RKNet Blog... Thing

In case you missed the announcement:

The Location: Adelle’s Coffeehouse, 3 Hale St., Dover NH 03820
The Time: Sunday, October 5th 11am to 1pm
The Goal: To provide an open, informal, and comfortable learning environment for anyone who is interested in “new media”, specifically internet-based forms of media, and the systems and tools which make the newest forms of media run, Macs, Windows PCs, and *nix-based systems. If you don’t know the first thing about Macs, Windows PCs or what *nix even is, it’s ok. If using the formatting tools on your email program are intimidating, or if the term “formtatting tools” leaves you at a loss for words, that’s ok too.

Meeting #1 - “Intro to Blogging“. Which will encompass a very broad range of topics, all relating to publishing on the internet and what it takes to get started and how to learn more about the aspects that interest you most.

Learn to format your writing for the internet by learning the basics of HTML.
Resources:

• http://www.webmonkey.com/
• http://www.w3schools.com/ (Refer to the XHTML 1.0 link to the right.)

Jump in and produce content.

• http://wordpress.comGet a wordpress hosted blog, with all the tools and controls of a personal wordpress installation.
• https://www.blogger.com With a simple but flexible interface, this hosted blogging platform from Google is a popular choice.
• http://www.livejournal.com/ One of the most popular places on the net to maintain a personal journal, with a massive community to tap into for inspiration, this is a good place to sharpen your skills.

Explore different CMS options and figure out what’s right for you.

• http://www.blogperfume.com/ - more info about blogging and using CMS-driven websites.
• http://www.cushycms.com/
• http://wordpress.org/ - What RKNet runs on, a popular and powerful CMS option that’s fairly easy to learn.
• http://textpattern.com/What Adelle’s site runs on, a lean CMS that’s designed to be flexible for different needs.
• http://drupal.org/Another modular CMS option for building websites.
• http://www.movabletype.org/

Get into the thick of it, take charge of your site design! Also, plugins, plugins, plugins!

• http://www.yaml.de/en/home.htmlInformation on creating flexible, valid multi-column layouts.
• http://www.alistapart.com/A valuable resource for all things website creation.
• http://www.noupe.com/
• http://nettuts.com spoonfed web skills
• http://wordpress.org/extend/
• http://wpcandy.com/

In the spirit of anarcho-capitalist-warm-fuzzy-anti-establishment (alright so that’s pushing it) consciousness expansion and technological empowerment, I am proud to announce the foundation of a series of meeting guaranteed to satiate your curiosity, tittilate your senses, and delight your sense of accomplishment. It’s an offshoot of NH Media Makers geared towards creating a fun learning environment for new technlogies.

The Location: Adelle’s Coffeehouse, 3 Hale St., Dover NH 03820

The Time: Sunday, October 5th 11am to 1pm - Date and Time unconfirmed! Watch this post for changes!
Meeting will officially start at 11:30 to give everyone time to mingle and get settled. Meeting may end earlier or run later than 1pm. Let me know if there are any conflicts here!

The Goal: To provide an open, informal, and comfortable learning environment for anyone who is interested in “new media”, specifically internet-based forms of media, and the systems and tools which make the newest forms of media run, Macs, Windows PCs, and *nix-based systems. If you don’t know the first thing about Macs, Windows PCs or what *nix even is, it’s ok. If using the formatting tools on your email program are intimidating, or if the term “formtatting tools” leaves you at a loss for words, that’s ok too.

Meeting #1: Intro to Blogging

This is for the person who says to themselves “I want to get my writing published on the internet, and I want it to look professional and attractive.” Or “How do I write things to put up on the internet?” Or “What the heck is a blog?”

For this meeting, I can and will personally commit to going over the basics of Wordpress, since I am most familiar with that. I will also go over some HTML 101 topics, which is critical for writers who wish to publish on the internet. I am looking for help for people who want to talk about other platforms, TypePad, Drupal, etc etc.

The only requirement for attending is a desire to learn more about computers and the internet. The requirement for presenting is to have something you want to share with others. That’s absolutely it.

Of course we’ll do our best to stick to one topic per meeting, to give all attendees the best introduction and help on each of the billion topics as possible.

I am also looking for is people who want to learn! Tell everybody and their brother who has ever wanted to publish something to the internet. Come find out how to run your very own blog, and help us decide what the most enticing topic of conversation is for the next meetup!

Future ideas include:

• HTML and CSS 101 - Don’t even know what CSS stands for? That’s ok! Learn the basics of HTML, XHTML and CSS, and get reference resources and practice ideas.
• Video meeting - From the basics of using your webcam to slap a video up on YouTube, to putting together or participating in a web series.
• Photography meeting - Photophiles share their favorite techniques, tips, and equipment recommendations. Figure out how to share your work, get noticed, and enjoy photography more.
• Podcast/audio meeting - Wonder what a podcast is? Want to know how to listen to them, even if you don’t have an iPod? Want to learn how to make audio to distribute via “podcast” or the internet? We’ll go over all that good stuff!
• Image editing - Ever wonder how the captions get on all those lolcats? Want to crop a photo so you can email it? There are all kinds of easy ways to edit images, and lots of folks to share their favorite techniques.
• M$ Alternatives - Don’t want to pay for licenses for the Inext generation of Microsoft Office or Outlook? That new version of AIM really making your computer choke? There are alternatives, and best of all… they’re 100% FREE.
• TV Alternatives - Don’t throw away your television, but do figure out how to make your home network, internet-based content and your TV circumvent your pricey cable bill.
• Windows 101 - Learn more about the system you might have been working with for years. What to turn off, what to keep on, how to maintain and support one of the most popular OSes in the world for the best possible experience.
• Mac 101 - Learn what it takes to make the most out of a system known for it’s sleek, artful presentation. It’s not just for artists and college students! Come see the real thing and learn how enjoyable and approachable the Mac OS can be.
• Linux 101 - No neckbeard required. It’s an open-source (community supported), lean, mean operating system. Linux may run some your favorite sites, but it can run your home computer in ways you might not have expected.

And that’s really just the list of topics I came up with in a short amount of time. There are probably a few dozen that could take up several meetings to cover the basics! Of course no one has to attend ALL meetings, and I’d encourage everyone to follow their passion and speak their mind. These meetings are meant for you, for me, and for anyone else who wants to attend. As I learned from the GI Joe cartoon: Knowing is half the battle. If you’re fighting with your concerns that you just “don’t get” computers, or code, or a specific kind of tech, it’s OK! Bring your questions, bring your lack of experience. We’re here to share!

So please, comment, email, tell a friend. We’ll be here, and we’d love to see you, too.

Note: I’d love to be able to webcast or record the instruction part of the session for future reference, anybody interested in helping with that, email me.

• @rodzilla I like the idea of searching for music a lot more than I do uploading it all ala muxtape’s model #
• @rodzilla it’s so much fun, I’ve already done at least 3 #
• @rodzilla hahaha. that makes sense, I’ve been going ga-ga over the service lately #
• going to play on mixwit now, I just can’t help it #
• @rickjulian Fage is the beeeest! Oh my goodness. with cherries? nom nom nom #
• @rickjulian even better! I wish it wasn’t so expensive. you ever try Kefir (yogurt drink by lifeway)? #
• @rickjulian lucky! :) i wonder if it’s safe to mail order yogurt… #
• @rickjulian is she still raving at whoever will take the bait? #
• got some curious traffic earlier, makes me wonder if I’m being watched (in a good way i hope) #
• @geechee_girl I stil haven’t quite gotten the hang of hash tags #

Editor’s Note: Seriously, non-stop Tweeting all weekend.
Read the rest of this entry »

• @bloggersblog hear hear, viva la literature! #
• Gah. I wake up to an internet fight over twitter. that’s like waking up & walking into a bar argument #
• pro baseball? overpaid children. for most people, the local bar owner is more personally important. #
• @chrisgarrett huh. we were just talking about ALICE yesterday. I heard she was a bitch. looks like it fits your theory #
• @chrisgarrett it goes back to at least the 19th http://tinyurl.com/3b2s96 #
• When I read about the internet being an instrument for social destruction I think "good, there’s a lot of cleaning up to do" #
• @chrisgarrett omg, no wonder you’re so up in arms, these strumpette people can kiss my ass. paranoids. #
• Riddle me this: how can you espouse your negative opinions about the internet on the internet, and expect any respect? #
• I’m not so sure that a luddite, pro-expert, pro-professional should be arguing on twitter. it screams hypocrite #
• @chrisgarrett you have to be published on dead trees or harass someone who’s been on tv to be pro, duh #

Editor’s note: man I was a twitter whore today. cut for length.
Read the rest of this entry »

• @jbancroft must be a big dang plane to need that many pilots #
• curly wheat pasta drenched in simple tomato basil sauce. om nom nom nom #
• @steveswrong I signed up for some basic media embedding worked ok couple times used #
• sms tweeters, what kinda tech you packin? #
• I just registered worstbarever.com .org & .net who wants to touch me? #
• hahaha. thanks @iScatterling #
• @iscatterling oooh… that’s good too! too bad I’m outta money. XD #
• I <3 @brianshaler #
• @brianshaler Oh god oh god I hope the quotes weren’t necessary! #

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• I ID’d a colonist from Aliens as the Captain from Red Dwarf. I am PIMP #
• Did I mention I only saw Red Dwarf for the first time ever yesterday? #
• watching Aliens again. wish I had a copy of Event Horizon to watch afterwards. it’s like peas n carrots! #
• @brianshaler I’ve had at least 1 new follower who seems more about pushing a biz via twitter than anything. I feel yer pain re: 30boxes #
• @gapingvoid DAMMIT! I was in TX a few months ago, right next to a sonic, and i SO missed out. *jealous* #
• not use a social media for experiments or games? I respect @annaleen but it seems paranoid & grumpy #
• This snow is offensive to me. #
• @joanmarie i’ve been sick all week and I walked .25mi with trees pooing snow on me X_X #
• http://tweetstats.com/graphs/Giania infoporn on my tweeting habits! #
• I’ve decided I’m going to follow everyone who follows me, ‘cept other teams. @teamoctarine is where it’s at #
• @drhypercube innit? found it via http://tinyurl.com/2twblw #
• @drhypercube I’m adding a twitter plugin (&updating my other WP plugins) right now #
• @jabancroft thank you for your mention of TwitterTools, I couldn’t find that info anywhere else! #
• just got some REAL sudafed from a coworker. there may be breathing in my future! #
• @iscatterling DUDE. you are Xtreeeeme! :P headcolds are beyond sucky, ya know? #
• @patrickcurl of course it’s okay to ask! Part of having a network is leveraging their help :) #
• man, I really gotta get around to canceling my stupid, useless cable #
• sudafed can’t quite keep up, tea getting cold. oh lawd what will I do?? #
• @gapingvoid I like the idea of PRT. short, recognizable, etc. #
• @gapingvoid you already got my yes vote on PRT! :D #

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Because I’ve caught a serious case of Twitter fever, I’ve added the TwitterTools plugin, which will daily dump my meaningless tweets (from my personal twitter, not the RKNet twitter) into a single post. The benefit of this is that you, gentle readers, will be privvy to the exciting (HA) life of yours truly, and get the added benefit of all the neat links that I tweet, but neglect to del.icio.us and totally don’t bother blogging about.

The other plugin is more for me, and doesn’t have nearly as much of a direct effect on the content of this blog (yet). I finally got around to adding the WPStats plugin and I honestly don’t know how I went without it for so long. Granted, the stats provided by FeedBurner are pretty good, but I need something more directly related to my actual site traffic. While additions like Clickheat are fun, they aren’t necessarily the strongest measure of visitors and activity. In a text-based medium, you’ve got to know what text brings people to you, and what text keeps them there.

Pretty excited about the whole thing. You should be too! It ultimately means I can monitor to see what makes you the visitors the most happy, and increase the volume on those subjects to 11.

P.S. How do the google ads look? Obtrusive? Not awesome enough? Discuss. I’m hoping that they will eventually start actually trending towards being “contextual” so there can be some halfway decent sponsors in the mix. I also have designs on cleaning this place up (a lot) and re-appealing to Project Wonderful’s review staff so I can then allow real humans to display fun ads for their neat stuff on my blog.

• so can people see what I choose to track? #
• I need to learn what adding # to subjects does #
• sweet mother of mercy, another seo-type! :) hi @andrewbaron #

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Traipsing about my collection of RSS links, as I am oft wont to do, I discovered one labeled Blackr. Despite the obvious Web 2.0 name, it struck me as curious and I proceeded.

Blackr is described as a way to view Flickr content without all the noise of navigation, comments, and various whatnots. There weren’t any examples provided, but the general concept was sound.

I was presented with four bookmarklet options: black background, black background with a white border, white background, and white background with a black border. I chose the bookmarklet for viewing pictures with a black background and a white border.

As a test, I hopped over to Gatochy’s photo stream, a personal favorite Flickr gallery. Picking an enchanting photo of Anna May Wong, I clicked the bookmarklet with my breath held for impending browser doom. (As an Opera user, I tend to be a little skeptical of neat new add-ons, as most of them are designed with Firefox in mind.)

The results?

Wow! The photo really stands out with the crisp border and the dark background, like putting diamonds on black velvet. I imagine that this tool would be most useful for people who have to find photos for a specific purpose and need a lightbox approach to viewing Flickr images. People who really prefer a minimalist approach to image searching, and people who like fancy web toys might also find a lot of use for this bookmarklet.

It’s also got keyboard shortcuts available to change the background/border, and to turn the effect off so you can continue on your Flickr-y way. (The 1,2,3,4 options listed on the Blackr site don’t work for me, as they’re already assigned as Opera shortcuts.)

All in all, a really neat bookmarklet tool for Flickr fanatics! I give it a 4 out of 5.

A while back I wrote an article discussing the less-than-finer points of an invention known as the “shenis”. The inventor happened by here just yesterday and decided to let me know that she wasn’t terribly enthused by my rather negative first impression.

Well, once the subject of “what’s a girl to do when there’s no sit-down toilet services available?” was broached, someone was kind enough to mention a similar invention they’d heard of in years past.

The invention in question was developed in 1988 by a Dutch woman named Moon Zijp and is called the P-mate. It’s a simple cardboard funnel, really. It can be folded for discreet and space-saving storage. It comes with a baggie for disposal (or sanitary storage if immediate disposal isn’t available). Most importantly, it allows women the alternative of peeing standing up when conditions merit it.

Now maybe it won’t let you pee off the side of a boat as perfectly as a twelve inch golden dong, but at least I won’t have to worry about urine in my purse afterward. For purchase of the P-mate in the US, please see their US-based order-and-info site.