The Tech Buzz – PodCamp Pittsburgh 5

By norm | Published: September 2, 2010

Today Mike Sorg and I joined The Tech Buzz for the Thirsty Thursday edition. We were there to talk about upcoming PodCamp Pittsburgh 5. We covered what to expect and a little PodCamp history.

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Using WordPress for a Short Term Project

By norm | Published: August 17, 2010

Originally posted on PodCamp Pittsburgh.

In today’s world we have lots of side projects. Some are small hobbies other are business initiatives with a short shelf life. Many times when I’m in a meeting about an event or project the need for a web site arises. More often than not the best solution is a WordPress. In the past few months I’ve used WordPress to quickly manage two unique project AiP Summer Studio 2010 and Allegheny County’s Green Roof project.

Rock the Campus

This year’s theme for Summer Studio (basically a summer camp for aspiring artists) was Rock the Campus. Where we took our normal event and added local musician, Kellee Maize. We wanted the event to be more exciting for the students this year and when we started to brainstorm this concept all the pieces just came together. I knew that we were going to want to put all of this content online and we have very limited web resources at the moment.

Turning to WordPress as simple solution for uploading lots of photos and bringing in YouTube videos. I was able to manage the whole site myself and provide a great resource to everyone involved in Summer Studio. Now we have a constant connection to all the students who attended our event and will be visiting this site as they enter their senior year of high school before making final college choices.

I’m not going to deceive you, adding all of the content to the site took some effort. Capturing photos, editing, writing and organizing is not always a simple task. However I was never lacking the web tools to bring this great project to the masses.

AlleghenyGreenRoof.com

This project began when the County of Allegheny County approached The Art Institute about capturing their green roof construction. After organizing a team of students I set them up with a WordPress site, AlleghenyGreenRoof.com, to use as the document collection tool for the county.

Now that the construction on the roof is completed we have a great tool to use to educate others about the impact a green roof can have on a building and the community.

Learn About WordPress

Most of my posts leading up to PodCamp Pittsburgh 5 have been about using WordPress. It is a great tool and there are many applications for it. When you attend PodCamp this year you will see how others are using similar tools to accomplish their small and large projects. See you at PodCamp!

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More on 3.0 Enabling Network

By norm | Published: July 16, 2010

If you visit wordpress.tv you can view a bunch of great videos and tutorials for wordpress. There is tons of content there. Since I may have explained upgrading to 3.0 improperly in an earlier post I want to share this about enabling your network on 3.0.

Pretty simple.

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Mobile Camp PGH July 24

By norm | Published: July 6, 2010

If you are a mobile developer in the Pittsburgh area check out Mobile Camp PGH. This is a great opportunity to meet other mobile developers and expand your knowledge.

Below is a list of speakers and topics.

  • Alex Landefeld – Global Self Publication on the iPad
  • Ziv Baum from Zipanos – More Control – More Sharing: Privacy at the core of Location Based Services
  • Chris Bannon from ComponentOne – iPhonify Your Web – Understanding iPhone Web Development
  • Jeff McLaughlin from Mobile Intuition – From m-banking to m-payments to m-commerce. Financial Services go Mobile
  • TBD – JQuery for Mobile Phones
  • TBD – Web Design for Mobile Devices

Mobile Camp will be Saturday July, 24 at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

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Pushing your Envelope with WordPress

By norm | Published: June 30, 2010

Note: Originally Published on PodCamp Pittsburgh

Using the Modern Web

As the mainstream move to accept Web 2.0 (without being conscious of it) the tools for sharing have gotten more and more sophisticated. The lines between a website, blog, and social network are becoming blurred. Websites like Linkedin and Facebook are incorporating Twitter “like” functions. We have seen this for a long time in the realm of photo sharing and video sharing is not far behind. Sharing and creating content online is an expected aspect of “surfing” the web today.

The modern web provides us with excellent tools to create, share and build communities. From complex social networks to quick and dirty blog sites. These tools strive to giving users access to dynamic sharing with as few clicks as possible. I even have my mom using a blog, now that is progress. But my point is that sharing is now very simple and these simple sites are actually very powerful tools.

Recently I had a discussion with a colleague about using Tumblr as their main site for content. Now to be clear I don’t have anything against Tumblr, nor do I want to discourage people from using these tools. However in this situation I was surprised at how few hits the site was getting. Especially, because she is starting to attract advertisers and how often there is new content on the Tumblr.

When You Hit the Ceiling

Some Monsters Are Too Large To Fit

Flickr Photo by CarbonNYC

The more I thought about the situation the more I realized that the site probably started as a fun little hobby and has grown into a popular page. Applying basic SEO think to the situation I thought there had to be a reason the Tumblr isn’t getting more traffic. How can you maximize keywords, does creating keyword links help, naming photos, meta data, generating links to your site, etc are all questions that came to mind.

So my bigger question is when do you hit the ceiling with free web services? Even WordPress.com and Blogger have their limitations. The answer to that question ultimately lies in your goals and reason for publishing content in the first place. Perhaps your goal has changed or grown, maybe you see new potential, you are ready to monetize, or, perhaps, you are just so awesome you need more control over your content. Each site will have it’s own set of circumstances.

What WordPress.org Can Do For You

When you realize you have hit the proverbial ceiling you will know it. My content manager of choice is WordPress.org and I encourage everyone to give it a serious look. In WordPress 3.0 you have more options that ever before in how you can post, organize, and direct traffic on your site. Creating multiple blogs on one domain is a new dynamic tool that is still being realized by bloggers.

Currently I’m using WordPress 3.0 for a familiy blog where each family member can have their own site and pull content into one main feed. I’m also using it to power an online store to sell Magic: the Gathering cards. At AiP we are considering it to give the school unlimited sub domain sites for one off projects by faculty and students.

With a little tinkering, you’ll find that your basic functions are available on WordPress and then begin to realize how the sky is the limit.

PodCamp Pittsburgh 5

With that said this is why you need to come to PodCamp Pittsburgh. To learn more about what these tools can do for you. At PodCamp you will:

  • learn about how to use these tools, including WordPress
  • meet people who can help you
  • take your blog/podcast/Tumblr to the next level

Finally Not only is WordPress free, but so is PodCamp Pittsburgh! Technology is making our lives better.

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Designers Giving Back

By norm | Published: June 30, 2010

I wanted to take a minute and share a site focusing on civilian volunteer efforts in cleaning up the BP oil spill. Designers Giving Back is a site started by a few AiP grads and from what I can tell they just organized themselves to make a difference. Here is an excerpt from their about page:

Designers Giving Back is exactly what it sounds like.

Designers Giving Back is a group of friends and young designers with backgrounds in Multimedia and Industrial Design. Brian Mezzi, Charles Beal, and Erin Surrock have teamed up to tackle obstacles that they believe DESIGN can help fix. Working in conjunction with United Way of South Mississippi, DGB is venturing to the Gulf Coast from June to July to work on multiple projects from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, to getting families who are still displaced from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita back into their homes or new homes. Going down to the Gulf Coast and getting their hands dirty is their first step to understanding the potential of Design in Disaster Relief.

Make sure you check out their tumbler as well. I reached out to Charles earlier this afternoon and I’m hoping to learn more about what they are doing. Charles’s mother initially sent me a link to the website.

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WordPress 3.0 Overview at Refresh Pittsburgh

By norm | Published: June 18, 2010

Here is audio from my talk at Refresh Pittsburgh last night.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

List of links used in my presentation.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network

http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

http://codex.wordpress.org/Custom_Post_Types

SlideShare of Presentation

Wp3 refresh pgh

View more presentations from MrDirby.
update

Here is a great video on the Multi Site side of 3.0.

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WordPress 3.0 Talk

By norm | Published: June 17, 2010

Links in presentation:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network

http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

http://codex.wordpress.org/Custom_Post_Types

Official announcement http://wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/

Quick video on 3.0 from wordpress

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Special Annoucement: AiP Seal

By norm | Published: June 16, 2010

I’ve been talking a lot recently about the official seal I’m working on for The Art Institute. Truthfully, the seal has been done for close to two months and we have been waiting for the right moment to lift the curtain. So without further adieu here she is.

What you are looking at is the final rendering completed by fellow AiP alum Mike Kuzin. I’ve worked with Mike in the past and it is always a pleasure to work with other talented artists. My contribution to the seal was to gather information from the President and Deans office then define the visual elements and arrangement. In the end, my overall goal was to find a careful balance between the history of The Art Institute that captured a sense of tradition and education.

In the future I’ll publish some of my initial designs and sketches and outline the process a little more clearly. In the mean time you can visit AiP’s news blog for the official annoucement. Also below is a finished medallion that is the centerpiece of our Presidential Chain of Office, fancy.

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Happy Monday Yinz

By norm | Published: June 14, 2010

What a big week this will be, World Cup 2010, Refresh Pittsburgh Presentation, WordPress 3.0 is supposed to launch, I’m waiting eagerly to announce a major change to my Magic blogging, and Yinz Team Softball is off to it’s second week. In addition to all that excitement tomorrow we are presenting a special gift to AiP’s president that I designed. It was a grueling process but the final version turned out rather well. More on that later.

What I really want to share is a sweet taste of victory that is probably a once in a lifetime achievement for me, Yinz Team Fantasy Football. Recently my championship trophy from Yahoo came in the mail.

Let it be known that Yahoo spares no expense when it comes to fantasy football trophies and memorabilia.

Here is Mr. Football strutting his stuff looking to show up the Heisman.

And since winners only date prom queens, here is Mr. F with my hula girl. Is she growing faint in his presence? Go America!

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