Yep, two.

The first was watching my footy team St Kilda loose the AFL Grand Final . They did a valiant Job and Geelong did what was needed so congrats to them. Both teams deserve congratulations on a very well played game. Still, would have been nice for the Saints to win!

The second reason was while watching the Grand Final, Kraft unleashed their new name for their new version of Vegemite calling it iSnack 2.0 of all things, all over the tele. Crappy name for a Crappy tasting product. Leave what is good in this world well alone.  It’s all gone apple shaped and iThink they want to start calling themselves iKraft.

My buddies over at http://www.CouchPotatoCritics.com have said it all.

Where are those tissues…..

The Problem

It can seem to be an ongoing battle. Trying to remember how you did something after you realize you did work it out “once upon a time” .

So they are

1. Remembering that you already worked out a solution to a problem in the past.
2. Remembering where you can find the answer again.

So what to do!

Well first thing to do is to write out the problem and the solution. The next thing is to have a place to put this information so it can be found again. This really comes down to making the writing part a habit so that it becomes natural.

Anyway, I’m working on a few solutions to this because I Have To if I’m going to use my time wisely and profitably.

Problem:

(I’m writing my own PHP/Mysql Website Script for a Project soley using Stored Procedures as the interface between the PHP and the Database so this might sound Geeky but it’s the only way to fly to do things correctly)

Now I’ve just managed to circumvent an issue phpmyadmin has with creating Stored Procedures for MySQL. The answer is, don’t use it as it messes up permissions.

The answer.

Use a PHP Script that connects to the databae using the same database connection data the script is going to use and send the Stored Procedure SQL commands that way. Then after it’s all done – go back into Cpanel and revoke all permissions for that user. Simple huh!

Well I’d best get back to the help desk and let them know of my solution to my own problem.

Emphasis on the YOUNG as she constantly reminds me that I’m an “old fart”. Well this “old fart” is showing this young whipper snapper that he still knows a little bit more than she does.

For the moment anyway…

I’ll just publish this and she’ll nearly be amazed!

Time for Dress Ups!

Now it’s time for dress ups… or in other words – we’ll change the template and see what looks good. Obviously my “old” eyes see things differently. So let’s play a bit.

What I found in the Dress Shop.

I’m kind of fond of the really simple layouts. Graphics look great, but really you’ve come here to read the words, not look at the pictures  – right? Well I will get some eventually where it helps but in the meantime – simple is good.

Now the other reason for the “Simple” is good approach is that ( and I’ll have to check the CSS on these templates so I might be wrong ) with the advent of mobile devices – the Iphone and small netbooks etc, you don’t want to be cluttering up the screen too much with “pretties”.

Getting back to the CSS – one major advantage of CSS is it capability to render different styles depending upon the viewing device. Now I’ve not yet tested this to any extent but I certainly have when it comes to printing out some of the content of website pages ( where this is allowed of course ) loosing the graphics and letting the words have free reign on the printed page… ie Navigation isn’t a lot of use on a printout for a recipe or some breaking story…

So, not tested and the fallback is ( you should always have a fallback plan) just have a simple website to begin with.

Now I’m referring to the template called WordPreciousss . It does have friends, this is just one I’m playing with.

No template is perfect!

So that is why, knowing how to alter CSS to change the sites appearance is a good thing to know. That’s something I’ll have to continue on with over at my other blog – http://www.Advanced WordPressTutorials.com

Persistance wins…

Well I’ve had a hugely busy week at work trying to get some testers completed with two weeks to go before I’m into this Full time and then….

My Computer starts having panic attacks! Well at first my RAID1 system took a dive. One Drive wouldn’t boot. Not a problem, I have Raid1 – which means I have two Hard Drives which are a mirror of each other. So in fact they are meant to be exact copies at all times.

So if one breaks (it’s more unlikely although not impossible to have them both break at the same time ) the other drive will get you up and running…

Well as Fate would have it, when the drive stopped booting, the 2nd “Mirrored” Drive turned out to have about… Oh over a years worth of missing files. Something happened a year back unknown to me that stopped it mirroring..”Oooops”! Red Face moment!

Anyway, got a backup drive to boot from (I’m using KUBUNTU 8.04 LTS) and got to talk to the faulty drive – HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!…. So my Data wasn’t lost. Umm what happened to doing backups?

So after a bit if reading I got the “Non Booting” faulty drive up and running. Somehow the MBR got clobbered ( geek for it stopped booting) So I fixed that up and got up and running…. Then – the Video Drivers went AWOL. My Beloved Dual Screen was Kaput and my Video card wasn’t being recognised.

That was Tuesday… In the meantime, I’d come down with a mighty grand Flu/throat infection with a Fever so I was out of action for 3 days….

Come Saturday Morning and I’m trying hard to get my system back up. I eventually get it running well enough to hold my Class at InternetNicheLab and that was quite interesting with me attempting to do all the talking…

We did a bit of Database Design using DIA ( a free diagram program) and got into how to market a website and how to handle affiliates wanting to advertise on your websites. Hmm after all these years a lot of common sense came forth which I was quite delighted with. We also covered using Inkscape for performing Website Layouts, of which I had a few I had done and showed them to the group over the desktop sharing. Ahh technology, don’t you just love it…

See it does get in…. With just two weeks left before I’m doing this Fulltime and Fate wanting to throw it’s worst at me… One thing showed up and that is I am persistant! Giving up, hmm well that’s really just quitting. But taking a break and going onto something else to come back afresh on the problem. That’s just common sense and usually ends up solving the problem.

See, I got my video to work on one screen so I could at least hold my class.

After the Class, I got my dual Screen system up and running. Why it stopped… was due to a Kernal Upgrade which this time, wasn’t so smooth as usual.

Now just have to redo the Raid System and resynch it all…[Update] – All done. Both Raid Drives are up and running and synched with another drive on the side for occasional ( weekely ) backups, plus DVD backups of all my “stuff” I’ve created.

Fate tried it’s best…

Fate has tried it’s best to put a huge damper on things, but persistence must have made it decide to give me a break! If you believe in that stuff!

It’s true that great things happen when you are on the verge of everything going pear shaped.

Anyway, back to the planning, big things are afoot.

Social Marketing does Work!

Totally off topic but Sokule is going great guns. Check out my latest Sokule Page with all my affiliate links etc….I can even put up a Video and audio on it. But that’s for later on…

All the best

Tim Brownlaw

This is both a strong wakeup call for myself and hopefully for you ( if you need it).

The Realization.

This is inspired by all the Tweets and Squeaks I’m seeing about making a few dollars here and there by referring signups through various programs related to Twitter.

And I’m guilty of doing the same kind of thing. That being, putting in major effort to promote something to earn myself a few bucks One Time, to help line someone elses pocket for ever.

That equation doesn’t quite gell with me anymore.

There is something wrong with driving traffic to benefit someone else. Don’t get me wrong. To start out with it’s the only way to Fly. But for how long can you afford to continue to do it?

Long term means Long Term.

You can’t afford to keep driving traffic for others for a low gain. So it’s time to get geared up and turn things to your advantage. Long Term means Long Term. This is a business you are wanting to build. Isn’t it?

So think like you are actually running one and not, “I’ll just try this and see…..”.

You need to be more driven and focused on the Goals you want and how to get there.

So start making those plans.

Get a bit of paper and just start writing. Don’t apply any rules to what you are writing. There are no “Wrongs”. Do not “Self Judge” It’s a matter of practice and this is how to do it. Just write.

Ask questions like… If I need to do this , what do I need and what would I need to learn. Without any restrictions. Don’t catch yourself thinking, “Great, I’ll never learn that…..”

At this stage you are just exploring whats needed. The who, whats and wheres can be sorted out later.

After a few goes you’ll start to see the path through what looks like an impenetrable forest.

It’s time I went and started my plans, without restrictions and see what comes out.

Happy Planning.

It’s funny how things come up. You’ll get sick of me writing that repeatidly on this site, but it’s true!

Now I’ve got a mate that is totally in love with his Iphone. It’s so bad in fact thatwe started calling him an Iwanker.

Hmm IWankers.com was a suggested website name. Somewhere where he can go crazy about his Iphone stuff ( when he gets time. ) Just visited the site. Add to my ToDO list… Fix his Template as well.

Gee it never ends

[Update] My Son Matt just got a new Ipod Touch for his Birthday. Now these things are just like an Iphone without the Phone part. I certainly love the interface on these things. But now, it seems he’s become an iWanker

Ok, this templates Layout is stressing me out somewhat.

So the TODO is to have a play with this templates CSS. It’s something I know how to do as I’m doing it on everyone elses at the moment.

Just completed this and handed it over to my mate so he can go crazy with his newly found place on the internet.

He’s a songwriter, specializing in the music writing and he’s looking for help with the word writing bit. I’d help out but I’m not sure he’d like my crazy lyrics.

Check him out – http://www.StevieBarnes.com

I’ve got a couple of friends that have these and since I want to go mobile without having the hassle of lugging a full size laptop. So I’ve been scanning Ebay for a second hand one. More for the challange than anything else. Why Pay Full Price?

So I went for an EEE PC 701SD

So I “won” one on EBay for a nice price and it’s very nice to use and very portable. The only downside is the life of the battery on this particular model.

7 inches of screen might sound small. But in reality it’s surprising how much you can view on one of these. And they are very very clear with a wide viewing angle. Not a bad thing when you want to show someone something.

Make it go Mobile on the Net

All I need to get now is a broadband wireless modem and I can go a wondering…

Check them out on Ebay. Research the new price – they are still available and just check you don’t pay too much for one.

What a day. I’m just recovering from a minor (read possbly major but I was lucky) incident with my PC refusing to boot up. Anyway, it’s kind of running now so I could get ready for my Saturday Conference Call.

During the rush to get in, I read an email that one of the founders on the site (I’m also a founder) was about to quit due to getting a Fine from http://www.GettyImages.com for breach of copyright on the use on what he thought was a “Public Domain” image. As it was posted on a public access site. Long Story and sounds super Scammy to me…

Anyways, thats not the story here. The story lays in the fact I was trying to quickly find a smart way to convince him not to drop his bundle and leave us all. I consider him to be a very good friend and one of my best students who can take up the reigns in my absence. A job he does very very well!

So I came up with a silly idea as we were talking amongst ourselves. Why not come up with a website and show him, he just can’t go leaving for stupid reasons…Well not stupid reasons, more like the wrong ones.

Anyway, what comes to mind? I didn’t want to make this too personal so StopThemLeaving.com came to mind. Guess what? It was available. Guess what came next? The Relationship Niche is HUGE and there is an abundance of affiliate products, articles etc available. So in effect I landed upon a nice little niche all because I was wanting to show someone, he was cared about. Not just by me, but the whole team.

So I’m busy getting it setup. It also comes at a great time when I’m in a position to quickly get these kinds of sites up and running to a degree. So instead of just getting ideas, they are turning into reality.

And with that comes a whole bunch of other good stuff everyone needs. But again, that’s for another time.

Be out there, be active, get involved with others, and you’ll get inspired to do something just like this.

Which reminds me – Got to get a webcam, got to get a shabby couch and got to put a real site up on CouchPotatoCritics.com – Another crazy Idea…