Gizmodo

..... is the name of the site I was talking about in the previous post. For the seventh task, I went ahead and got a subscription.

You should visit. A lot of the stuff on the site would only appeal to the hard-core geek (Like learning the latest hack for your IPhone), but there's a fair amount of other interesting items on there as well.

For example, if you search the site, there's a video of a rubber-band gatling gun. Loaded with a thousand rubber bands, it'll do something like 500 per minute. Wicked.

Pretty Simple

The title says it all for the sixth task.

I don't know if I'll be using this method on a regular basis. One of the things that I like about visiting some of the other blogs is that they have links to other interesting blogs. Which in turn leads to more interesting links, etc. It gets a little Alice in Wonderland sometimes, but you can stumble upon some interesting surprises.

On the other hand, the really busy sites are a little hard to keep up with. There's a couple that, a few days go by, and you're thirty posts behind.

This application, I'll play by ear.

Fifth Task

The fifth task is inserting text into a photo. I decided to give martial arts a rest and went with the Three Stooges.

Pretty Neat.

Mashups

When I read Task #4, my first thought for a mashup post was "DeMotivational Poster".

You've probably seen them around the net. These are take-offs of the standard "Motivational Posters" using all types of photos with a punch line attached.

One of the benefits of this being a popular mashup is that there are lots of sites that lead you through the steps of doing your own.

I had two main difficulties. The first was getting the photo to save and then upload. Luckily, Bighugelabs (Which is the Flickr site that does motivational posters) has lots of options and i finally stumbled though by posting with the photo's URL.

The second problem was inspiration. It's hard to come up with something clever and funny on command. I finally went with a photo that I had spotted on my earlier search through "Martial Arts" and snatched a clever tidbit from Wikiquote.

The only flaw remaining is that I can't figure out how to select the location of posting the poster. I tried to put the poster about marriage (The one that I did) at the end of this post. But, for some reason, it keeps being sent to the top of the post.

Minor detail. All things considered, it came out pretty well.

Using Flickr

It was interesting.

To begin with, I liked the fact that anyone with a Yahoo account was automatically registered with Flickr. I just signed in with my regular Yahoo pass and that was that. Very Easy.

I did a search for "Martial Arts" and then narrowed it down to "Hsing-I" and "Savate", the two styles that I practice. I liked a couple of the illustrations found under the Savate search. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/snakeblocker/58525037/

Savate's a French style, developed during the early 1800's. I love the fact that you've got these guys in top hats and formal coats doing Bruce Lee poses with high kicks and elbow strikes.

Video's a lot better for demonstrating the flavor of a martial art, so I went to Advanced Search and started scanning for videos only. The pickings were much slimmer, with no good choices under Savate and Hsing-I. So, I widened the search to Martial Arts again and I found nothing that really caught my eye.

On a whim, I did a search for Charlie Chaplin and found a video for a great old routine of his. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarita_xispa/3462185816/

Enjoy.

Almost Forgot

A shout-out to my fellow librarians and 23 "Thingers"

Time To Get Serious

As the title of the blog suggests, I've been a dabbler in the things of life. And, the important stuff, I've managed to avoid completing.

I've always mean't to lose 30 pounds.

(Which has morphed into 60 over the years)

I've always mean't to write the Great American Whatever. Depending on my muse at the time, it was either a play, novel, or a great cinematic masterpiece.

(Fortunately, I never tried poetry)

And, there's a whole host of other things that never got completed. Teaching myself sign language. Learning how to cook African cuisine. Stuff like that.

(To be honest, unlike the first two, not learning that stuff was no big loss)

But, I'm going to be graduating soon (And, straight back in for Grad School) and I need to start getting serious.

So, I figure that, if I post my goals, it'll give me a lot more motivation to finish. You know. "Put it writing".

At the very least, it'll take me a lot more time to blow smoke.