About Author: john

Posts by john

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Camarillo – Arneill Road Freeway Overpass

By
john
– October 4, 2012Posted in: Camarillo

I saw some glorious Fall sky here at Camarillo.    I guess I’m getting old.  Just  looking at the sky brings me a great joy.  It’s beautiful.   Maybe I was happy to take a break from a full day of web design work  (and stay away from computers for a while).

I walked around Old Town Camarillo a little today.  I left my car at mechanic for oil change and checkup.  My 10 years old Toyota is amazing.  I got another clean bill of health.  I just put gas and drive.

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How to setup Outlook Express

By
john
– October 30, 2011Posted in: Computer

Here’s how to setup Outlook Express (add a new email account).

Outlook Express is a free program.   If you have Windows XP, you are likely to have Outlook Express in your computer already.  Depends on your Windows version, you may have Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail.  They are all free programs from Microsoft.  All these programs may look a little different, but the basic concept is same.   They all ask for same information.

Ventura County Webmaster

When you setup any email program, you need to know following information.  These 7 items are all you need to know.

  • Email address
  • Password
  • SMTP address
  • SMTP port number
  • POP3 address
  • Pop3 port number
  • Are there any special security certificate involved? (It’s always no.  But, just in case…)

After obtaining those information follow steps below.   Just watch the screenshots,  They are pretty much self explanatory.

(below) make sure nothing is checked

below – make sure nothing is checked

Outgoing mail (SMTP) port numer wll be given to you from your webmaster.
Ask your webmaster for SMTP port number.
Incoming mail (POP3) server address is usually 110

After this tab, click Apply to save setting.

– End –

As a webmaster, I often talk to my clients over the phone to help them setup email programs.  Some clients understand my instruction easily, and issue will be resolved quickly.  Some clients have hard time understanding my instruction.   Some customers cannot tell the difference between email program and web browser.   This is understandable.   Sometimes, when customers are located close enough (Camarillo, Oxnard, Santa Paula area), I would skip my lunch and visit clients personally to setup their outlook .  Webmasters don’t make house-calls.  But, sometimes (rarely), I visit my clients in Ventura County on my own time.

I have created this page so my customers will have a better understanding.  I hope this will help.

Let me know if you still have difficulty.

– Ventura County Webmaster –

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Don’t Lose Your Domain Name

By
john
– September 18, 2011Posted in: Web Development

Do you own domain names?

If so, can you answer below questions?

  • Who is your domain registrar?
  • What is your username and password for your domain registrar?
  • Do you know how to log in to your own domain account?
  • Do you know when your domain name expires?
  • Do you know if your contact information is correct on your domain name? (Registrant, Admin, Billing, & Tech Support).

If you said “no” to any of questions above, you should seriously consider paying somebody to take care of your domain names.

You must remember:
Your domain name has expiration date.  A domain name must be renewed or it will expire.  If your domain name expires, somebody else will register it and try to sell it back to you for thousands of Dollars.  I promise, this will happen to you if you forget to renew your domain.

Domain name management services:
We manage domain names for our clients, cheap.  Most of our customers leave their domain names to us.  If you have a business to run, it makes sense to pay a small fee and let somebody manage domain names for you.  I am the one who manages domain names for our clients.  I log in to the master domain account every 2 weeks.  I make sure none of the domain names are expiring.  I check expiration dates with accounting department (for billing).  We inform clients when it’s time to renew.

Some customers choose to manage domain names on their own, which is perfectly fine as long as they don’t forget to renew their domain names on time.

If you are going to pay somebody to manage your domain name, get somebody you can trust.   You don’t want to hand in your domain name to a freelancer or a high school kid.  We are a 9 years old professional web design & Internet marketing company here in Ventura County.  I personally look at your domain name every 2 weeks.  And there are other people in my company checking up on my job performance.

Whatever you do, don’t let your domains expire.  If you think you no longer need your domain name?  just renew it for a few years anyway.  May be you will go back to your old business idea and re-start your project.   Domain names are cheap.  Buying back your lost domain names is painful, sometimes impossible.

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Camarillo Smart & Final – New Business Hours

By
john
– September 8, 2011Posted in: Camarillo

Smart & Final at Camarillo is now Smart & Final extra!  They have a new sign up.

The interior looks better and employees are still nice.  The main difference is their business hours.  Camarillo Smart & Final (extra) now opens till 10pm (9pm on Sundays).

Smart & Final at Camarillo used to close at 7pm (6pm on Sunday).  Their old business hours was ridiculous.   I think most people with normal jobs never had a chance to shop there, because they closed so early.   Last year, I visited their website and complained about their early hours.  They replied and basically said “I’m sorry, but we close early.”   I was impressed that a live person actually wrote me back.  A lot of businesses create their websites but they ignore emails from the visitors.  Smart and final actually emailed me back.

Anyway, they finally got smart and extended business hours.

10pm still seems early, but it’s not bad for Camarillo.  People don’t come out that late in Camarillo.

Camarillo Smart & Final – Old Sign, before “extra”

Before Smart & Final, there was Tresierras.
Before Tresierras there was El Brillante.
Before El Brillante, there was Apple Market
I don’t know what they had before

Below image of Tresierras was taken in 2006

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Tony’s New York Pizza, Camarillo – Best in Ventura County

By
john
– September 2, 2011Posted in: Camarillo, Restaurants

I am not a food critique. I’m just a web designer who appreciate good pizza (cheap). This blog is just my personal opinion.

I think Tony’s New York Pizza has the best pizza in Ventura County. My coworkers also say Tony’s is the best in Ventura County. I often visit Tony’s New York Pizza in Old Town Camarillo for lunch and dinner. They are located on Lewis Road at Ventura Boulevard, right across Camarillo railroad station. Their great food, cheap menu, and free WiFi make this one of my favorite restaurants in Ventura County.

Tony’s New York Pizza is not a fancy place. You should make sure to dress down to eat here. I don’t think it’s a good place to bring kids. It doesn’t have a romantic setup. The dinning room only has several tables. It may hold about 30-40 people max.

But, if you and your family want to sit down and have a good meal? Tony’s New York Pizza is the place for you. This is where you come to enjoy good meal and chat with your friends and family. And top off your drink before you leave.

Tony's New York Pizza (Camarillo) Anti-salad

Today I visited Tony’s New York Pizza with my friend, and ordered;

  • Small anti-salad with blue cheese (picture above)
    • This is the salad with ham and salami.
  • 1 slice of pizza topped with sausage, pepperoni, and fresh basil. (picture below)
    • Their 1 slice is actually 2 big slices.
  • baked rigatoni with cheese, meatball, & sausage.
    • It comes with 2 big garlic breads.
  • 2 small drinks

Total for entire meal was little less than $20.00. I say their price is comparable to fast food places. But, here, you get real food prepared by real cook. Quality of food is excellent. Two of us ate until we couldn’t eat any more. I used their free WiFi to check up on my web design projects and my clients websites.

I took a few quick pictures with my pocket camera. I hope these pictures will get your juice flowing.

Best Pizza in Ventura County

There is a main cook who always works there in the kitchen. He looks like Fonzie from Happy Days (cool dude). I saw him today also, working hard as always. He occasionally came out to ask how everyone was doing, if we were enjoying the meal. I asked him “Excuse me, are you Tony?” “Yes” he replied with smile.

To me, Tony’s New York Pizza is guaranteed good meal, and good time.

Tony’s New York Pizza doesn’t really have a website. But their official menu is located here
www.onebigslice.com

Tony’s New York Pizza / Take out & Delivery
CAMARILLO
31 N. LEWIS ROAD
805 – 445 – 4400
Mo. – Th 11 to 9 Fr. – Sa. 11 to 10 Su. 12 to 9

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Oxnard Borders Closing…

By
john
– August 27, 2011Posted in: Oxnard

Oxnard Borders is closing

I remember when Oxnard Esplanade first opened about 10 years ago.   This shopping center still smells like new.  With new homes at River Park and widened freeway, Oxnard is looking better all the time.  It’s the fastest growing city in Ventura County.

Sadly, Internet technology is changing how we shop.  People shop online rather than shopping at local stores. Circuit City shut down a few years ago at Oxnard Esplanade.  Now Borders is closing.  I went to borders for a cup of coffee and found out that entire store became a bargain bin.  Coffee shop was all gutted out.

I hate to see these stores disappearing.  And I find it ironic that I build websites with shopping carts so more people will shop online.  But, what can I do?  I cannot fight the world.  I’m just a web designer.

Borders at Oxnard Esplanade, 2006

Borders at Oxnard - Where coffee shop used to be

 

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Happy Fathers Day 2011

By
john
– June 20, 2011Posted in: Personal

Happy Fathers Day 2011.  Enjoy the magic moment when you have time.

God bless those without fathers.

My father is old, weak, and retired.  But he has more money than I do.  So my father pays when I visit him. 😳
He took us to Claim Jumpers on Saturday, a day before Fathers Day.  If you truly love your father, don’t go out to eat on Fathers Day.  It’s really busy at some restaurants that eating is not enjoyable.

How I like my steak.

 

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