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WordPress 2.7 Nearing Release

11/15/2008 By Brandon Leave a Comment

WordPress 2.7 is nearing release, and they’ve released a video of the new dashboard. I think the new dashboard is a major improvement over previous designs. I’ve never really used the dashboard in my WP installs… it just seemed like an afterthought. It had a few useful links at the top to create a new post or page, but nothing that couldn’t be found in the navigation.

The new design features an Ajaxed dashboard that allows you to add modules you like and remove modules you might not need. You can moderate comments and create new posts directly from the dashboard, and you can see a list of recent drafts and click to edit them.

The menu system has also been revamped, and looks like it took some inspiration from the Tiger Admin for WordPress. They’ve moved the navigation to the left sidebar, and it will be collapsible to just icons, giving you more room for the dashboard.

Checkout the video and see what you think about WordPress 2.7:

Filed Under: Technology, Web Development Tagged With:

Blogworld Expo Recap & Thoughts

9/23/2008 By Brandon 1 Comment

I had a great time at Blogworld Expo in Las Vegas… met some really cool people including Robert Scoble, Jim Kukral, Jason Falls, Gary Vaynerchuk, Lee Lefever, and saw lots of friends including Patrick O’Keefe, Chrispian Burks, Darren Rowse, and Jeremy Wright. I met so many awesome people… if I left anyone out I’m sorry!

There were some great presentations and keynotes, and the Expo had a lot of great companies represented. I have to say my favorite booth was the B5 booth with their poker game and giveaways. And what was up with the cement mixer??

My friends Patrick, Jeremy and Darren all spoke in panels at this year’s convention and all were great. I learned a lot about blogging and social networking and am excited about applying that information to both my websites and clients’ sites.

The parties rocked, but I think I missed the best party of all… I heard there was Backstreet Boys karaoke going on at the MGM! I’m sorry we missed it.

I also participated in the Digital Photography School Photowalk, and will be posting the photos to Flickr as soon as possible.

All in all, it was a great trip. I learned a lot and can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned. I’d also like to thank Rick Calvert and Blogworld – looking forward to next year!

Filed Under: Growth & Leadership, News & World Events, Technology, Web Development

Does a bigger monitor increase productivity?

4/23/2008 By Brandon 3 Comments

We’ll see soon enough. My boss’s new MacBook Air wouldn’t support his 30″ Dell 3007WFP so I got a hand-me-down (in addition to a newer and faster MacBook Pro). Here’s my new setup:

I’ll be testing it out for the next couple of weeks to see if it does in fact increase productivity. Still, it surely can’t hinder productivity and is cool so I like it either way.

Filed Under: Technology

Could you live without your computer for 8 days?

4/9/2008 By Brandon 2 Comments

Update: Scratch that. We’ve got too much to do so I’m taking it with me. It’ll go back next week. Seems I’m getting a new one anyway. Sometimes stuff really works out and this is definitely one of them :)

My MacBook Pro has a tiny issue with the keyboard. The caps-lock and shift keys on the left side stopped working a few months ago, and since I work mainly plugged into a keyboard and mouse it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. Still, it needs to be fixed so I thought it would be best to send it off for repair when I’m going to be out of the office.

I’m heading to Orlando for 8 days on business – we’re setting up and manning a trade show booth for the McDonald’s Worldwide owner’s convention. While I’m there, I won’t be working on client projects because we’ll be in the booth answering questions, etc… so I don’t need the laptop to actually produce anything.

Still, I’ve never been away from my laptop/computer for an extended period of time. For 8 days, starting tomorrow, I will only have my iPhone. I’ll be checking email and communicating with clients, posting to Twitter, and reading my RSS feeds.

I’ll post an update when I get back… this should be an interesting experiment.

Filed Under: Personal, Technology

Internet problems thanks to Verizon Wireless

3/25/2008 By Brandon 2 Comments

I left the office today intending to get a little work done from Starbucks. I haven’t been to SB lately, both because I’ve been traveling and I’m just trying to cut back a bit. It’s not good for me and is expensive as well. But I love it.

So, I came by for a much needed cup of joe and was intending to use my Verizon Wireless EVDO Expresscard to connect to the Internet and get some work done. After trying to access a few websites and email, disconnecting and reconnecting several times, I realized something was wrong. I have had my card since around November of last year and have been very happy with it so far. The service has been very reliable and though not really “broadband” speeds, it does everything I need.

I called Verizon from my iPhone and talked with two very nice support representatives. Neither knew much (if anything) about Macs (they actually called them “Macintoshes” — how long has it’s been since you’ve heard them referred to as that?) and I had a feeling it was going to be a rough night. The first rep suggested I upgrade my software, which I did. The new software was touted as being compatible with 10.5 (according to the website, not the rep) so I thought it might help. Nope. Still couldn’t actually download pages or email… though it would connect just fine.

The second rep walked me through much the same troubleshooting steps as the first, but also tried a few speed tests and other tricks. None worked, and so he offered to enter a trouble ticket with the network team. After another hour on the phone, he finally had all the information about my system, card, software, network problem, address, etc. he needed and I got off the phone. I spent roughly 3 1/2 hours tonight dealing with this, and of course have gotten zero work done.

There are a lot of “tools” and “things” out there that offer “increased productivity.” Be leery of them, however. Spending 3 1/2 hours on NOTHING productive has drained my will to do anything now. I can barely finish this post! I would have been much more productive (though thirsty and craving caffeine) if I had just stayed at the office or gone home instead.

BTW, it seems after spending all that time opening the trouble ticket my internet is working (though sporadically) and hopefully this post will make it through.

Filed Under: Growth & Leadership, Personal, Technology
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