I just have to take a minute to recognize the importance and good that can come from social networking. There is so much inspiration and motivation from those around you – and social networks amplify that.  Thank you to all my friends and acquaintances – I truly appreciate everything you teach me.

If we haven’t connected yet, feel free to use any of the following ways -

- Aby Design on Twitter – @AbyDesign

- Aaron Boynton on Twitter – @AaronBoynton

- Facebook Fan Page of Aby Design – http://www.facebook.com/abydesign

- Aaron Boynton on LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronboynton

Once again, Thank You!  and Happy Holidays!!

Firefox is a gold-mine for web developers… At least it is for me.

There are literally thousands of Add-Ons available for Firefox.  The many Add-Ons available can make it your most important tool in web design, development, diagnosis, SEO… the list goes on and on…

Here are just a few of my top favorites that I find myself using ALL THE TIME -

Firebug -

“You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page”

I use Firebug all the time.  It helps me see where my code might be off, or see what changes will do to the page without actually making those changes for everyone to see just yet.  It is a HUGE help and I’d bet I use Firebug on a Daily Basis!  Get Firebug Here.

YSlow -

YSlow will allow you to review your site’s images, CSS, javascript, etc. to see what exactly is slowing it down the most.  This Add-On does require Firebug to work.  Get YSlow Here.

Quirk’s SearchStatus -

SearchStatus lets you see Google PageRank, Alexa, Compete and SEOmoz Ranking (and additional info) of any page you happen to be visit.  Get SearchStatus Here.

lori (Life-Of-Request Info) -

This great Add-On can show you how long it is taking your pages to load and how large the current page is (in KB).  This is great for, again, seeing where your site might be slow.  I also find that it is very useful to see how large my pages end up being and try to optimize them to help out my mobile visitors.  Get lori Here.

Google Wave Notification -

(Experimental at the time of this post) This great little Add-On will tell you if you have new Waves if you have a Google Wave account.  This is very helpful especially as Google Wave is still open by invite only – it’s hard to remember to go in regularly and check for new Waves.  Get the Google Wave Notification Add-On Here.

And finally, with all these Add-Ons you will need a good way to organize them and keep them in the order that you like best on your status bar…

Organize Status Bar Add-On -

This simple Add-On will let you specify the order that your Add-Ons are displayed in the Status Bar.  Maybe I’m just picky, but I couldn’t live without this one….  Get Organize Status Bar Here.

Let me know what your favorite Add-Ons are too – leave me a comment below.

Thanks!

Looking back on my designs and accomplishments – I am really amazed at the transformation. I have come to realize that great design should be timeless. I shouldn’t look back on some of my work and want to “fix” it. I should look back and apprecaite it every bit now as I did when I created it. Unfortunately, I can’t do that with many of the designs I did a few years ago for myself when I was starting out. Although recently it has been at the front of my mind and I now look forward to making it a goal on EVERY project I create.  Designing for your own personal projects is the most difficult thing I do.  I’m not sure if its because I don’t really sit down and map it all out like I do with a client project, or if my own ideas change as I create… I’ve sure learned a lot doing it.

I really appreciate all my clients as well and truly enjoy working with all of them.  I thank you very much for allowing me to work with you and help create your online projects.

*** UPDATE – This contest is now over. Please feel free to leave your information if you still would like – this can be a great resource for great people on Twitter. Thanks to those that participated, and Congratulations Madeline Channing!

Designers -

Please leave a comment with your Name, Website, Twitter account, etc. and in 3 days (unless I’m bribed early) I will pick one commenter at random for a Google Wave invite. If you already have a Google Wave account you can list your username, but you will not be chosen for the invite.

Twitter is full of Awesome Designers.  I can’t think of a better way to introduce my new site here than by giving away a Google Wave invite and creating a list of great designers you’ll want to follow on Twitter.

Twitter is the ultimate in social networking – sharing advice, information, tutorials, design trends, collaboration, and much MUCH more.  Leave your information below – and if you’d like to also give me some feedback on the new site, I would greatly appreciate it!

Follow me at @AaronBoynton and I will announce and DM the winner.

Aaron Boynton

Website – http://aaronboynton.com (also here at http://abydesign.com)

Twitter – @AaronBoynton

Google Wave – boyntonsweb

I’m seeing more and more of this great little addition to jQuery – Lazy Image Loading.  You may have seen it used in some pages you’ve visited too.  It waits to load images outside your “viewport (visible part of web page)” which can speed up your page loading times and adds a cool effect in the process.

Check here for more info inserting this directly into your site or get the WordPress Plugin as well.

Want to see it in action?  Scroll down and watch the images appear — oh, and Yes, I like cars.

I’d like to introduce you to Aby Design.  We create professional websites and user experiences online.

Our site is new, our name is new, but our designer and owner has been designing websites for over 5 years.  We welcome you, and hope you’ll enjoy your stay… and hopefully you’ll come back often.  If there is ever anything we can do better please leave a comment or contact us.  We value your suggestions.

Recently I’ve been adding Menus and Drop-Down Menus for people with Blogger (blogspot) sites. I’ve been working with my sister at Aqua Poppy Designs – she creates custom blog backgrounds, banners, buttons, or whatever you need for your blog. Here are a few examples of the sites and menus we have done:

[nggtags gallery=blogger_menu]

Its been fun. If you’d like one too, just contact me or Aqua Poppy Designs – or leave a message in a comment below!