Yesterday, I mentioned that I would be pointing out some noteworthy widgets in the future, and the future is here today. Today’s noteworthy widget is Plugoo. Plugoo lets you very easily chat with your website’s visitors via your own every day IM client. Whatever instant messenging client you normally use - Yahoo Messenger, MSN (Live) Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, Jabber, or ICQ - you can use that same program to chat with visitors to your site.
You simply embed the Plugoo widget into your site and your users can chat with you when you are available. And although you’ll be using your regular IM client, the visitor won’t know your real IM address. The visitors don’t have to set up anything or have anything already installed… Continue reading
Posted on July 31st, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Site Ideas | 2 Comments »
Are you looking for a way to spice up your site or blog while using cool technology? A widget is probably the answer. There are thousands of widgets available out there, and I plan to point a few out that are particularly noteworthy in future posts. Today’s noteworthy widget is a really funny gizmo that lets you create a JibJab-style talking head out of any photo you have (person or animal). It’s really funny, and a lot of fun. Here’s what I just whipped up in a couple of minutes. (I can do these kinds of goofy things because I work from home in pajamas). Click the arrow to run it.
If you need to make a point, it can sometimes… Continue reading
Posted on July 29th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Too Funny | 2 Comments »
How often do you say “I have an idea”? Does anyone make a face or groan when you say that? How often do you hear in response, “Now what”? If you are an idea person like I am, you’ll have that scenario play out many times over your lifetime. Some people just have a brain that grows ideas like a unkempt yard grows weeds. We don’t really have control over when or where these ideas will spring forth; they just erupt at any time, in any place. Because we have so many ideas, very few, statistically, actually ever go beyond the initial “I have an idea” phase. It would be next to… Continue reading
Posted on July 27th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Business Development | 4 Comments »
Yesterday, when discussing how I plan to survive my next computer crash, I mentioned that I was going to start storing music and photos on thumbdrives (USB Flash drives). Since that time, I’ve come to the conclusion that I *may* be able to run most of what I do from a USB flash drive. I’ve ordered a 2 GB flash drive and when it comes in, I intend to install a bunch of portable apps onto it. We’ll see how well I can function using this for almost everything I do on a daily basis on my computer. If you’re interested in trying this as well, here’s how to get started.
First head on over to PortableApps.com. You’ll be able to get just about any… Continue reading
Posted on July 24th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Tech Advice | 2 Comments »
My entire weekend was ruined when my computer died early Saturday morning. I wasn’t entirely surprised. My computers tend to give up the ghost every 2-3 years, and the latest had lasted nearly 4 years. I wasn’t too worried. I have backups, right? Well, yes, sort of. For some reason, my backups stopped happening 4 months ago. I don’t know why. So my latest backup is really old. It’s time to move to the online backup model. After getting my new computer into a workable state, I researched online backup options, and thought I’d share what I plan to use (so you can too).
First of all, I was amazed to find Mozy. This service is free for the… Continue reading
Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Good Deals | 2 Comments »
I chose to give today’s Dazzlin Badge of Excellence to Sarah Dopp of Dopp Juice primarily based upon her Practice Senseless Acts of Beauty post. However, I’ve had her blog in mind for a while now because she has an interesting perspective. Her tag line alone, “the seeds and pulp just make it more interesting”, is enough to make me want to know more. So I thank you, Ms. Dopp, for bringing some beauty and curiosity into my day.
If you’ve won a Dazzlin Badge of Excellence Award, you can display the awards badge on your site by pasting the following code into your page. Just highlight it, copy it, and paste it.
Posted on July 20th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Excellence Awards | No Comments »
Need a free stock photo? Free … meaning you don’t have to pay anyone cold, hard cash for its use? Look no further. I’ve compiled my top 10 list of favorite stock photo sites that don’t cost you anything. Make sure you read any terms of usage, however, as you may need to attribute its source via a link or mention.
If you need to return, bookmark this page at del.icio.us for quick reference.
Yotophoto - This is the first place I usually turn to because Yotophoto is the ultimate search engine for finding free use photos across the entire web. It searches some sites that I don’t include in this list, simply because you’ll find them via Yotophoto.
UPDATE… Continue reading
Posted on July 18th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Nice Photos | 63 Comments »
Social Networking - What is It? I get asked this fairly often, so I thought I’d give a brief explanation.
Social Networking sites are all different in some respects, but they all have some things in common.
- As the name implies, they are “social”, and revolve around a community of users who are all actively participating in some way (rather than just passively reading).
- The users are usually “sharing” something with each other.
- The users are often giving their opinions of something, either through ratings or approval/disapproval systems.
- The “shared items” are generally displayed more prominently based upon their ratings and/or popularity, which is based upon how the users rated them.
What gets shared is usually the biggest differentiator amongst the sites. Here are some examples of Things… Continue reading
Posted on July 16th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Tech Advice | 4 Comments »
Today is Friday the 13th, and if you are the superstitious sort, then you may want to stay safe and sound in your home today. If you are curious why Friday the 13th is considered to be an unlucky day, well, you won’t ever know the real reason. There are too many possible answers to this, but you can check out all the possibilities over at Snopes.
Personally, I’ve had more good luck than bad luck on Friday the 13ths. What kind of luck do you usually have? I’m not sure what day this guy encountered his bad luck, but I’d guess it might have happened on a Friday the 13th. Enjoy watching someone else’s bad luck, and make sure you don’t have the same… Continue reading
Posted on July 13th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Videos | No Comments »
Because everyone needs a little humor and sarcasm mixed in with excellent advice, today’s Dazzlin Badge of Excellence goes to Bloggrrl.com! The irreverent style sweetly mixed with good content is a definite winner. I’d imagine it may not be right for everyone, especially the most conservative of folks, but if you don’t mind a little in-your-face humor now and then, it’s worth checking out.
If you’ve won a Dazzlin Badge of Excellence Award, you can display the awards badge on your site by pasting the following code into your page. Just highlight it, copy it, and paste it.

Posted on July 11th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Excellence Awards | No Comments »