Sink or Swim

I’ve always struggled with Drupal which makes me turn down projects that has to do with it. It’s more of a lack of experience than skills, I believe. I know that one or two designers out there are like me so let me share this great find to help people get started with one of the most popular CMS tools.

First, these two great sites use Drupal so that should say a lot.

By the end of this guide, you will:
Learn the benefits and disadvantages of using Drupal
Install Drupal
Understand the Drupal back-end
Learn about Drupal modules
Explore the Administer page
Create and publish content
Create custom content types with the Content Construction Kit
Create Views
Create Page view displays
Create Block view displays
Learn about Drupal themes

Pros of Using Drupal

Open source: Yes, Drupal is open source. This means you get all the benefits of using an open platform.

Highly customizable: The main power of Drupal lies in its flexible nature. You can mould it into any type of content-centered/user-generated site: from a social media site that allows users to submit and vote on content, a forum, a job board, to an image gallery or a service for deploying portfolio sites for designers — Drupal can get it done (with a little bit of work on your behalf, of course).

Cons of Using Drupal

Big learning curve: Yes, it’s a fact that Drupal is a bit harder to grok than other content management systems out there. I will not suggest you use Drupal if you want a website done in a week the first time you use it. It may take you some months to really understand Drupal, and as much as a month to be able to deploy a fully custom site the first time around. However, I should also note that you can deploy a basic site in less than a day’s worth of work (and that’s what we will be doing in this guide).

Complex for non-developers: Since developers’ needs are prioritized with Drupal, for those that aren’t very familiar with computing technologies, Drupal might take a while to get used to. This means that professionals that only dabble in web development might not find it easy to develop (or even administer) Drupal sites.

Complex user interface: Drupal’s admin interface is a bit difficult to understand; it’s not as user-friendly as it should be. (That’s going to change soon, though.)

Read the full article here.

Great! So it’s not only my husband and my daughter who will love my phone due to the numerous games that I’ve downloaded so far. Now that I’m nearing my due date, I’m looking for all kinds of development apps that I can use while I’m in the hospital. And according to the list below, there are more than 90++ apps that I can choose from.

I’ll list my top three as they are the most essential to my work.

FTP On The Go

Download and upload files wherever you are. You can even edit files on the server.

Photoshop.com Mobile

Crop, rotate, adjust color and saturation of your images. Useful for quick graphics edits.

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A friend was ranting over Twitter today on how her laptop dies every hour or so. She was so worried about the possibility of buying a new one that she couldn’t work any more. As soon as she told me how hot it is in her work area, I told her to get a notebook cooler immediately. There could be tons of reasons why laptops heat up from clogged laptop vents to improper placement to a broken laptop internal fan.

One thing I’ve proven however is that it could be as simple as very hot room temperature. Getting a laptop cooling pad is a necessity now especially if you live in humid areas. If you check the laptop accessories at LaptopStand.org, you’ll see tons of options depending on your budget and style. I’m particular in choosing a more expensive laptop cooler after doing some research on how it can really help your machine perform well. I also have personal experience in buying those generic, cheap coolers and all it did was create noise and gather dust without really improving the temperature of my laptop.

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HP coupons are issued to customers who are interested in buying HP products by the Hewlett Packard (HP) Company. HP Home and Office Stores offer various types of coupons every week or month to promote online purchases of its products. The three main types of HP coupons are free accessory with a purchase, free shipping, and discount coupons. Using such coupons, you can get a superior deal on your online purchase of outstanding HP products. An HP coupon is your ticket to big savings or accessing free “extras” when you buy a product from HP.

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I’m so not in the mood to research about apidexin reviews. But when my brother-in-law told me I can use his iPad to do the research for him, well … who am I to say no? May I just say how green with envy I am now? Whenever I see someone brag about theirs, I always have a ready comment in my head. What’s the big fuss when you can have a netbook that can be twice as efficient yet a hundred or so cheaper. But touching the real thing just doesn’t compare to seeing it online.

Good thing I’m not an impulsive buyer or else I would’ve gotten one for myself. Maybe if they can install Photoshop so I can work on minor design changes, I’d be very much tempted.

I’ve had my laptop with me for two years now. I used to have a desktop for heavier programming but since my Dell Studio is enough to handle all my graphics applications and has a huge monitor, I’ve decided to use it for just about everything. It was a bad decision, I now realized. It seems my 9-cell battery is about to give up and I’m afraid that the top cover getting too hot could be a result of something more serious. My one option is to get a smaller laptop for everyday computing. This would significantly reduce the strain from my main machine, giving it time to recuperate for hours. Aside from that, I really need to invest on some laptop accessories. My husband, who is a firm believer of supplementing your gadgets with accessories and improvements never fails to remind me how I should take care of my laptop more. I believe him now, after two years of not listening, so I hope I’ll still be able to save my machine.

As I was searching for laptop accessories online, I found some really  nice suggestions for coolers and laptop stands. I was surprised that they are not as expensive as I thought. In fact, most of them range from $10-$60 depending on the number of features. A laptop stand could be as simple as a small platform placed on your lap. It’s main objective is to provide ventilation for the laptop and on some, give your wrists a break from a flat keyboard. Some people I know would love to build one on their own using stuff around the house but for those who simply have no time, this notebook cooler from Zalman will be your best option.

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I know I shouldn’t be thinking of shopping especially now that we’re saving up to make a bulk payment on our lot property. However, I kept seeing tweets of my old boss’ and how he loves his new iPad. You know I’m a sucker for any Apple product even if I can’t afford them. Still, with the help of fast cash, I may be able to convince my husband to buy it for me just in time for my birthday in June. We can loan for as low as $100 up to $2500 and when I checked, he’s already pre-approved! So there’s really no stopping me from getting one. I’m sure he can pay it quickly the same month if he wants to. Besides, it’s my birthday and who knows, I may have given birth by then so it could also serve as my “push gift”.

Curious what is it that I want about iPad when I have a perfectly working 17″ laptop and a touch screen phone? Well, it’s the size really. The 17″ laptop is too huge and heavy to lug around while my phone’s screen, although considered big at 320px or so just makes my vision blurry.

Buy.com is at it again with their famous weekly sale and discounts. A quick look on their netbooks category showed that my next “to-buy” is now only $355.

ASUS Eee PC1005PE-PU17 10.1″ Netbook
Intel Atom N450, 250GB HD
Wifi, Bluetooth, Webcam, Windows 7 Starter

I’m not sure if this is similar to what we bought for my mother-in-law last year or if it’s more advanced. Either way, she still uses it now without any problems on the battery and memory. So I’m pretty sure this one will do the job as well. Besides, I won’t be purchasing this for myself. My mom, who’s a real estate agent needs to replace her laptop really bad so I suggested we get a smaller one yet still powerful than what she has. The size is perfect for her traveling needs and the technical specs should be enough for all her online brochures, flyers, excel files and maybe a photo editing tool like Photoshop Elements.

We were at the mall last weekend when we save these amazing 0% interest promos for desktop computers. The timing was perfect because I’ve been planning to buy a second machine to give my DELL Studio 1735 a rest. The monthly rates are really good if you don’t have a machine to compare it to. However, the processors, hard disk space and memory are close it not the same to my Studio laptop. So there’s really no point in upgrading, after some careful thinking. There are more desktops to choose from that I would love to get my hands on except the monthly isn’t as light anymore. I’d probably need to sacrifice one of my monthly pleasures such as 2 hour-massages or eating out at nice restaurants just to afford it. I could in 3 or 4 months but a whole year will be overdoing it. I guess I’ll just get one when I have enough money to pay in full.

I came across today some Windows 7 coupons from the Coupon Trunk website. I’m a frequent visitor of Coupon Trunk ever since I found out that you can save big bucks with online coupons whether it’s something as small as free shipping or a 40% off deal on big ticket items.

Anyway, I’m not a fan of upgrading Windows XP especially when upon installing my first Windows Vista, I realized that most of my graphics software don’t work. Windows 7 on the other hand has been receiving great reviews all throughout its beta and RC stages so I’m willing to give it a try.

I’m especially looking forward to the Snap feature because in my line of work, I always need to see two windows side by side. It’s useful when comparing designs, HTML codes and what-not.

With the Pin feature, you can keep programs and files handy by pinning them to the taskbar.

After watching the demos all day, I just can’t wait to get my hands on this OS. The Microsoft discounts at Coupon trunk are just perfect. I’m just not sure whether to buy Professional or Ultimate right this moment. Perhaps I can just buy the Anytime Upgrade if I’m not happy with Pro. Even with the coupon code, the difference between Windows 7 Pro and Ultimate is still too big (around $100) so I think I’ll wait and try Pro first.

Just saw an advertisement for an Oklahoma City lawyer online and loved how they used animation to tell a story. It made me wonder if I should try animation myself. Although I have no time right now to learn new skills, I love to be able to take a stab at it again. My first try at (weird) animation was with Flash and the story was about Hello Kitty turning into siopao (asian pastry filled with meat) and then later on going to heaven. Very elementary but fun nonetheless. With so many things going on at work and pressure to create something mind-blowing, I find it nice to do something creative that’s not related to work at all.

Fill out insurance online quotes. Why go outside when you can compare quotes from the comforts of your own home?

Although I miss brainstorming with other colleagues, I never regretted working from home. It’s like this type of setup was created to make things convenient for me. I rock on my own especially when no one’s breathing down my neck.

Shop for gadgets. Nothing beats being able to touch the items that you’re purchasing but with the price difference, online wins hands down.

Online learning / higher education. With so many things that I need to do plus traffic everywhere you go, I prefer to learn new skills online instead of commuting to a school or center and learn the same thing in front of a computer.

I didn’t know I’d be shopping for laptops this early. My DELL studio 17 is still good but I feel like I’m not giving it enough rest. From time to time, I hear this really freaky and loud sound from the fan and it scares me that something bad is about to happen. According to te forums, this is normal but I don’t want to take chances you know? I don’t want to get a desktop unless it’s an iMac. And God knows when I’ll be able to afford the one that I really want. For now, here’s what I’m looking to have. A Sony Vaio Lifestyle – 8 inch laptop so I can take it with me whenever I have meetings.

Affordable Web Hosting is not hard to find. Just visit one of the many web hosting review web sites in the Internet to learn about the current prices and packages. For a web site owner, it’s important to do a thorough research before you purchase hosting. Your hosting company will be responsible for your site’s uptimes / downtimes and email accounts after all.

For a complete, unbiased guide, you might want to check out 4CheapWebHosting.com. On their Top Rated Hosts section, you’ll be able to compare web hosting companies side by side. With their 4Value rating system, Prologic by StartLogic ranks at number 1 at $4.95 a month.

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I love Math. So much that I used to tutor my brother when he needs some Algebra help. That experience showed me how hard to teach someone if you don’t have the right teaching skills. If you’re a student who is struggling with Math problems, I recommend this site called Tutorvista.com. Tutor Vista offers all kinds of tutoring packages that you can do from the comforts of your home. Connect with a tutor using your computer and you can get personalized one-on-one tutoring at a fraction of what learning centres usually cost.

Learn the answers to all your Algebra word problems in a fun and interactive way. If you will look at the photo below, you’ll see the virtual whiteboard workspace that you and your tutor can draw and write to as your tutoring session progresses.

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