monitoring this over the next week or two to see if it makes a big difference and I’ll report back here.

First Mini Site – www.sony-alpha.co.uk

// April 5th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Web Development

My first ‘mini site’ is a site I have had up for a little while now but haven’t really done a lot with. It is a site about the Sony Alpha 100 DSLR. It is a basic information site with some affiliate links to amazon on it and adsense.

While it doesn’t get a lot of traffic at the moment, the payout from the ads seem to be quite high. There are new Sony Alpha models coming out later this year, so some expansion of the site, maybe a different page for each mode, may happen.

I’m not expecting big things from this site in money terms as the content is not really written the best way for that purpose. I might go back to that at a later date. I also need to play about with the adsense colours a little.

Mini sites experimentation

// April 2nd, 2007 // No Comments » // Web Development

After discovering and reading another useful blog called Self Made Minds and in particular this post about mini sites, it made me sit up and think why I haven’t tried it. As the article says, all you need are:

• domain names, or to be able to register domain names.
• a hosting account, preferably a reseller account so you can set up as many sites as you want.
• templates for html sites, or the ability to design and make your own sites, well I’ve been making websites for the last 7 years so I think I’ve got that one covered.
• a way to monetise the page e.g. an adsense account.
• content for the site written well and taking into consideration the user, search engines and how things like adsense generate the context sensitive ads.

Well, I have 4 out of the 5 things, with content being the only thing left to find/create. So I thought to myself “Garry, get off your arse and do it!”

So, over the next few weeks I will be building a few mini sites to try and generate some regular income from adsense. It won’t be loads (at first!) but if it starts to bring in enough to pay for my hosting account then I’ll be very happy. Any more than that and I’ll be even happier!

Really useful error message from Microsoft

// March 29th, 2007 // No Comments » // Web Development

I was just starting some database work on a client’s site, so started up SQL Server 2005 Express and got this rather useful error message.

I can only assume the error was so serious that it left the program speechless and unable to express in words just how serious the error was!