Here’s what I’ve been doing the last couple of days. Upgrading the operating systems on my 2 Macs to OSX Lion.

One is an older MacBookPro and one machine is a desktop iMac. The MacBookPro conversion was a challenge. The iMac was a piece of cake.

If you have a Mac running Snow Leopard, you [...]]]>

Here’s what I’ve been doing the last couple of days. Upgrading the operating systems on my 2 Macs to OSX Lion.

One is an older MacBookPro and one machine is a desktop iMac. The MacBookPro conversion was a challenge. The iMac was a piece of cake.

If you have a Mac running Snow Leopard, you automatically have access to the Apple App Store. It’s a very cool application for your computer. You can use the App Store to add free and paid Apps to your computer. You must have at least Snow Leopard for this feature.

My old MacBookPro was still running just plain old Leopard.

Here’s the trick, you must have Snow Leopard in able to upgrade to Lion. Snow Leopard is $29 and you you have to order it and receive a disc. I had no desire to order and pay $29 and then have to wait for it.

Literally, all I needed was to have Snow Leopard on my MacBookPro for 2 minutes so I could install the App Store and download OSX Lion.

What did I do? I grabbed a pirated free copy from the internet through a torrent.

I won’t go into all the technical details but to summarize, here is how I accomplished what I needed to do.

I downloaded a torrent application called uTorrent.

Then I went to Pirate Bay and downloaded a (free) copy of Snow Leopard.

Once downloaded, you must burn a DVD copy of the software in order to install it. The downloading, burning, re-installing etc. takes several hours just so you will know.

Once I had Snow Leopard on my MacBookPro, I immediately opened up the Apple App Store and downloaded the OSX Lion that I paid $29 for.

I only had Snow Leopard on my machine for 2 minutes max.

I’m sorry Mr. Jobs, I didn’t give you your $29 for Snow Leopard but I happily paid you for OSX Lion.

I will also happily pay you for all the future Apps and programs I download from the Apple App Store.

Is it expensive to become a hyperlocal blogger? I probably can’t afford it even if I want to start my own community site. The first answer is NO! You probably already have what you need to start hyperlocal blogging. Your biggest expense will be your time. Time is valuable and you success will somewhat depend [...]]]>

Is it expensive to become a hyperlocal blogger? I probably can’t afford it even if I want to start my own community site. The first answer is NO! You probably already have what you need to start hyperlocal blogging. Your biggest expense will be your time. Time is valuable and you success will somewhat depend upon the time you are willing to devote to your site.

Do you have a computer? Do you have internet access? If you are reading this article, the answer is yes. I’m happy to say that I was able to become a hyperlocal blogger with the tools and equipment I already owned.

I use an Apple MacBookPro with a 17″ monitor.

I made a decision almost 2 years ago to switch from PC to Mac. Personally, it was the best technical decision I’ve ever made. I would never go back. If you are going to work with graphics and video, you may want to consider the Mac.

Woo Themes offers highly customizable WordPress themes for as low as $70. Their themes are awesome and so is their support. Someone just beginning would be well advised to use Woo Themes because of their support and forums.

I bought a $10 domain name from bluehost.com. In addition to my domain name, I purchased my web hosting package from bluehost also. They have several packages to choose from. The web hosting package I chose was around $107 for 12 months. You can add as many domain names that you want to the same hosting account and unlimited hosting storage. I’m extremely happy with Bluehost and I recommend to everyone. Read my article about how to get my free wordpress setup when you use bluehost.com.

I use bluehost.com to host all of my web sites, including this one.

An absolute must is a digital camera. I would expect that you already own one. If your digital camera shoots video, thats great too. I own a digital camera, a Kodak Zi6 flip camera and also a Canon XH A1 prosumer HD video camera. I’m almost tempted to say that a digital video camera is a must. It’s not really, but if you want to elevate your site with more features, you must add video. I recommend the Kodak Zi6 HD Flip Camera. I love using this little gadget and I never leave home without it. They can easily be purchased for $150 or less. I bought mine at Wal-Mart. The Zi6 takes awesome HD video and 2 megapixel still shots.

I use the Kodak Zi6 HD Flip Camera.

I would consider these tools as a minimum to start a hyperlocal community site. It’s not very expensive and as I said at the beginning of this article, you may already have everything you need to start your own site. I always use free stuff whenever possible, but if you have these tools above, you are ready to start. You are officially armed with the tools of a Hyperlocal Blogger.

Copyright 2009 bloggerlens.com Hyperlocal Blogging and Citizen Journalism