In the meantime, I will be attending Blog Her ’11 this weekend (if you’re also attending, please let me know!) and working on fresh new blog posts for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for sticking with me during this transition and I’ll see you back here real soon.

]]> http://www.aintyomamasblog.com/new-and-improved-aymb-coming-soon/feed/ 0 http://www.aintyomamasblog.com/new-microsoft-store-opening-soon-in-costa-mesa-ca/ http://www.aintyomamasblog.com/new-microsoft-store-opening-soon-in-costa-mesa-ca/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:48:26 +0000 Aimee http://www.aintyomamasblog.com/?p=5869 On Thursday March 24th, Microsoft is opening its doors at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA!

Microsoft is kicking off the grand opening by giving the Orange County community a chance to vote for local non-profit organizations to receive up to $1,000,000 in software grants! The community can vote for either two of the following organizations:

• Help Girls Incorporated of Orange County provide year-round tween programs for girls in 7th, 8th and 9th grades and inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold.
• Support efforts of Project Tomorrow, one of the nation’s leading education non-profits, ensure that today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world.

You can vote for these wonderful organizations on the “local giving” section of the Microsoft Store Facebook Page.

The schedule for the grand opening on March 24th is as follows:

9:30 am – 10:00 am – Grand Opening Ceremony Join Microsoft COO Kevin Turner for a ribbon cutting ceremony where he will present more than $1 million in software grants to local organizations, based on how members of the local community voted on the Microsoft Store Facebook page.

10:00 am – Doors open! Join Microsoft for a full day of celebration. There will be gift bags with lots of freebies inside.  You can also take advantage of great deals on PCs, Windows Phone 7, Xbox releases, and more.

Celebration Continues – Saturday, March 26, 2011

2:00 pm – Selena Gomez, actress of Disney’s Emmy Award Winning Wizards of Waverly Place and Platinum recording artist, will help celebrate the Microsoft Store opening with a special performance Come to the Grand Opening Ceremonies early to receive a gift bag and complimentary tickets to a special performance Saturday, March 26, by Selena Gomez. The first 150 people in line will receive two premier viewing tickets to the performance plus get an opportunity to meet Selena and receive an autograph after the show. The next 800 people in line will receive two premier viewing tickets to the performance. Additional general admission tickets will be given out while supplies last.

Hope to see you there! And don’t forget to vote on the worthy non-profit of your choice here.

FTC Disclaimer: AYMB was not compensated by Microsoft for this post.

The Dude photographs monkeys of all kinds.

One Sunday morning at the beginning of last year, I read this piece in the New York Times Magazine, which postulates that parenting today is defined by the process of archiving digital media of our children.  More morosely, it explains that

American children in 2010 have a bright, clear reason for being. They exist to furnish subjects for digital photographs that can be corrected, cropped, captioned, organized, categorized, albumized, broadcast, turned into screen savers and brandished on online social networks.

Tongue even more firmly in cheek, the article describes the initiation process into digital parenthood:

The marching orders come immediately, with the newborn photo, which must be e-mailed to friends before a baby has left the maternity ward. A conscientious father . . . must snap dozens of shots of the modestly wrapped newborn. . . . Back at a laptop, he uploads the haul, scrutinizing pixels. . . . He selects a becoming one. The mother signs off, often via e-mail, from her hospital bed. . . . Thus a parent is minted.

Indeed.  And it doesn’t stop at the hospital. We all take virtual piles of pictures now that digital cameras have become nearly disposable in price and cameraphones ubiquitious.  But for all of the advantages of digital media — immediacy, bottomless storage, etc. — there is one serious disadvantage: It takes but a small computer problem to lose it all.  Anyone who’s experienced a hard drive crash can attest to just how many precious memories can be lost in an instant.  And, disaster aside, I think we’ve all grown a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of files and sources of our digital media.

So, given my role as Archivist-in-Chief in our household, Aimee thought I might be able to give AYMB readers some helpful advice by describing what we do in terms of documenting the Monkey, how we archive/curate it all, and how we secure and back it up.  But first, some background.

The Dude, Digital Archivist
If digital archiving is the hallmark of 21st century parenting, then I had been minted as Dad long before biologically becoming one.  For reasons only a psychiatrist could explain, I’ve always been a bit of a digital archivist.  By the time I graduated law school, I had stored on my computer not only every paper I had written since high school, but also, freakishly, every email I had ever written and every digital picture I had ever taken.  Then, I undertook the project of digitizing my collection of thousands of CDs.  Throw in, over the next few years, a concert photography hobby, a side-gig as live-show archivist for a band, and another pile of music, and I was juggling a few terrabytes of data before the Monkey was even a proverbial glimmer.

In short, I was well prepared for tackling the project of documenting, archiving, and curating all things Monkey.  I packed for the Monkey’s birth as I did for any other adventure: neatly stuffing into my camera bag 2 digital SLR bodies, 4 lenses, an external flash, gig after gig of memory cards, more chargers and batteries than you could imagine, and a digital HD video camera.  My bag weighed more than the Monkey at birth — and the replacement value eclipsed the hospital bill.  But it was worth it in every way. Aimee did indeed sign off on a picture, and we used it to announce the Monkey to the world before even leaving the hospital.

Parenting by 1s and 0s
I’d bet dollars to donuts that this long walk down a short digital pier resonates with many AYMB readers — if not in scale, then at least in theme.  If it does, consider following advice for managing your digital memories:

1. Take lots of pictures and video (and voice memos). Memory and storage is cheap these days.  A 4GB SD card can be had for $25 bucks.  4GB!?!  That’ll hold thousands of pics.  Snap away.  Don’t be shy.  You can delete later, but you can’t recapture lost moments.

2. Dont forget about your smart phone. With smart phones getting much cheaper, we have access to a lot more ways to record life.  That iPhone (or equivalent) in your pocket takes pretty darn good pictures, records pretty good sound files, and (the newest generation, at least) shoots some pretty incredible video.  Your phone is the one electronic device you almost always have with you.  Don’t forget it’s there.

3. Find a workflow that works . . . and stick to it. As with anything in life, you will be more likely to stick to it if you can find a routine that works for you.  On a computer, we call that “workflow.”  It’s what you do, start to finish, to get your media off your devices, onto your computer, onto the web, and backed up safely.  Everyone’s workflow will be different, and you need to find the one that works for you.  Here’s mine:

• I create a topical folder for each photgraphed “event.”  For example, we took The Monkey to play in the snow over the weekend, bringing with our two iPhones, Aimee’s point-and-shoot, and my SLR.  When we got back, I dumped the media from each of those four sources into one folder entitled “2011-01-08 (snow-day).”
• I generally sift and edit photos in Picasa.  Although I use Lightroom and Aperture for more extensive editing jobs, I find Picasa to be the most intuitive, fastest, and most complete program (especially because I use Picasa for online storage and sharing).  Picasa is free and, for those who care, non-destructive.  iPhoto is great, I’m sure; I’ve never used it.
• I take a couple “laps” through a set of pictures.  During the first lap I flag (in Picasa, I use the star system) the pics that should be deleted.  Those are the ones that are just plain bad — bad exposure, bad framing, blur, someone eating with their mouth open, etc.  I would guess that I delete almost 2/3 of all pictures in this first lap.  After deleting those, the next lap is dedicated to culling the pics that are passable and worth editing and sharing.  Generally, I’d say about half of the pictures make it out of this lap and into a “final” subfolder (and then online for sharing with family and friends).  This time, I don’t delete the “non-final” ones; I keep them for future re-editing, alternate versions, etc.  Again, storage is pretty cheap.
• I finish up by dragging that folder onto my external storage device for backing up and safe keeping.

4. Use effective naming conventions and folder structures. This one sounds dorky, but it helps a ton.  As I mentioned, I organize my photos by “events.”  I always use the YYYY-MM-DD (event name) convention because it will sort/alphabetize property, and because it allows quick identification.  I then place those topical/event folders within folders by year.  2008, 2009, 2010, etc.  If you don’t take a lot of pictures, these yearly folders might not be necessary.  It helps me a lot.

5. Backup early and often. I have literally hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars invested into my photos.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Their sentimental and historical value is truly beyond measure.  And it could take as little as a three-year-old spilling water, electrical spike, or hard drive crash to wipe it all out.  Everything.  In a second.  And, yes, hard drives do fail.  Often.  They’re tiny magnetic discs that spin400,000 times per hour.  Even the best ones eventually break.

So, I remain vigilant about backups.  I’ll describe my backup system below, but mine is almost certainly more complicated than yours needs to be.  The casual photographer probably can get away with a simple external hard drive; amazon.com has several 500GB ones for much less than $100.  You can manually drag your prized data onto it, or could use any number of free or cheap backup programs.  Apple users should consider Time Machine, for example.  For those into idiot-proof solutions, I’ve found the Click-Free auto-backup external drive to be a nice solution.  My mom has used one for a couple years now, with not one complaint.  (And she set it up without me!)

If you’re as paranoid as I am, you might consider a bulkier setup.  I have a 6TB RAID-configured Network Attached Storage device in the closet with our networking and stereo equipment.  That’s a fancy way of saying that I have a very big, very reliable hard drive stored out of harm’s way.  The Monkey can’t spill on it.  I can’t accidentally drop it.  And, because it’s attached to a $40 UPS (uninterruptible power supply), it can shut down safely in the event of a power outage.  As soon as I’m done sifting/editing, my pictures get stored on that drive.  And then, because I’m truly paranoid, I have a second drive that I store at my office and bring home once/month to clone the home drive.  The off-site drive gives me a second backup that should add protection against theft, fire, flood, earthquake etc.

Your Tips?
Do you have any tips you’d like to share with AYMB readers?  We’d love to hear from you.

Happy shutterbugging.

(entry for the Literati giveaway is now closed)

I have been waiting to get an e-reader ever since I first learned of their existence. However, I really didn’t want to spend money on an expensive e-reader that didn’t have color. So I waited.

And waited.

Until now…

The new Literati e-reader by Sharper Image is here. And it’s in color!

Why do I care so much about color? Because I want to read my magazines in color. I want to see the pictures in my cookbooks in color.  But, most importantly, I want to read my son’s favorite children’s books with him in color. Most e-readers are black and white because they use e-ink technology, which also means there is no back-lighting. The Sharper Image Literati uses a back-lit LCD screen, which not only means it can display color content but that you can also read in the dark.  There will be no need for a book-light! This is good news for any late-night readers that don’t want to disturb their partner while they sleep (*raises hand*).

I like my gadgets to not only work well, but to be stylish and easy to carry around. The Literati is sleek and small enough to throw into my purse. What I also love is that the Literati comes with a simple, but effective, free case. I always hate buying an expensive gadget and then have to go out and buy a separate case to protect it.

The Literati is also simple and easy to use. Unlike other e-readers that are really more like tablet computers, this one seems purposely simple. What that means is that when you turn it on, you get a bookshelf.  Period.  You don’t get a set of icons and unnecessary features. Another bonus is that this device synchronizes with your other devices. As described in the 4th video on this page , if you’re reading a book on your Literati and stop on page 20 you can start reading on your smart-phone right where you left off.

The Literati, which is powered by the online bookstore Kobo, comes with 150 free books (25 pre-loaded and 125 available when you log-in), including many great classics that every reader should have in their library. You can read for weeks before even having to visit the built-in wireless bookstore! But, when you do, you will have access to a store with over 2 million titles. The Literati also has a built-in dictionary, which I really appreciate. Hey, not everyone was an English major in college.

The Literati’s original price is $159, however, good deals can be found (especially this Thanksgiving week.). I’ve read that Kohl’s will have a Black Friday special for the Literati at $100 (after a $30 rebate). If you’re not willing to fight the crowds, check out the web for other good deals. Either way, the Literati is a lot less expensive than the $250 color Nook.  In addition, you can find a Literati at nearly every major department store, such Macy’s, Kohl’s, JC Penney, Best Buy, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

If you want more info on the Literati, make sure to check out the Literati website or the Literati Facebook page. And, if you stop by the Facebook page, make sure to play the fun and highly addictive Literati Title Search game. I’ve already spent way more time than I care to admit playing it.

Want the chance to win a Literati e-reader? Just leave a comment below. For your first point of entry, please share what book you’re looking forward to reading on the Literati. For additional entries you may:

• Subscribe to AYMB via e-mail or RSS feed
• Follow AYMB on twitter
• Tweet this post or post a link of this review to Facebook.

Please leave an additional comment for any other point of entry. This give-away is only open to U.S. residents.

I will select a winner on Tuesday, December 7th via www.random.org and will post the winner on Wednesday, December 8th.

Good luck!

(check out the Literati commercial below)

FTC Disclaimer: I was not monetarily compensated for this review. The kind folks behind the brand new Literati e-reader generously provided an e-reader for my review and one for the purpose of a give-away. In the spirit of a fully honest disclosure, I was introduced to the Literati from someone I know who works with the manufacturer. However, as with any other review and give-away I offer my readers, no free product or compensation influences my reviews. I stand by the products I endorse and all opinions expressed are my own.

Ruckus Media Group, a global mobile family entertainment company, has just released it’s first animated children’s story applications for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. These classic stories include:

Tom Thumb and the Knights of the Round Table, told by John Cleese, illustrated by Tim Gabor, music by Elvis Costello

The Velveteen Rabbit, told by Meryl Streep, illustrated by Dave Jorgenson, music by George Winston

The Velveteen Rabbit (image courtesy of Ruckus Media Group)

Johnny Appleseed, told by Garrison Keillor, illustrated by Stan Olson, music by Mark O’Connor

Pecos Bill, told by Robin Williams, illustrated by Tim Raglin, music by Ry Cooder

John Henry, told by Denzel Washington, illustrated by Barry Jackson, music by B.B. King

Pecos Bill (image courtesy of Ruckus Media Group)

I was given the opportunity to sample The Velveteen Rabbit, as told by Meryl Streep, and Pecos Bill, as told by Robin Williams. With all five story apps, you have the option to watch the video narrated by the actors, read the story yourself, or even read and record the story.

The Velveteen Rabbit

Meryl Streep is one of my favorite actresses and to hear her dramatization of The Velveteen Rabbit story was an absolute pleasure. In a lilting British accent, Ms. Streep brings a wonderful tone to this classic story. The images, drawn by Dave Jorgensen, were visually stunning and rich and the music by George Winston was soothingly gorgeous. The story is the perfect way to end a day and calm a child for sleep. It’s also the perfect story app to have in time for the upcoming holiday season.

Pecos Bill

The story of Pecos Bill was brilliantly brought to life by comedian/actor Robin Williams. As only Mr. Williams can do, his characterization of Pecos Bill and the other storyline characters is perfect blend of comedic entertainment and riveting storytelling.  The Pecos Bill images, drawn by  Tim Raglin, are beautifully detailed and the accompanied music by Ry Cooder is a wonderful complement to the storyline.

My toddler and I were both transfixed during these videos and then enjoyed reading the stories on our own. Reading through the story on your own might pale in comparison to the storytelling talent of these consummate actors and performers, but it’s also a wonderful way to enjoy these classic stories. At $3.99 for each app, these stories are so delightful that I plan to download all five apps to enjoy with my child for years to come.  The best part is, as long as you have your iPhone or iPad handy, you’ll always have access to them.

Please note that in order to download these apps to your iPhone, your phone must be updated to the 3.2 version or 4.0 version.

Give-Away!

Ruckus Media Group has graciously offered all five apps for a give-away! To enter the give-away, please leave a comment below. For additional entries, you may subscribe to AYMB, follow AYMB on twitter, follow Ruckus Media Group on twitter, and post a tweet about this review and give-away. Please make sure to leave an additional comment for every a point of entry you complete.

I will select 5 winners on Thursday, November 4th using www.random.org.

Good luck!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated by Ruckus Media Group for this review or give-away. I was, however, given two apps to review. This review is based on my own experience with the applications and was not influenced by any free product I received.

My Monkey with his two favorite things - his iPhone and his monkey. A pic taken with my iPhone, of course.

My two year old has his own iPhone.

Now, before you think I am absolutely insane to buy an expensive phone for my toddler, let me assure you that I did not run out and drop $300 on a new phone for him. No way. However, being the ultimate tech-geek that he is, the Dude did run out a few months ago to get himself the new iPhone 4G. This meant that we had his old iPhone available to be donated to a good cause. We quickly realized that the best cause was our little Monkey.

The Monkey has been playing with our iPhones since around his 2nd birthday, nearly one year ago. When I discovered how toddler-friendly certain iPhone apps could be for him, I researched the most educational and creative apps and loaded them up on our iPhones. I was so impressed with certain apps, that I wrote a post back in April about my favorite iPhone apps for toddlers. With thousands of hits, that post quickly became my most popular blog post. Either there are a ton of other parents out there letting their toddlers play with their iPhone and iPads or people are simply curious to learn more about it.

It does seem that more and more people are discovering that it’s smart to let your kids play with smart phones. An iPhone or other smart phone can, with proper guidance and supervision, be used as a valuable teaching tool for children. The interactive content on an iPhone can help developing brains learn how to problem-solve and figure things out quickly and, when exposed to educational apps, a toddler’s learning process can actually be enhanced. Consider apps to be a valuable supplement to the teaching process already going on in your home or in preschool.

There are pros and cons to letting a toddler use an iPhone, so here are my helpful ideas on safe iPhone play:

• It’s easy for adults to drop and break an iPhone (*raises hand*), which means it’s even easier for toddlers to drop one. Buy a hard or sturdy case and screen protector to safeguard the phone as well as possible.
• If you’re giving your child an old iPhone, make sure to remove the SIM card. If you’re handing your phone over, put it in Airplane mode. You don’t need junior making calls to long-distance relatives.
• Make sure to remove content that is not appropriate or that may cost you money if used. For example, I had to remove the “Mad Men” cocktail app (a toddler is a little young to learn how to mix a martini, right?) and my Woot app. I really can’t afford for my child to purchase a random t-shirt or a case of wine every day.
• Load up the iPhone with toddler-friendly apps, pictures, videos, music, and even movies. Need ideas for toddler-friendly apps? You’ve come to the right place. Check out my top 15 apps for preschoolers.
• Limit the time your child can use the iPhone. 20 minutes is a reasonable time limit for toddlers.
• Considering that the iPhone has access to the Internet and websites like YouTube, watch your child use the device and monitor his or her activities to ensure that they are not accessing anything inappropriate.
• Play with your child using the apps or at least check in here and there to see what they doing. Not only is it for their protection but it also helps you evaluate how they use it and what they are learning.

If you’re the parent of a toddler, preschooler, or kindergartner, do you let your children use interactive media or devices, such as an iPhone? Why or why not? Would love to hear your thoughts.

favorite iphone apps for toddlers

On a beautiful sunny San Francisco morning in late October of 2007, I pushed my son into this world. Before the epidural had even worn off, the Dude gave me what I consider the best *push* present ever: an iphone.

That morning, I was introduced to two things I can’t live without.

Now that my son is exactly 2.5 years old, I rely on my iphone even more these days. There are a ton of great apps to keep the little ones distracted and entertained when necessary. While we’re standing in a long line at the grocery store or sitting at the doctor’s office, I simply select a few apps to entertain (and even educate) my son while we wait. Please note that most of these apps will require assistance, so don’t hand the iphone over to the toddler and let them have at it, especially if your kid is like mine. You’ll be upgrading to the next iphone version much earlier than you would like.

Without further ado, these are my 15 favorite toddler-friendly apps that are a no-fail solution to a cranky and impatient child.

The Top 15 Toddler-Friendly Apps (prices reflect today’s post date)

Baby Grand ($1.99) – got a little Beethoven on your hands? This app is a keyboard that can help a toddler play along to different nursery songs or they can play their own masterpiece. There are 3 instruments included – piano, marimba, and guitar and you can choose a pink or blue keyboard.

Bubble Wrap (Free!) – OK, I got this mindless app for me since popping bubble wrap is ridiculous fun, but my toddler immediately loved this app as well. Who wouldn’t? Popping bubble wrap is absurdly addictive. Just watch out for disjointed fingers after a while.

Dr. Seuss ABC ($2.99) - who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? This app is perfect for toddlers learning the alphabet since it encourages kids to make the connection between letters, their sounds, and their meanings. There are 3 ways to use the app – “read to me”, “read it myself” and “auto play.”

Elmo’s Monster Maker ($3.99) – if your toddler is like any other toddler, he or she LOVES Elmo and Sesame Street. Make a monster friend by choosing a monster body and then adding eyes, a nose and a hat. Elmo will then dance and play with your toddler’s specially-made monster!

Fish School ($0.99) – by the makers of Wheels on the Bus, Fish School lets children play with a school of fish that change into numbers, letters, shapes, and colors.

Fresh Water Aquarium ($0.99) – who needs a real aquarium when you’ve got this app? Your toddler can feed the fish and make them grow! There are 19 species of fish available and you can have up to 35 in the tank.

Grover’s Number Special ($2.99) – Grover is in the kitchen cooking and counting ingredients to make a healthy meal!

I Hear Ewe ($0.99) – A toddler can touch different animal pictures to hear what sound they make. The updated version also features different vehicles, such as firetrucks and trains. My son loves this app and has picked up a few new sounds from it.

iplayphone ($0.99) – the sounds can be quite annoying, but toddlers love this app. This app lets kids press the bright colored phone buttons and hear crazy sounds.

More Toast! ($0.99) – I love this app as much as my kid. It’s pure entertainment as you pop some bread in the toaster and then make sandwiches with different varieties of condiments and foods. Your kids can get very creative (and quite gross) with this app.

Nick, Jr’s A-Z With Moose and Zee ($1.99) – we are BIG fans of Nick, Jr. in my house and we love Moose and Zee. These adorable characters help toddlers find hidden letters and learn letter shapes with fun, colorful, and very interactive games.

Simon Classic (Free!) – yet another app I downloaded for my nostalgic self, but my toddler loves this game as well. It’s a great memory game that’s fun for both kids and adults!

Scribble ($0.99) – a fun way for toddler to paint on the screen. After you draw, just shake the iphone to erase! For those of us that loved Etch-a-Sketch as kids, this app is a must-have for our own kids.

Sprout Player (Free!) – this app is from PBS Kids Sprout and features the different shows, including the Sunny Side Up show. New podcasts are added regularly and will automatically be streamed to your app.

Wheels on the Bus  ($0.99) – Wheels on the Bus is an interactive playbook that allows the toddler to scroll along with a bus on the move. Each scene has images for the toddler to poke or slide. This is a very fun app that always gets giggles from my little one. You can also listen in French, Spanish, German, or Italian!

Youtube (always free) – aside from iphone apps, I also rely on kid-friendly youtube videos for my toddler. My youtube favorites include various Sesame Street and Nick, Jr. videos as well as toddler-friendly music videos. Our latest favorite music video is from the band OK Go called This Too Shall Pass, Rube Goldberg edition. It is a must-see for people of all ages!

Got any must-have apps for toddlers? Please share!

Aimee asked if I would provide an occasional tutorial on some of the technical aspects of AYMB, the Thesis theme/framework on which it runs, and WordPress generally. Of course, I’m happy to oblige. How many turorials will follow, and how advanced/comprehensive/technical in nature they will be, depends in large part on how they are received. So, if you dig these kinds of posts or have any suggestions, please let us know in the comments.

This tutorial focuses on a time-saving shortcut used on virtually every post on this blog. You may have noticed that all Aimee-written posts contain a signature like the one to the right. The source for the signature is a .png image file that we created by scanning Aimee’s handwriting and then sizing/colorizing it in Photoshop. In order to place and align the image, we wrap it in a <div> with the class “signature.” While she used to have to hand code this into every post, she now needs to add only this simple phrase: {signature}. This tutorial explains how.

By way of background, here is the CSS for the signature:

.signature img {margin: -7px 0 10px 25px;}

And here is the html:

<div class="signature">
<img src="/images/aimee-sig.png" alt="signature" />
</div>

Lacking my rather bizarre ability to memorize extensive bits of code, Aimee used to have to open a prior post, copy the code, return to her draft post, and then paste in the code. That’s a lot of clicking around for a rather simple chore that she now accomplishes with the shortcode {signature}. This custom shortcode functions just like the core WordPress shortcodes (such as {gallery} used to load a photo gallery).

If you’re comfortable with FTP and accessing WordPress core files, you can create your own custom shortcode in just a few simple steps:

1. Using an FTP program, locate your functions.php file within your theme’s directory.
2. Save a backup of the functions.php file, just in case things go awry.
3. Open a separate copy of the functions.php file and add your personalized code to the end.  (The code I added is below, with explanations on how to personalize it.)
4. Upload the new copy of functions.php.
5. Voila — Test with a draft post that calls your shortcode within square brackets.

(Note: You can also accomplish the above with the WordPress native editor, but without the benefit of a creating a backup.)

Here is the custom shortcode that we use for Aimee’s signature:

function aimeeSig() {
return '<div class="signature"><img src="/images/aimee-sig.png" alt="signature" /></div>';
}

add_shortcode('signature', 'aimeeSig');

To customize the code:

• replace aimeeSig in the function line with a short name that appropriately describes your function
• replace aimeeSig in the add_shortcode line with the same function name
• replace signature in the function line with the shortcode you intend on using in your posts (i.e., the word that will go within the square brackets)
• replace the html between the single quotes on the return line with whatever text/code you want inserted via shortcode

That’s it. Happy shortcoding!