Charlotte held it’s first Charlotte WordCamp at the Charlotte Observer on Saturday, November 16, 2008. It was an event organized by Jason Keath to help inspire blogging and give helpful advice and tips regarding Wordpress. There were about 120 people in attendance which seemed to fill up the room with a lot of Happy Bloggers. Some people were there to network, inform, inquire or just learn. Whatever their purpose for coming, I’m sure it was achieved since the panel was set up with well informed and professional bloggers and developers. The keynote speaker was Mark Jaquith and Corey Creed spoke on the importance of Search Engine Optimization. You can view a bit of what he had to say here. There were many other wonderful speakers of which I regretfully missed their names. I’m hoping to revise this post once I get them.
I received this email in my Inbox this morning and it was Screaming to me that it was yet another scam and needed to be “Googled” before any action was taken. Read below and then click the following link to see what I found out when I “Googled”:
“Dear Barnett Websites
We received a formal application from a company who is called Meiao Co.,Ltd are applying to register “barnettwebsites” as their domain name and Internet keyword in China and also in Asia on Nov 13,2008. During our auditing procedure we find out that the alleged Meiao Co.,Ltd has no trade mark, brand nor patent even similar to that word. As authorized anti-cybersquatting organization we hereby suspect the alleged Meiao Co.,Ltd to be a domain grabber. Hence we need you confirmation for two things,
First of all, whether this alleged Meiao Co.,Ltd is your business partner or distributor in China.
Secondly, whether you are interested in registering these domains. (The alleged Meiao Co.,Ltd will be entitled to obtain a domain not needed by original trademark owner.)
If you are not in charge of this please transfer this email to appropriate dept.
This is a letter for confirmation. If the mentioned third party is your business partner or distributor in China please DO NOT reply. We will automatically confirm application from your business partner after this audit procedure.
Bst Rgs
Mark LiRegistration Commissioner
World Domainbox Information Co.,Tel: +86-10-80747734
Fax:+86-10-80747824
Email: mark@boxs.org.cn Http://www.boxs.org.cn“
Then When I “Googled” I found this website which alerted me that the above letter was indeed another scam! It helped me from worrying and spending extra money, I just hope to return the favor and help someone too. The more valid deterrants we can put out there in Cyber World the better!
I really wish people would stop trying to think of all the ways the Internet can be used for extortion!
We all could use some advice when it comes to SEO. There is always someone doing something different and better than you. If you are already doing the following steps then wonderful, how about leaving some comments about what else we should do.
Get Listed on Major and/or Many Directories: I don’t believe you can be on too many, unless of course you are paying for them and you run out of money - then, that would be too many. Below is a list of directories that I use, there are zillions out there so do some research as to what will best suit your business. If you are not a web designer, then I doubt you’ll want to use the web design directories I have listed.
Get on Board with answering blog posts and forums. It may be tiresome and time consuming, but if you do it wisely and a lot, It’ll help.
The more businesses you can get to link to you that are relevant to your business, the better. Google loves this for credibility reasons.
The source of this information is trial and error and research. I don’t claim that this will help you, but if you are not already doing this, why not give it a try and see.
TYPOGRAPHY HAS MANY COMPONENTS TO BE RESEARCHED SO PLEASE UNDERSTAND I AM JUST HITTING ON A FEW MAIN CONCERNS.
Today’s lesson is about hard returns, like when you hit the enter key. The default format gives a double space.
Formatting with single spacing gives a tighter appearance for the document as well as allowing more content on a page.
Formatting with at least 16pt spacing gives a tighter appearance than double but not as much as single spacing.
Point to be made here is this: With the amount of control we have when we use our formatting paragraph tool, we can design effectively without too many boundaries like the ones set in the early 1800’s with the original typewriters.
To apply formatting choices select your text, right click and select your paragraph symbol to make your selections which will work best with your document.
History note: “The idea behind the typewriter was to apply the concept of movable type developed by Johann Gutenberg in the invention of the printing press century to a machine for individual use. Descriptions of such mechanical writing machines date to the early eighteenth century. In 1714, a patent something like a typewriter was granted to a man named Henry Mill in England, but no example of Mills’ invention survives.” Excerpt cited from: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/typrwriter.htm
Are you working hard to get that site looking just right? Wondering to go for the Pure CSS layout or use tables because that’s what you are used to? Put a little fun into your day and watch this video by Poetic Prophet (AKA The SEO Rapper)! Bet you’ll feel like jamming.
Typography - The ARRANGEMENT of type, type design and modification of type glyphs. (characters).
As Web Designers, Graphic Artists, Writers, Publishers of Web content or Printed media all know, Typography is a deal breaker. The fashion in which your type is set can bring attention to your audience or leave them skipping over it.
The Question is, what rules apply in Typography? Do we just arrange our characters in a style that suit us as designers? I’m hoping your answering “No, there are rules we follow and some we don’t.”
Rule#1 - Double spacing after punctuation is strongly discouraged except of course for typewriting, term papers, emails and personal correspondance . I find that I don’t follow this so much but should give it more attention. Good design is effective design. Using two spaces after punctuation leaves holes and is unattractive and even distracting. A great illustration of this can be seen at About.com here.
Come back for more rules on typography or if you are in a hurry to get educated consider downloading a free E-book from Lynda.com at the following links:
I am an inactive member of The Charlotte Seo Meetup group, but today I feel more connected. I watch a recorded session that was hosted on U-stream. It was nice to get to know the members and here what they are about. Post to del.icio.us
Wikispaces lets you create simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together.
What can I use Wikispaces for?
Wikispaces is great for any kind of group website. It’s for families, classrooms, sports teams, community groups, book clubs, fan clubs, party organizers, wedding planners, and more. - take a tour
Wikispaces is great for any kind of group website. It’s for families, classrooms, sports teams, community groups, book clubs, fan clubs, party organizers, wedding planners, and more. Learn more about what Wikispaces can do - take a tour.
Keep a family scrapbook: A wikispace is a great way to build a family website that the entire family can work on. Put up family news, stories, and pictures and your family members can then update, add, and comment helping it become the place you go to for family news. Wikispaces is so easy to use, everyone can participate.
Energize your classroom: Need somewhere to work on essays together? A wikispace for a class is a great place for students to post their work so that teachers and classmates can correct, improve, and discuss their work.
Organize group activites: Got a softball team, scout group, or book club? A wikispace lets you post schedules, plans, and lists that the rest of your group can update and edit any time they like. Your group members can also be notified of changes as they happen so that they never miss out on updates.
Share your passion and learn Love wine? Or French restaurants? Or vintage Porsches? Keep track of what you’ve learnt about your latest passion in a Wikispace. By inviting others who share your interest to the space you can build a better website than you ever could alone.
