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Showing posts from 2011

Completing a Coursera Specialization for Free

Coursera provides continuing education just like Udacity and offer the full learning experience that I am accustomed to, including lesson videos, reading materials, projects, discussion forums, and graded projects which are peer-reviewed. I recently completed the Full-stack Web Development in React specialization from Coursera, all for free. It’s called a specialization because it is made up of three courses below each with their own certifications and which takes 4-6 weeks each to complete: 1. Front-End Web UI Frameworks and Tools: Bootstrap 4 2. Front-End Web Development with React 3. Server-side Development with NodeJS, Express and MongoDB I started the program in December 2021 and finished it in June 2023 however. The intent of this post is to explain how I was able to fund the entire specialization for free. In December 2021, I read on social media that Coursera allowed for one free course per year if you were a student and had an email address from a partner school. I gave my stu
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Why Do My Google Blogger Sites Rank Lower Than ISP-hosted Sites in Alexa.com?

I asked the following on a guest post by Chuck Rylant on ProBlogger.net, expecting to get some concrete answers to low Alexa.com ranking for my other websites. Just like Chuck, I personally think it’s because of the SEO tools available on self-installed WordPress websites that may not be available on Google’s Blogger. I am re-posting it here because I didn’t get the answer I was looking for and am hoping someone can help me out. Here is the comment I made below, also linked here Guest Post by Chuck Rylant ————— 11/4/2011 at 1:26 am I am also not a professional blogger and average around 2-3 posts a month on my computer blog https://www.aminsolutions.com and post more frequently on my personal weblog blog https://www.chromiloamin.com. I also use Alexa to see my progress but am currently stuck at 5 million on Alexa for the computer blog and 23 million for the personal weblog. It’s been at 23 million for a long time and won’t budge. I thought post frequency would improve my ranking.
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Dang, We May Have Lost Another Staple Client?

This is a followup to a previous post in the summer of 2011, about how important customer service is to the health of a business relationship. Just recently, our most loyal client since 2004 has just announced that they would like to postpone or hold-off on monthly managed IT services in the “short-term” while server upgrades are performed by their other IT provider back east. They are also looking at options for an offsite server, possibly outsource their email infrastructure and sign up for SaaS provider. They are starting to use a lot of mobile devices to do a lot of their work, including Blackberries and Android tablets so their datacentre is changing. It’s unfortunate that we will not be involved in transitioning their infrastructure. I hope the GM calls after the dust settles so that we can continue with our business relationship. My single most important advice to others is to frequently and continuously revise your customer service strategy.
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Notes on Freelance Camp 2011 – How to Write a Book (Session #3)

This is a continuation from my previous post What Clients and Consultants Really Think? (Session#2) . The third session that I attended is on writing and publishing a book. How to Write a Book, by Kathrin Lake This was a very interesting session for me because I aspire to one day publish my very own paperback. Kathrin says that for her, it usually takes her 2-3 months to write a book. She says that it is about trust, in that readers wants to get to know you. She also says that successful writers have memorable stories to tell. They are about life stories and must have a message. Everyone knows how to write but Kathrin says you must intimately know the process that you use to do that. If you don’t already, then you have to figure out your own process for writing. Her suggestion for finding your writing process is to: 1) write blogs; 2) get the bulk of your book done; 3) read, educate yourself. Editing If you are starting out, you probably should send out an electronic copy of y
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Notes on Freelance Camp 2011 – What Clients and Consultants Really Think? (Session#2)

This is a continuation from my previous post Contracts for People Who Hate Contracts (Session#1) . The second session that I attended is about Clients/Consultants and what they really think. What Do Client and Consultants Really Think? by Corwin Hiebert and Mark Shiah In the presentation, Mark was the client and Corwin was the consultant. They re-enacted many things that we all go through when in a client-consultant relationship from introduction to project finish. Some of the things I learned from the consultant side of things: – Help client make better decision. – Be the expert by diagnosing and analyzing the problem. – Know your role. – Caring for the client or the project. – Don’t let clients chase you down. – If you have multiple clients, make sure you manage and prioritize your time. – Use online collaborative tools like “Smartsheet”. – Make client feel that they are the priority. I got burned by this previously and I have more details if interested. – Give your hon
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Short-lived Canpages Writing Gig

I provide writing/blogging services for Helium Content Source (https://www.heliumcontentsource.com) and the latest assignment was to write short 300-500 word articles for Canpages, advertised as Canada’s fastest growing local search company. Helium uses a great dashboard for article submissions, edits, and approvals. Canpages uses WordPress for the blogging platform and when articles are approved at Helium, a second set of edits and approvals happen at Canpages. I was able to get 4 articles published at Canpages before the assignment came to an end for me. Here are the published articles, and they are tailored to Vancouver -centric stories in lifestyle, entertainment, and restaurants linked below. https://blog.canpages.ca/blog/?author=72 If the link becomes stale, here is a graphic I am always looking for more writing/blogging opportunities so if my writing style appeals to your needs, please contact me at info at aminsolutions dot com.
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Notes on Freelance Camp 2011- Contracts For People Who Hate Contracts (Session#1)

This past weekend I was at the Freelance Camp held by TheNetworkHub at New Westminster https://thenetworkhub.ca/freelancecamp. There was a lot of energy at that “unconference” and I left feeling very motivated. I didn’t know that “unconference” meant no set agenda for the day until one was created by participants themselves. Speakers would line up and have a maximum of 30 seconds to pitch their session. If the session gets voted on, it will become one of the sessions offered that day. Some of the sessions I attended include: (Session#1) Contracts; (Session#2) What Clients/Consultants Really Think?; (Session#3) How to Write a Book; (Session#4) Rules of Engagement; and (Session#5) 6 Time Management Tips. I will have separate posts for each of these to ensure it is legible and easier to digest. Contracts – by Danielle Lemon and Martin Ertl This one was popular and one I immediately signed up for. Danielle and Martin talked about many reasons for having contracts. -Contracts a
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