Border collies are known as herding dogs, especially sheep. They are excellent watch dogs, love children and they are often described as the most intelligent dogs.

According to some information, a border collie had learned 1,022 words – reacting to them when spoken! Watching our inventive hooligan’s non-stop activities all day long it doesn’t surprise me… and tons of exercise and mental stimulation they definitely need, and this on an ongoing basis. It’s really a continuous dialogue – and a very endearing one as Holly has a very attentive and loving nature.

With one of her eyes being a clear blue – due to heterochromia (multi-colored eyes) – she catches everyone’s attention anyway!

Actually, Holly from Noordhoek lives in Cape Holly Road as you can see here, taken early this morning before our walk up into the Silvermine Mountains:

She will always make sure I follow and comes back to see that I’m fine – that’s just her nature:

Definitely lots of space to run – :

That’s our favorite morning run… tanking fresh air and energies before getting back to the computer and… Web Design with Passion!

Elke Woensdag vanaf 11h00 tot 15h00 is Pensionaris dag by Studio Lounge. Kom geniet ‘n heerlike bord warm kos met nagereg vir slegs R30. Ons sal ook gedurende die dag gelukkige trekkings doen vir ons gaste.

Studio Lounge in Mosselbaai bied ‘n heerlike Sushi aand op 30 Mei 2012. Kies vanaf ons heerlike Sushi spyskaart en geniet die aand saam met ons. Bestellings moet asb voor Wo. 30 Mei om 12h00 geplaas word. Ons sal ook deur die loop van die aand Sushi maak by Studio Lounge. Almal moet asb hul eie wyn saambring.  Die Italiaanse koffiemasjien is beskikbaar vir diegene wat die koue wil trotseer met ‘n Cappucino, Café Latte of Americano. Bring jou vriende & familie en kom kuier lekker by ons!

Daleen Cloete, hou op Donderdag 31 Mei 2012, 10h30 vir 11h00, ‘n praatjie by Studio Lounge in Mosselbaai. Die tema waaroor sy gaan praat is; “Watter boodskap dra jou lyf taal oor?” Koste beloop R50 per persoon en sluit tee en koek in. Hierdie gaan beslis ‘n praatjie wees wat jy nie sal wil misloop nie.

Building Apps for mobile devices becomes crucial for online success as an increasing number of web users shift to mobile devices and as the usage stats of mobile users has already passed web usage by desktop and lap-top users in many countries.

The Ycademy May Seminar will focus on App Building namely on:

Two days are a short time to become familiar with programming language and developer kits. For this reason we will be using what we believe are the two most powerful App building software packs available for Windows to build and test our Apps.

Participants can test also some of the apps directly on their mobile device.

The seminar will take place on May 26 –27, 2012 from 1 p.m. till 9 p.m. London Time on each day.

Seminar tickets are available with the usual discounts; get your discount code from bianca(at)ycademy.com.

More details during our calls and mails from Bianca.

Click to Get your Ticket

Related posts:Ycademy Online Seminar January 2012Ycademy Online Seminar Apri 2012Ycademy Online Seminar December 12–13, 2009Ycademy Online Seminar March 2011Ycademy Online Seminar May 2011

Once you know how to instal fonts on CS5 on 64bit it’s real easy!

As I had saved all my professional fonts in a folder that I had imported into a font folder on my new system, all I need to do is find the ttf file (standing for true type font) or the otf file (standing for open type font), right-click and ‘instal’.

That’s it! Go check the fonts on your Photoshop… and if it’s open, you may have to close it first and reopen it. All will be there and ready for you to use and design great stuff!

And to answer the question of where the fonts actually go now, it’s under “Appearance & Personalization” in the Control Panel. Normally, you download fonts as a zip file that you want to unzip and then navigate to the files as per above.

Where do you find many great fonts for free download?

Simply go to dafont.com and select what you like.

Once you work really professionally with fonts and especially if you prepare material for printing – say for a customer -, consider to select and buy a good font. While it may be costly in the beginning, it will pay off over time and simply gives you the professional look.

Remember: even on the internet you get what you pay for.

We grow through our struggles… but inbetween I just imagine myself being that happy, fat and buzzing bumble bee in my garden floating from flower to flower and living in complete bliss!

To get Web Design with Passion back on a new PC meant and still means installing each and every program from scratch. Not that this isn’t an interesting and instructive exercise nor is it the first time I do this – but it’s time-consuming and often frustrating especially when there is such a huge list to do!

However, starting out from scratch has its merits that can be compared to the annual spring clean-out: unless you are an obsessive gatherer and collector, it’s a good time to get rid of everything that’s superfluous and not absolutely necessary and becoming lean and light with lots of potential to move forward with a new and speedy lightness of being and let the creative juices flow. I’m not quite there yet as too puzzled by some mysteries noone else knew an answer to so far – but here’s my first post ‘after the storm’ and it can only get better and faster!

YEBO GOGO – this is about being a student for life!

Hensu Aluminium and Glass – SWD in George specialize in designing, manufacturing and installing a variety of aluminium windows, doors and other aluminium products for the building industry. We are committed to quality products, expert craftsmanship and excellent service. Being located in George Hensu Aluminium service the Southern Cape and Klein Karoo.

For quality aluminium and glass frames, windows and doors contact Hensu Aluminium & Glass – SWD in George.

We have standard designs and sizes but will also custom make to your specifications. They not only manufacture but install their products with pride.

If you are looking for a skylight company in the Garden Route contact Hensu Aluminium and Glass. No job is too big or too small. Both residential and commercial installation is done.

Hensu Aluminium and Glass – SWD in George specialize in designing, manufacturing and installing a variety of aluminium windows, doors and other aluminium products for the building industry. We are committed to quality products, expert craftsmanship and excellent service. Being located in George Hensu Aluminium service the Southern Cape and Klein Karoo.

For quality aluminium and glass frames, windows and doors contact Hensu Aluminium & Glass – SWD in George.

We have standard designs and sizes but will also custom make to your specifications. They not only manufacture but install their products with pride.

If you are looking for a skylight company in the Garden Route contact Hensu Aluminium and Glass. No job is too big or too small. Both residential and commercial installation is done.

Bird sanctuary websites offer online bird watchers information and insight about the bird life found in a specific bird park or area, opening times, entry fees, special events and perhaps membership possibilities etc, but what everyone is probably most interested in are pictures and images of birds, our favourite feathered friends.

If you have a garden that’s frequented by many different birds and you love to watch and photograph them, you may consider publishing your personal birding website or blog to share your thoughts, impressions, photos, perhaps sketches and whatever you want to include, with fellow birding afficinados. You may even invite other bird watchers to join you to gain a broader and even more interesting spectrum!

Your personal bird lover website could be designed in such an attractive way that it captures the interest of like-minded bird watchers from other parts of the country if not the world! The world of birds is truly without limits!

The Internet offers us such wonderful and affordable possibilities for individual expression today where we can create something that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Why not pass on the wonder, joy and privilege of living in our magic world today?!

Hensu Aluminium and Glass – SWD in George specialize in designing, manufacturing and installing a variety of aluminium windows, doors and other aluminium products for the building industry. We are committed to quality products, expert craftsmanship and excellent service. Being located in George Hensu Aluminium service the Southern Cape and Klein Karoo.

For quality aluminium and glass frames, windows and doors contact Hensu Aluminium & Glass – SWD in George.

We have standard designs and sizes but will also custom make to your specifications.  They not only manufacture but install their products with pride.

If you are looking for a skylight company in the Garden Route contact Hensu Aluminium and Glass. No job is too big or too small. Both residential and commercial installation is done.

Well, meanwhile I know most if not all of those pictures were illusions… and that we can all achieve with some good original photo material and a little bit of Photoshop! Ha!

What you see here is definitely the full moon I photographed in that night – around 11: 45 pm – and it stood like that in the pitchblack sky. No halo, no softness – like cut out.

And this was Noordhoek Beach in the very early morning where the full moon was hardly visible – now it is!I mean it was !

The fact is, I photographed the ‘real thing’ on 24 July 2010 and wrote about it HERE. And there was no manipulation involved whatsoever – it was huge, red and definitely super and extraordinary in many ways!

While we may all have our favourite hangout spots and like to follow our friends’ suggestions when visiting a new one, Restaurant Websites help to find new places when travelling to another town or an unknown area.

For this reason, a restaurant website needs to indicate what it specializes on in terms of food (seafood, country cuisine, Thai Food etc…) and it must offer clear directions, possibly through Google Maps or good photography of the environment.

Friends, real ones and those we collect on Social Networks, suggest… but then Pictures sell the Restaurant and Menu!
It’s through the way a Restaurant Blog communicates its atmosphere, service and – of course – mouth-watering menus, wines, cocktails and specials – that we are attracted to one or another. Often these reactions are spontaneous and following our belly!

Restaurant websites and blogs serve as a brilliant, easy and fun way to be and keep in touch with the restaurant clientele, inform them of what’s new on the menu or which ‘Specials’ are on when and where, especially also around major annual festivities and events like for Christmas Dinners, New Year’s Dinners or for Valentine’s Day or linked to certain activities and festivals in the area or town, eg music concerts, sports events and the like.

Restaurants should ideally have a “Wine and Dine” Fanpage on Facebook that’s kept up-to-date with what’s happening, where questions are answered and where there’s continuous conversation.

Besides, and most importantly, a restaurant must be easily reachable on the Mobile Web. People want to see what’s on offer and hit the booking button fast – often just minutes before they arrive !

We at Web Design with Passion develop and design elegant, user-friendly and extremely Google efficient websites and blogs exclusively on WP based Semiomantics – have a look and get in touch HERE to discuss what you may be needing.

Restaurant Websites Sell!

The issue here is – as discussed in my earlier article on  “iPhone Simulator”  (or ‘iPhone Emulator’ as it was called in the Ycademy Workshop) – :  how to actually see what you design when doing the mobile setup of your blog when you do not have access to an iphone or smartphone and none of the iphone simulators or emulators found on Google seem to be helpful, in other words: when you can’t see what you do.

While I enjoyed Zen Shooting with Bow & Arrow, in Web Design I prefer to see exactly what I do :)

Once you know the answer it’s always simple: when you make your website mobile without owning or having access to one of those spiffy mobile devices, the answer is to download the Safari Browser and then, at the top under DEVELOP and > USER AGENT > choose the iPhone or iPad or whatever you need to test your work!

What you see here are first results when using exclusively the settings in WP Touch Pro – no CSS stylesheet at this stage. First, I wanted to see what’s there and experiment with it, learning the lessons from trial and error and getting an understanding of what should ideally be changed or adapted and for what purpose. Our customers are all different and have other priorities. The mobile web has become crucial for attracting potential clients for those who run a business and have products and/or services to sell.

Important: Thumbnails don’t show if you leave them on “Custom Field Thumbnails” in the Dashboard (WP Touch Settings); you have to select “WP Thumbnails” as you can see on the above top example. I did not change the size nor take out the reflections.

My next excursion will be into the stylesheet… but first let’s greet another absolutely stunning day to begin a week filled with promise!

And publishing regular original content is crucial for the success of an Author Blog.

If you look at my Author Blog, you find anything related to Art, Media Design, Website Development and Design, Photography, Nature and… of course South Africa. This is where my heart and focus are and this leaves me a lot of scope for things to investigate, research, be enthusiastic about and share in form of any kind of expression that’s possible online.

While many people believe they can get away in a ‘free’ way by just using their Facebook accounts to write and express themselves, they don’t operate from a position of freedom – like if they would be owning their own website or blog where they are in full control. Social Networks work for themselves and make and change the rules, they possess your content – be it written or in form of photos – and even sell you without your consent or vote nor giving you a fair share.

If a herd mentality is what you like, this will not bother you and you gladly pay the price.

If, however, you wish to be independent and build your own reputation online, based on your name, your talents and your services and/or products, there is no way around having your own personalized Author Blog or website.

Think about it and get started – for instance on a free WordPress Blog. If you want something more sophisticated, have a look at my SHOWCASE and – if and once you’re ready for your own driver’s seat online – let’s talk!

Hakamela Africa Tours will be at INDABA 2012, one of the leading annual marketing events in African Tourism, that has won the prestigious World Travel Award for Africa’s best Travel & Tourism Show two years in a row.

INDABA will take place from 12 to 15 May 2012 at the Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa.

We will report on our website development of this exciting project in due time – don’t miss our SHOWCASE.

Nolte Lourens opened his Photographic Studio called, The Studio Nolte Lourens Photography, in Mossel Bay during April 2012. The Studio is available for Family Photography, Commercial Photography such as Fashion/Models and Food/Products and Corporate Photography. Nolte is an established fashion photographer in South Africa. The Studio is also available for hire to other photographers.

Nolte Lourens has been in the photographic industry for more than a decade, during which he made name as an excellent wedding photographer, capturing your special moments in a way that only he can.  Nolte managed to build up an excellent reputation internationally, but also in the Garden Route of South Africa during the years.

Nolte is first choice to many couples planning their special day, based on not only his outstanding quality of this photography, but also the fun and laughter he brings throughout the entire day.

Nolte Lourens opened his Photographic Studio called, The Studio Nolte Lourens Photography, in Mossel Bay during April 2012. The Studio is available for Family Photography, Commercial Photography such as Fashion/Models and Food/Products and Corporate Photography. Nolte is an established fashion photographer in South Africa. The Studio is also available for hire to other photographers.

Nolte Lourens has been in the photographic industry for more than a decade, during which he made name as an excellent wedding photographer, capturing your special moments in a way that only he can.  Nolte managed to build up an excellent reputation internationally, but also in the Garden Route of South Africa during the years.

Nolte is first choice to many couples planning their special day, based on not only his outstanding quality of this photography, but also the fun and laughter he brings throughout the entire day.

Diva Divine Boutique in George on the Garden Route is the brain child of Jacqueline Biljon. Chain store fashion items don’t always fit our South African women the way we want it to and the one size fits all that are available these days does not work. Diva Divine offers the solution many ladies are looking for!

At Diva Divine you will find clothing items designed by Monica’s in Bloemfontein. These beautiful fashion garments are available in sizes Small to 6 X- large, catering for the petite to fuller figure. The fuller figure Ladies need not worry – Jacqueline has decided that in Diva Divine every X – means a kiss – so in other words Size DOES not count. The items in the range are stylish and also very feminine, yet comfortable and designed suitable for work and play!

Jacqueline’s dream is to one day design her own clothing range and this will be available at the Diva Divine Boutique in George. The focus on all designs will be style, comfort and affordability. The boutique also stocks various other fashion items including handbags from PolkaDot. Jacqueline is also an Sales Consultant for the popular Honey Fashion Accessories and orders can be placed at Diva Divine. Besides the fashion solution Diva Divine Boutique offers they are also right next to the Finesse Body Care Beauty salon.

My prime objective when preparing a Conferences and Events Website will be speed and user-friendly interaction. When a customer needs Conference Management Services he firstly has to find what he is looking for fast, then like what he sees and lastly be able to get through and book fast. This means the conferencing website has to be well positioned on Google Top 10 – from a content point of view and, increasingly, as an image. And it has to be reachable via the mobile web.

Above you see one of my Conferences and Events Images on the first page on Google Images, competing with 443 million serach returns! Yes – one’s got to learn this and use the most efficient WP based Semiomantics script! Ask me how!!!

Clients should be ‘king’ in an absolute sense when it comes to Conference Management Services – that’s what will make the success of one’s conferencing and event management business.

Customers need to be able to fully focus on their objectives to achieve maximum results and productivity. This means preparing workshops, presentations, speeches, educational and media material etc etc … and a lot of their energy will go into attuning to all the different personalities and characters attending the event, the questions coming up and the discussions to be held.

Once the operation budget has been agreed, the Conference Manager is expected to deliver professional services in terms of:

> Planning the Conference or Meeting (dates, format, committee meetings..);

> Arrangements for locations, eg. hotel bookings, conference venues, lodging including all requirements;

> Liaison between client and speakers and presenters including preparational gettogethers;

> Promotion and advertising, materials for print, press and online event websites (if requested);

> Registration procedure – taking care of all communication and payments, prepare name badges etc;

> Facility management – function room setups, electronic setup and equipment, additional staff and operators etc;

> Coordinate food and beverages incl. special menus, recreational and team building activities;

> Clear signs to the conference venue, info packs, continuous liaison for all requests and contingencies;

> Clear check-in and check-out procedures;

> VIP lounge and services on request;

> Accommodation and partner program (eg. sightseeing) if spouse accompanies.

> Follow-up: review and approve invoices for payment, provide meeting summary and financial report;

> Gratuities to staff, ‘thank you’ messages to presenters and attendees

> and much more…

This is just a quick list from my head having attended, talked at and organized many conferences and events in the past…

Baseline is: all must be prepared, planned, negotiated and arranged according to prior agreement and budget limits and quite simply at their fingertips! No worries for your customer, not even a thought!

Even go a little extra mile if needed… I do that each day :)

The first question is: Do we need an iPhone Simulator at all? I have not seen a single free online iPhone Simulator which would render the mobile version of our WordPress sites. Online Simulators are therefore useless for our purpose.

Semiomantics Mobile Developments

Free online Emulators I have come across do not generate a preview of the mobile WordPress version. There are some paid solutions which are however pretty cool and accurate, namely the MobiOne emulator included in the Studio version. There is a 14 day free trial, thereafter a $99 fee.

Surprisingly the emulator included with TheAppBuilder does not render the mobile version — this would be a real plus since it’s a free tool until you want to publish your app to a store.

There is a much easier to use solution out there which is accessible to anyone and available for Mac and Windows:

The quick solution to Bianca’s and still many other people’s problem has been solved by Apple itself. The Safari Browser is equipped with Developer Tools which allow to preview websites under multiple user agents amongst iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Here is how to get there:

1. Download Safari

2. Once Downloaded, go Edit -> Preferences-> Advanced

3. Tick “Show Develop menu in menu bar”

4. From the Develop Menu under User Agent select Safari iOS 4.3.3 — iPhone

5. Your Browser will switch to the Mobile view; reduce browser width to minimum to get the best idea of what it would look like on an iPhone.

To get an iPad preview, just switch the user agent to iPad.

Other solutions are available, such as the iPhone Simulator from Apples Development Tools or the Firefox user agent extension; the latter is not as satisfactory as the Safari solution detailed above.

There is no more excuse for not customizing your Mobile WordPress version, namely if you work with WPTouch Pro :-).

Related posts: Semiomantics Mobile Developments Mobile WordPress and Shop Semiomantics XO on iPad iPhone 4S in stead of iPhone 5 WordPress on Facebook

Whether it is a simple blog or a shop, a photo site or a video library, a directory or any other content, your website can be converted and integrated into a mobile App. Production cost will vary in function of the complexity of the development. I mention cost at this point because for the time being, App developments are still relatively expensive, but that’s the price to pay for a seat in the front row.

The mobile web and mobile devices and platforms offer today many features designed to enhance conversation, feedback and interaction which are much more dynamic, flexible and user-friendly than those offered on traditional websites. Also, an App is much easier to use on a smartphone than surfing a website.

Bookmarking a website and then accessing (loading) it at a later time is one thing; accessing an app with the content already downloaded to the device is a completely different story. Surfing the web on a smart device is in many countries relatively slow and linked to excessive cost for bandwidth. The App is a onetime download and thereafter only updates will need to be downloaded, which saves time and bandwidth.

Communication between the user and the App owner or amongst the users can take place using all mobile features, from email, over SMS to Push Notifications which will display an alert immediately. Skype integration (or other communication plugins) is a plus.

The mobile web has been dominated by Blackberry first, today by Apple (iOS, iPhone, iPad), Android Operating System by Google and Microsoft with Windows Mobile. Producing for multiple platforms is costly but seems to become a necessity for as long as no uniform standards prevail.

Like publishing a website, App publishing has to do with visibility, traffic and sales. Mobile web users are active on Google, Facebook and in App Stores to find what they are looking for. This is a key issue: Apple’s App Store with over 500 000 Apps has become a real search heaven. If your name, brand or product is not available there, you are losing out on the potential of the mobile market.

You can write the best App in this world, if it cannot be discovered by interested people, it’s worthless. As mobile web users surf the stores to find Apps corresponding to their needs, it is important to

For the time being it is not clear how Search Engines will deal with Apps nor how App stores will make more App related info available to bots, however it can be expected that sooner or later Google will include App results as they have included Video and Images or Local Content into their search returns.

Related posts: Semiomantics Mobile Developments XO Mobile Theme with WPTouch Pro WP Best Business Theme Home Page Home Business Tax Benefits Facebook and Home Business