Automattic, the company behind Wordpress, took another big leap in improving its award-winning blogging software when it acquired the After the Deadline, a style checking technology created by designed and created by Raphael Mudge.

In his writing or the Wordpress blog, Matt Mullenweg shares his first encounter with the system and how he was “blown away” by its ability to edit his writing in real time. “it was so much better than other checkers I’d used, and it was by one guy building this thing that solves a problem other folks have teams of PhDs trying to solve,” he said.

They ended up striking a deal for Automattic to buy the entire company. Raphael, for his part, also tells his story on how he came up with his brilliant work and how he and Matt finally struck the deal.

As a wordpress plugin, AtD sits on top of the writing box together with the standard editing buttons. When pressed, it searches for errors and underlines the word for spelling error(red), grammar suggestion(green) and style suggestion(blue). Then you click on the word to see a drop down of suggestions for you to choose.

AtD is an open source software that is also available for free download from its official site. It is also available for commercial deployment.

AtD continues to evolve as the men behind it improves on its already fantastic performance. But it is now available for download as a Wordpress plugin.


To read more related topics about this article, Click here

When do you call someone a freelancer? Who is considered a freelancer?

A person who works or pursues a career without a long term contract with any particular employer is a freelancer. He offers services to get paid without permanent affiliation with his clients. A freelancer may perform tasks for several employers, clients or customers at any given time frame. Some freelancers work with written contracts but more often are not necessary. Others would settle for verbal agreements with their clients.

If you are a freelancer you may work part time or full time. You cannot consider yourself to be an employee because you work for an employer without benefits, health insurance, paid holidays, bonuses and other benefits that a regular employee is entitled to. There is no limit to working hours which always extend beyond the regular schedules.

Some freelancers work for the same client for an extended period likely because their works are good enough for the clients’ interests. They are called “permalancers”; with full time work as a regular employee but without the benefits of one.

Payments vary according to the settled terms of agreement between the client and the freelancer. It is possible for a client to pay per hour, per day, or per project. For example, a writer can charge a fee per page of what he writes. You can demand for a deposit from customers and sometimes provide customers with job estimates.

Areas of work: There are countless of fields and areas which can showcase a freelancer’s skill and talent. Here are some:

• Journalism
• Book publishing
• Writing
• Editing
• Copyediting
• Proofreading
• Indexing
• Copywriting
• Computer Programming
• Graphic design
• Business consulting
• Translating
• Language teaching and translation
• Secretarial

The common areas for freelancers are software development, website design and development, advertising and Information technology. A substantial career is waiting for designers, bloggers and social media experts. Areas that have skills shortages prefer outsourcing freelancers’ services and they benefit from their input. Freelancers often occupy media roles.

Freelancing is basically an optimistic work even in an economic downturn. Most people come to web work because they have no other choices. Somebody may have been transferred to a remote working area at his present job or an existing contract is about to finish and finding another full time job isn’t easy. One must be able to define his capabilities and weaknesses before diving into this kind of business.

As you go along you can choose the projects and revolve around the area of your expertise. As the prefix says ‘free’ you manage your own time, type and place of work which makes freelancing a very appealing field of work.

Here are some helpful websites for both freelancers and clients:

• Freelancers.net contains details on people looking for work, as well as freelancing job opportunities.
• Smarterwork.com will help you check if your skills are marketable and pinpoint freelance opportunities.
• CWjobs.co.uk for contract IT opportunities.
• Rentacoder.com
• Odesk.com


To read more related topics about this article, Click here

In case you haven’t heard yet, there’s a worm that’s working its way around old and unpatched versions of Wordpress. Already it has infected some, including sites that belong to tech celebrities Robert Scoble and Andy Ihnatko.

According to the Wordpress Blog, this worm is a clever one: “Iit registers a user, uses a security bug (fixed earlier in the year) to allow evaluated code to be executed through the permalink structure, makes itself an admin, then uses JavaScript to hide itself when you look at users page, attempts to clean up after itself, then goes quiet so you never notice while it inserts hidden spam and malware into your old posts.”

Everyone who owns or manages a Wordpress site is advised to upgrade to the latest version – 2.8.4 – since this, as well as the one before that, is immune to the worm.

How do you know you current version? Versions 2.7 and later has a nag notice on the dashboard that tells you to upgrade. If you don’t see that nag notice, then you are using an even older version of Wordpress. Upgrade to the latest version here.

This recent incident raised the question of whether Wordpress is a secure program. Technically, any software that is not not updated regularly is vulnerable to hack attacks. So it’s a matter of getting your site up-to-date as soon as the latest version becomes available.

I would also recommend conducting regular backups to keep your data safe and secure.

To learn more about this issue by visiting the following links:

* http://wordpress.org/development/2009/09/keep-wordpress-secure/
* http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/old-wordpress-versions-under-attack/
* http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/sep/09/wordpress-hacking-blogging


To read more related topics about this article, Click here

Knowing exactly how a freelancer works and once you have decided to get started, you are to face the usual struggles that a common freelancer encounters. For example looking for more projects to line-up to make sure there is enough in your account for the rent and state taxes.

At first it would be very stressful and emotionally draining and there are times problematic clients don’t get you paid. To strengthen your foundation as a freelancer you might learn from the following tips:

Be polite always: Don’t be rude, always say thank you for the work given to you. Being polite is contagious and will take you far. Clients who are straight out rude at the beginning may learn their mistakes and would get to be polite likewise.

Don’t nourish loneliness around: While you work alone for long hours your tendency is to feel that your work is a very lonely career. Try to go out once in a while to be with friends and associates who would enhance and help in building up your career.

Take everything in stride: Criticisms from all around you, problem employers and jobs rejected should not be taken personally. Instead allow those things to serve as instruments for growth, development and success.

Remember that you are your own boss: At times customers or clients become so unrealistic dumping loads of tasks and want the work done with so limited time. Render the nicest service you can give and make it the last project from that client, it’s that simple.

Be frank enough to demand for a higher fee: This is applicable especially for freelancers who have been working for one client for a long period doing one project after another. After all, a client won’t re-hire you if you’re not good enough, so asking for a raise is simply fair. Make it a point that if you asked for a raise you always have nothing but the best to offer to your clients.

Grow every day, never stop digging: Most freelancers’ secret of success is their never ending quest for knowledge and for new ideas. Explore the places (sites) where your skills would be given recognition. There are sites that provide recommendations in different areas for freelancers.

Be aware, there will be distractions of all sorts: Everybody knows you manage your own time. For all you know somebody or something might be eating up most of it. Video games, cable networks or noise of all kinds are only some disadvantages of working from home.

It is very exciting to plunge and get started full-time but organizing a test or trial period is helpful. Some good advice for those wanting to pursue a career on the field of freelance work; preparation and planning are the keys to a successful change. Social media sites like Twitter, StumbleUpon and Digg will also help with your promotion and job search. Take advantage of them.

At the end of the day you can decide about leaping into the expert’s zone, the do-it-all hemisphere, or in between the two. Either or both would provide good income and would make you a fulfilled freelancer. Which one would you go for?


To read more related topics about this article, Click here