It started yesterday with getting Ubuntu successfully installed on Eric’s computer and the only problem I ran into was getting wireless setup. He ended up calling Mediacom so he will be getting internet working just fine. That’s basically what happened with that topic.

On another note I just wanted to mention that I am a subscriber of becomeablogger.com’s newsletter and they had an interesting emailing I received today that I just wanted to share here.

With the new theme of my blog I thought it was interesting that I later checked my email and found they have a video setup of a theme you can use and how to setup your blog and things. Check it out here.

I was going to put this in another post and I probably really should but I couldn’t help but mention it here anyway.

I was reading a comment sent to me about a blogging article I had written and I visited their website once again and found an incredible and very inspiring video. Their blog is www.personalgrowth123.com. On there, if you scroll all the day down you will find a video which talks about a web site you can also visit, as I just did, at www.project-peaceonearth.org. This was a very inspiring web site and video to me so I felt I needed to share it with the world.

Please visit the site, watch the video, visit the other site and share all of this with everyone you know.

Eric
www.bluepop13.com
blog.bluepop13.com

Discombobulated.

That’s how that ape looks to me in this pic. I couldn’t get a good shot of how he really looks because there was so much other stuff going on between the glass and my camera.

That’s how I’ve felt as of late when it comes to blogging. MY posts are often random (more often than not) and I never know what’s coming up next. There is so much going on that I don’t think I’ve had a clear pic of what my blog is really supposed to look like.

That being said, I’m a-changing bloggin’ ways!

Here’s the schedule you can expect from now on. Well, not counting today. Or tomorrow. But Saturday, for sure.

Messy Mondays

Organizing and Cleaning tips from an unorganized housewife. (Yep. me.)

Tunes Tuesdays

musicians & music I like, & updates on my own musical endeavors (NSAI rocks!)

What’s up with Write2Ignite Wednesdays

updated information on the 2010 write2ignite conference

Thou art homeschooled Thursdays

you guessed it…homeschool related posts

Free to Rhyme (or not) Fridays

poetry postings, challenges and occasional poetry contests

Situational stuff Saturday

random thoughts on writing, relationships and life in general

Say it loud Sundays

sharing my journey and hope you will, too.

There you have it folks…my newly organized posting schedule.  See you on Saturday!

Well, I remembered that I need to change my blog theme.  And, though it might be a little early, I’m changing it to Vermilion Christmas.  I figure the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier all the time (my mom’s already heard some Christmas music); and, at least, it’s after Hallowe’en, so I don’t really feel too bad about it.  Besides, it’s better early than late.  (Who knows when I’d think about my theme again.)

I can’t help fiddling around with the look of my blog.  In another life I might have been a graphic designer.  It was the constant need to change up and hone a “look” that caused me to accidentally kill my self-hosted blog and have to revert back to the “wordpress for dummies” option.  Which is a great option, but I just can’t help wanting to make it my own in every way possible. 

The writing teacher me keeps saying:  It’s not about the look.  Who the hell cares if there are boxes around all the sections?  Do you really think anyone really notices the “small caps” header format?  Just. Write. Jennifer.

Whatever writing teacher self.  It’s all an art in some form, it’s all a piece of me, and I think I like how this “me” is represented. 

What do you think?

Relax, I’ve not shaved off the beard or had a haircut, I’ve changed the look of this blog. If you’re anything like a regular here, you might even have noticed this already.

After many months of a very lightly customised default WordPress theme, I’ve decided to have a change of look for Chuffinghog. I have also dropped the increasingly inaccurate Tagline about Motorbikes and Steam Trains as neither are featured very often.

Please let me know what (if anything) you think of the new look. You never know, the new look might also inspire me to write something here a bit more often.

Ride Safe
Dave

I’ve already been reminded several times that it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I’ve decided to change my blog theme to Sweet Blossoms in accordance with that because it is a pink theme.  And, while pink isn’t my favorite color, I think breast cancer awareness is important enough to change my theme for the month (or longer, if I forget to change it after the end of the month).

I’ve had a few questions lately about my user name, warhistorian, and the theme of this blog, especially since so little of the content on the blog is military-related.  I thought I would try to give an answer.

The name itself is simple.  It comes from my scholarly discipline, which is military history.  When I tell people this, they sometimes ask me why I study military history.  There are a few reasons.  First, I am a former military man myself, and I come from a military family.  The history of our nation’s armed forces has always interested me, even before I chose to pursue a career of studying it.  Secondly, I remember a teacher of mine who once said that history was everything that happened between wars.  That statement has always bothered me, as I feel that those wars, at least in part, shape history.  To discount them as historically unimportant just feels wrong.  Finally, it is my belief that in order to end war, we must come to understand it.  The only way to understand it is to study its history and to learn from the mistakes we’ve made in the past.

Insofar as the theme of this blog is concerned, I think it is self-explanatory.  My blog is full of revolutionary rhetoric.  I speak out often against the current administration.  Thus, my blog represents the revolutionary circumstances that mark the birth of this nation.

“A Continuation of Politics by Other Means” is borrowed from Carl von Clausewitz, in his treatise Vom Kriege (English: On War).  According to Clausewitz, war is simply a continuation of politics, or a duel on a larger scale.

The subtitle of the blog, concerning hanging together or separately, is attributed to Benjamin Franklin upon signing the Declaration of Independence.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

Huzzah!

It seemed like a good time to choose a new theme.  So, I decided to go with something a little brighter, Spring Loaded.  With a name like that, I should have waited to change it until next spring, but I didn’t want to wait that long (not that I’ll notice much, because I rarely view my actual site).

I chose a new theme that I think better represents the spirit of this blog. The old one looked stuffy and constipated. This is an especially ‘bhakti’ theme, so I like it.

Oh, I’m so happy with my new look!

PS – Bhakti

Anyone would have trouble coining a phrase that as of today has over 600 million Google hits.  Nevertheless, my title remains a salient question to be asked by any budding writer in the 21^st century, or one just catching up to the end of the 20^th.

I remember the first time I was introduced to the phrase ‘weblog’ in undergrad.  It was by an English student who was on top of all things technological, something I hadn’t managed to do since public school.   Since then, I’ve always toyed with the idea but could never get around to doing it.  It certainly wasn’t for lack of time.  Looking back, if I’d only blocked Freetetris.org from my computer, I’m sure I would be king among bloggers by now.  Come to think of it, if I’d only blocked Tetris three or four years ago, I’d probably have a degree in chemical engineering or theoretical physics.

It will be said by the luddites that the internet only fragments opinion.  What it actually does is increase the potential for a diverse set of opinions to reach an audience.  To be sure, there will be falsehood and slander, all of the joys that come with opinions or beliefs.  But proportionally speaking, there is no less crap on the internet than has been bound into book, or put onto the silver screen.

(Although if it is crap you’re after, here’s a link to my friend Remi’s site.)

From an epistemological point of view, we are not going to reach a desirable objectivity by relying on large, privately-owned and increasingly centralized news corporations, any more than we are by listening to state sponsored media.  The age of the Imperial Encyclopaedia is long since gone.

Having evolved to become a radically potent force in media, blogs are just about the only semblance of democracy we have in our so-called ‘democratic’ society.  We see the power of the internet, the blog and the ubiquitous camera recently on such disparate places as the streets of Tehran, as well as the town hall meetings of Main Street, USA.

Let us not fear, stifle, or deny the marketplace of ideas.  Let us embrace this democratic technology as one of the few potent weapons in our arsenal against dogma, superstition and illegitimate authority.

We’re in this together, kids.  I’ll get back to writing…after this quick game of Tetris.

WordPress, the word no one can forget are mistake as it is an essential thing being used by netizens and bloggers. If you want to use a theme for WordPress you have to pay some hundred of dollars. Nevertheless, here Devine lets you create your own free themes in a click. Device is a free plugin that lets you convert any Photoshop PSD design to well coded WordPress theme.
If you want to use this method,
•Download and install the Plugin Devine.
•Then open your PSD design in Photoshop.
•Then go to Devine in menu bar and publish.
•Assign WordPress elements in your theme.
•Then upload your theme to look the preview.

Click to know about Two Column Theme for Bloggers

Detail steps explained below :
Minimal system requirements:
Divine 0.5.0 version was developed as the plug-in for the popular editor Photoshop.
This is why minimal system requirements straightly depend on your Photoshop version’s requirements.
Step 1
Launch your Photoshop editor. (We have Version CS3). As you can see, Divine item has appeared in the editor menu.

Step 2
Open template ( Click to Download )

Step 3
After the template is loaded, launch the Divine plug-in.

Step 4
Next, we must assign the main roles to our template’s elements. Creating the elements blank parts of the template in advance and assigning roles to them, you assign the styles to all those elements at the same time.

Step 5
Additional elements assigning. To create a valid page you’ll need additional elements besides the main ones. To do that, highlight required elements and assign UserItem roles to them. After that we can assign links to them and change their ID.

Step 6
New theme creation and publication. After we assigned all necessary roles to the elements, we can set to creating a theme. All we need to do that is press Publish. And if your account is set correctly, the theme will at once be uploaded.
(See detailed instruction on profile settings in the chapter Documentation. Interface. Menu)

Step 7
Activate your theme and enjoy the result. After short and easy work we see the result.

[ More ]

One of many advantages from WordPress is they provide many third party plugins and free themes for their user. But, Many peoples confused about what theme should they use for their blogs. In this post, I will share some tips about how to choose wordpress theme that suitable for your blog. You must consider about few things when you choose a theme :

1. The Colors of your blog

Colors is important thing for a design. Choose attractive colours that will attract your visitor to keep visiting your site. Make them comfortable with your blogs. First impression is important for your visitors, and that would be your blog design and headline. You can do some research when you choose a theme. I will share about this later in future post.

2. Your theme layout

One thing you must remember when you try to choose a blog theme is the theme’s layout. If you started a blog, choose a theme that has appropriate layout for you, because it’s not easy to manage your sidebar and blog section in wordpress. Each themes in wordpress library has different layout, especially their sidebar. Make sure that you choose the right one for your blog. After you familiar with wordpress, you can try to manage your own layout for your blog.

3.  Widget ready

Choose a theme that ready for widgets, so you don’t need to code your theme anymore.

4. Browser compatibility

If you a web designer, you must be consider about this thing. Choose a theme that can be viewed by any web browser. At least, choose a blog that compatible with popular browser like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or Internet Explorer.

Testing out new theme on my blog. Its entitled P2 and was influenced by Twitter. It is mainly for a group blog, but since I like short posts, I think I might like this.

Zu allererst muss man festlegen, was man überhaupt mit seinem Blog erreichen will. Egal wie die Gründe aber sein mögen, eigentlich spielt das Aussehen für den Erfolg eines Blogs erstmal absolut keine Rolle, denn Besucher die von Google & Co kommen, wissen im ersten Moment garnicht, wie dein Blog überhaut aussieht. Deshalb ist es vorallem viel wichtiger seinen Blog besser zu vermarkten, also sprich stets für einen guten Traffic auf seinem eigenen Blog zu sorgen.

Erst wenn man dies geschafft hat, sollte man an das Aussehen seines Blogs gehen. Seien wir doch mal ehrlich, wenn du nach einem günstigen MP3-Player suchst, ist es dir doch eigentlich egel wie die Seite aussieht auf der du gelandet bist, da dir es noch viel wichtiger ist einen günstigen MP3-Player zu bekommen und dass dieser auch wirklich geliefert wird.

Viele Blogger machen den Fehler (insbesondere ich) und investieren zu viel Zeit in das Design des Blogs. Später wundern sie sich aber, dass fast keine Besucher auf die eigene Seite landen. Dann geht langsam die Motivation verloren und der Blog geht den Bach runter. Ich würde jedem erstmal raten sich um gute und viele Beiträge zu kümmern und erst dann sich mit dem Aussehen zu befassen. Das Aussehen kann vielleicht einen guten Eindruck machen, aber selbst das schönste Auto ohne Räder ist für nicht zu gebrauchen!

Da das alte Design so langweilig und irgendwie zu schlicht aussah, habe ich jetzt einfach mal ein neues Design eingestellt. Ich hoffe es gefällt euch auch besser als davor.

Leider kann ich das Design nicht ganz meinen Wünschen anpassen, da mein Blog von WordPress gehostet wird. Aber das ist nicht weiter schlimm, da ich für das Hosting ja keinen Cent bezahlen muss, was ich auch toll finde. Dank an WordPress.com für diesen kostenlosen Dienst.

Time to pick a theme.  Am I a chaotic soul, or do I just enjoy chaos theory?  Do I have contempt for everyone, or am I an example of benevolence?  Would I like a banana smoothie, or would I rather day dream?  And will I even ever get off the first page of themes?  Probably eventually, but for now I’ll be a chaotic soul.

Good God. What have you done to the Slag Heap??

*monocle drops off*

I know, I know. It’s different. There weren’t many choices. I liked my old theme, but this one puts the link/categories in a more useful position, there on the right, and it also changes the font so everything’s a bit easier to read. The header image had to go, simply because the change in dimensions was too drastic. I may get into a habit of changing the header image on a regular basis, if I can be bothered.

But yes.. today marks a new stage in the development of the Slag Heap. I don’t like change, but here it is. (Also, I’ve overhauled my links and link categories. there are some really useful resources in there. enjoy.)

I dont like my blog layout so am testing out a few things before I settle on something, so if it looks different each time you log on thats why……..

EDIT: Too tired to try other samples so this will have to do for now

If you have visited my blog last night and notice something is very different, yes, you are right. Something is indeed different, I have changed the header image of my blog theme from a butterfly sucking on nectar to an image of leave with a large water droplet.

As the photo of the new header image was taken by me on my Canon 40D, I find that it’s kind of unique to have my own header image rather than using a stock image.

Should you have any ideas or comments about my blog, click on the Comment link below to leave a message for me

To date, I’ve not been terribly successful at blogging, despite the fact that I used to kick out four to ten thousand words a month when I was working for someone else’s consultancy. (Have I really not posted since May?!) I’ve been thinking about why I’ve had difficulty, and I’ve reduced it to two factors:

1. I tend towards long (1500+ word) articles, each of which requires a lot of time, which I apparently don’t have. I have a lot of half-way-finished postings.
2. I don’t have a theme to motivate my writing, making it difficult for me to select one topic from my large list of potential topics

So, two (re)solutions. The first is easy: all of my postings are going to be about inventions — conceptual or actual, either my own or those belonging to someone else. The second resolution will be more difficult for me to adhere to: I’m going to keep each post to under 500 words. That’s the only way that I’ll have a reasonable chance of getting at least one post written per week. Given the technical novelty of some of the things that I’d like to describe, that arbitrary limit is going to be a real challenge.