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Blogging About Web Startups and Web Business

by Ryan on March 16, 2009 at 7:53 PM

For all of you bootstrappers out there, I wanted to share a fairly new blog that I think is a great resource. The blog is called The Netsetter and it is written by Collis Ta’eed. In case you haven’t heard of him, Collis started and runs a network of successful niche blogs including FreelanceSwitch.com, PSDTUTS.com, NETTUTS.com, AETUTS.com, VECTORTUTS.com, as well as several others through his startup business, Envato.

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Twitter…Is It Dead?

by Ryan on March 6, 2009 at 10:27 PM

After picking up dinner on my way home from work tonight, I came  home to my wife watching E! News. I sat down with her and began to watch. Not really paying attention, all of a sudden I heard the word “Twitter” come out of Giuliana Rancic’s mouth. I immediately started paying attention. Giuliana was talking about an interview she had just done with Julia Roberts where she accepted questions via Twitter. Initially, I thought the concept was cool. I guess I still do, however, upon learning that Giuliana and Ryan Seacrest both have Twitter accounts I couldn’t help but think…Twitter is dead.

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Improve Your Web Design and Development Skills

by Ryan on February 20, 2009 at 10:29 AM

As with most pursuits in life, to become successful at web design and development takes time and dedication. It takes time to learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, and other web technologies. It takes time to learn the principles of design and how to use software programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create beautiful, creative, and engaging designs. It takes even more time to perfect the skills you have learned and gain the valuable experience that will give you an edge in the marketplace. Luckily, the Internet is full of resources to help you in this pursuit.

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HP HDX 18t Premium Series Laptop

by Ryan on February 16, 2009 at 6:00 PM

It’s been about four and a half years since I purchased a new computer. My current system is an HP Pavilion desktop which I have actually been quite happy with. Over the course of the four plus years I’ve owned it, I have not had a single problem. The only issues I’ve had are performance-related and can be attributed to the fact that the computer is maxed out at 1.5 GBs of RAM. So, I can understand the issues as I am typically running multiple resource-draining programs such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and other web design software…not to mention iTunes to make sure I am entertained while I work.

Now that I am starting to take on more freelance work, I decided it was time to upgrade my computer. For my next system, I had several requirements. First of all, I wanted to make the move to a laptop. With freelancing and graduate school, I need to be able to take my computer with me. However, even though I decided I needed a laptop, I didn’t want to skimp on performance at all. Quite the opposite actually. I am planning to do more and more graphic and web site design work with this machine and will also do some minor video editing. Another requirement was that I needed a laptop with at least a 17 inch screen size. As mentioned above, I’ll be doing lots of design work and will need the extra screen real estate.

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Just Launched My New WordPress Theme

by Ryan on February 15, 2009 at 8:58 PM

I have had a web site for several years. The main purpose of my original web site was to promote my freelance work. A few months ago, I decided to retire my original site for a few reasons such as branding, business scope, and because I have chosen to take on a few new web projects. So, I decided I would create a new web site that would serve as my personal web presence.

About six weeks ago, I finally had time to start working on my new web site. I decided that I would use WordPress as my new web site’s content management system (CMS). I had used WordPress to manage the blog section of my old site, but had not yet used it as a full CMS.

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