I recently reformatted my home computer, which is a Mac, in the hopes that I would be able to clean off all the garbage I’d put all over it. After backing up my files, photos, music, movies and all the important things I reinstalled.
And then I recalled that I had wiped out Firefox and all my saved settings.
Now after I complained and whined and fussed over my loss, I went looking for a utility to migrate my work computer settings to my fresh home computer. In my searching I came across a Lifehacker post about Moving Firefox Settings to a New Computer. It recommends downloading MozBackup, a utility which will back up all your Firefox settings on a PC - and when I say “all your settings,” I mean cache, cookies, history, extensions, bookmarks and more. Yes, EVERYTHING.
So after using this to back up my Firefox settings I began looking for a way to import the files to a Mac. Well I had to look no further than the previously mentioned Lifehacker post, where later on in the post, it states that the PCV file is simply a proprietary ZIP file. I promptly renamed the file extension from PCV to ZIP and extracted it with Stuff-It. Now it’s in a folder ready to be copied over from it’s home on my desktop to the Firefox profile (located in your home directory » Library » Application Support » Firefox » Profiles » GIBBERISHSTRING.default) and the moment of truth hits. Am I going to ruin my Firefox installation by copying the files over?
I grit my teeth and drag the files and overwrite my default Firefox profile with the contents of the zip directory.
And it works. Flawlessly.
It’s so nice to be able to do a bit of research online and save 5-10 hours searching for my extensions, installing them, updating, importing my saved searches, toolbars, bookmarks and setting up all my accounts again, but all that was saved by working smarter rather than harder.
As creative-types, we’re selecting fonts on a daily basis for our projects. After a few years you get to “know” the mood, feel and personality of fonts just as well as you know your own shirt size.
This is the first time we’ve seen common fonts personified - and it’s the coolest video we’ve seen in a long time. Kudos to College Humor TV, they did a great job.
How many of these fonts do you instantly recognize just by their persona alone?
My only objection… Comic Sans is not that cool, and I have a hard time seeing him beat on anyone, much less Ransom. And where was Papyrus? Probably locked in a broom closet somewhere (and rightly so).
Hey, my preferred account name is taken! This post will help describe how to find a unique account name when your preferred account name is taken.
For instance let’s try to get me a Gmail account that reflects my name. My name is Ian Hall and I’d love to have ianhall@gmail.com for an account. Unfortunately that account is taken.
So what are my options?
Use extra numbers. I could be ianhall1980@gmail.com but I don’t really want that do I? Nah, not creative enough.
Use your interests. I could be ianhallshootsguns@gmail.com but that probably won’t get me the job I’m looking for and might just get me flagged by government agencies, as would ianhalllikesponies@gmail.com
Get a handle. I could be t3hn1nj4z@gmail.com but that’s hard to remember and probably not going to get me that CTO job I’m eyeing (or any other job for that matter).
Shorten my account name. This usually works and there are a few methods. The preferred method is removing vowels so ianhall@gmail.com would become nhll@gmail.com. But with my name that’s not valid as Gmail accounts must be at least six characters. So I can’t deduct vowels to get “nhll” and that would look silly anyway.
Get your own domain. Then you can have ian@whateverdomain.com. Problem solved, but I want to have an @gmail.com account for a few reasons: permanence and it’s easy to remember unlike name@domain. And yes, I’m sure that for most of us name@domain is probably easy, but it can be tough for the nontechnical folks.
Add clever prefixes or suffixes to my name. Bingo, I like this idea. But what are some of the options?
Himself or herself - ianhimself@gmail.com
The or teh - tehian@gmail.com or theian@gmail.com
Ask - askian@gmail.com
Hey - heyian@gmail.com
Yo - yoian@gmail.com, though it wouldn’t work for me as my name is short.
$letter is for $name - iisforian@gmail.com, just substitute “I” for your first initial.
Email - emailian@gmail.com
Got more ideas? Let us know!
Now these are just a few of the ideas I have, but I’m certain there are so many more out there. Post them in the comments. Let us know what you think and how you get around your email account being stolen. And if you don’t have any problem finding your desired account on any desired system, please don’t rub it in. It stings.
The Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health needed a full redesign, and a logo to go along with it. We included a robust content management system (CMS) so that ILAIMH staff can quickly and easily add and edit content whenever they choose. If they’d like to create a new News item, add a page or edit a paragraph, no tools or HTML knowledge is necessary. With just a browser, they can edit pages as though they were writing in MS Word. Simple and fast.
We’re putting the finishing touches on a forum section that catches messages from the ILAIMH listservs, and makes them available on the web site. Listserv subscribers will now have two ways to participate in discussions - via email or online in the private forums.
Fox Hills Resort also needed a full redesign. The old site was a bit light on photography and didn’t make much of an impression on the visitor. The new site is clean and crisp, with large photography, smooth navigation and a clear brand message.
We included a CMS here as well, allowing Fox Hills to update and add their own content, upload new photos and newsletters and do it all with nothing more than a web browser and a few point-and-clicks.
Let’s face it, it is of utmost importance to understand your clients. Many companies, large and small, struggle with understanding their clients or installation base. The key to truly understanding your client really is to use the product on a day-to-day basis to understand how it is used and what could make it better.
Not two days ago I was lamenting what a pain it is to head into the office only to realize I had not signed off my Gmail account at home. Or to leave a visit with my parents only to remember that I had not signed out of my Gmail account while using their computer. Or, were I a student late for class, to run from a computer lab only to remember that my Gmail account is still active in chat with my latest loan information sitting open for all to read. You get the picture: me hoping that my parents are not going to try and open an account on “that newfangled Gmail everyone is talking about” only to discover that there is already one signed in, and that my recent order of 10,000 latex condoms and 40 gallons of ultra-hot hot sauce shipped last night.
And then on Monday Google releases the nerve-wracking solution to my problem by adding the Remote Sign Out and Information feature to Gmail. This ridiculously simple tool is such an excellent example of how Google understands how people use their product and can formulate a simple solution to alleviate the stresses of leaving an account signed in elsewhere. Now I can see how recently my remote accounts were active, which IP they were active from, and then I can sign them out.
And this, my friends, is why understanding your clients is so important. This is why we take the time to understand what our clients want, need, and how they are going to use what we provide to better provide for their clients. It is your business and we want you to know that we get you, what you do, and what you need. It may take a few more hours, but a personal approach works.
I recently reformatted my home computer, which is a Mac, in the hopes that I would be able to clean off all the garbage I’d put all over it. After backing up my files, photos, music, movies and all the important things I reinstalled.
