The series they’ve been doing for quite some time now is one I refer to often. It’s essentially called the “Plain English” series in my book. They do the tough job of taking difficult to understand technological words, concepts, and software and break it down into … well, plain English - a language that normal human beings (well, normal for those of us who speak English already) understand.

For starters, let’s take the idea of a Wiki. Where the heck did that word come from? Wiki. Say it a few times and instead of being frustrated, I guarantee you’ll start to laugh at yourself.

But what is a wiki anyway?

This is the perfect example of where Lee and Sashi’s Plain English series comes into play. They’ve created a video for you to explain this very thing. I’m simply going to include it here, but I highly suggest that you go and visit their site (CommonCraft.com) to get more information on other things that you can learn about in plain English besides wikis.

Enjoy

Wikis in Plain English from Project MyShare on Vimeo.

The Iran elections have changed the face of media and government control by a huge margin, and I think we’ve all understood that shift. To bring it closer to home, tonight I watched the following video - a live streaming video from @nrek that explained the hostage situation on 8th and Beech streets in downtown San Diego tonight.

Helicopters weren’t even on the scene until hours later, but we knew just about everything that was going on long before it was reported.

Here’s the video (albeit of course not as professional as a traditional journalist would produce, but still informational). Well done Enrique. Thanks for spreading the news and being on the cutting edge for those of us who watched tonight.

And without much ado, I would like to present to you a bunch of great WordPress photo gallery themes. Some cost money (usually the best ones), and some don’t. I’m not going to put the prices on here because I expect they’ll probably change over time. But, I highly recommend taking a close look at each of these photo gallery themes for WordPress. These are some of the best:

Modularity Wordpress photo gallery theme

Download

Wordpress Photo Gallery Theme - Modularity

This theme is super-slick. It flaunts a simple layout but a whack of options behind the scenes. The theme options include the following:

• Built in full-screen HD video player
• Optional homepage slideshow
• Optional homepage Mac-style image slider gallery
• Optional homepage Magazine-style post layout
• Optional homepage blog-style layout
• A theme options page where you can define background, text, link colors, contact info, site tracking code and more
• A homepage settings page where you can choose which apps show up on your homepage layout
• SEO-optimised titles and alt tags
• Four widgetized areas
• Click-down navigation for a compact, minimalist masthead
• Built-in multimedia custom field support
• Automatic thumbnail generation. No need to manage thumbnails using custom fields

Aperture - A WooTheme Photo Gallery for WordPress Photographers

Download

Aperture - A WooTheme Photo Gallery Theme for WordPress

This is a great theme by WooThemes, who does some amazing stuff. I’ve actually purchased themes from WooThemes and been very impressed with the quality, so I expect if you’re a photographer looking for some kind of Wordpress gallery, you should find a good set of options there.

BlackCanvas - A StudioPress Photographer’s WordPress Theme

Download

BlackCanvas - Wordpress for Photographers

StudioPress themes come with the following features:

• Widget-Ready
• Theme Options Page
• Ready for Advertising
• Comment Functionality
• Developed for Localization
• PSD Files Included
• Lifetime Support
• WordPress & Theme Tutorials
• Approved Designers

I’ll stop here for today, but if you like this kind of post, please say so in the comments and I’ll be happy to keep giving some great themes (whether it’s for WordPress photo galleries or perhaps other WordPress genres of themes). You name it.

Please, add your awesome Father’s Day gift ideas in the comments and I’ll probably add them to this post if I think the’re cool and/or unique enough.

The great list of Gift Ideas for your Pops on Father’s Day

Happy Father's Day! (image credit davef3138)

1. A family photo put on canvas for wall art *
2. A steak dinner, delivered to his door *
3. A gift card to a wine club for the wine drinker
4. Sightseeing tour for the adventure-seeking dad
5. Eco-friendly, recycled golf balls
6. Tailgating swing-out grill
7. A new cell phone (for free)
8. Wall art for your dad’s office
9. A mini tennis court for the driveway
10. Personalized golf balls from Schwetty Balls (not even kidding)
11. T-shirts and other stuff from Old Guys Rule
12. Other funny t-shirts
13. Laptop or travel bag for the father on the move
14. Old fashioned shaving stuff for the dad who likes it done the old fashioned way.
15. For the geeky dad, geek gadgets and gifts (Use coupon code: DEALNEWS and this link for free FedEx shipping)
16. Poker supplies for your dad’s weekly poker games
17. Make your own father’s day card, calendar, poster, or book for him (free 5×5 photo book via this link)

Honestly, I wish I had a child so I could get a few of these as presents on a day that’s 6 months away from my birthday. That would be sweet. Some of the gifts are pretty typical, but others would be an awesome gift to give your dad. Remember, it’s not too far away… might want to start looking just a little early this year, otherwise you’ll end up getting him that same ‘ol generic tie.

What other great Father’s Day gifts can you think of? What are you going to do for your dad on Father’s day?

There’s a right way to evolve your business model, and a wrong way. Every business changes throughout the company or project’s time line - especially those small ones who are still trying to find themselves and the money. But, there are a few things that in today’s culture and marketplace which have the potential to kill businesses as they evolve.

Let’s say we just start a project as a hobby. Originally, the project is different because the we’re just one person and we don’t have time to add a bunch of crazy features. We add just what it needs to be functional and work elegantly well. We release it to the world and people love it because of it’s simplicity (differentiation from all the other similar, commercialized projects out there in the market).

So, our little project gets some popularity. People talk about it. They love the simplicity. They share it with their friends. Everyone’s happy.

Then one day the popularity is overwhelming. There’s the pressure to keep revising the product to keep it fresh. There’s the bug lists, good ideas, and feature requests. People are telling us we should add this feature and that feature. So, we add a few.

Now the product has hit the masses. It’s competitive with all the other products out there in features and functionality, which spawns more talk and more users.

Now this little hobby has turned into what could be a full time job…. if we were getting paid for keeping up on everything. But we’re not. It’s just a hobby right? … But wait, what if we monetized this little project and turned it into a full time job. We could get paid to create things that people already love us for doing right now. We think about it for 10 more seconds and exclaim, “It’s a win win for everyone!” thinking if we had more time, we could make the product better. And with a better product, people would love us more. Yay!

To get to full time status, we need to earn some dollars, so what’s the easiest way to do that? Move to an advertisement supported model. Nobody would really complain because it’s still free. Then, we’ll make a “Pro” version of our product without ads and with more features. People would buy the “Pro” version and if they didn’t, we’d still get ad dollars from the free one. So we go about “upgrading” our project.

Hold on!

Now let’s just stop here. Let’s look at what we’ve done.

1. Start with a simple (different) product
2. Start with a free product (and by “free” I mean no ads too products that are “free” with ads are not really free - they take a mental expense to ignore the ads)
3. Make the product similar to other products out there by adding features (effectively removing our differentiation point)
4. Make the product ad supported (removing the “free” part)
5. Make a pro version of the product that people pay for with more features (more like other products)

See what I’m getting at here? This process is never good for the consumers. Never good for your users. They will forget your product existed and move to a different one, because what makes it different now? Nothing. The features are the same. The cost changed (in both pro and “free”).

Don’t do this.

(photo credit: pbo31)

• KUSI TV’s Good Morning San Diego
• KPBS Radio’s feature

If you know of other publications that covered the summit, let me know in the comments and I’ll move them up to the post.

Thanks.

I have a few notes on the subject as well that I’ll probably be including in future blog posts, but for now, I’ll leave you with that video. Get inspired! Leave your comments below, please.

When Nate first asked me to write a guest post for Perfect Space, I jumped at the chance, after all, the business I’m involved in is all about creating perfect relationships in all aspects of one’s life. I thought it’d be fitting to introduce my services and explain how I can help people create and maintain perfect relationships in their lives.

First, let’s step back and talk about that word - perfection.

We joke with one another all the time about our imperfections. None of us will claim to be perfect and parents, whom I work with regularly, make light of the fact that they love their children despite their imperfections. At the same time, we acknowledge that babies come into this world as perfect individuals. So what happens? What or when is that defining moment when we start to become anything less than perfect?

None of us come with operating manuals or instructions like those we receive with just about every new addition we bring into our lives. From washing machines to vitamins, there’s pretty much a set of directions on everything these days. Or warning labels!

Imagine having an operating manual for yourself, complete with instructions on what to do, and who to surround yourself with in order to run at your optimum. Now imagine having a warning label as well, knowing which types of activities and people take energy away from you. I have that operating manual and my life is no longer the same since I’ve been “validated” by those within the Y.O.U. Consulting Group (YCG).

After becoming a Level III Practitioner and applying the Knowledge of Y.O.U. (your own understanding) to my life, I can honestly say that I have finally embraced not only who I am, but what I am, the perfect individual that came into this world 30-some years ago. I know what type of activities rob me of valuable energy and I know who I need to surround myself with, both personally and professionally, in order to be at my best.

The training I’ve completed to become a practitioner  has given me a whole new outlook on life.  Now, I am able to look at others and see exactly what they are and validate and accept them completely. We are each as unique as fingerprints or snowflakes. What works for one may not, and should not, work for another.  It’s this knowledge that keeps us all moving forward on a clean and clear path towards realistic goals.

If you would like to learn more, please contact me directly for details regarding The Ultimate Life Tool, an online assessment which will provide you with your very own operating manual. YCG has worked with companies, schools, couples and individuals to help them optimize their energy, grow their business and stabilize their relationships.

I invite you to watch this video (not related to YCG) to see just what we mean by “validation.” 

Sondra Santos LaBrie is a Certified Parent Educator and founder of Happy Healthy Hip Parenting. She also writes as the San Diego Parenting Examiner. She lives in San Diego with her 5-year-old son and has a perfect relationship with those in her life. She can be found on Twitter as @hip_m0m (and she drives a Nissan Quest).

So, I’m actually being a little proactive here and shelling out both traditional and unique gift ideas. Of course, every mother is different, and each relationship is different, so you can’t expect all of these gift ideas to be pertinent to your mom. This is just a beginners list, so please add your ideas in the comments if you have some good ideas too.

To mom.. Happy Mother's Day! (image credit: wadefromoklahoma on flickr)

The list of Gift Ideas for your Mother’s Day

1. Perfume
2. A body lotion gift set
3. Unique candle gift set
4. Bath and body sprays and creams
5. Roses
6. Other types of flowers
7. Citrus spa gift basket
8. Luxury spa gift basket
9. Fresh baked goodness
10. Calming candles
11. Taste of Tuscany gift basket
12. Tea gift basket
13. Basket o’ chocolate
14. An exotic plant
15. A gourmet meal, delivered to her door *
16. A photo of your family put to canvas*
17. A gift card to a wine club *
18. A wine club subscription *
19. Bus, wine or adventure travel tour
20. Mother’s Day cruises (breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner) *

Personally, I like quite a few of these on this list. I added some Mother’s day gifts that are pretty typical, but then there’s some really unique ones for your unique mothers on there too.

What other great Mother’s Day gifts can you think of? What are you going to do for your mom on Mother’s day?