Chris Pirillo

L’eggo My Eggo!!

Chris — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:09:05 +0000

L’eggo My Eggo!! is a post from Chris Pirillo

Wait. Back up. Hold the phone. Rewind a moment. PAUSE! STOP!!!! What the hell is going on?! No more Eggos?! Someone has lost their freaking minds!!

Kellog’s has had to close their Atlanta plant – the second such closure in recent days due to operational issues. They claim to be working hard to re-stock all of the stores that carry their famous waffles. But for now… there is actually a shortage. Many thousands of people are going to have to go through painful withdrawals every morning! This, folks, is a crisis of epic proportions!

Breakfast without Eggos is like… macaroni without cheese… peanut butter without jelly… Bert without Ernie! It just doesn’t work. It’s not cool. It should be illegal!!! I think I need a paper bag. So this is what hyperventilating feels like!

How are you going to survive your Eggo withdrawal? Will you replace your old standby with something new, or simply starve every morning until they return to your grocer’s shelves?

Losing out on Eggo’s isn’t even the only newsworthy event that has been written about in our community today. People are talking about all kinds of things. I hope you haven’t missed any of them!

Even the downloads center has been busy today! We have a few excellent new Apps for you to check out!

Chumby One Review

Chris — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:10:36 +0000

Chumby One Review is a post from Chris Pirillo

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You might remember the original Chumby, which wasn’t quite as cool as the new Chumby One is. It has a touch screen for starters, and an awesome speaker. You can configure the widgets through the free web account that you get when you buy your Chumby. Personalize it any way you want. The thing I think I like the most is that it runs on battery, as well as through a regular cord.

A Chumby takes the best part of the Internet and sends it right to your desk. The Chumby is a window into YOUR Internet life, and only those parts of it you care to access quickly. Things like weather, news, podcasts, music and more now have a place away from your hard drive. Plug in your Chumby, connect to your network and create a lineup from more than 1500 widgets. The Chumby will then stream what YOU want to see… from sports scores to stock quotes… from video clips to games… and from photos to trivia!

You can set alarms and timers for night mode if you want. Just touch the screen, and do your thing! I absolutely love my Chumby, and it’s one of the best Christmas gifts you could buy the Geek in your life as far as I’m concerned!

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LEGO AT-AT Fun

Chris — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:24:16 +0000

LEGO AT-AT Fun is a post from Chris Pirillo

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The LEGO AT-AT is the All-Terrain Armored Transport, seen in Return of the Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back. This is actually my third major LEGO build. The first was the Star Destroyer, which was given to me by a friend. The second was the Death Star, which friends helped me build a few months ago on my birthday. The coolest thing about the AT-AT is that it is motorized! Just flip a switch and watch it take off across your room. I happen to think it’s probably the coolest thing I’ve seen all year. I’m just not so sure that Pixie would agree.

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How to Make an iPhone App

Chris — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:25:10 +0000

How to Make an iPhone App is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Anthony saw my call for screencasters, and stepped up to the plate. He has created an amazing tutorial for all of you would-be iPhone devs out there! In this screencast, he will show you how to get started, and walk you through creating a simple iPhone App of your very own! It’s not too late for you to submit a screencast to be uploaded to our channels. Click on the link at the beginning of this description for more information.

First, you’ll need to head over to Apple’s Dev Center and download the SDK. This includes the Xcode IDE, iPhone simulator, and a suite of additional tools for developing applications for iPhone and iPod touch. You do not need to buy a developer account – you can use a free one to start with. If you are interested in submitting something to the App Store at some point, you can then look at the membership options.

To create a new iPhone application, you start by creating a new project in Xcode. A project manages all of the information associated with your application, including the source files, build settings, and rules needed to put all of the pieces together. The Groups and Files list is where you manage the files in your project, including your source files and the build targets that are created from those source files. The toolbar gives you access to commonly used tools and commands while the details pane provides a configurable space for working on your project.

The Interface Builder is the next component you will need. It’s the tool that you’ll use to make your App user interface. Using this tool, you’ll assemble your App’s window by dragging and dropping preconfigured components into it. These include standard things like switches, text fields and buttons. Once you put them on the window’s surface, you can move them around, configure them and establish how these interact with your code.

The iPhone Simulator is used to test your App, so that you don’t have to use an actual iPhone. This will save you a load of time, and is very easy to use.

It’s not as difficult to create an iPhone App as you may have thought. With patience and time, anyone can learn how to do these. Once you create something unique that others may want to have, you’ll be able to start earning money on the App Store.

Thanks to Anthony for the excellent tutorial… and good luck to all of you budding iPhone developers!

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How to Optimize Network Management

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:28:31 +0000

How to Optimize Network Management is a post from Chris Pirillo

This post was sponsored by LANsurveyor. We’ve worked with the folks at SolarWinds many times in the past. They have excellent products to help you keep your network running in tip-top shape (as their own community will attest).

LANsurveyor is used by network engineers worldwide to map their networks in mere minutes. According to SolarWinds Head Geek, “getting to know” your network is the first thing you should do when managing any network – and the best way to do this is to discover, map and document it and everything connected to it.

If you’re a network engineer, you are responsible for making sure business-critical network processes are up and running and don’t have a lot of time on your hands to spend cataloging everything on the network. LANsurveyor does the work for you. From automatically discovering your LAN or WAN to producing an easy-to-view, interactive network diagram that can be printed, saved as image or exported to Microsoft Visio, this tool’s got you covered. But this isn’t a one-hit wonder. LANsurveyor adds value beyond the initial discovery of your network. It tracks changes on the network in real-time, creates hardware and program inventory reports and more.

Gone are the days of keeping track of devices connected to your network by manually entering them into a spreadsheet. Who has the time for that? Better yet… who has the desire to be on “network inventory” duty? You can use LANsurveyor to do the dirty work for you! It will automatically keep track of everything, freeing you up to work on more business-critical projects.

Just like with all SolarWinds products, you can try LANsurveyor free for 30 days. If you purchase before November 30th, you will receive a 50% discount! Make sure you use coupon code PLS504QC when ordering to receive the discount.

Make your life as the IT guy a little bit easier using LANsurveyor.

How Can Companies Hire Social Media Directors?

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:59:02 +0000

How Can Companies Hire Social Media Directors? is a post from Chris Pirillo

I came across an interesting link today while browsing Twitter. The author writes about how companies who are new to social media are failing miserably when it comes to writing job descriptions for their newly-created social media positions. He goes on to say he used to blame the companies themselves for writing poorly-constructed ads. Then, he realized that it isn’t the company’s fault at all. They don’t know what they’re doing, remember? They are new to this whole social media scene, and may not even know what it is they are looking FOR, exactly.

How would you suggest a company create a position for this, and market it? What should they look for? How should their ads be worded to be the most effective? I think that the social media experts in our community are the perfect place to get ideas flowing, and help these companies out!

What have you read today that sparked your imagination and interest, or made you stop and think? Make sure you share the links with the rest of us, so we don’t miss out!

Don’t miss our downloads center today! There are some excellent deals for both Windows and Mac people!

How to Have a Chris Pirillo Live Gadget on your Windows Desktop

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:19:53 +0000

How to Have a Chris Pirillo Live Gadget on your Windows Desktop is a post from Chris Pirillo

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We’ve uploaded several awesome screencasts lately. All of you are sending in informative and high-quality tutorials for us to share with the world. It’s not too late for you to get your screencast on our channels, you know! Get busy and create something wonderful! Gabriel is a fan of our live stream, and has come up with a simple tutorial to show you how to add a gadget on your desktop to make tuning in to my stream even easier!

With just a few clicks, you’ll have a widget right on your desktop for our live stream. It even has a volume control, so that you can mute me whenever you’re busy working on other things. Why anyone would want to mute me, I have no clue! But there ya go. You have that option.

Just head over to my gallery page, and click on the “Download” button over on the right. Now click “Install”, and then choose “Open With Windows Desktop Gadgets”.

That’s all you have to do in order to have a widget right on your desktop that streams my live feed. You no longer have to visit my site, or my Ustream page! Drag the window wherever you want it on your desktop, and resize it to fit your needs. You can even close it whenever you want. Re-open it by right-clicking on your desktop and then clicking “gadgets”.

Thanks so much to Gabriel for sending in this excellent screencast!

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Create Your Own WordPress Themes

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:30:29 +0000

Create Your Own WordPress Themes is a post from Chris Pirillo

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If you have a blog, you have a theme. Chances are, you downloaded a theme off the web somewhere. It’s okay that you don’t know how to code your own customized theme from scratch! Very few people are capable of doing this. You want your blog to say “YOU”, but you don’t want to pay a designer a ton of money to accomplish this. It’s a good thing Artisteer now makes it simple for you to create and customize your own WordPress theme with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Everything and anything you can think of that you might want to tweak in your layout can be done easily with Artisteer in just a few seconds. You don’t have to try to learn HTML or even CSS. All you have to be able to do is click your mouse buttons, and decide what look is right for you.

Move your gadgets to a different side. Change up your text with different colors and fonts. Heck, change the header or background image while you’re at it. Don’t like what you’re seeing? Psh! Just click a button and start completely over. It really is that easy.

Best of all, Artisteer doesn’t only work on WordPress. Create designs for web pages, Blogger Blogs, or make professional Joomla! and Drupal templates.

Artisteer is probably my favorite new discovery in a long time. I’m having so much fun that I’ve now created probably 30 different themes, just by playing around. The only limitation to this program is your own imagination. So… get creative!

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Wooden Background Truly Dead
WicketPixie WordPress Theme Screencast
WicketPixie: a Social Media Theme for WordPress
What Role Do Blogs Play in Your Life?
To Twitter or to Fritter – That is the Question
Do Bloggers Need a Union?
WicketPixie Open Source WordPress Theme Updates
How to Create a Twitter Background Image
CNN.com!”>Yes, It’s True – I’m Now the Tech Expert on CNN.com!
Do You Need a Better Blog Search Tool?

Be Still My Beating Geek Heart

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:37:44 +0000

Be Still My Beating Geek Heart is a post from Chris Pirillo

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This is a plush beating heart. Why would you want one? Uh, probably because it’s cool! It has realistic beating sounds, which can soothe a baby… or yourself! This could just be the hottest new item for that impossible to buy for person on your holiday shopping list! What will our friends at ThinkGeek come up with next?

Your friends will be oddly fascinated by the beating heart. You can snuggle up with it if you want, and not get all messy and icky. You could give one to your girlfriend (or boyfriend!) to show them that they own your heart.

Or.. you can just hog this cute little plush to yourself. Sleep with it, and let the sounds soothe you off to dreamland.

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LeapFish Sponsors Tweet-a-Cause: Tweet to Send Ill Child to Disneyland

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:19:13 +0000

LeapFish Sponsors Tweet-a-Cause: Tweet to Send Ill Child to Disneyland is a post from Chris Pirillo

I remember going to Disneyland for the first time, but it wasn’t as a child. I was much, much older (and still as enchanted by what I saw there). Do you have any memories of going to Disneyland?

Jacob is a four-year old with Atresia who has always wanted to go – and you have a chance to help his wish come true with a simple tweet. LeapFish teamed up with the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation® to help Jacob get to Disneyland. Tweet-a-Cause gives Twitter users the power. That’s you!

So, LeapFish is making a donation per tweet sent to the Make-A-Wish Foundation until $10,000 has been raised. They’re inviting you to tweet to raise awareness for children who need your help. What do you need to tweet? Click This or copy / paste the following into your Twitter client:

Just tweeted to grant a child’s wish! #leapfish donates to #makeawish foundation for each tweet. http://bit.ly/3KgyQX

With any luck, we can use our small influence to make a big difference in Jacob’s life.

What Drives Your Productivity?

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:08:57 +0000

What Drives Your Productivity? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Being sick has its advantages – ones I never knew about! I have had some sort of crazy virus for several days now. I admit to spending one entire day sleeping it off as best I could. I stayed out of my office for the most part, and knocked myself out with the medicines the doctor gave me. Since that day, I’ve spent as much time as possible doing nothing other than sitting in my office. Since that happens to be where I work… I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot! I haven’t felt like going anywhere really, or “doing” anything much.

I’ve managed to catch up on some reading I felt I was behind on. I have come up with some ideas for upcoming projects. And, I’ve even managed to croak out some geeky new videos for the YouTube channel. I’m ahead of myself on those, which is kind of cool. Usually, the things I record are uploaded immediately the next day. Now I have a bit of a “buffer”, in case there’s a day I am too busy with other things to record.

As backwards as it seems, being sick has made me more productive. What helps boost your “get things done” levels? Also – what do you spend the most time doing when you’re sick? Do you curl up in front of the tv, or read a book? Do you spend all of your time sleeping? Or, are you like me and plant yourself in front of the computer monitors?

Don’t forget to check out all of the hot new apps we have for you in our downloads center. Today you’ll find several things for Windows, as well as mobile devices!

Parallels Review

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:37:22 +0000

Parallels Review is a post from Chris Pirillo

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There have been numerous screencasts submitted over the past couple of weeks. Several of them are very, VERY good! I always knew that our community was full of talented individuals. It’s not too late for you to get involved, and have your screencast featured on this channel! Bwana has been hanging out with us for years, and is even a moderator in my chat room – when he has time! He’s gained quite a following of his own, and rightfully so. He does excellent work, and I’m always more than happy to have him do reviews for us. Today, he sent a screencast to me to give you all an overview of Parallels on the Mac.

When you first launch the software, you’ll only see the first two options: you’ll have to choose between a new Windows installation or to import a virtual machine. Since Bwana had already created a Windows image, he had a third option to use an existing VM.

The New Windows Installation option allows you to set up a virtual machine within Parallels to run inside of Mac OS X. There are several video tutorials online that show you how to set up and use a virtual machine. For the purposes of this video, Bwana chose to set up a new virtual machine in order to show you how it’s done.

Parallels is so easy to use that you can literally install Windows with just three clicks of your mouse. Run Windows programs like native Mac applications side-by-side using Coherence technologies. Gain instant access to your files, folders and data across both operating systems with SmartX technologies. And… you can remotely control your virtual machine using the iPhone application when you’re away from home!

Thanks to Bwana for sending a screencast in to us… and to all of you who are working hard and continuing to send in excellent material. I promise you – we’ll get them all up on our channels!

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Word of the Year: Unfriend

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:23:50 +0000

Word of the Year: Unfriend is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Apparently, I was on Good Morning America today – and I didn’t even know it! They decided that the word of the year is “unfriend”. And, they decided to use a picture of me to demonstrate it!

The folks on the show didn’t even bother to give my name, or ask people to follow me on Twitter! How rude is that?! Why am I the mascot for the word unfriend?! I may have unfollowed everyone at one point, but that was only so I could start over! If you look – I’m again following a truckload of people!

I’m sick right now, yes. But this… this is just twisted!

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What is an Eye-Fi?

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:28:55 +0000

What is an Eye-Fi? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of EyeFi. All opinions are 100% mine.

I used a digital camera to take a photo of the chat room, and then had it automatically transferred to my Flickr account. I could just as easily send it to my Facebook page, or any other account that is supported by the Eye-Fi. The picture was transferred wirelessly over my home network from the camera directly to my desktop… and then right to my Flickr! Using the Eye-Fi SD card, it is a snap to upload photos without having to go through several different steps.

The Eye-Fi comes with a handy little reader, since you may not have an SD card reader. The camera itself doesn’t do the transfer, in case you haven’t figured it out. It’s the Eye-Fi SDHC card doing all of the work. It’s automagic!

How often do you forget to download photos from your camera? Actually, a more likely scenario is that you just haven’t made the time to do it. If you have several pictures stored on there, it can take quite awhile for you to download them to your computer, upload them somewhere like Flickr, tag them and finally have them ready for the World to view. Using the Eye-Fi takes almost all of those steps out of the process, saving you time and headaches!

The Eye-Fi SDHC card has up to 4GB of storage, so you don’t have to worry about not having enough room for everything. One of the coolest things is that it provides an automatic backup of your memories by organizing them according to date on your computer for you! Don’t we wish more gadgets or programs would do this for us? Life sure would be easier!

I’m willing to bet you want one of these now for yourself, don’t you? Well – here’s your chance! Twelve of you are going to win one of these awesome little cards!! All you have to do is sign into Twitter, and tweet the following:

Hey @ChrisPirillo – I’d like to win a free #eye-fi via http://go.tagjag.com/eyefi4me

Yes, that’s all there is to it! Twelve people will be randomly selected to win, so get those tweets sent out in a hurry! I already love my Eye-Fi. It’s made my photo experience a thousand times better than it used to be. I think I need a few more of these!

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A Final Line on Malware Protection

Chris — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:57:04 +0000

A Final Line on Malware Protection is a post from Chris Pirillo

The truth of malware today is that it is a cat-and-mouse game between the criminals/hackers and the security people. The hackers are ready to take advantage of every opportunity. Recently, former beauty contestant Carrie Prejean was in the news. It was just hours later that there were malware and spyware sites using the “Carrie Prejean” search to infect computers.

Firewalls and security products are absolutely necessary. This space makes it a regular habit of reminding our readers of the need to be active in protecting your computer and personal, confidential information. No antivirus or antimalware product can guarantee that they are a hundred per cent effective. It would be just an impossible guarantee because of the speed of the internet and the opportunities for crime.

For that reason, there is one product that we believe is necessary and that we recommend. That product is WinPatrol and there is really good reason for using this product.

Some malware can install without you having to do anything. These are the so called “drive-by” downloads. You probably would not know that a malware program has been installed. The hackers are that good at compromising your system. There is a way to protect your machine constantly. WinPatrol is like a watchdog for your computer. And like a great watchdog, it alerts you if there are any attempted changes on your machine. That means that you have a chance to stop a malware installation because WinPatrol has your machine under constant surveillance.

You decide whether to allow any changes on the machine. Even the changes that legitimate programs attempt to make will be noted. You have to allow permission. For example, some program you use now may ‘phone home’ and want to update. WinPatrol will alert you to see if you want this update. It is an extra layer of security – and it prevents a load of problems.

Bill Pytlovany is giving our readers a terrific discount on WinPatrol. Bill is a recognized security expert, with decades of experience. Bill is a recognized expert by Microsoft in their MVP program. Bill is reducing the cost of this program by ten dollars. Use the coupon code: Gnomes for the discount on WinPatrol. It supports “Supports Windows 98 – Windows 7 including x64 systems”.

The offer expires on November 25, 2009.

This is affordable protection. Malware still needs to install on your machine for it to work. WinPatrol gives you one last chance to stop an infection, even though you have a firewall and other security programs. There are many gnomies who would not be without WinPatrol on any of their computers. We recommend it without any hesitation – and it is a huge bargain at this price.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.