freelancing Archives

Links
Links Round Up for 02/20/11
February 20, 2011
- Freelance Freedom: Email Delusion (comic): This is oh so very true. It’s kind of sad.
- Back to the Future (photography): This is really cool; the photographer recreates old photos using the same person 20+ years later.
- Psychic Show Cancelled due to “Unforeseen Circumstances” (wired): This isÂ hilariousÂ to me.
- Twitter Faux Pas (red cross): It’s cool to see somethings that could have been a PR nightmare turn into something good. Kudos to Dogfish Head.
- Twitter’s Biz Stone: “We are not Valued at $10 Billion” (techcrunch): Oh hey…people are over-inflating an Internet company’s value? Kudos to the Twitter guys for squashing this!
- Apple’s App Store Bad for Consumers, AT&T CEO says (bgr): I have always thought this. It’s one of the main reasons I prefer Android to iOS.
- LEGO Robot Solves a Rubikâ€™s Cube in 25 Seconds Using Droid Phone: Oh good. Another Android phone that is now smarter than me.
- Sync Your Android with Your Mac using Syncmate (android.appstorm): In my latest article on Android.Appstorm, I look over the software Syncmate, which allows you to sync Calendar, Contacts, Bookmarks, iTunes, Photos, and more with your Mac.
- Why You’re a Bad Programmer (nettuts): Seriously, don’t be a wang.
Links
Links Round Up for 02/13/11
February 12, 2011
- Poster: Mixed Reviews: These are some pretty sweet posters showcasing the great beverages of great movies. I may have to get 1 or 5.
- Minimalist Task Management with Todo.txt Touch (android.appstorm): I take a look at my new favorite Android app, Todo.txt Touch.
- Comic: The 6 Crappiest Interview Questions (the oatmeal): That’s about right. If there’s a better interview answer for “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” than “Here, working my away up the ranks,” I’ve yet to hear it.
- 10 Great Sites for Finding Great Deals (web.appstorm): Twice published by envato this week, I take a look at my 10 favorite sites for finding awesome deals.
- Comic: Unmatched Parenthesis (xkcd: This bothered me a lot. I wonder if it broke any automatic parsers.
- ‘Oopsies!’: Us Weekly apologizes to Sarah Palin over using fake quotes (foxnews): I heard US Weekly said, “Well, I read it on the Internet, so it must be true.”
- Rdio: I’ve been using this music streaming service for the last 5 or so days have I’ve been digging it.
- Image: Pyramid scheme (lamebook): HA!
- 20 Awesome Android Apps for Students (android.appstorm): Great list! Kinda makes me wish I was still a student, but I suspect I can try some of these out as a teacher.
- Watercooler: The Forecast for Mr. Sunshine (tvguide): I really liked the show- I’m also a big fan of Matthew Perry. PS- they use a quote from yours truly in the article!
Links
Links Round Up for 02/6/11
February 6, 2011
- What is the Internet? (video): This video has been flying around the Internet all week. One note is that this was in 1994- less than 17 years ago. It’s amazing how much has changed since then.
- Shutting Down the Internet (pcmag): There is a bill in Congress that would give the President the same power Egypt has, to kill the Internet is need be.Â What does Congress have against the Internet? This is a terrible idea and it will be a sad day in America if it’s passed.
- Google, SayNow, and Twitter team up to make Tweeting from Egypt possible via voicemail (engadget): And this is what make great American companies so great.
- The TSA’s new Body Scanners Spot Bombs, not Dongs (gizmodo): Big change from November, and a big win for everyone who spoke out against the full body scanners.
- Microsoft’s Bing uses Google’s Search Results- and Denies It (google blog): This post explains the experiment Google ran to confirm Bing was stealing their results. Microsoft doesn’t really have a lot of wiggle room here.
- The White Stripes Split (spinner): This is upsetting, though I do like the Raconteurs a lot more.
- Five Ways the Google-powered Tablet is Better than the iPad (lifehacker): I watched the event last week that demoed some of the cool stuff Android 3.0 (called Honeycomb) does. A lot of it is very well done.
- Setting the Record Straight (bing blog): Oh God, it’s a flame war, big corporation style.
- Current Crop of Tablets, Compared (lifehacker): Really helpful- The Moto Xoom looks like the leader of the pack.
- Verizon can now throttle top five percent of bandwidth hogs, downres multimedia transfers (engadget): “Here at Verizon, we like to do 1 really popular thing, follow by a bunch of really, REALLY unpopular things.”
- Palin: America out of Step with Reagan’s Values (usatoday): While she’s right, she isn’t the person to bring us back to them.
- You can Now use Basecamp on your Mobile Phone (37signals): This excited me. Also, they went with a mobile-optimized interface instead of native apps. I think this is a very smart move.
- CSS Properties that Affect Type Rendering (typekit): I’ve has some issues with this recently, so the article is very helpful!
- How to Tell when Your Rates are Too Low (freelance switch): I experienced this over the summer- very true!
- The New Bulletproof @font-face Syntax: Now with support for mobile platforms.
- Pettitte calls it a Career After 16 Years, 5 Rings (yankees): I’ve been watching Andy since I started watching baseball. I will miss him and his rock-solid post season performances
Some other news: Â Today is Super Bowl Sunday (go Pack!), as well as Ronald Reagan’s birthday. Also, I worked on a simple Reading List plugin for WordPress this week. You can see it in action on my blog here, though I have made some changes that I will release this week.
Portfolio | Thoughts | Websites
Manifest Development Redesign 2011: Custom Widgets
January 30, 2011
In Parts 1 and 2, I talked about the two most important parts of the site- the homepage and portfolio. Today I want to talk about a more subtle, but still important, part of the site- the sidebar.
Read More “Manifest Development Redesign 2011: Custom Widgets”
Links
Links Round Up for 01/30/11
January 29, 2011
- Worst Idea: Filming a Speeding Train Running Over You (gizmodo): It’s watching things like this that make me wonder about Darwinism.
- Print from Your Phone with GMail Mobile & Google Cloud Print (google): This is awesome. I can’t wait for Mac support (right now, only Windows is supported)
- WLKY Chyron Says Steelers beat ‘Jew York Jets’: Someone got fired.
- Bouncing Bundle of Kidnappable Joy: I have liked everything I’ve read by this woman. Pointing out ridiculousness of the media- check. Stating we live in a fearful society- check.
- It’s Always Personal (waiter rant): I love his stories. His site used to be about the trials and tribulations of waiting, but now it’s his experiences. Either way, they are very well written.
- Everything You Need to Know about the Verizon iPhone and Making the Switch (lifehacker): Great, comprehensive, and very informative.
- Would-Be Suicide Bomber Killed by Unexpected SMS from Mobile Carrier (wired): If true, the SMS might be the only time that a wireless carrierâ€™s SMS message has ever been useful.
- How Egypt Turned Off the Internet (gizmodo): I was just speaking with my friend about how I appreciate that this would be nearly impossible to do in America.
- Android.Appstorm.Net (envato): The envato network just launched their latest site, dedicated to all things Android. Definitely check this out if you own an Android phone!
- Designing for the New Fold (webdesigntuts+): I’ve been saying the fold is irrelevant on the web for a while now. Read this!
Portfolio | Thoughts | Websites
Manifest Development Redesign 2011: The Portfolio
January 26, 2011
For the second part of this series, I want to talk about putting my new portfolio together. The portfolio is the most important area for a web developer because it gives the user insight into the type of work he or she does, so I wanted to do it right. It’s now in two places, and is managed a completely different way on the backend. Â Let’s take a look.
Read More “Manifest Development Redesign 2011: The Portfolio”
Portfolio | Thoughts | Websites
Manifest Development Redesign 2011: The Homepage
January 22, 2011
[singlepic id=7 w=320 h=240 float=right]Â Last week I launched a redesign of my freelance site, Manifest Development. I started developing it in late November, and wanted to revamp the site completely from design to content. I got some feedback from my students during one class when we were talking about the importance of a small business’ website, and I wanted to integrate that, as well as some of the new things I learned over the last two years. I’m planning on making this a multipart series, and in today’s installment, I want to talk about the most important part of a website: The Homepage.
Read More “Manifest Development Redesign 2011: The Homepage”
Business
Preparing for Tax Time
July 18, 2022
With tax time right around the corner, everyone is gearing up to file and hopes for some sort of refund- found money! For freelancers like myself, this could be an upsetting and arduous task if you’re not prepared. I’ve always been umm…let’s say diligent…about keeping my books in order, looking over them weekly to make sure I didn’t miss anything, and to get a good snapshot of how I’m doing for the year. If you’re not prepared, however, it can be a real pain and a bigger shock. Here are some tips for being prepared for tax time- especially for you new freelancers.
Read More “Preparing for Tax Time”
Links
Links Round Up for 01/23/11
January 22, 2011
- Obama may Face new Kind of Crowd at State of the Union (usa today):Â “The choreographed standing and clapping of one side of the room — while the other side sits — is unbecoming of a serious institution.”
- Comic: 3D (xkcd): String Theory is tricky…
- Introducing Technically Media (sean blanda): Sean is doing some cool stuff in Philly and beyond- I suggest you check it out!
- Cell Phone Holdouts are Right: Buy a Cell Phone, Become a Baby: It’s true. People are also becoming ruder and less considerate because they think the cell phone gives them a free pass!
- The Best Times to Buy Anything in 2011 (lifehacker): I love that they do these calendars. I want to buy a new car this year- looks like September is my best bet.
- Quote- Steve Jobs & Exit Strategies (37signals): When I did the business plan competition, “Exit Strategy” was a required section of the plan. I didn’t really know how to answer besides, “Umm, none?”
- Our Biggest Android Annoyances & How to Fix Them (lifehacker): Great guide- very helpful no matter how long you’ve had an Android phone.
- Apple’s Making it Impossible to Open Up Your iPhone (gizmodo): They are swapping out screws and replacing them with ones that don’t have a commercial screw driver. Are you surprised? I’m not.
- Ronald Reagan: A ‘Folklore’ President who Led a Revolution (usa today): â€Ž”This hard, no-compromise is not the Reagan approach,” Brinkley says. “He was the person who ended conservatism as being ideologically frozen, and he became the genial, pragmatic conservative…”
- Eek! A Male! (wsj): This is true. I’m actually self-consciousÂ about being pinned as such, and it’s not healthy. On a side note, this is the second article from Lenore Skenazy I’m linking to from this week. I think I found a new favorite writer.
- ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Villains Revealed: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane. Sounds good to me.
- Larry Page to Replace Eric Schmidt as CEO of Google (mashable): Interesting news. Schmidt will still serve as Executive Chairman, but Page will take care of the day-to-day stuff.
Also, last week I launched my new website for Manifest Development. Check it out if you didn’t already!
Links
Links Round Up for 01/16/11
January 16, 2011
- Google Goggles Solves Sudoku (youtube): My phone is now smarter than me.
- Verizon’s iPhone Event (engadget): Here’s a play-by-play of Verizon’s announcement of the iPhone coming to their network.
- All-time MLB Saves Leader Trevor Hoffmann Retires (mlb): The man had 601 saves. The only guy close to that is Mariano Rivera.
- How to be Early when You’re Perpetually Late (work awesome): It drives me crazy when people are constantly late.
- iPhone Speed Test- ATT vs. Verizon (cnet): Spoiler- this video shows the Verizon iPhone is way faster than it’s ATT counterpart.
- TV Show Favs is a TV Show Tracker for Android (lifehacker): This app keeps track of your favorite shows for you. And it has a widget. It’s my new favorite app.
- 10+ Sources for Web Background Patterns (webdesigntuts): This will prove to be very useful to me.
- 5 Money Mistakes Freelancers Make (freshbooks)
- Rock-Solid WordPress 3.0 Themes using Custom Post Types (nettuts): I wrote this back in May for Nettuts+, but referenced it this past week for the Manifest Development redesign.

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