I've always been interested in web design and I have been following many of the best web designers out there. Here is one resource page that may be very useful if you're an established designer or would like to create your own for the first time.
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So I've joined Empire Avenue. If you're playing as well, hit me up, ticker (e)EMAN8888. Let's network there.
Finally, it's here! A company in the US just announced that they now have the technology to convert all types of plastic waste into fuel (or a liquid that can be mixed with other components to make diesel or gasoline).
With all the focus on how bad the plastic pollution problem is and how awful and impossible to clean up those places like Great Pacific Garbage Patch are, I've personally felt a sense of despair that the job will never get done. In the end, though, technology has trumped apathy. I hope to see in the near future, fuel producers mine the oceans and landfills for all the deposited plastic waste.
I just hope that: a) this isn't a hoax, the company, Envion, seems legit enough and I think they've already tested the technology extensively in Korea; b) the technology really works: c) it's scalable and will be adopted or duplicated in all the countries in the world. But that's just me. Sorry to sound a bit cynical on this lovely Saturday morning, I've seen too many ill-conceived ventures crash and burn.
But I continue to hope, I know science and the goodness of most people will deliver, in the end.
I've started using Mashable's micro-review site blippr and I think I'm starting to like it. It's Twitter meet Amazon review, you get to rate books, games, web apps, and music, and express your opinion or explain your rating in 160 characters. If your object is to keep your profile updated with regular fresh reviews, then no platform can be easier to use than blippr. I mean,hey, anyone can write 160-character review about anything, it's not like you're crafting a full 5-page review.
The site is integrated to several web 2.0 platforms like Twitter, and allows for automatic posting to those sites every time your publish a review. My content strategy on Twitter and on Facebook is to provide links to full articles, so I didn't select the autoposting option. As to social networking, it's too early for me to tell - I think I'll give it a shot with the most active users. But, since this is not a business-oriented platform and I'm seeing too many unupdated profiles, I seriously wonder if anything comes off it.
I think the main value of this site is in SEO. It gets indexed terribly fast, and is showing in some of the top SERPs that I've looked at. You can link to external (your) sites from your profile, while every particular book's or app's blippr page links back to your profile (apps or books that you've reviewed). If you partner with Mashable, and integrate Blippr to your site, every review that's posted by a reader through your site also provides a backlink.
Blippr is one of the social media platforms I'm currently exploring. If you're checking out the site, drop me a message at my Blippr page.
Posterous announced last wednesday, September 16th, that themes are now available for Posterous bloggers to use and customize their blogs with. Initially, only 5 themes are available, but this will be developed into a full gallery of themes in the near future. Users have the option to import their favorite themes from Tumblr, or if they're well-versed in CSS and HTML, to code their own templates, through the advanced theme feature.
I've recommended Posterous to friends and clients because of ease of use, integration with other sites, email posting. Apparently, the boundless drive of the developers to further enhance and improve this platform, is one more reason why you should use Posterous.
Joomla is an important and quite superior CMS (website-building) software, but it's not getting the attention that it deserves. I agree with my friend @alj000 over at Flash Journey, that people mistakenly perceive Joomla as only for businesses and corporate sites. This article showcases some of the most beautiful Joomla-created sites out there. Enjoy.