Today marks the fifth birthday for WickedWordCraft.com. In honor of this landmark, I’ve given WWC a much-needed facelift. I’m also now running on the WordPress platform. It looks a bit cleaner and fresher. I’ve also imported my background from WickedBlog.com to have a bit of continuity between the two sites.

I’ll be tweaking and adjusting things over the next few days (maybe even weeks), but the look should stay mostly stable now. If you have any suggestions or comments, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for stopping by!

Angela

(Note: Image taken from Morguefile.com courtesy of photographer earl53.)

This weekend, I met with my favorite book keeper. Despite the differences in our talents, I still like her. I met with her for three days to get my books switched over to a new system. Few things in life leave me as cold, frustrated and “put upon” feeling as having to do the books. Did I mention that my old MS Accounting program doesn’t offer a standard “export” format? Did I mention that everything had to be converted ONE LINE AT A TIME for the ENTIRE YEAR TO DATE?!?!

I despise accounting. I think I would rather have splinters shoved under my fingernails than have to endure accounting. I hate it. Having to do it makes me hate life. I simply can’t overstate this fact. (more…)

I have been working with my own personal “Linux coach” lately — aka Keith Burton. He’s a family friend and a bloody genius when it comes to all things technical. I go to my father, usually, when I have a weighty tech/hardware question. Pops and Keith use each other as resources on different topics and individual special areas of interest. Having them both available is one of the things that makes my life easier.

Keith has helped me to solve several Linux issues that have been bugging the crap outta me. I’ll be sharing some of the wisdom he’s passed on to me as well as some that I’ve picked up from Pops, some discovered on my own and some through online research in this and upcoming Linux posts.

First, the thing you need to know when you get everything tweaked just the way you want it — a FULL system backup! Although I’m still in the market for a GUI version, this command line will do the trick to get my system backed up to an external drive. (more…)

It’s Fall! This weekend, the colors were astounding. I think this weekend was the peak for this year. The cold snap last week brought out the fire in the leaves on the farm. It was quite a show. Simply beautiful.

Over this long weekend (the kids had Thursday and Friday off school for Fall Break), my father came down to the farm and we worked to get running water on the farm.

Happily, the well pump is working and the water is just as cold and clear and wonderful as it always was.

We don’t have water circulating in the house yet, but we have it coming in and going to the pressure tank. We did most of the plumbing for the drainage system and the electric is now ready to go on the on-demand water heater. (more…)

Alex, my nine-year old, has been pretty sick for the past few days. She tried to attend school yesterday, but didn’t make it long before I was called to come pick her up.

So, yesterday, in between antibiotics and chicken noodle soup, she worked on her book report due later this week. She booted her new Linux laptop (the one that died on me a couple weeks ago, but now has a different hard drive). She worked on one corner of the desk I was using.

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This is the year from hell. In the future, 2007 will be known as such in my memoirs. It is the year in which family members accrued enormous health bills to go with their individual trials and tribulations. It is the year in which I have had to move twice already, and will endure another one before year-end. Life churns on.

2007 is the year that everything I touched… broke. My mother told me this weekend (as I held my daughter’s head while she vomited again) that my life seemed to be an embodiment of Murphy’s Law.

I would find that statement offensive… if it weren’t so true. (more…)

I’ve made the switch to open-source. My blog is powered by WordPress and my business site will soon follow. My must-have programs are almost all open-source now. And just recently, my operating system went open-source as well.I’m running my business on Linux! Originally, I had a two year plan to make the conversion. First I was learning open-source packages that would work with Windows AND with Linux. I expected a slow adoption schedule, but I ended up switching several months early. For anyone who has been considering taking this leap, I’d like to offer a few words of wisdom.

If you are going from Windows to Linux you may want to save yourself a bit of time and research by considering theses options:

Go Kubunto – Select Kubuntu (Feisty Fawn distribution) as your first foray into the Linux realm.

• It’s a well-rounded Linux distribution.
• It can be downloaded onto a CD and you can boot a machine up almost as easily as with any Windows install – easier in some ways!
• It automatically detects most hardware and just simply WORKS. (Linux has come a long way, baby!)
• It looks and (in many ways) acts in a familiar way when you use the KDE desktop.

Basic Programs – Most of the programs you will need for basic office and Internet functions are available from within Kubuntu (in the Add/Remove Programs menu). So there will be very little need to even learn how to load packages manually for most users.

• OpenOffice.org programs (includes most office packages you will need… and then some!)
• Kopete – an IM service with cross-platform compatibility. It’s loaded in Kubuntu by default. It’s not fancy, but it just works. (Gaim is an option that works for both Windows and Linux)
• GIMP – (The GNU Image Manipulation Program = GIMP) a great little image manipulation program.
• GNUCash – a financial management package. I’m just now reviewing this one, but it looks quite promising.
• BasKet Note Pads – A note taking application and my “One Note Replacement” of choice… so far. (This is available ONLY in Linux, unfortunately. It is almost worth switching to Linux just to have this notes program!)
• GwenViewer – fast-loading image viewer which comes installed on the Kubuntu distribution. (Linux only)
• Scribus – an MS Publisher replacement. I’ve not worked with this one much (although I have it loaded) because I’ve changed my business model a bit and have decided to farm out my publisher and DTP work and concentrate on my core services. It does come highly recommended from the open-source community. (Available for Linux and Windows platforms)
• FileZilla – an FTP program and the best of show in my opinion. (Windows and Linux)
• KeePassX – a password wallet program (my replacement for eWallet) it’s an option for automatic download on Kubuntu’s additional programs menu. (The windows version is called KeePass)
• Firefox browser. ‘Nuff said.
• Thunderbird email – there are many other options for Linux – but I love this one. I have used it for quite some time over on the old Windows machine. I may investigate others later, but for now, there’s been enough change in my online life.

Customize – The machine can be as “vanilla” or as ornate as you care to make it.

• There are beautiful icons available for free to dress up your desktop. The PNG format is so much nicer (and more eye-popping) than the old ICO formats. Pick up freebies for fancier desktops here: http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/icons/dock/
• There are a plethora of programs to make it work the way YOU work and it’s fun “shopping” for new software and the price is so right! What could be better than free?
• There are a multitude of forums and helpful websites if you get stuck. Linux folks love to help newbies. It’s a great community.

Back up – As soon as you get your install the way you want it, back up your home files. In Linux, everything “lives” under the home folder. Just show all your “hidden” folders and grab a full backup. I managed to fit mine on a large thumbdrive. (Don’t forget to make a backup of your email profile as well — that one bit me a couple times.)By doing this, you can completely reinstall Linux, if needed, and just “drop” your home folder in from a backup and keep on working.

Why have I gone open-source? At first it was a protest. I didn’t want to adopt the next windows OS once I learned of the privacy issues and that my hardware was going to be tapped by this new OS to make sure I was legal and to monitor me. I’m legal. I’m not a thief or a rogue. I resented the idea that “big brother” would check up on me, so I decided I’d never own a Visa machine. That started the ball rolling.

Now, I’m thrilled with my decision. I love Linux. And, although there has been a bit of a learning curve, I am willing to guess that it’s more for me than it would be for most casual users. I like to poke at the OS to see what’s under the hood. Most people wouldn’t do that. Invariably, that compulsion is what gets me into trouble.

If you want to go with Linux and you don’t want to uninstall packages, reconfigure and generally harass the OS, you will probably have an almost “plug and play” operating system with Kubuntu.

And what else will you have? Free software. Access to the best minds in the business – via the forums and the Ubuntu help site. And a computer that doesn’t need to be replaced nearly as often. As long as I’ve been in business, I’ve replaced my computer every 12-18 months. (I work my machines literally to death). Now, I’m going to be building a Linux machine. Yes, building it from the motherboard up.

It may take a bit longer to build than to run down to my local computer superstore and buy one, but I expect this Linux optimized creation to last me 3-5 years. THAT is really saying something. Not having to worry about a new computer and having redundancies built-in will be a serious time, money and worry-saver for me.

If you want a solid business machine and you don’t have the overwhelming urge to play high-end graphic games, Linux may be for you too!

Nope, not always. (But it is much more often than it should be!)

I just spoke with Russell Springs broker and real estate agent Kim Byrom of Lake Cumberland Properties who is the first real estate agent that actually tried to help me find a new office space. She is NOT the first one I contacted. In the future, she will be.

Kim asked qualifying questions, got my name and number and said she would give me a call back. I believe her. I told her how much I appreciated her help and that she was the first real estate agent of the five I’d contacted that was interested in helping me. She said that most of the office space rentals were not listings so she helped people as a public service. She went on to say that it strengthened the community… etc, etc.. and I found myself in awe. She said all the right things. She’s service-centric! I love it.

Yes, I work with Real Estate agents all day, every day. Yes, my own clients are overboard on the customer service. That’s one of the reasons I work with them instead of working with other agents and brokers in their zip code.

But locally, it’s always been hit and miss with real estate service and it was really nice to talk to Kim after what I’d endured on this one inquiry already today. It was refreshing and I told her so.

(more…)

This Thursday, October 11th, RemoteProfessionals.com is offering a free “Ask the Specialist” session which may be of interest to Real Estate Agents and those offering services to Real Estate Agents. It is your opportunity to come and ask your questions on how to:

1. Present yourself online
2. Organize your workflow for real estate projects
3. Customize your website

For more information…Visit the www.RemoteProfessionals.com event page and register today to attend on Thursday at noon (EST).

My buddy and peer, Katie Baird, over on Loosely Speaking Blog tagged me in her blog yesterday with a meme on blogging tips.

The rules of this meme are that I star the five items I think most important, and then add my own tips at the end. And, of course, tag other bloggers. Here goes. (more…)

I’m brilliant. I’ve learned so very much about Linux in the last few weeks. Every day I learn something new and exciting. For instance, I’ve learned that you don’t want to go and uninstall things you don’t personally use… or THINK that you don’t personally use.

Case in point… Just because you don’t plan to learn to program in Python doesn’t mean you can safely remove that from your list of programs in Ubuntu or Kubuntu. (more…)

I’m a control freak. This means that I like having my stuff in my possession. It also means that this new wave… this new push to put everything on “web-based” apps on someone else’s servers… makes me a little nervous.

On the flip side, having a hard drive crash makes me a LOT nervous. Redundant drives with full backups help — but they don’t prevent that horrible sinking feeling and the quick, rabbit like thoughts of “what files have I touched since the last full backup?!?!?” when a hard drive burps.

Web based data eliminates that. It also eliminates the need for data storage expenditures (which cost me almost as much as my computers do each year). It eliminates all the cords strewn from the UPS (uninterrupted power supply) hogging the leg-room under my desk and those snaking across my desk to plug into the powered USB hub behind my monitor. Want to know a secret? Wires make me crazy. I hate them.

I’ve seen with the iPhone how the web-apps can be pretty nice indeed — so long as I have a connection to the Internet. All is lost when the edge network isn’t available.

Web-apps also eliminate the need for program installation (and reinstallation when you buy a new computer or do a complete re-gen on an old computer) and it would also prevent the cross-operating system incompatibilities I’m experiencing now as I make the transition to Linux. It lowers the operating cost for computers because it takes less powerful computers to run the higher-end apps when all the “heavy lifting” is being done server-side. There are fewer “software upgrade” costs and you are always running the latest version (even if the previous version was better, I should add).

It makes sense to have someone else take care of my stuff. It means I worry less, have more fun, do less work…

Or does it?

Maybe, like the old quote about those willing to give up freedom (read control) and privacy to gain security end up with neither.

I don’t want someone else to have access to all my “stuff” — even if that means I have to maintain it all myself. I know there must be some happy medium between what I do online and what I store offline. I’m trying to find that “sweet spot” but I’m having real battles with it.

I love Google Docs and Zoho Docs and all those look-alikes — they offer a great concept. But would I do mission critical, sensitive client work on it? Nope.

I also like Basecamp. It’s a great online tool. I use it with a partner to outline our next steps in a joint venture. Do I feel comfortable having all our stuff online? Not really. It’s convenient. It’s nice to know that both of us can gain access to this information at any time from any location. And, yes, I’ve read the privacy policy.

Can I be frank? Although I recommend that all my clients have a privacy policy — and only speak the truth in it, I still don’t really trust privacy policies on websites. I’ve written dozens of them and I’m a skeptic. I know they are only as good as those people who write them and those responsible for insuring the company follows them. There are too many variables there.

Yes, I enjoy the ability to do my banking online, but I’ve not quite managed to get comfortable with doing my books online. I have the urge to simplify my books — it’s more of a compulsion, less of an urge actually. I hate QuickBooks — online or offline. Despise it. I want to investigate FreshBooks online. It looks great, but I just can’t bring myself to do that yet. It seems too much like walking down the street in a sheer nightie — yeah, I may be covered, but how much effort would it really take to see all my “stuff” if you were really looking?

As I make the changes in my business model that are currently underway, I may become a bit more comfortable with the online world. I may have to. There may be no option soon.

I love the Internet. I love working online. My computer is (usually) my best ally and coolest tool in my business and creative endeavours. But my sense of individuality is threatened when I consider the ways my data can be taken, shared, hi-jacked, damaged, destroyed or lost.

Maybe the solution is to harbor less data and I am “cleaning up” my data files and my extra redundancies and old versions as I sweep through the new business data system I’m building. Maybe the solution is to share more freely and worry less. Perhaps I should follow the herd toward a web-based world — and I may eventually do that — but right now, I’m still sitting here with crossed arms shaking my head no.

Web apps have their place. I know this. And I don’t really have a problem with the apps being web-based. I have a problem with the data being there too.

I know that the best solution for mobility and for the non-tech users in the world is a web-based application mecca. I know that the hard drive space on the mobile devices can go way down when web-side data storage is implemented. I get it.

I’m just not sure I want it yet.

In a perfect world, the web-based apps would have a local computer-based backup app that would let you read and manipulate all the data files created in the web applications. (Having all my stuff in OneNote during this switch over to Linux has turned me against “proprietary formats” forever.) The data would be stored locally — or at least backed up to a local drive (fully encrypted from the web application of course).

That way, your information would never be held hostage, or held in a format that you can’t read or append. And I wouldn’t have this “sinking” feeling whenever I consider letting my critical data get out of my sight.

I guess I’m just not a trusting person. (*shrug*) So be it.

This month marks the fifth anniversary of WickedWordCraft.com. Pretty exciting stuff for me. I’ve been in business since 1999 — but I’d not niched until I rolled out WWC in October of 2002. It was the best thing I ever did for my business.

Niching is important to all small businesses, IMHO. Even my own real estate clients have been niching pretty hard lately (see the active rain post I did last week on real estate niches). I’ve been working up ways to further niche and narrow my own services. Hopefully, by month’s end, I’ll be rolling out a new internal business model.

This means I’ll be determining which of the current services I offer I’ll be keeping and which ones I’ll be farming out to other remote professionals. (more…)