Some (Very) Early Impressions of WordPress 3.0

It’s been just about a week since the final version of WordPress 3.0 was released to the world, bringing with it interface improvements, important core menu and post changes, and of course tons of bug fixes. Check out the announcement video to get a good overview of the new features of 3.0 along with the new default “Twenty Ten” theme:

I’ve now had a little bit of time to explore and play with the new features and some definitely stand out right away.

The Help tab on the top of every page includes vastly improved contextual help text throughout the system. Click the tab and get a great overview of the current page along with detailed description of options and links to more information and support forums. As someone who trains users to use WordPress, this will result in immediate cost savings for clients as they are able to retain information better and therefore need less follow up training.

The other two big new features that caught my eye combine to push WordPress 3.0 another step towards becoming a viable CMS in some situations. The new release includes custom menu functionality mixing posts, pages, categories, and other content into one menu and also gives developers the ability to easily create new custom post types. For most client projects that MarketNet takes on a more enterprise-level CMS will be the best solution, but these two new features are great additions. If you need to create a site or microsite that is primarily a blog with additional content such as employee profiles or e-mail newsletter archives, it just got a lot easier with WordPress 3.0.

Go checkout the the full changelog for 3.0 and of course download now to take advantage of all the new goodness.

Apple shares hit record high on iPad shipping announcement

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From Engadget:

Note to Microsoft, HP, Dell, and whoever else wants to get in the next-gen tablet game: your concepts are nice — even spectacular, in the case of Courier — but Apple’s about to actually ship a product, and investors are taking note. AAPL shares hit a record high of $219.36 this afternoon after the news that iPad pre-orders would begin on March 12 with an April 3rd delivery day, and they closed at $218.95, which is up around four percent. That’s got us curious: given the choice between actually purchasing the iPad and twiddling your thumbs waiting for an unannounced, unpriced, and even possibly un-real devices like the Dell Mini 5, the HP Slate, or the Courier, are you taking the sure thing or holding out for your vaporous dream device? Hit us up in comments — and be nice to each other, it’s the weekend.

I really, really want a Microsoft Courier tablet/portfolio

Please, please buy this new tablet/portfolio thingy for me for Christmas…

Microsoft Courier tablet/portfolio

Wow. It’s been a long time since a piece of electronics has excited me this much. And I’m pretty damn nerdy and pretty damn excitable. But the Microsoft Courier, or whatever it’s really called, is beautiful and everything I’ve ever wanted. This thing is perfect for the creative professional or for a student. I really hope they don’t cut corners in order to put this at a more palatable price. I want what is exactly in this video regardless of price. Watch this concept video and be amazed…

How absolutely incredible is this thing? Tons more photos and a little more info on Gizmodo.

Take Back the Beep

The New York Times’ David Pogue has launched the “Take Back the Beep” campaign aimed at making phone carriers end the anti-consumer practice of adding 15 seconds of babble to every voicemail message you leave or retrieve. Read on…

Over the past week, in The New York Times and on my blog, I’ve been ranting about one particularly blatant money-grab by American cellphone carriers: the mandatory 15-second voicemail instructions.

Suppose you call my cell to leave me a message. First you hear my own voice: “Hi, it’s David Pogue. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you”–and THEN you hear a 15-second canned carrier message.

Do we really need to be told to hang up when we’re finished!? Would anyone, ever, want to “send a numeric page?” Who still carries a pager, for heaven’s sake? Or what about “leave a callback number?” We can SEE the callback number right on our phones!

Second, we’re PAYING for these messages. These little 15-second waits add up–bigtime. If Verizon’s 70 million customers leave or check messages twice a weekday, Verizon rakes in about $620 million a year. That’s your money. And your time: three hours of your time a year, just sitting there listening to the same message over and over again every year.