HelpForum

Hooray for Blogdrive!

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:04:26 GMT

Quote of the day: "Awesome new stuff "- John Furie Zacharias

A few new features have come out for Blogdrive that are seriously awesome. Two of them require a little action on your part in order to take advantage, and another you have probably already noticed, and only your readers (or mine, lol) have to do anything.

First, the [archive] tag will now allow Blogdrivers a quick and easy way to list... well, their archive... of entries in a convenient drop down box, listed by year, month and title. It's a standard black font on white backround, and I've placed mine directly under the calender ---->. If you look in your main template edit section, find the [calender] tag, and put <br>[archive] right next to it, and it'll look just fine. When you preview your changes before saving (after of course saving a copy of your template PRIOR TO EDITING), it may look far too wide due to long entry titles, but that will be fixed automatically when you save changes. It will be the same width as mine, which is 120 pixels.

Next, the [categories] tag allows you to categorize your entries as you see fit, with a little checkbox in your WYSIWYG entry editor so you can easily tag your post to a certain category. Another tag, [category name] will display the name of the category your readers are in once they have clicked. These tags need to be added to your main template, side section, or profile section editors.

In order to use this feature, you need to first add categories in your blog management area. You can either follow the link in the red text of your blog management section, or you can click the link under your entry editor and add a category with a convenient javascript window. Once you have created the categories, they will be displayed immediately below that, with the aforementioned checkbox happily TAGGING along. Get it? Get it?? Ok. Also, when you click the link in the red text, that is your category management section. From there you can add, edit and delete categories. and they can be arranged alphabetically, by size, or by cloud. If you're unfamiliar with the cloud format, a good example can be found here, above the tagboard. Categories appear in larger and smaller fonts based on how many entries each category contains, and it's friggin' sweet.

Finally, what you may have already noticed, or what you may notice in a moment when you LEAVE ME A COMMENT, is that comments now feature the pictures of Blogdrive users that have commented. Comment comment comment. First, of course, for your picture to appear, you need to be registered and logged-in with Blogdrive, and you need to have a Blogdrive Profile established, but for most of us that isn't a problem. From then on, it's easy-livin', dawg! RACK UP THE COMMENTS.

	Sinja is probably awake right now. Yes, now.
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Blog Layout [Tags]

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:27:03 GMT

I'm not very familiar with very many other blog sites, but this one uses a reference tag to display information that you've put somewhere else, like.. the WYSIWYG editor that you create your entries with. Other examples are things like your profile section of your side bar, "header" space above your main blog area; and even little things like the time and date that you post your entries.

If you look at your blog layout in the "main template edit" section of your Layout & Design page, you will see quite a bit of code. If you're planning on editing this layout, you're probably a little familiar with some of these codes. There's some CSS and some HTML, but there's also these little words inside brackets that look like [this]. These are the reference tags.

(Note: Blogdrive recently added a function that allows you to categorize your entries for easier browsing. Old blogs will have to be updated by adding a [categories] tag to your layout. Becareful when editing your layout, and copy your layout to a text document to secure yourself from irreparable damage. Then you can create your different catagories and label entries accordingly.)

I recently ran into a little trouble with a couple of these tags when I was working on my layout. In general, you can sort of put these things anywhere. Hell.. get creative! But some of the tags require a little attention to the way they're all setup. For a complete list of all tags and some information about how to implement them, click here.

While this page did help me figure out the problem with my comments section, it didn't explain that if you put the non-sensative tags inside the sensative area then these tags won't be recognized and they won't work. I was having some serious trouble with the tags for my next/previous page links, and still don't quite understand other aspects of what was going on.

However, I did realize that the reason these tags weren't working, but rather just showing up as regular [text], was because I just had them in the wrong place. As simple as the solution was, the problem had me stumped and still sort of has me stumped. They work, but when I try to put them where I want them, they have some alignment issue. That's another issue for another entry... THE END.

	Akira3099 (posted)
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Begone Ugly Scrollbar

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:42:40 GMT

Not all tag boards are born beautiful. Some need to be tweaked and foremost of all ugliness problems is the sometime horizontal scrollbar that appears out of nowhere (okay, not really).

Anyhoo, for all ye Blogdrive bloggers, to remove it, all you have to do is to add this snippet of code in the BODY section of the tag board CSS editor in Blogdrive:

overflow-x: hidden;

Or if you prefer to embed it in your style sheet:

style="overflow:hidden"

And voila! It is pretty again.

Thanks to the girlie matters for the tip.

	Mephala secretly loves to sniff her baby's cheek while he sleeps.
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Simple Image Mapping

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:30:30 GMT

Image mapping is a method of hyperlinking areas of an image to destination web pages. There are a number of methods to create an image map. There are server-side and a client-side methods. Many people don't have access to the server side methods, so quite a number of (browser) client-side methods are more widely used. However, even those methods involve some additional knowledge of java, javascript, XHTML, CSS, or incantations from the Hogwarts wizard academy.

Here is my own low-tech hack method of image mapping that I developed while working undercover as a marine biologist teaching fish anatomy to grammar school children in the Cayman Islands. *

The low-tech HTML table method of simple image mapping means that you must decide upon an entirely horizontal and vertical grid for your image. HTML tables only support rows and columns, not irregular polygons and circles. So, we have to make decisions how to chop up our image.

As you can see from the pink lines and numbers, I chose to create a 3-column and 4-row HTML table. Now that we have sushi-cut our fishy to highlight its anatomical parts to become HTML links, we can continue our work using one of two different methods. I'm going to focus on the black angel fish's fins for the sake of explanation.

The first method requires that you edit the original image and cut it up to fit into your HTML table. Using your image editor software, you need to create 12 seperate images, like squared puzzle pieces. For the sake of brevity, here is the first row of images 1, 2 and 3. I added cellpadding space so you could see that there are 3 images below.

Using this first method and the same images as above, you then wrap each image in an HTML hyperlink destination of your choice. It will look something like this, linking the 3rd image to the wiki definition of a dorsal fin:

So ... only 9 more image edits to fit into our table puzzle and then we still have to link them all. I have a much faster and easier method of doing this.

Using the same concept, let's make our 12 image links by virtually cutting up the original image. However, instead of using image editor software to make our puzzle pieces, let's use our original image in full as the background image of the 3-column and 4-row table. Then, we can simply use our magical transparent image as the wrapped image link, sized for each of the 12 table cells.

I think my second method has several time-saving benefits. You don't actually have to carefully cut up the image. It's all imaginary cutting and sizing with a transparent GIF image wrapped in the hyperlink for the destination page. You only have to host the original background image and the one transparent GIF image, rather than all the individual piece images.

Hey Kids! Click on the fish's fins to learn more!

Go ahead. Click. I said, CLICK. Okay. Click on a fin now or no snack time for you.

If you want the HTML code for the above table in order to understand it better, simply use your web browser's View > Source option.

	John Furie Zacharias knows which part of this statement * is not true.
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Creating Topic Lists

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:12:37 GMT

When I became a Blogdrive subscriber, one feature (see chart) that I didn't expect to be used very much was the Visitor Search Ability because I had already been using a third party search widget when I set up my free starter blog. Many blogs also use the Google search widget as we do here on HelpForum blog. Nonetheless, I recently developed a way to use the Blogdrive search feature as a topic, or category, listing feature on Thunderstorms in the Imajica.

Actually, I had this idea a long time ago and only tinkered with it. I recently decided to expand its use on the blog. In the beginning, I really didn't understand what data the search feature was using and set my idea on the back burner. However, rather than procrastinating forever, I decided to use what I did know about it and share it with you.

� When your subscription plan includes the Visitor Search Ability feature, you can enable or disable it on your Layout & Design blog management page.

� When enabled, Search this blog appears wherever you have placed the [search] tag in your main template.

� When disabled, Search this blog does not appear on the front end of your blog, but the search feature still functions.

� When a user clicks Search this blog, it will display /archive/search.html with a blank query form for your blog visitor to enter keywords.

� In your main template CSS, input.sbtn and input.sfld are customizable elements for your search.html page.

� When a visitor enters a keyword for search, it is passed along as /archive/s?keyword.

� The search function definitely scans all of your entry titles for a keyword match.

Given these half-dozen observations, I decided to use my entry titles with a simple html link list table in my side panel to create a topics list for Thunderstorms. Click on the links below to see how easily it works.

[Search Topics]

[Bush]	[Fraggin']
[Iraq]	[Conspiracy]
[Florida]	[Evil Thumbnails]
[Iran]	[Sex]
[NASA]	[Movies]
[Politics]	[GooTube]
[Media]	[TIDGADA]
[Sports]	[LBOH]

I really prefer keeping visitors on the blog, rather than them being shown a query hit list on a vanila web page and then making them click again to come back to the blog.

The Blogdrive Visitor Search feature is more efficient, loads faster, and looks cooler because it's using your blog template. The RSS preview style is great for a blog with a long history and many entries because the [next] page function is something already familiar to your visitors.

Obviously, since my side panel is displayed on every blog page, I decided not to put the topics link into the footer of my entries. This is just how I decided to use it.

If you wish to create a topic system manually, you can check out the Topics List page here on HelpForum blog as an example.

	John Furie Zacharias needs to organize his desk.
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Top 5 Blog Apps

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:13:25 GMT

Wow. 2008. I've been using digital communications for 25 years now. One time, I was using a terminal to draft a letter that I was going to print when the mainframe rebooted. Somehow, my personal letter went out to all commands in NATO on top secret secured routes.

That was a fun day (not).

I can imagine that some European intelligence agencies spent time trying to figure out who "Debbie" was and what new sensitive compartmented information code words were in that cryptic communication.

While I've sucked on the internozzle for personal use since 1200 baud modems and typed a million ascii characters over the years, I've only been publishing a blog for about 1600 days out of the 9125 days spent online. While popular wisdom says you can't teach an old dog new tricks, I learn new things everyday because I am not a dog. I am a digital dinosaur. I am the J-fuzz-o-saur.

1. Blogdrive

On a technical level, I think I like the fact that the Blogdrive service has found a nice balance between ease of use for casual users and raw capability for more advanced users. Your grandmother can blog if she can type and click a mouse. Hardcore datasmiths and pixel monkeys can also use the same service to professionally publish. Their built-in tag board was integrated before social networking became a tech industry buzzword.

2. Project Playlist

I've really become attached to this free service. I listen to music playlists daily now. There are other great music apps available, but I think Playlist jumps ahead of the pack. In my mind, they win because they score high on ease of use, application of widgets, and social networking.

3. Photobucket

Another free service, Photobucket hosts your images. I think I have several hundred images there. While I have a Flickr account, it seems to load slowly and lacks easy blog widgets. The fact that Blogdrive was way ahead of the curve in their colloboration with Photobucket to integrate their service into the Blogdrive entry editor makes this a vital thing to have.

4. YouTube

YouTube is the top free video hosting service. I am a great fan of the pioneering work of Atom Films, but they had to follow YouTube in the social networking era of the web. Now there are a growing number of video sites that incorporate the fundamentals of YouTube. Good times we live in.

5. Feedburner

Feedburner is so flexible and user friendly, but it would be useless if Blogdrive didn't give all free blogs the XML and ATOM syndication data that Feedburner uses as the raw ingredients for its blog widget cupcakes. Feedburner is your digital megaphone.

There are another dozen services and applications that a person new to web publishing should investigate and use. However, I just pondered my own 1600 days of experience in order to list my top 5 must-have favorites for someone starting a blog in 2008.

All 5 are free, but some also offer expanded services for a small fee. All 5 are user-friendly and easy to use. All 5 are flexible in their use and have widgets transportable and usable (embed code) on other web sites.

Content and Design are still the King and Queen of publishing information on the web, even including your personal blog. For some people, a dictionary might be far more useful than a free Feedburner account � but if you're willing to learn a little something new, you'll have even more fun blogging in 2008.

	John Furie Zacharias has evolving dinosaur dreams of flying.
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Feed Me!

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:13:22 GMT

Today I was playing around on the computer, kinda familiarizing myself with various browser features on Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista. I noticed that on some websites and Blogdrive blogs, my browser automatically detected RSS feeds, whereas on others it did not. I've decided to start subscribing to RSS feeds to keep up with websites, as clicking around and remembering where to go can really eat up some time (even when you don't want it to).

I noticed that even on my own blog the feed wasn't automatically detected, so I turned to my friend and fellow Help Forum contributor J f Z. I saw that my browser detected his Feedburner feed at Thunderstorms, and I asked him how to make my blog's feed able to be detected automatically. He pointed me toward a bit of HTML code that I'll show you.

In your "main template edit" section of your Layout & Design, look for the following bit of code, right up at the top:

Directly under that, place this:

This bit of code will allow your blog's RSS to be automatically detected by your visitor's browsers, whether they are using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc. I suggest that you let your visitors know about your RSS capabilities, not just for their convenience but also as a way to keep a constant viewership.

For more information on RSS feeds and how you can use them, visit John's post here at Help Forum, Syndication and Feeds.

	Sinja "subscribes to his own feed." Seriously.
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Manual Blog Archive

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:35:21 GMT

In a previous entry, "Backup and Restore," I described my use of that great Blogdrive subscription feature. Fellow Blogdriver, Fazamania, has asked about an archive method for non-subscription free blogs. I have been archiving my own free blogs' contents for several years now with a simple method that I hope can be one answer to Fazamania's concerns. You can employ this method yourself without any in-depth understanding of HTML or how your blog template works. Indeed, you don't have to be a mechanical engineer in order to be able to drive a car down the road.

When you save or publish an entry here at Blogdrive in the entry editor, it is the default condition that when you save your draft entry or publish it, the post is saved to your local computer's clip board. Your computer's clip board is a temporary storage method for copying and pasting text and graphics.

You can verify this by looking at the bottom left of the entry editor. This option should be checked by default:

Save post to clip board

Simple Archive on your PC

1. Create a folder on your PC with the name of your blog.
2. Create three subfolders: layout, archive and images.

Layout

On Blogdrive, you should copy and save to your layout folder the contents that create your blog but aren't blog entries or images. Access this data by visiting your "Layout & Design" blog management page. You should copy and paste the HTML into individual plain text files from the following items on that page, if you plan to or have modified these items:

1. main template
2. comments page
3. tagboard CSS
4. header HTML
5. profile section
6. side section

Archive

Each time you click [save draft] or [publish] for an entry, do the following:

1. Open your archive folder.
2. Create a new Notepad (or similar non-formatted, plain ascii text) file.
3. Paste the contents from your clip board into it.
4. Save the file with an appropriate name, like the permalink number.

Images

This is straight forward. I simply save a copy of the images I upload into the Blogdrive images folder and the free Photobucket account that is nicely incorporated into the Blogdrive entry editor. If you have a Photo Gallery System on your blog, save those images in another folder.

Caveats

It is far more likely that you, the Blogdrive user, will accidently corrupt or delete information that messes up your blog than some error attributable to Blogdrive. Blogdrive has multiple redundant copies of the information contained within the databases that create your blog here.

The main difference between the subscription feature "Backup and Restore" and manually archiving your blog is simple. If you accidently delete an entry with a permalink of "42.html," only the subscription feature can restore it. Your manually created file can only be uploaded (pasted in HTML view) as a new entry which creates a new permalink number and web address.

This is important, if you wish to maintain a working link to "42.html" � on your own blog, or from other sites, or from wherever � as a destination web page.

	John Furie Zacharias wants you to buy him an Aptera.
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Kiva.Org: Helping 2.0

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 10:39:40 GMT

After Halloween, the commercial businesses almost immediately drag out Santa Claus to get people to start thinking about the upcoming holiday season and gift giving. However, more and more people are not shopping in malls when they can simply sit at home and shop online. People are getting used to doing financial transactions online with trusted web vendors. I just found a really cool social networking site that may just change your life.

Kiva.org allows people to lend money to people in need around the world by combining the concept of microfinance loans and social networking. You can help people for as little as $25.

I just registered at Kiva.org the other day. Kiva.org was started in part by a former wonk of paypal.com, the financial transaction company. The site works seemlessly with paypal and all major bank cards (for those who do not have paypal).

Microfinance is a concept that was initially developed by Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus with his Grameen Bank. The sheer success of his idea of giving small loans to the poor, rather than charitable gifts, was lauded by many around the world. Yunus became a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 2006.

Kiva.org takes microfinance a step further into the internet social networking generation. Hence, I think of it as Helping 2.0. They're new, but after two years, they're also now very stable and established. They've received some good publicity from the likes of Oprah and former president Clinton for their innovation.

I've always been a charitable person and I assume most of you reading this are, too. The cool thing about Kiva.org in my mind is that I can invest $25 into someone's hopes for a better future -- and then when they repay the microfinance loan -- I can recycle that small amount of money over and over again to help others!

Check out Kiva.org and find someone in need to help anywhere on the planet. I decided upon Gloria Mbgela in Tanzania. I wish her all the best, and success. For when she pays me back, I'll be able to take that $25 and help someone else very soon.

[11/28 update] I'm posting further Kiva.org updates here.

	John Furie Zacharias thinks recycling money rawks.
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Resize Tagboard

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:23:12 GMT

So, you want to resize your Tagboard?

From time to time, you come across a blog that has an exceptional looking tagboard and you think to yourself "...Why not me?!".

If you are familiar with Dane Cook, that last line would have been rather comical to you, if not, look him up, he's awesome.

Oh right, Tagboards. This short tutorial will help you better understand the sections of your Tagboard so that you might create a look that suits your fancy. If you want to change the theme, you will soon be able to visit Tagboard Themes, which will be in a future post.

Note: The first rule is to always save a back-up copy of any section of your template that you want to modify.

In your Layout & Designs section, you should see:

Template Quick Links for [selected blog]:

Main template edit

Comments page edit

Tag board CSS edit

We will focus on the Main Template Edit. Even if you have limited or no CSS knowledge, changing the size of your Tagboard should not be a problem. Below is the basic outline section of code we will be working with.

/* CSS for tag board */

div.cont1 {
width: 185px
}
div.cont2 {
}
.tagframe {
background: #FFFFFF;
BORDER: 1px solid;
font: 8pt verdana, arial, helvetica;
width: 185px;
height: 200px;
}
.tagurl {
background: #FFFFFF;
border: 1px solid;
font: 7pt verdana, arial, helvetica;
width : 185px
}
.tagmsg {
background: #FFFFFF;
border: 1px solid;
font: 7pt verdana, arial, helvetica;
color: #808080;
width : 185px;
overflow: auto
}
.tagname {
background: #FFFFFF;
border: 1px solid;
font: 7pt verdana, arial, helvetica;
color: #808080;
width: 105px
}
.tagbtn {
background: #FFFFFF;
border: 1px solid;
font: 7pt verdana, arial, helvetica;
width: 45px
}

Reviewing the code:

div.cont1- This code will affect the width of the section your Tagboard is in. To manipulate the section where your Tagboard is located but not the Tagboard itself, increase or decrease the number listed next to "width:".

Note: If your desire is to lessen the size of the Tagboard and the side section, you will have to decrease all sections of coding below div.cont1. (i.e., tagframe, tagurl, tagmsg, tagname & tagbtn.)

.tagframe- This area of coding will affect the top portion of your Tagboard. You can increase this number gradually until you get the desired effect. The width and height will be determined by the numbers you input. Please keep in mind that depending on your choice of size, your overall blog layout may be affected.

.tagurl- This area of coding affects the URL space available when entering links to be associated with the tag name.

.tagmsg- This area of coding affects the message area available to a user when typing a message to be posted on the Tagboard.

.tagname- This area of coding affects the available area to a user's tag name.

.tagbtn- Changing the number in this section will affect the size of your Submit button.

When changing Tagboard sizes, it is necessary to seek out the section of code noting the width and changing the number associated with it. Depending on your desired effect, you will have to play around with the numbers until your Tagboard has the look you'd like.

*Remember to save a copy of your template (as a txt file in Notepad) before you modify it in case you change something and do not achieve the look you wanted. If you do not have the original template coding saved before you begin, you will not be able to recover it.*

	Deirdre spends her free time wrecking on skateboards.
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Vista Adventures: Seeing Double in Vista

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:11:46 GMT

Some of you who have the (mis)fortune of buying a computer or laptop with Vista already installed may have experienced this when a new update was installed. At the login screen you see a duplicate of your login ids. I saw 2 pairs of cats and dogs for several weeks till I decided to search for a solution.

It appears that the fingerprint recognition software Omnipass may have had incompatibilities with the latest Vista upgrade.

So the solution is simply to uninstall Omnipass, restart computer (and voila, a restoration of single user ids), and reinstall Omnipass.

	Mephala really hates Vista but loves her Lenovo.
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Dear Microsoft

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:00:01 GMT

Dear Microsoft,

Thanks for being such a tremendous pain in my ass, specifically, with your Microsoft Word 2007. There are many aspects that are spectacularly inefficient and irritating, and the one that is currently making me mad is that you are using a new file type to save standard documents. Saving files as .docx instead of the more common (and frighteningly convenient) .doc is kinda like putting the transmission lever of a car in the back seat. It's stupid and a pain in the ass.

I was worried at first that your changes to Word would stop at the cosmetic and functionality, but you've also made it impressively difficult to access from other computers EVEN WHEN THEY ALSO HAVE MICROSOFT WORD 2007. So, thanks for that. I thought it was neat enough that you moved common functions around within the program, slowing the creative process by making me hunt around for simple things that used to be in very different places. Apparently that wasn't neat enough, though, so I applaud you for not stopping there.

It would have been even funnier if you'd taken away the ability to save files as the apparently (you wish) obsolete .doc extensions, because then at least I could be furious every single day, instead of just when I need to transfer work from my laptop to other computers.

Anyway, thanks for being such a pain in my ass. Also, good job on Vista. I like how my computer is as indecisive as four year old in the toy aisle of a department store. "Can I get this?" "Can I do this?" "Are you sure?" "Are you reeeeeally sure?" When I bought my laptop I described it with terms like "powerful" and "efficient." Thanks to you, I now get to use words like "scared" and "confused," which are much more fun to use anyway, especially for technology. So, thanks! Here's hoping the next operating system you introduce somehow incorporates cuneiform pictograms in the "help" section!

Love,
Sinja

	Sinja actually likes Vista.
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Get to know Project Playlist

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:50:01 GMT

So, by now, you've probably caught on to the craze of Project Playlist. If not, you're in for a treat. It was first mentioned on Help Forum here. With the inspiration from JfZ, I've decided to write up a quick-start guide to help you:

I. learn more about the service you're already using or

II. get you excited about creating an account.

Below are some quick links to helpful information.

Once you've created your account, you'll be glad to know that there is no limit to how many playlists you create although, each playlist does have a limit of 75 songs. The reason for this is because some big playlists were breaking the site, so to alleviate that, a limit had to be created. If you already have a large playlist, no tracks will be deleted. You will just have to add any new tracks onto a new playlist. Source- Jeremy Riney - Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 7:08pm

Along with being able to create a player to host your favorite tunes, Project Playlist also has other features noteworthy.

You can upload images* into your account.
You can add your playlist to your Myspace or Facebook.
You can create a blog or use it like I do to link back to my Blogdrive blog.
You can enter general information about yourself on your profile.
Activate your Guestbook and your visitors can leave you messages.
You also have the ability to make friends by adding buddies. You can select any amount of buddies to be featured on your profile page by changing their status to Featured. Your featured buddies will rotate through the top 6 spots on your profile.
You can Search Users, Browse Users, or simply view the Popular Users.

If you simply want to create a Playlist but not use the profile page as a base for your information, you can direct link to your personal URL given when you create an account. Just copy and paste the link into your website or blog to share your music selections.

*In my experience recently, I tried to remove a certain picture from my profile and replace with a new default. While it did remove the original image from my account, it did not replace it in my buddies buddy list. If I leave a note in their guestbook, it will replace my default in that section but I have not found a solution to removing my original image from the database so I would just suggest that you only upload pictures you would not eventually want to remove.

	Deirdre wants an evening out dining on taco salad.
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Writing down the bones: exercises ii

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:53:38 GMT

Like me, do you sometimes find yourself staring at your monitor, wanting to write, only to find the cerebral cupboard empty? Writer's block...it happens to everyone sooner or later. Again borrowing from Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones," and from "What If?" a compendium of writing exercises compiled by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter, we'd like to offer the following suggestions to reprime your creative pump. If you have additional suggestions, please let us know about them...we'd love to add them to the list.

***

Write one page a day. Concentrate on observation and description, not feeling. For example, if you receive a letter, the ordinary reaction is to write: "I received a letter that made me happy." (or sad.) Instead, describe the size of the envelope, the quality of the paper, what the stamps looked like.

Tell about the quality of light coming through your window. Jump in and write. Don't worry if it's night and your curtains are closed, or you'd rather write about the light up north...just write.

Begin with "I remember." Write lots of small memories. If you fall into one large memory, write that. Don't be concerned if the memory happened five seconds ago or five years ago. Everything that isn't this moment is memory coming alive again as you write.

Take something you feel strongly about, whether negative or positive, and write about it as though you love it. Then flip it over and write about the same thing as though you hate it. Then write about it perfectly neutral.

Choose a color�say pink�and take a fifteen minute walk. On your walk notice wherever there is pink. Now, write about it.

Write in different places�for example, in a laundromat, picking up on the rhythm of the washing machines. Write at bus stops, in caf�s. Tell us what's going on around you.

Write about "leaving." Approach it any way you want. Write about your divorce, leaving the house this morning, a friend dying...

What's your first memory?

Who are the people you've loved?

Open a poetry book, grab a line, write it down, and continue from there. A friend calls it "writing off the page." Every time you get stuck, rewrite your first line and keep going.

Keep your diary without using the verb to be. Forms of the verb to be don't create vivid images. By avoiding its use, you [learn] to choose more interesting verbs. You'll also be more accurate. For example, someone will say "John Smith is a really funny guy," when what they really mean is "John Smith makes me laugh."

Experiment with sentence length. Keep your diary for a week in sentences of ten words or less. Then try writing each day's account in a single sentence.

Switch to third person for a while. Instead of writing about I, write about he or she. Then try mixing the point of view. Start off the day in the third person and switch to first person to comment on the action. In this way you can experiment with stream of consciousness and interior monologue.

Try making lists for an entry�a record of the nouns of that day: toothbrush, coffee, subway tokens, schoolbooks, gym shoes.

	Jude writes limmericks in laundromats during lent.
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Hacking the iPhone

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:41:15 GMT

It only took a week for the iPhone honeymoon to be over. It's popularity makes it a juicy target for exploitation. Dr. Charles Miller, a former NSA employee working on the securities vulnerabilities of Apple's Safari browser hacked the iPhone in short order. Apparently, the iPhone can be breached fairly easily through the Safari browser simply by visiting the wrong website where malicious code can be introduced or by using the device on a public wi-fi network.

According to the New York Times, Dr. Miller showed a reporter exactly what would happen when a person browsed a malicious website:

Once he was there, the site injected a bit of code into the iPhone that then took over the phone. The phone promptly followed instructions to transmit a set of files to the attacking computer that included recent text messages � including one that had been sent to the reporter's cellphone moments before � as well as telephone contacts and e-mail addresses.

"We can get any file we want," he said. Potentially, he added, the attack could be used to program the phone to make calls, running up large bills or even turning it into a portable bugging device.

Do me a favor. Read that last paragraph again. Now, Apple iPhone is exclusively using the AT&T phone network and we know NSA has spying facilities in every AT&T data center. So, when a former NSA employee says the iPhone can be turned into a portable bugging device, it's not just tin-foil-hat conspiracy theory talk.

Dr. Miller works with Independent Security Evaluators and they have set up www.exploitingiphone.com to explain the vulnerabilities of the iPhone they have found. The Register also reports some additional iPhone hacks in development.

	John Furie Zacharias wants you to feel the iParanoia.
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Writing down the bones: an exercise

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:21:06 GMT

As a novice writer, I frequently find myself seeking new books � or revisiting old favorites � which offer solid writing advice and enlightening exercises.* One such book is Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg. Humorous, thoughtful, and personal, Ms. Goldberg both instructs and inspires with chapter topics as diverse as Beginner's Mind, Pen and Paper, and my favorite Blue Lipstick and a Cigarette. Here's one of her exercises, guaranteed to help you view your work in an entirely new light:

WRITING DOWN THE BONES: Freeing the Writer Within
by Natalie Goldberg

[excerpt]

Syntax

Try this. Take one of your most boring pieces of writing and choose from it three or four consecutive lines or sentences and write them at the top of a blank piece of paper.
I can't write because I'm an ice cube and my mouth goes dry and there's nothing to say and I'd rather eat ice cream.
Okay. See each one of those words simply as wooden blocks, all the same size and color. No noun or verb has any more value than the, a, and. Everything is equal. Now for about a third of a page, scramble them up as though you were just moving wooden blocks around. Don't try to make sense of what you write down. Your mind will keep trying to construct something. Hold back that urge, relax, and mindlessly write down the words. You will have to repeat words to fill a third of a page.
Write I'm an mouth rather cream say eat ice and nothing dry I an write rather say and my goes cube because an there's I'd to dry goes write and mouth cream to I'd rather dry cube I'm an write I and nothing say goes an can't because nothing rather I'd dry to and say cream goes ice rather to my cube nothing there's say.
Now, arbitrarily put in a few periods, a question mark, maybe an exclamation mark, colons or semi colons. Do all of this without thinking, without trying to make any sense.
Write I'm an mouth rather cream. Say eat ice and nothing dry! I an write rather say and; my goes cube because an there's. I'd to dry goes write and mouth cream to. I'd rather. Dry cube I'm an write I and nothing say goes. An can't because nothing rather; I'd dry to and say cream goes ice. Rather to my cube nothing there's say?
Now read it aloud as though it were saying something. Your voice should have inflection and expression. Try reading it in an angry voice, an exuberant, sad, whining, petulant or demanding voice to help you get into it.

What have we done? English is usually locked into a sentence syntax of subject/ verb/ direct-object. There is a subject acting on an object. "I see the dog"�here "I" is the center of the universe. We forget that while "I" looks at "the dog," "the dog" is simultaneously looking at us. It is interesting to note that in the Japanese language, the sentence would say, "I dog seeing." There is an exchange or interaction, rather than a subject acting on an object.

The more you are aware of the syntax you move, see, and write in, the better control you have and the more you can step out of it when you need to. Actually, by breaking open syntax, you often get closer to the truth of what you need to say.

Here are two examples of poems taken from Shout, Applaud, a collection of poems written at Norhaven, a facility in Minnesota for the disabled. These women were never solidly indoctrinated in English-language syntax, so these are good examples of what can be created outside of it. They are fresh, and full of surprises.
Maple Leaf
by Betty Freeman

That I dream the lady does to be young
and to be in her pretty red Christmas ball.
Her dress looks beautiful like a swan.
The swan floats with his thin white feathers
when his soft snow head
floats under to be like snow again.
Then I like to be a woman like the one,
to be with a long wing.

Everybody
by Shirley Nielson

I was wearing a blue
coat. It was cabbage and wieners.
They were big cooked wieners,
the smell was cabbage
ah delicious smell
of cabbage out not summer noise was
running water in the kitchen somewhere.

* Look for additional suggested writing exercises to be published here in the future.

	Jude verbs her nouns.
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Silly Sunday v0.9

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:04:33 GMT

Silly Sunday has arrived. This is the day when the HelpForum contributors admit to some of their true web surfing habits. They aren't always busy reading technical manuals and new Web 3.0 company press releases. They aren't always going cross-eyed in front of their monitors using Photoshop. No. Sometimes, they need a break, too. As a matter of fact, to become an outstanding HelpForum contributor, it is simply a requirement to read comic strips, play online games and watch funny videos.

Yes, it's Sunday, Bloody Silly Sunday, and I'm once again reveling in horror/scifi classics. On the bill today: Curse of the Demon (aka Night of the Demon) and Rocky Horror Picture Show, two tasty productions not to be missed.

It's in the trees! It's coming!

Released in 1957 and directed by the inimitable Jacques Tourneur (of Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie fame), this cult flick is a treat from beginning to end. Dark, intelligent and genuinely 'creepifyin'...

plotline: Dr. John Holden ventures to London to attend a paranormal psychology symposium intending to expose devil cult leader Julian Karswell as a fraud. Holden is a skeptic and does not believe in Karswell's power. Nonetheless, he accepts an invitation to stay at Karswell's estate, along with Joanna Harrington, the niece of Holden's friend and colleague who was electrocuted in a bizarre automobile accident. While there, Karswell secretly slips a parchment into Holden's papers�a parchment which might contain an ancient death curse. Recurring ominous events finally convince Holden that his only hope to break the demonic curse is to pass the parchment back to Karswell.�Rick Gregory, IMDb

In just seven days, I can make you a man. Dig it if you can.

Released in 1975 and directed by Jim Sharman, this rollicking, randy cult classic really needs no intro, but here's one for those rare few who've not yet been indoctrinated.

overview: What do a Transylvanian transvestite, a cryogenically-preserved motorbiker and a Frankenstein's monster wearing gold lam� underwear all have in common? They're all crucial parts of Rocky Horror Picture Show, the comedy cult classic which is at once hysterical, indispensable and truly disturbing. Innocent young lovers Brad and Janet are stranded when their car breaks down, forcing them to seek refuge in the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who is hosting a celebration...a screamingly funny, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, horror, B-movies and rock music, all rolled into one deliciously decadent morsel.�IMDb, amazon.com

So...ready to join me in a bit of a mind flip?

* * *

click the countdown above
or here for a rocky horror playlist

now, everybody sing...

Michael Rennie was ill
The day the earth stood still,
but he told us where we stand...

And Flash Gordon was there
in silver underwear
Claude Rains was the invisible man...

	When she grows up, Jude wants to be Tim Curry.
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Blogdrive Mobile Access

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 02:55:25 GMT

With all the current hype and buzz about the Apple iPhone, I thought I should take a few minutes to remind people that they have mobile access to their blog at Blogdrive. As long as your mobile device can send email, you can post on your blog. You could use a Palm device or send from Gmail. I recently tested the Blogdrive mobile access feature using Gmail. Chrysalis uses his BlackBerry to post on his blog Not to Scale to remain in contact with his friends and family as he travels across Europe and North America.

Set up your mobile access on Blogdrive

1. On your blog manage page, under Settings, click Authors.
2. On your Authors page, click Edit.
3. On your permissions page, enter a unique name in the form field provided:
Mobile Access: myblogname. [__sparky__] @ post.blogdrive.com
4. Click the big gray Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Go Mobile

Once you've set up your mobile access on Blogdrive, you can then simply email your updates to the address you've set up (above) with any mobile device you use. They automagically publish to your blog. It's really that simple. It's available to everyone.

	John Furie Zacharias wants you to go ~~away~~ mobile.
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Favicon fire sale

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:50:01 GMT

So, did you notice the addition of the nifty little HF favicon up there? *points to your browser's URL field and/or window tab*

You say you've always wanted one for your blog, but balked at paying $37.95 for an .ico-producing software program?

Well, fret no more, dear reader. Now, with FavIcon from Pics, you can create and download�free of charge!�static and animated favicons online to your heart's content. Here's the quick and easy 'how to':

Using FavIcon from Pics easy interface, locate your source image (the image you want to use) on your hard drive and select it. Next select 'scrolling text' and/or 'animate favicon' if you'd like those features. Select 'generate favicon.ico'; then download the zipped file, which will contain a static favicon file, an animated version, and a readme.txt file.

To add your favicon to your blogdrive blog:

Open the zipped favicon folder now residing on your hard drive, and extract the files. Your .ico image will be there.

Upload the favicon.ico file to the image folder in your blog's file management area.

Next, navigate to your blog's layout & design area and select 'main template.' Add the following HTML tag to your code after the <head> tag, but before the </head> tag, substituting your blog's actual url for "yourblog.blogdrive.com":

<link rel="shortcut icon" href=http://yourblog.blogdrive.com/images/favicon.ico>

Note: If you are housing your favicon.ico file on an external server, change the pathway to reflect that location accordingly:

example: <link rel="shortcut icon" href=http://www.fabfotos.com/images/favicon.ico>
To add an animated favicon, add the following code instead, substituting the appropriate blog name pathway:

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" >
<link rel="icon" href="http://yourblog.blogdrive.com/images/
animated_favicon1.gif" type="image/gif" >

And that's it! To test your new favicon in Internet Explorer, add your site to your favorites, then reopen the page. To test it in Firefox or other Mozilla-based browsers, reopen your web page and watch the address bar or the browser tab change. More information is available on the help page and the Favicon Validator page.

	For a mere $29.95, Jude will paper your office walls with favicons.
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3 New Blog Layouts

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:03:58 GMT

Today, the Blogdrive Team of MD and TL officially rolled out three new cool blog layout themes. These free blog layouts (free blog templates) are available in the user-friendly template library for all Blogdrive users to select for their blog. Blogdrive's clickable blog layout collection has dozens of great designs from which to choose the design that suits your tastes. In addition, Blogdrive allows you to fully customize your layout. The new blog layouts added today have an interesting 3-column design and are available in the three organic colors shown below.

To see an example of one of these layouts in use,
please visit Save the Bears blog.

Instructions for changing your free blog layout

1. On your blog manage page functions, under Settings, click Layout & Design

2. On the Layout & Design page, click Select Layout Theme

3. On the Themes page, click the radio button of the one you want.

4. Click the big gray Submit button at the bottom of the page.

The new blog layouts are currently on page 3 of the Layout Theme library. With just 4 user-friendly clicks, you've just changed the entire look of your blog. If you've modified or customized your old layout, those changes will be lost when the new layout is selected. Don't panic! All of your old blog entries are perfectly safe in a separate database and are inserted into the new layout automagically.

If you need to understand your blog template in more depth, please read the Blogdrive Template Help page for making additional modifications to any free blog layout available in the Layout Theme collection.

	John Furie Zacharias knows that Thoughts Become Things.
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