awaservice

2009-11-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Cafe Campesino

Finally got to start reworking the Cafe Campesino website. Reworked the header, some of the layout and upgraded the facebook/twitter icons. We hope to gradually rework the site this week.

The site runs in Volusion, which is not an easy CMS to work with. It is difficult to find the template files through ftp, so it is easier to work on through the web-based editor. At least their online editor does have line numbers so they can be matched up with Firebug.

2009-10-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

The fastest I've ever put up a Joomla site.

Today we set up javaflorida.com in one day. The client set up the content, menus etc and I did design. Using Rhuk Milkeyway (the default joomla template) I did some quick customization mostly on their banner, but also on borders and css. In about 5 hours we had the site basically at a presentable place. We still have fine tuning like adding forms and contacts, but the site is already about done.

We have a bigger job of adding the e-commerce solution into the template.

2009-09-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce the new website for Contemplatives in Action at www.contemplativesinaction.org.

We took their existing site, Joomla 1.0 which has always been a bit challenging as it was set up by several different people with different methods of delivery. We installed Joomla 1.5, came up with a new look in some great colors. Using a template from Siteground (J-15-67), we added our own color scheme and graphics.

Most noticable is the "Simple Image Rotator" Module a Joomla! CMS extension developed by JoomlaWorks (www.joomlaworks.gr) and released under the GNU General Public License.

Next we created custom modules to replace the Joomla newsfeed module so that each section of the site could have it's own feed. Some were created as RSS from other parts of the site and others are static. There is one that pulls upcoming events from multiple Google calendars.

We installed ArtForms to handle multiple applications throughout the site. ArtForms is very easy to use, and will be easy for them to update and add forms.

We installed AcaJoom to store email addresses and send out html email from within the site. We downloaded their list from the email program in the old site and uploaded it to the new site.

Standard we installed Linkr to make it easier for the end users to add links in articles.

We tried multiple RSS feed modules, finding that they all seemed to split up tags breaking the xhtml validation, so settled on using the standard joomla rss feed module and then making some customizations to the module for better layout. This is what provides the dynamically updating "Pray With Us" module.

After much customization of the CSS and several modules and components we are happy to see all the pages validating except for the Acajoom form, so further customization will be needed there.

Thanks go out to the great Joomla community for their excellent development work and support without which this site would not be possible, and big thanks go out to Jocelyn and Contemplatives in Action for working diligently and patiently on adding the content and giving excellent direction in design and implementation.

2009-09-09T14:25:00.001-07:00

Internet Security

I felt like writing something today after listening to a program about online security (specifically about companies that crack email passwords for a fee). These are things I have told people in pieces, but I thought I would try and put them together in one understandable post.

I encourage people to not be so naive about a system that they don't completely understand! I too have fallen into some traps, but I watch others around me sticking their necks way out there when it comes to online habits.

Try not to sign up for every offer online that comes across your computer. This includes things sent from well meaning friends via email. If a website is asking for personal information, even email and passwords, you need to ask yourself how this information could be used against you. If you cannot say for certain that this organization will not be using your address for sending out tons of offers (spam) or worse selling your email address to companies that then resell them to less than creditable organizations, then don't give them your email address or other personal information.

If you do sign up, as difficult as it may become, you really MUST use different passwords. It is very easy for site administrators to look and see what your passwords are. This means anyone, even a temp working for one of these companies could access this data. Do you really want someone to know not only your email address, but your "default" password? And worse is if they have your credit card info, home address etc.

Do not follow links such as "[insert friend here] has sent you a greeting card." Most of these sites are systems to install malware on your computer that can be as subtle as a tracking cookie, or worse case even keystroke recorders that can send a text file with everything you've typed on your computer including your login and passwords to any website, even banking, paypal etc.

Also a word about Facebook. I have admitted that I was wrong, and Facebook can be a good way of staying in touch with people and is not inherently evil (though my final decision is still out on that). I do however ask that you think carefully about adding all these "fun" little applications. It might be interesting to find out what type of cheese you are most like (if you're into that sort of thing), or to play Mafia Wars or Zombie or one of the other ways that my friends are always asking if they can use to kill me, hmm... Remember that there is a little statement that says "Allowing [insert app here] access will let it pull your profile information, photos, your friends' info, and other content that it requires to work."

This means that whoever created this app (and these are not people working for Facebook) is asking for a look at everything on your profile. How well do you know this person?? Is this a person who you are willing to share EVERYTHING you have on Facebook with? Are you sure that this person has no ulterior motives, now or ever? You are not only sharing all about yourself, but certain information about your friends.

Think of it this way, If a stranger called you on the phone, and started asking you all the questions that they could get from your Facebook profile, and about your friends (thereby assuming everyone of your facebook connections is a friend), would you not be at least a bit suspicious? Now ask yourself why you freely would give this information up to a complete stranger when you can't even hear their voice?!

I don't mean for you to get paranoid about the internet, Facebook, or many great sites out there. The internet it is a great tool, and I have completely embraced it in my life. However I have some knowledge about how it works on the back end, and just like I would not recommend driving your car through a lake because I know how a car works, I would likewise encourage you not to give up so much of your personal information to websites unless you are certain they have your best interests in mind.

There is a whole other aspect of information collection. Last week we saw what happened to Van Jones, I don't doubt that one day something I have posted to the internet will come back to bite me, but I at least take some time to think before I press "submit"

2009-08-18T20:18:00.001-07:00

Cannot print, print spooler not running

When I have run in to this is most often after having uninstalled a Lexmark printer. They have a service that attaches itself to the print spooler service through a dependency and so when it is uninstalled it stops the print spooler from running. If this is the case, here is a fix:

Go to Start, Run and type or past "Services.msc" (without quotes). Scroll down and right click on 'lexbce server' go to properties and stop it and then disable it. Do the same to 'print spooler.' Once your done click ok to exit all windows.

Click on the start button and on run again. Type or paste the following (without quotes): "sc config spooler depend= RPCSS" and click run.

Restart your computer and try to install a printer (or use existing one).

If your print spooler is not running after this, or if you did not have a Lexmark printer,:

Go to Start, Run and type or past "Services.msc" (without quotes). Scroll down and right click on 'Print Spooler' go to properties and start it and select automatic for startup type.

Let me know if this works, or if you still have troubles.

2009-05-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Work has begun on a new Joomla site for ArtEgg.com

Any suggestions, as always, are appreciated. You can visit the site here.

2009-05-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

Restarting Explorer

If your computer starts acting strange, one thing that is worth trying is to restart explorer. This can be done through the task manager (Ctr-alt-del) by ending the explorer process. When you do this you will see that your desktop icons and your taskbar will disappear, along with any open explorer windows (not to be confused with Internet Explorer, or your web browser which will remain unnafected). Then you will need to go to 'File-New Task' and enter 'explorer' to start it again.

Another easier way to accomplish this is to creat a .bat file to restart explorer. Open Notepad and past the following into it:

@echo off
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start explorer.exe
exit

Now save this file as something you will remember with a '.bat' extension, I called mine restart-ie.bat.

You can now save this file, or a shortcut to it several places like on your desktop, in your start menu, you can also put one in your C:\Windows\System32 folder making it possible to start it with a run command (go to start-run and type in the filename without the .bat)

Note: This works in XP-Pro, and XP-home. I haven't tried it in Vista. If you are using XP-Home, you will need the taskkill.exe file, which you can find here. You will need to unzip this file and save it to your C:\Windows\System32 folder.

2009-01-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

Time sync trick

If a computer's time resets, create shortcut then put it in startup, or run it as a scheduled task with the following command:

w32tm /resync

2007-10-03T09:08:00.001-07:00

Tip 3 - Use VLC

If you have ever put in a DVD and found it stopping and starting it was probably because your player was trying to use resources (processor and RAM) that were not available. I try to use light weight programs so I don't run into this problem.

My favorite is VLC Media Player . Download and install it and check all the boxes during the setup to let it take care of playing as many different media types as it can handle.

If you like a better looking interface, you can download skins for it, take a look at some of the screenshots to see how nice it can look.

In future tips I'll let you know about other "lite" versions of software that you can use.

Peace,
geoffrey/pax

2007-09-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Tip 2 - Use Launchy

Great little program, takes a small amount of getting used to, but after a couple days you'll never want to be without it.

This little utility is a smart tool for opening your applications and doing tasks that you regularly have to go looking for the launch icons. There are many things it does that I haven't even explored yet, and they seem to be developing more while web 2.0 folks seem to be creating scripts that work with Luanchy.

Read more on the site, try it out and let me know if you agree that it is a HUGE time saver.

Peace,
geoffrey/pax

2007-09-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

RUBARBike.org Updates Made

Updates have been made to rubarbike.org as they have begun a new season after summer travels. Be sure to check out the site and the BRAG photo album!

Leave comments if you see area for improvement, if there are no comment I'll assume it looks perfect!

2007-09-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

Tip 1 - Smoothing Out the Fonts

Today we launch the new blog concept for AWA. These posts will start including tips that may improve your computer and web experience.

For today's I will tell you about a little trick to change the font style to make things a bit more eye friendly. This is not for everyone, but I thing it helps a lot.

Some people have mentioned that web pages are easier to read in Inernet Explorer than with other browsers. Well, turns out this is a windows XP feature available for all programs.

If you right click on your desktop and bring up Display Properties box (or open it from control panel or run - 'desk.cpl'). Go to the Appearance tab, click on Effects and change the "Use the following method to smooth edges.." to Clear Type.

Try it, see what you think, and if you prefer to have the crisp looking text change it back to Standard.

Leave a comment and let me know which way you prefer.

Peace,
geoffrey/pax

2006-10-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

While I am in New Orleans, I plan to continue developing and promoting the websites I am working on. I will not however be actively seeking new clients so please be patient. If you are interested in what is going on in New Orleans, you can visit my other blog "Living in New Orleans."

Peace,
geoffrey/pax

2006-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Internet Explorer 7 has been released. This is good and bad news for the web design world. The good news is that supposedly many of the bugs that made Explored not render pages right, forcing web designer to find workarounds have been fixed. The bad news is that it will be some time before the new browser is running on all machines so in the meantime all web designs will have to be previewed in both to make sure they render correctly.

2006-09-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

It was a great Monastic Day!

I heard back from Common Ground Collective, but still not sure of volunteer status. I may just be headed that way, but I was asked to stay on here for a few more days.

Made fudge with Father Anthony today, while he was interviewed for a local NPR story. I'll post it when it airs.

We officially launched the link to the monastery podcast, be sure to visit Trappist.net and click on the podcast link on the left side. We are up to 117 subscribers to the podcast. This page is for those who don't want to, or know how to subscribe, but want to listen. It was one heck of a struggle to get it to work in both browsers. Between using extensive CSS and mixing in flash code and xml, one and then the other didn't work, until a simple solution came along and it all fell into place. It really is inspiring how often that seems to happen when I work here at the monastery.
Finally, I just came from compline. I you haven't heard compline at the monastery, you can download this link, or listen with the button below.

2006-09-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

I read an author's interview and he said we all should write something, even if it's a few lines, every day.

I am back at the monastery in Conyers. It is really good to see everyone, and I have many very special monk friends here. I do notice a change among those that I worked with last year. I am not sure that taking a job here was the best thing to do. Fr. Anthony told me that some people thought I left with "a bitter taste in my mouth." I assured him this wasn't so. The more I think about it, the more I am sorry that anyone would have thought that. It was certainly not the easies job I've ever done, arriving at a very established community, and trying to take them forward with technology (I was hired to set up an integrated Point of Sale and Webstore system, which led to also managing a phone bank). I found it challenging, but no "bitter taste", in fact I enjoyed the challenge. I really have a lot of sympathy for those working here on a full time basis, but have seen that few of them have very little social relationship with the monks. The volunteers do, but they have the freedom of being a volunteer.

As for the website, it is still likely that they will hire an expensive firm to create a very beautiful website I am sure. I am just sorry that this is seen as the important aspect of their web presence. Through watching this process it has helped me realize more clearly my philosophy as a designer. I want to create simple, attractive, easy to use and very functional websites that are very well indexed and publisized. What good is a fancy website if only the current supporters know that it is there.

I have finished the Monastery Podcast page and have really enjoyed working with Brother Chaminade on making this a reality. It is ready for viewing and comments please let me know what you think.

Peace,
geoffrey/pax

2006-09-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to turn the heat up. Get out there and spread the word, buy DVDs, plan screenings, and use the film to pressure elected officials to stop the profiteering. To help with your efforts, next week we'll be mailing out promotional gear (posters, stickers) to everyone who both signed up to host a screening on Brave New Theaters and bought a DVD. A lot of great stuff you can use.

Buy DVDs: http://iraqforsale.org/buy.php
Post your screening info: http://iraqforsale.org/screenings.php
Promotional materials: http://iraqforsale.org/promotional.php

Everyone from the military to truck drivers are supporting patriotism over profit. Arianna Huffington called this a "bipartisan no-brainer". Let's show the war profiteers what real democracy is about!

2006-08-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

I think I have discovered how to spend my fall. I have signed up as a volunteer with Common Ground Collective. Of course I plan on keeping up with my website work and in fact just signed on another client yesterday.

If you haven't seen Greg Palast's film about New Orleans "Big Easy to Big Empty - The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans" You can visit the Greg Palast Website for more details. It is showing right now on LinkTV if you have satellite dish.

After seeing it, you will see why there is so much work left to do in the gulf coast.

2006-08-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

I am leaving Americus, I have freed myself of all my belongings down here and leave with a lightness I haven't experienced in a while. I don't know what is next for me, but I look forward to it with gratitude.

If you haven't already, do your part to join One.org in ending global poverty. I was invited last year to serve Fair Trade coffee at the Coldplay concert in Atlanta and these are the folks who invited us. I was very impressed to read that their newsletter is going out to over 2 million readers. This is amazing for an organization that hasn't been around for very long.

2006-08-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

Reading Grist for the Mill by Ram Dass. It has been a while since I read Ram Dass, and as I was reading it aloud to a good friend (the best way to read a book in my opinion), I really have been learning a lot. I encourage anyone reading this to check it out:

2006-08-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here's another great technology to watch.

Check out Dennis Klein's website hytechapps.com

2006-08-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we saw "Who Killed the Electric Car" at the Tivoli in Kansas City. If this movie is showing near you, go see it, it is important to know this chapter in our history so that it is not repeated!

2006-08-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

So, I have discovered that posting to a blog continues to fall upon the back burner. As I don't want to give up altogether, I am going to sart to use this blog to share information that I find useful.

To start, my interest in a vehicle powered by vegetable oil continues to grow. Here is a good video piece that shows the how and why of converting a vehicle.

The only fear I have about what was shared is that if we encourage growing crops for vegetable oil to run cars, we must be careful it doesn't become a new source of revenue for the big agro-businesses.

2006-05-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Nice trip to Atlanta.

After dropping off Bill of Cooperative Coffees I then headed out to the Monastery. I retreaved some DVD's I had left there and got a chance to catch up with folks there. They are still working at settling in with the Mail Order Manager system I helped to install. Overall the pattern that I experienced while I was there continued. Dydacomp, the makers of Mail Order Manager (see above link) went far beyond expectations with their sale of the product. Once they painted it to be the answer to all our needs we installed the system and then began to see the shortcomings. The monastery pays a service contract and after waiting on hold for exorbitant amounts of time hear "MOM won't do that" and MOM Helpers might be able to help." We managed so many workarounds that when a "MOM Helper" came to see if they could help (at a great expense) they would say "MOM won't do that" and then see that we actually have (sort of) made it do it with our own workaround. So in reality the "MOM Helper" probably learned more than she taught. Though MOM is an impressive software program I would NEVER recommend it again as their service is seriously lacking.

It was nice to see everyone at the monastery, and though they are not 100% pleased with the system, they appreciate what I did while I was there.

I then went to North GA, spent the night at John's, and the next day we had a great hike into the mountains, climbed on the rocks by a river and went swimming in a swimming hole albeit very cold water, it felt great to take the first swim of the summer! It was good to see John, the next time I see him will likely be at his wedding! I am excited for him and know he will make a great husband to a very special woman, Nicole.

Picked up Bill at the airport and returned to Americus.

2006-05-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

This has been a very intense few days for learning the art of web promotion.

Yesterday I figured out how to do a rss feed for Koinonia's newsletter. Though I didn't have to create the xml file myself (Dada mail did this for me) but I added the feed to Koinonia's site on the news page I then downloaded foxit reader for firefox and now I have entered the world of news feeds.

There are some great Fair Trade feeds like: Coffee and Conservation from coffeehabitat.com.

Today I set up a blog for Koinonia and posted the first article. Now I am trying to encourage the folks at Cafe Campesino to start posting to a blog.

On a frustrating note, I wanted to get a handle on sending html formatted email and found that it is a world of confusion. Email readers all deal with the formatting differently and AOL and Hotmail are two of the worst. You cannot easily use css, you have to pull some special tricks to do so, or you can go back to using old formatting options pre-css, which I am not ready to do.

The best articles I found and the ones that I utilized the most in creating a new mail template for Koinonia was from A List Apart and Sitepoint. I am still feeling like there is a lot more to learn about this, and I only have until next month's newsletter.

Until next time...