When I started doing web maintenance I charged by the hour. Quickly I realized that having three kids makes hourly charges impossible - for ME, not to mention that some jobs took me 5 minutes. So I now charge by the minute (with minimums...in case any of you were wondering).

At first I tried using a Wiki to keep track of minutes. No go.
Then I tried Project Pier. AWESOME program, I'll use it for big projects - not minute tracking.

I had to slowly extract myself from cyberland and head back to my roots. Pen and paper. Yeah, you heard me right. Pen. Paper.

In the sixth grade I won the penmanship award. Here's some trivia...in what year did they stop giving penmanship awards? 1985.

Needless to say, my fingers are so accustomed to my precious QWERTY that a pen feels foreign and my writing is nothing short of pathetic. Sometimes I forget how to finish off a letter and so I just draw a line. That must be what doctor's do - only they do it out of sheer lack of time whereas I do it out of sheer lack of neurological function.

Again I digress. If you charge by the hour and you have kids bothering you every four to six minutes, make a time log. I have 7 columns on mine:

1. Date
2. Client/Job
3. Start Time
4. End Time
5. Charge
6. Billed
7. Paid

In my start and end times boxes they generally look like this:

10:42 10:45
10:48: 10:57

...and so on. I always round up to the next minute on start times because that seems fair. Overall I do this because I'm fair, I couldn't stand it if someone thought I bilked them out of 14 cents.

ANYWAY, print a stack of these time log sheets on a clipboard. If you have several clients who you do small jobs for, give them their own sheet. I am NOT the queen of organization, I generally have tons of great ideas, very few do I implent. But this one? It has helped me immensely.

If you don't want to make your own, just download mine. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader, but seriously, who doesn't have that??

Here's the link: http://www.affordable-site-design.com/downloads/time-log-sheets.pdf

Do your worst!

Brought to you by Seymour products - as per the last post, I think all online businesses can use as much help as they can get in the marketing area.

Visit Seymour Products and sign up for their free Business marketing Bulletin Newsletter. They offer a lot of great tips, and some are new and ingenious which is what we love!

...but I DO know that being indexed on Google is key to internet success. It's not the ONLY key, just one of many. I happened upon this video, I think it's a smart watch for anyone wondering how to rank higher on Google, or any engine for that matter:

Oooh, all of you old-schoolers are humming ZZ Top right now. I'm sorry, it could be worse. Like the stupid Chia Pet theme song. (ch-ch-ch-CHIA) Again. I apologize.

Oookay, you might notice the banners slathered all over my screen here. I just simply adore these three sites:

• Paperback Swap -Nope, not just paperbacks. You can list the books you no longer need on this site. When a member wants one of your books, you send it to them. When they receive your book, you receive a point. You can then use that point to request a book from another member. The cost to you is shipping! True, some books cost more to send...but it's cheaper than buying a new book any day!
  
  
• Swap-a-CD - Okay, same premise as the book swap, but with CDs. I have picked up some CDs for my kids -- you know how kids ruin things? This is such a great way to get kids' music! There is a small fee to required for each swap (49¢), plus 1 point. But again, cheaper than buying a new disk that will most likely land in the toilet or toaster at some point!
  
  
• Swap-a-DVD -Again...the same premise as the above but the swaps don't cost any cash. Some DVDs will cost 1 point, some will cost 2. One DVD point is equal to two book or CD points...

  

One thing I've noticed is that the CD site is slow. I have a ton of CDs posted and only have had one requested. Okay, probably because my music is lame. Yeah...I'm actually sure that's the problem. BUT I've had nearly all of the books I posted sent out, and I've gotten some DVDs that, again, replenished the kids' movies that they have destroyed.

I highly recommend these services. The people are friendly, the swaps have all been a breeze, and it's just a total win-win situation.

Technology at it simplest doesn't get any better than this!

So I don't hate toolbars THAT much, but I do refuse to install them, with the exception of Google and my latest....FOX News Talk.

"I hate politics!" -- "I hate talk radio!" (Does that sound like YOU?)

I don't, and I'll tell you why. You can skip over this next bit if you don't care...but if you don't care I'm not sure why you got this far. Anyhoo...I like talk radio, specifically FOX because I get to hear both sides of the debates, stories, etc. After all, their tagline is "Fair and Balanced." and they really truly are.

While I won't divulge my political party (whatever that means) right here because it doesn't matter in a nation of electoral votes - though I DO cast my vote each and every time! - I will bring to your attention the FOX News Talk toolbar. I love that I can just "click" and listen to the news while I'm online, which is A LOT.

I think it's all just interesting. I love listening to both sides, and flies on the wall will hear me say "huh" (thoughtfully) or yell, "Yeah RIGHT you idiot!"...things like that. Sort of like my husband yelling at the TV during a game, I'm right here during Hannity & Colmes nodding and shunning to my computer screen. It's a great time.

My point, in a nutshell: Everyone should be up on their current affairs. FOX news is entertaining and enlightening. They have a toolbar which makes listening easy. Click HERE to get it.

The Giggle Bug Child Locator. Those of you who have kids, which is many of you, you know we all share one same fear. LOSING one. At least the young ones...the older ones not so much, at least for a little while. What do I know, I don't have teenagers yet.

This device comes in three colors. It's CUTE (which you know I LOVE) and this is how it works. The child wears the receiver (clip it on) and the parent keeps the locater beeper thingy. If you need to know where your child ran off to, simply press the button for a quick "beep beep" and you're all set!

Like Laura and I always say, you cannot put a price on your children or your peace of mind. Well, we don't say that...but we should!

BUT our original slogan says it all: Protect your children, there's NO excuse!

Now don't you feel compelled? Go buy one...$29.95/ea. Can't beat that!

Regardless, I want to share this program that my kids just love. My 3yo loves it, my 6yo loves it. If they can use a mouse, they'll be mesmerized with Tux Paint.

An open source project, this program is like MS Paint on....umm...an energy inducing drug of some sort. A colorful one with sound effects.

You can download the software free at SourceForge, and don't forget to download the fonts and stamp sets. Read the directions to make sure you do it all correctly.

One technical note -- install it on a computer you don't use. Why? Because you won't be able to peel your children away from it.

This one is fun, educational and time-consuming. If you need a little peace and quiet, here's your baby sitter. (No, DON'T leave the house!!)

And your link for download: http://tuxpaint.sourceforge.net/

Have fun!!

Lucky for him, my latest love resembles a website. A little fancy schmancy URL I like to call http://www.everythingoutlet.com/ -- The EVERYTHING outlet.

Really there could be no greater name for a store. The Everything outlet. Well, it leads one to believe that it has...everything. Misleading at worst.

The Everything Outlet has great prices on popular software. I'm a graphics geek, and I feel like I'm taking the road less traveled with my choice of the Corel Suite to make my digital beauties, but old habits die hard. And I'm way okay with "not the latest version" -- so I hop-skip-jump over there to buy Corel Graphics Suite 12 and I'm the happiest gal on planet Earth! Really...$59.95?? CRAZY affordable!

The shipping was fast and reasonable, especially when you take into consideration their rock-bottom prices. They offer software and some hardware. If you're in the market, definitely check them out before shelling out your hard earned cash at Best Buy (sorry, I like Best Buy, but they don't pay my bills...or not pay them!)

You can catch a nice break on software if it's listed as OEM (meaning its software only, no manuals) but if you've ever installed a program and used it, then you know you can locate manuals online somewhere.

You're welcome.

You've heard of computer viruses.

You've probably heard of spyware.

You should have heard the terms malware and adware by now.

What about "rootkits" -- have you heard that new sweetheart?

Agghhh!! LEAVE US ALONE BASEMENT DWELLERS! (That's my slang for people who write pc viruses...I imagine them with greasy hair in their grandma's basement with a single lightbulb swaying back & forth typing like crazy, lol. It makes me laugh and takes the anger out a bit.)

ANYWAY....rootkits are the latest threat. I'm too tired to paraphrase, so I'll let Wikipedia give it to you straight:

"A rootkit is a program (or combination of several programs) designed to take fundamental control (in Unix terms "root" access, in Windows terms "Administrator" access) of a computer system, without authorization by the system's owners and legitimate managers. Access to the hardware (ie, the reset switch) is rarely required as a rootkit is intended to seize control of the operating system running on the hardware. Typically, rootkits act to obscure their presence on the system through subversion or evasion of standard operating system security mechanisms. Often, they are also Trojans as well, thus fooling users into believing they are safe to run on their systems. Techniques used to accomplish this can include concealing running processes from monitoring programs, or hiding files or system data from the operating system.^[1]"

Rootkit. (2008, February 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:56, February 19, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rootkit&oldid=191903308

I know what you're thinking. "Huh?" -- yeah, my sentiments exactly. This was a new one on me too! But as good fortune would have it, there is a free anti-rootkit software that you can download, courtesy of Grisoft.

Here's the link: http://www.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-rootkit/us/crp/0

• Download
• Install
• Reboot
• Run the program - it will be listed in your programs as "AVG Anti-Rootkit"

So there you have it! Another weapon for your anti-cyber-demon arsenal!

If you're someone who likes to add a lot of photos or images to your blog, then check out Picasa. In an old, old post I had posted instructions on using Hello, which is now gone. In one of my usual mad-panic episodes, I searched for the reason they killed Hello, only to find that they actually altered Picasa (Hello's sister) to work directly with Blogspot. PHEW

So here are the new instructions:

1. Download Picasa
2. Open it it up and wait as it indexes ALL the images on your hard drive.
3. Select an image
4. Click the "Blog This" button at the bottom of the screen
5. "Patience is a virtue"...chant that for a few moments
6. Wait for your transfer to your Blogger account and POST!

And THAT is the tip of the day...which most of you likely knew already.

I got the 2.5 HDD Enclosure on Saturday. I was really excited, even drove to the hardware store (without kids!) to get a set of those itty bitty screwdrivers that are so elusive when you need them most.

Apparently Sony has stock in Lock-Tite because those screws were in there so tight that my husband had to actually tear the hard drive from the unit. Made my paperweight a bit lighter!

So as I sit there anxiously, reminding him to be sure not to touch this or that, and make sure he's not static-y like most of us during the winter, he finally hands over the little Hitachi.

Like a maniac I rip open the box of my new enclosure, pop it open and ....VOILA! It doesn't FIT!

So for other people who are prone to impulse purchases purely for instant gratification purposes and are in need of a 2.5" HDD Enclosure...there areTWO KINDS:

• SATA
• IDE (or P-ATA)

Word to the wise....pull your HDD OUT of the PC before you buy anything for it. If it has pins on it, that's IDE or P-ATA. If it looks like a little flat strip should fit into it, that's SATA.

And if you need a 2.5" SATA HDD Enclosure....let me know. $10 and that includes shipping.

Sigh.

Not a total loss though!! Now, (listen men) because my husband understands my disgust of waiting, he pretends to go into Home Depot (20 miles away) and comes home later with...you guessed it...and IDE 2.5" HDD Enclosure. $50.

It works beautifully....and the "look" he gave me said, "I hope you've learned your lesson about impulse buying."

I did...for now.

Well, a lot has happened over the past 10 years or so.

Digital camera...check. Flash Drive...check. WiFi...check(ish). Ipod...that plays music, right?

I gotta stop there...because there are things out now that I either haven't heard of, or haven't realized I needed yet. So since I spent the past 7 years basically pregnant, I am now going backwards to learn about things I missed.

Here's my latest learn. Thanks to a tech at protonic.com I learned about this new little gadget...apparently not so new though.

A few months ago a power surge zapped the mother board in my Sony Vaio laptop. I was seriously crushed. CRUSHED. While I had backed up all of my design projects literally days before, I merely thought I had backed up all of my genealogical data. Not the case. Any genealogist knows that losing your gedcom is tragic. TRAGIC.

Okay, good news, the data is still on my Vaio hard drive. I just need a new motherboard....at a hefty price tag of $500-$700. I love you old girl, but not THAT much. You just cradle my files until mama thinks of something to make it ALL better.

I digress. I go to protonic.com and whine to them "The Geek Squad wants to charge me $100 to get the data from my hard drive!!" and my friendly tech responds with an answer that seems just too easy.

A hard drive disc enclosure. Brand new they cost about $30. Ebay....$10 -- that's 50¢ + $9.50 s/h, of course. But it's a far cry from a new motherboard!

So in my overzealousness I bid, won & paid in 15 minute's time and am eagerly awaiting the gadget. Apparently I just pull out the HD from my Vaio, plug it in this little enclosure, and it connects to my PC via USB cable. Here I am in absolute AWE that this exists about 5 years too late...the little orange-light-blinking flash drive I see out of the corner of my eye is screaming for recognition, "I'm better! I'm newer! PICK ME! PICK ME!"

...and I do! But not before I retrieve my gedcom...and then only until the next cool thing comes along. Like a scan-bar for my wrist which contains every memory I've ever had. Sniff...sniff...I smell the mark of the beast.

Sorry, but apparently my loyalty lies in what's to come.

You know how sometimes when you boot up it takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get to the startup screen? And you're tapping your foot, growling impatiently "come ON, COME ON!"

Well, if you're like me, you like to install new programs 100% of the time. The possibilities with computers are just seemingly endless...so let's keep installing stuff!

So, what's the problem? Well, a couple actually.

Problem one is pretty no-brainer. Programs take up space.

Problem two - Windows needs some room to dance. I mean breakdance...clear the floor!! (Like my prom date, 1992, he was breakdancing like a champion, only it wasn't popular in 1992. Sweet!)

When you have a bunch of new programs adding entries to the startup, you're forcing your computer to do the "white-guy-sway-back-and-forth-snapping-fingers" dance. It doesn't have room for much else. Loading programs will lock things up, running programs will seize. Your mouse cursor moves sooooo sloooow. AND if you're lucky you'll get the big BLUE SCREEN we all adore so much.

So give that lovely unit some dance floor. First, uninstall programs you don't need. If it's gratis software, you can always get it again, don't panic. Except for DVD Decryptor...that one you can't get. (Sorry Pirates!)

Then go clear out your startup files!

1. In your start menu there's a folder called "Startup". I am just convinced that NOTHING needs to be in there. Argue if you like, I'm sure there's *something, somewhere* that MUST be in that folder, but I have yet to find it. Delete those entries (not the folder).

2. Click Start > Run, then type "msconfig" and hit Enter. Click the Startup tab. See all that gunk? ALL of that stuff that has a checkmark next to it starts when Windows starts.

Eek, right? Yeah...I know. So, if you see something that just doesn't need to be there, like super obvious, uncheck it. If you're not sure, you can visit http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php for a SUPER HANDY tool. It tells you what those entries are and if they're necessary.

The best part? All of the above is un-doable.

Dance on.