The View from Here

Links for 2008-07-19 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-20T00:00:00-05:00

Dr. Horrible

Google Docs Enhancements

2008-07-19T22:58:00.000-04:00

Google Docs and Spreadsheets has been making improvements and added features. Templates are now available, from stationery to business cards, to resume format and more.

I fell and injured my shoulder, so blogging/typing is a bit difficult right now.

~~~o0o~~~

Links for 2008-07-18 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-19T00:00:00-05:00

A N I M O T O

Links for 2008-07-17 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-18T00:00:00-05:00

Links for 2008-07-13 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-14T00:00:00-05:00

Fix It Club | Common Repairs Made Easy!

Links for 2008-07-10 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-11T00:00:00-05:00

TreeFeathers: Life in Miniature
Includes how-tos

Links for 2008-07-09 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-10T00:00:00-05:00

Merged Books - Miss Cellania - Miss Cellania

Links for 2008-07-08 [del.icio.us]

2008-07-09T00:00:00-05:00

Braille Literacy

2008-07-07T11:08:00.002-04:00

I had a long post about this topic nearly finished, but a website I went to to get a link blew up Firefox, and I forgot that draft.blogger isn't automatically saving posts, so I lost it. So, here's a somewhat abbreviated version, without all the side trips.

Braille Literacy is as much as issue as general literacy. When people bemoan the declining literacy in the U.S., be it from inability to read to adult functional illiteracy to people not reading as much for recreation, they're usually referring to the ones who can see the printed page (or print on a screen). But for the millions of people who are unable to read standard print, and for those for whom large print (14 pt or larger) still isn't readable, there are limited options. More and more, audiobooks are how people read, but that won't cover most signage, or even scholarly works, mainly journals. For that, braille is needed. And for some publications, there is no alternative yet in existence.

Braille is tough to learn. People who lose their sight in middle or older age or people with diabetes who have lost some feeling in their fingers might be reluctant or unable to learn it. It's like learning a new language, relying on touch to do so. And children seem best able to learn it. Some excel at it and in Blind Ambition: The Ultimate Braille Challenge, you can read about some of them who compete in a Braille Challenge.

These kids are high achievers, but for every one of them, there are many others who are struggling to finish school. Blindness and visual impairment are just 2 of the conditions that interfere with reading. Physical conditions such as paralysis that prevent someone from holding a book. Learning/reading disabilities. As a society, it is in our best interest to help these children reach their highest potential. Among them, might be the person who will find a cure for cancer, or the next president. Or more likely, the higher the level they can reach, the more independent they can be and the more they can give back to society. We all benefit.

Back to braille. Today, braille doesn't need paper. There's electronic braille. Computer files that once downloaded can activate braille keyboard displays. If only everything printed/published came in all accessible formats. Maybe, someday.

~~~o0o~~~

Inline Comments

2008-06-29T11:15:00.000-04:00

To be honest, I had no idea what people meant by "Inline Comments." But now that Blogger has added it (definitely in Draft.Blogger, I don't know about regular Blogger), I now know it's comments appearing below the post with the form to leave a comment, all on the post page. It's not seen on the main page. You still have to click the comment link or the permalink for the post, but it does save a step and looks clean. Plus, it gives you the post and comments all nicely together, easy to read and comment on, without having to keep clicking "Show Post" to double check a point you want to say something about.

To activate this feature, go to Settings -- Comments -- Comment Form Placement -- select Embedded below post.

If you've done a lot of customizing of your template involving the post section, you might need to adjust some code. BlogU has the details.

So far, I've added it to this blog, only, but I might do it on some of my others. CyberChocolate has edited post coding, so I might not bother with that one, but most likely for my comic book and book blogs. One thing I'll miss, based on my little experimentation here, is that the avatars don't show up in embedded comments the way they do in the popups (which I really hate and wish people would stop using, be it via Blogger, Haloscan, or other commenting service, because it really messes with my computer, not to mention, annoys me because I can't see much at once and have to keep scrolling) or full page comments. But it's a small price to pay for the nice all-in-one aspect of the feature, which I think enhances discussions on a post.

~~~o0o~~~

Blogger in Draft Updates

2008-06-26T23:46:00.001-04:00

Blogger in Draft now allows ratings. If you're using the draft version of Blogger, you can enable star ratings and see which of your posts are most popular. You need to be using a Layouts template for this feature. Will you see this on my Blogger blogs? That would be a "no." I won't change what I blog about or how, so ratings won't matter, and they smack of popularity contests. So not for me. With the new Webmaster Tools, you can now track your blog/site's "visibility in Google." I'm still not happy with Draft Blogger's new Dashboard. The need to keep clicking to expand the list of blogs is getting tedious and annoying. But they are making improvements. I have noticed today (and I use the draft version, so I don't know if this is for regular Blogger yet) that the New Post page has been somewhat redesigned. The edit bar looks cleaner. The big difference I spotted is that when I added a link, a new dialogue box came up. Rather than the bare bones box of yore, I saw one that looked a lot like the one used in Google Pages, which allowed for testing the link first. And you can choose between a regular link and an email addy to add. Then, after it's been entered and you click save, you see a little dialogue popup in the post window if you want to further edit the link. According to Blogger, this revision of the post editor will allow drag and drop images, which I need to try out. If that works, it will be wonderful, indeed. They have disabled autosave for this version of the post editor, and some features like spellcheck aren't active yet. This new Import/Export feature is probably the most requested feature, and I'll definitely be trying it out. You can find it in Draft Blogger in the Settings -> Formatting page, according to Blogger, but I saw it in Settings -> Basic. And along with that allowing you to back up your blogs, you can also combine blogs if you want to streamline your blogging experience. All in all, these changes show that Blogger really does pay attention to the feedback left on their blogs such as Blogger in Draft, and make changes based on that feedback. They've been fairly responsive and while not everything works great out of the box, so to speak, these are all moves in the right direction, IMO, and keeps Blogger at the top of the free blogging services as far as I'm concerned. And this is the most changes I've seen at one time since the new version of Blogger. Here's hoping for greater and greater bloggy goodness. ~~~o0o~~~

More Reasons to Use Firefox

2008-06-25T23:09:00.001-04:00

Ah, sorry, been a while between posts. That's how it goes with my subject specific blogs. Anyway, I have something cool to report. While it's not something I need and therefore, I can't properly try it, someone's made a Firefox add-on for people who are color blind. They say it can be customized to a person's specific visual palette.

~~~o0o~~~

Posting Widget

2008-06-06T13:52:00.001-04:00

Blogger's got some new features. In draft.blogger.com, there's a new dashboard. It's nice enough, but I left feedback that I'd prefer to show more than the 2 most recently updated blogs.

Another, more immediately useful feature is something I'm testing now. You can add a widget to your iGoogle page to allow direct blogging to any of your Blogger blogs. You can add titles and labels. There isn't a menu of labels you've already used, so you would need to know them if you want to repeat any. Still, rather nifty, if it works. Which I'll soon know. Not sure about adding a link, but I'll try it with the html.

I Don't Need Another Addiction

2008-06-01T23:09:00.003-04:00

I'm back from vacation and sick. Or having the worst allergy attack in my life. Or something in between. No matter. Blogging goes on.

I joined YouTube just over a year ago, but except to favorite a couple of videos people blogged about that I liked, I mostly ignored the site. But I made a video over vacation that needed to be shared and it was too long for flickr's 90-second max limit, and not really the sort of thing to post there. So now, I've posted the video, complete with credits, and am learning how to use Windows Movie Maker (very cool, loads of fun), finally, as well as my camera's movie function.

That should be enough, right? Nope. I had to start exploring. The only reason it hasn't yet become a complete time sink is that I dither over what to search for.

Anyway, send popcorn and hope I come up for air occasionally. :D

~~~o0o~~~

Flame Warriors

2008-05-10T11:00:00.003-04:00

I love these caricatures by Mike Reed of Flame Warriors. We've all encountered some of these, I'm sure. It's darned near impossible to avoid them on listservs, message boards, forums, even comments on blogs. I've even known one on a message board who seemed a combination of at least 3, maybe 4 of these types. Link found on Miss Cellania.

Meanwhile, I've considerably upgraded my tech life with a new laptop (a darling Toshiba with Vista) and a new cellphone (my, they've changed in 5 years) that has internet access and a phone to go along with its lovely QWERTY keyboard. I've been spending my evenings the past 2 weeks reading manuals. However, improved devices and prior experience with similar devices have greatly improved my learning curve on these things. I never did get an address book into my old phone and the new one already has a bunch of folks programmed in. I might even leave it on during the day as it seems to have a better battery, too. It really is true that things are pretty much outdated by the time you get them home. ;)

~~~o0o~~~

Helpful Blogger Blog

2008-04-30T20:35:00.001-04:00

I found Blogger Buster in Blogger's Blogs of Note, and rightly so. It's a nifty blog featuring all things Blogger, including free templates.

~~~o0o~~~

More Email Issues

2008-04-28T20:37:00.002-04:00

An amazing thing happened today. I got an email from a woman apologizing for trying to change my email password. She got my email addy mixed up with hers. However, she wasn't one of the 2 ShellyS-es I've already identified. Two noteworthy things occurred with this email:

She actually recognized that she'd made an error.
She emailed me to apologize.

I'm not sure which impresses me more. :)

~~~o0o~~~

Mad Libs Online

2008-04-12T16:19:00.003-04:00

Mad Libs, that "game" where people come up with nouns, verbs, and adjectives to create a story, is 50 years old, and to celebrate, it's been given a new website and widgets for people to put on their sites and social network pages. Let's see if I can add a widget to this entry.

~~~o0o~~~

Video on Flickr

2008-04-09T01:15:00.002-04:00

Flickr now accepts short (max 90 seconds) videos from pro (paid) members. There are some definite rules re: content that will be allowed. Basically, they're looking for this to be sort of extended or moving photos, in the safe or moderate mode. There's definite appeal in this. I haven't had time to really play on YouTube and the thought of making my own vids to upload there is too daunting. It's just too big and I haven't made anything animated since my film class in college (1974). But this little video project on flickr might be just the incentive I need to try out my digicam's movie setting.

~~~o0o~~~

Email Not for Amateurs

2008-04-01T17:11:00.004-04:00

Hey, you, out there, you don't want me to know personal info about you, and I don't want to know it about you, either. Nor do I want you to know personal stuff about me, unless I choose to share. But there are things I definitely shouldn't know about you and you should definitely not know about me. Like financial info. Or passwords to websites.

And yet, I know stuff about other Shellys out there, because they're not being careful when giving out their email addy. Sure, we might be careful *who* we give it to, but not *how.* Because either by mistyping or purposefully making up emails, people are giving out *mine.*

A lot of websites and webs services require an email addy upon registration. If you don't want to give out your main addy or don't want to run the risk of spam, create another email account somewhere to use with that account. It's what I do. Then make a note of it somewhere. Memorize it. Pay attention to how you type it.

I got my gmail account, thanks to an invite that I believe I got because I had a Blogger account. (It's been so long, my memory is fuzzy now.) The date my gmail account was created was April 28, 2004. That's right. Nearly 4 years ago, I've had that email account which is my main email. I was welcomed as a beta tester. I still had my AOL mail addies. I fell in love with gmail and was happy that because I was in early, I didn't need to add numbers or extra characters to my account name, the way I had to with AOL. I got the addy I wanted. I'm ShellyS on most online services, but for some, I had to add numbers. But apparently, I'm not the only Shelly S and if the others have gmail, they surely have other characters in their addies.

But they forget to type in those extra characters or don't bother/want to when they sign up for online shopping sites and social networks, or when they purchase airline tickets or register for conferences. Maybe they have Yahoo! addies, but forget and type "@gmail" or think making that switch will alleviate some spam in their email. I have no clue why they don't give their actual email addies to those sites, but I do know I'm getting their mail.

At first, last summer, it was about a mobile phone thingie (Helo) that I'd never heard of. They didn't even double check the email they were given by requiring a confirmation. I got notices of overdue payments. I didn't get the bills, and when I called (after a series of emails that made my head ache), they couldn't look up the account to verify the info. All they could do was look up my email and tell me if my name was attached to the account. It wasn't. They said they couldn't take out the email addy from their records. I sent future emails from them into my spam folder. They stopped coming sometime in the fall.

Then I got emails for other things, some of which mentioned the intended recipient by name, some of which just greeted "Shelly," and some with no clue re: who they were intended for. All but a few were automated and I couldn't respond to let them know the error, but a few were from actual people. One woman thanked me for telling her my addy wasn't for her niece. The real estate agent (in Phoenix?) wasn't interested in knowing I wasn't his prospective client. The major clothing chain sent automated notices of bank transfers for payment, but prudently obscured the actual bank account number. Then today, I got a confirming email for a social network I hadn't heard of, via an automated sender, with login and password.

If I were a malicious person, I could've gone in and changed the profile, changed the password, done all sorts of nasty things. Instead, I'm posting the names of two of the people whose personal emails I keep getting in the hopes that they might Google their name and this post will come up and they can fix the problem. I don't like posting people's names, but I have no other way to tell them I'm getting their mail and seeing things I shouldn't see. There might be other Shellys out there whose mail I'm also getting, but I can't find their actual names to confirm this.

So, if you see this, Michelle Sundberg and Shelly Smithson, this is for you. Edited to add: Shelly Samples, who at some point, went to school in Texas, because she signed up for Classmates.com with my addy and I peeked at her profile.

~~~o0o~~~

Internet Miscalculations

2008-03-29T09:57:00.007-04:00

This Newsweek editorial by Clifford Stoll, from 1995, is quite amusing due to all the things he got wrong. I've been a Newsweek reader since the 1970s, so I'm sure I read this article, but I don't recall it. Lines like this one, stated with such conviction, are the sort of thing that can easily come back to bite a person in the butt:

"Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth is no
online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place
of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government
works."

Uh, well, "replacement" may still be in the future, but co-existence has settled in nicely. What's striking, along with the miscalculations and misperceptions, is Stoll's inability at the time to envision a possible future, to imagine how things could adapt, to consider the creativity of the people who would be using the internet to make it more manageable.

He tackled a number of issues that the internet was supposed to make easier. Here's one:

"Lacking editors, reviewers or critics, the Internet has become a wasteland
of unfiltered data. You don't know what to ignore and what's worth reading.
Logged onto the World Wide Web, I hunt for the date of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Hundreds of files show up, and it takes 15 minutes to unravel them--one's a
biography written by an eighth grader, the second is a computer game that
doesn't work and the third is an image of a London monument.
None answers my question, and my search is periodically interrupted by messages
like, 'Too many connections, try again later.'"

He never considered that someone, many someones, would find ways to help with the noise. That people would organize what's online. That search engines would improve. That Google would come along and customize searches, create advanced and scholarly searches, that online encyclopedias, while imperfect, would bring data together for people, like Wikipedia, or even About.com. He never considered that libraries would step in and bring worthwhile databases together, such as the Internet Public Library and The New York Public Library, along with thousands of other libraries (public and academic) offering some sort of online experience.

I really like this bit, though:

"Then there's cyberbusiness. We're promised instant catalog shopping--just point
and click for great deals. We'll order airline tickets over the network, make
restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become
obselete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the
entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send
money over the Internet--which there isn't--the network is missing a most
essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople."

Uh huh. He couldn't envision eBay, PayPal (which has had a major impact on how many people do business), Amazon.com, the online services offered today by brick and mortar stores, and others. Then again, he couldn't envision Second Life, MySpace, and FaceBook, either, apparently. He couldn't see how the internet could bring people together, in cyberspace and sometimes, in person.

His editorial is a classic example of the risks of stating things so emphatically, because that almost guarantees you'll be proven wrong someday. Just because the internet hadn't realized its potential in 1995, and likely hasn't reached its full potential yet, didn't mean it wouldn't someday. I'm really happy he was wrong.

Thanks to Miss Cellania for the Newsweek link.

~~~o0o~~~

Gaming in Libraries

2008-03-22T11:09:00.001-04:00

Gaming is becoming part of the library experience and a post on a library blog inspired this post.

Libraries have as far as I can remember, been about ephemera of the times as well as archives of knowledge and sources of inspiration. How else to explain the availability of the latest "trashy" novel or the newest Adam Sandler movie on DVD?

Can we be all things to all people? Probably not. Not with limited funds. But if we want people to use the library, especially people, teens, kids, whoever, we need to get their attention.

Tastes change. The reasons people use or would use a library are as varied as the people themselves. Entertainment is part of the equation, same as inspiration and education. And with increasing competition from other places and other sources, the library needs to be creative in bringing people in, because if it doesn't, in a few generations, usage might be down to a few hardcore old-timers who bother visiting the facilities. Everyone else will be using the website, if that much.

I don't like the idea of the library as a babysitter, but it's preferable to having these kids wandering the streets, looking for trouble. And maybe, in between gaming, they might get curious and try a book. Or not. Because once we started collecting non-print, we made books just one thing out of many that we offer. Reading for inspiration is not a requirement for using a library.

I always, from the time I was a kid, thought of libraries as a place to get what I couldn't find or afford to get elsewhere. I grew up with books at home. The library was for what we didn't have at home, including reference, but also fiction I could borrow. Once I was able to afford my own books, I mostly stopped borrowing them. Now, I'm mostly a user of the library's databases. I haven't borrowed a book in at lest a decade if not longer, but I buy 2-3 each month, sometimes, more.

Libraries collect graphic novels now. I wish they had when I was growing up, but comics (no graphic novels back then) and Nancy Drew and similar series were not to be found on library shelves. When the library stopped filling those needs of mine and I was able to afford them on my allowance, I got them for myself. But there are kids and adults who might never be able to find what they want in the library and not be able to get it elsewhere. That's what libraries are supposed to do, I was taught: fill the need, lessen the gap, level the playing field, equalize access to materials people need and/or desire in the available media, first books, then records, cassettes, audiobooks, videos, DVDs, software, games, electronic formats, and who knows what next. In the '80s, I read about a library in a rural community that lent fishing rods, thereby filling a community need not otherwise being met.

Libraries as sacred, quiet halls of learning and inspiration is a nice concept, but it doesn't fit the reality of a changing world and the challenges those changes present. If libraries want to survive to the next century, they'll need to be flexible and adaptable and evolve, while sticking to their main mission: equal access to info and materials for free. And while photocopying and similar services might require minimal fees, the basic concept of being able to visit a library and not pay for the use of the materials while there, to borrow and return materials on time without a fee, should always be the foundation upon which a library exists. And no one format or the content of that material should be revered over another. Because one person's treasure is another's junk and vice versa.

~~~o0o~~~

LiveJournal Uproar Redux

2008-03-19T23:47:00.003-04:00

The new owner of LiveJournal has made some comments that are either ill-advised, frighteningly truthful, or both. Probably both. His disrespect for the user base, the people who made LJ worth owning, is scary. There's an English translation of the original Russian that's making the rounds and has many, many LJers in an uproar.

I have a permanent account with LiveJournal, paying for that last June. I doubt that would be refunded if I closed my account. I don't like the idea of moving 4 years of archives elsewhere, and I'll lose my reader base there if I do, especially if I use another service that limits access. Much of my LJ in the last year has been "friends only." My friends list is not likely to read my posts elsewhere let alone comment. The Blogger blog I thought to use for writing about writing I have since turned to another use. So for now, I'm taking a wait and see attitude, but I'm not happy. And the underlying attitude there is quite disturbing, given the history of the owner, SUP, and the man in charge. The comments on this official post are worth skimming for pertinent info.

~~~o0o~~~

Useful Webtool

2008-03-14T22:52:00.001-04:00

The Presurfer alerts us to this nifty, and low frils, site: Down for Everyone or Just for Me? for those times you can't get a site to load and don't know if it's your computer or the internet that's at fault.

~~~o0o~~~

Help is on the Way

2008-03-13T22:27:00.002-04:00

For Blogger bloggers, that is. If trying to read all the Help articles is too daunting, then try one of the new Help videos announced in Blogger Buzz. Really, this is so cool, I might give a few a look out of curiosity.

The host of my graphics and website has server issues, so that's why my header disappeared. I hope things are fixed soon or I'll try moving the header to Blogger.

~~~o0o~~~

Helpful Blog

2008-03-08T11:28:00.001-05:00

Tips for New Bloggers looks like a good resource for newbies and for experienced bloggers who want refreshers on customizing their Blogger templates. Thanks to Lady Banana for the link.

~~~o0o~~~

FriendFeed Redux

2008-02-26T21:12:00.002-05:00

I created an account. You can find my page here. There are 28 services you can link your account to, which doesn't cover everything out there. It's a decent start, though.

~~~o0o~~~

FriendFeed

2008-02-26T19:22:00.003-05:00

Another social networking site, FriendFeed attempts to be everything to everybody. From the site:

"FriendFeed enables you to keep up-to-date on the web pages, photos, videos and music that your friends and family are sharing. It offers a unique way to discover and discuss information among friends."

I doubt it's unique or that it will be for long if it is, because nothing online seems unique for long, anymore. It is, however, intriguing. It pulls your info from a wide number of sites where you might have accounts and brings them together, from Twitter and Amazon to StumbleUpon and flickr. And you can better keep up with what your friends are doing online. It even has a Facebook application. So, yeah, I'm gonna have to try it, even though I don't have many people I keep track of.

~~~o0o~~~