February 11th, 2008
There are many blogging platforms and services out there but Slicksta hearts the most. Aspiring bloggers whether technically inclined or not will find WordPress easy to understand and even simpler to use.
- Easy to Install - The famous “Five Minute Install” is misleading. It usually takes Slicksta 2-3 minutes tops to get an new instance of WordPress up and running.
- Easy to Configure - Out of the
box zip file Wordpress is ready to go. You can easily customize the design of your blog and features like commenting, how the URL looks. All of this is done via a slick AJAXed admin panel.
- Easy to Customize - Trick out your blog with one of many free themes and plugins. All you do is upload a theme/plugin to your blog and click a link in the admin panel to activate it.
- Active Community - There are lots of people who love WordPress and they write themes and plugins for everyone to use. WordPress hosts an active forum where users share tips and help one another.
- FREE - WordPress is free and always has been. You can even create a hosted blog and not worry about having to buy a domain name or FTPing files. Slicksta can afford free.
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February 9th, 2008
Looking to get into PHP/MySQL development? Building websites as a hobby can be fun and rewarding albeit time-consuming. These open source technologies make web development accessible to anyone with a computer and an idea. Here are a few sites and services that Slicksta found helpful when he was learning.
- Sitepoint.com - This site if full of article and practical tutorials to help you get started. Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL is what Slicksta read when he first became interested in webdev.
- 1and1 Hosting - Inexpensive, reliable and fully-featured. You can register a domain name and get managed hosting for under $5 a month.
- Add the MySQL and PHP sites to your bookmarks. Slicksta still visits these at least once a day for code reference information.
- phpAdmin - Download and install this database management program now. Do it! It’s the same program that you’ll use on 1and1 to manage your hosted databases.
- Fire FTP - Transfer files in a FireFox window. No need to open another application.
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July 26th, 2007
Easy to setup
By
tomslick from
Las Vegas, NV on
7/26/2007
5out of 5
Pros: Interfaces Well With TV, Intuitive Controls, Easy To Setup, Clear Sound
Cons: Bass a little boomy
Best Uses: Surround Sound Solution
Describe Yourself: Practical, Musically Inclined, Tech Savvy
This system is a pretty good deal at just over $500. You get a full complement of speakers, iPod dock and upscaling DVD player. The wireless surround and sub-woofer work perfectly and make setup so much easier. Sound quality is decent but this system is more about the convenience factor. My only complaint is that the sub is a little boomy at higher levels and as result I end up leaving it on the lowest setting.
(legalese)
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July 25th, 2007
A few friends recently visited Slicksta and brought with them a nifty new device: The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It’s a slim and portable internet-browsing tablet with a generous and bright screen and built-in WIFI. Web pages rendered in full and were easily readable and at under $150, it’s an inexpensive alternative to toting a laptop around everywhere. CNET was harsh in their review of the Nokia 770 citing sluggish performance and missing features as major faults. Slicksta liked the device but thought a QWERTY would be easier to use than the included stylus.
Regardless, the Nokia 770 gives Slicksta hope that we’ll soon see more portable web devices with bigger screens and other bundled options like camera, music/movie player, GPS and data storage. Throw in a phone, pair the device with a Bluetooth headset and you’ve got an all-in-one dream gadget.
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March 11th, 2007
Thunderbird is the newest and most appreciated application on Slicksta’s computer. Put simply, Thunderbird is an open-source alternative to Microsoft Outlook created by the folks at Mozilla.org (the makers of the Firefox browser). Slicksta found it super easy to configure and is now using it to access six different webmail accounts including gmail.
It also comes with an integrated RSS reader so Slicksta can have the latest items from his favorite blogs delivered to an inbox. Bloglines is still Slicksta’s RSS reader of choice, but the convenience of email + news in one place just might tip things in favor of Thunderbird.
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February 20th, 2007
This cool little gadget makes it super-easy to watch television on your computer. Here’s how the manufacturer, ADS Technologies describes it:
Using a regular TV Antenna or cable connection, you can now watch TV right on your computer screen. It’s simple to install and no extra cables or power supply to carry around.
Slicksta likes the portability-factor. You get similar functionality from a TV tuner card but can’t easily move a TV tuner card from desktop to desktop — definitely not from desktop to laptop. Slicksta only wishes the necessary software and drivers were stored in flash memory on the device itself (it is USB afterall). That way, it would be completely plug-n-play!
» Compare prices and buy the ADS Technologies MiniTV USB
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December 14th, 2006
This is a little late, but Time has released a list of the top inventions of 2006. YouTube was named invention of the year. Did Slicksta call it or what?
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February 3rd, 2006
Slicksta is a junk-foodaholic and chili is one of his list of favorite snacks. Imagine his glee when he found neatly stacked boxes of Stagg Chili next to the traditional cans of chili at the supermarket. That’s right, boxes of chili. The idea is devlishly simple: make it easy for Slicksta to eat chili and he’ll eat more chili. Pricing the new product at under $1 to promote trial purchases doesn’t hurt either. Slicksta has consumed 5 boxes of chili in the last three weeks (he bought one of each flavor for testing purposes).
Squeeze. Tear. Open.
A hearty bowl of chili has never been so easy! Slicksta’s first attempt was in front of a crowd of awed co-workers. The box opened quickly to a round of applause and Slicksta was forced to showcase his newly discovered chili-in-a-box-opening skills on a second box. Two boxes were opened that day and two boxes were consumed.
Stagg’s website provides a graphical representation of the opening process along with an informative video. The video could be a little more exciting but it adequately demonstrates how the product works. Slicksta thought the narrator’s voice was kinda sexy, too.
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December 15th, 2005
When Coca-Cola decided to phase out Vanilla Coke in November, analysts said that the key to the company’s future success lay in product innovations. Now Coca-Cola has announced their newest product: coffee flavored Coke. Slicksta doesn’t know what to make of this. Coffee flavored Coca-Cola? Really?
The new drink, a combination of Coca-Cola Classic and coffee extracts, will be first launched in France in January before being rolled out in the United States and other markets during 2006.
Slicksta hopes this product idea did not come from a focus group in Paris. Sure, trendy Europeans love their expresso, but do they ever mix it with Coke? Ever the optimist though, Slicksta will give Coke Blak a shot - or will he be taking a shot of Coke Blak? Hopefully the follow-up entry is not filed under Marketing Misshaps.
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November 21st, 2005
MP3 players keep getting smaller and smaller and creative folks have figured out how to stick them into custom cases. Check out this functioning MP3 player inside a Nintendo controller! It’s just a matter of time before MP3 players start coming in all sorts of custom cases, ISHO. Here are some of Slicksta’s ideas:
- MP3 Zippo Lighter - How sweet would it look all polished and shiny? Plus Slicksta could do that clickity-click open and closing trick.
- Marlboro MP3 - Keeping with the smoking theme this could be a giveaway for a certain number of points. Who wants a Marlboro leather jacket anyways?
- MP3 Key-fob - It could hang on your keychain and look just like any other key-fob. The unlock button could be “play” and the lock button could be “stop”. Slicksta would get an Acura one.
- MP3 Sunglasses - Darn. Oakley already made one. They stole Slicksta’s idea!
- MP3 Pepper spray - People run holding these already so it’s a natural fit. Just don’t try to shoot bad music at assailants.
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