bookofjoe

bookofjoe makes a lemon souffle — not lemonade — from lemons

For many, many months I've been vexed by TypePad's problems loading pictures for my posts.

The only thing that works is to restart my computer, then post a picture.

And even then it takes several minutes.

Honest.

Help tickets galore yielded only stuff like "people who post often and/or have lots of trackbacks have difficulties sometimes."

Thanks.

That makes me feel better.

Because I'm popular, I've got to pay a steeper price in inconvenience.

I'd estimate that it takes me twice as long to create bookofjoe because of the TypePad picture-uploading bottleneck than if it were as quick as, say, Google.

So.

Lemons et al.

I was just sitting here waiting for a picture not to load when it occurred to me that when I occasionally feature a YouTube movie instead of a picture up top, loading the video ("embedding," in YouTube's parlance) takes zero time: I simply copy and paste the code and I'm good to go.

Look for a lot more in the way of movies to illustrate posts here: much simpler and faster for me, maybe more fun for you.

What's not to like?

w00t!

Sound-Controlled LED Flashlight

From the website:

LED Clapper Flashlight

Big applause for this sound-controlled flashlight

This flashlight steps up illumination with bright LED lighting to one, two and three claps of your hands.

Adjustable strap makes it a great hanging torch for outdoor adventures.

Sure-grip body with rubber hand grip fits adult and kid-sized hands.

Energy-efficient bulbs last up to 10,000 hrs.

Also turns on and off manually.

6-1/4"L x 2-3/4"W.

Water-resistant.

....................

What is the sound of one bulb lighting?

$39.95.

Elizabethan/Shakespearean Dictionary

"Click on a letter to access the Online Shakespearean Dictionary."

Portable Folding Sawhorses

From the website:

Folding Sawhorses

All-steel construction with 1200 lb. capacity

This incredible Folding Sawhorse features heavy-duty 14-gauge steel construction.

Portable fold-up design is perfect for hauling in car trunk, hanging on the wall for storage or storing in a closet.

Each measures 38"L x 4"W x 1-1/4"D folded.

Measures 38"L x 19-1/2"W x 25"H unfolded.

Adjustable height legs (25-34") for additional flexibility and use on uneven surfaces.

1 pair (2 sawhorses) cost $79.

Rocket Science Proprietary Red — Best wine name in the world?

Certainly among the top three.

From Caldwell Vineyard.

$38.99.

Wireless TV Speaker

What a great idea.

When I do this and that in and out of the house, I can keep the audio of my game with me.

Nothing like cleaning out the gutters with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman keeping me company.

From the website:

TV Hear™ Wireless Remote Television Speaker

A wireless plug-and-play TV listening device brings the sound closer to you!

It’s an all-too-common problem: the television is far enough away you need to turn up the sound to the point of disturbing others.

Now, you can enjoy your programs at a reasonable volume by letting TV Hear bring the sound to you!

Order one of these great wireless TV speakers today and restore peace in your household!

Remote TV speakers are great in other rooms, too!

Do you bounce from room to room — trying to cook dinner, for example, while catching the evening news?

TV Hear is helpful for listening to the TV in other rooms.

With a TV listening device that works up to 30 feet away, you’ll never have to miss a beat!

• Simply connect the transmitter to the TV and turn the speaker on

• 900MHz wireless technology transmits crystal-clear sound 30 feet

• Phase Lock Loop (PPL) circuitry never needs tuning

• Uses six AA batteries (not included) or AC adapter

• Uncomplicated power and volume controls

$75.

'How to Dissuade Yourself from Becoming a Blogger'

Now they tell me.

It's from wikiHow.com, and follows.

How to Dissuade Yourself from Becoming a Blogger

What a buzz all the bloggers are making these days! It seems like just about everybody is pouring their musings into a text box. Are you feeling tempted to start a blog of your own? Here are some ways to bypass the trend.

Steps:

1. Find five completely random blogs, and read them daily for a month. After thirty days, you will absolutely dread your self-imposed requirement to read all that dreck. Any blog you create will most likely be on par with what you've been reading. Don't put anyone through that.

2. Consider that your voice, even if it is truly a good one, is a tiny peep against the massive wave of tripe out there. The odds of anyone you don't already know finding your blog are low.

3. Write on a regular basis in Wordpad instead. If that doesn't satisfy your urge, and you feel that you must post your blog online, then you might just be craving attention and validation — which you'll never truly find in a blog. If you give up on your Wordpad journal after about three days, you'll do the same with a blog that just takes up server space.

4. Ask yourself if you really have the time to commit to a blog. What about that treehouse you wanted to build? Or the book you wanted to write? Or the car you wanted to fix up? Or the restaurant you wanted to take your wife to? Or the new career you wanted to pursue? Instead of writing about pretty much nothing, or whining about all the things you wish you were doing instead, start doing something that'd actually be worth writing about. And if it's really worth writing about, you'll be having too much fun doing it to tear yourself away from it.


Tips:

If attention and validation are what you're looking for, know that you will get neither from blogging. As above, very few people will ever know that your blog (or you, by proxy) exists. Of those who do find it, a large percentage will be flamers and trolls, who will only post comments to you about how you suck. The remainder of comments posted to your blog will be sappy treacle, which you won't trust as being sincere anyway.

Consider writing on a wiki instead. Unlike most blogs, wikis like Wikipedia and wikiHow are read by millions of people each month. Several wikiHow authors receive "fan mail" messages every day from appreciative readers. In addition, many authors discover that they enjoy the wiki collaborative writing process more than writing in solitude.


Warning:

The information you post on the Internet is likely to linger for years and years to come, as web pages are archived by "snapshot" services like the Wayback Machine. Once it's out there, you can't take it back. An employer running a Google search on your name years down the line might be turned off by your now documented obsession with your cat.

[via Brian Nelson]

[via nerd and nerdful.com]