Five Free WordPress Templates To Dress Up Your Blog

A personal blog says a lot about you, and depending on your career it can be a deciding factor of where you’re going. It’s no longer the year 2004 where having a blog was enough; now we must trick them out with themes that are flashy, modern and by no means basic.  Is you blog ‘basic’?

Many are. But then, downloading blog templates and installing them can be time consuming, not to mention expensive right? I recall laughing my head off when I seen the prices that some developers are charging for mediocre themes!

Below are five of my favourite free WordPress blog templates that won’t cost you a single cent.

Creative Art

This theme is really attractive mostly because of that giant notebook-style posting area. The scrappy style is continued on to the left with a ‘Post It’ lookalike categories list. The background and the oddly placed RSS feed button just make it even better. Greys, reds and little features such as the tape that appears to hold up the posting area are nice touches.

This theme would suite your blog if you have a good following and blog about informal yet popular topics such as art, music, technology and the woes of life!

Modicus Remix

The Modicus theme is a little more plain than the last but it is by no means basic. It keeps the same artsy feel as the theme above but leaves more to the imagination. There is no colour at all with this theme, just a stark contrast between black and white. The amount of plug-ins and features that look good to the right-hand side of this theme is amazing – such as that ‘sign in‘ facility for your readers.

I recommend this blog for the more formal of bloggers out there such as those who see their blog as more of a regular column.

Aspire

An individual looking theme that looks like old parchment and worn manuscripts. It’s basically comprised of many different diluted shades of brown that make for a very attractive blog. Again, the posts go to the left with tags with the calendar and recent comments going to the right along with the categories. This theme is also available to download as a ‘Blogger’ version on the download page for those of you who use BlogSpot.

I think this theme would suit the more factual blogs that tend to discuss subjects within a niche. It wouldn’t do so well for a personal blog as the ‘manuscript style’ points to something entirely different.

Reviews Theme

This theme has curved corners with straight edges – one of my favourite styles for business/professional blogs. It looks good but doesn’t over-sell itself with artwork or over design. It has some good features such as a search bar and good navigation buttons along the top to direct the user to various contact and ‘About’ pages which are essential for a business blog.

The deep blue with the white, as I said, doesn’t jump out at you and do a song and dance like the other themes because they’re separated by different tones and shades of blue. The content sells itself. A professional and practical theme for a company’s site.

Light Weight

To end out list we have an elegant theme that has minimalistic design in mind. The baby blue background and the blue text work well together in this theme. The menu bar across the top is good for simple navigation and it separates the headers from the main attraction: your personal posts.

Given its simplicity yet attractiveness, I would recommend this theme for a personal blog. It has the necessary few buttons such as ‘Contact’ and ‘Subscribe’ with the posts being the centre of attention. It’s wide and as such it’s good for big photographs and screenshots that we all post on our personal blogs.

So, what do the MUO readers think of these free WordPress blog templates and what themes do you recommend for small-medium blogs?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

5 Design Concept Websites To Get The Creative Juices Flowing

We all waste time online sometimes, don’t we? You’ve been there before, you log on to check your email and something catches your eye. Something strange, neat or really cool draws you away from whatever you were up to. Well, it happens to me. I’m not sure why, maybe I have a short attention span.  But sometimes, something blows my mind and drags me away!

(1) Toxel.com

Toxel.com is a blog that shares concept designs and products that are sure to turn your head! Most of the blog posts are lists of items or objects that are in the same or similar context. For instance, in the post titled 17 Most Unusual Vending Machines, there is a list of different unusual vending machines.

They highlight items from the everyday life also.  Sometimes when everyday mixes with the creative you come up with posts like 14 Unusual and Creative Slippers:

Another interesting topic that comes up often on Toxel.com is advertising.  Just any advertising technique is interesting but Toxel.com likes to share advertising that will blow your socks off.  For instance, they did a post listing creative and clever escalator advertisements.

(2) Vidafine.com

On first visit, you may be asking, “What in the WORLD does Vidafine mean, anyways?”

Pronounced (Vee-Da-Fine). The name Vidafine came about one sunny weekday afternoon by combining the words Vida (which means ‘life’ in Spanish) and Define (which means ‘define’…. in English) together. Essentially, Vidafine is a term that we believe, challenges the individual to proactively and positively define one’s lifestyle.

The Vidafine blog is “a visual exploration and emotional engagement of the vast ideas, design concepts and products from around the world that shape our modern culture.”  Sure enough, you will find some neat design concepts and products on this site.  This site is also a blog but unlike Toxel.com, Vidafine.com doesn’t rely on the list but usually focuses on one design or object at a time.  For instance, a few of the posts that caught MY eye were Wireless Charging Mat (I’ve gotta get one of these!) which is about a new product from Duracell which is a mat on which you place electronic devices and it recharges the batteries,

Bike to the Future, which is a really cool bicycle concept which would sport spoke-less wheels, fingerprint recognition for security, and self inflating tires.

And Cardboard Office (I’m not really sure what the point to this one is but it’s still really cool!)

(3) Tuvie.com

“This website is dedicated to talk about techs and gadgets in the future, some of them might still even a concept.”  Tuvie.com is the site for the techie in us.  Tuvie.com sports a darker site design with a black background and white font.  Once you get used to that, the rest is history (or should I say future!).  This site also takes a look at one design concept per post, unlike Toxel.com.  Some of the designs and concepts are more interesting than others but hey, you never know which ones will define our future gadgets!  Check out Insight Diabetic Foot Care Scale from FrogDesign.  Being a diabetic myself, I find this interesting.  We can use all the help we can get!

Also check out the “Mo”: Redefined Notebook PC.  One of the complaints avid book readers have about ebook readers, such as the Kindle, is that they don’t feel like a book when you hold them.  It seems this concept notebook can help in that area.  Not only does it fold like a book, it can also fold backwards and double as an alarm clock!

(4) Yankodesign.com

Yanko Design is a web magazine dedicated to introducing the best modern international design, covering from industrial design, concepts, technology, interior design, architecture, exhibition and fashion. It’s about the cutting edge and the classic, the new and the rediscovered. It’s all about the best.

Yankodesign.com also has the black background and white font look.  There are many designs that are still in the design concept stage that will keep your attention for a bit.  Hit the “related posts” section at the end of each post and the time just slips away!  Each post has a quick paragraph and usually several different pictures; for those of us who have always loved the books with little words and many pictures!  Check out the post about the Emotional Phone (an interesting little gadget that can detect the strength of your relationships and can even detect a friends emotional phone nearby and share tagged pics, etc. plus some!):

And the Nokia CLIPit Concept Mobile Phone (a phone which puts into use something called “smart fabric”)

Also the New Kinda Treasure Hunt

(5) Creativecloseup.com

This colorful blog highlighting all kinds of cool designs is a hard one to ignore.  For instance, who doesn’t remember Legos and all they brought into our lives?  Well, one post shares several designs inspired by the little toy building blocks!

Also check out Kitchen Gadgets and Appliances for True Geeks which shares a number of gadgets to geek up your kitchen (yes, it is possible!):

And read 15 Incredible Conceptual Designs You Wish Existed which shares several conceptual designs which do not (yet) exist:

There you have it, 5 sites that get you sucked in and your creative juices flowing!  Check out the coolness, but also let me know in the comments of any other cool design or tech-concept sites i may not have mentioned.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

14 Great Cheat Sheets & Posters to Make You a Software Wizard

It is a known fact that if you want to commit something to memory, continuous revision is the key. You read something every time you are at your desk and within days it becomes second nature.

To be able to revise quickly and often, it helps if the information is terse and to the point highlighting only the important aspects. Something like an application cheat sheet or a poster that you can print and pin to a board or keep on your desk.

Here are some application cheat sheets for commonly used software that will hopefully make you more productive.

Microsoft Office

Need to get that report typed and formatted quickly? Can’t find your way around the ribbon interface? Check these out:

Explains the ribbon interface, smart shapes, which format to choose and how to do things like adding a digital signature, protecting the document and other little tips. (Download)

 

Excel 2007 (Download)

Word 2007 (Download)

 

PowerPoint 2007 (Download)

 

Outlook 2007 (Download)

 

If you are interested in other Office applications or different version of Microsoft Office, Customguide is a great resource.

 

Browsers

Browsers are among most commonly used software these days. You may be using Firefox or Chrome or Opera or even Internet Explorer, the bottomline is you need to get online and browsers help you in doing so. It is always nice to know your browser inside out and have some tricks up your sleeves, here are some cheat sheets that should get you started:

Google Chrome

Contains keyboard shortcuts, command line switches and the about:urls (Go there) (PDF)

Firefox

Contains keyboard shortcuts, highlights important directories related to Firefox, and presents a trick or two. It has not been updated for a long time but the information still stands good for Firefox 3.5 (Go there) ( PDF )

 

Linux

This is a huge 18 x 18 in poster that presents you – “The Anatomy of a Linux System”. It has a plethora of information about Linux, top Linux magazines, top Linux sites. In addition, it lists the popular software on Linux systems along with the sites and useful books (it’s from O’Reilly after all) on each of them. (More) (Download)

Lists commonly used commands, switches and what they do. Good for beginners. (Download)

Looking for something a little more advanced? Linux Administrator’s Quick Reference card has you covered with the important files and commands you need to know for system administration. (Download) Credit: Jialong He

Vi/Vim

One of my personal favorites, I actually learned Vim way back using this. It is a complete tutorial and apart from the all inclusive version, there are ones for individual chapters. You can download the SVG versions and scale them to make a wallpaper if you like! (Download)

Photoshop

Concisely lists all the common Photoshop shortcuts you should know to make your work easier and faster. (Download for CS4) (Other Photoshop Versions)

Twitter

Twitter finds its way into everything these days, how could we not have a reference sheet for Twitter?

Packed with all kinds of information about Twitter including important pages, desktop clients, widgets and apps, a definition of various Twitter buzzwords and ethics! (Download)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It has tons of information on what to include in tags, redirects, sitemap syntax, robots.txt syntax and much more. Presents lots of useful information in a tiny little booklet. A must for anyone working with SEO. (Download)

Looking for more?

I bet you are. Didn’t find the one you were looking for? Well there were too many of them to fit in one post. If you are looking for a specific application cheat sheet fire up the request in the comments section, someone might drop you a link. There are two great resources for posters and cheat sheets here and here. If you ever created one for yourself we would love to see them too!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

Dungeons & Dragons Online MMORPG Re-Releases – For Free!

I’ve almost had enough of all those fantasy MMORPG’s. However, the internet just gave me another reason to keep going. (Re)Released earlier this week, this might just be the best free game to play MMORPG online.

With new questing systems, exciting worlds and hideous monsters. Oh, and it’s based on one of the biggest nerd phenomena in existence – Dungeons and Dragons – need I say more?

Read our review of Dungeons & Dragons Online – Eberron Unlimited, and give it a shot. Yes, it’s most definitely worth it.

Dungeons & Dragons Online – Eberron Unlimited

The digital spin-off of the popular (old school) D&D role-playing game was originally released three years ago in February 2006. The game, then still working under the monthly subscription strategy, didn’t live up to expectations. Even though gameplay was great, the anticipated user-mass stayed out and the under-populated servers were not the MMORPG place to be.

Three years later, Dungeons & Dragons Online relaunches with Eberron Unlimited. The hefty price? – zeroUSD per month to access this Dungeons & Dragons online free server!

A success is the least we can say about DDO – Eberron Unlimited. Only a few days in the running, new sign-ups to this Dungeons & Dragons online free server are rising greatly. This time it’s not too hard to see DDO reaching the top - in my personal expectation, it’s only a matter of time.

Gameplay and Quests

Similar to most MMORPG’s, DDO focuses on quests for game progression and rewards. Nevertheless, do not expect solely monster-bashing gameplay like in World of Warcraft. DDO is filled with exciting puzzles and the like and often the creature-killing isn’t even central in a quest.

At the start of the game, low-level quests can be played solo. However, as the game progresses, it becomes necessary to work in teams of up to 6 characters, usually with multiple roles, like tanks (melee), healers and casters (magic).

Overall, quests can be played on 4 different difficulty levels – Solo, Normal, Hard and Elite. Solo is only available in low-level quests, and hard and elite raise the stakes with additional XP and monetary bonuses.

Innovative New Pricing Model

The marketing guys behind DDO preach their “innovative new pricing model”. To the critical public, this could easily be written off as ‘micropayments — again’. However, it’s not as simple as that.

Evidently for a free to play game, you don’t need to put any money in it. There are plenty of worlds to explore and quests to enjoy that you’d wonder ‘why bother’.

However, for those gamers who are willing to spend an extra dime, there are two available systems. New lands, quests or items that might be released later on can be purchased through micro-payments. Alternatively, people who continue to enjoy the game on a monthly fee basis receive this goodness automatically and get an additional amount of ‘credits’ to spend on various other in-game items. To sum up, premium members can now have the menu, or order a la carte.

But whether you’re free or premium, play the game you shall. Download it here, and give us your personal opinion in the comments section below. The file might be around 3 GB, but it’s most definitely worth it.

Minimum System Requirements
Processor: P4 1.6GHz or AMD equivalent with SSE
Memory: 512MB RAM
Graphics Card: 64 MB Hardware T&L-compatible video card
Network Connection” 56.6K modem
Software: Windows XP, DirectX 9
Disc Space: 3GB, 5GB for high resolution

Recommended System Requirements
Processor: P4 3.0GHz or AMD equivalent with SSE
Memory: 1GB RAM
Graphics Card: GeForce FX or better with 128MB of memory
Network Connection: Cable Modem or DSL connection

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

HQ Cars Wallpepers

HQ Cars Wallpepers (part 22)
45 St. | 1600×1200 | JPEG | 30 MB
Download
http://depositfiles.com/files/8ath8deu1
or
http://rapidshare.com/files/280999545/HQCars22.rar