Links for the month of May.

Here are a few links of interest to the folks who read my books and articles or watch my training videos.

• Internet Star @ Least 473 Years Old – Interesting article in the NYTimes blog about the history of the @ sign as it is widely used today. Thanks to @sherrieholmes for sharing the link.
• The Do’s & Don’ts of Modern Web Design – Excellent and simple list of things to do and avoid when creating a Web page or site.
• Exploring Social Media: What’s in Your Bio? – Here's a Blog Herald post by Lorelle VanFossen that expands on a post I did a while back about social networking bios. It's an honor to be quoted on The Blog Herald.
• Why Buy the Milk When You’re Following the Cow on Twitter? – Is Twitter killing traditional print media by removing the need for advertising? On LAWeekly.com. Thanks to @estherschindler for sharing the link.
• 20 CSS Short Hands You’ll Love – Great tutorial for CSS. On webhostingsearch.com.
• MacVoices #971: Maria Langer’s Newest Video Course Helps You Learn To Twitter Effectively – My most recent MacVoices interview. In this one, I talk to host Chuck Joiner about my Twitter course for Lynda.com.
• Twitter Search to dive deeper, rank results – A milestone for Google and Twitter. On CNet.com. Thanks to @jodene for tweeting the link.
• The Ultimate Guide to .htaccess Files – Good reference material for anyone interested in creating or tweaking their .htaccess file. On Nettuts+.
• 7 reasons why the business world hates social media – Interesting take on why the business world is not fully embracing Social Media. On Visionary Marketing.
• Five reasons why your company blog sucks – You think you’re doing it right, but no one is reading it. Here's what you might be doing wrong. On The Viral Garden.
• The Journalist’s Guide to Twitter – Excellent article on Mashable about how journalists can make the most of Twitter.
• Repper -> create your own patterns! – Excellent online tool for creating patterns based on portions of images you upload.
• 100 Amazing Free WordPress Themes for 2009 – Good collection of interesting themes for WordPress. On Smashing Magazine.com.
• The Life and Death of a Twitter Topic – This image graphically explains the rise and fall of a trending topic. Personally, I don't think there would be trending topic peaks like we're seeing if Twitter didn't put them on the home page. All they've done is give people a reason to include certain words/phrases in their tweets on the off chance that their tweet will appear when someone investigates the trending topic. In other words, it's all bullshit.
• The Great Address Book Cleanup – Some tips for cleaning up your Mac OS X Address Book file By Andy Piper on The Lost Outpost.
• PrintFriendly – Excellent utility for making printer friendly or PDF versions of Web pages. A WordPress plugin is also available. Online; no special software needed.

Links for the month of April.

Here are a few links of interest to the folks who read my books and articles or watch my training videos.

• The Microsoft discount – An opinion piece about the Microsoft "Apple Tax" advertising strategy by Dan Miller on Macworld.com. I couldn't agree with this comment more: "But for the benefit of my Windows-using friends, I will say for the record: I don’t use a Mac because it’s cool. I use it because it works better for me. I use it because it doesn’t stink." Thanks to @danfrakes for tweeting the link.
• The Poor Man’s Mac: Microsoft’s recession-era ploy to get you to buy a PC instead of a Mac – By focusing only on price, Microsoft is telling us only one thing about the Windows logo: It's what you look for when you're settling. By Farhad Manjoo on Slate Magazine.
• Microsoft conjures imaginary ‘Apple Tax’ – The age-old battle between Microsoft and Apple is heating up again, and this time, Redmond is cheating. On The Register.
• TweetSig, simply converting your tweets into an image. – A way cool tool to generate a Twitter-based signature line for use in e-mail and forum posts. Thanks to @Firgs for sharing the link.
• On Twitter, mindcasting is the new lifecasting | Technology | Los Angeles Times – Another article about real-life uses of Twitter. On the Los Angeles Times blog.
• Finding Utility in the Jumble of Tweeted Thoughts – NYTimes.com – Good article on the New York Times about putting Twitter to good use. Thanks to @mjvalente for sharing the link.
• 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates – Excellent post that gives real examples of how Twitter is used. On Mashable.com.
• A Visual Guide to Twitter – Interesting diagram showing how Twitter can be used.
• Operating System Interface Design Between 1981-2009 – Interesting history, with screenshots, of GUI operating system development. On Webdesigner Depot. Thanks for @god on Twitter for sharing the link.