The kids have today and Monday off. Today is due to parent-teacher conferences. Monday, I suppose, gives everyone an opportunity to go to the State Fair.
Growing up in Fort Worth, we didn’t get a day off for the fair. Instead, we got a day off at the end of January for the Stock Show and Rodeo. I went a couple of times, but don’t remember much. Just a snapshot of walking in the barn and watching cowboys in the rodeo.
Not going to the State Fair this year. We went last year and that satisfied us for a while. It takes a long time to get there on the DART rail and food and rides cost a bit. Yes, that’s a picture of my boys looking up at the giant Texas Star ferris wheel.
Does your school district have days off for a special community event? Even if a person doesn’t have kids in school, it helps to keep up with the calendar so you don’t attend the community event on the day the students most likely will.
- Social Media Metrics ABCs. Metrics reading can be boring. Definitely not this clever one! [Link: Brad Shorr]
- How To Keep Up With Over 100,000 Twitter Followers. I actually fear having too many followers because I never want anyone to feel hurt if I miss a tweet. Ann Tran shares advice from folks with that many followers.
- 120 Days to a Successful Book Launch. Nice 10-step outline. More applicable to non-fiction.
- Have You Backed Up Your Gmail? Must read if you use Gmail.
For fun because we’re allowed…
- 12 Hilarious Examples of False Advertising. Teachers should use these as a teaching tool.
- Museum of Obsolete Objects. Sad, yet cool. Incredible use of YouTube.
- Poorly Dressed: Halloween. Seriously questionable costumes …
- The Ultimate Nerd Guide to New York City. From The Daily Planet and Mario’s Plumbing to TMNJ HQ and Doc Ock’s lab.
- Celebrity Pumpkin Stencils. Betty White, Ozzy, Steve Jobs, Chuck Norris and lots more.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans
I don’t think the weather realizes this as we continue breaking all kinds of records with this heat wave. Uh oh! Now I’ve got that “Heat Wave” song playing in my head. Both versions. Marilyn Monroe and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. It’s too hot for a picture. It’ll just fall off the page or pop more popcorn.
This one is brief. Didn’t sleep well and you know how I get when I don’t sleep enough. It’s my fault that I didn’t get to bed on time. I became absorbed in some work I needed to do and time escaped me.
Brain food…
- Complete Google+ Cheatsheet. Shortcuts, photos, chat boxes and other helpful tips.
- Do you obsessively check your smartphone? I do, but it’s better than obsessively checking email on my computer where I might let myself reply to a message that can wait. It’s less tempting to reply on my smartphone because it takes more work to type on it.
- Draft Your Platform Action Plan: 5 Worksheets. All writers have a platform, and that includes new ones. [Link: Porter Anderson]
- AlternativeTo. Find alternatives to applications you want to replace. [Link: Kevin Smokler]
For fun because we’re allowed…
- 12 Hilarious Blue Screen of Death Appearances. Will BSOD ever cease to exist? Well, only if Microsoft changes BSOD from blue to red
- 30 Creative Bag Advertisements. [Link: Elisa Miller, my sister]
- World’s Youngest … I’m the youngest of three, but that’s all. I hope these kids are having some semblance of a childhood.
- 12 Hilarious ELAS fails. Math much?
- Summharry: The Complete Harry Potter Story in One Comic. Wow. Impressive.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans
I rarely check out videos because chances are high that it won’t have captions or subtitles. But I bit on this Lenovo-produced video comparing its ThinkPad X300 to the MacBook Air [link: Dave Winer]. It presents a powerful visual message without using words.
But not one to let commercials sway me without research, I wondered how many attachments MacBook Air owners realllllly use. Lenovo smartly added attachments of products it has in its ultraportable Thinkpad X300 to the Mac Air to make people think thinner isn’t always better — you sacrifice some things.
Just looking at the two computers, the Mac Air still wows with its thinness. I found a twitterfriend who owns a Mac Air FabGal — check out our twitversation:
FabGal: Sorry, but mah MacBook Air could kick that ThinkPad’s ass. And also? It’s shiny! And silver! And my preshus. (drool)
Me: Mac Air does still look wowie wow wow. What do you add on to it regularly?
FabGal: I haven’t added anything to it so far. Everything transfered from iBook wirelessly. Am thinking of a superdrive, though.
So there you have it. One owner who doesn’t even have anything on her Mac Air. So seriously, how many Mac Air owners buy attachments and use them regularly? One attachment might not be so bad.
Nonetheless, the message comes through powerfully and will likely sway Windows users not to make the switch to a Mac … not just yet.
Over at Bionic Ear, we often discuss the lack of captions in online videos, which has recently surged due to the writer’s strike. John Erskine of Project readOn pointed to a press release: Study finds companies benefit from removing IT barriers for people with disabilities and boomers.
Since everyone is talking about yesterday’s Super Bowl — one thing disappointed me. Many of the $$$ commercials didn’t have captions. These companies spend ginormous bucks to show their ads during the prime time of commercials and can’t spare a few dollars to add captioning?
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