practicing habitual skills
… from my desk to yours.
Although it was actually a day early according to my calendar, it was still a nice surprise to see the Happy Birthday image when I arrived at the Google home page.
It’s just a little something from Google that happens if your profile has your birthday information. I had read this earlier in the week from one of the fine folk I follow on twitter and had not really thought much of it … but there it is: Google wishing me a (early) Happy Birthday!
It always seems to get the busiest when you least expect to be busy. Where has all the time gone, I have not posted here in just over a week and before that it seems I was not to be found nearby either.
Let’s call this another update post and I will relate what is new in the last little while …
I have acquired more domains, I think I am getting to be a little addicted to buying domain names … is there a 12-step program I should be looking for? The latest domains are:
Although I am the person of record for these domain names they really are for one of my wife’s, Terri, pet projects. The RatTrain.com site will be used primarily as a hub of information for the transportation of fancy pet rats from one place, typically a rescue operation, to their forever (sometimes foster) home. The volunteers that we hope to see get involved in this are in no way restricted to just moving rats but are also encouraged to move any breed they are comfortable transporting as well.
The idea of helping all animals, especially those found in animal rescue organizations prompted the idea to also register the RescueRelay.com name (which will be temporarily “parked” on the RatTrain.com servers).
My thoughts are as the RatTrain expands to other breeds of pets, we will easily be able to open up the RescueRelay site to help with consolidating that information into one central hub, too.
In the meantime, if you are able to help, by all means please do. There are many animal resuces that could always use more help; food, supplies, transportation … even your time … all donations would be welcome.
I have found myself with a small window of downtime between projects and have decided to take this opportunity to do a little site renovation … and maybe do some work on my other sites, too.
First off, I have reversed the columns on this site. It’s more a Hillary-Everest idea than anything else; I wanted to see what it would look like … I may switch back. Given that I am using my own personal child theme “Cais” of my Shades theme I am only following the advice I give to all people wanting to change around the theme they are using. I have written about this at BuyNowShop.com, follow this link to read the article from July 2009.
As a child theme, I have also changed the column widths and moved the sidebar search function into the widget area of the theme … although that may not be easily discerned as I am also using a collection of widgets in the sidebar to provide a working example of the BNS Chess.com Badge widget I created.
I will likely tweak and tune this child theme more … feel free to leave your comments on the new look.
It’s Friday night; it’s been a long week; and, I was in the mood to consolidate my brand, or at least prepare for consolidating it.
So, with a few very strong Vodka-Cranberry drinks behind me, I went to my preferred domain registrar, Dayana Domains, and started buying some domain names: one I have been considering for a while; and, the others just because I liked them.
They will all point here, EdwardCaissie.com, for the time being but may eventually have their own domain space and activity via my hosting services at BuyNowHosting.com. I would have registered JellyBeen.com but someone has been squatting on that domain for years hoping to gain from the potential of a misspelled candy name?! (Seriously? Let it go!)
Also to note, some time ago I addressed my preferred spelling of the design name JellyBeen, at my WordPress.com blog; here is a link to the post.
Although I will often think of a great domain name when I check for it’s availability more often than not someone thought of the idea first.
This month I was much more imaginative … or lucky depending on your perspective. I have acquired the following domains, all currently parked on top of this site:
I have some interesting ideas I am considering for each of these domains but as I find my time being consumed by a new project I will just consider them for their potential.
Have you registered a great domain recently? What will you do with it?
Being a self-professed WordPress junkie I would be remiss in not making the obligatory post regarding the release of WordPress 3.0 … which I saw only a short while ago on the @wpdevel twitter account.
For some additional reading you can follow this link to Matt’s post on the WordPress Blog.
All of the sites I am involved with, or manage, have been successfully updated to this latest version of WordPress.
If you are having any troubles, concerns or issues please contact us at BuyNowShop.com for additional assistance through our premium WordPress Services.
Have you blogged today?
The Toronto WordPress Meetup Group will be holding its inaugural meeting January 23, 2010 (2:00pm) at the VSP Grenadier Cafe in High Park.
I am suggesting the twitter hash tags: #wpto (WordPress Toronto) and/or #wptomu (WordPress Toronto Meetup) for following …
Just a quick little post …
Follow the link below to a SurveyMonkey page and start the process of entering the contest: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XYTRJCM
Read the rules; accept the terms; and, be creative.
I submitted:
Well Written. Well Read.
Recognition for ones contributions is always a reward in itself.
I like to spend time on the WordPress Support forums helping where I can. Some days I’m able to offer a tip, or a suggestion, or a bit of advice; other days I am learning from what I read. I do what I can to contribute to the community and I was greatly pleased to see it recognized … as well as seeing all the other great people that volunteer their time and efforts on the Support forums receiving recognition for their efforts, too.
The following is an excerpt from the blog post “A Little Support?” at WordPress.org:
The Honor Roll
These people are not official moderators, but their knowledge and activity levels have caught the attention of those who are. A big round of thanks to these folks for selflessly sharing their knowledge with other WordPress users.Most active volunteers, nominated by more than one official moderator for recognition (for the reasons given):
alchymyth – “Overall knowledge”
apljdi – “Overall knowledge and programming skills”
t31os_ – “Programming skills”
whooami – “For her security responses” “Knows her stuff”Generally active volunteers, nominated by official moderators for recognition:
esmi, ClaytonJames, numeeja, stvwlf, buddhatrance, songdogtech, alism, alchymyth, Ipstenu, RVoodoo, jdingman, kmessinger, ArnoldGoodway, Shane G., figaro, jonimueller, blepoxp, cais, mfields, designdolphin, doc4, greenshady, mercime, mrmist, bh_WP_fan , henkholland, krembo99, jdembowski, pboosten, adiant, andrea_r, GDHosting, Gangleri.Some newcomers who’ve been getting active:
a_johnson, equalmark, WebTechGlobal, kymac.
Posted November 30, 2009 by Jane Wells.
Thank you to all those mentioned above, the list is by no means exhaustive …
