Category Diamond Mind Updates

No, not the soulless corporate ‘machine’ in Pink Floyd’s classic — I had just escaped from there, lol.

WARNING: Geek Post Ahead!

Welcome back to our 20th anniversary ‘look back’ at how it all began. Let’s talk 2004 tech! ‘The machine’ in question here being the BRAND NEW Dell Dimension 8400 tower that I bought as the first of the newly-launched Diamond Mind’s (tax deductible) start-up expenses. Pre-loaded with Windows XP, a powerful 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium processor, an incredible 150 gb of hard drive space, and a whopping 512 MB of memory. And all of this processing power attached to the Internet with — get this — a 56k modem!

Seriously, all overwrought superlatives aside, this new machine was quite an upgrade from my prior (and beloved) Gateway Select. Beloved because it was the first PC that I had personally owned — previously it was all laptop loans from work, and a word processor that I bought in the early 90s and carted around for YEARS but never did a damn thing on — but also beloved because it ran Windows 98, the best O/S ever. (And also also beloved because it was where I had spent countless hours playing Half-Life, Duke Nukem, Outlaws, etc. But that’s a post for another day!)

The old Gateway, while still rocking the same 56k modem, only housed an AMD Athlon 600 MHz processor, and that, along with the 20 gb hard drive and 128 mb of RAM, just couldn’t cut it in the high-speed world of web design, lol. Plus the tower was too big to fit under my new corner desk (the second major purchase, ha). So it had to go… to my in-laws, where it nobly provided many, many more years of quality service (read: Solitaire and Tetris).

Let’s see, what other awesome things were part of the new setup? A brand new wired keyboard and PS/2 mouse came with the Dell — no biggies there — and both old and new PCs had the (at the time, required) 3.5″ floppy disk drive (though the disks were no longer floppy, lol), and both had (for me, required) a CD-RW drive. I did upgrade the new Dell from a DVD drive to a DVD+RW, which was cool. But the best part — maybe even better than all the new processing speed and disk space — was replacing my old CRT-style, ginormous, desk-hogging monitor with my very first flat-panel! An LCD (from Circuit City, my local go-to at the time for tech) with a crazy big 17″ display (1280×1024 max resolution).

All the better to build those 860 or 1024 pixel-wide websites that were standard for the time, ha ha! But that also is a post for another day…

No, not Sgt. Pepper teaching the band to play. Something much less momentous, but certainly much more personal…

It WAS twenty years ago today that Diamond Mind Web Design, LLC officially opened our ‘doors’. What that meant in real world terms: I brought the DMWD website online, and wrote 9-1-2004 on all the forms as “first day of business”. 🙂

So, I thought I would celebrate making it through 20 years of web designing — 5 years longer as a solopreneur than my prior corporate life, you know, what I thought was my career — by reopening the long dormant Diamond Mind blog, lol.

Check back often this month, as I’ll be taking a look back at the exciting early days of running my own business! And yes, there might have been some slight sarcasm there. Truthfully, though, I’m grateful for all of it, even the not-so-easy times, but mostly for all those wonderful folks who have helped me along my way, from then to today.

Here’s to good web design never going out of style, and hoping our work will always raise a smile!

Please accept my apologies for the email blast(s) that just went out to all of you.  I am working with a new theme as I update my website, and this theme apparently included some sample posts for reference.  Still not sure why they were published and emailed, but you can safely ignore/trash/delete all of them.

Thank you for your understanding!

Martin

The new (and unofficially official 10th Anniversary) Diamond Mind website is nearly done!  A few more items to complete, including a revamped Portfolio page, an expanded Services page, and a few more surprises still under the hood.

Still working some of the kinks out, though, so please be patient if something is a bit wonky.  If you find a 404 after the next week or so has gone by, please be sure to let us know via our Contact Form.

Thanks, and we look forward to serving your website needs!

We’re updating things around here, so the site may look kind of wonky for the next few days…

No other comments needed!

Okay, I know nothing about AI University, except this: They have a great marketing department! Check out this ad about bringing social media into the real world. You’ll “like” it!

11:11am, 11/1 — That’s a lot of ones; must mean something, right? Here’s what it can mean to you: a brand new wireless, duplexing, color printer from HP! One lucky winner could receive this spiffy prize, courtesy of Diamond Mind Web Design and our referral partner Lasertek, Inc.

Contest Rules:

• Runs from November 1st through November 30th, 2012  UPDATE: Contest has been extended through December 21st, 2012!
• To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to the new Diamond Mind Web Design blog, at www.diamondmindwebdesign.com/sparkles/  (or use the link to the right if you’re already here)
• IF we reach 111 subscribers by the ending contest date, THEN we will hold a random drawing from all subscribers for the prize.

That’s it! Simple, right? Who couldn’t use a new printer? And this one is perfect for the home or small office: the HP6500A All-in-One Inkjet will print, copy, scan and fax, at 30ppm. Connects via USB, ethernet, or wireless. Comes with a duplexer for double-sided copying/printing, and it’s compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Linux, etc.  And you can even print to your printer from anywhere in the world via a web app!

We like to do things big, and this printer is valued at approximately $200.00! Here’s the kicker — if we don’t reach our subscriber goal of 111 by the end of the contest, then the pretty printer stays on the shelf.  🙁  So, don’t just sign yourself up, be sure to share this contest with all your friends and associates!  Not only will subscribers have a chance to win the HP, but in the weeks and months to come, you’ll get all kinds of useful info on websites, social media, and everything else Internet-related.

All HP printers come with starter ink right out of the box, but what do you do when that ink runs out?  Go to the big box store and get a refill, right?  NO!  You call Gary Gauger at Lasertek, Inc., where they specialize in ink and laser toner cartridges for almost any major brand of printer, and can provide new, remanufactured, or even the ever-popular compatible cartridge at terrific prices, and with terrific service.  Visit their Facebook page right after you sign up for our blog, and Like it will you’re there, will ya?

…so this is where I’ll begin:  Eight (8!) years ago this month, the metaphorical doors of Diamond Mind Web Design opened, and since we are still alive and kicking, I thought that maybe it was time to start my own blog.  Not my first, actually, as I’ve been blogging for about three and a half years over at Business Power Network, but for the first time I’ll be able to focus on topics specific to the web world.

What you will find here: Posts about the dos and don’ts of web design, posts about social media in general, Facebook and LinkedIn in particular, posts about SEO and profile management, and more.  Some will be more technical in nature, some will not; hopefully all will be useful, or at least interesting.  You’ll also find some humor, I hope, though the odds are it will be of a more Pythonesque nature than anything else.

What you won’t find here: Posts about finance, religion, or politics.  Not only did my momma tell me to avoid those subjects in polite conversation, as I have no expertise in any of those fields, I choose not to blather on about any of them.  You can find plenty of that elsewhere; you’ll find none of it here.

Wait, did I say “none”?  Oh, yes, well, one, anyway.  The candidate I endorse in this fall’s election is…

Yes, that’s right — Craig Ferguson for President!  I don’t care if he wasn’t born in this country.  He speaks with a Scottish accent, and that alone makes him trustworthy! 🙂  Okay, I’ll quit now while I’m still ahead.  Encourage your friends to sign up for the blog; we’ll have a kick-off contest soon.  Until next time!