“It seems everyone can’t enough of Pinterest, and for a social networking site which is still invite-only, it’s managed to garner over 6 million monthly users, and receives millions of hits per week.

“Whether you’re just getting started with the site, or have been using it for a while, we’ve put together the ultimate guide to all things Pinterest. We’ve put together a list of all the basic things you need to know about the site, while also giving some power user tips for the more experienced users. Lastly, if you’re still looking for new ways to get more out of Pinterest, we have a list of creative and practical uses for one of the hottest niche social networks out there today.”

Read the full article: The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest.

7 years ago today I launched Blue Pixel Design’s first business website and signed up our very first web hosting customers!  On this momentous occasion I would like to thank my friends, family, and clients for putting their trust in me and helping me live my dream job!

To celebrate, I would like to announce that we’ve doubled the sizes of our hosting plans with no increase in cost to our customers.  All existing customers have already been upgraded!

Our web hosting plans now include the following:

Basic Hosting (was the Starter Package)
200 MB Disk Space (2x increase)
2 GB Bandwidth (2x increase)

Advanced Hosting (was the Standard Package)
400 MB Disk Space (2x increase)
4 GB Bandwidth (2x increase)

Business Hosting (was the Pro Package)
1 GB Disk Space (2x+ increase)
10 GB Bandwidth (2x increase)

Again, I’d like to thank you for your support and hope you enjoy your free account upgrade!

Thank you for the past 7 years!

~Raielene

WordPress 3.1.1 is now available. This maintenance and security release fixes almost thirty issues in 3.1, including:

•    Some security hardening to media uploads
•    Performance improvements
•    Fixes for IIS6 support
•    Fixes for taxonomy and PATHINFO (/index.php/) permalinks
•    Fixes for various query and taxonomy edge cases that caused some plugin compatibility issues

Version 3.1.1 also addresses three security issues discovered by WordPress core developers.

We suggest you update to 3.1.1 promptly. Log in and update automatically from the Dashboard > Updates menu in your site’s admin area.

WordPress release haiku:

Only the geeks know
What half this stuff even means
Don’t worry — update

Press This provides a lightning-fast way to grab text, images, or video from any website and post it to your blog without ever visiting WordPress. You can also use Press This to quickly share a link on your blog.

It only takes a second to get the Press This mini-application going. Simply go to Tools -> Tools in your dashboard and find the link to the bookmarklet:

Next, drag the Press This link to the bookmarks/favorites area of your web browser. (It may look different than what’s pictured below, depending on your browser.)

That’s it – you’ve installed Press This!

Using Press This

Let’s say you come across a great blog post about landscape photography, and you want to quickly share a few of the author’s tips with your own blog readers, without reproducing the entire post. Simply highlight the material with your cursor and then click the Press This bookmarklet in your browser.

Or maybe you just want to quickly share a link to a website, without reproducing any of the content in your own post. In that case, just click the Press This bookmarklet while you’re viewing the webpage.

Press This will appear in a pop-up window. You’ll have the option to add images, video, and/or your own commentary to the post before publishing it to your blog. If you have multiple blogs, use the drop-down menu to choose where to publish the content.

Adding Images and Video
To include images, click the picture frame icon. You’ll see a selection of all the images from the webpage. Select the one you like and click Insert Image. If you like, use the HTML tab to edit it. Use the filmstrip icon to add video.

via Press This « Support — WordPress.com.

“Is your Facebook page dull and uninviting?  Maybe you’ve seen those really attractive Facebook pages and wondered, “How’d they do that?”

“Given Facebook’s powerhouse status for marketers, isn’t it time you upgraded your Facebook page?

“How can you help your brand stand out from the competition and increase the relevancy of your Facebook page?

“The answer: Static FBML.  This article will share what you need to know to conduct a Facebook page makeover.”

How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML | Social Media Examiner.

“The site wide uniformity of Facebook has been a flagship characteristic of Facebook and it seems they have worked very hard to stay within their original business model. Despite this, they have created Facebook fan pages with many different apps that you can use as a way to customize your business presence. Up till now, we have mainly seen this space used for coupons and promotions.”

This article highlights 12 examples of how companies are standing out on Facebook pages.

Designing a Facebook landing page: 12 of the best! – Web Design Blog – DesignM.ag.

The answer is a resounding NO!  Blue Pixel Design will never send you a file by email without discussing it with you first.  The emails that have been circulating recently are examples of spoofing and/or phishing.

Spoofing: "The sender information shown in emails (the "From" field) can be spoofed easily. This technique is commonly used by spammers to hide the origin of their emails. Email address spoofing is done in quite the same way as writing a forged return address using snail mail. As long as the letter fits the protocol, (ie. stamp, postal code) the SMTP protocol will send the message."

Phishing: "In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one."

More information can be found here:  http://www.bluepixeldesign.com/how-can-i-be-spamming-myself

The spoof phishing emails that are going around are being sent with an attachment that is very dangerous. If you receive one of the emails outlined below, or an email like it, you should immediately delete the email and its attachment.  If you're unsure, send me an email and I can clear things up for you.

Example #1

SMTP and POP3 servers for raielene@bluepixeldesign.com mailbox are changed. Please carefully read the attached instructions before updating settings.

[Link to the file would follow]

 

Example #2

Dear Customer,

This e-mail was send by bluepixeldesign.com to notify you that we have temporanly prevented access to your account.

We have reasons to beleive that your account may have been accessed by someone else. Please run attached file and Follow instructions.

(C) bluepixeldesign.com

Do you feel like you are wasting your time and money making constant changes to your website? If you are still maintaining your web site with tools like Frontpage or Dreamweaver, or you are making updates directly in the HTML code, chances are there is a much easier way. It is time for you to meet the modern Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress.

These systems have a number of advantages over applications like Frontpage. First of all, they work on the internet and thus don’t require you to install software on your computer. You have a new laptop? No problem! Your website updates will work fine without installing any software. By the same token, you don’t even have to be working on your own computer to make an update; you can make your updates from any computer with internet access. Better yet, you can make your updates from a smart phone!

Secondly, these systems have what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) graphical interfaces that require no coding skills whatsoever. It is as easy as point and click. As the very name implies, these systems are designed to let you “manage your content” easily.

Last but not least, these systems will give you more out-of-the-box features and components so you can have a unique looking website rather than a cookie-cutter template. Thanks to the open-source community supporting these systems, there are plug-ins built for every need you can imagine.

Now that you understand the benefits of Content Management Systems, you may be interested in switching to one. Blue Pixel Design can help you jump-start this by converting your website into a CMS format. Give us a call today at 1 (604) 318-5394 or e-mail raielene@bluepixeldesign.com.

The Domain Registry of Canada is a nasty, no good, horrible awful domain slammer!

Wikipedia defines domain slamming as a scam where an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or domain name registrar sends materials to domain owners which attempts to trick them into switching ISPs / domain name registrars under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their existing services.

How the scam works is that people receive a letter in the mail… a letter that looks very official and legitimate (view the PDF)… informing them that their domain is set to expire and they need to transfer and renew it now before they lose it forever.  These people have nothing to do with Blue Pixel Design or with your domain.  They are just another registrar trying to trick you into transferring your domain over to them at almost quadruple the price!

If you receive a notice from The Domain Registry of Canada (or another registration company) please just tear it up.  If you're unsure, send us an email and we can double check on your domain for you.
 

"If you are a photographer and have a website, you need a blog. A blog can be a huge supplement to your website and can offer more for the viewer than just viewing your portfolio online. You can post new work to it and describe a little bit about your recent photo shoots, and add keywords to your copy which in turn will bring the search engines coming back to your site looking for new content."

Read more here:  http://freelanceswitch.com/freelancing-essentials/how-a-blog-can-help-your-photography-business/