It's the weekend !

That's what Arthur shouts when he wakes up on a Satursday morning, and yes, the weekend is here. The weather's been pretty good all week, so I'm hoping that the weekend will be just as nice. I know it's September, but we just might manage one last barbecue for the year. You know, crack out the charcoal, bring out the sausages, even get a pair of men's sunglasses out for Arthur (he's really cute in sunglasses).

We'll see what tomorrow holds, based on the fact that it's been a pretty good week, it's probably going to be thunder and storms. Sod's law huh?

Internet Everywhere

I've really got used to the fact that I can access the Internet everywhere using 3G on my phone. I mean, it's not rocket science once it's set up, and if you didn't have 3G, you may even find a satellite internet provider who can give you access anywhere you like in the world.

It's actually pretty cool that I can just whip my phone out and look up anything I like. What's the capital of Nicaragua? How much should I tip? What's the weather like tomorrow? Well, an Internet connection can help me answer that question and more. How do you get online?

New theme on the Honeypot

I’ve moved onto a different theme on Ugh!!’s Greymatter Honeypot; not that I was unhappy with the the theme I was running before, but I wanted to try out the latest and the greatest new theme from FreshPress themes. It’s called Freshtweet and is as nice and clean as you would like a theme to be. It has some funky features too, like some cool AJAXy features and integration with social networks.

I like the cleanliness of the theme, something you don't tend to find on most themes nowadays. They're a bit too busy with slideshows and carousels. Now it's fine if you get some sort of Orange County web design firm to do it for you, but too many people try to fudge around themselves and end up making a complete hash of it.

Happy I found this theme .. it works for me.

Loving my HTC Magic

Image via CrunchBase

Ever since I got my new Android-powered HTC Magic, I've been more in touch with everyone and everything. The device is a joy to use, letting me access music, video and content anytime I want to (thanks to Wifi and my data contract of course). I was using a Windows Mobile powered device before that, but I must say that this is miles ahead. It's much easier to use, has more devices built into the phone and just gives you access to so much more functionality.

Thanks to my connectivity, I don't really need access to a satellite internet provider, but it's nice to imagine that if I wanted, I could get the same sort of access anywhere in the world. I wonder if there's an Android device with the sort of built in capability yet.

What makes a good website?

So, what's your favourite website? Do you like ones that are strong on graphic design? Ones with your favourite colour? Or just ones that have all the information you need (like Wikipedia, I love Wikipedia). It's great to see the vast variety that's available online, sites of all shapes and sizes. And it doesn't matter if they're built by an Irvine web design company or a teenager coding alone in his bedroom; anyone with the right skills and passion can come up with something compelling that people will visit.

And it's these visitors that help the site grow. Whether it's by providing opportunities to monitise the site, or by providing a vibrant community that attracts more people to the site .. the people who frequent it are the life blood that pumps through it's virtual veins.

Getting all your streaming media

Image by Roo Reynolds via Flickr

Streaming services come in a variety of shapes and forms. Youtube for example, allows you to watch videos that people around the world create and upload. BBC's iPlayer for example, lets you catch up with TV that you may have missed. A professional live video streaming service will allow you to publish a stream in real time, as soon as it happens; which is something quite powerful and useful.

Have you noticed that videos and streaming TV are getting more and more predominant on the Internet. It's partly due to the fact that people have more bandwidth than they ever used to, and to the fact that the technology to make streams available is getting more and more common. This reduced barrier to entry results in the spread of this technology with more and more people getting comfortable and, dare I say, dependant on it.

How's your internet connection

Are you happy with your Internet connection? Is it too slow, too expensive, too .. what? You're not still on dial-up by any chance are you?

If you are, there are a bunch of options you way want to consider. First of all, there's ADSL. It's quite commonly accessible, available to most people through their phone line. If not, there's cable. Most countries have some sort of cable network available, through which they can get high speed internet. If none of those options are available, have you considered satellite internet? There are a number of options for a satellite service provider which cover different areas around the world.

Just look at all the options you have, look at the costs and the service you get. It's nice to have so many options, isn't it?