About PixoBebo

PixoBebo is a site about our digital lives, specifically tips and tricks for software we use on our Macs. That includes Mac OS X Leopard, iLife ‘08, iWork ‘08, Photoshop Creative Suite, and Microsoft’s Office 2008 for Mac.

I’m a Mac person and I’m on one of my two Macs, a MacBook Pro or an iMac, all day. It’s my digital life. What I’ve learned, and what I’m learning, I’m willing to share through PixoBebo.

Why PixoBebo?

It’s a nickname. For a few years I’ve written articles for a popular Mac site called Mac360. The Mac360 system administrator, Ron McElfresh, has become a good friend and a few years ago secured a domain name for me based on my nickname (it was given to me by my father, Edward MacKenzie, when I was a little girl).

I’ve worked on many web site projects over the past 10 years, including a design change for Mac360 a few years ago. PixoBebo is my first personal site and is part of a project Ron and I are working on to provide a new design to Mac360. PixoBebo’s design is our first step.

I wanted a site that was elegant and simple, yet with the flexibility to grow and expand, and with the ability to provide readers with multiple daily updates-- reviews and news-- about Mac software.

PixoBebo Criteria

Building a web site these days is not difficult or expensive. Often it’s just a matter of knowing which buttons to click. I want more than that.

First, I want PixoBebo to adhere to web layout and design standards such as XHTML and CSS. The site must look good in all major and modern browsers such as Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox, and even Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Second, the design of the site must not interfere with the content. In other words, I didn’t want a busy and cluttered site with too many graphics floating around. Simple is better. Less is more.

The Design

I chose a standard three-column design with a header and footer, and space for a few advertisements and promotional banners at the top, bottom and right side of each page.

The color scheme for PixoBebo is a web version of my favorite color, modern lavender. #363648 to be exact. I prefer the unique look of light text on a darker background. The logo is a butterfly. My father called me ’PixoBebo,’ his little butterfly. I flitter a lot.

The Tools

Expression Engine is the content management system for PixoBebo. I did the original design and Ron wrote the code. I used Photoshop and Fireworks to create the graphic elements; header, footer, logo.

PixoBebo is also an adventure for me, and a challenge to use some of the tools of a webmaster, so I’ve become acquainted with the popular CSSEdit and Coda to make changes to the site.

Creating, building, and managing a personal web site is new to me, so I appreciate your patience. This is a labor of love. Love? Yes, as a long time Mac user I truly enjoy showing people how a Mac works, and teaching the intricacies of Mac software.

What better way to teach others than to show them what I do? That’s what PixoBebo is all about.

The Purpose

PixoBebo is a place about our digital lives and the tools which make our lives better. These days we ask much from our Macs. We connect our iPods and iPhones and printers and scanners and backup hard drives to our Macs.

We manage email, browse, send text messages, and more on our Macs. We build reports, spreadsheets, graphics, on our Macs. We make music, make movies, and manage our time on our Macs.

PixoBebo will be a daily respite for straightforward, easy-to-understand tips and tricks for Mac users.

Got Browser?

One more thing. Please use a modern, standards compliant web page browser to view PixoBebo.

The site looks and performs best using Apple’s Safari web browser, Mac or Windows. It looks and performs reasonably well with Firefox and Internet Explorer, Mac or Windows, though there are some issues with pop up photos and graphics.

Maybe one day all these technologies will work seamlessly together, but for now, use a Mac, use Safari.