Windows Live Can Make Anyone a Blogger. Even You! (Part 2)

We began a look at blogging in Part 1 of this post when we looked at setting up an account on Windows Live.  If you have done that, or opened a blog at WordPress, Blogger or the blog of your choice, you are ready to start using Windows Live Writer. 

Let’s start by downloading the necessary software.  Click here http://download.live.com/ to go to the download site at live.com.  Look for the link that says writer. 

Just a note about the new Essentials software.  Microsoft has made available some fairly good software that use to come bundled with Windows.  Due to various issues with the legality of that (it’s a very long and boring story!), they have since developed these tools and make them available outside the windows platform.  Trust me, they are better this way.  You can now install them all, or just the ones you want.  Very handy. 

So let’s get back to installing Live Writer.  Find and select the Download button.

Depending on your version of Windows (XP or Vista) and the browser you are using, different things will happen. 

Internet Explorer 7 and Safari – You will get a File Download – Security Warning for wlsetip-web.exe.  Choose Run.  Continue for Vista.

Firefox 3 – Select Save file.  Once it downloads to the default location, double click on it to run wlsetip-web.exe.  Continue for Vista.

Google Chrome – Select Save from the browser footer.  Once the download is complete, click on wlsetip-web.exe.  Continue for Vista.

 

The installer will begin.

You should get some options for the install.  Again, you can choose to install as many or as few as you like.  Uncheck the ones you want, check the ones you do.  Your choice!  How unMicrosoft?

For the purpose of this post, we are only going to install Writer.

It will want to close your browser.  Let it by selecting continue.  It will keep you posted on your install progress.

Some options appear to set your search provider, home page or help improve Windows Live.  Your choice.  Select Close.

Open Live Writer by selecting Start – Programs – Windows Live

The first time you open Live Writer, you will need to configure it to work with your blog.  Click Next.

Your choice will depend on what blog you are using.  For this post, we will assume a Windows Live Spaces option.

You will need to put in the Windows Live ID and password that you created in the last post.  Live Writer will setup your blog.  It will ask you to set up a blog name.  Be creative.  This is what people will see.

Now you are ready to blog.  It works a lot like Word.  What you see is what you get.

From this point on, you just type and publish.  Let me point out a few features of the software.  So things you will have to discover on your own.  Use the help menu if you get stuck.

1.  There are a couple of helpful links on the right toolbar. 
     The ‘View your space’ link will open your space in a new window. 
     ‘Hyperlink’ and ‘Picture’ will allow you to add one of those to your site.

2.  Add a title to your site as well as some text.  It doesn’t have to be fancy to begin with.

3.  If you are not ready to add the post to your site, you can ‘Save Draft’ and come back to it later.

4.  You can set a category on the bottom toolbar.

You are ready to post.  For the purposes of this post, we will publish it directly to the public site.  Here is a mock up of a sample post in Live Writer.

Here is what it looks like once it is published.  (Use the Publish button in the upper left toolbar)

So there you have it.  Feel free to try a few more posts until you feel comfortable.  You can always delete them.

We will cover some additional features in future posts.  Keep checking back!

Remember, I search so you don’t have to

Short on Cash to Buy a Windows Home Server? Several Chances to Win One!

In monitoring the web for all that is good, I have come across several opportunities for you to win a Home Server.  Many of these end soon, so check them out quickly and get signed up!

The first one!

HP, Intel, and Microsoft are offering the chance to win one of 10 new MediaSmart Servers (either the EX485 or EX487, it’s not clear from the rules which model), with 2 servers being given away each day for the next 5 days. Register every day for the most chances to win.

http://www.winahomeserver.com/

The second one!

HP MediaSmart Server Sweepstakes

Sign up to be notified as soon as it becomes available for purchase, and you’ll be entered to win an HP MediaSmart Server of your own! Each month, one lucky winner will receive:

• HP MediaSmart Server
• A $200 HP Home & Home Office Store gift card

This contest ends March 28, 2008. Enter today and be the first to own one!

HP MediaSmart Server Sweepstakes

Good Luck!  Remember, I search so you don’t have to!

What Would You Do for a FREE Whopper? Sacrifice 10 Facebook Friends?

Burger King is running a promotion for free Whoppers.  The catch?  You have to defriend 10 people from your Facebook account.  So the question is this:  How much is a Facebook friend really worth?

Like most things on Facebook, an application install is required. 

This post from CIO-today.com covers the rest.

Looks like Burger King has found a way to use social networking to promote its signature Whopper burger. With an unusual strategy, Burger King is using popular social-networking site Facebook as a way to reach out to consumers.

The campaign, developed by Crispin Porter & Bogusky of Miami, is catching on quickly as many Facebook friends have been sacrificed by people who want a free Whopper.

Each time a friend is traded in for the patty, the app sends a notice to the ex-friend via Facebook’s news feed, telling the friend that the user thought a free Whopper was worth more than their friendship. A box is then added to the user’s profile page showing their progress toward a free Whopper, asking, "Who will be the next to go?"

If you are a Facebook user, the link to the new application can be found here.  Nearly 50,000 have already taken the challenge!

If you are still debating on the Facebook question, wouldn’t this push you over the edge to join?

Remember, I search so you don’t have to find your own Burger King – defriend promotions!

The Home Server Show #29 – CES 2009 Interviews

Dave is at it again, directly from CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas!  He has some interviews from the show floor that should prove to be fun and interesting.  Todd Headrick from Microsoft has some news that you might want to listen to as well. 

Dave’s podcast is available both and iTunes and directly from http://homeservershow.com/.

Remember, I search so you don’t have to!

Can You Really Build Your Own Home Server? Watch it happen!

I’ve started to follow a blog of this guy, he goes by Bushman, and he is building his very own Windows home server.  He just started, so if you were ever wondering what it takes to get one together, now is your chance.  Certainly not the first to be built and blogged, just one you can watch from the beginning. 

You can follow his blog at http://bushboxhomeserver.blogspot.com/.  I recommend it!

Remember, I search so you don’t have to!

Windows Live Can Make Anyone a Blogger. Even You! (Part 1)

I’ve been testing out the newest version of Windows Live Writer (14.0.8050) and if you are blogging, wanted to blog or just wondered about blogging, this is the application for you. 

It comes with a whole new suite of tools from Microsoft called Windows Live Essentials.   Basically, these are updated applications (and some new ones too) for older MS programs that use to be a part of Windows XP.  They consist of Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Family Safety and a Toolbar.  It also includes the Office Outlook Connector, Office Live Add-in and Silverlight.  Now I know that is a lot to take in all at once, so over the coming weeks, I’ll start to test and break down some of these tools for you, one by one.  Best of all, they are all FREE!  You gotta love that part! 

So back to blogging.  Some of you know that I have kind of gone blog crazy in the last two months, mostly due to Windows Live Writer.  I stumbled across it on a recommendation from a friend and have fallen in love with it since day one.   It takes most of the guess and code work out of the process so that even my mom could do it!  (well…maybe not MY mom, but you could!)  From the Live Writer site.

Writer makes it easy to share your photos and videos on almost any blog service—Windows Live, WordPress, Blogger, Live Journal, TypePad, and many more.

So let me walk you through the process.  You can be up and running with a blog in less than 30 minutes.  Try it with me!

Step 1 – The first step (and the subject of this post), is to get a windows live account from http://home.live.com/ so that you can follow along with me in the coming weeks.  If you have some questions about the benefits of a live account, I’ve already written info in my blog and you can get it by clicking here.  If you already have a Hotmail, Passport or Live account (check cuz you might!) then skip to the next step.

Signing up for a new live account is like setting up any other new service.  Pick an ID, create a password, name, gender and a birthday year, and you are done. 

Step 2 – Login to Windows Live.

You will be taken to a brand new home page for your new home online.  Looks something like this.  Ignore the ads.

From the toolbar across the top, choose More, then Spaces. 

Select Create your space.

Bang!  Your very own blog space.  Clean and fresh and ready for you to edit with lots of cool features.

Step 3 – Since you are my friend, would you take a second and add me your first friend?  Click on add people to your profile.

It’s on the very bottom, under Friends.

In the box ‘Add by e-mail address’ put in my email.  jcollison@live.com and click on the arrow.

 

Add a personal note if you want, like “Jim, I think your blog is awesome!” and select send.  This way we will be forever connected.  You can also add friends from Facebook or Linkedin right from the site.  Save that for a later session.

Step 4 – Go ahead and select More, then Spaces, then View your space.

To make your blog a little more web friendly, let go ahead and get cool web address.  You might notice that your current web address is something like http://cid-731d6c9840d769f9.spaces.live.com/.  Not that this isn’t geeky cool, but it’s not.

Select Choose web address.  Put in whatever you would like and select Check availability.  If it is open, it is yours…forever.  Select Save.

Step 5 – Once again, select More, then Spaces, then View your space.  From here you are welcome to update anything within the site where you see the word ‘edit’ or the letters are blue.  There are hundreds of things you can do here.  If you use Facebook or MySpace, many of these ideas is familiar.  Have fun with it.

You can add a blog entry right from the space page.  Just select Add blog entry and away you go.  If you want to keep it simple and quick, this works great.  Try a few and see how they look.  You can always delete them.  Nothing here is ever forever!

 

NEXT TIME – This is enough for one sitting.  The next post will show you how to download and use Windows Live Writer to update your blog.  Keep checking back.

Remember, I search so you don’t have to!

NOTE: Windows Live Space is not your only option for blogging.  I can recommend two more.  WordPress and Blogger.  Maybe I will cover those in a future blog, or you can cover them in your brand new one!  Windows Live Writer will work for them too!

The Home Server Show #28 – Listener Feedback on the HP EX485 and EX487 (Jim is on the Podcast!)

This week’s Home Server Show Podcast features some listener feedback on the announcement of the new HP MediaSmart Server.  I had the opportunity to join Dave late last week on a Skype call for the discussion.  We come in about 11 minutes into the cast, but feel free to listen to the entire podcast.  You can listen to it directly from the site (http://homeservershow.com/) or it is available at iTunes as well. 

We were talking about storage costs in the podcast and this morning I found this deal online and in the store at Bestbuy.  1 TB SATA Internal Hard Drive for $109.  Here is the link.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8490625&type=product&id=1186003683968

Dave’s blog is available at thedigitallifestyle.com

Is Facebook on it’s way out? Already?

     I’ve been telling friends for the last two months or so, that Facebook is already on the way out.  Most people look at me funny when I say that, since most of my and your friend are just getting on it for the first time.  It might also go against conventional wisdom when you see articles this this one from Venture Beat reporting that social networks like MySpace and Facebook are seeing some of their busiest times ever.  I say we are seeing the beginning of the end.  MySpace is already on the way out, and Facebook is not long behind.  This time next year we will be taking about something else, so don’t get too hooked.

Here are a few reasons why…

1.  It is getting wide acceptance from the masses. Heck, my mom might even be on it!  So this should be a good thing, right?

Social networks work like nuclear reactions.  One person gets several people talking, those get several more and so on.  This concept works great when the numbers are small.  The problems start when the weight of communication becomes too much and people cannot keep up with it all.  Ever tried keeping up with 150 to 300 friends all at once?  This becomes very frustrating for most and they begin to walk away.  Like in the beginning, when critical mass gets individuals to join and update in unbelievable numbers, the same effect happens in reverse when folks start to walk away.  Sites no longer get new info, people stop updating their status and the chain reaction process slows to a crawl or worse, whole networks stop.  Once that happens, it’s all over but the crying.  Remember the popularity of instant messaging a year or two ago?  AOL before that?

2.  Application overload.

I must get invited to at least 3 or 4 new applications a day.  I ignore them all (sorry folks) but the sheer number of new and really bad applications continue to grow.  There are a few good ones out there, but their popularity comes and goes very quickly.  The attraction is not enough to get people to stay.  I am also finding that more and more people are getting turned off by all of this.  I’ve seen the discontentment in status updates as well as notes, messages and external blogs.  The main stream media is turning as well!  Not a good sign.

3.  The ads are getting sketchy

I’m having a hard time deciding which ads are legit and which are just junk (or even worse, criminal).  If I’m tech savvy and having that problem, what about the rest of you?  Remember, they get paid when you click on them.  If you are not clicking…then what?  If people really lose trust in the site, away they go.

4.  Facebook Connect doesn’t have history in it’s favor.

In a January 2nd post, Nicholas Carlson from Silicon Ally Insider outlined Facebook’s plan to move away from the now famous widgets that have been popular but widely unprofitable to an new service called Facebook Connect.  He writes:

Only now, instead of asking developers to come to Facebook and build apps for its platform, Facebook is taking its "social graph" to the rest of the Internet through a service called Facebook Connect, which allows Facebook members to sign into participating third-party Web sites using their Facebook accounts.

The prediction here is that the new plan works and that Facebook Connect becomes what the Facebook app platform was supposed to be: a way for Facebook to benefit itself and other companies by bringing what it knows about its users to businesses around the Internet.

While Mr. Carlson predicts success, I am doubtful.  I have watched several tech companies try to make the jump from one business plan to another with very little success in making money (which is what this is really all about). 

I do know this, from these problems, a new platform will grow.  Like always, something will grow from the ashes that address the current problems and find new and better ways to move forward.  What that is, I am not sure yet.  It could be twitter like or something that builds on the popularity of blogs.  I’ll keep you posted.  Just don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Remember, I search so you don’t have to!

It’s Ski Season! Are You Ready? 10 Things You Can Do to Prepare.

I get a monthly newsletter from my auto mechanic, and in it this month was article about skiing.  I know this is a technology blog, but it was funny enough to share here.  I modified the list based on experience with our family.

Here at the Collison house, we are crazy about skiing.  Sarah and I laughed out loud as I read this to her.  So if you are preparing to go the slopes this winter or want to enjoy all the fun of the mountain without going, this is my advice.  Hope you enjoy it too! 

1.  Buy a new pair of gloves, soak them in water, put them in the freezer for two hours, wear them till your hands are frozen and then immediately throw one away.  Repeat with just the one glove.  Carry ice with the hand without the glove.

2.  As a family, drive slowly for five hours – anywhere – as long as it’s in a driving snowstorm and you’re following and 18-wheeler.  Make sure the kids have not gone to the bathroom for at least 6 hours BEFORE you start!

3.  Visit your local butcher and pay $30 to sit in the walk-in freezer for half and hour.  Afterward, burn two $50 bills per person to warm up.

4.  Wear glasses with glue smeared on the lenses.

5.  Place a small but angular pebble in each of your shoes, line them with crushed ice, and then tighten a C-clamp around your toes.  Keep it tight all day.

6.  Secure one of your ankles to a bedpost and ask a friend to run into you at high speed.  Make sure you don’t see it coming.

7.  Throw away a $100 bill – NOW!

8.  Fill a blender with ice, hit the pulse button, and let the spray blast your face.  Leave the ice on your face until it melts; let it drip into your clothes.

9.  Dress up in as many clothes as you can, workout for 30 minutes and then proceed to take them off because you have to go to the bathroom.  Repeat several times throughout the day.

10.  Slam your thumb in a car door.  Don’t go see the doctor.

Keep on Top of Things in 2009 with the Gallup Poll Daily Widget

Gallup, the company I work for, has posted an amazing year in review article.  Another great review of that which is behind us.

And if you haven’t yet tried the Gallup Poll Daily Widget, it is available from the site as well.

The Gallup Poll Daily Widget keeps you updated on Americans’ views of the state of the nation, the outgoing president, the incoming administration, the U.S. economy and — much more — every day.

Happy New Year!

Remember, I search so you don’t have to.