I have not been a good blog -keeperupper! I apologize. But hey! Look what I have been working on with my good friend and mentor Kristie T.
See! Purrty!
I have been doing designs for Kristie for 10 years. She is awesome — a marketing maniac. If you ever need someone to coach you in marketing your site — she is the one to call. And you’ll get my awesome designs to boot. Win win!
Okay so I know I missed Friday Fun again last Friday. But I have a good excuse! I was getting ready for my gig with the Lonely Rangers in Custer State Park for the Buffalo Roundup Festival. Now this was a good time! We had a special guest artist — Kenny Putnam — who is a legend on fiddle. We played a bunch of the traditional Bluegrass fiddle tunes. The best part of the day was when we called up Stringbean Swenson — another area fiddle master. Kenny and Stringbean together were magic! I pretty much just played along in awe. It was such a good time. Thanks to all of you that were there to lend to the thunderous applause!
Here are are a few video clips if you missed it:
Apparently MySpace is a “must” if you are:
A. In a band
B. Wanna be in a band
C. Have friends in a band
D. Want to communicate with friends in a band
Who knew? Oh okay, of course I knew. I just went there kicking and screaming. I have a hard time with using other people’s software on their servers with their own TOS and all that other junk that could potentially make my work, their work. You know — like where I actually AGREE to give up the copyright to my work? That’s a tough pill for a designer to swallow.
But, the guys in my band wanted a MySpace page. I wanted to communicate with my friend Jimmy from LA who is always setting up shop somewhere new and only communicates via MySpace. And, since I’ve been bringing the old bass guitar out of retirement more and more, I wanted to find out how to work this “MySpace” all my musician friends talked about all the time. I just did a jam session with this guy, (amazing bass player!) and this girl (Awesome singer!) and they are all fabulous musicians and they are all on MySpace!
Me! Me too! I want to be cool and on MySpace!
So I went on MySpace. And immediately — Oh! My eyes! My eyes!! Ow OW OWWW!!! Could the graphics BE any larger? Could they BE any more annoying??? The flashing ads — the table cells dropping off everywhere! Ewwww!!!
Once I calmed down I started thinking about how I could generate a MySpace page for the Rangers that:
A. Would appease my design sense.
B. Use existing graphics so my original stuff can’t be stolen used by someone else.
So first I did a search for custom Myspace layouts. Holy Moly! Could there be more websites like: pimp my space and profile pimp and getcha pimped up space. So I visited. Yeah. If you like skulls or skullz or Britney Spears you would have it made with these layouts!
However, I think the guys in the band would kill me if I did a layout with skulls and Britney — I have a feeling that won’t quite jive with our image.
I finally found a nice layout I could use the css graphics structure on to compose graphics that approximates the Lonely Rangers look of Old West meets today. It complies with Myspace TOS (meaning you can’t take the myspace generated ads out or they shut you off) It is similar to Kubrick on Wordpress, and once I tweaked the graphics, I think it works pretty well.
So, here ya go: http://www.myspace.com/lonelyrangers
I am officially breaking up with you, Dell. I’ve had it. It’s not very nice of you to string me along since AUGUST with this laptop thing and then when the THIRD laptop you sent me breaks down on a Saturday, and I call tech support, you unceremoniously tell me that my service tag has been SUSPENDED because I didn’t return the laptop you sent last time!
Oh yes, but I did return it! I can prove it! You are the ones who SENT UPS TO MY PLACE to pick it up! YOU SENT THEM HERE!!!! But — BUT you won’t help me straighten it out on a Saturday because your customer care department is CLOSED!! So what do you say to me — TOO BAD SO SAD!!! I am stuck here now with my third laptop that doesn’t work, with a suspended service tag that I paid like $300 extra for the extended service contract in the first place.
After 10 years of being a loyal Dell customer I am SO DONE! That’s it. HP, Gateway — here I come. I may even completely defect and jump over to Mac.
I’ve been surfing the web for a long, long time. Back in the day, you know, it was AOL and it was so pretty and user-friendly that who needed a real actual browser? Not me! Ha! It was like a sippy-cup for the web. AOL held your hand through everything. Of course I grew up and started taking my web experience like an adult! I graduated to Internet Explorer and started saving all the nice websites I frequented under my “favorites”. Then I grew up even more and started using Netscape — then Netscape went away and now it is all about Firefox. Firefox is the browser du jour. Anything to stay away from that pesky Internet Explorer that creates more problems than it is worth — at least in my opinion.
Okay, so enough of the opining! What to do with all those favorites or bookmarks as Firefox calls them, when you move to a new computer?
Easy, peasy — just bring them with you. Firefox makes it super simple to do.
First Export your bookmarks on the old computer — to open export, select File–> Export from Firefox’s Bookmark Manager. A dialog window will open asking you where you want to save the file to. In my case, I put them on the Cylon-like external hard drive in a little folder called “bookmarks” lest I forget what the heck I did with them.
Then, unplug the harddrive from the old computer and put it to work on the new computer. Open Firefox, go to the Bookmarks Manager and choose File–> Import. It will ask you where you want to import the bookmarks from. Choose “from file.” Find your file on the handy-dandy Cylon harddrive in the folder you so wisely called “bookmarks” and click on it.
Viola! There they are!
A few little Firefox bookmark tidbits:
You can view your Firefox bookmarks on any browser. All you do is open or drag & drop the bookmark file to the browser window. That way if you want to take your bookmarks with you on vacation or whatever, you can put them on a memory stick and access them from any computer. Pretty cool!
Worried about losing your bookmarks? Firefox has you covered there too. It automatically creates backups of your bookmarks. They are saved in a file called bookmarkbackups in your Firefox profile directory.
If you don’t have Firefox, do yourself a favor and get it! You can download it for free from here. You’ll be glad you did.
Why couldn’t the 10 year old kids go to the Pirate movie? Because it was rated RRRRRRRRRRGH!
How much does it cost for a Pirate to get his ears pierced? Eh Matey! Why a Buck an Ear – buccaneer — get it?
Shiver me timbers, today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day! No I am not kidding! Don’t argue with me or you’ll be walkin’ the plank - Matey!
To celebrate, raise your tankards and visit these sites here:
For Crafters:
Are you a knitter? Or know someone who does? I like to knit and felting is really, really fun — so swab the deck and head over here for a cool felted pirate hat pattern — the best kind — the pattern is FREE!
Are you a beadworker? Here is a cool pirate beaded pattern. Shiver me timbers it’s FREE too!
For Parents & Kids:
Do you have kids and want to dress them in cute clothes? If so, Boden is offering 8 free orders to selected customers just for talking like a Pirate! Arghhh!
A Free downloadable Story Map for you and your kids to create a fun pirate story.
Make your own pirate ship out of boxes!
For Bloggers:
And if your dyin’ to talk like a Pirate all day — on yer blog anyway, this plugin from Wordpress will turn your entire blog into Piratespeak.
For Everyone!:
And yes, Free online greeting cards to send to everyone to invite them to talk like a Pirate too!
A Free Pirate Mask! Print it out, color, cut out and wear it around the office. I’m wearing mine right now. Even though I work alone, at home and there is no one to see me.
Avast! Ahoy! Raise the Jolly Roger! Here are some common Piratespeak Terms for ya’ll:
Aye- yes
Ahoy- a call to attention
Avast- a command to stop
Blimey- used to convey frustration
Booty- property seized through the act of piracy
Buccaneer- a caribbean pirate
Bucko- friend
Cap’n- the captain
Colors- the flag flown on the vessel
Davey Jones’s Locker- dead and buried and sea
Fairwinds- goodbye or good luck
Grub - food
Hornswaggle- to cheat
Jolly Roger- skull and crossbones flag which indicates a pirate’s ship
Lad (male), lass(female)- someone younger than you
Landlubber or lubber- a non-sailor
Me Hearties- term used for pirate leader to address his crew
Old Salt- an experienced sailor
Pieces of eight- silver spanish coins
Scallywag- a scoundel
Scurvy Dog- Vile and contemptible
Shark bait- a foe
Ship shape- well organized ship
Shiver me timbers- an expression to convey surprise
Splice the membrane- to have a drink
Swag -loot
Sea legs- the ability to walk on a rocking boat
Sea rover- a pirates ship
Sweat trade- the career of piracy
I guess I like the new computer. And it seems to like me. So I guess we can be friends. Actually, Dell was quite accommodating, what with sending me two new ones to try and not making me send anything back until I was satisfied. Steve from Dell has been calling to check up on me every other day — Hi Steve! — and I should be getting a call from him any time now to make sure I am satisfied. So, Dell, you are back on the “happy list”!
Now that I have this computer, how in the heck to I get all my stuff on it? Honestly, this is always a good time to purge yourself of the junk that you don’t really need. For instance, I have a graphics program that I use daily that creates an automatic back-up file of my current work whenever I close a document. I like this. It has saved my behind more than once. However, I don’t really need all those back-up files — especially of work I did 10 years ago. I still have the original file if I need it. So, what I did is a quick search of all files that have the words “backup” in them. Then I delete them. No need to bring all those to the new computer.
Next is mail. I must admit to being a little bit obsessed about keeping all email correspondence. That comes from having worked in the corporate world for some very unpredictable and paranoid corporate bosses. So, just so you know — if you sent me an email 10 years ago, I still have it. Most likely.
I’ll create an export file of all mail to bring to the new computer. But I won’t import it into my new mail program. I’ll just hang onto it in case I need it. Call it insurance.
Now, how do I move all those files? Enter another best friend of mine — the My Book external drive. This puppy has tons of space, more than enough for even my files. All I did was plug in the My Book, attach via USB port and turn it on. It reminds me of a Cylon from the old Battlestar Galactica (I used to have a huge crush on Starbuck, who is now a GIRL in the new Battlestart Galactica — what is up with that????)
How do I move all those files over? Simple. Click and drag, my friend. Click. And. Drag.
Plug in the My Book to the new computer and there they are! Simple as pie. Easy as cake.
I think I may have found success with the computer that was finally sent to me from Dell. Thanks for your comment by the way, guy from Dell. I’ll let you know if I need you!
I’ve had the new Studio laptop for all of 12 hours, but so far so good. It seems to accept my programs and that is the main thing. I also like the sleek design and they sent it to me in midnight blue which works for me.
So, with having to play “Merry-Go Computers” for the past 6 weeks, how in the heck do I keep all my information from one system to the next?
That’s a good question. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve, and I will give you an outline of how I handled this in the next few posts.
Phone rings. Caller ID says: unknown caller.
I answer
Hello this is Steve from Dell Computers. Is Lisa available?
Me: That’s me
Steve: Hi Lisa, I am calling to give you status on your replacement computer
Me: I thought that shipped already?
Steve: No ma’am, I have for you a new Studio laptop with the original specifications you ordered in your Inspiron
Me: typing to Dell website: I see. Which Studio is it?
Steve: I have for you a new Studio 17 laptop to replace the Inspiron.
Me: Hmmmm, I see the Studio only goes up to a 2.1 ghz processor, the Inspiron I have is 2.2 ghz?
Steve: Yes that is correct Maam. The Studio is 2.1 ghz
Me: What happened to the Vostro you were going to replace the Inspiron with?
Steve: Yes Maam, well you see we can only sell the Vostro to a business account
Me: This is a business account
Steve: Well Maam, we processed your original Inspiron under a home office account not a business account
Me: Well, this is a business, can’t you process the new Vostro as a business account anyway? That way I can get a computer built to my original specifications — you know the one you sent me that BROKE two days after I got it?
Steve: pause
Steve: I am calling to tell you the ship date on your new Studio laptop . . . .
And so it goes …. Fun times with Dell! Wooohooo! Maybe I’ll get a new laptop that actually works sometime before the end of the year. We’ll see.
Downtime on the blog is usually a direct result of a lot of work in progress in the ole web design department. I am aware that I missed our usual Friday Fun event — and for that I have the excuse that my band was playing ’til 1am in Deadwood, South Dakota Friday and Saturday night, plus I had the entire Black Hills Chapter of the Marine Corps League here for a picnic on Saturday. And they roasted a whole buffalo in a pit in my backyard. So there.
To tide you over, here is a neat little online image compression utility I found. I haven’t actually tried it, but it looks like a good deal.
Oh, and remember all those nice things I had to say about Dell a while back? I am reserving my right to change my opinion. I got my new Inspiron a month ago. It broke. Dell promised to send a replacement asap. They did. It was the wrong computer. A nice XPS that won’t work with my programs. I call Dell. Wouldn’t I like to keep the XPS seeing as how it is NICER than the Inspiron I originally ordered?? Ummmmletmethinkaboutit — NO! Okay, they’ll send me the Inspiron I originally ordered seeing as how the one then sent me BROKE. But guess what? In the time it took them to figure all this out, they discontinued the Inspiron in the configuration I ordered. Can’t get the parts to build one that way either. So they have promised to send me a new Vostro. I’m still waiting. I’m not holding my breath either.
Regular blogging to continue as soon as I clear off my desk a little!
Ciao!
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