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A free WordPress blog can really cost you

Wordpress Dog“I’m just going to get a free blog from WordPress.com. I mean, why pay for something when you can get it for free?” I’ve heard this more than once, and it makes me crazy. I’m sure that sometimes people think I’m trying to get them to hire me when I explain why a free WordPress blog doesn’t always make sense. I’m not. I just like to share information, especially when I think it can keep them from major headaches later on. (I know. I ‘ve had this headache.)

When someone says they have a free blog at WordPress.com, what they mean is, they have free web hosting. WordPress.com is hosting the site for them at no charge. They are supplying both the application, (WordPress is built into the site), and the web server. Web hosting is a service that companies provide to help you keep track of and store all the files for your website. Everything on the internet needs to have a home on some computer somewhere. When you hear people talk about their web server, they are talking about the physical computer or computers that their web host uses to store all the files that make up their website.

When you sign up with a web hosting company, like Bluehost.com, then you have access to all the files that make up your blog. The guts of your website, you know, the html, css, php, and all those other crazy coded files that don’t make much sense until you need them.

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I need a website! Where do I start?

wordleNeed a website? Well it’s never been easier! One option is to hire someone to set up a site for you, have them spend a couple hours teaching you the basics, and then you are well on your way. Below are some beginning steps to ensure a great start. Continue reading I need a website! Where do I start?

Email Nirvana? Use OtherInbox!

otherinbox_logo_800Got too many emails? Who doesn’t these days. Ahem, that would be me.  I’ve been using OtherInbox for about six months and honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without it. I pride myself on being organized, almost to the OCD level, and OtherInbox has helped me save time and anguish by pre-organizing my emails, as well as drastically reducing my spam.

Joshua Baer, founder and CEO, explains OtherInbox with one simple sentence.

“It’s the e-mail account to send all that stuff that you want to get but you don’t want interrupting you during your day in your primary box.”

Last fall Joshua Baer and co-founder Mike Subelsky presented Otherinbox at TechCrunch50. After watching the presentation online, I was sold. Then I got an invite from Joshua to use the beta version. Yay! I’ve been in a state of email bliss ever since. Insert Buddhist chant here: Name Ho Renge Kyo. Continue reading Email Nirvana? Use OtherInbox!

99¢ Therapy, iFart

ifart-for-the-iphoneWe all know that laughter is therapeutic, reduces stress, strengthens your immune system, makes you live longer, increases your intelligence, etc. So I guess that makes the 99 cent iFart application an amazing value, therapeutically speaking of course.

Yesterday they came out with an update, version 1.1, which includes new features like Record-A-Fart and Fart-A-Friend! What an exciting age we live in.

I’m not a twelve year old boy, but I bought and I love iFart. I was talking on the phone with a friend about it, and I could just tell she was rolling her eyes when she said, “Uh, I don’t think I’ll be getting that.”

I just did a little sneak attack on my next door neighbor, a sweet old lady in her late eighties, and she seemed to get a kick out of it. That alone was worth the price.

Continue reading 99¢ Therapy, iFart