Bill talked about his new book Hamlet’s BlackBerry and offered some solutions for “re-connecting”, like taking an “Internet Sabbath”.

Bill is mentioned in the second page of the article with a link to his site, designed by moi.

www.tinyurl.com/24y39qv

The book? Yes, it’s great, get it!

William Powers is the author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry, a book about building a good life in the digital age.

This was a really fun job and it’s been exciting to see our client’s career take off like a rocket!

Pam and I created a clean crisp site for William. Of course we used WordPress! We’ve got some cool widgets and features on this site, like the auto-updating Appearances page – plug in a date for an event and it automatically goes to the “Past Appearances” section when it’s over. The Archives page (in the NEWS section)  is also a departure from the ordinary and looks

We’ve actually created TWO sites for William, the other one www.hamletsblackberry.com will go live in about a week. William will be blogging about living a more “dis-connected” life on that site. Be sure and check it out!

Another cool side to this project is that last summer I had the pleasure of creating a web site for his wife, Martha Sherrill, who is also a wonderful writer. This is a talented family!

Why???? Well, I love overkill.

No, really it’s because even if  you have your files backed up on an external hard drive (which, at the very least you should) they could still be lost due to theft, fire, flood, or just plain old crashing. And losing all your stuff sucks – big time. My computer crashed a couple of years ago – nothing dramatic, I did a “Restart” because it was running slow and…..it never came back on! Luckily, I had all my applications, files, music and photos backed up on external hard drives, so I was safe. But it could have been awful. So don’t be in a position where you are cryin’ like a baby if all your data disappears! Get backed up – NOW!

Here’s a good article on WHY backing up is important and why you need to do it. I read it on Top Ten Reviews:

Superheroes need it, police rely on it and everyone that uses a computer should use some form of it. In the world of mainframes and microchips it’s called data backup or data recovery and it can mean the difference between a slight computer setback and living through your own electronic apocalypse.

Let’s face it; our computers are a bigger part of life than ever before. We shop, work and play using computers. They’ve replaced stereos, encyclopedias, even the mailman. They’ve become journals, photo albums and canvases for our art.

But computers aren’t perfect. Files become corrupt, motherboards malfunction, CPUs call it quits taking our precious data with them.

The best defense is data backup software. Backing up data is vital for businesses; lost information can cause a major crisis or worse, lead to business failure. Individuals who don’t backup computer data run the same risk. While this may not cause financial ruin, it can certainly be frustrating and even heartbreaking.

So why do so few of us practice data backup?
Here are the common excuses:

“I’m too busy to backup my computer.” We are busy, work, family and friends fill our days and leave us little time for boring things like computer maintenance. But today’s backup software manufacturers make it easy. Through scheduled backups, your system can automatically perform a backup that fits your needs at an interval you choose—without interrupting life.

“I don’t know how to backup data.” Like preparing for a natural disaster, most of us understand how important data backup is, but don’t know where to start. A big step is deciding how you are going to store the data you backup.
One option is Removable Backup Media, but this only narrows the field a little. You could buy a million 3.5″ discs or perhaps invest in a larger-capacity external Zip drive. You could take the plunge into writeable CDs or stretch out your legs with the help of an external hard drive.

Another good data backup option is to backup to an FTP location, which allows you to backup a file, a folder or your entire hard drive to a separate location online.

“My computer won’t crash.” You’ve had your computer this long and haven’t had problems so far why worry about computer backup now? Think about it you wear your seat belt even though you don’t expect your car to crash everyday. Data backup is about protecting your data’s future, but with computers, it isn’t if you crash, it’s when you crash.

In today’s high-tech world of sneaky spyware and venomous viruses, you are in more danger of data loss than ever before. Computer viruses grew by as much as 11% during 2003 alone.*

Like tires on your car, the electronic circuits your computer rides on will eventually wear down and blow out. When this happens, you can either grieve at your loss or simply restore your data with data backup software.

So with that said, how does one choose the right backup software? There are many varieties available—some suited to a growing business and others for growing families. Some backup software is for technical experts, other packages for the technically challenged. To help you choose, check our Data Backup Software Review Homepage, where you can compare backup software features side-by-side and read reviews on top backup and recovery software.

Ritama Note: These companies have also  been recommended to me: Carbonite, CrashPlan, and BackBlaze

*References
Beauprez, Jennifer, The Denver Post: Experts fear ‘digital Pearl Harbor’. Mxlogic.com. (2003).

At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

This year that’s changed and I created the logo, ads for magazines and the program, a poster and handbills.

My client was adamant that BEER was prominently featured – apparently there was a rumor that there would not be a Beer Garden this year and they wanted to be sure and squelch that horrible gossip.

Hundreds of people participate in the 90 mile race, with thousands cheering them on, and then everyone comes to the Festival after the race and drinks…..ummmm…beer. It’s a super fun day – so go, really.

Below is a smaller version of the ad that will go in the Official Ski to Sea Program.
To see more of my print work, please click here!

1. Use the “site:” operator to limit searches to a particular site. I use this one all the time, and it’s particularly handy because many site’s built-in search tools don’t return the results you’re looking for (and some sites don’t even have a search feature). If I’m looking for WWD posts about GTD, for example, I could try this search: GTD site:webworkerdaily.com.

2. Use Google as a spelling aid. As Rob Hacker — the WWD reader I profiled last week — pointed out, entering a word into Google is a quick way to see if you have the right spelling. If it’s incorrect, Google will suggest the correct spelling instead. Additionally, if you want to get a definition of a word, you can use the “define:” operator to return definitions from various dictionaries (for example, define: parasympathetic).

3. Use Google as a calculator. Google has a built-in calculator — try entering a calculation like 110 * (654/8 + 3). Yes, your computer also has a calculator, but if you spend most of your day inside a browser, typing your calculation into the browser’s search box is quicker than firing up your calculator app.

4. Find out what time it is anywhere in the world. This one’s really handy if you want to make sure that you’re not phoning someone in the middle of the night. Just search for “time” and then the name of the city. For example, try: time San Francisco

5. Get quick currency conversions. Google can also do currency conversion, for example: 100 pounds in dollars. If you would like to convert minor currencies, be sure to be specific about the country. So, if you want to find out how many nuevos soles your dollars might buy, you could try: 100 dollars in Peruvian nuevos soles.

6. Use the OR operator. This can be useful if you’re looking at researching a topic but you’re not sure which keywords will return the information you need. It can be particularly handy in conjunction with the “site:” operator. For example, you could try this search: GTD OR “getting things done” site:webworkerdaily.com

7. Exclude specific terms with the – operator. You can narrow your searches using this operator. For example, if you’re looking for information about American Idol but don’t want anything about Simon Cowell, you could try: “american idol” -cowell

8. Search for specific document types. Google can search the web for specific types of files using the “filetype:” operator. If you’re looking for PowerPoint files about GTD, for example, you could try: GTD filetype:ppt

9. Search within numerical ranges using the .. operator. Say, for example, you want to look for information about Olympic events that took place in the 1950’s, you could use this search: Olympics 1950..1960

10. Area code lookup. Need to know where a phone number is located? Google will let you know where it is, and show you a map of the area, too. For example: 415

http://wordpress.tv/category/how-to/

WordPress.tv is Your Visual Resource for All Things WordPress!

The book is easy to understand and there is a companion CD with a video for each chapter. I’ll be giving this book to my clients as part of their “project package” and will be recommending it to everyone I know that works with WordPress

WordPress 24-Hour Trainer by George Plumley

Don’t let WordPress intimidate you. WordPress 24-Hour Trainer is a unique lesson-based book that walks you through the essential parts of WordPress. Each lesson is streamlined to teach a specific aspect of WordPress, helping you to focus on just what you need in order to get the task accomplished. If you learn better visually, this book provides you with a video to accompany each lesson.

When I got the opportunity to write a book about WordPress, I wanted to write something for the day to day users who need to quickly find an answer to common questions but at the same time be able to learn WordPress from the ground up, step by step.

Wiley’s 24-Hour Trainer series was a great vehicle for that kind of book, because they take a lesson-based approach combined with a DVD of video tutorials.

WordPress 24-Hour Trainer is a series of 38 lessons that go from installation to editing images to optimizing your site for search engines.  You can use it to start a website from scratch or to help you use a WordPress site that someone else built for you.

And when I say “website” I mean website.  This is not a book about blogging, it’s a book about WordPress as a content management system for all types of websites.

Buy it on Amazon

Visit George’s web site too – which has great video tutorials as well:
www.seehowtwo.com

Hey everyone,

I’ll be hosting a WordPress Event on March 31st with Pam Nilzon and Lori Richardson at the Book Fare Café in the mezzanine of Village Books in Fairhaven from 5 – 7 pm. You need to be a Biznik member to attend (it’s free to join!). If in the neighborhood, please come on down! If you are a Biznik member, RSVP here:

http://biznik.com/members/ritama-haaga/events/wordpress-soire

If you are not a member of Biznik and want to join, please click here to join up (upper right hand corner “Sign Up” link on the site) and then RSVP on the link above. You have to be a member to attend the event!

Below is an outline of the event:

This event will give you a broader understanding of the powerful WordPress software and how your business can benefit using it.

Learn how you can manage your own web site with the latest web-based software and gain more knowledge of the options that are available with WordPress.

WordPress has free templates and hosting and also offers a more customizable version with your own domain and email accounts. We will be covering both aspects of this wonderful program so you can see what will fit with your needs.

Ritama and Pam co-create custom WordPress sites and will be sharing their expertise and knowledge at this event. We’ll start with an overview of the program and then have a question and answer session. No question too big, too small, or too stupid.

We’ll be meeting at the delightful Book Fare Café in the mezzanine of Village Books in Fairhaven – soups, salads, sandwiches, treats, coffee & tea are on the menu.

Please visit Ritama’s web site to see some of the WordPress sites Pam & she have created: http://ritama.com

Looking forward to seeing you there!

It’s another super-fine WordPress site, á la Pam Nilzon’s magical styling techniques.

Check it out: www.clineconsultingllc.com

We thought the color combination worked really well with the metallic tones and the sepia images give a personal feel to the pages. Andrew has worked with some amazing clients and in great locations, check out his site for more info on what he does!