Generation Fun

Ever wondered what you would look like as a Simpsons character? Probably not. But there is a generator that will help. Just find a picture of yourself, follow the directions and Voila! you're in Springfield. Who knew?

I was also able to find out which Hogwarts House I should be in (Ravenclaw - I guess we all can't be Gryffindors)

Generate your own Simpsons alter ego
Try on the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

This a great generator that Beth found. Create your own.

Searching for feeds

If I ever felt the need to find more websites to check on each day it's great to know about these tools for searching for newsfeeds. Generally I prefer to rely on word of mouth or referrals from other sites I visit.

Topix.com was interesting in that you could narrow your search geographically. They are all quite easy to use but your search terms must be chosen carefully or you end up with either way too many hits to wade through or so few that you know you must be missing something.

I will likely stay with my very untechnical method of finding feeds which is to look for the orange square on a well-liked site. I find I generally wait a few weeks with a new site to see how often I find myself referring to it. If I keep going back then I will add it to my feeds. Although it is so easy to add a feed I may just add them and then delete the ones I don't like based on lack of use.

Netvibes vs. Bloglines - It's all what you get used to

Really, REALLY BIG RSS feed button
Originally uploaded by photopia / HiMY SYeD

Ryan from theOwen.com got me started with RSS and newsfeeders when I attended his session at HICKTech at the end of April. The newsfeeder he was using is available at netvibes.com and I really like it. I did try the Bloglines suggested in this week's activities but I'm so used to Netvibes that I don't think I will switch.

Both do pretty much the same thing but I like the final look of Netvibes. I like the way you can set up tabs so you can group similar types of feeds together. I have a tab for General stuff like the weather, as well as tabs for Library stuff, and of course one for Harry Potter stuff. I did this using folders in Bloglines but it's not as clean of a look. You can also move things around very easily so your favourite feeds appear just where you want them.

What I really prefer about Netvibes is that once you have viewed a news item or blog post it behaves very much like email. It still shows in your list but is no longer shown as an 'unread' item. In Bloglines I'm sure there are settings that would let it do the same but as I will likely stay with Netvibes I probably won't investigate.

Both are very easy to use and I was impressed at how easy it is to set up a feed. When I first heard about RSS I was sure it must be for the real technogeeks. But with a bit of trial and error I have found it to be quite easy to set up.

Ryan's real push at HICKTech was for podcasts. I have looked into them in the past on my favourite Harry Potter site, The Leaky Cauldron. Netvibes lets you load the feeds for the podcasts and with a simple click of the play button you can begin the podcast right within the Netvibes site and listen while you check out all your other newsfeeds.

My biggest disappointment with RSS? That the Environment Canada weather site hasn't set one up yet. Again, the Weather Network site does the same thing but I prefer the format of the Environment Canada site - cleaner, less cluttered and not all the advertisements.

It's all what you get used to.

From flowers to shoeboxes...

Here are some shots from my garden. What a great way to share them with everyone and for me to enjoy when I can't be there.

The Flickr exercises this week are certainly fun. I can't believe how many images are stored on the Flickr site. While I was working on my pictures I noticed a message that said "2,970 images have been loaded in the last minute" In one minute! That's insane!

The many applications are neat and I'm sure people are finding some very interesting ways to apply them. Being someone who likes to organize and sort things I have created 'sets' for my pictures but found out tonight that unless you sign up (i.e. pay) for the Pro account you can only have 3 sets. I'll have to think about it as I already have a very good program for organizing my digital photos - Memory Manager by Creative Memories.


One of the features I like is the Flickr badge that enables a random assortment of your pictures to display on a blog, website or other web location. Have a look. It's at the bottom of this page and was very easy to create.

One of my real problems with digital images is that people are not printing their photos anymore. As a scrapbooker the concern used to be getting pictures out of shoeboxes in closets and into scrapbooks. Our computers have become the new shoeboxes but unlike the box in the closet, your images might not be available when you need them - unless, of course, you have them backed up. And I know we all do that on a regular basis ; )

Flickr

View my Flickr photos!

Not embarrassed (Okay, maybe a little)

Well, I've done it. I bought my advance tickets for the upcoming Harry Potter movie.

I know. It's kind of geeky but we all need our stress relief and well, Harry's one of mine.

Wine works for some people, but even that has it's own built in stress; everyone trying to show off their wine expertise. For me - as long as it's not too dry or too sweet, I'm happy.

And then there is golf. I have golfed 4 times in my life and half of them have been in the last 2 months. I don't mind it - it's mostly social for me but it's always there... Am I dressed right?, Do my clubs measure up? - I won't even go into skill. I do plan to golf more and I'll try to ignore all the baggage that goes with it.

I remember my mother was never one to play card games. Too many memories of having played the wrong card and being criticized for it. It took all the fun out it and made what is stress relief to many, stress-filled for her.

But with Harry, it's just pure fun. So, no apologies - this month is a definite highlight for me - movie #5 and book #7! Golfing may have to wait until August.

Strange title?

Choosing a title for your personal blog is a big decision. It should be unique, and yes, Emily, maybe even a little hokey. Anyone who knows me knows that I light up when I talk about anything to do with Harry and they also know how upset I would be if my mug at work got broken - it's covered with etched Mickey Mouse symbols.

I've come to the conclusion that the Lifelong Learning habit that I need to focus on the most is Play! And hence the name of my blog which is meant to reflect my playful side. There will always be more housework to do, more books to catalogue, more paperwork to file but you have to make time for play. So Harry, Mickey and Me it is (I could add Peanuts too, but I'll save that for another day).