My Blog

Find Images You Can Use for Free in your Web Projects

by Bostwick - July 4, 2009
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Google Images added a new filter that lets you browse images by license type. So, if you want to find an image for a blog or website, but you don't want to buy it or accidentally use it without permission, this is a good place to start.

Microsoft Takes Daring Risks with New Ads

by Bostwick - July 5, 2009
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This sounds like one of those classic "drunk" ideas that should have stayed in the bar.

Marketer #1 (slamming a tequila shot): Superman, porn, vomit.
Marketer #2 (downing a shot of Wild Turkey): Yes! You rock, man! That is PURE genius! We will win awards for it, dude! High five!

And that was how an idea was born, and then how an idea led to a revolution. Well, maybe not. Microsoft is moving into daring new territory, but is this a good thing? You be the judge:

Getting a Simple Website: Why it’s Not Cheap (Part I)

by Bostwick - July 4, 2009
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“Why do websites cost so much? All I want is something simple!” This is something I hear often from potential clients of small businesses that need their first website. Given the ease to produce rather nice looking websites these days, with Wordpress and the many free or cheap themes out there, it’s a reasonable question. Why should I pay a couple hundred dollars or several thousand for something that I can get for free?

#1 – You Don’t Want Simple

Do you want your site to look like Craigslist? Chances are, even though it’s worked well for them, you have something spiffier in mind. If not, there are free tools with Microsoft and Google and Wordpress and others for creating barebone sites with little pizzazz. Some – and I’ll add them in when I review them in a future post– offer much more pizzazz. But regardless, most clients want a nice design. And often they want a unique design, until they see the costs involved with that.

Jon Bostwick Gets a New Look

by Bostwick - June 4, 2009
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Jon Bostwick goes bold!“Jon Bostwick,” a media darling and up-and-comer in the close-knit web production world, recently unveiled a new website that is sure to stun its fans and shock its critics. Known for its conservative, stock Drupal templates, Jon Bostwick has a bold new color scheme for, dare we say it, a new generation?

Jon Bostwick, the creator of this unique site, a man with a unique style and a unique flair for the dramatic, lived in perpetual frustration over his site’s blah personality. “I have an amazing personality,” Jon confessed, “and this site with its generic themes was a rain cloud in my otherwise sunny disposition. I needed a change, and when it became obvious that no one was going to make it for me, I looked it in the eye and said, ‘You are mine.’”

Microsoft Web Platform: Good Content, Easy to Use

by Bostwick - February 3, 2009
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If you use MS tools to do web development, check out the Microsoft Web Platform. I had a friend of mine at Microsoft recommend it to me when I was setting up my dev environment, and after taking a look, I have to say I'm pretty impressed.

The Microsoft Web Platform installer takes the hassle out of setting up and configuring IIS. There's also an installer for setting up open-source web apps like Dotnetnuke, Wordpress, and Drupal. Steps are clear and easy to follow. I hate to spend time tinkering with web servers, so this is a nice deal for me.

Besides the installers, here are a couple of feeds drawing in some great content from various external design and development blogs. The site is nice & clean, and easy to navigate - I found a couple of interesting articles within a few minutes of browsing. Many Microsoft sites are loaded with fluff, so being able to find useful articles quickly was a nice surprise. All in all, I don't see a lot of marketese, just good content and tools. Kudos to Microsoft on this one.

Jon Bostwick Site Online

by Bostwick - November 5, 2008

Yes, my site is back online after an extended break. There are still issues, so bear with me while I try to get it fully operational again. For a second there, I flashed to my inner Star Trek geek trying to get the warp engines back online. Hmm, maybe I should take a break and go outside. But no! Jon Bostwick must come first.

After this year off, here is what I plan for Jon Bostwick.com:

Voice Recognition Works. Really!

by Bostwick - June 2, 2007

I have been experimenting with voice recognition rate recently, with pretty nice results.  Over the years, I've tried IBM ViaVoice, Dragon 6, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.  My first experience with voice recognition, I had to speak like a robot and the computer translated my sayings into a very odd but beautiful poetry.  Although it was very satisfying on an emotional level, it wasn't very useful for me.

Improving Communication with a Corporate Wiki

by Bostwick - February 1, 2007

If you have used a wiki recently, it's probably to find some interesting tidbit of information in Wikipedia. The largest wiki out there is a perfect example of what happens when you give writers, editors and subject experts around the world the chance to create information.

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