Doreen Cronin with my youngest

What’s with the noisy title in this edition? Thank you for asking. I bet that those of you with young kids may have figured it out. We met Doreen Cronin, author of Click, Clack, Moo; Thump, Quack, Moo; Duck for President and Diary of a Worm (Amazon affiliate links) — to name a handful. I think a parents enjoyment of reading a book is a good way to measure the quality of a children’s book. You can bet I laugh lots when we read Cronin’s books especially the ones with the cows and duck.

I asked her what she was working on. She said it was the sequel of a chapter book that comes out in the spring. I looked up the chapter book to see if details were available — not yet. I think it’s a great move on her part because the kids — like my youngest – who know her duck and cows book best now read chapter books and beyond. My older son could have discovered her books when he was in the picture book stage — but we didn’t meet them until later.

Dallas Children’s Theater is performing a musical version of Giggle, Giggle, Quack. We hope to catch that one.

Brain food…

• Six Ways Authors Can Promote Books on Facebook: Authors need to take marketing into their own hands and here’s one way to do it.
• 15 Inspiring Home Offices: Kind of makes me appreciate mine more. These setups rock — I like not being against the wall.
• 101 Blogs That Accept Guest Posts: Love this list because it lists the more popular sites as well as the pagerank — but remember pageranking changes and plenty of lower pagerank sites are worth the guest blog post. I also accept guest posts as long as they meet my guidelines. [Link: @txwriter]
• The Cognitive Itch — From Earworms to Déjà Vu: Dealing with can’t get song out of my head, déjà vu moments and tip-of-tongue problems. [Link: Lydia Dishman]
• Become a Book Review Ninja: 10 Steps to Mastery: I’ve been sitting on an how to article for doing book reviews for months. It need spiffying and more storytelling. Well, this is exactly what I was looking for — don’t know that I would’ve used the ninja theme, but I knew a theme would work.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 16 Eye Popping Pixel Sculptures You Have to See: Ah, I remember the days of 8-bit graphics. Who knew it could be taken to another dimension?
• 25 Cool USB Drives: I use a boring basic one. What I need isn’t a cool one but a very short one because the one I have keeps getting hit because of the way it sticks out. Wax seal one brings back memories. Yes, I had one. [Link: Jessica Strawser]
• Beautiful and Funny Illustrations by Tokyo Go Go: Something different, colorful and fun to look at. [Link: @bkkmacdaddy]
• 10 Hilarious Yet Ingenious Solutions to Everyday Problems: I could probably use the t-shirt … but it’d help to make plans to travel to another country first.
• Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air: (Big Fish Games affiliate link) I love this PC game series because of its gorgeous screens, absorbing puzzles and captivating storytelling. Right now, it’s only available as a Collector’s Edition, but this gives you time to try the original, Eternal Maze and the Chosen Child.

Tell us about a time when you met an author in person or a celebrity.

On the original 9/11, I was in my corporate job in Richardson, TX. I could not believe what people were telling me about airplanes and World Trade Center. Of course, the Internet was overloaded with everyone wondering the same thing. Took hours before we got the full story. I hope the survivors and the families of those who passed are doing OK and carrying on as their loved ones would want them to.

• Reuters Handbook of Journalism: You know… a style guide [Link: Smashing Magazine].
• Writer Unleashed 25 Best Writing Blogs 2009
• How to Develop into a Leader on Twitter
• Case Study: Can You Launch a New Site with Twitter Alone?
• Must See SEO Guide for All WordPress Bloggers: Must find time to ensure this site follows these recommendations.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Do you leave your USB drive in your pants and wash them often? Hubby has MANY times (dryer, too) and his Kingston USB still works!
• This Is Photobomb: Hilarious photos.
• Official Seal Generator
• Icon Finder: Search solely focused on icons.

My favorites that I haven’t posted here from CNN 10 Humor Sites…

• My Life Is Average: It only took six days before my first grader forgot his take home folder. Five for my 5th grader.
• My Parents Joined Facebook: My mom did, but I’m cool with that. Daughter not so happy about me on FB.
• Laser Portraits: Think Star Trek light sabers in the background.
• Historical Tweets: Taking famous scenes and tweeting them. Star Trek’s Trouble with Tribbles: “@Spock Would you consider investing in a powder puff export business?” Written by: Heather Turner of Forfeng Designs
• GraphJam: Charts, charts, charts, baby!

The process of adding USB 2.0 ports took no time and the backup system is mighty fast. If you add USB 2.0 ports with a PCI port card, then you’ll still have your USB 1.1 ports, so whatever is plugged into those can stay.

Rob Foster from the UK sent me a port PCI USB card since he had a few extras. Thanks again, Rob. When installing hardware or devices, most situations require loading the software FIRST before doing anything else. This one didn’t – so be sure to check this out before attempting to put the card in. Before starting the process, be sure you have an open PCI slot , a standard slot that has one big connector with a small one behind it.

Turn off the computer, if it is not already. Take off the CPU case. How this is done depends on the CPU. If you lost or misplaced the manual, I’m sure your computer manufacturer has info online. Google it, if needed. Slide the PCI card into the open PCI slot.

At this point, you can cover up the CPU, but some people leave it off until turning on the computer and checking all is OK. When turning on this little feller, it found the new card right away and worked. I didn’t even have to run the software. The card came with four USB ports, one of which holds the backup system. It took under two hours to back up the computer (get size), faster and easier than the tape back up.

Well, it only took a year or so to get around to adding the USB 2.0 ports as that’s about how long the back up system has been sitting here taunting me.

It’s done! The process of adding USB 2.0 ports took no time and the backup system is mighty fast. If you add USB 2.0 ports with a PCI port card, then you’ll still have your USB 1.1 ports, so whatever is plugged into those can stay.

Rob Foster from the UK sent me a port PCI USB card since he had a few extras. Thanks again, Rob. When installing hardware or devices, most situations require loading the software FIRST before doing anything else. This one didn’t – so be sure to check this out before attempting to put the card in. Before starting the process, be sure you have an open PCI slot, a standard slot that has one big connector with a small one behind it.

Turn off the computer, if it is not already. Take off the CPU case. How this is done depends on the CPU. If you lost or misplaced the manual, I’m sure your computer manufacturer has info online. Google it, if needed. Slide the PCI card into the open PCI slot.

At this point, you can cover up the CPU, but some people leave it off until turning on the computer and checking all is OK. When turning on this little feller, it found the new card right away and worked. I didn’t even have to run the software. The card came with four USB ports, one of which holds the backup system. It took under two hours to back up the computer (get size), faster and easier than the tape back up.

Well, it only took a year or so to get around to adding the USB 2.0 ports as that’s about how long the back up system has been sitting here taunting me.

One less item on the to do list and <mumbles> to go.