Blogging should not be motivated by money or pressure from others, but it should be motivated by your want to write. Today I received a email comment from a fellow blogger telling me that I would be taken off their list of blogs because I wasn’t making daily posts. Now I have nothing against this blogger and I actually enjoy their blog, but to tell me that I’m no longer on there “read” list is confusing and frustrating.

My life currently balances school, work, and a social life. I’ve never meant for r3fresh to be anything more than a blog that gets a few new posts a week. If you want a blog that gets updated daily hourly go to a site where it’s there job to post (ie Engadget, TechCrunch). Blogging is not my job, it’s something I enjoy doing for myself and others. If you can remember one thing from this post remember that you are the creator and others should influence you, but not to the point of hating to write.

If you haven’t noticed I’ve updated my blog theme. I decided to make the change because of the problems I’ve encountered with my previous theme, Unwakeable. During my search for a new theme I have compiled a short list of tips for picking the perfect theme.

1. Don’t go overboard with the “sweet” effects. My first theme for this blog was pretty bad when it came to effects. It had the ability to change the color of the blog by clicking a button in the corner. What I didn’t take into account was that this cool feature created a thirty second load time for my blog. Just remember that site aesthetics are for pulling people in, but if you want people to come back you need to have a content-filled, quick-loading website.
2. Having a problem with a theme? Ask for help. Did you find a great theme that compliments your writing, but the comment system poorly formats text. What about a theme that has a sidebar bug? Don’t worry, if you need help fixing a bug, you’re not the only one. Find the creator of the theme and shoot’em an email. On my previous theme it required a logo. The creator of the theme had sent me an email with a step-by-step tutorial.
3. Leave the cutting edge web technologies to the professionals. There is no need to weigh down your site with new web technologies especially when the technologies slow or even cripple the viewing of your blog. Readers will come back more often when they know they can come back and read a few articles without conflict.
4. Keep it simple. If your theme looks like something the MySpace designers threw together, I would start looking for another theme and fast. Find a theme that’s easy to read and keeps the reader focused. Red on black is not something I will come back to and read again.
5. Ask longtime friends/readers their opinion. Before releasing your theme to everyone, ask some of your close (Internet or not) friends. They can give you advice on what to change before you get 100x that when you release it to the public.

My theme Pixkit, is what I’ve been looking for in a WordPress theme. It’s clean, quick, and there isn’t anything that will distract you while reading. My theme is a bit on the simple side, but that doesn’t mean yours does too. Pick what you like and go with it.

I have finally updated refresh to a new theme, PixKit. The previous theme (based on K2) proved to be difficult to work with, so I decided to choose a brand new theme. At the moment, the site is going under some changes (ie fixing links, changing info) so bare with me.Nothing has been deleted from r3fresh its just been moved. If you’re looking for the “contact” or “links” pages just click the “TopBarNavi” button at the top of the page for a slick drop down menu.

If you encouter any problems during your visit at r3fresh, I would love to know. Email me at mail at r3fresh dot com. Thanks!

Hey readers. I just wanted to update everyone on the current state of r3fresh.com. At the moment, site hits have evened out and I’m seeing at least 150 hits a day, unless I have recently posted.

I’m still looking for a rating system. Right now I’m using an early version of the Outbrain rating widget, but it needs some serious work. The widget doesn’t save information so somebody could game the ratings, it offers no stats other than the one the public sees, and the widget itself seems to take up a lot of room. I’ve started looking into another rating system, JS-kit, but I haven’t played with it long enough to put it up on the site. If anyone else has any ideas on rating systems please leave it in the comments. Thanks.

Others, as well as myself, have been having trouble posting multiple comments. I’m trying to figure out the problem so bare with me until I figure it out. I have been looking for a new theme for a couple of weeks now and haven’t really found anything I like. I want to stop using a theme based on k2, because I have problems that no one can help me with. If anyone has found a cool theme (with mostly white space) I would like to give it a try. Thanks.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone for the help and support. To wake everyone up I embedded this interesting (and money saving) video I found stumbling around. Enjoy!

6 Volt Battery Hack! You’ll Be Amazed! - video powered by Metacafe

Darren Rowse, of Problogger, recently wrote about his ten favorite blogs. They weren’t really his favorites, but more of just randomly chosen blogs from a bookmarking folder. I wanted to do the same, minus the “random” picking.

Before I go on with the list of ten, I wanted to say that I left out some of the larger blogs, (ie TechCrunch, Engadget, Gizmodo) they are already read by a large group of people.

• Glennwolsey.com- I started reading this blog when I saw an article on the front page of Digg. The blog is written by a teenager from New Zealand and tends to be about Apple and Photography. The blog is well written and completely honest on what’s good and what’s bad. The (new) Glenn Wolsey Show is just as good as the blog and answers reader questions.
• MacApper.com- I am a writer for MacApper, but that doesn’t mean I can’t read it and like it. Like the name, the blogs about Mac Applications and even though it’s written by 30+ people, it has a relaxed feel.
• LifeClever- I just started reading this blog after reading the Apple keyboard packaging article. I get tired of all the productivity tips, but it’s still a great read.
• Shaunlow.com- I found this blog while stumbling and I’ve found it really useful. “Blogging to Success” is the sites slogan and his blogging tips have become extremely helpful in the shaping my blog. Domain was sold!?
• LadyBanana.co.uk- Just a personal blog (from the UK) with some very interesting opinions and stuff from around the Internet. She finds some really cool online quizzes and tools.
• MaleWail.com- A really well written and hilarious blog by “Dave.” I also found this blog by using StumbleUpon. Recently, I’ve enjoyed the frustrated posts about creating a new theme.
• Ob81.com- Ob81 (aka Howard O’Berry) has established a web presence not just with his blog, but on Digg and Pownce. His blog, is a must read for any Apple fan and his writing is quirky, yet enjoyable. If you ever need any help, Ob81 is the kind of person that will go out of his way to help, like he did with me.
• TheWrongAdvices.com- A great source for tech news and blogging tips. Content is always frequent, interesting.
• GeneratorBlog: Love those Internet generators? Yes? How about a whole blog of different generators. I’ll admit it I’ve spent lost many hours on this site.
• ?- I couldn’t decide what I was going to put on this last one so I’ll leave it up to you. Got a favorite (indie) blog that you’ve started reading? Leave your picks in the comments.

Howard, from ob81.com, somehow got me an invite to Streamy and I have spent about a week messing with it, but not enough time to write a full review. I had heard of Streamy before because they were thought to be a “Digg-killer,” but they’re far from it. Think of Streamy as the Facebook of RSS readers in thats it beautifully designed on both the front and back end.

What I like about Streamy:

• Beautifully designed (visually and functionally)
• Ability to IM your friends on Streamy
• Groups
• It’s quick
• Drag and Drop articles and links
• Use of Ajax and other new web technologies

What I’m unsure about/not really liking:

• Navigation somewhat confusing
• Sound effects
• The ability to leave public notes seems repetitive when you already have your Pownce/twitter feed showing.
• “GeoStatus App”

I’m not one to use an RSS reader, but Streamy is different. I don’t know if Streamy will be something I will use long-term, but its still a great web app.

*I have one invite left, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll pick one randomly. Good Luck!*

I find Amazon to be the best place to find to spend money. I tend to buy things on Amazon that I probably wouldn’t buy anywhere else. After pre-ordering the new iPod Touch, I noticed a “We’ve been remodeling. Come take a look” link in the upper right hand corner of the page. It brought me to the newly redesigned Amazon.com.

The previous page design at Amazon had kind of a file folder, tabbed look, but with the upcoming design, it ditches the tabs and introduces a solid blue bar at the top. The top bar has been reorganized and now includes four giant buttons (I take it for people with bad vision), to make navigating Amazon easier. On the left side of the page there is a giant orange button, “Shop All Departments,” that makes navigating to a new department quicker than the current design.

Overall, the site design is more simplified and space is used more effectively (ie the sidebar is now something I will use). The redesigned Amazon is working, but very slowly, which is expected from a fresh site. When Amazon rolls out the new “remodel” it won’t be winning any awards, but it will give the popular online marketplace a much needed reorganization.

Check out the new redesigned Amazon-Link

Like the new Amazon? Hate it? Leave your opinion in the comments.

More pictures after the break.

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Apple refreshed the whole iPod line recently and they introduced the iPod Touch. The iPod Touch is exactly what everyone has been asking for, an iPhone without the phone. The 8 millimeter device won’t be shipping until October, but I have a feeling Steve has a few more tricks up his isleeve sleeve.

Gizmodo reported that the new iPod Touch might include Bluetooth after they found a picture of it on a foreign Apple site. With Bluetooth, the iPod Touch could:

•  Share music with other iPod Touch and iPhone users
• Have wireless earphones
• Connect to any Bluetooth-enabled computer wirelessly (audio/video transfer)

Bluetooth would be a revolutionary feature on an iPod, but I don’t beleive it’s the only one.

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