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altivoLast week I had a web site called 750 Words pointed out to me. I messed with it, though at least for me, I can't see that it has any point. However, for someone trying to develop a habit of writing daily, the site could be of interest. You are presented with a challenge to write at least 750 words a day, and the site keeps track of your stream of consciousness or whatever it is, and gives you encouraging little rewards for consistency. It also runs analysis tools that tell you word frequencies and try to detect your moods. I didn't think it did too well at the mood part...
Anyway, whatever you write does seem to be stored and you could get it back from the site, but it isn't a blog and no one else (they say) can read what you write there. My stream of consciousness seems to have logorrhea most of the time, so getting to 750 words of just chuntering is too easy. I also tried copying and pasting my own blog post, which got me a message that chided me for "pasting a whole chunk of text" which might "mess up the statistics" by which I guess it means the typing speed and words per minute. It does go on to say that pasting is all right. In any case, it's an interesting curiousity that some may like. After a couple of days, I've lost interest. It doesn't seem to do much for me that writing here doesn't do.
Finished the spinners' newsletter early this morning and sent it off, thank goodness. Then got to work to learn that one of our board members passed away over the weekend. It wasn't unexpected, he had a bad fall (fractured pelvis) back about December, and at age 86 just wasn't up to recovery from that I guess. A very dedicated and persistent crusader, he'll be missed. He served 18 years on the board, part of it as chairman. The first couple of years that I was at the library, I mostly remember going with him to put up announcements on the Chamber of Commerce "Sign". Like most small towns, there is a signboard at the main intersection where special events can be announced in big three inch letters. We'd go to the Chamber of Commerce office where they'd have the stack of letters all ready for us, with just the ones we needed to spell out whatever message we had for the library. Often it would be icy or snowy, and you had to climb up and stand on a ledge about four feet above the sidewalk to work the letters in and out of the track. My boss was worried that Alan would fall if he climbed up there, so she sent me to do it. He'd pass the letters up to me one by one, we'd remove the out of date messages if there were any, and take the letters back over to the office. I don't remember ever doing it when the weather was nice. Seems like it was always icy or raining. In any case, Alan was cheerful and optimistic, always interested and ready to listen, and we're certainly going to miss him around here. The Chamber replaced its manual sign a couple of years back with a modern LED array that can be programmed by computer from their office, so our little expeditions in the snow to put up word about some library program ended some time ago. Even so, I'll not forget them.
Spring has sprung. All the snow is gone from the roofs, and much of it from the ground around the buildings though the pastures are still covered (or were yesterday, I didn't look today.) Now comes the era of mud. We've had fog and drizzle today and apparently that's what we're getting for the rest of the week too.
We added four new platy fish to our big tank two weeks ago as the population had grown rather sparse. Now there are already at least two babies in there, and they are growing fast. Unlike guppies, who multiply like rabbits, platy fish reproduce more slowly. We rarely see a brood of more than a dozen, and they mature slowly. The adults seem to age past their spawning time quickly too, and then stop breeding. Usually we can keep the tank populated for about a year before the reproductive cycles seem to die out. This time we have a good mix of colors, blue, gold, red, and black, so it should be interesting.
RikkiToo is still limping around on three legs in spite of the antibiotics he's had for the past three days. Gary found and drained an abscess on one of his ears, an almost certain sign that his injuries are from fighting another cat. He has nothing to fight over but apparently just can't resist the opportunity.
I'm slowly rebuilding my reading list here by adding feeds from LJ as necessary. Unfortunately, some of my LJ friends have their journals set to default to "friends only" which means I can't see their posts that way. I guess I'd have to ask them to add my DW OpenID as a friend, and then read them directly on LJ. Boo.
Anyway, whatever you write does seem to be stored and you could get it back from the site, but it isn't a blog and no one else (they say) can read what you write there. My stream of consciousness seems to have logorrhea most of the time, so getting to 750 words of just chuntering is too easy. I also tried copying and pasting my own blog post, which got me a message that chided me for "pasting a whole chunk of text" which might "mess up the statistics" by which I guess it means the typing speed and words per minute. It does go on to say that pasting is all right. In any case, it's an interesting curiousity that some may like. After a couple of days, I've lost interest. It doesn't seem to do much for me that writing here doesn't do.
Finished the spinners' newsletter early this morning and sent it off, thank goodness. Then got to work to learn that one of our board members passed away over the weekend. It wasn't unexpected, he had a bad fall (fractured pelvis) back about December, and at age 86 just wasn't up to recovery from that I guess. A very dedicated and persistent crusader, he'll be missed. He served 18 years on the board, part of it as chairman. The first couple of years that I was at the library, I mostly remember going with him to put up announcements on the Chamber of Commerce "Sign". Like most small towns, there is a signboard at the main intersection where special events can be announced in big three inch letters. We'd go to the Chamber of Commerce office where they'd have the stack of letters all ready for us, with just the ones we needed to spell out whatever message we had for the library. Often it would be icy or snowy, and you had to climb up and stand on a ledge about four feet above the sidewalk to work the letters in and out of the track. My boss was worried that Alan would fall if he climbed up there, so she sent me to do it. He'd pass the letters up to me one by one, we'd remove the out of date messages if there were any, and take the letters back over to the office. I don't remember ever doing it when the weather was nice. Seems like it was always icy or raining. In any case, Alan was cheerful and optimistic, always interested and ready to listen, and we're certainly going to miss him around here. The Chamber replaced its manual sign a couple of years back with a modern LED array that can be programmed by computer from their office, so our little expeditions in the snow to put up word about some library program ended some time ago. Even so, I'll not forget them.
Spring has sprung. All the snow is gone from the roofs, and much of it from the ground around the buildings though the pastures are still covered (or were yesterday, I didn't look today.) Now comes the era of mud. We've had fog and drizzle today and apparently that's what we're getting for the rest of the week too.
We added four new platy fish to our big tank two weeks ago as the population had grown rather sparse. Now there are already at least two babies in there, and they are growing fast. Unlike guppies, who multiply like rabbits, platy fish reproduce more slowly. We rarely see a brood of more than a dozen, and they mature slowly. The adults seem to age past their spawning time quickly too, and then stop breeding. Usually we can keep the tank populated for about a year before the reproductive cycles seem to die out. This time we have a good mix of colors, blue, gold, red, and black, so it should be interesting.
RikkiToo is still limping around on three legs in spite of the antibiotics he's had for the past three days. Gary found and drained an abscess on one of his ears, an almost certain sign that his injuries are from fighting another cat. He has nothing to fight over but apparently just can't resist the opportunity.
I'm slowly rebuilding my reading list here by adding feeds from LJ as necessary. Unfortunately, some of my LJ friends have their journals set to default to "friends only" which means I can't see their posts that way. I guess I'd have to ask them to add my DW OpenID as a friend, and then read them directly on LJ. Boo.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 02:40 am (UTC)I'd be guilty of that. ;-) Now that I have an account here, I wouldn't mind simulcasting any LJ posts here. I'm not planning an LJ exodus in the foreseeable future, but it won't hurt to have a backup plan...
no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 02:45 am (UTC)The alternative might be to use a client program like SEMagic, so you can write your entry once and post it, then recall it, change accounts and post again. I used to do that with LJ and GJ two years ago.
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Date: 2010-03-09 05:31 pm (UTC)Not quite as automatic as it could be, but easy enough.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 11:36 pm (UTC)Neat! I'll have to play around with that at one point. I don't mind too much giving my LJ password to DW. The other way around, though? Never. :-P
The alternative might be to use a client program
*chuckle* My post writing tends to be pretty low tech. If it's a post that's more than just a few sentences long, I'll usually write it up in a simple text editor, then just copy and paste the final version into the posting window.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 01:34 am (UTC)Client programs can be quite nice, actually. Yes, you don't really need one, but they do some things for you that aren't so easy to do manually, like tracking all your friends and subscriptions, remembering passwords and accounts on multiple sites, and keeping an offline backup of your journal content that can be searched by keyword. Windows and Mac have the most up to date clients, of course. Linux lags behind as usual.
Off in the aether
Date: 2010-03-09 03:01 am (UTC)yet: are those screened?
I'll check in the morning. The iTouch warned me I'm under 20% and I'd rather not disturb the dog in my lap to get the charger :o)
Re: Off in the aether
Date: 2010-03-09 04:52 am (UTC)To reply to a message on the feed (when you're at LJ, not at DW) you need to click the link at the TOP of the message, and then comment or reply on the screen that comes up (which will be at DW rather than LJ.) I know this is confusing, but that's how it works.
Think of two dimensions, with the feed as a window between them. no message travels back through the window. You have to pass through the window yourself and leave your message on the other side. ;p
Re: Off in the aether
Date: 2010-03-09 10:55 am (UTC)I see it on the feed now (I'm on the pc). I like checking with the iTouch, but Safari isn't Firefox and things don't always look the same. Good enough. Something new to play with.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 03:24 am (UTC)I have a 50 gallon tank, although it's currently dissembled and in the basement. But back when I had it set up in the living room it was thriving with live plants and a wide variety of colorful Australian rainbowfish.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 04:56 am (UTC)There's a 20 gallon in my office but it only has plants and water in it at the moment. All the fish in it died abruptly and I haven't gotten around to cleaning and restarting it.
The third is one of those little 2.5 gallon plastic jobs, in the guest bathroom. It has a tiny plecostomus, a way oversized zebra danio, and a couple of guppies.
I'm thinking of putting tiger barbs in the 20 gallon when I get it decontaminated and restarted.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 08:41 am (UTC)It doesn't work with your Dreamwidth reading list, although they do offer cross-site reading list authentication if you upgrade to a Paid account. Otherwise, yes, you have to keep an LJ reading list.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 11:49 am (UTC)Now tell me which "they" offers cross-site reading list authentication. I do have a paid account at DW. I will not, for obvious reasons, be reinstating my paid account at LJ. That was turned off quite a long while back.
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