Just Gareth

Not Bragging – But Look At My Setup!

Gareth Boyd — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:16:21 +0000

I’ve been sort of busy as of late, but I thought I’d let you have a sneek peeky at my setup on my desk which is currently an iMac 21″ with a Macbook 15″.

What I use these computers for is managing my network of sites, designing and my online servers. I’m sorry you PC and Windows fans, but Apple is far better. Although in one of my previous posts I mentioned that I’m buying an iMac 27″, there has been problems with my Apple account so I have to wait until the 13th before they send it out!

Just gonna give a shout out to all my readers to take a look at Ben McQueen and his blog. Be warned guys, he uses Tumblr! Who else was I going to give a shout out to? Oh yeah, go check out Jordan Howell at his cool blog. Recently I’ve got a new project on the go which is, iPod Tracker. Once a major influence in the iPod news scene and founded by my brother Andrew.

Anyway, heres my specs for my Macbook and iMac. Some of you nerds out there are more interested in the specs than what they actually look like, so here you go.

Macbook (year 2008)

2.26 GHz : 250GB
2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 memory
250GB hard drive¹
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

iMac 21.5″ (year 2009)

3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2×2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4670 256MB
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) and User’s Guide
8x double-layer SuperDrive

Thats for now, until I get my new showcase published on the site later today. You can follow me on twitter @GarethBoyd and if I think your interesting enough, I’ll follow you back. Catch you later!

Apple iMac 27″ Ordered

20 Influential Wordpress Plugins For A Developer That You (Probably) Haven’t Seen!

Gareth Boyd — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:22:52 +0000

WordPress users currently have over 8,500 plugins available for use, with something like 77 million downloads to date! They add robust functionality to your site in very cool ways. So, which are most popular? Here’s our annotated list of the 20 most popular WordPress plugins in no specific order. Here we go:

1. The All in One SEO Pack

If you’re not interested in SEO, then why are you even online? So grandma and cousin Bob can read your stuff? That’ll surely put money in your pocket! Get the SEO pack and transform your site into a search engine honey!

Click here to download.

2. OIO Publisher

Got advertising on your site? Any hassles involved with that? LOL, right? OIO is a complete offering that delivers hassle-free ads. This beauty automates text links, banners, paid reviews, and brings home the bacon by collecting money. Sit back and watch this plugin make it happen!

Click here to download.

3. WP Super Cache

This caching plugin does everything but windows, like the ones in your home. Kick out HTML files that use Apache without processing the heavy PHP scripts. If you’ve arrived, and the sheer number of visitors is slowing things down on Digg or Slashdot, this plugin is a M-U-S-T.

Click here to download.

4. HeadSpace2

Meta tag and Mint code made easy. Isn’t that enough? Fine, be greedy. It’s awesome for Google Analytics and other tracker, too.

Click here to download.

5. SEO Smart Links

Yes, we’re partial to SEO top producers – somehow getting people to our sites seems like a good idea. This one links phrases and keywords in your posts and comments with corresponding posts, tags, and categories on your blog.

Click here to download.

6. Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress

If you want a compliant XML-Sitemap of your WordPress blog, this tasty download will generate it, so ask.com, yahoo search, google, and MSN search fans will find you more quickly. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Click here to download.

7. YouTube Brackets

Don’t think video/YouTube can help? You’re delusional! Post videos with one-click ease.

Click here to download.

8. Akismet

Eat spam for lunch, not while you’re moderating site comments.

9. Lighter Menus

Another food-related plug in – or not. Make your menu a drop down and save calories, uh, we mean space, at the top of your interface.

Click here to download.

10. PageMash

Tired of ordering menu pages by hand? Tired of food references? Use this plugin to drag and drop menu pages for quicker organization.

Click here to download.

11. WordPress Automatic Upgrade

See if you can figure out what this one does for yourself!

Click here to download.

12. WPtouch iPhone Theme

A nicer viewing experience for your mobile visitors. Be nice to them – they are the future!

Click here to download.

13. WP-DBManager

Back up your site daily and have the entire data base emailed to you daily. If you don’t get the value of this, turn in your blogger badge!

Click here to download.

14. Thank Me Later

Email all first time visitors with an invite to join the RSS Feed or contact you personally. Are the ideas of automated and personal contradictory? Who cares. It gets the job done.

Click here to download.

15. PHP Bay Pro

If you affiliate at eBay without this plugin, you’re not getting your money’s worth. Blog for cash right here.

Click here to download.

16. Get Recent Comments

Use your formatting to display most recent comments and trackback. Great unless all the comments are negative, but that’s on you!

Click here to download.

17. WP Affiliate Pro

Affiliate marketers now number 61 bazillion in just the U.S. and Europe. Now they can manage their affiliate links from the convenience of their WP dashboard, cold drink in hand.

Click here to download.

18. Gamer’s Pack

Why fight it? Just get this plugin and give access to Nintendo DS & Wii users, plus PSP gaming addicts.

Click here to download.

19. Max Banner Ads

Advertise or die, they say. Rotate multiple advertisements from you WP dashboard.

Click here to download.

20. Random Pages Widget

Seduce your visitors into deeper discovery by displaying an alluring list of pages and posts. They may not come out for days!

Click here to download.

Birthday Party For JustGareth.com – Its Now Three Years Older

Gareth Boyd — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:32:03 +0000

Although the domain name was registered on the 26th of February JustGareth.com was actually launched on the 1st of March. This blog has come on leaps and bounds, however I expected it to be a heck of a lot more popular than it is at the minute. I’m averaging five hundred visitors per day now, even though I barely update the blog it is quite astounding.

I look forward to when I have more time to make more showcases, if you haven’t already realised I love making them. Currently I only have a few showcases, but I have a few planned for the future whenever I get some time to research into them.

My most popular showcase is “15 Outstanding But Simple Wordpress Themes You (Probably) Have Not Seen“.

Funnily enough I only remembered about the blogs birthday there now thanks to John Matthews when we were discussing our networks. So thanks for reminding me there bud!

Anyway, this blog is due a new showcase and I have a few plans for some interesting reviews. Stay tuned.

15 Outstanding But Simple Wordpress Themes You (Probably) Have Not Seen

Apple iMac 27″ Ordered

Gareth Boyd — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:58:32 +0000

I’m so stoked guys. The past few days I’ve been arguing with myself whether to buy the Mac Mini with a 24″ display or the popular iMac 27″. Well after debating with myself hours on end I ended up ordering the iMac 27″.

This should prove useful for designing and marketing on some of my websites. I like big screens as I am very organised and hate small screens that make everything seem crushed together.

Apple have sent me a nice e-mail saying that it will be shipped on the 1st of March and it will be with me on the 11th of March. Now I’m waiting “patiently” like a child on Christmas Eve!

Once I get the delivery I have planned to get the video camera out and create a video for you guys then edit it on iMovie on the iMac. Then boot it up onto my YouTube account. So guys stay tuned, I’m so excited… are you excited for me? You should!

Modifications:
2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2×2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
8x double-layer SuperDrive

I’ve created a blog post about the history of Macintosh:
7 Stunning Apple Products – A Blast From The Past

The Elements of Designing Sublime Web 2.0 Themes

Gareth Boyd — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:41:13 +0000

If you go back three years ago websites were very boxy and insipid. Dull colours varied with lifeless and meaningless logos. Whereas you can look today at websites as a trend, fashion sense and be thought upon as something that needs to be updated.

Are you thinking of entering the designing world? Creating elaborate logo designs to endless pixelated images? I was introduced to Photoshop in late 2007 but never became fully interested in designing until 2008 when I realised my brother was reputable at designing websites. This is when I started as I like the competition it appears us brothers have between ourselves.

Previously on this blog I have created a post directed at websites that have fantastic designs. One way I have learnt to enhance my designing skills is looking for websites and using them as inspiration to design just as good. I wouldn’t copy them however but learn from them and try to set my standards of designing to the highest.

My most recent website I have designed was for a company of mine. Unfortunately that project has been cancelled and now I am entering talks with another business partner about creating a different company. Thats for another day however.

The initial plan for the design of the company (Kwibb) was a simple but modern design. Very much of the companies out there have very dull designs with the image of professionalism. In my eyes I see them as having no inspiration whatsoever! I aimed for the design of Kwibb as a clean cut but not sore on the eyes, I think I have achieved this. Then I proved my skills on a high level of coding it after PSD2HTML made an awful attempt of coding my beloved design.

You can see the theme fully coded here at Just Gareth Client Zone.

If you are contemplating the idea of going into the designing area of the webmaster retail then personally I’d advise you invest time into reading truck loads of tutorials. This is where you will gain the upper hand on your competition.

Unfortunately this is the end of my blog post, please do leave a comment on your opinions or any questions you my have. I look forward to reading them.

18 Intriguing Photographs of Transportation Around The World

Gareth Boyd — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:57:53 +0000

You probably don’t think I’m the kind of guy who is grateful of seeing good photography. Neither do I to be honest, sometimes I think some artists or photographers are crazy taking photographs of flowers, pencils and rocks… I’ve never made a blog post specifically about something that would catch your eye, so today I’ve gathered some top quality photographs of transportation around the world.

After reading this blog post please do leave a comment and let me know what you think of what I gathered together. I’d like to know what my readers actually think of the blog post.

1…

This photograph is interesting. From the picture we can see a fascinating background of cliffs which are shadowed out by the clouds that are soon to be covering the sky. The colour tones of the sand make the van/truck stand out and also the sky.

2…

Probably one of the most important means of transport, the train. In my opinion this photograph is trying to say that this journey is going to be long, as the train tracks fade out in the distance. Then alongside the train tracks we can see some nice flowers flourishing. Also some nice big fat cows grazing in an oncoming field.

3…

This photograph just shows you what life is like in India where the city life is buzzing with villagers. Who says that walking isn’t an important way of transport? Maybe having legs are good to have!

4…

When I was gathering photographs and I seen this, school sprung to mind. This photograph however is pretty damn class because, when you first look at it you would think this is a photograph took from an ending film scene where the credits are just about to start.

5…

Definately this photograph is an ‘intriguing’ one, with the city buildings in the background and an awesome big bridge, with a man just cruising on his bike. Unfortunately it looks like this photograph has been photoshopped slightly because we can see in the puddle a reflection of this man and the sky.

6…

I don’t know what city this photograph was took from, but what I really hate about is cues. Fortunately thats what makes this photograph look so good with the cars, scooters and the wet ground.

7…

Cruise liners, an expensive form of leisure and transportation but what an excellent photograph this is. I’ve been on a few cruise liners, in-fact one of these ships and they truly are a sight to see. What makes it look so perfect is the light from the ship coming down onto the still water.

8…

Look at the sky, look at the water, look at everything about this photograph to show you that it really is truly awesome! Beautiful blue sky, with amazing surroundings and with other local villagers cruising about in their wooden boats.

9…

Here is another photograph of a long cue in a city where it appears to be busy people traveling in cars and vans. This somewhat reminds me of when I was in New York, where it was wet and waiting for an age to even move a metre forward in a long cue.

10…

The awesome colour tones of the sky reflecting off onto the still, calm water with beautiful buildings and houses covering the sides of the river just shows what a nice photograph this really is.

11…

This photograph looks like it was took whenever the photographer was driving at high speeds. Otherwise it has probably been photoshopped to blur out most surroundings to make it look like you were going at such speed.

12…

A stormy background of dark clouds with some of the orange sky peaking through looks onwards upon a plane landing… hopefully not in the sea. Yet again I’ve found another photo that presents a calm sea but such a stormy looking background.

13…

A harbour of a small town has a cloudy day but with a little sun peaking its way through upon a boat, where we can see a man swimming. From what I can see from this photograph I guess it’s some kind of swimming race.

14…

An absolutely awesome photograph however there is a hint of photoshopping as the background has a gradient colour of black to grey. The moon reflecting in the calm sea and a beautiful house sitting upon the land makes this photograph look magnificent!

15…

This photograph may not be traveling or any means of transportation, but in my opinion when you think of it as it hanging there traveling in time. However it’s quite obvious this photograph has been touched by photoshop.

16…

This is an absolutely awesome photograph without a doubt especially with us coming into the winter with cold and dark days! It just makes me feel like lighting a fire and watching snow fall from the sky.

17…

The moon and the still water makes this photograph really come to life, except in a gentle sort of way. It makes the sailors of these boats look like they’re cruising without a care in the world.

18…

Whatever way the photographer of this photograph took this, he made the light just perfect. In the tunnel we see a red and black train passing through however what really makes this photograph interesting in my opinion is the smoke coming from the train.

No related posts.

21 Reasons Why The Internet Is Indespensible In Daily Life!

Gareth Boyd — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:55:13 +0000

The internet is an essential part of life in the 21st Century. It has had a profound impact of the way people shop, work, play, gather information, are entertained, and how they connect and interact with one another. Many hours a day I can be found surfing around the internet, sometimes I end up thinking to myself – what have I actually done constructively the past few hours? I suppose it gives me something to do. However spending too much time at the computer will deteriorate your eyes, become anti-social and become tagged as the nerd.

Here are 21 important and helpful reasons to why the internet plays a huge part in a humans daily life.

1. Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites have become essential for personal connections. Keeping in touch with friends and family is a lot easier and free! Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter are among the most popular websites online, and their influence is growing!

2. Search Engines
Searching for information is done online more than anywhere else. Google and Yahoo are ranked #1 and #3 in total visits, and Bing is climbing the charts. Search engines is one of the main places you start off when you open a browser.

3. Online Shopping
The internet has revolutionized retail shopping. Most people browse online before making any purchase or search for cheaper products online before going to local shops.

4. Limewire & Torrents
Downloaded entertainment is rapidly replacing other forms. Will DVD’s become obsolete?

5. Online Payments & Banking
Bill paying is simplified. And it allows for paperless bills, which means a greener world!

6. Education Taught On Internet
Education is moving from the classroom to the web. Even some traditional universities are offering online degrees!

7. Taxing Via Internet
Tax preparation and filing online may soon be a requirement. The IRS is pushing this heavily.

8. Online Financing

Stock trading and investing is growing online. People are taking control of their finances, bypassing financial middlemen.

9. Job Centres Online

Jobs, jobs, jobs! Earning a living online is a trend that will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

10. Find a Date

Dating sites are opening the door to romance! The web is playing cupid to thousands every day.

11. Adverts & Classified Ad Websites

The internet is a huge garage sale! Craigslist and other sites are how people sell their stuff these days.

12. Sport News & Rumors

Sports continues to move to the web. Watching games live and catching up on sports news is commonplace.

13. Bringing You To Reality

Globalization is a reality. The internet makes a big world much smaller, and connects people to the global community.

14. Health and Medical Info

Medical records are stored and accessed online. Records are reviewed by medical professionals planning patient care.

15. Propaganda Ventures Further

Advertising dollars are shifting to the internet. The web allows for targeted marketing in a way print, radio, or T.V. never could.

16. Religion and Spiritual Guidance

Spiritual and personal growth is aided by the web. Teaching, guidance, and community online are enabling people to deepen their inner life.

17. Real Estate & Viewings

Real estate transactions are initiated online. Buyers can view properties virtually, saving time in the process of narrowing their search for homes or land.

18. Easy View on Credit

Monitoring credit scores is vital. The internet is also the medium for much credit repair.

19. Local Areas Online

Finding local businesses, services, and restaurants begins on the web. An online presence is essential in today’s economy.

20. Daily Weather Update

Checking the weather is a daily routine. People want to see if their travel or recreation plans are going to be met with sunshine or rain.

21. Research Before Hiring

Background checks are becoming more important. Employers researching prospective hires can get the information they need quickly and accurately.

Generations to come will wonder how civilization worked without the World Wide Web! There is no facet of life that is not intertwined with the internet. Not using the web on a daily basis is like living in modern “dark ages!” Get online, and join the 21st Century!

Do you think there should be other facts added to this article? If so, then please comment below to let us know!

7 Powerful & Spiteful Reasons to Why I Hate & Look Down Upon Online Webmaster Forums

Gareth Boyd — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:24:31 +0000

I’m going to be up front and honest in this blog post. I absolutely hate webmaster forums! Yes, hate is a strong word and shouldn’t be used but for this case I’m using it because I hate them with a passion.

Forums are so saturated and some are popular where people think they are awesome. They end up going on these crappy webmaster forums non stop when you could be working, writing an article or adding content to your blog.

Many may ask why I hate webmaster forums? Thankfully I have written out 7 factors to why I hate them so much with such a strong passion!

1. Over 30 million webmaster forums

There is over 30 million webmaster forums on the internet. That is a lot!! Most of the time these forums are full of members who contribute daily spam… what a community. What I don’t get is “newbies” creating these forums and expecting them to take off and end up millionaires, if only!

2. Buy site with loads of “potential”

I think there must be a million threads on most webmaster forums threads that say their site has lots of potential to become the best in its niche. Not only that, but most sites you buy within marketplaces are absolutely bullocks, its a joke!

3. Slow as a snail

If we are talking about some of the “big and popular” webmaster forums, they run at 3 mph. You click on a thread, then it takes about 10 minutes to finally load. Talk about a pain in the ass!

4. Why waste your time?

Why do some bloggers waste their time on them whilst they could be working on their own blogs. Giving information out to others whenever you could working on their projects or their job?

5. Fakes and scams

Do you like the idea of hanging around fakes and scams? Well the majority of people lie on forums. I make such and such a week… I will sell you this nice spammy book to you for $50 and you will learn how to make $5,000 a month! Some people actually believe this too?!

6. Trapped in addiction

You end up getting yourself into a routine where you go to these forums non-stop then you get side-tracked from working on your own sites that will actually make you money. Getting addicted to webmaster forums is a pretty bad thing, don’t let it happen!

7. I HATE THEM

You ever notice not really any of the big names (bloggers etc) never appear much on webmaster forums, because they have better things to do than piss about on them.

List of Webmaster Forums

Do you share the same hatred for webmaster forums or want to share a comment, please do. I’d love to know what you think upon this post!

Going To Be Blogging Less Unfortunately

Gareth Boyd — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:49:48 +0000

Bad news awaits. I can’t blog certain days due to work commitments and personal reasons. Plus everyone deserves a social life, except an online social life via Twitter.

As my readers should know. Incase you don’t know. I don’t blog on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, but I do try my best to blog the other days. Now some may say why?

I don’t blog for the main reason being not many people are on the internet those certain days. Most online freaks are trying to get out as much as possible and the majority of the population is not on the internet.

Sorry, but just letting you know… Have a nice weekend and I shall try enjoy work as much as possible.

No related posts.

11 Incredibly Minimalist Web 2.0 Themes That You (Possibly) Haven’t Seen Before

Gareth Boyd — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:05:23 +0000

Web design is becoming a very saturated niche nowadays and in order to compete amongst the ever growing community of designers you must have a fresh portfolio loaded with rich designs. Today I have made another blog post about incredibly minimalist web 2.0 themes that haven’t been blogged about before or paid much attention to. Some are absolutely gorgeous and others just as good, if not better! This blog post is definitely worth your parousal and will come in useful for designers in need of inspiration.