5 Things REAL Coffee Does For Me

By timmy | Published: January 8, 2010

coffeeI am a lover of all things digital and I love keeping up with technology blogs like MakeUseOf!  Well the other day I came across an article on there by Saikat about this program called “Coffee” which gives some flexibility with choosing the default program for opening files.  Within the article he lists 5 things this program called “Coffee” does for him.  Thank you Saikat, because the article reminded me of 5 things REAL coffee does for me!

Those who know me know that I love coffee, in particular, Duncan Donuts coffee!  Any morning with a medium DD coffee with 2 creams and 2 Spledas (diabetic) is a morning worth waking up to!  Here are 5 things that coffee does for me – which of these applies to you too?

1.  Coffee wakes me up

Obviously, coffee plays a huge role in MANY people’s lives by waking them up.  For some, even the smell will get them going!  Maybe it’s the caffeine but maybe it’s the taste, but there’s something about coffee that just gets people going!  I am definitely no exception!

2.  Coffee warms me when the weather’s cold

On Sundays I get up kind of early to meet the church bus to help pick people up for church.  During the winter it can be one cold ride!  If I can stop for a nice cup of coffee on the way to the bus, it is just that much more bearable!  After a day’s skiing, snow blowing or just walking in the cold, coffee can thaw the most frozen individuals!  Just don’t order ICED coffee; it would defeat the purpose!

3.  Coffee gives my mouth a rewarding vacation of wonderful taste!

OK, admittedly this depends on the kind of coffee, how it was made, and what was put in it but when done right… WOW!  If I am craving a treat and I can’t eat the sweets (diabetic, remember?) a good cup of D and D with the right amount of cream and Splenda can hit the spot!  Have you ever had something you love so much that your mouth is so overwhelmed that your whole being is affected by it?  The right cup of coffee can do this for me!

4.  Coffee can change my mood

Like I said before, this too can depend on the cup, but MOST of the time coffee can be a real mood-changer!  If I have to get up early, most of the time you should probably wait until I’ve had a cup of coffee before bugging me!  I probably won’t lash out at you (most of the time) but the conversation will just go so much better.  Don’t get me wrong, we should have control over ourselves.  I’m just saying that before I have my first cup it won’t be as easy for me.  Just warnin’ ya’ll!

5.  Coffee often gives a good excuse to share some fellowship

Who hasn’t sat with a good friend in a coffee shot or Denny’s over a nice cup of coffee and just relaxed and shared company?  Is life stressful?  Are you sitting in front of a screen all day long?  Need to get away somehow?  Take a few seconds with a friend or loved one and drink coffee!

There you have it!  5 things that coffee does for me.  Realize that I did not say that there are the ONLY 5 things coffee does for me!  If you have more to add, please do!

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A Contest to Kick Off 2010 – Win a ZAZZLE T-Shirt!

By timmy | Published: January 1, 2010

Hey, 2010 is finally upon us!  A new year coming is a great cause to celebrate!  This past year has been exciting for me and my online endeavors (in no particular order)!

  • I began a corny little photo blog on Posterous.com,
  • I began to write for one of my favorite tech blogs, MakeUseOf.com!
  • I began Tweeting (finally)
  • We had an interesting series of Techie Interviews
  • We did some testing of Google Voice and Gmail
  • I tested Wetoku a few times (a really cool online video interviewing tool)
  • We also got to witness a great new Christian blog (GodlySheep.com) start up by my good friend and fellow blogger Brett Barner
  • Part of the year I did pretty good keeping up with Timmyjohnboy.com but I also have become lazy during some points (please forgive me).
  • I also helped build a few other sites and pages including a church’s site for a friend (firstbaptistfernwood.com – still needs some theme work) and the teen site for Friendship Baptist Church (friendshipbaptist.us/teens)

Sounds pretty busy huh?  It was a blast!  Keep following because I’m sure there is much more to come!

I want to thank those of you who have not forsaken following Timmyjohnboy.com!  MANY of the email subscribers that joined us from last New Year’s contest are still subscribed so my only conclusion is that you’re still readers!

I want to have a contest to kick off 2010!

In the past year I had two contests (I believe), the New Years contest asking for people to subscribe for email updates and another contest looking for Twitter followers.  This time there are a few hoops I’d like to see people jump through, so hang on to your socks!

What do I need to do?

coffeecup_feed_256x256To enter, all you have to do is subscribe to my feed!  In fact, you can even unsubscribe after the contest ends!  Leave it to me to make you WANT to stay on!  Choose either to subscribe to receive updates in your email OR subscribe to the feed in a feed reader!  THEN stop back by this post and wish a Happy New Year to all my readers (and me of course!).  When the contest ends, I’ll randomly choose a winner from commenters that are subscribers.  If you leave your happy wishes via an audio comment or webcam comment, and you win, I’ll add a $5 Amazon.com gift card! NOTE:  YOU MUST ENTER THE CONTEST CODE GIVEN IN THE FOOTER OF EACH POST IN THE FEED - In other words, when you subscribe and you begin to receive updates via email or feed reader, you’ll find a special contest code at the bottom of each post. When you get the code, enter it into the TEXT of your comment NOT the audio or video comment!

What will I win?

timmyjohnboy-tee shirt

You will be entering to win a brand new t-shirt from my Zazzle store!  There are SEVERAL shirts to choose from but for some reason thePing Pong shirts sell the best.  To be totally honest, the winner will actually be receiving a Zazzle gift card which I HOPE will in turn want to purchase a t-shirt from my Zazzle store!  Remember, if your comment is either audio or via webcam, and you win, you’ll ALSO get the $5 Amazon.com gift card!

When will it start/end?

The contest starts NOW January 1, 2010!  I will end 2 weeks later, January 15, at exactly 11:59PM EST so any comments left after that time will not be counted!  The next day I will contact the winner and make an announcement as soon as contact is made!

OK, in summary:

  1. Enter by subscribing and find the contest code, comment on this post wishing me a Happy New Year (entering the code into the text area of the comment)
  2. Enter to win a free shirt from Zazzle (actually a Zazzle gift card) – BONUS: If the winner has left an Audio or Webcam comment, they’ll also get a $5 Amazon gift card!
  3. Contest dates: Begins January 1, 2010 and ends January 15, 2010 at 11:59PM EST

Look forward to hearing from ya’ll!!!!

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My First Attempt at Web-Working

By timmy | Published: December 21, 2009

httpAs a personal update, I want to let my readers know that I am going through a bit of change in my life.  Recently I made a change from a full-time employee to being employed part time while filling the rest of my income by web-working.  In this article I would like to talk about what web-working is, what the pluses and minuses are, why I am only doing it part time, and why I am doing it at all.

What is web-working?

Web-working is exactly what it sounds like: working on the web.  Basically, if you make any of your income working on the Internet, whether from home or otherwise remotely, whether it be for yourself or an employer, you are a web-worker.  In my case, as a blogger, I have been hired on as a staff writer for MakeUseOf.com, a very popular technology blog.  In so doing, I receive part of my income from home writing articles for a website.  That is why I consider myself to be a web-worker.  I guess you can say I am a part-time web-worker.

What are the pluses and minuses of being a web-worker?

I am glad you asked!  The reason being is that the whole idea of working from home, making your own schedule and being your own boss seems very appealing but it may not be all it’s cracked up to be!  It is true, I do LOVE the flexibility of making my own schedule and such, but it is not always easy!  I am learning that there are a few lessons I need to learn.  I am learning to be self-motivated.  I am learning to be more organized.  I am working on being focused (something I have always had a hard time with).  I am even learning how to make my own goals and complete them.  All of these are really awesome things to learn and if I do it will affect other parts of my life positively.  However, you must realize that it is NOT for everyone!  Everyone may not even enjoy it.

Why am I only doing it part-time?

This is a good question!  If I enjoy the flexibility and the learning/growing experience, why not do it full-time?  Well, the main reason is that I need stability.  What would happen if either I was asked to step down as staff writer, or worse, if the site I write for goes under?  I would be on the street!  And nobody wants to hear a grown man weep!  Well, there’s nothing wrong with a man that cries, but you know what I mean!  I like the safety of having more than one stream of income, especially when the economy tanks.  Another reason is that right now I only write for one site, and the income is only a part-time income.  Am I actively looking for more writing gigs?  Well, other than having INTENTIONS on continuing my own blogging, not really.  Would I turn down another gig if I was offered one?  It would depend:)

Why am I a web-worker at all?

One reason has already been leaked earlier in this article: I like the flexibility!  As was also mentioned, I like the growing experience.  There is more though.  I like being able to spend more time home with my wife.  I like working on the Internet because it’s something I know and have enjoyed growing with through the years (I have also grown to respect it as a great power for both good and evil).  Similarly, I enjoy working at a computer (manual labor makes me cry – j/k!).  And I like working in the comfort of my own office in my own house in my own bedroom!  How’s that work for ya!?

Some tips I need to follow!

So, what do you think?  Am I totally off my rocker?  Have you ever thought about taking a similar leap?  Are you currently a web-worker?  Share with us!

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Posted in Computers, Internet, Life, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Why do I love using URL shortener Ow.Ly?

By timmy | Published: December 3, 2009

screenshot.2If you’ve been following me on Twitter, or if you’re a friend of mine on facebook, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve begun to share the links I share by shortening the address using something beginning with ow.ly/.  In this article I would like to share why that is.

If you are asking why I would even want to shorten a URL, the reason for me basically comes down to the 140 character limit of Twitter.  Because I use the same tool (I’ll get more into that soon) to broadcast messages to both Twitter AND Facebook, the links I share on both are shortened.  SO, as you can see, it’s important for me to preserve all of the space I can, and one way I do that is to shorten the URL.

Why have I recently chosen to go with the URL shortening service Ow.Ly?  One reason is because of the tool I use to broadcast my tweets and updates.  Not that long ago I did an article for MakeUseOf.com (I’m a staff writer for them) on HootSuite, a web-based Twitter client.  Without getting too specific (you can read the post if you want to know more about it) I can now easily follow many different people on Twitter without getting lost in all the noise.  I can also post tweets (on Twitter) and updates (on Facebook) through one site.  Ow.Ly comes in because HootSuite allows me to easily shorten a URL with the click of the button (you can also use a bookmarklet to share links even easier) using Ow.Ly.

Another cool think about Ow.Ly and HootSuite is that I can see click statistics about the links I share.  Very cool stuff, for me at least.  Before tools like HootSuite, I would never had gotten into Twitter!  I HAVE noticed that recently Twitter seems to be on a push to bring users back to the main site instead of using third party tools like HootSuite.  They’re doing this be introducing tools such as ReTweeting from the main page and the new +list features.  What do you think about this?  What benefits could they have if they achieve it?

Anyways, do you use URL shorteners?  How about Twitter?  What tools do you use to make Twitter more manageable?  What about Facebook?

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Twitter creator Jack Dorsey seeks to make credit cards more transactionable

By timmy | Published: December 1, 2009

screenshot.1I ran across this interview and demonstration on TechCrunch’s Twitter stream.  MG Siegler is interviewing Jack Dorsey (who also happens to be the creator of Twitter) and the topic is his new project called “Square.”  It seems Square can turn a hand held device, like the iPhone or iPod Touch into an instand credit card machine.  The possitives are the size, the ease, and the efficiency.  Some features include:

  • Easily scan a card
  • Accept a signature via a finger on the touch screen
  • Multiple reciept options, including emailing and SMS (phone texting)
  • Associate a picture of yourself with the card to easily verify that the card holder REALLY IS the card holder

Check out the video and let me know what you think.

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The Dawn of the Digital Pocket Watch – Keeping Time In Today’s Day of Cell Phone Domination

By timmy | Published: October 27, 2009
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - JUNE 26: An Iraqi woman uses a...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The other day someone stopped me to ask me for the time.  I did the funniest thing, something I apparently ALWAYS do when someone asks me what the time is but I never really think about it.  I stopped and checked my cell phone!  In the last ten years my cell phone has replaced any form of watch in my life!  How did this happen?  I’m not really sure but it is interesting… to me.

I do remember the days of wearing a watch.  I remember having various types through my childhood.  I remember having that sweaty mark underneath the plastic wrist band.  I remember having that “farmer’s tan” of sorts from having no sun exposure on my wrist.  I remember replacing those tiny batteries that were never easy to get to.  And, the most annoying part, I remember having to set the time… MANUALLY.

My Metal Banded Watches

Image by alexkerhead via Flickr

My days of wrist watch wearing did finally come to an end.  It was probably with my first cell phone.  Man, the cell phone just makes everything easier, doesn’t it?  Time isn’t just kept, it’s held in the palm of your hand!  No nuisance of strapping something to your wrist.  No changing tiny batteries!  And no manually setting the time!  Cell phones even change with daylight savings time!  Basically, we carry them around anyway so there’s no reason to having a separate time-keeping device taking up space in your life!

Cell Phone
Image by KB35 via Flickr

This is really not all that new, cell phones have been in the hands of the everyday person for quite some time.  In fact, it dawned on me the other day how pervasive they have actually become in today’s culture.  Today, ANYONE can afford to carry some type of cell phone.  These days, even those who abhor technology, the Internet, and almost anything electronic (you know the type) break down and carry cell phones, whether or not they know how to use them!  The purpose of this post is just to give a proverbial “farewell” to the age of the watch and to give the well belated “welcome” to the age of our beloved digital pocket watch, the cell phone!

A Farmer Reading His Paper. Coryell County, Te...

Image via Wikipedia

Am I off my rocker?  Let me know!  Do you wear a watch and are offended by my opinion?  Let me know!  I don’t care, I’ll probably just delete the comment anyway (just kidding, of course)!

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SPAM on SPAM Sandwhich anyone?

By timmy | Published: October 15, 2009

A while back I did a post all about the types of email SPAM out there and how to deal with them.  The funniest thing happened!  Recently I received three separate comments on that particular post that, as it turns out, are SPAM themselves!  Check it out:

screenshot.6

How do I know they are SPAM?  You tell me.

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How to choose who to work on your computer

By timmy | Published: October 12, 2009

A while back I wrote an article for MakeUseOf.com titled 5 Sites To Learn How To Repair Your Own Computer.  In it I complain about the repair prices of the “big box stores.”  Well, as it turns out I found an interesting video depicting some investigative reporting done on the topic of PC repair.  Check it out for yourself:

This kind of stuff happens quite a bit.  For instance, in the article I wrote, I also mentioned someone I knew who had a virus removed and anti-virus software installed for several hundred dollars.  Well, something similar happened to a family member this week.  Let me explain.

It started when the family dog chewed and damaged the cord to a laptop.  The computer continued to work properly with the damaged cord so they just continued using it.  Suddenly there was smoke so they stopped using it and brought it in to Best Buy to see what kind of damage there was.  After plugging the laptop in with the damaged cord and attempting to turn it on with no response, they had a suggested diagnosis.  They said they could have it sent away at the cost of $35 but that it would probably be a waste.  They thought the motherboard was fried and that the cost of repair would add up to more than the cost of a new laptop.

As someone who has worked on and at computers for years, there was a few obvious things they didn’t think to do before jumping to the “time to replace” spiel.  One of those steps was to try using a CORD THAT WASN’T DAMAGED!  Forgive me if I sound haughty when I refer to that as obvious.

In this situation I was able to step in and save my family from impending unnecessary spending, but not everyone has someone close who can help.  Here are a few tips to help you find someone or someplace that you can trust to work on your computer in situations when you can’t fix it yourself.

(1) Ask around

If you are trying to find someone you can trust, ask people you trust for referrals.  The key here is obvious, if you are looking for advice you can trust, ask someone you KNOW you can trust!  Do you know other people with a computer?  These days almost everyone does.  One tip would to not ask someone who does NOT even have a computer; odds are they won’t have good advice about them.  Ask other people you know and trust who they go to and their experiences.  At least that is a good place to start.

(2) Look for reviews

After asking around you’ll hopefully have a few options to choose from.  Once you have that list to work from, you can then look up those references and see what kind of reviews they have.  There are several places online you can go to find business reviews.

One place I go to is Google, more specifically Google Maps.

screenshot.7

I just search for the city and state, click the arrow, and click “search nearby.”  OR you can run a search such as: “computer repair loc: CITY, STATE.”  In the balloon you’ll find a link for reviews.

Another good site to search is the Better Business Bareau.

screenshot.8

The BBB’s website not only lists businesses registered with them, but also other businesses.  It lists pertinent information like owner’s name, addresses, phone numbers, possible complaints, etc.  Its worth a shot.

There are also other good sites to find reviews.  Do some research and find out what people are saying.  Get a consensus of the “crowd.”

(3) Ask good questions

There are a few questions you should ask the computer technician before handing over your computer for repair (from About.com – PC Repair):

  1. How much do you charge per hour?
  2. Can You Tell Me How Many Billable Hours This Might Take to Fix?
  3. Do You Have a Minimum Charge?
  4. Should I Expect Any Charges Other Than the Hourly Rate? (I’d be specific and also ask if there is a fee for diagnosis)
  5. Do You Charge Extra For In-Home/Business Service?
  6. Do You Guarantee Your Service?
  7. When Might I Be Able to Pick Up My Computer?

On a similar note, you also should be able to explain the issue thoroughly to the technician.  A good thorough explanation of the issue with give you the best odds of getting the issue resolved.  Check out this About.com article titled: How to Describe Your Problem to a Computer Repair Professional.  I also asked a group of computer techies some questions including what kind of things they like people to do BEFORE seeking help.  Check out the interview series.

What tips do you have for someone looking for a good computer repair service?  I’m sure someone can add something to this list!

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Posted in Computers, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How do you locate email messages in your inbox?

By timmy | Published: October 4, 2009
screenshot.17

Physical manifestation of what my email inbox would look like

If you are anything like me, you have tons of email.  If you are a user of one of those web-mail sites like Gmail or Hotmail where you have tons of space, you may not even delete old email messages (with Gmail’s archiving option, why would you need to?).  For instance, in my old Hotmail inbox I currently have 3119 messages and most of them I have no intention of going back to organize them any time soon.

This brings up the question of this post: How do YOU organize your email messages so you can go back to find them when you need them?

Many webmail sites use folders that you can set up in order to organize your messages by topic or importance.  You can either drag and drop your messages into the appropriate folders or you can set up filters to automatically send them there.  Gmail uses a different, but similar, but much more flexible system with what they call tags instead of folders.  This way messages can have several different tags and therefore they can be in several different categories at the same time.  Either way, there is always a way to organize those email messages.

You’ll also notice that most webmail sites also have an email search box.  This way if you are looking for a very specific email in a very disorganized inbox (cough, cough!), all you have to do is type in a few search terms and you’ll hopefully find the message without an issue.  In fact, if a message in Gmail is archived, it is removed from the inbox altogether but it’ll still show up for searches.  When I began to hear that people are beginning to lose patience with organization tools and are beginning to rely on searches to find their long lost email messages, I began to not feel as guilty about my own jumbled up mess of an email inbox!

OK, so come clean!  How do you go about finding those lost emails from 5 years ago that you never thought you’d ever need?  Let me know, I could use the help!

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Learning from my blogging mistakes

By timmy | Published: September 29, 2009
Angora Goat

Image via Wikipedia

I just read an article about Gmail’s latest outage.  It was the title that caught my eye: “Why you should be glad about Gmail failures.”  As someone who is using Gmail, the title kind of got my proverbial goat.  As it turns out, the article was less about boasting on Gmail’s failures and more about how Google has the opportunity to learn from its high profile mistakes.  Although I still have my reservations about Google’s low profile issues, it does seem as if when problems hit in the public’s eye, lessons do get learned.

While reading this article, it reminded me of my many mistakes in blogging through the years.  Some were fixed with a relative lack of difficulty while others I have yet to have the courage to find a fix.  In this article I would like to be candid and share some of those mistakes and some of the fixes and changes I have enacted since.

(1)  The topic

When I began blogging at the domain timmyjohnboy.com I was using it as a personal blog.  The topic basically changed with my whims.  I wrote about whatever I wanted to.  This ended up being a mistake because I not only didn’t reach any goals for my blog, but the goals in and of themselves were vague.

This did not help Google Adsense serve relevant ads.  It also did not help with SEO.  Without a specific topic for the blog, I wasn’t doing so hot with the search engines.

Since then, I took the time to choose a topic I love enough and one with which I have passion and began to create content on that topic.  Choosing a niche helped me participate in the conversation with others in similar niches.  I was able to find people with similar interests.  Although not perfect yet, my ranks have at least begun to grow.  Google Adsense now comes across a bit less confused.

Is your blog more of a personal one, or does it revolve around a specific topic or niche?

(2) The Goals

When I began to blog, I really didn’t have much of a goal.  It was more getting things off my chest.  I did gain a love for writing and I did meet some interesting people.  But I didn’t have real goals to meet by blogging.

Since then I have been blogging in order to do a few things, one of which is to strengthen my authority in my niche.  This means that I am not only learning more about my niche, but I am also showing my own current aptitude.  I am also working on my writing style.  The more I write, the better I get at communicating.  Although I have not quite arrived in the place where all my goals are met, I do have a reason for blogging and my goals are being achieved.

What are your goals for blogging?

(3) The Domain Name

The name actually came from a nick name my father gave me when I was young.  Basically with a first name Tim and a middle name John and an apparent like for the Waltons as a television show, the name came together as TimJohnBoy or TimmyJohnBoy.  I began using it online when I first started using webmail and I’ve been using it ever since.

I haven’t actually decided if this has been a bad choice for the domain name.  On one hand, it really has nothing to do with technology, computers or the Internet.  On the other hand, using my own name in the domain can aid in strengthening my name’s “brand” or “authority.”  What I mean by this is that it can strengthen the tie between my name and the topic  that I write about.  For instance, although he may see his domain choice as being a mistake, it is difficult to hear John Chow’s name without thinking about the blogging about blogging niche, right?

You tell me, is my choice of domain name a mistake?

We all have made mistakes.  It is only when we see what we can learn from them that we learn how to grow.  Sometimes we CAN be glad about our failures!

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