Netflix Channel Now Out for the Wii

Tired of swapping out your Netflix watch instantly disk from your Nintendo Wii?  Well good news for you!  There is now a free Netflix channel you can download from the Wii Shop channel.  Once you download, all your Netflix account information will be auto-loaded into the app and you can now turn that Netflix Wii disk into a coaster.

I've used the new channel and my favorite new addition by far is the new search option.  No longer do you need to visit Netflix on your computer and add movies to your Instant Que, now you can look for a movie right on your Wii.

Netflix Instant is now available (diskless) for the PC, Mac, Wii, PS3, X-Box 360, and dozens of other hardware devices.  It sure makes the $8.99 basic account worth it!

Netflix, now for the iPhone!

For movie and TV lovers, Netflix has one of the best deals available.  For as little as $8.99 a month you can rent DVD's off their website and have them mailed to you.  Also included is unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows from their online "Watch Instantly" catalog.

Stay Logged Into Multiple Google Accounts at the Same Time

Have you found yourself needing to log out of one Google or Gmail account just to log into another one in the same web browser?

Google just rolled out a great new feature for those of you needing to access multiple Google accounts.  The only way around this problem before was to log out or use a separate web browser to access 2 or more accounts simultaneously.  Here is how to get the new feature enabled in your Google account.

How to use Google Voice for free unlimited calling to any mobile number

Google voice is an incredible telecommunications tool.  Not only can use set up Voice as a free local number for your family to call you on, but there are other great ways to utilize the call forwarding services to your advantage.

10 Apps to Install On You New iPhone

It's contract renewal time and you've finally decided to make the leap.  You've got your self a shiny new iPhone. One the the best things about the iPhone platform is the thousands of applications you can install on the device.  These apps do everything from allow the user to play games to tools that let you see how level your bookshelf is.

Here are my top 10 apps to install on your new iPhone (all links are iTunes links)

How to make Firefox or Chrome browsers open mailto links in Gmail

Web based email is becoming more popular than email programs such as Outlook and Mail.app.  It seems like most everyone has a Gmail, Yahoo, or Windows Live mail.  Ever click on an email mailto link only to have your email opened in Window's mail?  If so, this trick is for you.

Let me direct you to this cool Lifehacker.com article that shows you how to set up Firefox to open Gmail when you click on email links:

http://lifehacker.com/392287/set-firefox-3-to-launch-gmail-for-mailto-links

Once you set everything up, click on a link and then set gmail as your default mailto program.  Just remember to "middle click" these mailto links because they will open in the same window as the link.

Using Google Chrome as your web browser?  Try this extension for Gmail: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/dgkkmcknielgdhebimdnfahpipajcpjn?hl=en

or this one:
https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ahldefgplekckalfcolhhnljbbgaiboc?hl=en

or for Hotmail:

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ejehbgbfdfnchemfndgkiggeiibmgeic?hl=en

Finally, you can get some use out of those pesky mailto: links, enjoy!

How to Install Ubuntu Linux on Your Computer: Part 2, Try Ubuntu No-Risk With a Live CD

If the idea of installing an entirely new operating system without first trying it out concerns you, this tutorial is for you.  Ubuntu provides a way for you to preview what the OS is like without ever having to save anything to your hard drive or make any changes through the Live CD option.

If you're wondering why you would want to install another operating system on your computer, check out my previous post.

How to Have iTunes Organize all your music into one folder

If you're a big user of iTunes, this tutorial is for you.  Many times people have their music scattered all over their computers which makes it hard to locate the files if you ever need to.  With iTunes, you can set all your files to reside in one folder and automatically copy anything added to the library to the iTunes music folder location.

Interested?  Check out the video below.

I'm on Twitter

If you use the social networking tool Twitter and you would like to follow updates to this blog you can follow me: @mmstuffwork

The new Twitter feed will give you blog updates as well as screencast videos so you can learn how to better make your stuff work.

How to Install Ubuntu Linux on Your Computer: Part 1, Why?

Windows, Mac OS, Linux?  The first two are familiar for most of the modern world, the third is - well, only for computer hackers, nerds, and socialists right?  What people think about Linux is that it's an old operating system that isn't relevant to computing today.  It's left to the realm of hobbyists and computer servers.

The truth of the matter is that Linux isn't really that well known in the United States.  It's almost non-existent in stores (because it's FREE), and is most popular with a younger, geekier crowd.  But Linux has a lot to offer and might be enough for most people's everyday computing needs.  Enter Ubuntu Linux.  Ubuntu is a flavor of the Linux OS that is centered around being easy to use.  "Linux for human" beings as they say.  Even if Ubuntu is easier to use and understand than other Linux-based operating systems, why would we want to use it?

How to Make your Computer Run Faster Part 4, Install Extra RAM

You have tried all the tricks. You’ve closed or uninstalled programs you don’t need or don’t use. You have reduced the programs that run at startup and in the background and you still are running low on RAM. What’s left to do? Well all you have left is to upgrade your RAM.

In the first post of this series I showed you that your computer speed is often tied to your RAM.

In the second post in our series I showed you how speed your computer by getting rid of unneeded program baggage.

In the third post I talked about how to optimize your startup programs and processes to speed things up

Review Otterbox iPhone Case

Yes, the new iPhone 4 is out but for some of use we can't make the upgrade yet so we need to keep our iPhone 3G and 3GS safe and secure.  I would love to say that iPhones are rugged and so well built that they don't need a case, but the majority of people will find that they drop their phones more frequently than they would like.

If you're one to drop your shiny $500 piece of phone hardware daily you need a case that can take a beating.  The Otterbox is such a case.  This case provides several forms of protection from a silicone exterior that makes it hard to slip to a hard plastic case and screen protector, your iPhone is sealed up like Fort Knox.

Use Google Voice to Give Your Family a Local Number to Call You On

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm big into Google online services.  One of my favorite little known Google tools is Google Voice.  Google voice is a telephone service that allows you to tie multiple phones (land line, mobile, work) into one phone number.  For instance, you can set up Google Voice to ring your cell phone when your Google number is called, it will forward the incoming call and even the caller ID to your mobile phone.

The blessings and curses of adblocking plugins

One of my favorite things about the internet is that content is free.  Sure we have to pay our ISPs to connect to the web, but the pages we visit provide very useful enriching content that often takes a lot of work without asking you to pay anything.  The main way they pay for this is through online advertising, banner ads Google Adwords, etc.

This is all well and good as long as the ads are tasteful and not obtrusive or distracting - which leads me to one thing I hate about the internet, crazy ads that just hurt my eyes.  Some websites overload you with advertising some of which can be scams or malicious software advertisements, things you don't want to click on.  Enter Adblock browser plugins.  These plugins are useful to eliminate browsing distractions and are generally a very good thing to add to any browser.

Five Best Reasons to Use Google Calendar

Are you one of those people that would forget their own birthday if they didn't have it on a calendar somewhere?  How about friend birthdays, anniversaries, or important meetings?  One too many times I have either double-booked an appointment or completely forgot about something I had to do.  I used to keep a written planner/calendar in college, but I wouldn't use it everyday and would forget to check it.  In the age of technology, Internet, and cell phones there has to be a better way.  Enter Google Calendar (*heroic music*).

How to make your computer run faster part 3, a speedy startup

When your computer is fresh and new, it can boot up rather quickly.  Over time, things can slow down considerably because your system loads programs while it's starting your computer.  The more programs running at boot, the slower things can get.  For those of you who put your computers to sleep or hibernate, you probably don't restart your computer very often.  For the rest of us we sit and stare at our monitors for 2, 3, or even 5 or more minutes waiting to get a responsive system that is ready to go.

In the first installation of this series I showed you that your computer speed is often tied to your RAM.

In the second post in our series I showed you how speed your computer by getting rid of unneeded program baggage.

How to turn your Wii into a media center using Orb

In my continuing quest for all things geeky, I have discovered a gem for Nintendo Wii owners. A program called Orb enables you to view video, pictures, news feeds, and listen to music from your high-speed connected computer.  Orb also works with any computer that has a fast connection and a web browser, X-Box 360, and PS3.  There is even an iPhone application called OrbLive.  

Collect information online using the Google Docs "Forms" feature

You can create easy to manage forms and polls using Google Docs. If you're not familiar with Docs, check it out at http://docs.google.com

Five reasons you should be using Gmail

Gmail has been around for quite a while now.  From it's early days as an invite only service to last year when it finally left bet, Gmail has provided simple, effective, and powerful web-based email for millions.  Personally, I've been using Gmail since the invite-only days and I couldn't be happier with my experience.  Here is my five top reasons you should switch to Gmail for your primary email address.

1. Check your email from anywhere.  Some people still use ISP based email address (like @att.com, @aol.com, @earthlink.net, etc.).  These email addresses are usually set up to download locally to people's computers.  This works great when you are checking your email on your computer, but what when you're on a trip or using a friend's computer?  Gmail can be checked and used from any web browser and most email/data equipped cell phones.  If you have a device that has a web browser, you have access to your email all the time.
2. Incredible, super-effective email spam filters.  With Gmail, I have gone over a month without ever getting one spam message in my email inbox.  If I ever do get spam it is one click away from being reported as spam and removed from my inbox.  Gmail allows you to look through your spam messages as well to make sure that it didn't send a legitimate message to the spam folder.
3. Label your emails to keep them organized.  Gmail includes a powerful set of organization tools.  Among the best tools is the label system.  You can create and manage color-coded labels that act like folders keeping some emails separate from others.  
4. Filter your emails to automagically keep your inbox organized.  You can create Gmail filters that do everything from automatically sending some emails to the trash, to marking certain emails from a specific sender with a label.  Use the filters to automatically forward email from a domain or sender to another address.  
5. Your email is one quick search away.  Gmail gives your over 7 Gigabytes of storage and encourages you to archive your email instead of deleting it.  That means that if you need to look up an email from 5 years ago, you can type some words from the email, a sender name or address, or even a type of attachment and search through the results for the email.  This feature has saved my butt more than a few times.

Gmail is a powerful tool and one of the top email options out there.  I've only scratched the surface of what can be done with the web based Gmail and in the coming months I plan to share more of what this web app powerhouse can do.  Visit www.gmail.com to sign up today.

Some wise advise for those who use social media

People posting information about themselves on the internet is becoming a normal occurrence.  With social media sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter as well as blogs (like this one) - it can be scary how much information there is about you on the internet.

What many internet users don't realize is that people actually read their blogs and personal profiles. In fact, some schools and police departments actively search the internet for information about people. Users of blogs, Facebook, etc. need to realize that if they post any personal information, it has the potential to be read by anyone. That's right. In an age of identity theft and hackers, your information is not private even when a website claims that it is. If you can access your page from any computer, your info is fair game.

I have noticed another bad trend. Most young people no longer use email, their only source of online contact is through instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace. While email is a much safer option when it comes to your personal information, many young people are trading security for convenience.

Here are a few tips for protecting your privacy while using the internet:

1. Never give out your personal information (address, phone number, name, social security number, etc). If a website requires some personal info, make sure that it will not be shared with anyone...ever. Do not post your phone number or address on Myspace or other social networking site.

2. Do not put any information in your Facebook or on your blog that you don't want everyone in your life (and the world) to know. Do not trust the "private" features of these websites...they have been cracked before. If you leave yourself signed in to Facebook for instance, anyone can gain access to your account through your computer. This leads us to #3

3. Unless you are the only one that uses your computer, and you have a password - NEVER STAY LOGGED IN, SAVE YOUR PASSWORD TO THE COMPUTER, OR CHECK "REMEMBER ME" IN ANY WEB SERVICE. This is the most common way for others to gain access to your accounts. The second most common way...

4. Never, NEVER, NEVER, give your passwords to anyone, period. Just like gossip, you cannot control the spread of your password to others. Even if your friend never shares your password, they might by mistake allow someone else to access your account.

5. Use email for personal, private communication with other people. Email is much safer than putting your private communication up online for everyone to view. Just make sure you follow #3 and #4.


6. Never post your email address anywhere, period.  This leads to lots of unwanted spam messages.  If you must post your email somewhere, type it out so a human has to read it and not some computer program - like youraddress AT G M A I L Dot Com
Blogs and Facebook are great to keep in touch with your friends and family...just don't be stupid with them. Use common sense and be careful what you let the world know about you. One last tip... don't count on others to be computer illiterate. Your parents/friends can ask someone else to log on and view your profile. Be warned!  ;)

How to use Facebook Pages to promote your church group [Geek Your Church]

Facebook has become the premiere tool to promote products, groups, brands, and organizations. Because of its social nature, Facebook is an effective tool connect organically with friends and friends of friends.  My experience in the past has been as a youth pastor, but this could apply to any organization or business that is looking to promote their brand/product.

So why use Facebook for your group?  Here are a few great reasons:

• Your people are already using it.  Many people don't even visit websites anymore for information, they use social media platforms like Facebook to find what they need.
• Facebook is people focused, so are you.  The members of your church group have friends the do not attend your church and may never otherwise know about what you are doing.
• Let your people be the evangelists for your group.  They can invite their friends, promote events, and share how they are growing in their faith with people they have influence and relationships with.
• A well designed Facebook page can replace a website.  And it's FREE!  With discussion boards, the ability to add custom pictures and widgets, an events calendar, and news updates - Facebook is poised to provide the same rich content that a static website would provide.
• Have your group members find out about updates in their Facebook timelines.  For those who check their Facebook daily, this can be as effective or more than email for communicating.

Ready to get started?

Step 1: Sign up for a page

Notice I am saying "page" and not "group."  That's because Facebook has both pages and groups.  It used to be that the only way you can make a place for your group to interact was with Facebook groups.  These groups were treated separately from the normal timeline so people wouldn't see updates about the group regularly unless they checked.  Facebook wanted to do groups better and they didn't want to get rid of them so they created pages.  Pages are better because they act like a regular friend and can show up in the regular timeline of your group members.  Not only that, but Pages can add HTML and Application widgets that groups can not.  There really is no reason at all to use Facebook Groups for your church or organization.

With that said, lets get started signing up for a page.  Visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php to get started.  You don't need a Facebook account to sign up, but if you're already logged in, the page will be created separate from your personal profile.  That means you can make status updates for your page without anyone knowing it's you doing the posting.

Step 2: Fill out your information & set up your page

You can fill out as much as you would like about your church/organization.  I suggest including a short description, you address, website, and meeting times. Make sure to include an image for your profile picture, a church logo would be good here.

Under edit page, you can add all kinds of applications and widgets.  Make sure to set up your page to be viewed by everyone in the settings and make it public.  Make sure your wall settings are set to your liking.  I would suggest letting your members make comments and posts on your wall.  It is social networking after all.  You can keep the crazies out by booting any "fans" that cause trouble.  As of now, Facebook does well to manage any random fan page spam.  None to speak of in my experience.

Step 3: Get "Fans"

On your page, you should find a link on the top left that says "suggest to friends."  Invite everyone you want from your friends list and invite them to invite their friends.  This is the beauty of social networking.  Your page fans will help you grow your page even larger if they get their friends to "like" it.  Everyone who "likes" your page will automatically get your news and status updates.  If you're managing a website, you can place a fan page widget on it for website visitors to subscribe to your facebook page.
You can find that widget here:
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box. Place your facebook page ID in the setup wizard and it will give you the code to paste in your website.

Step 4: Get your Facebook url

Once you accumulate 50 fans or more on your Facebook page, you get to sign up for your own custom Facebook url.  This will be great to put on buisness cards and bulletins and should be easy for your church members to remember.  It's in the format: facebook.com/"yourgroupname"

If you have 50 fans right now, you can get your custom url by visiting http://www.facebook.com/username/ and selecting your page there.  You can also get a custom url for your normal Facebook account here as well.

Step 5: Keep your page updated!

The more you keep your Facebook page updated, the more your church/group members will see your updates and news in their timelines.  Make sure to add events and "invite" members to them.  You can send mass Facebook messages (emails) to your members and even import a separate RSS feed (like website updates).  If used correctly, your Facebook page will become a social media hub for your organization where information can spread out organically to your Fan Page friends and their friends.  

How to make your computer run faster part 2, clear out the baggage!

Your computer is like a train.  The more programs your have running, the more energy and effort it takes to get it started.  In part 1 of our series, I showed you how to clear up your RAM by closing programs you don't need to be running.

Sometimes there are programs running at startup that you don't even need at all.  These programs run in the background every time you boot your computer sucking your precious RAM dry.  A good indication if a program is running in the background can be found in your system tray.  The system tray can be found on most Windows computers in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.  It looks something like this:

This screenshot is from Windows 7, but XP and Vista are similar.  Each one of these icons represents a program running in the background.  You can see that my Dropbox program is running in the background signified by the little blue box.  Most of these System Tray programs run on a light set of resources, but what happens when you have programs running that you don't want running or that you're not sure about?  Uninstall them!

You can substantially speed up your computer simply by removing programs you don't use.  To uninstall your programs on Windows XP, go to your control panel and click the add/remove programs icon.  On Windows 7, just click the start button and type "uninstall" in the search box and select "Uninstall a Program" from the results.  You will see a window similar to this one:

Find whatever programs you never use or want to uninstall and remove them here.  You can do this by right-clicking the program and selecting "Uninstall" (Windows 7) or click on the program you want to remove and select the "remove" button (XP).

If you're not sure if you need a program, search Google for the program name and see if it's something you want to keep around and use.

If you are having a hard time removing a pesky program, I suggest using a program called Revo Uninstaller.  This program will help you delete programs and program data that the built in Windows uninstaller can't get rid of.  There is a free version (which I use) and a paid Pro Version as well.

The first step to lightening your load of programs is to uninstall the obvious programs you don't want on your computer.  Most computers and laptops come with some core programs that you will want to keep around such as programs related to your graphics drivers (like NVIDIA) or sound drivers.  There will be Windows updates listed sometimes that you don't want to get rid of, and you'll also want to keep around plugins like Adobe Flash Player, some PDF viewers, and Java.  Just remember not to go hog wild in your zeal to rid your computer of program baddies.  

A short list of programs (crapware) that I often uninstall from friend's computers are:

• Toolbars (such as Ask.com, Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc.)
• RealPlayer
• MSN Messenger (if you don't use it)
• Microsoft Works (if you have a full version of Microsoft Word or other word processor)
• Game demos that ship with new computers
• Trial versions of software
• Customer support/tutorials and updater for some vendor hardware if they will not be used (HP, Dell, Gateway) 
• ISPs (Earthlink, AOL, NetZero) - if you don't need them (most people don't)

That's all for today.  Next time, I'll show you how to keep your remaining programs from all trying to load at startup slowing your booting experience to a screeching halt.

Sync files to the internet and any computer with Dropbox [Programs I Like]

I've known more than a few people that have lost important data when their computer crashes unexpectedly.  It can be a sobering experience to loose pictures, music files, original documents and term papers the instant your computer hard drive decides to give up the ghost.

One solution is to make sure that your important files get backed up automatically somewhere safe.  Enter web application Dropbox.  Dropbox is a program that you install on your computer that creates a folder (usually in My Documents) that automatically synchronizes any file you place in it across the internet and to any other computers that you set up with your account.

To get Dropbox visit www.dropbox.com and sign up for a free account.  You get 2 Gigabytes for free (.25 gigs more if you sign up with my referral link).  You can pay for more space if you need it, but 2 Gigs is plenty of space to keep important documents, pictures, and files easily and securely backed up.

Once you install the program on your computer you need to log in or create your new account.  Next, start dropping files in your "My Dropbox" folder and they will automatically be uploaded to Dropbox's servers where you can access them on your online account through any web browser (in case you need to download a file from you account on a friend's computer).  You can also create share links to let others securely download files you upload.  Best of all, if you have 2 or more computers, you can keep your files in sync across all of them just by installing and running the Dropbox program in the system tray.

So do you need super easy free space to backup your files and/or share them across computers?  If so, give Dropbox a try!

Dropbox is a free download and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux

Sign up with my referral to get an extra 250MB of space, click here

How to reboot your iPod & iPhone and why

Everyone knows that Apple makes some great products. From the breakout success of the original iPod to the iPhone and now the iPad, Apple's hardware is solid and extremely popular.

But just like most electronics, the iPod and iPhone are actually miniature computers and sometimes they (*gasp*) mess up or freeze. If your iDevice is slowing down to a crawl or locks up you can reboot it leading to improved performance and that like-new feel.

Rebooting your iPod and iPhone/iPod Touch is completely safe and you will not loose your data. Think of it like rebooting your Mac or Windows machine.

Here's how you do it:

• For iPods, you hold the center scroll wheel button and menu button together until you see the Apple logo. Now wait for the device to reboot and you are good to go.
  
• For iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch, hold the home button and the power button on the top together until the Apple logo appears. Wait for the device to reboot.

I recommend everyone to reboot their iDevice (especially iPhones and iPod Touch) at least once a week to keep their device nice and peppy.

How to make your computer run faster part 1, it's all about the memory!

Today I am starting a new series on how to make your computer run faster.  These tips will work with any computer, old or new.  Most fixes I will be describing will be 100% free to you which is more than most computer "optimization" services can offer.

Recently, I was visiting a friend who was having a horrible time with his laptop.  It was feeling sluggish and would take for ever to boot.  Working with many friends with similar issues, I'm learning that this is a common problem.

The first thing I did (once I waited 5 minutes on the computer to boot) was open up Windows Task Manager.  You can do this several ways.  On Windows XP, you would hit CTL + ALT + Delete and select task manager from a menu.  On Windows 7 it's even more accessible by right-clicking the taskbar at the bottom of your screen and selecting the Task Manager there.  You can also click on START (or the Windows Key) and type in "task manager" to bring it up.  Once you get it open, go to the performance tab, it should look like this:

Notice the memory meter and the Total Memory sections.  If your memory meter is nearly or totally full and/or your available memory is near 0, "Houston, we have a problem."

You see your computer runs on two kinds of memory.  The super-fast RAM (Random Access Memory) and the not so fast but spacious Hard Drive.  For every process or program that your computer runs, it sets a portion of your super-fast RAM aside to temporarily hold that program's information.  Working this way, your computer runs the way it was designed.

But if your RAM is full, you'll notice your computer screeching to a halt and your hard drive light will be blinking like crazy.  This is because Windows uses something called a Page File to write program information that won't fit in your RAM to your hard disk drive.  The following illustration explains why having low ram slows your computer down.

A computer with little RAM will undoubtedly screech to a halt when you run out of RAM space.  Now if you have come to the sad conclusion that there are just too many programs running on your computer for it to handle, have hope!  Most of what your computer is running right now is utter garbage and it can be cleaned from your system (or at least from starting with Windows).

So what is the short term solution for your painfully slow computer?  Close some programs!  I know you think you might need iTunes, Firefox, Adobe Photoshop, Picasa, Internet Explorer, Adobe Reader, MS Word, and Tetris open at the same time but are you really working on all of those at the same time?  You can close some of these programs the traditional way (the red x of freedom) or use Task manager and close the programs for the "Applications" or Processes tab.

If you go the Task Manager route, you have the added bonus of taking a peek at each process' RAM usage. Check it out:

If you recognize any of these memory hungry programs and you're trying to free up enough RAM for your computer to breathe, you can kill these processes by right clicking them.  The number displayed is in Kilobytes (1,024 bytes).  Remember there are 1,000 KB in a MB (Megabyte).  So a program running 600,000KB (I'm looking at your Firefox) is taking up 600MB of your RAM.

Next time, I'll show you how to lighten the load so your computer won't load slower than a turtle with lead boots by uninstalling the junk you don't need.

Your programs at your fingertips with Launchy (Programs I like)

Today I'm starting a weekly series highlighting programs that I have come across that have made my computer life easier. This week I would like to introduce Launchy.

Launchy is a keystroke program launcher and a whole lot more.  Some of us like to keep our hands on the keyboard but sometimes we need to reach for that pesky mouse.  With Launchy, but simply holding the ALT key and pressing the space bar you bring up the Launchy window.

Just start typing your search and press ENTER, off you go.  By default Launchy searches your programs folders for links to items found in your Windows Start Menu, but you can configure it to search in a documents folder as well in the preferences.

But wait there's more, simply type "google" then the TAB key and then type a search.  You can do with with "weather" and a zipcode or "youtube" and a video search.  Launchy turns your keyboard into a shortcut powerhouse.  

So if you have windows, and a small aversion to your computer mouse, try the open source Launchy today. Your mouse will forgive you, someday ;)

How to search a website with Google

Here's a quick Google trick: you can use the super popular search engine to not only search the entire web, but you can also use Google to search a specific website.

Step 1: Visit Google.com or any other site with a Google search box in it (your web browser search bar would work).

Step 2: Type "site:yoursitename.com yoursearch" where yoursitename.com is any site (like cnn.com) and yoursearch is whatever you are looking for.  So if I wanted to search CNN.com for anything on the Gulf Oil Spill, I would type: "site:cnn.com gulf oil spill"

That's it!  You can use this trick to search your favorite websites as quick as a Google search.

What stuff of yours needs to work?

I'm new to this whole blogging for others thing and I'm looking for suggestions you might have for tutorials/articles.  Do you have something that you want to learn to do with your computer or some program that is just not behaving?  Anything you want to know about the internet?  If you have any ideas, please drop by the comments section and leave your thoughts.

How to create a blog that earns you money

Creating a blog that earns you money is easy with Google.  Here's an overview of what you will need to get started -

• A Computer with an internet connection (duh)
• A Google Account (sign up for one here)
• A new blog on blogger.com
• Your name address and a phone number (to get paid)
• A credit card to purchase your own domain name (optional)
• A subject to blog about

Step 0: Create Your Google Account

Many of you might already have an account with Google.  If you do, skip to step #1.

You will need a Google account in order to use blogger.com as well as sign up for AdSense - Google's advertising service.  To sign up visit google.com/accounts, once you've got your account you're ready to get started.

Step 1: Creating a blog on Blogger.com

• The way that you will make money is by hosting ads on your blog with Google AdSense.  To create a blog, visit blogger.com and sign up and create a new blog.
• Before you get started, make sure you've picked a theme you will be blogging about, I chose to blog about making things work, computer tutorials and such.  You can blog about anything that interests you.  This is important and will keep you coming back to create more content (making you more money).
• Create your new blog.  Make sure to give it a name that will be memorable both to you and your visitors.  You will want the name to be related to what you're blogging about.

• Choose your template.  The really doesn't matter all that much choose something your visitors will be able to read easily.  
• Finish creating your new blog and visit your settings.  

Step 2: Using a custom domain with your new blog (Optional)

If you would like to go the free route, skep to step 3.  If you're interested in purchasing a domain name to go with your new blog continue on. 

• Adding a custom domain to your blog can add an additional level of trust and professionalism for your visitors. If you will be directing people to your website (and not just search engine visitors), you will want an easy to remember domain.  You can sign up for a new domain without ever leaving the blogger webpage.  
• Under the publishing tab in your blog settings, select the "custom domain" option.

• You will be taken to a page where you can select your unique domain name (make it memorable!).

• Purchase your domain name and link it to your blog.  You will be using Google checkout to sign up and pay for your domain.  Currently domains are $10 a year, a great price.
• Once you are done linking your blog to your new domain, get your new blog monetized so you can make some money.  Note, your new domain will day a few days to become active, you can still visit your blog through the standard blogger address until then.

Step 3: Create your content!

You will never make any money on your blog unless you have content for your visitors to read.  So get creating.  Here are a few tips,

• Write often.  If you're new to blogging set aside a few hours a week to create new blogs.  You can even hammer out several blogs at the same time and set blogger to publish them at a later date.
• Make your content interesting with pictures.  Add images in your blog posts to illustrate what you're talking about.  You can even embed videos from sites like youtube.com.  
• Advertise your blog to your friends and through social networks like facebook and twiter.  The more people that view your blog, the more ad revenue you will be able to accumulate.
• Link to similar blogs with a sidebar widget.  Sometimes you can get the attention of other bloggers and they will add you to their blogroll.  This sends more traffic to your blog.
• Find a niché.  Try and think of content that you can create that will be something others are searching for.  Even better if there is not a lot of blogs or websites about your topic.

Step 4: Monetizing Your Blog with Google Adsense

Now we are going to set up your blog to make some money!  The way Google Adsense works is that it scans your blog content for key words and uses them to generate text and image ads based on your content.  When visitors stumble upon your blog and click on your ads, you make money (and no, you can't make money by clicking your own ads or getting others to do it for you, Google will find out and you won't get paid).

• In your blogger settings, visit the "Monetize" tab.  You will be asked to create a Google Adsense account.  Follow the tutorial to create your account.  You will need to enter your name and address so Google will know where to send the check.
• After you have successfully created and linked your Adsense account to your blog, you will be able to choose where to place the ads on your blog.

• Once you have selected where to place your adds, you can also set up ads in your website feed (RSS feed) and use Amazon's Associates program to make even more cash.
• If you are starting your blog from scratch, you will need to have a considerable amount of content to get started, Google needs context before it can place ads on your site.  
• After you submit your request, it will take a few days to get your Google Adwords working on your blog, so keep writing those posts.

That's it but you're not done.  Keep learning!  There are lots of tutorials available online that will teach you have to better optimize your blogger blog to make even more money.