Erwin P

Computer Update Comic

Erwin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:25:18 +0000

Does this remind you of something?

Sending lots-o-Lolz the StickyComics.com way.

Rant: I Demand Full Articles on RSS Feeds!

Erwin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:15:25 +0000

For what it’s worth, I won’t subscribe to any blog or website’s RSS feed if it only shows me a summary of each article and sends me to their website to read the rest. Feeds are meant to be read in the reader, damn it! If I wanted to visit your website, I wouldn’t need my RSS reader, would I?

Send Text Messages Via Email for AT&T, Verizon, Tmobile and More

Erwin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 04:27:20 +0000

For a few years now, I have been sending Text Messages directly to mobile phones via Email. I figured this out back in 2005 when I sent an email from my cell phone to my Gmail account. Upon seeing the reply address to be mynumber@tmomail.net, I decided to email it back and see what happened. Much to my surprise, I got a text messsage! From my Email address! I felt pretty awesome, as I should.

I looked up other carriers’ email address equivalent for text messaging. I have tried it with numerous companies and it works all the time. Here’s a list of mobile phone carriers and their texting email address counterpart. This trick has many uses and comes in handy a number of times like setting up software alerts to text you at your phone.

AT&T – cellnumber@txt.att.net
Verizon – cellnumber@vtext.com
T-Mobile – cellnumber@tmomail.net
Sprint PCS – cellnumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Metro PCS – cellnumber@mymetropcs.com
Virgin Mobile – cellnumber@vmobl.com
Nextel – cellnumber@messaging.nextel.com
Boost - cellnumber@myboostmobile.com
Alltel – cellnumber@message.alltel.com
US Cellular – cellnumber@email.uscc.net

Many more carriers are available and you can find them all by doing a Google Search.

The Web For RC #2: Tweaking the Settings

Erwin — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 03:25:50 +0000

The first thing I like to do when starting a new WordPress site is go straight to the settings. Why such a boring first step? Because, if I don’t do this now, it can cause problems or more work for me later on when I start messing with the themes and plugins. So, lets go to the Settings tab on the left.

General

The General Settings are the basic settings of your site. This includes the title and tagline, your email address, timezone and other crap we don’t need to touch right now. The only things you need to change now are the tagline and set the timezone for your region. Save and skip to the Discussion tab.

Discussion

The discussion settings decide how your site interacts with other sites and with users. The settings include email notifications sent to you and who can and can’t comment. Go through these settings and change them to suit your preferences. I recommend doing a walk-through of all your settings every month or so to check they are set how you want them to be. You might find new things you didn’t know were set a certain way. No need to mess with the Media settings so go to Privacy on the left menu.

Privacy

This is the simplest of all the settings menu. You have three options that protect your website further the lower you choose. Here’s what each mean:

I would like my site to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Bing, Technorati) and archivers
Your site is Search Engine Friendly. It will be read by all who visit including Google’s index bots (the software that puts your content in Google) and other Search Engines. I strongly recommend this setting unless you want to hide your content from the Web.
I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors
This is meant for content you do not want published in Search Engines but still want visitor to see and read your website. Anyone can see your site but Search Engine Bots are told to ‘Go away!’
I would like my blog to be private, visible only to users I choose
This option will block everyone and anyone from viewing your website. The only exception is 35 users you can pick. They must be WordPress.com users and there’s a limit of 35 for the free account. This sucks. Why would you want this? Maybe for a family blog or some crap.

Save and skip over to the Sharing tab.

Sharing

This is cool because it’s easy and it helps spread the word about the stuff you publish.

Just drag some services to the… look, follow the directions on the page. Save and we’re done for this part.

Look and Feel

On the next article of the series I will talk about changing and tweaking the Theme for your site. This modifies the appearance and makes your website look unique. Read on…

It goes without saying that you can comment below if you have any questions or feedback.

The Web For RC #1: Free Web Host

Erwin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:46:17 +0000

In the first article of the series I’d like to tell you about the many, many ways you can publish your content to the web; but I can’t, so instead I’ll point out the best free web service for publishing your website. It’s my personal favorite. On another article I will cover the same examples using other services such as Webs.com, Wikispaces and so on. For now, WordPress.com is where you need to point a new browser window.

WORDPRESS.COM

I LOVE WORDPRESS. I cannot say that enough! WordPress.com is my favorite free web host. Before we get into why WordPress.com is the easiest and best free method to publish on the web, lets go over what WordPress is. WordPress started in 2003 as a free and open-source blog software. It has evolved into one of the most widely used Content-Management Software in the world. WordPress.com started offering free hosting of WordPress blogs back in 2005. Today, you can sign up for an account and host an unlimited number of WP sites. I’ll go over basic examples of setting up a simple website to be ready for publishing.

Scenario

Lets say you’re a builder of RC foamies and you’d like to document your daily (or weekly) adventures with RC airplanes. You have a YouTube account and would like to show videos within your articles and pages. Lets assume you use Twitter too and would like to implement some kind of connection between your website and Twitter account so that your followers can be updated about website changes and new videos. Maybe you’d like to interact with and receive feedback from your website visitor and have them share (or spread) your content on their social media accounts. This is all basic stuff even though it may seem like advanced features.

Step 1: Sign Up

First, lets create an account at WordPress.com, if you don’t already have one. This should be easy and I’m not going to go into details. Next will be creating a new blog. If you’re creating a new account, you will be prompted during the signup process to create your first blog – do not be fooled by the name “blog.” At first, it may seem like you’re creating nothing more than a blog, but I will take you step by step into making much more than a blog, Just follow along.

If you already have a WP account and are logged in, you can also create a new blog by using the My Blogs menu at the top of the page and Register a New Blog. I have created one just for this tutorial series. See it at rcwebsite.wordpress.com.

The Blog Address is the address where your website will be found. For my sample site it is ‘rcwebsite.’ Next add a Title to your website/blog. I used ‘Sample RC Website.’ Pick a Language, privacy setting and click Create Blog.

The Dashboard

When you’re assure that your blog address is yours, proceed to the Dashboard, the center of operations. From here you can control every aspect of your website including the way it looks, privacy options, adding and editing pages and posts, everything. Nothing about your site can be controlled outside the Dashboard. Get familiar with it as you go through this tutorial and it will be your best friend.

Now that you have created your website, feel free to mess around with the dash board. Look around and try new things. Don’t worry about breaking anything. Just don’t save anything. Next we’ll be looking at setting the Settings. That’s right; privacy, timezones, etc. It’s important so read on… (Next Article coming soon…)

Comments or Suggestions?

Give me feedback using the comments section below. I’ll be happy to explain further and use that info to update the article.

My Web Habits 10 Years Ago

Erwin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:55:06 +0000

I spend a lot of time surfing the web these days. But that’s nothing new. Ever since I got my first computer with internet access in 1999, I have been wandering around the web like a total idiot. While today I spend much of my time on YouTube, Twitter, Forums and the countless blogs I read, ten years ago the web was a totally different place and the websites I visited daily were very different from the ones I frequent today.

New Grounds

Remember New Grounds? I used to spend my days playing flash games and watching flash cartoons at New Grounds. Guess what? NG is still a thriving community as awesome as it ever was. The only difference is that today it’s a kick-ass web-standardized platform that just fucking rocks. Ten Kudos to the founders for keeping it alive and with the same mission. NewGrounds.com

Rotten.com

Aw, man, I’m kinda freaked out as I type this. I used to visit Rotten.com, a macabre photo gallery of deaths and freak accidents. It was cool to see limbs destroyed by machinery and people crushed by trucks. I was a sick 16-year-old, I know! But Rotten.com is still active but unchanged. Unlike New Grounds, it’s still a static website with no use of or care for modern web technology or standards. I guess that sets them apart from the crowd, right? Retarded. Rotten.com

College Humor

I don’t remember much time spent on CollegeHumor.com but I guess it deserves a place here because they, too have kept the website updated and it’s now run on some kind of blog-like CMS like TypePad or WordPress or maybe some custom-made CMS. Whatever still sucks as it ever did. Mildly entertaining. CollegeHumor.com

SpikyThing.com

Few will remember Spiky Thing since it was the professional portfolio for Liam O’ Donnell, a London-based Flash and Web Developer. He has had dozens of free Flash games available on his website for a decade. I remember using proxies in High School to bypass the blocked website. I spent hours in class playing Bug Hunt and other addictive games of his. Awesome. As he calls it “Flash goodness.” SpikyThing.com

LiveJournal

Whoever says they never had a LiveJournal account back in the beginning of the decade is out-right lying! It was the Facebook of the late-90s and early-21st century and the predecessor to modern-day blogs. I had many LJ accounts, including dyingtobekilled and others I can’t remember. I also had other accounts in other Journal sites like DeathJournal, Blurty, GreatestJournal and other LJ clones. I got pretty emo back then so, if I ever find those journals, I’ll be sure to make them private o.O LiveJournal.com \ DeadJournal.com \ Blurty.com \ GreatestJournal.com (deceased)

Homestead.com

Ahh, I bet that brings back memories for some of you. Do you remember NewsWithBalls? NWB was a website I created at Homestead.com. But, wait, there’s more… NWB wasn’t just a website I created, it was the first website I created. Ever. I used to write news about bands like KoRn, RHCP, SlipKnot, and others. That was later my first domain name (newswithballs.com). You can read more about NWB on the article All My Domain Names Are Belong to Me. My old website and account were deleted when Homestead switched focus to a more “serious” web host. I was never able to recover any of my articles or graphics :( that makes me really sad. Homestead.com

eBaums World

Aha! I bet you didn’t think eBaum had been around that long! Well, it used to be a crazy little site with big ideas that started getting popular on forums and eventually hit it big with funny videos and sound boards. It was awesome then as it is today. eBaumsWorld.com

There Is Much More…

That’s a small list. It has been ten years and my memory is fading. If you remember us visiting other websites, please let me know in the comments below. Unless it was one of those porn sites. I remember those clearly but omitted them for obvious reasons… I’m just kidding, of course (the wife might be reading this).

How-To: Web Publishing For RC Pilots

Erwin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:42:35 +0000

Over the past couple of years, I have seen many of my RC peers publish their own websites and blogs using various platforms. While some are very well done and regularly updated, most are… not. In this series of articles, named “The Web For RC,” I will show you how you can create and maintain a great-looking website or blog for your RC hobby; a website that is not just easy on the eyes, but easy to work with and, most importantly, user-friendly. I will discuss ways to publish great content and how to promote it all using social media.

Why am I doing this? Well, in all honesty, I have nothing material to gain from this. I simply want to share the resources I use and what I know about Web Standards, Design and Marketing because I’m sick of seeing a bunch of crappy sites around. So pull up a chair and start reading and learning a thing or two.

Godgle

Erwin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:57:51 +0000

Johnny: Have you ever Googled yourself?
Sally: Have I what?
Johnny: Have you Googled yourself; Typed your name in Google and see what you get?
Sally: What’s the hell is Google?
Johnny: You don’t know what Google is?
Sally: Nope…
Johnny: Oh, no problem; Just Google it.

All My Domain Names Are Belong to Me

Erwin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:04:51 +0000

This is just a note to self: A list of all the domain names that I have owned over the years; just in case I forget… In order in which they were registered (the best I can remember)

NewsWithBalls.com (2000) Active – Partially Sold in 2008. Buyer stopped all contact.

Started out with free registration from some company that redirected it to my NWB music news site at Homestead.com. Over the years it because just another domain name and I’ve kept it only because it was my first domain name.

weHATEerwin.com (2003 – 2009) Inactive – LOST to Reseller in December of 2009

Many of my friends will remember weHATEerwin.com as a community I created right after graduating from High School in order to share photos and stories. I had moved from Miami to Northern Florida so I needed some way to stay in touch with my friends. It was a phpBB2 with a portal, articles, videos, photo galleries, extended profiles, buddy lists, and more social-networking-style features. Eventually, around 2005 or so, everyone lost touch with it and I stopped working on it since I had moved back so I started playing with other software like WordPress and PHP Nuke. In December of 2009 I went on vacation during the renewal period and when i came back I had missed the grace period as well. A Domain Reseller owned by GoDaddy.com owns it and sells it to me for more than my pride is willing to pay for it. Fuck it.

PhotoArtists.org (2004 – 2005) Deleted – Now owned by a German or Dutch company.

This was a gift from a good friend; the owner of GreatestJournal.com. Back in 2004 through 2005 I was the Head Administrator for the GreatestJournal.com Forums when I had expressed to him my interest in creating a photographers’ community. He purchased the domain name for me and pointed me towards 1and1.com for hosting. This is what led me towards serious Web Development and Design. GreatestJournal.com has closed its doors since late 2009 :’(

SANDProductions.com (2005) Active

My parent-company for Multimedia Design and Production. Just a placeholder at the moment but I’ll do something with it eventually.

SandDesignStudios.com (2006) Active

My Web Design and Development company. It’s now powered by WordPress 3.0.

ErwinP.com (2006) Active

My personal blog. Where I write any ideas to my self or notes I may have.

DisDic.com (2006 – 2008) Deleted

Stupid idea with friends. Never really did anything at all with this domain so I got rid of it in 2008.

StupidFunScience.com (2008-2009) Deleted

Another idea that never went anywhere.

MAYDAYRC.com (2009) Active

RC Flight blog. Where I list places to fly in South Florida and share info and stories on flying my RC airplanes in and around Florida. It is powered by WordPress 3.0 and BuddyPress.

GoldCoastRCFlyers.com (2010) Active

Website for a Indoor RC Flying club in Fort Lauderdale. I own the domain name and work on the website for the club.

KEY

Active – Still active and operational
Deleted – Willingly deleted by me
Inactive – No longer owned by me because of carelessness

Removing Sidebar From Arthemia Pages

Erwin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:05:28 +0000

Since it was difficult for me to find this information, I will outline how to completely remove the sidebar from the single posts AND pages of the WordPress Arthemia theme without removing it from the index page.

Before we begin, you should know that this method will only work for removing the sidebar from BOTH: the single posts AND pages and NOT from one of those two and not the other. Step 1: go to Appearance>Editor and edit Page Template (page.php). Scroll down all the way and find the following line of code:

Replace that line with the following line of code:

Step 2: Repeat Step 1 for each of the following pages:

404 Template (404.php)
Archives (archive.php)
Page Template (page.php) (already completed in Step 1)
Search Results (search.php)
Single Post (single.php)

Step 3: edit Stylesheet (style.php). Find the following code:

#content {
width:590px;
background:#fff;
padding:10px;
font-size:1.05em;
line-height:1.75em;
float:left;
min-height:400px;
}

Change the width (line 2) to 920px.

DONE! Check your template by visiting your home page, an entry page, search results, category pages and a static page like “About.”

See this at work on my RC blog at www.MaydayRC.com!