Posts Filed Under ‘About Smarterware’
Moving Site Hosts; Closing Comments Temporarily · DreamHost's four-hour network outage yesterday, which took my private server down with it, was the cherry on top of a four-month sundae of DreamHost downages which convinced me to move to a MediaTemple DV server. I'm completing that move this afternoon. While the DNS propagates, comments and user registrations will be shut off here at Smarterware. Things should be back to normal by the end of the week. Thanks for your patience! · December 8th, 2009
Welcome to Smarterware's new look! (If you're seeing this in your feed reader, pop open a browser tab, wouldya?)
This little blog is now workin' the internet runway sporting a new logo and design. While I love Lucian Marin's Journalist template that I launched Smarterware with back in January, I wanted to add custom imagery to the site, something readers would see in their tab bar and recognize immediately.
People in the biz call this a "logo."
Since I'm the coder sort, I'm kind of thick when it comes to these matters. Thankfully, logo designer extraordinaire Annedien Hoen hooked me up. She and I first talked back in February (7 months ago!) and it was the first time I worked with a designer directly on anything. From the Netherlands to San Diego, our initial consultation was an intense hour and a half discussion--not about lines and colors, but about inspirations, motivations, intentions, and feelings.
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After six months almost 1,000 readers have registered for a commenter account here at Smarterware, either using Facebook Connect, OpenID, or just by creating an account. Obviously SW readers are the best-looking commenters on the internet, so it's about time we see each other's faces. After a little WordPress hacking, I've added Facebook profile pictures and Gravatar support to comments and user profiles, plus a few other tweaks that help you get to know your fellow readers.
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Offline for a Week · I'm off on a vacation on the high seas with my family for a week where internet access is sparse; so no new posts will appear here till next Friday the 24th soonest. More then! · April 17th, 2009, 2 comments
Smarterware.org has been live for two weeks now; it's still positively fetal! Still, it's been so much fun starting something brand new with free software and a cheap hosting plan and doing the whole thing myself from soup to nuts.
If you're here, you should know about a few ways to get the most out of this site and let me know what you'd like to see as it grows up.
New Feature! User profiles. To leave a comment here, you've got to sign in after registering for an account (or you can use your Facebook credentials or OpenID). Going through that annoying step is worth it, though--once you do, you'll have a profile page here with your web site, bio, and comment history listed. Check out what a profile looks like: here's my profile, and here's user drmelho. To enter your web site URL and bio, when you're logged in, click the "Edit profile" link on the sidebar.
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Wetware
Use technology well to work smarter, not harder. I'm Gina Trapani, and I'm a software and self improvement junkie. Welcome to Smarterware.
Here I will testify to the tech I love, admire the folks who are doing something right, describe how I use my favorite digital tools, and figure out ways to get work done more efficiently and creatively.
I've been blogging nonstop since I found out what the word meant in late 2001. Over the last four years I founded and ran Lifehacker.com, an ad-supported Gawker Media blog that eventually ranked as one the top 10 blogs on the internet. I even turned Lifehacker into a book that's in its second edition.
Now that I've stepped back from the glamorous life of a "pro blogger," I'm excited to get back to a slower pace and a more personal approach to online publishing.
You won't find ads or Digg badges or two dozen posts a day here. What you will find is stuff that fired off a synapse or two in my head and lots of sentences that involve the words "I", "me", and "my."
Welcome to my new soapbox. I hope you enjoy it.
Three Things About Comments
You will be able to leave a comment on most posts that appear here. But first you should know:
- You've got to log in first. In an effort to reduce drive-by trolling and spam, you will have to create a user account here or use your Facebook account or OpenID to log in first. My apologies for that inconvenience.
- Your first comment will be held for approval. But once you've got one published, you can comment freely from there on in.
- I might not publish your first comment, or I might delete your published comment. In terms of which comments appear on-site and which don't, my policy can be summed up in one sentence.
If I think you're being a jerk*, I will delete your comment.
* Disagreeing with me does not qualify as being a jerk.
These three things are subject to change while I figure out how this all will work.
How to Contact Me
If you've got something to say about a post, please, go ahead and leave a comment on that post. If you want to contact me personally, you can do so using my first and last name at gmail dot com. Please don't send press releases to my personal email address; if you do I will gleefully blacklist you.
Colophon
I put together Smarterware using the excellent open source blogging software, WordPress, plus many plug-ins, which I am still learning to configure and use. The original template was a modified version of The Journalist template by Lucian E. Marin. The latest design is by 3ones, a fabulous web shop here in sunny San Diego.
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Welcome to Smarterware's new look! (If you're seeing this in your feed reader, pop open a browser tab, wouldya?) 
I'm 
