Diverse By Design

We have finally got the site up and running at our new domain.

www.diversebydesign.net

We do not have much there yet, as I just wanted to get the site up so people can start bookmarking and checking back for changes and updates. We are also moving from the Blogger format to Wordpress as this gives us much more control over the coding of the site and its pages, since we will actually have multiple pages now too.

We are also in the process of merging this blog with our other blog Consistent Conjecture and with our business model of Diverse By Design. With that we handle our web writing jobs and other projects. So the plan is to merge everything into one place. Why run three different sites to help manage and promote three different things when we can just do it all from one place? It makes much more sense to me to do it that way anyway.

Hopefully we will start to see you all around the site soon. Spread the word and come and visit. I know there is not much there now, but bookmark the site or make note of the URL because changes will be coming, just be patient. What we are going through now is a ton of work. We will get it done, just takes a bit of time so bear with us.

Thanks for remaining patient, we look forward to bringing you all the quality information you are all used to.

Tony

Aggregate Universe making some changes

We are undergoing a few changes here at AU.

Some of you may already be aware of the business I have recently been starting called Diverse by Design. If you are or not does not make a difference, point is the Aggregate Universe is going to be merging with the Diverse By Design model. With some of the work I have been doing with Internet content authoring and web writing the blogs I author have undergone a few changes. Both in content and the time I have to work on them.

Because of this The Aggregate Universe will be becoming DiverseByDesign.Net

The site at the moment is under construction but will be up and running tonite or tomorrow morning at the very latest. I will be putting other projects aside for the moment so that I can get this up and running.

I would like to thank everyone who had lent me a hand with the AU project and would like to offer a continuation of this relationship under the new DiverseByDesign.Net model. I look forward to great things coming out of the new site and hope that everyone who has paid a visit to AU and has helped me with various things will continue to spend time with us at DBD!

This is not a goodbye but a welcome! We are looking forward to the new site and everything that will come from it!

The Aggregate Universe site will remain active for some time just to act as a redirection. If there are any questions or concerns or you would just like to make a comment I can be reached at all times at :

tony@diversebydesign.net

Barcodes, Barcodes and more Barcodes.

My upcoming story, The History (and Future) of the Barcode will be posted soon. I am introducing it this way because I am also in the process of implementing a barcode system on my sites as well. Select articles that I write are being published at a couple various select websites and publications. Because of this I will start including a scanable barcode along with every article I publish. This will allow for easier tracking by myself, as well as anyone who wants to can reach me or my sites by scanning the barcode with their mobile device (cellphone, etc..). Because these codes are becoming more readily available and useable by the masses, I see this as a sort of wave of the future. That may be a bit strong of a way to put it, but regardless they are catching on quickly. So I will implement them. I am always trying to be in-step with what is happening on the technology front and have done a good job of doing so throughout my life.

So.. my upcoming article will explain some of this as well as give you guys a decent review of the history of that wonderful little code. Also, start being on the lookout for these codes everywhere. Blackberry for example unveiled a program not too long ago, mid-summer, that was a barcode treasure hunt of sorts. They announced that they would put some 2D barcodes in various public venues such as summer concerts, large public gatherings, and sprouting events just to name a few. Scanning these barcodes with your Blackberry would either enter you into a contest, bring you to a special website, or automatically win you some sort of modest prize. It made people start to take notice. And because of this (and other various promotions) a couple applications started sprouting up on Blackberry Appworld and other places. So now that the software and technology is in place and available for many people to utilize, the codes can really start to be of some use to people.

Be on the lookout. At first I will just have some 2D barcodes on the site that just link to contact information as well as links to my websites and various articles I publish. But as time goes on these barcodes will start to become a bit more varied. And as I come across some barcodes that may be from other companies running contests or things of that nature I will either post the barcode here on the site, or give you a link to that barcode so you can go to the site and scan it there. So stay tuned. This could turn out to be a rather big deal. And I will do my best to keep you informed of anything that happens. Again... look for the Barcode article to be posted soon. Within the next couple of hours.

Contests coming to an end!

Here's to hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas! I know I did, both my wife and I enjoyed our kids on Christmas Day just as every year. Watching them open presents gets better each year! But enough about that, I was off long enough because of Christmas and it is time to get back to work! A couple day absence from both of the Blogs and everything else I am involved in puts me so far behind I don't even want to think about all the work I have ahead of me today.

But for all of you... I wanted to shoot out a quick reminder that both of the contests we have listed on our Contest Page end on December 31st! So you only have a couple days left to enter the contest if you have not already! And if you have then great! Just sit tight and as soon as winners are announced I will announce them here as well! Both contests have different dates for the drawings, so read up on the Contest page and check it out. All the info is there! And as always.. GOOD LUCK!

Our Contest reviews and listing.

In an effort to help our online community we are going to do what some may consider a "public service". Although those words always seem to make me laugh simply because it conjures up visions of public officials squandering our tax money.. lol

What we are going to do is be sort of a contest hub for our readers. We will use our resources to scour the net for contests, review these contests and post the ones worthy of sharing web space with our articles. We will do everything we can to check the rules and all the fine print to ensure the contests are legit. We will then give you all the pertinent information that you need to make an educated decision as to whether you would like to join or not. So we will let you know if your email will be added to a marketing list. If your information is safe. And where exactly your information will be going. We do have some resources to get this information for you. And if for some reason we cannot find out, we will let you know, we wont sponsor the contest, or we will just leave it out of our lists.

As they come through our review system they will get posted on our contest page. We will also have various updates posted on our sidebars to the left or right of our posts. So check back frequently or better yet bookmark our site so that you don't forget to check back often. Not only to check for new news on a contest you may have already joined, but to check for new ones. The great thing about this is that you have already got us looking through any contest we list on this site. So hopefully we can at least save you some time by finding the contests as well as going through the rules and pointing out any flaws or advantages you may have. Another thing is that all contests listed on our site here will be related to technology. Or something new in nature. You're not going to see any contests to win a basket or something like that!

Check the navigation sidebar to the right for a quick link to the contest page of the blog and it will take you right to our contest list. This will surely grow as time goes on. We will also publish other reminders and contest details on the left sidebar as well.
So stay tuned, bookmark us, and check back often. You don't wanna miss anything.

Contests!

Everyone stay tuned!

Being involved in the "tech" industry for many years (as we have), you end up coming across a whole bunch of nifty little things. Such as great little giveaways and best of all... CONTESTS! Everyone love a good contest. And we see a bunch of them to be honest. With all the different devices being thrown into the market lately and companies willing to do almost anything to get their name out there and sell their product, allot of companies hold contests as a way to do that.

So as we peruse all the different technological news and information so we can give you a heads up on what is happening out there we are going to start doing the same with various contests. So as we see something of the sort we will examine everything about the little giveaway and first make sure it is on the level. Because sadly there are many out there who are just looking to trick people into giving up their information so it can later be used and sold to various marketing companies. Let us make sure that is not the case.

So as we do this we will find the contests that are legit and post them here. We will give you all the information we can find so you can make an educated decision as to whether or not you wish to enter. Then from that point on it is a waiting game. And you can count on us to keep you posted on everything that happens with that particular contest. So when winners are announced or if things are added or new contests by the same companies are started, we will let you know. So all you have to do is keep checking back here. let us become your one stop shop for all your technological contest needs. Who knows, together we can earn you guys allot of freebies and get us some more add-ons to our community as well. And the bigger we get, the more info we all have to share.

So lets go.. stay tuned, contest info will be forthcoming shortly. And as time goes on, we may even throw a couple of our own! Wouldn't that be fun!

Our Tech Support Services

As those who know me already know, I have been providing computer/network repair services for years. Recently I decided to put a small team together and run this Blog. So far the blog is doing well, although traffic is not what I had hoped it would be to this point. But that will get there. And as it does, more features and plug-ins will be added to make this blog more of a "site" as well.

I just wanted to bring our Tech Support services to your attention briefly. There is a link on the sidebar to the right of the blog that will bring you to the Tech Support page. At the moment, the page is nothing more than a description of what services we provide. Although it is only a summary of what we do, it should give anyone a pretty solid idea of what we offer. Of course the majority of the services are only available to "local" customers as we obviously need to be able to physically be at your computer to fix something. But there are still various other services we provide that we can handle just fine over the net. We also are starting to put together various "information" packets that we will sell that will show anyone how to do certain things. Much like someone who sells a book, we too will be selling "books".. so to speak. All this will come in time.

The most exciting service we offer is the custom computer building service. We build custom Gaming Machines that will bring your PC experience to the next level. This too can be done even though we may live hundreds of miles from our customer. The biggest requirement to this is communication. As each custom machine is a "project" that is unique to each customer. Of course there are standard models that we can put together. But everyone I have spoken to or dealt with in this area always wants something specific and unique.

So in addition to the News and information that we try to bring to you, these Tech "services" are finally making an appearance on the blog. Hoping to expand the reach of our service. So as we move forward, more and more will be making its way to the blog and therefore you may see a few changes from time to time. But all for the better. So stick around and keep coming back. You wont be sorry that you did.

The future of AU

This blog has been a long time coming. I have over the past few months toyed with various ideas for what this blog would encompass and/or look and feel like. After posting a few articles and after searching for various new topics to discuss, it has become clear to me that there needs to be a primary focus. That primary focus can consist of a couple different topics or sub topics. But the focus is lacking at this point and I think we need some direction.

So I put some thought into this and decided that we would have to make this change. The problem then becomes however what topic(s) do we re-direct our focus to? It can be anything. This is really only limited by my imagination and my knowledge on various subjects. Having had this internal debate with myself I decided that I would keep this blog in the realm of technology. I know that is a rather vague arena, but regardless, there are plenty of sub-topics within that area of discussion that remain interesting. For instance, most of what this blog produces with be based on computers and computer technology. And from there we can break it down further by including stories from the video game world, pc and device security. Throw in some cell phone discussions, a few articles about not just the technology itself but what you can use the technology for and what you can produce with said devices and you end up with a very well rounded blog.

Don't lose faith however in our desire to report on certain world events, sports, and a couple other various topics. Because that desire still burns for us and we continue to report on such events. Just not with the same frequency that we had originally planned.

So there you have it. Call it a focus shift, a re-tooling or whatever you want. All that is happening is we will be giving ourselves a solid area of discussion to work with. This will allow us more time for article research so we can bring you factual statements and ins some cases breaking news. Just as before, please continue to check the site daily so you don't miss anything good. And we promise to continue bringing you the same interesting stories, information and news. Thank you for bearing with us.