Analog Saturdays

I was looking through my timesheets and I spend about ten hours a day on my computer working. Another two or three hours are spent reading blogs, checking email, looking at the weather, and finding inspiration. I spend at least 60 hours a week on my computer.

I usually watch a couple of movies a week. Most movies last around an hour and half, so that's another three hours in front of a screen. I am a pretty big fan of the New Orleans Saints, so I watch a couple of football games a week. Football games usually last about three hours. I also enjoy playing video games for an average of four hours a week. I'm in front of a TV or movie screen for at least 13 hours a week. (read more)

Determining your hourly rate

I am a web designer with my own company. When I founded my company, determining how much to charge clients was one of the first items on my to do list. I am going to take you through the process that I went through when I calculated my rate.

Why hourly?
An hourly rate is obviously billing for time spent on a project. Pricing by the hour has the advantage of getting paid for the actual amount of time spent on a project. Clients expect an estimate for the work to be done. (read more)

Program Tips - Firefox

This thought covers keyword searches. Keyword bookmarks, mouse shortcuts and keyboard shortcuts.

Keyword Searches
In Firefox you can use a keyword in the address bar to search different search engines and websites. For instance if you wanted to make a keyword to search amazon.com, you would right-click inside their product search bar and choose Add a Keyword for this Search.... An Add Bookmark menu will pop up. Name your bookmark Amazon.com Quick Search and give it the keyword amazon. (read more)

4 benefits of not using Internet Explorer 6

Most web designers would love it if everyone stopped using Internet Explorer 6 and upgraded to another browser. In fact, most of us want to take IE6 out behind the house and bash its head in with a shovel. There is a visceral hatred of this browser. It has spawned a multitude of websites calling for its destruction.

The browser hampers development and increases costs that get passed on to the customer. Seven years after Internet Explorer 6 was released it still has a 25% share of the browser market. Businesses have a hard time ignoring 25% of their potential customers, so we still have to program for its quirks. (read more)