Sorry, I’m running a little late on my links post today. I have to say thanks to Phil for inspiring me on what category to use for these links.

Checklist for Setting up WordPress - Phil has been building Wordpress sites like crazy for quite awhile now, and lucky for us, he’s distilled his knowledge into a checklist. Great list Phil, Thanks!

A Rule of Thumb for Categories - Here’s another Gem from Phil. On  our Drupal site, I’ve had to create categories by hand, which makes for far fewer categories then what you see in most WordPress blogs. Phil shares his rule of thumb on categories, and why it’s his rule.

WordPress: The complete post install checklist - Like they say about checklists, you can’t have just one. Well, maybe that’s chips or something, but you get my point. Might as well have a couple of check lists, it always helps to have another’s perspective.

9 Easy Ways to Secure your WordPress Blog - This time, a list about security. This list tells you how to lock it down a little more.

3 WordPress Security Tips I learnt from Matt Cutts - Well, I didn’t learn them from him, but the author of this article did, and I learned them from him. Knowledge transfer in action!

Posted in How To, Interesting, Internet, LinkLove, WordPress 2 Comments »

In this round of links, I tried to pick a batch that would have something for almost everyone. Enjoy!

Blender 3D - Noob to Pro - Blender is a free, and powerful, 3D modeling program. Just like the programs used to make animated movies like Shrek and the like. It has a bit of a learning curve, and this Wikibook can help you get started.

The Drupal Cookbook - For Beginners - Sure, you love WordPress, and who doesn’t, but if you’re going to launch a media empire that one day will rule the world, then you’re going to need a content management system. Drupal is very powerful, and like Peter Parker’s uncle said, "With great power comes great complication", or something like that. Fact is, Drupal isn’t quite as straight forward as WordPress, but this guide can help. Yes, Two Guys Tech is Drupal.

Zombies in Plain English - I know, there was awhile there where I was posting about Zombies pretty often, heck, I even think I’ve covered this one too. I still thought it should be in here. You never know when the Zombie Apocalypse may start…

How to Install and Configure NMap for Windows - You read that right. NMap for Windows. The long time favorite network mapping and network exploration tool for Unix and Linux, NMap is now available for Windows. Did you want to see what hosts are on your network, or what services those hosts are running? How about what OS? NMap is the tool. This Search Security Article can help you get up and running with NMap.

Gimp Resources on Simplehelp.Net - Simplehelp.net is really a great site for tutorials, and I know Ross puts a great deal of effort into creating them. Here is a collection of resources for Gimp, the Open Source, Free, image manipulation program. Hey, go ahead and spend a big chunk on photoshop if you want to, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

I haven’t actually used photoshop much, but my needs are pretty simple. Gimp has always been able to meet my needs, and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what it can do.

Money Magazine - What it takes to be Rich - A series of stories about people who have become very well off. How they did it, and what you can learn from it. If you do follow the link, and use the strategy to become rich, remember who sent you there. I wouldn’t turn down a finder’s fee

Posted in How To, LinkLove No Comments »

I’ve pretty much always planned on doing a weekly post with some interesting sites that I’ve run across.

With that intent, I have been marking sites that I bookmark with a "@ThisWeek" tag, so that I could come back at the end of the week and pick the best ones for a post.

As you can probably guess, I haven’t been doing this, so now I have just over 200 bookmarks tagged like this.

I figured that I could start going through them, and post the good stuff. So, here goes:

What’s life really like at Google? This post is pretty old, but I thought it was a really good read. It’s supposed to be based on feedback from an employee who used to work for Microsoft, who then left to startup his own company, and then worked for Google. Basically, some comparisons between the environments at Microsoft and Google.

I thought it was really interesting how college grads can step into the company, and have all of their needs met. Food, cell phone, clothes, and other stuff. Get them all wrapped up in the Google universe, that leaving the company gets too complicated. Kind of Borg like, but hey, who am I to judge?

100 Blogs We Love - Not yet a year old, but still good reading. PCWorld did a list of 100 Blogs that they like. There is a short description about each, and near the bottom of the article, you can choose the category that you are interested in.

You may be surprised to see that Port 16 isn’t in the list. I didn’t start this blog until July of 2007, so it isn’t an oversight on their part. I’m sure if they do one in 2008, Port 16 will be on there, maybe even Two Guys Tech will get a mention.

Hackszine - The title should give it away, but this is a blog / online magazine about hacks. Not always the traditional software and security hacks, they also have some neat things like how to sharpen scissors with aluminum foil, how to beat jet lag, and how to make custom fonts. Some great reading.

Printfection - Just about everyone in the free world knows about Cafe Press, where you can put your logos on merchandise that they make, on demand, and you make a little money on each sale, depending on what you price your merchandise for. This is the same thing, except that it looks like you can create a little more customization on the products. You can use this site to inspire get rich quick schemes revolving around your own product line.

The Mattress Police - Not as perverted as you might (or I might) think at first. The reference is to the police who arrest people who have torn off the tags on their mattresses. Either way, they have some funny shirts. This is kind of cheating, since they use Printfection (see above) for their store.

Posted in Distractions, LinkLove No Comments »

Aside from the witty banter on Kellymentology, Kellypea also has a terrific food site called Sass and Veracity, I mean really terrific. I don’t even want to talk about the thoughts that ran through my head when I saw her post about pancakes.

Well, FoodBuzz is having a competition, and Kellypea is in it. I really encourage you to go over and check out Sass and Veractity, and also to vote using the button at the top right of her blog.

Good Luck Kellypea!

Posted in Cooking, LinkLove 2 Comments »

Scott over at My Thermos tagged me with a dual theme Meme. The Memes were combined by Kelly, and were “Three Things I Wouldn’t Let Go“, and “Our Players Don’t Lie“. Wow, that’s a whole bunch of links for 2 sentences. Scott’s title was the best though, “Of Mice and Meme“.

It is kind of interesting that I was tagged with two meme’s simultaneously, and then the next day, Phil tagged me with the playlist Meme. I’ll come up with something new for your tag Phil.

Meme #1 - Three Things that I couldn’t get through the day without

I’m going to stay away from the obvious choices, my family, oxygen. food. Scott used a Music Theme, so I figured I should go with a theme as well. I chose three things that I use literally every single day, and on the rare occasion that I forgot them, I feel completely lost.

As a side note, after I came up with the list, and made the post, I realized that each of these were given to me by my wife. That’s got to say something about her mad gift giving skills. Thanks babe!

1. My LeatherMan - If you know me, I bet this was the first thing you thought of.

There aren’t many things that I think of which are as all around useful as a knife. I’ve had a knife on me constantly since about the age of 11, of course back then it was usually a Swiss army knife. There are just so many things that I run across on a day to day basis that need to be cut.

About 14 years ago I was issued a LeatherMan, which is what most people think of when they think of a Personal Survival Tool (PST), you unfold it for pliers, and it contains all sorts of blades for various purposes. Being a Networking guy, it became my entire tool box.

When I grew tired of blades folding in on my fingers, I bought the LeatherMan Supertool. It was a little larger, had some additional tools, and all of the blades locked. It was terrific.

About a year ago, my wife bought me my current LeatherMan, pictured above, which is basically a wonderful knife with a screwdriver bit holder. There are 2 additional bits in the handle, and a carabineer / bottle opener. I still carry my Supertool in my backpack, you never know when you might need a pair of pliers.

One Friday, I left my Leatherman on my desk, and while performing the run of the mill household chores, I had to make so many tips to the garage for tools that I almost went up to work (30 minute drive each way) just to get it.

 2. My Franklin Covey Planner - Yes, I know that “Getting Things Done” by David Allen is the trendy productivity book these days. Yes, I know that the 7 habits is sooo last decade (or was it a decade before that?). Although I am a big fan of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, no matter what the system is, you need a planner. I’ve had a planner almost forever, but they used to be those vinyl day planners. I would usually wear them out in about a year. I finally broke down and bought a Franklin Covey planner, and I have had the same one for at least the last 6 or 7 years. It’s well worn, and has even taken a trip sliding down the asphalt after falling off the roof of my Cherokee, but it looks great, and is still in terrific shape.

There have been at least 2 occasions where I left my planner at home. The first time, I just sat there at a total loss about what I was planning on doing that day. I really didn’t have any idea. I never realized, until that day, how much of a bruden my planner takes off of me, freeing me to concentrate on what I’m doing.

The second time I left it at home, I just called my wife and had her read everything off the list for that day.

3. My iPod -  I’m not going to include a picture with this one, I’m sure you have all seen enough of them. My iPod Nano lets me listen to Podcasts and audio books while I’m driving back and forth to work. This single function has added so much entertainment and knowledge to that otherwise wasted time.

The benefits don’t stop there though, when I get to work, I can listen to podcasts or music. I have a whole slew of choices when it comes to what I can listen to, I’m not just limited to the small sampling that I have on my work computer. When I am in the garage working on one of the Jeeps, that another opportunity to listen to good content.

Just as important, my iPod has really taught me that I need time to think, without distractions. Even the times that I decide not to listen to my iPdod is beneficial. It lets me explore what has been on my mind lately. Having the choice makes either decision more worthwhile.

Meme #2 - Our Players don’t Lie

I don’t necessarily think that my playlist is all that telling. I did listen very often to a bunch of stuff, but I then started to try and listen to everything I had at least once. I’m still working on that one, since iTunes hasn’t been on my computer that terribly long, the numbers are of course not a lifetime average.

Anyway, here is the 10 most played songs, according to iTunes.

1. Float On - Modest Mouse

2. The World at Large - Modest Mouse

3. Fly from the Inside - Shinedown

4. Burning Bright - Shinedown

5. Slide - Goo Goo Dolls

6. Name - Goo Goo Dolls

7. Somebody To Shove - Soul Asylum

8. Just Like You - Three Days Grace

9. Better Together - Jack Johnson

10. Yellow - Coldplay

Finally, the evil part. I get to tag some people. I tag Art, Pearl, Sharon, Steven, and Evelyn.

Posted in meme, LinkLove 9 Comments »