Let me know what you think of the latest layout - and how it can improve. I’m almost finished tweaking the design; just give me one more, solid day. My next step will be the integration of the design with the forum. This will be an exciting development.

Thank you for reading.

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When writing content for the Internet - paying attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation is of utmost importance. Whether your piece is intended for small groups, or large masses of knowledge-hungry visitors; it’s always pertinent to be sure your materials are properly checked for language errors.

Spelling

Spelling, in my mind, has no excuse for being just about 100% perfect in today’s word processor friendly world. Globs of people now have easy access to spell check - right where they are writing their content. Take for example the built in spell check function which is available on WordPress, Microsoft Word, and the Firefox web browser. Each program helps to make spelling a breeze. Click, fix, perfect.

It must be noted that spell check only looks for incorrect spelling, not grammatical errors. Eye and I are both correct spellings; much like dessert and desert. These spelling mistakes are more difficult to find - but make for a more polished piece if eliminated.

If possible, after completing a written piece - take the time to throw it into a program like Microsoft Word; in order to find spelling mistakes. It might also be helpful to let others read your work before posting. It never fails to amaze me how much the non-writer’s eye can catch in regards to spelling & grammar mistakes.

Grammar

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd Edition - Grammar is the study of how words and their component parts combine to form sentences; the system of rules inherent in any language.

Grammar brings spice, structure, and voice into any written piece. The length of your sentences and use of words all help to bring a certain voice and style into your writing. Falling short of proper grammar can make your readers feel disconnected and confused when reading your material - and allows your work to fall short of its potential. Remember that grammar is just as important as every other aspect of writing.

Some writers use short sentences, while others maintain long. It’s best to combine both short and long sentences in order to produce more interesting work for your viewers. Finding your style of writing will continue to develop and change as you hone your writing skills.

Punctuation

Punctuation helps to hold together your writing, almost like a skeleton supports muscles in a body. They connect sentences, break thoughts, and emphasize feelings. Punctuation runs deep in all writing.

The exclamation mark, question mark, period, comma, semi-colon, ampersand; they all help to bring our work together in a more streamlined, fashionable way.

Writing for the web differs from other writing in that punctuation can become somewhat distorted. Dashes are used frequently to break up thoughts, exclamation marks are used feverishly, and smaller sentences become more apparent.

These tweaks are all used in an effort to hold the attention of the reader. Internet users are scanners - searching for small, chewable bites of information. Most aren’t in search of the latest Historical Novel.

Bringing It All Together

Once combined; spelling, grammar and punctuation help to produce beautiful, smooth written work. Sentences are well formatted, reading comes fluidly, and the proper information is garnered from the text.

Taking the time to learn new words, reading other people’s work, and generally improving upon one’s writing skill is all part of writing for the web. In my own experience - taking extensive literature and English composition classes has vastly improved my skills in the written language.

Note that no person is perfect. Spelling mistakes do occur, punctuation isn’t perfect (mine, far from), and grammatical errors can slip through well built fortresses.

Before posting any written work - be sure to reread your material. Not once, not twice, but three times through. Pay close attention to the flow of thoughts and sentences, spelling mistakes, and punctuation quirks. Not only reread - but reread out loud. Does it make sense? Are there confusing, punchy spots? As I mentioned previously - it might also be beneficial to let others read your work before publishing to the public.

Like all aspects of life - writing takes time, practice, and most of all; lots of patience!

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The First Game: Fast Fingers

In the Olympics, quick feet reign supreme; but for the savvy computer user, quick fingers gain further respect.

This Computer Addict Olympic Game requires dexterity, talent, and intense concentration. As the buzzer sounds off - all participants must start typing rapidly. Whomever finishes typing their selected paragraph of text first; wins. Simple you believe? Think again - only the toughest athletes in the world can complete this task.

The Second Game: Cordage Mayhem

Believed to be the most taxing of the Computer Addict Olympic games - this event demands patience, speed, and computer knowledge.

The athlete is given a monitor, tower, keyboard, mouse, and a pile of random cords. The goal? The first participant to connect and successfully start the computer wins.

Please note that the keyboard and mouse must be in working order - otherwise, the athlete will be disqualified.

The Third Game: Password Remembrance

Thought to be the most respected of all Computer Addict Olympic games - the Password Remembrance event requires superior memory, intellect, and competence in computer usage.

Each athlete is given a list of 20 social media websites, along with coordinating usernames & passwords. Only ten minutes is given for memorization - and finally; the list is removed. The goal? The athlete must successfully log into each social media site - within the allotted time period. Fastest total login time wins.

Closing Ceremonies

As we prepare for the Closing Ceremonies in the 2008 Computer Addict Olympic games - we watch as the proud athletes mount their respected podiums. First, second, and third place.

We wait silently for the winner’s athem to blair loudly over the speaker system. In surprise we aren’t met with “The Star Spangeled Banner,” or “Oh, Canada,” but in place we hear welcoming theme songs from “Super Mario,” “Mortal Combat,” and “Tetris.”

The Olympic Marshall adorns each athlete with their respected winner’s medals. Compact disks stained Gold, Silver, and Bronze. This marks the end of the 2008 Computer Addict Olympic Games.

Conclusion

Computer addicts, I pose the following question. What games will we see next year?

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While in heavy anticipation as to whether someone already had achived this magical Digg (which I had prepared for) - I was met with sad news.

In bold red, foreboding letters - I was met with the following demise.

Items pointing to digg.com are not allowed.

How could I have been so stupid? Of course Digg isn’t going to allow its users to digg pages located on the Digg.com website. Allowing such stupidity would create mass chaos. There would be diggs of digg pages - diggs of diggs, of diggs, of digg pages. On, and on, and on, and on.

Well - in an effort to protect the innocently insane; remember, no digging digg pages.

Maybe I should get back to work. Now you see what I do on idle Thursdays - waste time.

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The answer; is painfully simple. Just read the following steps - and you’ll be well on your way to starting and creating your very first HTML code using Notepad.

Steps

1. First, open the Notepad program. Immediately you can begin typing your HTML code into the text editor’s white space. For those that need a small snippet of code to start working with - I’d recommend copying and pasting the following; into your Notepad text editor:

<html>
<body>
Hello World!
</body>
</html>

2. When finished, save the file. Click the FILE tab, then select SAVE AS. Now listen up - this step is important. When typing the File Name - be sure to type .html, after your chosen file name. This turns your standard Notepad file into an HTML file. A standard name for website home pages is usually index.html. For your encoding selection - most save in the UTF-8 character encoding format.

3. Once saved - travel to the new file’s location, and double click. Because you saved the file as HTML - it will automatically be opened up in your default web browser. Congradulations - you’ve created your very first web page.

4. Now - how do you open the file in Notepad, and continue editing the code? Right click on the file, select OPEN WITH - and choose Notepad. Notepad will automatically start - enabling your coding fingers to start typing away!

Alternatives To Notepad

Though many professional web developers purely use Notepad as their text editor of choice - many find Notepad to be lacking in some basic developing needs. (e.g. syntax highlighting, function filling, etc.)

Many in the industry use Notepad++, which can be downloaded and used freely. As of now I’ve been experimenting with Crimson Editor - and have achieved terrific results.

Conclusion

Many years ago - after learning this simple, yet crucial procedure in starting HTML using Notepad; I was immediately grasped by the world of web design. Me, little me - could now create websites.

Website design is an art form; so with these tools - have fun creating your masterpieces!

Using the comments form below; tell us - what do YOU use for HTML creation?

Please note that by saving HTML code locally on your PC - it doesn’t enable your web page to be accessed via the internet. The next step in web design is purchasing a domain name and web site hosting. I’d recommend taking a look at polarPhase.com for reliable hosting services.

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After being introduced in May of 2008 - Plurk has quickly risen to become one of the most interesting & captivating micro-blogging platforms offered on the internet.

To be honest - in the beginning I was skeptical of yet another, social media website. On a daily basis I was already hammered with Digg, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.. Why in the world would I setup another account, on yet another website?

After only a few short weeks - I quickly became committed to Plurk. In essence - I married Plurk; and here are a few short reasons why I’m glad I took her on that first date.

Intelligent User Interface

One of the most amazing ingredients you’ll immediately notice when visiting Plurk is its use of a horizontal time line, which gives posts the appearance of a fourth dimension; time.

Using your mouse you can drag your time line of Plurks backwords or forwards - enabling the viewing of each Plurk as they were posted throughout the day.

Simplicity Of Discussions

Some find that following blog posts on social media sites can become a time consuming - mind numbing experience. Replies become jumbled, discussions tweaked, and past comments forgotten. Plurk fixes this problem by grouping each Plurk - along with its corresponding replies. In essence - Plurk creates its own “forum” thread out of every Plurk.

A Perfect Balance of Power

In my opinion, Plurk has produced the perfect balance of power for site users. Profile avatars may be added, mini-bios posted, and minuscule design changes tweaked - but complete control isn’t handed over entirely.

This creates a smooth, easy to use experience - by witholding a certain degree of layout functions from members.

Often times, when browsing social media sites - member generated coding, layouts, etc…can take away from your browsing experience - and cause an eye killing, brain melting edpisode of trauma.

Glitzy banners are exempt, background images aren’t changeable, and faulty coding not forced on your computer - allowing for a civilized transfer of information from one member to the next.

Give Me A Pat On The Back

It’s human nature to feel the need to excel at a certain activity - and find social status or ranking. That’s why Plurks ingenious use of “Karma” comes into play.

Karma, displayed on every Plurker’s profile page - is the score automatically generated each day factoring in Plurk use. Generally - the more you Plurk, the further your Karma will increase. If you leave Plurk unattended for a few days - your Karma will drop.

Karma scores are set on a scale from 1 to 100 - one hundred being the best. As of now - my Karma is at 42.58, but continually grows as I tend to become more attached to the wonderful world of Plurking.

I Plurk now everyday - in fear Karma might rear its ugly head.

Tricks, Features & Tips

Plurk is full of cool features - and here are a few of my favorites. One of which, Karma, which I already described - is just one of the many great attributes of Plurk.

An interesting facet to Plurk’s handbag of tricks - is the ability to automatically embed images, videos, and links - without any extra code knowledge. If you post a link to YouTube - the video will be embedded into your post. If you post a photo to a Flickr image - it will embed itself. Post a link? No problem - it will convert itself. This feature alone adds great value to Plurk’s micro-blogging abilities.

Yes - a few formatting quirks must be learned to generate hyperlink text - but they’re minimal at best.

And They Lived Happily Ever After

Though this article will never do Plurk justice - I hope I’ve turned you into a potential Plurk fanatic.

It’s an excellent, powerful micro-blogging platform - which brings new features to the table on a weekly basis.

Use it to meet new friends, grow your brand, or chat with family. Its uses are endless…

Please use the following link to find Plurk - and learn the many wonders of Plurkville. By using this link - you’l be automatically added as my newest, best friend.

http://plurk.com/redeemByURL?from_uid=534856&check=1242947263&s=1

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering - I feel my marriage to Plurk will last as long as we both shall live; and I’ll definately be staying faithful ’til the end.

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Coldplay - comprised of band members Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion - have sold a total of 32.5 million albums. Their first hit single, “Yellow”, propelled this alternative rock group into music history - followed by such songs as “Clocks”, “Speed of Sound”, and “The Scientist”.

As their album download count increases - Coldplay’s record won’t be touched for quite some time. That is, unless, your not planning on producing a ground shaking album in the coming future…

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The following was taken from the Spread Firefox website - giving further information regarding their world record achievement.

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Available at a store near you!

*One belt size should fit all - unless you have an abnormally large head. Absolutely no refunds.

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Thousands of teenagers flock to their computers to see who’s left them a new MySpace comment, and Tech Geeks & “newsphiles” across the globe spend countless hours using Digg & StumbleUpon to promote and bookmark the latest articles, videos, and images popping up on the internet.

Granted - it’s important to stay connected to friends, family, and news through online services, but when do we acknowledge that our online behaviors can be managed in a much more effective/efficient manner?

My Story of Time Wasting Habits

At the pinnacle of my “time wasting” activities on the internet - I was spending more time on the computer, yet accomplishing less. Almost hourly I was checking my Affiliate Advertising earnings, I answered every email as soon as it popped into Microsoft Outlook, and I visited my favorite message forums online periodically throughout the day. Something needed to be done - as I was suffocating in the amount of work that was piling onto my ToDo List.

After analyzing my daily work habits, I realized social media sites were the biggest factor in causing my shortage of daylight hours.

Eureka!

The first thing for me to realize was that no matter how many times I checked into my slew of social media accounts - it wasn’t going to change their outcome.

More people aren’t going to magically Digg my sites if I view my Digg counts, my website reviews on StumbleUpon aren’t going to increase if I check the reviews thousands of times daily - and I’m not going to become increasingly popular if I check my MySpace messages throughout the day - like the addicted social media user I had become.

Realizing these simple truths brought a light into my online work life.

Creating success as an online web developer is much about effective time management skills. Though I may have become swamped with an increased workload - by cutting out ineffective social media management - I gave myself a few extra hours each day for important web design work.

The Doctrine of “Check Only Twice”

The motto & method I now live by to effectively manage social media sites is, “Check Only Twice“.

What does Check Only Twice mean? In short - Check Only Twice is the practice of only checking into social media sites twice daily, AT THE MOST! Instead of drooling over Digg counts, checking StumbleUpon reviews, Plurking randomly, and Twittering ravenously - make use of that extra time, and produce more content.

By using this special time management technique - I am able to accomplish all the various tasks of a busy webmaster and manage my social media accounts in a more streamlined, efficient manner. I check all sites in the morning, and before I go to bed.

Social media is an incredibly powerful/important tool for web developers - but it shouldn’t be allowed to consume the majority of each day.

Use this technique not only for social media sites, but for checking emails & advertising accounts.

Just remember - no matter how many times you check your Adsense earnings, Digg counts, and MySpace messages - it isn’t going to change their overall outcome.

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