Having owned a number of search engines in the past, sometimes I feel like looking at popular search results from other sites to see what interesting things come up.  If you haven’t done this before, you should try it out since sometimes you can find yourself rolling around the floor laughing hysterically.

I decided today to look at in Australia business directory and look at their most popular searches.  I was hoping to find something to brighten my day, makes me giggle a little bit, and put a smile on my face.

Sadly, that wasn’t going to be the case.

As it turns out, there is really nothing funny about the top searches, I guess the site is just a little too serious.  I did look at a business innovation site and spend some time at a diamond brokers site as well.  Though they were interesting top search results, they were just not what I was looking for.  Maybe, I’ll try another site tomorrow.

When I decided that I was going to start my first website, I looked in the phone book to see if there were any local Web design firms that would be able to help me with the web design.  I must live in a weird city, as are was no web design firms in our town at all.  So, I decided that I would take a look online to see if I could find a company that would be able to do the work that I needed.

Out of all the web design firms I found, a New York Web design company showed the most promise.  Looking through their portfolio, I was impressed at both the colors they used and the professionalism of their sites.  I decided that I would give them a chance and sent an e-mail off through their contact form to get in touch with them.

After numerous discussions through e-mail and over the phone, they were able to come up with a stunning website design for my site.  I’m very happy that I was able to find such a high quality and professional company to work with in crafting my website.

I was so proud of myself when I finished my very first Squidoo lens. I thought it was very good for me to have completed this, as new things on the computer scare me half to death. It didn’t look half bad either and I was surprised at how easy it was for me to do. I even considered making a second one, but I was not ready at that point.

When I was ready, I decided that I was going to put a lot of effort into my second lens. I wanted it to have links to e-stores and I wanted to include some website videos on it. I asked my husband to help me and he showed me exactly what to do. I was extremely proud of the final product and it has even earned me some revenue.

I have to admit that I am now hooked and rather enjoy creating lenses. I find it to be very relaxing and I could sit and spend hours doing this. I have even done a few for my kids and they love to go and view them. I love coming up with new ideas and I think this is something I will be doing for a long time.

Sometimes, someone tries something that hasn’t been done before.  Today, I came across End of this World.  Their site is a creative writing project with a twist.

You see, they are in the process of writing a novel.  But, it is a little different than you would expect.  Instead of having just one author, anyone can contribute a chapter for review.  They take the submitted works, and vote for the best one, which becomes the permanent next chapter for the book.

Even though the writing is done by different authors, it is amazing to see the seamlessness of the story up to this point.  In fact, if you didn’t know that there were different authors, you really couldn’t tell.

Now, it is going to be awhile before the story is complete, but from what I have read so far, it looks like it will turn out to be a masterpiece.

I have a friend that builds and sells websites for a living.  I thought that his job sounded pretty cool and I asked him to let me in on his secrets.  Sure, I don’t know much about coding a website or anything, but I thought he could show me the basics and I could learn the rest.

Now, I sure didn’t expect to become an expert overnight, but I thought that I could pick up some nuggets of wisdom from him.  So, I invited him out for drinks at an Internet café so that I could have the chance to pick his brain.

After about an hour of talking with him, I had some new ideas with which to start making a website.  I found out where I could get a cheap domain name, where to find cheap web hosting, and a system of creating websites.

Thanking him for his time and wisdom, I rushed home to register cheap domains, and get my website building underway.

I was on a gadget India website the other day, looking at all of the cool new things that they have to offer. I find this to be a good place to check out new advances in technology, and I like to keep up on theses advances, being the geek that I am. I have always been into technology.

One of the great things about these websites that I love to go to, is the forums. I am really into these as I find them informative and interesting. I was in a gaming forum the other day and I learned about a new game that will be coming out later this year. I can’t wait, as I absolutely have to get it.

I used a mobile forum for information before I purchased my new cell phone. I got a phone that I never would have considered before joining the forum and I am extremely happy with my purchase.

Thanks to forums, I can find what I am looking for or solutions to the problems I have - that is what happens when people share and contribute ideas.

Checking out website ratings, one will not be surprised at which sites are in the top ten. We all know that we will find Google and Yahoo, but it is interesting to check out some of the site movement. If you follow this, you will definitely notice patterns and trends.

There are a lot of fun websites that make it into the top ten as well, By this, I mean, half of them are probably social media sites, like Facebook and MySpace. This tells you that the online world is not full of just people who want to equip themselves with knowledge, but of people who just want to have a good time.

I have to admit that some of these so-called fun sites can definitely be found in the bookmarks on my own computer. I do tend to follow a lot of the fads and trends of the online world, but I am also a curious person and use the net to power that curiosity.

The Internet buzz is a great thing today. Fifteen years ago, most people did not own a computer and many would not even know what the Internet was. Now, most families in North America average two computers per home, and it is almost not heard of to not have Internet access in your house. We have sure come a long way.

Well, I have tried for a long time to avoid MySpace.  My reasoning for not embracing the site is that I don’t have a lot of time to just goof around.  From what I have seen of my friends profiles, all of them spend a lot of time customizing their MySpace layouts and updating their profiles.  Up until recently I didn’t really have the time.

But things change.  You see I have been able to quit working a job and work at home.  So, I have been able to free up some time between tasks to fit MySpace in.  So this past week I have looked on many free MySpace layout websites to find some kind of layout that represents me.

I eventually found one that I liked.  Now, I wanted to use some MySpace tweaks I found to customize the layout - and make my site my own.  I moved some of the items on my page around and I am satisfied with how it looks.  Now all I have to do is add my friend… this is sure going to take a long time!

Well, I have been working on a website project of mine for some time now.  It has been coming along great for the layout and the content.  I have been waiting to work on the logo because that is what I have the least amount of experience with.

Making logos?  I don’t really care for it.  But to be honest, a website does not look very professional if it doesn’t have one.  So, I have been looking for some good Photoshop tutorials that could get me through the whole creation process.

There are some specific things I want on my logo: transparency and reflection - to make it look more professional.  So, I have decided to use my favorite web directory (which is a strong directory - for those of you who need to promote your website) and look for people with Photoshop tutorial sites.

After a few minutes of looking at sites, I have found a few that I will use.  Now all I need to do is make it - I will just have to remember, that this should be fun!

Talking to people about setting up a website feels like a waste of time.  They usually can understand what a domain name is, but when you try to explain web hosting, their eyes usually glaze over.

Now, I am really good at analogies and I love a good challenge, so I decided to figure out a way to explain what web site hosting was.  I was thinking that you could explain it as a store to put your business in.  For example, if you were looking for Marc’s Widget Store, then you could type in my website address and your computer would take you to my storefront (my web hosting) and show you what I have to offer.  This would be similar as to looking in the phone book, calling the number, and it connecting to where you were calling - all automatically.

Another friend I talked to referred to a website much like a file cabinet - it is an organization of information with related information stored in the same place.

Now you might wonder why you would want reliable web hosting instead of doing it yourself - and that answer is easy.  For the monthly fee you pay, there are people keeping an eye on your websites to make sure that they are never down (or they take the steps to correct the problem), they make sure that the server your site is on is secure (to prevent hackers) and they are there around the clock to help answer questions that you may have.

So, I hope that helps you to both understand why you need web hosting and what it is.