Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

Talking technology, computers, and the Internet… for the average computer user

Archive for May, 2008

Secret Key for Wordpress Blogs

May 30

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Wordpress, blogs, security how-to | Comments off

I’ve been hearing that some blogs are getting “hacked.” I’m still in the process os understanding how a blog can be hacked (there are numerous ways). I think it is a heinous thing to do, but the perpetrators always get away with it. As I dig deeper into the Wordpress forums (about as exciting as perusing a life insurance quote), I’ll be sure to let you know what I discover.

I did find this handy little tip: set up a Secret Key for your Wordpress blog. If you are computer-challeneged, this might be something you’d want to skip or get help with. You DO NOT want to go tinkering around with your php files if you don’t know what you’re doing!! But for those of you who are experienced, this may prove a worthy exercise.

Like I said, I’ll be posting more about all these things in days to come. Until then– blog safely and BACK UP YOUR BLOG on a regular basis!

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A Fun and Easy Business Card Maker

May 27

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in business services, desktop publishing | Comments off

Here’s a really fun website for those of you interested in business cards. It’s LogoYes and it has got to be the simplest and easiest site I’ve seen for making your own business cards. These days, everybody seems to want to be promoting something (can be either your business or your blog– anything, really). I’ve had 250 cards printed up for my travel blog, to leave at museums and to give to curious onlookers, lol.

Anyway, LogoYes has a huge selection of classy templates and fonts. I loved the Adirondack-looking mountain logo design. I could do all sorts of things with the software. I tinkered around a little.

Wow, I LOVE that design! Doesn’t the card ooze class and style?

I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to create the card. You can see the card-creating interface in the photos above. The website uses a Flash-based software to create the design, which made it very interactive, like a game. Making changes and going back to alter text was extremely easy.

It is very important that logo designs do not lose detail when you make the text/images smaller. LogoYes met that standard; the mountain design looked great whether I enlarged it or diminished it. I was impressed.

This is a great site for the do-it-yourselfer desktop publisher! Prices are affordable; business cards are definitely an investment, so you want to choose your card style wisely. You can try out the stuff for yourself– the site offers a free demo. Have fun!

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Another Coupon Site!

May 23

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in free stuff, online shopping | Comments off

I’ve found another great coupon site for your Frugal Hacks out there! It’s called Coupon Money– click here for online coupons. I love the assortment. There are even coupons for Amazon, PetSmart, Overstock, and Staples. Check it out. Remember what Mrs. Mecomber always says: never shop online without checking for online coupons first! ;) Why pay more when all you need is a coupon or promo code to save?

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Handy Word Count Tool

May 19

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in desktop publishing, free programs | Comments off

Have a blog and need to keep track of your word count? Or, if you are like my daughter, do you tend to write 5,000 words for a 1,000 word essay and need to keep track, lol? I found a handy little online tool called the Word Count Tool. It’s free to use. It’s an online software program. Just copy and paste your words into the box, and click “submit.” Pretty handy. And it’s a lot less weighty than having to copy and paste your words into a bulky program like Microsoft Word or Open Office.

In other news, I haven’t been blogging to this blog much, and I’m sorry! I have a lot on my plate right now. And now that spring is here, the gardens have been calling me. But I’ll be popping in from time to time, giving links to the latest cool promotional products, free software, and security news. I also hope to keep posting my tutorials regularly.

Remember, if you have a geeky question, always feel free to ask. Use the “Contact Me” link at the top. I will try my best to get back to you.

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How to Capture a Screenshot

May 18

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in desktop publishing, free programs, how to, image editing | 2 Comments

I was asked to explain how one captures a screenshot of your computer desktop. Believe it or not, it is extremely easy! :D And very fun.

Simultaneously press “ctrl” and “PRTSC/SYSRQ” on your keyboard. This essentially copies what’s on your desktop to your clipboard. What’s needed now is how to paste your copied content into a document. This is where things get varied, because not everyone has the same software.

The most basic graphic program is Paint. It’s not terribly sophisticated, but it will do the job. You can also download a plethora of free editing programs, like Irfanview or Paint.NET. I have a tutorial on using Irfanview here, and I have written something up about making small thumbnails here. You can find Irfanview for free by doing a search at download.com.

I use PaintShopPro, because I like to crop my graphics. Irfanview does not crop images, but it does resize them. Paint and Paint.NET do crop images; they resize images but I think Irfanview does a better job with resizing.

OK, so I’ll just tell you what I do, and you can choose your software program and take it from there.

I make a copy of my desktop image. I then crop the image so I only get what I want in the photo. Then I resize the image to, usually, about 180 width (about how wide my sidebars in my blog are). I then sharpen the image for clarity.

Then, I upload my little graphic to Photobucket. They have a cute little editing program, too. I use this to build a picture frame around my graphic, and I save it like that. And this is what I wind up with:

Photobucket

As always, if you have any questions, leave a comment or email me via the contact form, and I’ll try my best to answer your questions in a timely manner.

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