I signed up for Twitter recently to see what all the fuss was about and quite frankly, I still don’t see what the big deal is.

I don’t really care for it much but maybe I need to spend more time on it to actually catch the twitter bug. 

So, you’re supposed to just post what you’re doing right? Update as you go through your daily tasks? Why exactly would I want to keep everyone up to date on what I’m doing right now? I mean, should I update that I’m going to go poop?

So Twitter is supposed to be like a micro-blog. So far, what I like about it is that some of the bloggers I follow (ProBlogger, JohnChow, DoshDosh, ShoeMoney, etc.) sometimes use Twitter to let people know they are working on a new blog post, or to ask a question, or even just shout out to their followers about something cool they found. 

So it definitely has it’s uses…I’m just not totally convinced it’s all that great. That could be because I am only following a few people at the moment or that none of my friends are using it or that nobody is really following me.  

So here’s what I gather I’ll be using Twitter for:

• A source for news (quicker than blogs)
• A place I can ask a quick question and get a pretty quick response
• A status report for my far far away friends (soon, they aren’t on it right now)
• A form of letting my followers (maybe more soon?) know what I’m going to be posting next, working on currently, when I’m using the toilet (I kid, I kid! ) or any other “important” update
• A place to tell people about something funny or interesting that happened or that I found
• Lastly, I’ll setup my phone to twitter while I’m at WinCo….a micro-rant! Stupid Sucks!

I’m sure there are tons of other uses for Twitter out there, if you have one (or many) please share…because if Twitter really is so freaking amazing, I’d like to be in on the fun!

Here’s a cool list of 50+ Guides, Hacks & Scripts for Twitter. While you’re at it why don’t you follow me on Twitter!

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The internet, a magical place, where bloggers roam free, techies abound and newbies frolic about. The internet really is the ultimate form of communication with the rest of the world. Places like Myspace, Facebook, Blogger, WordPress and other social networks or blogging networks have made it an easy 3 step process to sharing yourself with anyone else of your liking.

You don’t have to know how to code or have hardly any interweb skills Well, for some of us, that just isn’t enough. If you’re like me, you want your own domain, your own website or blog, on your own hosting server!

Now, I have spent the time learning the coding and all the techie stuff but you would be surprised at how easy it is to get yourself or your business on the web. I have outlined a 5 step guide to the DIY website that just about anyone can follow.

1. Brainstorm & Establish - Most people want to just jump right in and get something, anything on the internet. Don’t do that, it will look like crap, function like crap and ultimately you’ll loose interest and it will just become another piece of crap in the internet junkyard. Here are a few things you should establish:

• Content subject
• Objective and goals for the site/blog
• How you want the page layout
• What colors you would like it to be

Go old school and write all this stuff down. Sketch out some ideas or layouts. I always loose anything I write down so I prefer to type everything up in notepad or similar but people seem to loose that just as easy. Whatever works for you!

2. Find Web Hosting - The most common hosting uses PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), MySQL for your database needs and Apache (Apache HTTP Server). If those sound like foreign words to you, don’t worry, you don’t need to know anything about them.

I did mention those however because you will want to make sure you find a host that supports those (easy). You might want to read “5 Steps to Finding a Quality Web Host“. If you want to keep reading to a minimum, be sure the one thing you DON’T DO is use a “Top 10 Web Host” list. You’ll end up using a web host not worthy of your hard earned cash. Here is a list of web hosting companies I would recommend:

Shared & Reseller Hosting Services

• Steadfast.net
• Liquidweb.com
• Godaddy.com (cheap, quick, dirty )
• InnoHosting.com

VPS Hosting Services

• ServInt.com (who I host with, VPS & higher)

• Steadfast.net
• Liquidweb.com

Confused on which service to go with? No problem!

• Running a small personal site/blog? - Shared Hosting
• Running multiple small scale websites for yourself or others - Reseller Hosting
• Running medium/large scale website(s) for yourself or others - VPS Hosting

NOTE: Some web hosts offer a domain name when you sign up, before choosing a domain name/web address please refer to step #3 below.

I recommend using Cpanel for the web host control panel software. It’s easy, common and flexible. Control panels like VDeck, Plesk or others might be available and will likely work just fine.

A good resource to find more information on web hosting is WebHostingTalk.com The members are friendly and you’ll be able to find a solid, quality web host given you spend the time to research the companies.

3. Web Address / Domain Name - Once you have chosen and signed up with a web hosting company, it’s time to find a domain name. This is going to be the address people use to navigate to your website. If your web host offers a free domain name with your sign-up, you can do this step at the same time as step #2.

Tips for picking a domain name:

• Pick a domain name related to your content subject or objective.
• Try to keep it short so that it will be easy for people to remember.
• Feel free to get clever (ex. del.icio.us, ma.tt, website.name) but don’t make it too complicated.
• Type out your chosen domain name a few times to get a feel for how difficult/easy it is to type.
• “I suggest not buying your domain from the same place as you get your web hosting, sometimes trying to change it doesn’t always work out.” - Simon Koldyk

Places to register your domain name (Domain Registrars):

• www.namecheap.com
• www.domaincentral.com
• www.enom.com
• www.name.com
• www.godaddy.com

Once you figure out what domain name you want to use and you begin the process to register it, you might be given the option to change your nameservers. It’s easier to do this now, rather than later (later isn’t hard just takes a few more minutes ). What are nameservers? Thats a good question, I wondered the same thing when I started out. You can read about DNS (Domain Name Servers) at HowStuffWorks.com or Wikipedia.org

Basically, your domain name points to your nameservers, which point to the IP address for your server (like your server’s phone number). When you sign-up with a web host they will tell you what nameservers to use, if they didn’t you can find them in your control panel or by calling your web host. Usually they are something like NS1.EXAMPLE.COM & NS2.EXAMPLE.COM - it doesn’t matter what order you put these in for your domain name.

Once you register your domain name it will take awhile to activate/process (usually anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours).

4. Setup Your Website / Blog: You’re almost there! - You have a couple options at this step. You could go get a website template and update the content yourself (which would require HTML editing) or you can setup your website using a Content Management System (CMS). By using a CMS you will only have to get things setup and from there you can use an easy control panel to update your content. This is the recommended way to go and what I will cover here.

Here are some CMS’s to consider:

• WordPress (Ok, not really a CMS but used as one by many)
• Joomla
• Drupal

If you’re just starting out, I would highly recommend using WordPress. It has probably the easiest install process of any blog software or CMS available. You can find an install guide for WordPress here. To make things even easier, you can have it installed FOR YOU, FOR FREE! (install4free.wordpress.net) It doesn’t get much better than that.

5. Load Your Content! Yay! You made it! - This is the easiest step and the most fun. All you need to do now is load your site/blog with content. There are a few things you might want to read if you installed WordPress to customize and optimize it for search engines and your visitors. “Ok WordPress is installed. Now What?“

Don’t worry, they are very easy steps and will help you get one step closer to a website you’ll really be happy with.

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Well, as many of you returning visitors can tell, I’ve been busy at work getting the header to the point where I like it. I’ve move a few things around, added a few things, etc.

The ability to login directly from the front page has now been added and for right now, that’s a feature that will be most useful for myself. Eventually the plan will be to have contributors, which logging in from the front page is a nice usability feature.

Ads, ads, ads…. yes, I’ve added some advertising. I spend a lot of time working on this blog and as much as I love doing so, I need to be able to pay for the hosting costs and time used. Don’t worry though, I’m not going to add any of those annoying in post text link pop-up ads or intrusive flash crazy stuff.

I will however, be adding two more 125×125 pixel ads above the Google AdSense to the right. That will make for a total of 4 ads at that size. Then I will add one more 205×85 pixel ads down towards the bottom. That shouldn’t be too annoying.

Finally, the last bit of advertising I will add, will be a text links section. It will start out with about 5 (since it will take a long time to grow) and max out at 10 links. That will be placed above the Google AdSense and below the 125 pixel ads.

Other than that, I only plan on adding more features for functionality, usability, etc. Here are some additional pages I will be adding when time permits (in no particular order):

• Fitness - I love the gym, muscle and fitness so I will have a page to talk about it.
• Domains - I can’t seem to stop buying domain names, so I will list domains I own, that are for sale, in project status, etc. and news related to them.
• Web Hosting - I’m very interested in web hosting and although I’m not an expert, I manage quite well. I am setup to host other people’s websites and like talking about it so I thought a dedicated page would be good.
• Advertising - This will be later on down the road but I will need to setup a page for people to see what their options are for advertising on StupidSucks.com
• SS Gear - Ok, I’m really excited about this one. It won’t happen for awhile but it will happen. I’ve been slowly branding Stupid Sucks! and eventually would like to have t-shirts, hats, pens, blogger type gear, sticky pads, etc. It’s a big step but if done right, I think it will work. I am also VERY picky about merchandise so I’m not going to offer it with my name/logo/brand on it unless I like it and it’s quality.
• The Stupids - Ok, this one could be cool or could end up a complete failure. We all have stories of incredibly stupid people we run into and even stories about ourselves being incredibly stupid (myself included - stories coming soon ). I would love to setup a page where people can have their stories posted.
• Featured Posts - I’m not quite sure on this one as I might move the “Recent Posts” section to the left or right, make it about 2/3 the size and for the other half of that section of the header make a “Featured Posts” section. BUT, I might just make it a page all to itself….not quite sure yet.

For the time being, those are the pages in the works and in the plans. Now….I just need to get back to posting some good articles…I’ve been working on the page design too long!

Post a comment and give me some feedback! If you like what I have planned and what you’ve read previously you can get my posts daily by subscribing by email or subscribing to my RSS feed.

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Today my girlfriend sends me an instant message on the topic of JuicyCampus.com mentioning it’s incredible talent for being ridiculous. Obviously just by the domain name you can tell there’s going to be drama.

I took a quick peek at the site and it took about 10 seconds to deem the site and its use utterly pathetic. While the site intentions are for anonymous free speech at college campus’ throughout the nation, it’s obvious they’re seeking the “juicy” content.

I do have to admit that if someone was looking for a way to generate traffic, this would be one way. While it’s incredibly stupid in my books, others might find it amusing. From what I’ve read around the net though, it’s generally just raising eyebrows and problems.

Now, if the content being posted wasn’t a mile passed the socially acceptable line and was actually amusing, it would have a lot of potential. But I’m not interested in suicide notes, school shootings, rapes, beatings, sluts or anything of the like.

What are we coming to? …what have we already come to? I suppose it’s worth a peek as there is some funny content there but most of it is just gossip, shit talk and worse.

What’s worse is that by allowing completely anonymous social interaction without boundaries you leave an giant open door for the grouping of ideas that could result in events like school shootings, rapes, beatings, etc. Although students have already been arrested, your postings are supposedly completely anonymous protecting you from prosecution.

Not to mention that by openly allowing and spreading gossip, JuicyCampus.com makes it easier for anyone to humiliate, hurt and degrade anyone of their liking without the whisper of consequences.

JuicyCampus.com gets a big fat giant STUPID SUCKS! from me and I hope they don’t last long.

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This review has been long over due and I’m excited to finally get to write it.

Awhile ago I was introduced to the idea of solar roadways. You know, like all the roads being made out of solar panels. My first reaction was… well, not exactly positive. I just didn’t think it was all that feasible of a thing to do. Solar Roadways was impractical to me.

There is no better time to say this than now…. Stupid Sucks! Really, the idea Scott & Julie Brusaw has come up with is simply brilliant and I was being closed minded and ignorant about it. Every new technology is going to have its challenges to overcome but that doesn’t mean they aren’t possible.

The more I thought about the possibilities and potential of something like this, the more I realized this is one of those things that would change man kind and the way our world lives. From energy to global warming to traffic management to roadway safety, this could really be the next best invention to the car.

As amazing as the thought of the endless possibilities was, the thought of the astronomical price tag was much more overbearing. Here’s a big shocker though… It would actually cost about the same to produce these solar roadways as it is to produce current asphalt roads. That’s not even taking into consideration what we would get back from them either!

These roadways would literally pay for themselves! I won’t go into detail on the overall cost analysis but if you’re interested, visit Scott & Julie’s cost analysis page. What’s more amazing that you’ll find there is just how many other uses solar roadways would have to us and the world. Less pollution, no more energy problems, safer driving conditions and even better technologies delivered to our homes.

Now think about this idea…. if our roadways were built out of solar panels using a specialized type of glass that is as durable if not more durable than asphalt, had built in lights for traffic management instead of painted lines that wear off, collected our country’s energy needs x3, melted ice during winter and could carry a more advanced communication & data infrastructure, how incredible would that be?

Here is a video of Scott presenting the idea, which better explains how it works.

If you haven’t heard of this already, it’s worth checking out. Before you know it this kind of technology could be put into the roads you’ll be driving on. Solar panels have been developed with increasingly more efficient abilities and lower production costs.

If you’d like to support Solar Roadways, there are many different ways to do so. Bumper stickers, t-shirts, dog shirts , their encouragement list and even myspace. In fact, check out the countries from around the world already supporting the idea!

If you liked this article and/or would like to support and spread the word about this idea you can Digg it.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the lack of posts lately. As you can probably tell, I have been working on site upgrades and it’s going much slower than anticipated.

In a “last minute” decision I decided I would scrap the header I had made and go with something that matched the current theme a little better. Although I do not have a logo yet, it is in the works but will take a little time.

I have more posts, pages and projects in the works that should really beef up what this site has to offer. So stay tuned! We should be back to our regularly scheduled programming shortly! Thanks

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