1. Digital Photography School
2. Strobist
3. Phototuts+
4. Nikon USA
5. Presets Heaven
6. DIYPhotography.net
7. Str8photography

Digital Photography School is run by Darren Rowse, who is also the man behind Problogger.net. They have a very active Forum and tons of content. I would definitely recommend this one.

I realize I may not have many readers into this sort of thing, but if you’re a photo enthusiast, what are some good resources to add to this list?

Then I discovered blogging and Wordpress. I first started blogging on Blogger, then Wordpress.com, and finally replacing my website with a self-hosted version of Wordpress. At the time, the internet wasn’t as saturated with blogs and social media, and it seemed fresh and exciting. I admit it, I even blogged about blogging. I think this is the natural thing for someone to do when they have a blog for no reason. What else are you gonna blog about?

I immediately started downloading a bunch of themes and modifying them with my own color schemes and headers. It wasn’t long until I wanted to figure out how to create a theme from scratch. So, after spending a bunch of time playing around with code and reading tutorials, I learned how the different files of a basic theme work together. I released my first theme, and got quite a bit of attention for it, even though it really was nothing special. So I started putting out a new one about every week or two for a while. By this point, I was getting so many support questions, I was ready to change my name. The far majority were not problems with the themes, but questions about how to make changes….to customize them.

At that point, I decided I needed to start charging for my services. I couldn’t keep up with all the emails and questions, although I didn’t want to ignore anyone. So for a while, I took on “clients”, who wanted a custom theme. I did this for a while, but working on someone else’s website just wasn’t as interesting as making one for myself. I continued to make customizations for a fee, and still do that, occasionally. However, my interest in developing websites has become much less than it used to be.

I think for me, I’ve got to be learning something new, and although I haven’t learned everything there is to know about building websites, I learned enough to successfully build one from the ground up. Now I have interests in other things. I like tools. You know, like shop tools….wrenches, ratchets, power tools. It’s enjoyable to work on something and actually fix it. I also like photography. I’m not interested in ever becoming a pro. I’m not interested in being a portrait photographer or a wedding photographer, but I do like to take photos, and experiment with the camera, as well as post-processing. It’s just fun. And I love motorcycles. I currently own two of them. I have an antique BMW bike, which I’ve written about here before, and I have a Yamaha Virago. I just started back riding last year, after not riding for a bunch of years. Now I’m hooked on it. My dad and I ride together a lot, and are planning a trip to the mountains next month(if the weather isn’t too bad)….can’t wait.

So, I suppose the point of this post is, to let you know that when I post on this website in the future, it will not necessarily be about anything web related. It could be about anything. I don’t have a central topic, or a schedule to go by. I’m not trying to make a living here nor build my RSS readership up.

The Wordpress themes will stay for now, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll leave them on. They’re kinda outdated anyway.

If you’re still here, thanks for reading.

There were basically two complaints that seemed to come up in the comments over and over. One was the apparent discontinuation of the 150 minute phone card($15), and the other was below average customer support. As I’ve addressed previously, I can’t comment on the customer support issue, as I’ve never called. My wife and I have both been using Net 10 for about 3 years now, and not once have we had to call customer support. Maybe we’ve been lucky, maybe not. But that’s how it’s worked out. So that hasn’t been an issue for me so far.

On the other issue, I can’t see any particular reason for them discontinuing the 150 minute card. Buying a card with more minutes doesn’t make the cost for operating the phone any more expensive, you just have to buy more minutes at a time. I received an email from Net 10 the other day that revealed they now have 200 minute cards available. As previously stated, I’ve always bought 300 minutes at a time. I’ve never gone over on those minutes, so I always get 2 months service for $30.

Whether you have to deal with bad customer support at some point, or buy more minutes at a time than you would like, you have to admit that my original claim still holds true. It’s simply the best bargain around for a cellphone.

Net 10 versus Other Prepaid Plans

Most mobile service plans today offer a prepaid service option. Most of them have a catch, however, that just doesn’t exist with Net 10. Most of these companies boast 10 cents per minute(like Net 10), however they all have extra fees that add to that cost. With Net 10, 10 cents per minute means just that. No other fees, no tricks, no hooks. Here is a rundown of some of the other companies and what prepaid plans they have to offer.

AT&T Go Phone

AT&T offers a 10 cent per minute prepaid plan. With their plan, calls placed are 10 cents, plus you have to pay a toll. Each day you use your phone, you pay a fee of $1 plus 10 cents for each minute you talk. So doing the math, if you use your phone everyday, that’s $30 per month plus 10 cents for every minute you talk. I can see this getting expensive pretty quick. You also have the option of not paying the $1 per day fee, but if you go this route, the cost rises to 25 cents per minute.

T-Mobile

Like AT&T, T-Mobile also has a $1 fee for each day you use the phone, then 10 cents per minute on each call. So again, you’re looking at $30 per month if you use your phone everyday, plus the 10 cents for each minute you talk. Also, if you like to send text messages, T-Mobile will charge you 10 cents to send a text, and 5 cents to receive. Net 10, one the other hand, charges 5 cents to send or receive a text message.

Verizon Pre-Paid

With Verizon, you have several options to choose from. 1)You can pay 10 cents per minute with a 99 cent daily fee. 2)You can pay 5 cents per minute with a $1.99 daily fee….or 3)You can pay only 2 cents per minute with a $2.99 daily fee. This could get really expensive if you use your phone daily.

Thanks, but I’ll Go with Net 10

This is why I’m such a fan of Net 10. Even if I have to call their customer support at some point and become completely frustrated by it, there still is no other cellphone service that I can use as cheap. So, if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to have a cell phone, probably the cheapest way to get started would be to buy a $30 dollar phone with 300 minutes free. How can you go wrong with that? There is no service contract. If you decide you don’t want it, just stop using it. It’s that simple. I hope this Net 10 Wireless comparison has been helpful, and I hope that I’ve clearly made my point with this post.

Click here to purchase Net10 airtime: always 10 cents a minute!

Probably the most unique thing about these old BMW bikes is the appearance of the motor. They have several nicknames associated with them such as “boxer twins” and “airheads”. The 2-cylinder motor looks like a block with a cylinder head sticking out on both sides. The engine is an air-cooled engine, thus the term “airhead’. I’ve been riding it around for about a month, and it has become the subject of many conversations. I’ve had several already ask if I would be interested in selling it………not today.

In street-bike terms, the motor is of the smaller variety with a 600cc engine. Even though it’s not uncommon with the bikes of today to see engines at 1500cc’s and higher, this motorcycle has plenty of acceleration power to pass at highway speeds and run smoothly with the flow of traffic on the freeway.

I grew up riding small motorcycles, and loved them when I was a kid. I stopped riding when I got my driver’s license and started driving cars. I hadn’t been on one in years before getting this one, and had forgot just how much fun they are to ride. The only downside is, that the weather is starting to get pretty cold, so that limits how often I will ride for the next few months.

Updated picture(4/13/09):

For pictures of some more cool BMW bikes, check out the BMW Motorrad group on Flickr.

When the issue first came to my attention, there were plenty of people telling me “not to back down”, and that I “should speak to a lawyer”, etc. I realize now that I got way too caught up in this.

When I first spoke to Dave from NMM, I felt like he patronized me, and didn’t hardly give me an opportunity to speak. It made me mad. Maybe I took him wrong, maybe I didn’t. Either way, I should have left the issue alone, because in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a Wordpress theme, which honestly, are a dime a dozen.

To Dave: I’m publicly apologizing for the part I took in this. My pride is not worth trying to make you look bad. You told me what happened, and I wish I had just taken your word for it. I don’t need to examine the code to say that.

Someone left a comment that they thought I was trying to milk this for all it’s worth. I can see how it looks that way, but that’s not what I want, and I don’t want to try and get attention by making someone else look bad. So Dave, staff of NMM, and people of the blogosphere, I hope you will overlook my prideful behavior.

The theme has been heavily modified, and looks very different from the original. However, one look at the source files verifies that it is indeed built on NetWorker.

The website in question is apparently the official site of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and boasts protection under Crown Copyright.

After receiving quite a few emails, I’ve since had several journalists this morning from London email me and request comment. Before responding to any journalists, I sent an email to the company in charge of developing the website(New Media Maze) to try and work this out privately. They claim that they tested the NetWorker theme, but then rebuilt it from scratch. Although they rebuilt it from scratch, they failed to remove the credits in the CSS file that name the theme “NetWorker” or to change the theme folder which is named “NetWorker-10″(Networker version 1.0). They say this “slight oversight” would fulfill the Creative Commons license anyway. Uh…….

You can read further into this here:

• Prime Minister’s Website Breaks Copyright Law
• Has Downing Street Claimed Copyright on Stolen Code?
• 10 Downing Street Website Knock-Off and Rip-Off
• Number 10 and the Creative Commons

Unfortunately, this sort of thing is becoming way to common on the web. What I don’t get, is how can a Web Design firm (which I assume is respected) make these kinds of mistakes?…especially on a website that will have such a high profile?

For an update to this post, please read My Regrets about Copyright Dispute.

What is it that makes someone think they can visit a blog, leave a stupid, sarcastic comment, leave no website url, and think that’s gonna ride. It won’t ride here.

I’ve never made a comment policy, or even felt the need to. But lately, I’ve been getting comments from trolls, and that’s why comments automatically go into moderation for someone who’s never commented here before.

Here are a few points that outline what I think is and is not acceptable.

• First of all, I do like to get comments on the blog. I think they add life to a blog, and contribute new ideas and knowledge to the given subject.
• I retain the right to edit or delete any comment.
• Spam will be removed. Hopefully, the tools I have in place will continue to catch the far majority of automated spam, however if any slips through, it will be removed immediately.
• Rude comments, profanity, and comments that are unrelated to the post will be deleted.
• I will edit out links in comments that are unrelated to the post. Links pointing to related content are OK.
• Comments that disagree with something I say, but are written in a respectful and helpful manner are welcome. I’m always open to you teaching me something I don’t know……just don’t be a jerk about it.

That’s it, I doubt this will change anything though, because I’m sure trolls don’t read my posts anyway. They just like to stir up trouble and leave their links.

One of my most popular articles on this site, as well as one of the articles that brings in the most search engine visitors, is my How to Install Wordpress with 1and1 Hosting article. I believe the reason for this is because there are many people who’ve run into the same problem trying to get Wordpress to connect to the database on 1and1’s servers. 1and1 doesn’t like to play by the standard rules.

1and1 is not only the most well-known web host, but they’ve also served my website quite well. As my site has grown, not to mention the fact that I now have multiple websites, my needs are changing. This post is not to bash 1and1, because they have provided me with good service. But I believe Hostgator has a set-up that will better meet my needs. Read on to find out why.

Why Hostgator?

I’ve chosen to go with Hostgator for several reasons. At the top of that list, is the great reputation they’ve built for themselves. Unlike 1and1, I’ve found much more praise of Hostgator on the net than bashing. Another reason is that I found their reseller accounts very attractive. These accounts cost a little more than your run of the mill hosting plans, but I think this is the perfect set-up for someone with multiple websites. Having a different account for each site should eliminate all my sites going down if only one site were to take more than it’s share of bandwidth. Unlimited MySQL databases is also a big factor in my decision, as my 1and1 plan limited me to 50 databases. Unlimited databases will allow me to continue building BANS sites, as well as any other type of database-driven sites I want to build in the future.

Hostgator Points to Consider

• Great Reputation
• Great Customer Service
• Affordable Reseller Accounts
• Unlimited Databases
• Uses standard C Panel admin

Support

I’ve seen a lot of 1and1 bashing on the net, and apparently that is due to their “horrible customer service”, which I don’t have any experience with personally. I’ve been with 1and1 for over two years, and have never had to contact their tech support. So, that could either mean that I’ve been lucky, or that there hosting service works like it’s supposed to. As Forrest Gump would say, “that’s all I have to say ’bout that”.

My initial impression of support from Hostgator has been well beyond my expectations. They will move up to 30 websites for you from your previous web host to the Hostgator servers. I understood this to be somewhat automated between web host’s using C Panel. 1and1 has their own non-standard control panel, so I didn’t think this would apply to me. Boy, was I wrong! They manually moved close to twenty websites for me(databases included), and it didn’t cost me any extra! I’m truly impressed with the level of customer service that I’ve received so far. Great communication and great service.

The transition went really smooth. I think I may have lost a couple of new comments between the two servers during the change, so for that I apologize.