WordPress 3.0

By norm | Published: June 11, 2010

Thursday, June 17 I will be speaking at Refresh Pittsburgh on WordPress 3.0. Currently they are about to release the “RC3″ (release candidate 3) and the final version is scheduled to drop on June 14. Just in time for the meeting. Currently I’m running multiple WP 3.0 prerelease versions and at Refresh I’ll review some of the new features including; multi-site, menus, instillation, and child themes.

If you want to get familiar with 3.0 in advance visit wordpress.org codex for more info.

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Posting from iPad

By norm | Published: June 2, 2010

Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking that an iPad would be really useful. Not so much for me but rather my mother, someone who really doesn’t need a computer. She doesn’t need a full computer because all she really uses it for is email, web browsing, and probably limited word processing.

While home over the holiday weekend I watched her sit in front of a windows machine, that needs the os reinstalled, frustrated about how long it took to turn on and load the Internet. I could fix the os issue on a Mac but Ive never done that kind of maintenance on a windows machine, I digress. Sitting around there was another instance where she wanted to check the status of the next Harry Potter movies, but getting online was too much effort for such a small task.

This is when I suggested that she is the ideal candidate for an iPad. These are simple to use, great for basic web and email users, light, and frankly makes modern computing simple enough for anyone who has little computer exposure. I will also suggest one of these for grandma, who swears to be computer illiterate.

So this week I was chosen by The Art Institute to be an early adopter and stand by my thoughts regarding ease of use. Of course i want to make the most out of the device and have yet to really integrate the tablet into my life. But I can say this, lounging around with the Internet has never been better. Games are really amazing on this thing, although they are still very simple compared to psp and gameboy. The only major snag is typing, really awkward.

So this is hopefully the first of many new mobile posts via mobile wordpress.

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Keeping Connected

By norm | Published: May 25, 2010

Post I wrote for the PodCamp Pittsbugh website.

PodCamp Pittsburgh 4, Day 1 Pano-1

The PodCamp Spirit

It is that time of year again when we kick PodCamp Pittsburgh planning in to high gear. This week I’m getting a few of the logistical details in order, like the date of the event, and other Art Institute related details. To get me into the “PodCamp Spirit” I like to bring up flickr and look at the PodCamp Pittsburgh search results.

Browsing the photos always brings back great memories of why PodCamp is such a great experience; two days of idea sharing, networking and building friendships. Personally I’m inspired by the attendees and organizers who bring such an awesome energy to the event. Riding the wave of energy the event creates resonates throughout the year as I seek advice and info from twitter and other social networks.

Idea Sharing

Perhaps the most impressive aspect to PodCamp is the fact that you have people with expertise in a specific area of tech and they are willing to share their knowledge for free. I’m constantly amazed at how a few short years ago I had a very 90′s idea of how the web works, and through PodCamp I’ve developed a strong understanding of modern web practices.

Bringing this “modern web” to my day job has helped me become a linchpin in all forms of communication. From fun sites like Creation Rex to internal communication AiP Minute I’ve learned to take full advantage of WordPress and other web tools.

Where I have taken advantage of learning about web development you could easily pickup tips on recording audio and video, SEO, monetization, and marketing to name a few. Taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge from your fellow attendees and presenters is how PodCamp works.

Networking

At PCPGH3 we initiated a room called the Loungy Lounge. The idea was that we had previously used a room as the Mentor Lounge, and while great for helping people set up WordPress and Twitter accounts. It wasn’t so good for just hanging out and chatting with people. PodCamp is a natural place to meet people doing all kinds of interesting projects for work and play. When you attend PodCamp you will meet someone interesting, and naturally you should trade business cards and plan to meet for coffee in the next week. Since this is a common occoruance at PodCamp we created the Loungy Lounge for people who need time away from the presentations to talk and get to know each other.

In today’s world we know that networking is a critical way to get business done. One of the best things about PodCamp is how easy it is to meet new people and stay connected with them. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader we can follow our new friends instantly and add them to our social circles.

Building Friendship

Piggybacking on networking is friendships. Personally I’ve developed a plethora of lasting friendships from PodCamp, and we are talking people who pre 2006 didn’t know each other. These friendships are built through the social aspects of PodCamp between sessions or at the Friday and Saturday parties. They are continued through tweet-ups, causes, business and sometimes softball.

So I look forward to seeing you at PodCamp Pittsbrugh 5. Event dates will be posted soon so keep checking back.

PodCamp Pittsburgh 4, Day 1 Pano-2

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Busy Weekend

By norm | Published: May 20, 2010

I’m still working on bringing you my WordPress 3.0 Beta review. It is still running smoothly on huelsman.org and I have only run into one glitch. Updating photos on sub domain blogs has a bug but I expect it will be addressed in the final build if it hasn’t been already. I haven’t been updating the nightly builds, I’m not that hard core. Anyway I’m giving a talk about 3.0 at the next Refresh Pittsburgh so I’m kind of stalling for that reason. So if you want to hear about my experience with WP 3.0 so far mark you calendar whenever the date of the next meeting hits. I’ll post an update when it does.

Next I’m headed to Washington D.C. today for the weekend. I’m playing in a giant Magic event where I can win some money if I play well. I’ve already got three byes (for those of you who don’t know what that means ask me later). Anyway it is a good deal if you are in that community. While I’m there I’m excited to meet up with a lot of Magic bloggers and writers. There has been a great community growing and since we are all spread all over the world this is a rare chance to hang with some of them.

Finally I’ve been experimenting with Facebook and blog integration this past week. If you’ve noticed the tool bar at the bottom of the browser that is part of what I’m playing with. The tool bar is from Gigya, click the link to learn more about it. Next I play on integrating the FaceBook like button on each post. These new tools seem to be a great addition for subtle social sharing and can be really powerful for creative content. Also it is obvious that building audiences on Facebook is worthwhile. Almost half of America is on FB where as only twenty percent is on twitter. I got all these facts from Marketing Over Coffee.

See you all next week.

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Art Drinkers Anonymous

By norm | Published: May 3, 2010

Join me and others at Easy Street on May 7th for happy hour.

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What’s an RSS Feed?

By norm | Published: April 29, 2010
In the fall, post PodCamp Pittsburgh, I was feeling the urge to give back to The Art Institute and teach my coworkers about RSS, web 2.0, and Google Tools. My goal was get everyone familiar with a web page and teach them how to take advantage of RSS.
Here are my slides, I called the talk “The Modern Web.”

Modern Web

This is a Big Topic

What I learned is that this topic, especially for people who only use the internet for Facebook and email, are overwhelmed quite easily. I spoke about RSS and what it is but I think I lost everyone when I got to Google tools.
So my question is where to narrow it down. I feel the time is right for a follow up talk and I think that I could give almost the same presentation and people would relearn what we covered a few months ago. I think that my solution would be to focus on showing many examples of how to use the web. Go to a site click the RSS icon, go read all the posts in reader, repeat.
Any thoughts?
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A Few Good Bands

By norm | Published: April 29, 2010

This week I’ve been on a search to find the perfect band. Not for me, but for The Art Institute of Pittsburgh’s Summer Studio. Each  year we hold a Summer Studio that is basically like summer camp for aspiring artists. They take classes that will eventually give them a head start on their college career. Each year prior the students in different majors would work in their own groups on whatever projects the instructors came up with. This year is different. This year there is a theme, Rock the Campus.

Rock the Campus is cool because it will focus on a band, and each major will focus on creating work for the band during Summer Studio. Cool right. My job has been to find a  band full of rockstars.

Donora

I found these guys this week through a number of sources. In addition to this video hiring an @rasager look-a-like it is pretty catchy. I’m surprised I haven’t tuned in to this local band before, check them out on myspace.

The Space Pimps

The other group I found is The Space Pimps. These guys really appeal to a half a generation younger than me, but I can tell they’ve got it going on. I like their energy and pop feeling. Also, another local band.

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WordPress 3.0 Beta

By norm | Published: April 27, 2010

Last week I installed WordPress 3.o Beta on a new space for my family. We have been using a WP.com site for about two years and everything is running smoothly. I know, I know it wasn’t broke but I still decided to fix it.

The reason is my sister is going to Uganda this summer for a mission trip. When I asked if she would like her own site to share photos and news I didn’t really want to start a new host just for this summer project. Fortunately this is where twitter steps up.

Enter @FunkyDung

In between me agreeing to do a site for my sister and now, I asked twitter if anyone is using WordPress MU (multi user). I was asking for reasons completly unrelated to my family site but this is where the story really begins. FunkyDung lets me know that he has been using Mu for a few years and we set a lunch date so I can pick his brain.

Here is how I thought Mu worked; ran a “super” wordpress in the root directory, created a sub directory for each blog in the network, install many instances of wordpress in every sub directory on the network, take a T3 level networking genius with a leprechaun to make it all work. I was so wrong.

Here is how Mu (3.0 Beta) actually works; one, generally normal, install of wordpress in ideally your root directory, uses your database to seperate each blog on the network, uses wildcard DNS to execute sub domains (different than sub directories), there are no sub directories, yes even with sub domains, it took only a slight amount of googling to find a fix to the wildcard DNS which I’ll tell you about in a later post. Oh and no leprechauns only Keystone to get the puppy working.

Setting up the multi user aspect of 3.0 takes a little bit of advanced knowledge but it is quite simple. Especially if you are comfortable with your FTP client and notepad.

So Get to the Point

I’m able to run a multi user site on Tubu’s basic blog plan for $10 a year. Now I can create a site for everyone in my family where they can have their firstname.huelsman.org for free and it runs flawlessly. I suggest everyone who manages their own wordpress installation take a look at this feature. WordPress 3.0 is going to really give us the ability to start and stop projects on a whim. No more endless registering of domain names.

In a future post I’ll write about the more technical aspects of the install and the really easy fix for wildcard dns.

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Dungeon Solitaire

By norm | Published: April 26, 2010

A little while back I was contacted by @Dungeon_Sol on twitter asking me to check out their new iPhone game Dungeon Solitaire. I obliged and wrote a review about it on Casual Magic.

For those of you who don’t know Dungeon Solitaire is a digital card game where you must pit heroes and monsters against one another. The game play is very simple and you play against yourself (hence solitaire) and keep scores against other people via OpenFaint network.

Here is the Cool Part

Once Julie from Griptonite Games and I had exchanged a few emails she offered me my own custom card. In Magic you have win a national event and pray to the mana gods to get your own card, and then it might not even happen. So naturally I’m stoked at the chance. The best part is not only did I get my own card, but excellent custom artwork comes standard, check it out.

Pretty cool right. Awesome. I’m like some Gambit card wheeling magician. Naturally.

So What Does Your Card Do?

Excellent question. Except I’m not going to tell you.

Go download Dungeon Solitaire from iTunes Store. It only costs $1.99 so no big deal. My card is free to all, so once you have the game enter this code into card store: 031-062-023. Then you can experience the awesomeness that is my digital wizardry.

Anyway special thanks to Julie at Griptonite Games for being super cool and hooking me up. I hope you like the game and let me know what you think of my card.

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Book: Linchpin

By norm | Published: April 16, 2010

Recently I’ve been reading Linchpin by Seth Godin. I don’t typically read a lot of self help books, but every once and a while something good will jump out at you. I was tuned into the book when I heard an interview with Seth about the book on the Marketing Over Coffee Podcast.

What drew me most to this book is the idea of shipping. Capture an idea, pitch, execute, and ship. Always ship. Something that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about in the past. Not that I don’t get things done but really considering the finished product early in the process, and having an end game if you will. I’ve found with myself I’ll do great at moving a project along and even finding a great project to execute and then sputter and stall at the final stages.

5 Major Notes I’ve Taken While Reading

  1. Doing a job that is not your job is essential.
  2. Be an expert in your field.
  3. Seek out discomfort.
  4. Build a platform to help you ship. (build it before you need it)
  5. The act of teaching someone a lesson rarely succeeds at changing them

I’ve still got a few chapters to go but these points have stuck with me the most. I can think of a few other major themes he discusses so there is a lot more there. The book reads quickly and is broken down as though it were a series of consecutive blog posts. So it is very easy to read on the bus or when you only have a few minutes here and there.

Next

Seth does a good job of referencing his other books and good books other people have written. Next I think I’d like to read Tribes by Seth and Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. If anyone wants to swap or check out Linchpin let me know.

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