Posts in category Websites

Quick and Easy Logo Design

Apr25
2008 Written by Editor

I first started running my own websites about a year and a half ago. My initial intent was to have a place where I could showcase writing samples for prospective clients and perhaps make enough money to cover hosting and Internet fees. Eighteen months later, things are going better than I ever could have imagined, and I’m making far more than the $250 per year that my sites cost me in fees and service charges!

Because of this initial success, I’ve been thinking about different things I can do to help increase brand awareness and give my sites a more professional look. So when I was presented with an opportunity to test out the do-it-yourself logo design wizard at LogoYes.com, I jumped at the offer. A custom logo is precisely what I need to take my sites — and my business — to the next level, and I was eager to see what I could come up with.

The LogoYes logo creator is extremely easy to use. The process consists of six simple steps that will take you from idea to professional-looking logo in no time at all. Here’s a screen shot of the logo creator so you can see what I’m talking about (you can click all images to enlarge):

In Step 1, I just had to choose the image style that I was interested in. There are currently three choices, High Tech, Bold, or Flair, as well as helpful hints about which style to use given the type of company I represent. I went with Flair, because I like to think I have some!

In Step 2, I selected the industry that I’m in. This narrows down the symbol and image choices to those that are most relevant to my company. For my Reviews and More website, I clicked the Arts & Entertainment option.

In Step 3, I browsed through nearly 100 images ranging from cameras, film strips, and easels, to musical notes, flags, and abstract symbols. I couldn’t decide on any of the ones I saw, so I opted to use the letter “R” instead, and found the perfect image in a cursive “R” being drawn by a fountain pen.

Step 4 asked for my company name. Since I don’t really have a formal company, I used the name of this website, Reviews and More. It helped that I had a basic idea of what I wanted my final logo to look like so I could make some tweaks in this step to help get me there. For instance, I wanted the “R” symbol from Step 3 to be used in the word “Reviews”, and I wanted the “and More” part to be offset on a separate line. Knowing this, I was able to enter the name appropriately in this step. I also picked a handwriting font style that would more or less match with the cursive “R” from above. Take a look:

In Step 5, I got to play around with colors and layouts to get my logo to look just the way I wanted. Here’s a screen shot so you can see all the different tools I was able to work with, including Rotate, Flip, Size, Zoom, and a variety of colors. I have to say that the grid marks were extremely helpful and allowed me to make sure I had everything lined up perfectly.

After testing out a bunch of different colors, I settled on a dark red/maroon shade (I don’t remember the exact color, and I know my monitor is not the best at rendering these things). Here’s how the final logo turned out. I think it’s actually pretty cool, considering the fact that I spent about 10 minutes creating it and that I have zero artistic talent whatsoever!

Step 6 presented me with the option of buying my logo file so I could use it on my website, on letterheads, or on promotional materials. I also had the opportunity to use it on different business card templates right on the LogoYes.com website, which I did. I came up with two cards that I think look good, and would certainly give my business that professional feel that has been missing from the start (I’ve blanked out my last name and address for publication purposes, but they’re actually on the design).

Overall, I was very impressed with how easy the LogoYes.com logo design wizard was to use. The wizard features an incredible number of image, font, and color choices that gave me an amazing amount of flexibility every step of the way, and I was able to generate a professional-looking logo very quickly — even though I had no prior experience with this sort of thing.

If you’re looking for a simple, affordable way to brand your company, I recommend heading on over to LogoYes.com right now. You can test out different logos in the wizard with no obligation to buy, so why not give it a whirl? Hey, if I can come up with a nice logo all on my own, then anyone can!

Kettering U.

Mar15
2008 Written by Editor

I should have known my first attempt at college was destined for failure given how little effort I put into the research and application process. Here was my strategy: Wait until my best friend figured out where she wanted to go to school, and then follow her there.

I ended up being miserable all through freshman year as the school we went to didn’t have the major I wanted. I eventually transferred and got back on track (after a few more false starts), but I sometimes still wonder how different my life would have turned out had I gone my own way right from the beginning.

Choosing schools on a whim is probably not that much of a problem these days, especially since most colleges and universities have a significant online presence that allows prospective students to get to know more about the institution without ever having to leave home.

For instance, I was checking out the Kettering University website last night, and soon got caught up in watching a bunch of short videos featuring a character named Stickman. These videos show Stickman going through various stages of the college selection process, including choosing a school, visiting campus, and applying for admission. The videos are laced with humor, so they were a lot of fun to watch (I’ll embed one here for you).

Just from watching the videos, I learned that Kettering has one of the top mechanical engineering programs in the entire country, with US News and World Report ranking it the #1 university in America for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in the “America’s Best Colleges Guide for 2008″. Moreover, a majority of Kettering’s seniors have jobs lined up or are accepted to grad school before they even graduate, which is definitely the mark of a top-notch program.

Anyway, if you’d like to learn more about this Flint, MI school that was named on the US News Best Colleges list, be sure to visit admissions.kettering.edu today!

Posted in Check it out

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Jan24
2008 Written by Editor

With Valentine’s Day less than a month away, I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what kind of gifts I can buy for my husband and son. I have a few ideas already, but it’s going to be tough to pull off these purchases with the limited budget I have to work with. I’m going to try to stretch my dollars a bit further by checking out Coupon Chief for online shopping coupons, so hopefully that will do the trick.

My husband is an electronics geek and really has his heart set on getting a home theater system sometime soon, so I’m going to try my best to save up and buy one for Valentine’s Day. I found several good Best Buy deals at Coupon Chief, including one for 10-15% off on home theater systems, receivers, and speakers. That kind of discount can really help me out — as long as I can find an affordable system to begin with!

My son is much easier to shop for, as he likes just about everything. While I would love to be able to get him the mini Yamaha ATV that he’s been begging for, that’s not going to happen this year. Instead, I’ll probably end up buying him a fun toy or game. Coupon Chief has a few good KB Toys coupon codes, so I can definitely save some money that way.

If money wasn’t an object, I’d go right out and buy a couple of fancy cars and expensive toys for my family. But since we’re average, middle-class people, I’ll have to make do with much smaller gifts!

Online Sportsbook

Dec05
2007 Written by Editor

As a lifelong fan of professional sports, I’ve learned that there are a couple of surefire ways to make each game more interesting. One thing you can do is play in a fantasy league. This will require you to keep track of players that you normally wouldn’t follow and to watch games that probably otherwise wouldn’t be on your viewing schedule. It’s definitely easier to become emotionally invested in these games when you’ve got something on the line — even if it’s just bragging rights among your buddies.

A second thing you can do to make sporting events more interesting is to put real money on the games. If you know what you’re doing (and have a little bit of luck on your side), you can make a nice profit from sport betting. Of course, you’ll also need to find a trustworthy sportsbook to place your bets with, something like Bet365.com.

Bet365.com offers a range of online betting facilities for those interested in sports betting, online poker, and other interactive games. Their sports betting encompasses everything from NFL games to greyhound racing, and allows you to choose from a variety of prop bets in addition to just a straight win-lose outcome. In addition, Bet365 uses a one-wallet system, which means it takes only one account for your to be able to enjoy all of their services.

I’ve been thinking that this would be a great time for me to jump in and put some money on the Bears. They’re not winning on the field, so I should take advantage of that fact and bet against them. I’ll probably clean up if I do!

Affordable Blinds and Window Coverings

Nov28
2007 Written by Editor

It was never my intention to focus solely on movie and TV show reviews on this site, but looking back over my posts of the past few months, that’s precisely what I’ve been doing. It gets boring for me to write about the same things all the time, so I want to move away from entertainment a little bit and get back into reviewing great websites that I come across on my daily web wanderings — like I used to do when I first launched this blog. Towards that end, I want to tell you about shadesshuttersblinds.com, a site I found while shopping for blinds a couple days ago.

The first thing that struck me about the shadesshuttersblinds.com website was the nice selection of products available. I was originally thinking about just purchasing something basic — like mini blinds — for the living room and maybe the bedroom, but once I started browsing through all the different styles and materials on the site, I knew I’d end up changing my mind.

That’s because shadesshuttersblinds.com has such great prices on Plantation shutters, Roman shades, sheer shades, faux wood blinds, real wood blinds, and cellular shades as well. All of these products are available in hundreds of different colors, so there’s not going to be a problem matching my purchase to the existing color scheme in my home. Many of the products are on sale for even lower prices now, which means this is the perfect time for me to buy!

Another thing I like about this website the fact that it’s extremely user-friendly. The navigation menu made it easy to find precisely what I wanted with just a few clicks of the mouse. In addition to browsing through the products, I was also able to find a couple of great tutorials showing me how to measure my windows for blinds and how to install my blinds once I receive them.

And finally, I loved how the contact information (including a phone number) for shadesshuttersblinds.com was located in a highly visible area on the site. It’s always comforting to know that the retailer I’m choosing to do business with is actually interested in hearing from customers before, during, and/or after the transaction. In fact, I never make a purchase from a website that doesn’t have their contact information prominently displayed, so that would have been a deal-breaker here as well.

Overall, I think shadesshuttersblinds.com is a great place to start if you’re looking to purchase affordable blinds or window coverings online. Check the site out today; I’m sure you’ll find the entire process to be as straightforward as I did!

Posted in Products

Online Casino Reviews

Nov24
2007 Written by Editor

One of my favorite ways to relax and unwind after a tough day is to play a few hands of blackjack. I live about 20 minutes away from a riverboat casino, so I’m sure to hit the tables out there at least once a month. But for those times when I can’t get away from home or simply don’t want to deal with traffic, crowds, and an enormous amount of cigarette smoke, I enjoy playing online as well.

Like most gambling enthusiasts, I’ve got a favorite online casino or two that I play at more than others, but I also like to broaden my horizons from time to time and try out different game rooms as well — which is why I find a site like Pro360.com to be so helpful. Pro360.com is a site that provides comprehensive reviews of online casinos so that players like me can make informed decisions about where to spend our money.

Right on the front page of the site, there’s a table listing some of the top-rated casinos on the Internet. I can take in a particular casino’s Pro360.com rating, player rating, max bonus percentage, certification, and whether or not they accept U.S. players all in a single glance, or I can click through for a full review from the experts on Pro360.com’s staff.

From there, it’s just a matter of selecting a casino that meets my own personal criteria, and I can find myself playing blackjack within a few minutes. How cool is that?!

If you’re serious about playing online poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, and more at only the best-rated websites, then you’ve got to check out Pro360.com. They’ll get you started in the right direction!

Annoying Ads on IMDB.com

Nov23
2007 Written by Editor

Like most movie fans, one of my favorite sites on the Internet is IMDB.com. I check that place several times a day to get the latest information about new releases, get movie recommendations from the Top 250 list, and check celebrity screen credits and bios. It’s a great resource, and one that I couldn’t do without.

But I just cannot stand all the ads on that site! Seriously, my popup blocker has to kick into overdrive whenever I’m on IMDB.com. It seems that every single page I land on has at least two popup adds on it, which gets to be very annoying.

I realize that I’m using a free site and that they have to defray costs by selling advertising, but still… Isn’t there a less obtrusive way to do so than by having popups going off all over the place?

Favorite Websites: TheOnion.com

Sep22
2007 Written by Editor

It’s been a while since I’ve given a shout-out to a favorite website, so I thought I’d fit one in today. I first discovered the parody newspaper The Onion back in 1998 when I spent six weeks in Madison, WI for a training program near the UW campus. The Onion is distributed free, and could pretty much be found in every cafe and bookstore in Madison back then — not surprising since the paper originated with a couple of UW students in ’88. Now that The Onion is online at TheOnion.com, it has developed a truly international following — and deservedly so.

The first thing you’re likely to notice about The Onion is how well written the stories are. It’s hard to do satire and to make it funny week in and week out, but the staff at TheOnion.com definitely succeeds in this area. Whether they’re lambasting the president or making fun of the Patriots videotape scandal, the headline stories always make me laugh.

Oh, and I want to mention the regular columnists as well. “The Cruise” by Jim Anchower is the column I look forward to the most, and that’s followed up almost immediately by Jean Teasdale’s “A Room of Jean’s Own.” I don’t know who actually writes that stuff (I think there have been several writers over the years), but they are truly awesome! I just wish The Cruise was updated more frequently…

Anyway, if you’ve never visited TheOnion.com, you are really missing out on some great articles. Check it out!!

Calling All Investors!

Sep20
2007 Written by Editor

Back when I was in college working towards my business degree, I took an Investments class. While it was interesting to learn about how the most popular investment vehicles work, my favorite part of the class — by far — was when we got down to trading stocks (virtually speaking). Each student received the same amount of fake money to start with, and we tracked trades with a special software program. I ended up finishing in fourth place (out of 38 students), which wasn’t bad at all, and I got an A in the class.

While I’ve never attempted to try my luck in the real stock market, I do have the opportunity to try my hand at virtual trading again. That’s because MyWallSt.net is hosting a fantasy stock trading contest called the Rookie Challenge, and it definitely sounds like something I want to participate in!

MyWallSt.net is a social networking site for people interested in learning the ins and outs of investing in the stock market. It’s 100 percent free to join, and it gives you the chance not only to find out what investing is all about without having to put real money at risk, but also to interact with others in the community to learn from their experience and expertise.

Plus, MyWallSt.net has cool promotions like the Rookie Challenge. As with the site itself, the Rookie Challenge is a completely free perk to MyWallSt.net members. Registration is free, participation is free, and you’ll even get a free hat once your registration is processed. Best of all, by playing in the Rookie Challenge, you’ll have a chance to win the weekly $1,000 cash prize, which is given to the participant who increases the value of his or her portfolio the most for that week. Very cool!

I totally want to do this, so I better start checking the financial pages a bit more closely from now on! I would love to see you guys involved too. Just head on over to MyWallSt.net right now and fill out the registration form. Maybe one of us will win a $1,000 prize!

Posted in Check it out

Fun Science Tricks

Sep14
2007 Written by Editor

My son is really becoming curious about everything around him these days, so I’ve been investigating different websites that have fun and easy experiments we can try. I’ve found several good ones, including Steve Spangler Science, and am already lining up a few projects for the coming weeks.

For example, I thought it would be fun to show my son that old trick where you yank a tablecloth out from under a full dinner setting without knocking anything over. I never realized this trick demonstrates Newton’s law that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. I doubt my son will understand that concept, but I’m sure he’ll get a kick out of the experiment!

I also saw an experiment that shows how to make the toy surprise in a box of cereal rise to the top before you even open it. It turns out all you have to do is hold the box vertically and shake it up and down several times. The toy will rise due to the friction created from the shaking action. Pretty cool, huh?

I love fun science tricks like this and I could seriously do these all day long. I hope my son likes them too!