A bit of this and a bit of that » links

Finding a local tutor in the US

owen — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:58:43 +0000

I remember going to private lessons as a kid, sitting together with other kids in someone’s house or garage and catching up. Granted, I did it because my parents wanted me to take some exams early (expecting a kid to take 12 subjects in one go is a pretty tough thing to do), and I’m grateful that this helped me space them out. I don’t think I would have got 15 O Levels if I had taken them all in one go!

I’m never actually been tutors, but I can imagine it’s a much more powerful tool as a student gets one-on-one attention. I came across a website today called Club Z Tutoring that helps students and tutors hook up for SAT Test Prep and other exams. They’re based in the US, so if you’re based there and looking for a tutor, check them out.

Welcoming Derek to the Blogosphere

owen — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:04:25 +0000

My mate Derek has started blogging, so if you’re looking for something interesting to read check out his blog. He works as a DJ here in the Isle of Man, after having moved here from South Africa; but he’s also passionate about social media and the impact it can have on business. He also produces podcasts which I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to, if you are into that sort of thing.

I met him at Third Thursday and should be meeting him in future ones (and no, I haven’t sorted out satellite network access as I said I might ..Â out of my reach!) But we’ll do one with Internet Access one of these day!

Looking closer

owen — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:17:50 +0000

Sometimes it pays to take a closer look at what you’re working on, so you can make sure that everything looks the way it should. One tool I like using is the Virtual Magnifying Glass. It’s a small tool you can download that turns the cursor into a magnifier you can move around the screen.

It works very nicely and a great way to take a closer look if you need. It’s great if you’re working on some fine detail and you just need to blow something up.

3GB Network

owen — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:49:30 +0000

Here’s a new social network you might want to try. 3gb.biz is an online community that lets you set yourself up, set up photo albums, friends and even listen to each other’s MP3s. There are loads of social networks out there, so no reason not to try this one out. Personally I’m not sure if I’ll sign up, I’m already a member of too many websites like this, but who knows, it might be right for you. Join 3gb community www.3gb.biz

Now that’s a competition!

owen — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:40:18 +0000

Sometimes I wish we would get some of the great competitions you find in the US here in the UK too. I came across one that would suit me right down to a T. It’s an interesting auction where the winner gets Internet for Life! It’s being run by an ISP called Charter who seems to have quite a large presence in the US. Anyway, you have to be in their service area to be eligable to take part, so that rules me out; I’m an ocean away!

Anyway, they’re also running another competition on the website (only for U.S. residents) where you can win a Nintendo® Wii™ bundle. That means you get a Nintendo Wii Console, Wii Stand, 5 Sports games ( Boxing, Baseball, Tennis, Golf and bowling), 1 Remote Controller, 1 Nunchuk Controller, 1 Sensor Bar, 1 Wii AC Adapter, 1 Wii AV Cable. Nothing else needed, you’re ready to start playing straight away! If that’s your kettle of fish: Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!

Hmm .. wonder if I should move to the U.S. … Actually, we do get some good competitions here in the UK, but it would be nice for more comptitions to be open to anyone around the world. After all, we do live in a global economy.

Some new websites

owen — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:00:10 +0000

I put together some new websites for friends and family over the list few weeks. I just wanted to list them here so if you’re looking for sites to explore, you might want to check them out:

The Ballet Shop Blog for Geraldine
Tony C Cutajar for my dad
Music Toad for Lenny
TAMS Ltd for Tony

You’ll notice they’re all running WordPress, but they’re all so different. I just love WordPress!

IADT – Mobile version

owen — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:30:39 +0000

*chuckle* Don’t you love it when you finish off a post, then find there were other things you wanted to add? As soon as I finished my previous post about IADT in Chicago, i noticed they had a site called http://online.academy.edu/ which offers some cool stuff for people studying there. I particularly liked MobiClass that lets you download your lessons to your mobile and watch them on the move.

I must say I have found having my course material available electronically has really helped with my MBA. I can download all my course material as PDFs and I’ve been taking my “books” wherever I go. That way I don’t have an excuse not to study. It’s ben particuarly useful while I’ve been on holiday. And I can print out sections of the book and just throw them away when I’m finished with them (or recycle them of course)

Changing hosts?

owen — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:55:14 +0000

When I was away, I had an issue of PC Pro with me and one of the articles that caught my eye regarded web hosts that offer reseller services. I was interested in this because the host I am on has had intermittent performance problems in the past and I’ve been considering upgrading to a Virtual Hosting. I would really like a dedicated box, but can’t really justify the cost. Just my luck that while I was offline, I should come across a magazine article about something I was interested in.

There are a number of sites on the web where you can search for different hosts and compare their facilities. One such site is http://www.webhostingchoice.com. It lets you specify criteria like hosting fees, diskspace required, bandwidth required etc, and returns a list of different hosts that match your criteria. The advances search lets you specify features and other things you may require. So, if you require a Windows host that supports MySQL and PHP for example, this is what you would use. It’s a quick way to come up with different alternatives and compare them, so if you’re in the market for a new host, Check it out

Get lucky

owen — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:33:02 +0000

Do you consider yourself lucky? Well, some people are luckier than other, but I think that luck is really a matter of perception. If you don’t have high expectation, that you consider yourself lucky, as most things will happen to plan. If you have high expectations, you’re bound to be disappointed at times, but it also depends on what events you tend to remember most.

I saw a website today that describes luck as: Luck is making success the most likely outcome. Sounds like a sensible statement. The site is geared around a book called “Earning Power doesn’t need luck, it needs The Radford Luck”. If you pop down to The Radford Luck Website, you can read more about the book and decide whether it can help you or not. If you like it, you can get your copy directly from Amazon. I’m not into self-help books very much, but some of you might find it useful.

Looking for a host?

owen — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:21:07 +0000

There are a number of website out there that can help you find the best place to host your website. Personally, I always keep an eye on the ones that let you host multiple websites and have a wide support of languages. Most of my sites are written in Classic ASP, but all my new work is in PHP, and I always need MySQL at the back to be able to support WordPress sites.

I came across a website today that lets you search through a number of different hosting plans, to help you come up with the one that has just the right mix of features and the best price for what you are after.They website is called Web Hosting Choice and has a great search facility to help you find the best webhost for your budget and with all the features to match your requiremensts. I must say, it’s interesting to be able to compare different things across different provides and find out how they compare against each other. Some will be stronger in some aspects than other, but there’s always the price of their service that you need to consider. If you’re looking for a new host, check them out.