Blogging

SnapBomb - it's for real

David Vidmar — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:21:59 GMT

Some time ago I wrote about buzz generating blog advertising site called SnapBomb.

I'm happy to report that they did paid for my review of their site, so I can recommend fellow bloggers to check them out.

Although I'm not pro-spam, this seems very well balanced so it's not annoying.

How it works: if you don't mind some blog marketing, then sign up, validate your blog and wait couple of days. After your blog is verified you will be presented with "opportunities" about which your are invited to write about. Pick those that you really care about and are relevant for your readers. Opportunities are matched to your blog content, so you don't have to fear that you'll turn your blog to a pile of spam. Use your head and don't be greedy and you can collect some change for your domain registrations or other small web expenses.

Simplifying my life - Avoiding words when writting articles for a magazine (Marking words in the list using Word macro)

David Vidmar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:45:08 GMT

Lately I have been writing articles for Monitor computer magazine. When I analyzed what I have written and what lector changed, I easily built a list of words I should avoid.

Since I'm developer I believe that software can help. So I have written three Word macros to help me avoid those words and phrases in my articles.

With three buttons on toolbar and three keyboard shortcuts fixing articles before turning them in is a piece of cake!

I only need to maintain a text file with suspicious words and their suggested substitutes. Format is super simple. Here are few sample lines:

ampak|temveč
blog|spletni dnevnik
direkt*|neposredn*
idej*|zamisel

Finally, here is the VBA code for three macros.

MarkForForbiddenWords opens a file with words I try to avoid and suggestions, reads line by line and marks found words with green squiggles.

Sub MarkForbiddenWords()
    
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Replacement.Text = "^&"        
        .MatchWildcards = True     
    End With          
    With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font 
        .Underline = wdUnderlineWavyDouble
        .UnderlineColor = wdColorSeaGreen
         End With          
    
    intUnit = FreeFile     
    ' change to correct path!     
    Open "C:\Users\David\Documents\checklist.txt" For Input As #intUnit
 
    Do While Not EOF(intUnit)
        Dim strBuffer As String         
	Line Input #intUnit, strBuffer                  
	s = Split(strBuffer, "|")
    
        With Selection.Find
            .Wrap = wdFindContinue
            .Text = s(0)
            .Replacement.Text = Replace(s(0), "*", "") & " [" & s(1) & "?]"             
	    .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll         
	End With                  
	DoEvents     
    Loop      
End Sub

NextMarkedForbiddenWord is much simpler, it just finds occurrence of text with green squiggles.

Sub NextMarkedForbiddenWord()
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "" 
        .Forward = True 
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue 
        .Format = True 
        .Font.Underline = wdUnderlineWavyDouble 
        .Font.UnderlineColor = wdColorSeaGreen 
    End With 
    Selection.Find.Execute 
End Sub

CleanUpForbiddenWords cleans things up as they were.

Sub CleanUpForbiddenWords()
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "" 
        .Forward = True 
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue 
        .Format = True 
        .Font.Underline = wdUnderlineWavyDouble 
        .Font.UnderlineColor = wdColorSeaGreen 
    End With  
    With Selection.Find.Replacement
        .Text = "" 
        .Font.Underline = wdUnderlineNone  
       .Font.UnderlineColor = wdColorAutomatic 
    End With 
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll 
End Sub

Another couple of minutes saved!

Technorati tags: word, office, macro, vba, replace text, lectoring

Find great jobs and hire the best talent

David Vidmar — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:44:39 GMT

Users that actually visit vidmar.net site have probably noticed there has been job board embedded in this site. At first I tested the field with my own version of it, but that was later replace with a professional service Hidden network by Alex Papadimoulis, legendary MVP for MS Paint and author of The Daily WTF.

I believe this service on my blog will be of use for both job seekers and employers!

If you are looking for a new challenge, just browse jobs and subscribe to the feed. Just don't forget to report back when you get that dream job, ok?

If you are employer, you can post your jobs for free (international) or with a huge discount using these codes:

100OFF0712 - $100 discount ($199 for first listing)
200OFF0712 - $200 discount ($99 for first listing)
299OFF0712 - $299 discount (free first listing)
INTLFREE7 - free international (non US/CA) listings

When you apply, please enter my referral number 1159. Thank you!

Take a look at some others blogs that are part of Hidden Network:

Technorati tags: job, job ads, employment

I burned my feed

David Vidmar — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:27:32 GMT

I finally turned my RSS feed info FeedBurner one using MyBrand feature.

For you, reader, nothing should really change. But if something is wrong, please let me know.

Basically my old RSS URL

http://vidmar.net/weblog/rss.aspx

is automatically redirected to

http://feeds.vidmar.net/BiteMyBytes

Nice, one more stat I can refresh all day long when waiting for something to compile/start/install/download... Like I need one more! :)

Another GenericBlue Subtext skin fix

David Vidmar — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:02:02 GMT

I fixed a bug in GenericBlue skin. Re-download at original post.

Technorati tags: subtext, skin, design, fix

Subtext Skins: GenericBlue skin updated again

David Vidmar — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:46:42 GMT

I look like my port of GenericBlue skin did go all that well. Reader notified me that I left some custom controls in there.

So I made another update and updated the Subtext Skins entry, but it usually takes a while that admin confirms my update.

Download: GenericBlue skin for Subtext

Screenshot: GenericBlue skin for SubText posted on SubTextSkins

Technorati tags: subtext, skin, design

GoDaddy promo codes

David Vidmar — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:15:50 GMT

Here is a tip for all domain owners... When you register or renew Internet domains you should do some research first. You can probably get a better deal. I'm using GoDaddy for a while now and I'm quite happy with it. Their prices are already low, but you can get extra discount with "promo codes".

So far I have used "bLaugh" code which gives you 10% any purchase. This is the code from a cool bLaugh web comic that looks defunct now so I took few minutes and some other codes you might want to check out on your next purchase.

Codes that worked for me so far:

bLaugh - Save 10% on any order.
Chill1 - Save 10% on any order.

You can find more codes here:

If you know some codes, post them in the comments!

Technorati tags: discount, domains, money

"Links of the week" are out of beta!

David Vidmar — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:17:46 GMT

Since "Links of the week" posts were well accepted I decided I'll make them permanent feature of this blog.

And since LOW is here to stay, I created a new category. If you want you can subscribe just to "Links of the week" and stay away from other posts.

I have to say it bring some order in my blog writing and reading world and that is a positive thing. Here is why LOW is good for me:

I'm forced to "clean up" in Google Reader and FeedDemon. It forced me to optimize my reading habits and clean up subscriptions.
I also find it very useful to write weekly review so I remember I found something cool during and I forgot /didn't have time / did bother to try it out. Before writing WOL I tend to do that.
It's not that I have something better to do on Sunday evening.

Technorati tags: beta, LOW, blogging

WordPress Plugins everyone needs

David Vidmar — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:16:39 GMT

I don't run WordPress but I do occasionally set-up one and help fellow bloggers run it.

So I assembled essential WordPress plugins that everyone needs:

Akismet - if you run latest versions (and you should!) this is already built in. Activate and setup and enjoy absence of spam.
Analyticator - Elegant way to include Google Analytics code on your blog. You should create Google Analytics account first.
FeedBurner FeedSmith - Elegant way to substitute your feed with FeedBurner one. You should create FeedBurner accounts first.
Google Sitemaps - Google really likes sites with sitemaps. This will automatically create it for you.
Optimal Title - This will also raise your search site rankings a bit.
Recent posts - Simple plugin for listing recent posts. Some manual work needed.
Recent Comments- Simple plugin for listing recent comments. Some manual work needed.

If above plugins are essentials, this list could be called recommended:

Adsense-Deluxe+ - Elegant and efficient way to include Google AdSense ads on your blog, if you do ads.
Contact Form - Add simple way for your readers to privately contact you without exposing your email address.
Show Top Commentators - Award to commenters with a list.

Did I miss anything? Post your suggestions in comments!

Technorati tags: wordpress, blogging, plug-ins, list

Search box for vidmar.net

David Vidmar — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:22:10 GMT

I added a Google search box to the left column of my blog. Due to sitemap my page is rather well indexed so finding an old article shouldn't be a problem.

The design of things is not something I'm proud of, but I don't enjoy solving CSS and HTML weirdos in browser very much lately. I'll fix it sometime in the future, but I'm going for value for now...

Technorati tags: blogging, search, vidmar.net