This could potentially be the best blogging experience to date for me. The WordPress Droid App installed quickly and is simple to use. I’ll attempt a photo upload too.

Expanding on it’s Open Source ‘hive mind’ philosophy, Mozilla’s Firefox browser now allows users to share their personal browser add-ons with the public. How is this accomplished? Through an add-on, of course! The Add-On Collector extension will allow you to publish any or all of your Firefox add-ons to the Mozilla Collections website.  Viewers can peruse others collections or add to their “favorites” for future review and use in their own browser.  Each collections page shows how many add-ons are included and how many subscribers there are.

All you need is to create an account, be using a current version of the Firefox browser and install the Add-on Collector extension.  Once installed, you can hand pick your extensions, add a comment for each (optional) and have them magically added to your own Collections page.  When you register for your own page, you’ll get to pick a username which will be part of link to your public collection.

I created mine and it can be found by clicking the link below:

https://addons.mozilla.org/collection/geak

Check it out and subscribe to make me a happy blogger!

Let me know if you start your own add-on collection by posting it in the comments section.

Editor’s Note:

I was recently contacted by Eva Vespa of www.webhostingsearch.com asking if I would consider them for a  guest post.  A guest post? What!? Me?  Our ensuing email conversation went something like this:

Geakz: Are you a spammer?  Why would you want to guest post on my blog?  Geakz.com hardly has the readership you would be after.

Eva: We contribute to sites both large and small; part of it gives us a little oomph, and part of it gives the receiver blog/site a great article.  We’re also on digg and stumble upon but mainly twitter (@hostingsearch).  [Two examples of articles WebHostingSearch.com has provided other bloggers]:

http://elitebydesign.com/inspirational-political-websites/
http://sixrevisions.com/tools/6_tools_analyze_web_host/

Geakz: I would be interested in an article that would share the needed steps to allow someone to start their own, self-hosted blog – preferably with WordPress.   It would also be a plus if your article was an original to my site and not picked from a list of ‘canned’ articles being placed on other websites.

Eva: I can definitely work with that request as we have a couple writers in house that produce everything, then I edit and beautify it for publication.  About how long do you want the article to be?  And if you want us to include some images, what would be preferred size? I’ll throw it at the editors tomorrow and can get it back to you next week.

The ensuing article is what Eva and her team sent over.  I hope it helps anyone hoping to install a local WordPress installation on their own machine!  It’s a great way to understand how WordPress works  and offers a ‘sandbox’ approach to blogging.  And if this inspires you to research hosting your WordPress blog on a web Hosted service, make sure you utilize WebHostingSearch.com as a resource in finding the right company to host your masterpiece.  [Mr. Geakz received nothing in return for promoting this guest post.]

Hosting Your Own WordPress Blog on Apache

Hosting a blog on your own local server requires two things:

1. Server software
2. A Content Management System [CMS]

Let us assume you choose the two most popularly used: Apache (server) and WordPress (CMS).

Installing a Web Server and preparing it for WordPress.

Apache is  freeware, meaning you can download it to your local computer without ever touching your wallet! The same goes for WordPress, a CMS used by millions of everyday bloggers.  The following  steps will guide you through the initial steps to successfully host a WordPress blog on your own server.

Note! Before installing Apache, make sure any other server application is closed.  Otherwise the installation will fail miserably. Also make sure you are aware of the safety risks of installing a web server on your personal computer before executing Apache.

1.  Install Apache
Start by downloading Apache HTTP Server version 2.2.11, over at Apache.org. Locate specific version Win32 Binary without crypto (no mod_ssl) (MSI Installer) and click on the link to the right. Follow the installation wizard and type in your server information:

• Network Domain: homeip.net,
• Server Name: homeip.net
• Email: your email.

Select the “For All Users-box” below and finish the installation. Your Apache files should be located on your C drive.

Then go to  http://localhost/ –  A message will tell you if the installation was successful.

2.  Install PHP & MySQL
So far,  you have a web server running on your local computer. But in order to make it compatible with WordPress, you will also need to download and install PHP and MySQL, WordPress’ two main components. Go to PHP.net and MySQL.com and download the software and install them on your computer. Make sure they are compatible with the Apache version you have installed.

3.   Install WordPress
Now it is time to download and install WordPress.  Head over to WordPress.org and download the latest version. Extract the WordPress files and transfer them to your servers root directory. Open wp-config-sample.php and configure the MySQL database details and rename the file to wp-config.php. Save and refresh your browser window.  Go to http://localhost/wp-install.php and finish the installation.

It’s as easy as pie!  You now have your own WordPress blog hosted on your own server.

I’ve been meaning to write about this for some time now.  A little sumpin’ sumpin’  that gets under my skin.  Another fine example of a lousy user interface experience.  Also known as ” L.U.I.E “  (pronounced ‘Louie’).

I like the convenience of Verizon’s web based texting service.  It’s just plain quicker for me to type from my keyboard than on my phone, especially when I’m sitting at work on my PC.   Sometimes I have more to say than my clumbsy thumb feels like tapping out on a tiny phone keypad.

Introducing the Verizon “text message security code verification box”!  Let the trumpets sound! We’ve all seen and used these at some point.  Yes, even on blogs.  Peck in the alph numeric code like chickens eating feed to prove we’re humans and wah-la, the message is on its merry cyber way.  Why do we have to jump through these hoops?  To keep spambots out of your cell phone inbox.  See an example below from Verizon’s website…

This should be simple enough, right?

WRONG!  Evidently that is a capital “I”.  ( I <– this is what the capital letter should look like with the upper and lower horizontal whozits protruding over the vertical whatzit. Whatever font Verizon is using makes it non-distinguishable between a lower case “l”).  This is the equivalent of unisex alphabet.  Or letters that have not gone through puberty yet.  Alas, I have failed the human being test and  I let out a goat-like utterance.  Next I get to enter a new code!  Of course this same ambiguity appears with the letters ‘X’, ‘S’, ‘C’ ‘Z’, et-frigging-cetera.  Numbers are the only safe bet here.  But Wait!  Is that a zero or a lower case  ‘o’?  ‘Nuff said.  You get my point.

And what’s up with those wonky horagonal lines?  Are they supposed to make me distinguish between both capital and lower case letters?  They don’t. They get in the way and make me feel like I’m in some carnival fun house or my chair’s missing a caster .   You can do better than this Verizon.  Really.

This topic is now open for discussion.  Thoughts?