Before the price increases next week, they have dropped a 10% discount code on us. Simply click on this link, StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package and then enter the discount code TEN, and you can save $79.95 off the new price.

Seeing the need (there were no good resources out there at the time), I invested a bunch of time and made a comprehensive resource of all the active 3rd Party Child Theme Developers. I initially used this resource myself as I was searching all my child theme options for a new site, or for a site upgrade. They have since launched the StudioPress Marketplace, a place for 3rd Party Developers to sell Child Themes. There are still many other developers out there creating and selling Child Themes on their own. The current total of Premium Child Themes sits somewhere in the range of 110.

Along the same lines, I saw the need to create an all-inclusive list of all the Free Child Themes that had been released. Since many developers have been so generous to put the work into a theme and then release it for free under the GPL, then creating a master list of them all is the least that I could do. There are now 43 Child Themes that have been released for Free under the GPL. All you need to make that Child Theme work is to purchase a copy of the Genesis Framework for WordPress.

I have used the Genesis Framework for over a year now on about a dozen different sites. My recommendation is based on that experience, and on the earlier negative experiences I have had with the typical “premium” themes out there. There are other good frameworks and theme authors out there, but have chosen to put my money on these guys. In addition to the team at StudioPress on their Support Forum, a great group of independent developers work to enhance the Genesis Framework through tutorials, plugins, etc. It is amazing how much you can do with the platform, and how much you can learn from the community.

New to Genesis? You may want to read their newly released Beginners Guide. Click here to download The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners (PDF – 1.4 MB)

The challenge for the typical user (of which I put myself in that camp) is that we lack the tools and understanding to really appreciate the advantages that the platform brings. As I have shared before, I exclusively use the Genesis Framework for WordPress for all the sites under my control, and I strongly encourage my friends, family, or well pretty much anyone to consider using it. The challenge with WordPress and any theme in general is that there is a fairly steep learning curve. In the case of the Genesis community, there is a great forum and tutorials all for solving specific design or function desires, but nothing (well, nothing really) has started off at the beginning, until now.

The Beginner’s Guide to Genesis

Two members of the StudioPress (Copyblogger Media) team have written the missing resource, Nick from NickTheGeek.com and Andrea from WPEbooks.com. This is what every new or prospective Genesis user should read before installing and configuring their site. Since this is a FREE (non opt-in even) eBook, I am going to stop talking now and just send you over to download it.

Click here to download The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners (PDF) 3.3 MB

Other Resources

Myself and a few other brave souls have been busy creating a few other resources for the Genesis User Community. In many ways these are the resources that I wished had existed when I started with Genesis (Feb 2011).

• When working on a site design for my wife, I realized that there were a lot of Child Theme developers out there, but were buried way down there on a Google search. So I made and curate a list of All Genesis Child Theme Developers.
• Some very generous developers have taken to releasing free Child Themes (You just need to purchase the Genesis Framework to run it on). At the time there was no unified list of all the free Child Theme options. So I made and now curate a list of All Free Genesis Child Themes.
• Developer Josh Staffer maintains a similar list of Free Themes, and have even created and released two of the Free Child Themes.
• Nick “the geek” (co-author of the Beginners Guide to Genesis) created his Child Theme Comparison Tool.

StudioPress is offering 25% OFF everything in their shop today only!

• Get the Genesis Framework for just $45.
• Wipe the entire shop clean and get the StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package.  Get Genesis plus every design they’ve made, plus every design they make in the future, and save more than $74 off the regular price and over $875 off the retail price — and that’s just the existing 43 designs! Get the Pro Plus Package for just $225
• During their Thanksgiving sale, you can get Premise Ultimate for only $95. Yes, really. Just use the code THANKS when you check out and you’ll save $70 on the best landing page software available for WordPress.

All you need to do is use the code THANKS when you check out and you’ll save 25% on anything and everything at StudioPress.com.

This deal ends promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, November 28, 2011. Hurry up and claim your new WordPress theme before the code expires!

Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

This rings true for me in a personal way. The death of our 3-week old son became an agent of change in our lives. It was an event that we had no control over and were faced with only one real choice, to move forward. A close encounter with death will reveal to you just how precious life is. Just because you think you are entitled to another day, or year, doesn’t mean you will get it.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

We realized that working and a job that I disliked, trading my time for some money, was for someone else. I didn’t want to be the person that dreaded working all week and counted the days until the weekend or the next vacation. Life is what happens when you are waiting for the next big thing to happen.

Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.

I feel that our culture is deceiving its members. We are being sold a bill of goods that is supposed to lead to happiness, but only drives you further from it. We are taught that everything is all about us; that we are entitled to whatever you can think of. We are taught that we need to keep up with the Jones’ of the world, that our value as a person is based in where we leave or what kind of car we drive; I challenge that.

Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.

You become like those that you keep company with. Which kind of voices do you want to have around you? People that can’t do something themselves will try to bring you down with them; will try to discourage you from succeeding. I quit my job to get away from those kinds of people, and minimized contact with the people in my life whose words or very being acted like a poison or toxin. I feel like I woke up from dazed or zombie like state, only to see that the bulk of the people around me are still in that state. Those that have “woken up” can quickly identify their own kind. I sought out these people in part to be encouraged, and in part to encourage them in return.

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

For all of our sakes I hope this is true. Steve Jobs epitomized this statement. I only hope (and will keep trying) to do the same. I doubt that we will see someone change the world as dramatically as he did in a long time, certainly not in the same manor. Thank you for being an agent of change, Steve.

I can think of no greater tribute than trying to leave each day with purpose; like it may be your last.

One year ago I started thinking seriously about making some major life changes. Changes that resulted in leaving the well worn path to my 8 year “career”, and on to the nebulous world of freelance/self-employment. I had never heard of, let alone used WordPress. Although I did have a solid computer background, the idea of publishing a blog or website ranked somewhere up there with black magic or pixie dust. But as life teaches us, necessity is the mother of invention, inspiration, or whatever else you need to do. And I needed to get a site up and running for myself and for my wife’s burgeoning business endeavours.

My move into the world of the Web, Social Media and WordPress has been tremendously exciting, rewarding and frustrating. I would not have learned what I have, and accomplished as much if I was on my own. Some pretty smart and very generous people have gone before and are making it easier for folks like me (and probably you) to follow along. The community improves when everyone shares more, as the saying goes

A rising tide floats all boats

Consider this the start of my contribution the community. If you are just starting out, or if any of my story resonates with you then hopefully this can help steer you clear of the mistakes I made with a good understanding of the fundamentals. While there are some very good books out there, they generally stop short of giving opinions or recommendations. That won’t be a problem for me, I will let you know what I chose, think or recommend and why. I really only endorse products that I have used and have some experience with.

1. Choosing A Blog Platform

If you are bootstrapping your own start-up business, you really don’t have much of a choice but to do most of the groundwork yourself. So after a bunch of reading and research, I settled on WordPress from all the other blog/CMS (Content Management System) platforms out there. My thought process went something like this:

• I want flexibility. I want a solution that can function as a blog and CMS and can be flexible for whatever the future holds. That ruled out a few choices.
• Free vs. paid. I didn’t mind paying for hosting and for themes. You generally get what you pay for and the free options held too many compromises and limitations for me in the long term.
• I want to be part of a large and well established community. I can’t afford to be on the sharp end of the stick when it comes to errors or software bugs or whatever. This was the big one for me, and WordPress probably has the largest and most active developer community out there.
• Lastly I wanted something easy that I could start with, but didn’t limit me as I learned more. So WordPress it was then.

2. It’s All About The Theme

So with the decision for self-hosted WordPress made it was time to pick a theme. Here is where the wheels can come off for most folks, they certainly did for me. There are tens of thousands of themes out there! So many in fact that just choosing a theme store site to browse and buy from was a challenge in itself. I ended up at ThemeForest, which still had more choice than I knew what to do with. I the “me” of today could go back to the “me” from last year I would have a few lessons to teach myself. We fell into the trap of choosing a theme for how it looked in the demo, without any regard for how it worked and how it functioned. I can’t really blame myself because I just didn’t know to ask those questions or think that way. But I do now.

So here is how it broke down. We (the mrs and I) chose a theme for her site. I worked hard for a week or so trying to hit our self-imposed deadline for launch date. And I started learning WordPress along the way. On deadline day we had a fairly nice looking site; Mission Accomplished. That lasted for 60 days before I realized that we had made a poor choice and had outgrown the design of the theme. How? I am driven by what the Japanese call Kaizen, a philosophy or practice that focus upon continuous improvement. This is was drove me to be working on continuous minor refinements of the site, and how I found all of the themes weaknesses in such a short time. Here are a few pearls of wisdom I uncovered in the process.

Theme Selection Criteria

1. You get what you pay for. Most free themes are fairly simple. If you want a blank slate then they give you that, if you want good design, support and features, keep looking.
2. Not all theme developers are created equal. This was the hardest lesson to learn, because as a “noob” I had no tools to discern the good from the bad.
3. A good theme developer is in it for the long haul and offers continued support for the theme.
4. A free theme from a well established designer is probably a lot better than a “premium theme” at some random theme store.
5. Not all themes are created equal. Some themes (most theme store themes) are designed for one purpose, the one shown in the demo. Try to introduce a different widget, plugin, feature or whatnot and it will either not work, or break the built in function.
6. If you even hesitate for a second thinking you will only ever use your site how the demo is shown, you may want to research you theme choice A LOT more!
7. A widgetized area or areas on homepage or wherever else are much more valuable than some sort of “baked-in” function, any day.
8. If you think you could end up having more than one site, you may want to research Theme Frameworks. Why spend all that time learning each unique theme, only to do it all over for the next site? If you don’t think it will happen to you, you might be surprised. I just rolled over into double digits.
9. If you read this far in the list, you may want to spend some time looking at theme frameworks. That is where I ended up.

Theme Frameworks

60 days after launching our first site I knew that I needed something better. All of my research, re-read and combined with the experience I had now gained, pointed me towards Theme Frameworks. I had read about theme before, but failed to grasp the significance of what they offered. There are three basic categories that I can see how to define the different theme frameworks.

Types of Theme Frameworks

1. Developers that use a Core Framework of code to build each of their themes. The theme itself is designed for a particular look, but most of the code and back-end function of the site is the same, theme to theme. They tend to sell their themes as memberships and you typically get access to a few, if not all of their themes. The code similarity typically allows you to change from theme to theme with minimal effort. The best examples of this approach are by companies like WooThemes and Press75. Take a look at their sites, they have some pretty good looking and functioning themes. Even the Free themes released by Press75 are pretty amazing.
2. Developers that use the theme framework as a very adaptable platform to build a site on top of. They all have a standard “look” but are able to be designed into just about anything from there. Good examples of this are Thesis by DIY Themes, Headway by Headway Themes and Standard Theme by 8Bit. A good friend of mine runs a site using Thesis, and I have worked with Standard Theme on a few co-blog projects with friends. I have never used Headway personally, but the design possibilities it offers are very intriguing.
3. Developers that use the framework as a “Parent” Theme, and have “Child” themes that are used for the look and function of the site. The best example of the Parent Theme/Child Theme setup is the Genesis Framework by StudioPress. Another example is the versatile Thesis theme as some enterprising developers have started creating “skins” for the Thesis theme to change its appearance and function.

3. So Which Themes Do I Use

Almost all of my sites run on the Genesis Framework. The reasons ended up being pretty simple and logical.

1. Genesis is licensed under the GPL, which allows me to use as many copies of it for my own sites as I please. Now that is good value!
2. When I realized that I would have more than one site active, I came to the conclusion that it just made sense to learn one Framework system really well, instead of having a fragmented system of back-end support to deal with.
3. I love the ability to change the look of a site with a change to the child theme. In some cases it takes only minutes.
4. The SEO from Genesis is just outstanding. Without having to fill in a bunch of extra fields and information, I am getting better results by just writing good content.
5. The more I use it, the more I learn what it is capable of and I don’t run into any roadblocks (like the very first theme I started with)

4. The Right Advise

I wouldn’t be anywhere without following and learning from a bunch of talented designers and developers. Because I have chosen to almost exclusively us the Genesis Framework, I obviously follow major players from StudioPress as well as as many of the independent designer/developers that make their living developing child themes or sites for clients using Genesis. They are a great bunch of people who are extremely helpful. Whether you choose Genesis or not, you should be able to find a community of people on Twitter, Google+, etc that are built up around your framework of choice.

The other great resource associated with Genesis is on the support forums. Great tutorials abound, and in most cases any question I would need to ask has already been asked and answered and just waiting for you. You need to have purchased a copy of the Genesis Framework in order to gain access to the forums.

Getting in to the world of blogging there are too many resources to follow, so you need to pick and choose. Someone like ProBlogger is a well established entity. His 31 Days To A Better Blog is a great ebook and will teach you a lot. Another place you will want to look is a site called WPCandy.com.

If you are identifying with me so far then I would like to give you a suggestion: you need to check out a guy by the name of @tentblogger (tentblogger.com). His site has become my go-to learning resource for WordPress and blog development. The reasons are fairly simple. He has a background in development, so he knows what his is talking about (he is behind ProPhotoTheme, LiveTheme, and StandardTheme). He is a genuinely likeable guy who is easy to learn from, and does a great job conveying that in his posts and videos. Lastly the sheer amount of information he has laid out in a few of his blog series is astounding. He literally does a step by step approach to launching a WordPress powered blog, taking you through all the stuff you didn’t know about to make it safe and secure and just work. And he does it in a way that is as easy to read a possible, given the subject matter. If you are looking for where to start, or want to learn more, then look no further.

Bottom line. Continually look for people that are free with the advice and follow them, they will push you to learn more.

5. For the Genesis Crowd

I spent (wasted) too much time wading through search pages on Google trying to find all of the possible options for child themes. The problem is that there are some awesome themes buried 40 or 50 pages deep in those searches. For my own purposes, like proposing a site redesign to my wife for her site, or helping friend choose a child theme, I started to make a list of all the different developers with links in Evernote (if you have never tried Evernote, do so now and thank me later). A month or two later I decided that I should make the list public, because I couldn’t be the only one hunting for all these themes. The result is a Directory of All Genesis Child Theme Developers, with links to their themes and key information (pricing, licensing, theme count, etc). Some of links in this document are affiliate links, but most are not. I wanted to include ALL options, not just the ones promoted with affiliate links.

I took the same approach in grouping together all of the Free Child Themes that various developers

In either case, you will still need to purchase and install a copy of the Genesis Framework before activating the theme of your choice. If any of this information has been helpful to you, consider clicking your way through the affiliate links provided: Purchase the Genesis Framework by StudioPress. Thanks!

6. Bringing It All Together: Summary of Recommendations

So to conclude what is possibly the longest post I have ever written let me summarize what I am saying here.

• If you are looking for an adaptable blogging platform and/or you want a customizable CMS, then look no further than self-hosted WordPress.
• For the most ready to go, out of the box theme for standard blogging, you are going to want to take a hard look at Standard Theme.
• If you have several sites to create, or like something highly styled, or you like the idea of changing things up, then take a real good look at the Genesis Framework.
• If you plan to do some sort of live/interactive event, the LIVE Theme is worth some serious consideration.
• The winners on the easy-to-use/great-SEO front, in my opinion, is the Genesis Framework, followed by Standard Theme.
• When developing your site remember: design it with the user in mind for a good browsing experience.
• If you want to see all of the the free child themes for the Genesis Framework, check out my Catalog of All Free Genesis Child Themes.
• If you want to see ALL of the possible child themes out there, check out my Directory of Genesis Child Theme Developers.

 Links Glossary:

Link to:

• Genesis Theme Framework for WordPress
• Standard Theme for WordPress
• ProPhoto Theme for WordPress
• LIVE Theme for WordPress
• Thesis Theme for WordPress 
• Headway Theme for WordPress
• WOO Themes Store
• Press75 Themes Store
• Catalog of All Free Genesis Child Themes
• Directory of Genesis Child Theme Developers

Genesis Framework for WordPress by Studiopress

Quick Summary Of Why I Use The Genesis Framework

I have moved all of my blog sites to the Genesis Theme Framework for WordPress. My first foray into the WordPress platform took me through the “standard” route of trying a free/cheap theme to get started. The problem with those themes is that they are too easily outgrown; they typically just aren’t flexible enough to handle growth. I wish I knew about it when I was first starting out.  I now not only have all my blog properties on Genesis, but I also endorse it to anyone I can. The reasons are fairly simple for me:

Reasons I Use The Genesis Theme Framework by Studiopress

1. The appearance and function of the site is controlled by the use of Child Themes (like a “skin”). This means you have a lot of choice in how your site looks and functions that can easily be changed out while the backend function of the theme stays the same. With several sites on the go this is very helpful for me, not having to learn several different theme setups.
2. It is written for optimal SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There are all kinds of extra fields to use for custom SEO titles, keywords, etc. How good is it? I have first page rankings in Google with a few of my blog posts on a site that was a few weeks old!
3. It is written to be efficient and secure. Blog security is like home or auto security. I don’t know that much about WordPress, or web security for that matter, but knowing that it is highly rated helps me sleep at night.

Genesis Child Themes

It is suggested that you use a child theme, but you can use just the Genesis Framework if you want. By using Child Themes, Genesis user get a lot of options for the look and feel of their sites. Child Themes are commonly used by novice bloggers to get the look of the theme that they like. They are also used by professional as The most prolific theme developer is Studiopress, the developers of the Genesis Theme Framework. However there are several other developers that are also making Child Themes for Genesis. Finding them is a little challenging. Take a look at my Ultimate Genesis Child Theme Resource which will show you in one place all of the Genesis Child Theme Developers and links to their sites and their themes. There is also an expanding amount of FREE child themes, that only require purchasing the Genesis Framework itself, which I have also grouped together in one place.

The other advantage of Child Themes is that you can easily change the look and feel of a site by changing to a different theme, as I did here. Themes with similar menu layouts are a snap to change over. Themes with more specific elements may take a little longer to develop.

You may also want to check out my complete catalog to all the FREE Child Themes for Genesis.

How Does It All Work?

The Framework + Child Theme concept is a little confusing to start. The Studiopress/WordPress name similarities can also be a tad confusing (Studiopress is just a company name, nothing more). Here is a (very) simple analogy that helps explain it. Think of your WordPress blog as a house. The Child Theme is all the finish details that you see, the windows, siding, interior paint and decorating. Each house is decorated to taste or to function, much like every blog. If the Child Theme is the finish and appearance, the framework could be considered the structure of the house. The framing, roof, electrical, plumbing, etc. The framework provides all the required function, but goes un noticed when done well. Just like a home, some frameworks are done MUCH better than others, as a direct function of how good the builder and designer were at their jobs.

So if the Child Theme is the how the house looks and feels, and the framework is what makes it work, what role does WordPress play in this weird little analogy? In this context, WordPress is the Municipal services (sewer, water, power), it is the building code that guides the builders & designers. It is the city engineers that plan street layout and everything else that goes into making a community. Just like different towns & cities, some are better planned and build than others. Most people regard WordPress as being one of, if not the best, planned communities for building blogs. That leaves StudioPress and its Genesis Framework as the kick-ass designer that every one wants to design their homes.

Want to find out more about the Genesis Framework, head over to their site.

The Original Look for DarrylBueckert.com (borrowing from DBueckertPhoto.com)

Normally site migration is not a trivial task. I just completed a site migration for my wife’s site, the Simply Inspired Home, from a “Premium” WordPress theme to its new home running on the Genesis Framework. Before I go any further, let me be very clear about my so-called abilities with WordPress. My first look at WordPress was December of last year (2010) when I created version 1.0 of the previously mentioned Simply Inspired Home. In March of this year (2011) I launched my own sites (darrylbueckert.com and dbueckertphoto.com), this time on the Genesis Framework. Prior to the first site I had no experience or knowledge of web hosting, html, css, php, or any other web related acronym you could throw out there. In fact I was quite intimidated by it all. Only with the benefit of hindsight can I realize how silly those fears were. There is a lot to learn, by no means have I even scratched the surface, but you can learn in layers. Peel another layer of the onion when you are ready for more, or in my case, when your day-to-day reality forces you to learn more.

So what happened between December and March? In the first go around we were looking for themes that looked nice, with little to no regard for function or expandability. Developing your own content and site is not an event, but a process. After two months I came to realize that the theme we had chosen just wasn’t capable of keeping up with the ever evolving content and plan for the site. Perhaps that is a bit harsh, really I wasn’t capable enough with php or css to make that theme do what we needed. So I started to research, the kind of work that I should have done the first time, to learn more about WordPress and the different themes available for it. After sorting through an overwhelming amount of data, a pattern or hierarchy started to emerge. There are basic themes and free themes, you typically get what you pay for. There are paid themes that offer a bit better coding and functionality (and support), and then there are elite theme developers and theme frameworks.

In an upcoming post I am going to review the top theme developers and frameworks. One of my WordPress hero’s, TentBlogger, wrote an amazing post for Smashing Magazine detailing the support networks of the major theme developers. After all that research it became very clear that these premium developers really did make a vastly superior product. So in March when I launched my own sites, I did so on the Genesis Framework. I chose it for a few key reasons that I have detailed below. I have seen each of the claims made by the product features come true or be validated in my experience.

• Claim: Code written for best possible SEO results.
• Experience: Have seen posts land in first page or #1 rank after 15 minutes of posting on a site that was a week old. In the case of the Simply Inspired Home which was more established, ALL of our keyword rankings improved dramatically. (I wish I had charted them all before the move)
• Claim: Written with the best possible security in mind.
• Experience: Hard to classify this one. It tests very well with any kind of security audit I have done, and there have been no site intrusions, but I doubt anyone that skilled would be looking this way anyhow. I will have to take the experts word on this one.
• Claim: Easily change the look and function of your site by changing the child theme.
• Experience: Well this is the purpose of this post, isn’t it? Changing this site from one Child Theme to another took only a matter of minutes. More detailed sites may take a bit longer, but is still easy enough to carry out. Moving my wife’s site took many (MANY) hours of planning and preparation, but only took a few hours to actually do. Truthfully most of the time was spent reformatting post content, not any kind of backend changes.

It took me longer to write this post, than it did to change the look of the site. Each moment and each blog I spend time with (now that they are all on Genesis) only further adds to my understanding of how to get it to do what I want. I also learn more about what it is truly capable of, which has a direct effect on what I want/expect out of a site. If it sounds like I am a Raving Fan, it is because I am. Not only do I use it for almost all of my sites (I have a few more I didn’t mention here), I urge all my friends/acquaintances to use it, especially if they plan to ask me for help.

How about you, are you happy with your WordPress theme? You may want to give Genesis a try.

So what is “Supercharging” Anyways?

The stock hard drive in a MacBook Pro is fairly fast and robust, offering a good balance between storage size, disk read/write speed, and power consumption. One could also add noise/vibration to that list since you don’t really notice the stock 5400RPM drives making any noise or vibration. Almost any device can be “modified” to improve from its native performance. Look at the aftermarket automobile industry. In the computer world this is where stores like NCIX thrive selling the newest fastest part to all the computer geek type folks out there looking for that extra edge in performance. It also marks a bit of a divide in the Mac vs PC debate since most Mac’s (with the exception of the Mac Pro) don’t really have that many parts that can be modified. The iPhone, iPad, iPod can’t really be modified at all.

So what can be modified on a MacBook Pro (or iMac for that matter) to affect performance? You can change the hard drive, the RAM, and the operating system. That may not seem like much, but you may be surprised at the results of making a change to these components.

NOTE: For those techy types whose knowledge eclipses mine, this is not written for you. It is meant more as an introduction for those with a little less knowledge, but a lot of curiosity.

Step One, The Operating System

Apple has been quite aggressive in updating its operating system. I have been using a Mac since 2007 and this summer they are projected to release their fourth major upgrade (version) of the OS. Provided your hardware is somewhat current, each OS upgrade makes your existing hardware and software run faster (in my experience). To top that off, the last upgrade from 10.5.8 (Leopard) to 10.6 (Snow Leopard) cost only $29! That was the best value upgrade I have ever done. But it doesn’t stop there. OS X 10.6 is Apple’s first fully 64-bit operating system (Windows 7, released shortly after is the first real 64-bit OS for Windows that actually works, I am not including Vista on purpose) . Without going down that rabbit hole, think of it this way. We have been using the world of 32-bit computing for a long time. All of the hardware released in the past several years is capable of performing its tasks at 64-bit, but is limited by the older operating systems that only ran at 32-bit. This is somewhat like having a nicely paved four lane highway, except all the traffic is limited to the inner lanes by traffic cones preventing the use of the outside lanes. So installing the new OS is somewhat like removing the traffic cones and getting to use the new lanes for the first time.

Except for those running on OS X 10.6 its not quite that simple. In OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), only parts of the system are automatically setup to run in 64-bit mode. Apple chose to leave all of the user applications running in 32-bit mode in case there were complications. The core of the system runs in 64-bit, just not the apps (basically). This is like turning the outside lanes into HOV lanes instead of for general traffic. So we are half way there, then. So what if you want to try you whole system at 64-bits? Keep reading.

1. Find out if your system can be booted into 64-bit mode. This will involve a little foray into geek land with system app called Terminal. Copy and paste this command (highlighted in orange) into the prompt and it will tell you if your system “EFI” is 32 bit or 64 bit.    ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi In my case it returned the answer “firmware-abi” = <”EFI64″>, so I am good to go for trying 64 bit operation. If your hardware is newer than mid 2008, give or take, you probably don’t need to check this.
2. Try booting your system into 64-bit mode by holding dow the keys “6″ and “4″ at the same time right after your system makes the chimey noise. I hold them down until I see the grey Apple on the screen. Not sure if you need to hold them that long, that’s just how I do it. The next time you boot your system it will revert to 32-bit mode unless you hold 6 & 4 down again. This allows you to test your system and apps and make sure everything works dandy before committing to a more permanent solution. In my experience doing this, I was able to notice a difference between both modes with more system intensive tasks (photo editing, for example). Do this until you are comfortable or willing to try the next step.
3. Before starting the next step make a backup of your system with Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper, just in case things get messed up.
4. Open up Terminal again and enter the following command (copy and paste):     sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture x86_64 ,this will tell your system at startup to always boot into 64-bit mode.

There, one step done and your system is already faster.

Step Two, Memory

Most systems today come standard with 4GB of RAM, which is honestly plenty for most applications. The current limit for a MacBook Pro is 8GB. You will want to think about increasing the amount of memory in your system for two main reasons.

1. You use system demanding apps on a regular basis such as Aperture/Lightroom/Photoshop, video processing/converting apps, or gaming apps (not meant to be an exhaustive list). These kinds of apps will use every resource at their disposal, especially RAM. In this case more is GOOD. If you browse the web, write Pages documents, etc. you probably stopped reading this a while ago don’t need to think about this unless…
2. You use a system that is a few years old. If you do you may really want to max out the amount of RAM in your system. The maximum is most likely 2GB or 4GB in that case. Increasing the amount of system memory to its maximum will have  an impact on performance, even in a web browser.

Swapping out or upgrading system memory is actually quite easy on a Mac. If you are unsure check out the awesome guides at iFixit.com, or ask one of your geeky friends (I somewhat unfortunately fall in that category for a growing amount of friends/family….). Your system is cruising now, ready for the big one!

Step Three: The Hard Drive

The processor and memory in your computer do an unfathomable amount of math calculations every second. Each new system does it exponentially faster than its predecessor. So what is holding things up? The answer lies with your hard drive. Traditional mobile hard drives run in speeds from 4200RPM to 5400RPM to 7200RPM. In a simple sense, the faster the speed, the faster it can read and write data. In testing one of my hard drives I found its read/write speed to be in the range of 65MB/s (a 7200RPM drive). Which is not too bad, but leaves a lot of room for improvements. What is changing the computer world right now is a new kind of drive call a Solid State Drive, or SSD for short. I tested the SSD that I am using in the 265MB/s range for read/write. Now that is the kind of performance increase I am talking about!!

Making the best use of a conventional hard drive:

1. Consider changing from your (most likely) 5400RPM drive to a 7200RPM drive. This will give you a small edge in performance. The downsides include the potential for more vibration/noise than what you are replacing.
2. Consider changing to the Seagate Momentus XT. It has 4GB of SSD memory and a conventional spinning hard drive. It uses its own internal software to recognize commonly used files and loads them onto the SSD portion. The result after it “learns” your system is very noticeable. I have installed one of these drives in my wife’s MacBook, thanks to a generous donation from my friend @humandoing. The result was dramatic! The system startup and app startup times are quite fast. For a 3 year old laptop it really motors!

If you are still reading, then you may be brave enough to try converting to SSD. If you need more convincing look no further than the new MacBook Air. It doesn’t have an internal hard drive in favour of an SSD. I have seen videos of those little machines running Photoshop without flinching. Considering that the processor, graphics processor and entire system is designed for power efficiency, not raw processing power, the end result speaks volumes about the benefits of Solid State Memory. Now here is where things get interesting. I have a 500GB drive in my stock laptop. To buy the same size in an SSD would cost THOUSANDS of dollars. Not an option for right now. Eventually these prices will come down. That means that a compromise has to be made somewhere.

1. Keep system the same. Benefit: I get to keep 500GB of storage. Drawback: Slower. Want more speed.
2. Remove 500GB drive and replace with SSD I can afford. Benefit: I get SSD speed and some storage. Drawback: I will have to leave a lot of files at home, or have to access them via a slower interface (USB, Firewire).
3. Remove DVD Drive and replace with existing 500GB drive. Benefit: SSD can be smaller=cheaper since it only needs to hold the OS and apps AND I still get 500GB of onboard file storage. Drawback: Lose the ability to use internal DVD drive. DVD drive can still be accessed as a peripheral device.

After some thought I chose option 3. Other than installing the odd piece of software from a DVD, I rarely use it. In my case it was  good trade-off. Look again at the MacBook Air. It does not come with a DVD drive at all. In my case I do not miss it at all. If I really want to use it I can access it as an external device. I think a lot of people are expecting Apple to do this when they redesign the MacBook Pro lineup sometime in the spring of 2012. Apple has a history of early adoption of technology (Thunderbolt, USB, SSD), and for cutting support to technologies before the general population really wants (5.25″ & 3.5″ Floppy drives).

SSD Conversion Options

Your really get a good/better/best options when considering this kind of upgrade. Here is the summary:

1. Good: Make your own interface cable and mount it in place using bubble gum tape and tension. This solution comes by way of some true geekery and splicing of wires and some electrical tape. You need enough of a skill level with wiring, but the end goal is to get the SATA plug on the back of the hard drive to attach to the port where the DVD plugged in. The extra wire keeps the HD “secure” when the bottom case is put back on. This solution gets the job done, but isn’t pretty. Benefit: VERY inexpensive. Drawback: Requires some knowledge of wiring, requires tension for wires and some faith/luck that it will stay in place.
2. Better: Buy a DVD drive shaped caddy with built in SATA connectors and spot for HD to slot in (example). Buy an external DVD enclosure for later use via USB connection (example). Benefit: Fairly low cost option. Installs well and easily. Drawback: Confusing to find in the first place. I honestly wouldn’t have even known where to look before I knew more about this kind of mod. Without some knowledge or experience you are left guessing and ordering parts online.
3. Best: MCE Optibay. MCE Tech offers a complete system (link), and a helpful site to choose the correct parts for your project. They also include a piece of software that allows the external drive to play DVD (movies) properly. Without it your system does not recognize the DVD. Very easy to install, less than 10 minutes total. Benefits: Complete package, easy install. Drawbacks: Most expensive option, doesn’t ship with a bezel for the front of the external DVD drive (what’s that about?).

For my system I chose the MCE Optibay system. I ended up doing it the same time as my friend @humandoing, so we saved a bit on shipping by ordering two. If I were to do it a second time, I would go with option #2, since I know enough about the process to browse through computer parts sites and find what I need. I am glad I did choose the Optibay to start with, because other choices were just to daunting at the time. Now I look back and am calling myself a wuss, but whatever.

The result? 64-bit OS X Snow Leopard, CHECK! 8GB of system Memory, CHECK! 100GB SSD (named Lightning) and a 500GB 7200RPM second drive, CHECK! Does this list of upgrades improve processing speeds for image editing, you bet. Did it help me write this post any faster….nope.

So then I started thinking about what I am trying to say with my sites. I first started out with DarrylBueckert.com and was going to do everything through it, photography, gear reviews, wordpress tutorials, life experiences, the works. Decision #1 was to split that in half, with photography alone getting moved to the DBueckertPhoto.com and the remaining content staying here. I also added a second Twitter profile @darrylbueckert in addition to my first one @dbueckertphoto, to fully separate the two and create two “personas”. Right now I figure if you are reading my stuff here about WordPress, or Apple, or my life experiences, but aren’t totally interested in one of those topics, it is easy enough to skip past it. Whereas with photography, I decided that it needed to be totally focused on just that. In the future if this site starts to diverge enough, I may start to split off the content into other streams. For the foreseeable future, it will stay put here.

Decision #2 was to create some sort of landing page to make it easy for someone following one of my sites/persona’s to find the other(s). If you are interested enough, or like my stuff enough then you may be interested in the other projects I am involved in. I know this is the case with several personalities that I follow. They are interesting enough or I am interested enough in the other topics that they talk about. So that led to the birth of the landing page site, darrylbueckert.net. I plan to personalize this site a little more over time, but for now it serves the purpose for me to show all the sites that I run or contribute to. It is also very easy to add other sites to this now that it is set up. With two sites of my own(darrylbueckert.com and dbueckertphoto.com), a partnership with my wife Jodi (thesimplyinspiredhom.com) on her/our site. We are working on a re-design of that site as we speak which should be pretty sweet. I also will be co-writing a few blogs that are currently in development that some of you may find interesting. This landing page should make it easier to keep it all straight.

Everyone with more than one site just needs a landing page

I thought I was done there, but then I found a really interesting theme that I thought would round out my quiver of websites quite nicely. DarrylBueckert.info is a site that’s sole purpose is to aggregate the RSS feeds from other sites. In my case it currently grabs the RSS feeds from the three main sites that I have already discussed. As new sites are created or if I start writing for other sites I will add their RSS feeds here too. This makes it easy to follow me, especially if you don’t use an RSS reader or use RSS feeds in general. This was a fun little site to put together and should grow with me, for now. All told it probably took me about an hour and a half to go from concept to completion on this one. Two reasons for that, one was a good theme (very important starting point ), and I had spent the week creating the dbphoto site, the landing page site, and the development environment for the NEW simply inspired home site (should be finished in 2 weeks or so), so I was in the “zone” to create another one.

If you have more than one site, why not show off your RSS feeds?

Take a look through these sites and let me know what you think.
DarrylBueckert.net Landing Page
DarrylBueckert.info RSS Feed Aggregator

I didn’t make this decision lighting; far from it. The idea of maintaining two sites (in addition to the other projects that I work on, like SimplyInspiredHome.com), their respective Twitter accounts and Facebook Fanpages, etc, made me really weigh this one out. In the end I decided that I have enough to talk about, and that those interested in reading over here may not be as into reading about all my adventures in photography. For those that do there will be more subtle linking back and forth so you can stay up to date. I am actually making a third site that does just that; it shows a snapshot of what is happening on all of my various sites.

I am excited about this change as it allows me to indulge in my multiplicitious (yes I just made up that word) personality, since I can switch between them easier than you as a reader could. If you are interested in finding out what makes me tick, then stay tuned.

Thanks!