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S/SW blog philosophy -

I credit favorite writers and public opinion makers.

A lifelong Democrat, my comments on Congress, the judiciary and the presidency are regular features.

My observations and commentary are on people and events in politics that affect the USA or the rest of the world, and stand for the interests of peace, security and justice.


Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Keeping up with technology


"South by Southwest" - comes to you by way of high technology. That world moves fast, and it is both scary and demanding to stay apace. But the ride is fun and such a priviledge! The components come along fast and furious though.

The Notebook Computer -
Computers are wonderful and magical; my notebook is amazing. It is compact, sturdy, good-looking, handy and versatile.


The Software - its operating system and individual programs are now new and more interesting, because of recent changes and upgrades. Namely, DSL, Blogger Beta, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, and the current version of Norton Security.


The Operator - may be another matter. She is well-nigh on to 70, with a few health problems. However, the mind is good and the passion for writing remains. Here is what I love about using the magic box in the illustration.

  • Wysiwyg composing makes a wide range of effects possible. And I know just enough HTML to get myself out of trouble when I have gotten too excited about the piece.
  • Norton-Symantec and SBC Yahoo! DSL keep me relatively speedy, safe, and trouble free.
  • Bolgger Beta is a huge improvement graphics-wise, neater, prettier, more capable, less clunky, quicker and more feature-rich.
  • Mozilla is more 21st century, lightning fast, more spare and good looking and quite intuitive and easy to use.
  • IE7 is my latest update and I really find it to be an improvement. It finally could almost qualify as modern. The transition went relatively smoothly and it now tolerates all my "stuff." (I am one of those nuts who has my favorite set of toolbars as add-ons, i.e. Google, and MyWay websearch. I use the links bar also, and occasionally the Yahoo! toolbar). The Sidebar does not work yet, but I don't really miss it.
  • Extras: I also have a few "little gems" such as Ad-Aware, and WebShots for its screensaver and wallpaper.
  • "Tools," such as Bloglines for RSS feeds, etc. are in the "news-info- . . ." top linked list in the sidebar of my blog.
The best instruments do not a symphony make, however. The player has to come through, as does the writer. It is the notes, the words, the color, the narrative line that must carry the melody and the message. I'll see you at the next post time.
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2 comments:

billie said...

i was considering upgrading to beta blogger- it looks like it has neat bells and whistles. i wasn't sure if it would effect my ranking on technorati, etc. the amazing thing is- i am a technological moron. a couple of tutorials from my technonerd friend- and here i am. i recently started another blog simply to try out the delicious and magnolia sites she suggested. wonder what that means? :)

Carol Gee said...

B: my experience with Technorati ranking was that it improved mine. The number of site visits have stayed about the same, however. But I don't work at that very hard, because I am what I call a "little blogger."
I am glad it only took you a couple of lessons to get "here." Maybe you have more talent than you think. Approach it in a spirit of play for a while and you will gain the confidence to risk your regular blog. It was a big risk for me, for sure.
Speculation about the "delicious" and "magnolia" associations: You have a southern forebearers. You love good food and entertainment featuring real flowers. Last, technology seems poles apart from the lushness of those other words.
Thanks for the comment.