Have Laptop Will Travel

Make a WordPress Theme In Minutes

Originally posted on October 3, 2006 @ 8:23 am

A good friend of mine Joe Kaplan just launched ThemesPress.com which is a site to turn any standard HTML template or design into a fully functional WordPress Theme in minutes.

The best part, it’s all automatic, so people with little to no PHP or HTML skills can make a WordPress theme from any design they have or purchased from a design site.

If by chance you do have a little HTML or CSS skills, you can also fine tune things before you purchase the theme.

You can even preview your theme before you purchase it to make sure everything looks exactly how you want. What more could you ask for?

There is a $10.00 per theme charge but that is really low for this I think.

I was one of his beta testers for ThemesPress.com and now that the site is done and ready for public release, I wanted to let others know about this great service and help spread the word about it.

Help spread the word: Digg It

Microsoft Security Updates For September

Originally posted on September 12, 2006 @ 10:03 am

Microsoft is planning to release the following security updates today:

  • Two Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Windows. The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Important. These updates will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. Some of these updates will require a restart.
  • One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Office. The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Critical. These updates will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. These updates may require a restart.

They will also be releasing a few Non-security High Priority updates which cover the following:

  • Microsoft will release Two NON-SECURITY High-Priority Updates for Windows on Windows Update (WU) and Software Update Services (SUS).
  • Microsoft will release three NON-SECURITY High-Priority Updates on Microsoft Update (MU) and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

Keep in mind that Microsoft doesn’t anticipate any changes to the above list but as always, the number of bulletins, products affected, restart information and severities are subject to change until officially released today.

Monopoly Game Adds VISA Debit Cards

Originally posted on July 24, 2006 @ 8:46 am

Monopoly Board Game VISAGame maker Parker Brothers has added VISA Debit Cards to the classic board game Monopoly so players can now pay for properties with debit cards.

According to Parker Brothers, they have phased out the standard multi-colored cash in a new version, so if you have the classic game with the paper money, hold on to it as it will most likely become a collectors item for sure.

What does this mean to new upcoming players of Monopoly? It means that players will instead use a Visa mock debit card to keep track of how much they win or lose. The debit card is inserted into an electronic machine where the banker taps in cardholders’ earnings and payments.

That’s very interesting from a geek point of view. I wonder if the mock debit cards have a magnetic strip on them? I wonder what kind of information actually gets encoded on the card? I’ll have to track one of these new versions down and do some testing and of course report my findings.

So why did Parker Brothers decided to move to a debit card system for buying properties? According to spokesman Chris Weatherhead:

The new electronic Monopoly reflects the changing nature of society and the advancement of technology. It is part of an international deal between Parker and finance giant VISA, which designed the mock debit card and its electronic machine.

Ah, so VISA is getting a cut too. It’s all about the almighty dollar.

Now that I know VISA is part of this project, I really want to check out the mock up debit cards and see what makes them tick.

Seven More Microsoft Patches Are Coming

Originally posted on July 6, 2006 @ 4:47 pm

Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft will follow last month’s record patch day with another major roll-out next Tuesday, July 11, 2006.

Microsoft says on their Security Bulletin Advance Notification site Windows users should expect to see 7 security updates: 4 will cover Windows and 3 will affect Office, the company’s industry-leading application suite. At least 2 of the 7 will be tagged as “critical,” the highest warning rank used by Microsoft.

Microsoft doesn’t disclose the exact components, services or applications to be patched prior to update delivery but both Excel and Internet Explorer have been in the news of late with multiple security vulnerabilities reported in both the spreadsheet and browser.

Handmade African USB Memory Drives

Originally posted on July 15, 2006 @ 6:55 pm

The tiny African country Sao Tome a West African country with a population of about 150,000 located on the Guinea Gulf along the Equatoris getting into the business of creating wooden hand-made USB memory drives as part of SEED 2006, a Design and Social Economy project funded by the Portuguese Cooperation and developed by designer Pedro Alegria.

Handmade African USB Memory Drives

The designer, Pedro Alegria, introduced the USB flash card design to local craftsmen, all of whom had never seen or heard of such things before. The end result merges traditional “forgotten” craft with hot technology on the rise, sustaining the working families’ needs and offering unique craft-designs to the masses.

Handmade African USB Memory Drives

These things are really cool and I’d like to get one just for the conversation factor. On my geektastic scale from 1 to 10, I’d give these hand-made beauties a solid 7.