SomedayQuilter: Computers and Internet

Smiley Central

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 17:00:08 GMT

Just in case some of you have wondered where I and TheGreatPretender among others get those really cute and cool emoticons - we get them from places like Smiley Central. Although I'm appreciative of Scott & Jason doing a plug-in for live writer that at least gives us the basic messenger smileys (emoticons) I do wish for more. I find myself debating whether to use the built in blog writer or live writer even though live writer has so much to offer. Basically it comes down to pros and cons:

built in blog writer -

upside 1. when you're in edit mode it's easy to just hit add and type in your blog. 2. I can use all the cool smileys from Smiley Central.

downside 1. almost non-existent font choice. 2. the add photos button only does itsy bitsy ones down at the bottom. You have to go to extra work and a hosting site to put large ones in your blog.

live writer -

upside 1. uses the vast collection of fonts I have on my computer. 2. lets me easily insert pictures, maps, tags, flickr, etc. 3. the view is exactly what it well look like when published. 4. lets me publish to any number of different blogs including non-spaces ones, all from one writer.

downside 1. separate application and slow to load. 2. only has very basic messenger smileys (with the new plug-in) and won't let me use Smiley Central.

I know it may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, but just look at the cute ones I found today.

Are those not perfect for me, or what? Quilting, gardening, scrapbooking.

Live writer is a really fantastic tool and is still in the beta phase, so please, please, please can I have my smiley central emoticons? Some of us are just very visual by nature and enjoy the fun and color of them and the meaning they convey.

Talking about Windows Live Mail Desktop Beta

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 04:01:10 GMT

I just downloaded the Windows Live Mail Desktop Beta and it's lookin' good. You can have all your e-mail accounts and Rss feeds come into one place and I'm writing this in the e-mail program and it will publish directly to my blog. Is that cool or what?

SomedayQuilter

Ten Things Spaces Can't Do

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:07:39 GMT

Be sure to head over to Altered Spaces (wideawakewesley) to read his blog entry Windows Live Spaces: Basic Things You Can't do. He's encouraging us to not only read it, but to comment and add our ideas as to things we would like to be able to do with our space. He will be passing his list and our comments on to the Spaces Team.

For those of you who have noticed and commented on the modules I've added to my space or changes I've made to it, Wes from Altered Spaces and Dev from Hack MSN Spaces are the guys who get the credit for that. I just followed the instructions in their tutorials and lo and behold I had all kinds of neat things.

Talking about How to add a Banner to your space

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 22:16:41 GMT

Here's a great tutorial from Wes and Dev on adding a banner to your space.

How to add a Banner to your space

Add a Banner to your Space to give it some personal touch, it will make a lot of difference.
First,
You will need a Custom HTML PowerToy. Click here to get one.
Once you've added the Custom HTML PowerToy to your Space, you'll need to perform the following steps:
·         Choose the image you wish to use as your banner. This may be one you have stored on your PC or one that already exists online. In each case, do the following:
·         If the image is already stored on your PC, upload it to the internet and get the www. Address/ URL. Click here to learn how to.
·         If you want to use an image that already exists online on someone else's website, save the image (right-click and select Save Picture As) to your PC and then upload it as mentioned above. (Please respect other’s copyrights)
·         Copy the URL of the uploaded Image.
·         In the Custom HTML module/box, enter the following text, making sure to replace the red text with the direct link to image URL you noted down earlier (ctrl + c ctrl + v to hurry the process):

<DIV ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="Image URL here">
</DIV>

·         Once you've entered the text above, make sure the Show Borders tickbox is unticked and that you have left the Module Name field blank.
·         Press the ‘Save’ button.
·         Preview your space. Done!
You should now have a lovely banner image adorning your Space. Should the dimensions of the image prove too large, modify the image in an image editing program and perform the steps above again.

It's also possible to add a banner that stretches the full width of your Space. In order to do this you will need to create a banner that is 985 pixels wide. You will also need to ensure that the Custom HTML module is the very last module loaded when you view your Space. To do this, place the Custom HTML module in the bottom right hand corner of your Space.
In order to make your banner appear across the top of your Space, use the following code in the Custom HTML module:

<pre></pre></tbody></table><pre>
</pre></a><div><td><tr></td></div>
<img src="Image URL here">

Tip: Use your blog editing tools to get the desired display. Create a new blgo entry. Get your Banner on it Using codes given above) and adjust size, alignment, add hyperlinks, etc. Click on the <html> button to get the HTML code for this arrangement. Copy the code and paste it into the HTML module and click 'Save'. Dont publish the entry. Cancel it.
Also.. You can get multiple HTML modules and use one for the banner and the other one for adding counters, clock, etc. Advanced Users only!
Original tutorial by Altered Spaces

Report any errors !
A d3vmax | hack msn spaces production
*Attach the link above if you are copying or track-backing this blog*

Talking about Windows Live Spaces - It’s Here!

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:35:34 GMT

This is copied from The Space Craft blog. My own review is below it.

Windows Live Spaces - It’s Here!

Hey Spaces Fans!

We’re thrilled to announce that Windows Live Spaces has just released and we hope you’re loving it! We’ve talked about some of the cool new features of Windows Live Spaces, but if you’re not sure where to start, here are a couple of tips:

1. Set-up your friends list. Simply add the new Friends Module to your space, or click here to automatically add it to your space, and start inviting your friends. Once your friends accept your invitation, they will appear to visitors of your space. You can also explore your contacts’ friends (and their friends too) directly from Windows Live Messenger. Simply click on your contact’s Messenger icon to view their contact card, and then click on the “View this contact’s Friends list” icon on the bottom right hand corner of the contact card. This will launch the cool new Friends Explorer feature that will allow you to easily navigate through lists of friends.

2. Add gadgets. Jazz up your space by adding cool new gadgets. All you need to do is click on the “Customize” link in your Space when you are in the editor mode, and then click on the link titled “Add gadgets from Windows Live Gallery” to be taken to the Windows Live Gallery where you can select gadgets you want to add to your space. Check out the “Updated Spaces” gadget we just added to The Spacecraft! You can add this gadget automatically to your space too by simply clicking here.

You will also notice that we heard your feedback on photo navigation features and have brought back the filmstrip as a result!

To find out more of the cool new features of Windows Live Spaces, check out http://discoverspaces.live.com/. You can also check out spaces guru Mike Torres’ video, where he demos how easy it is to use the new Windows Live Spaces here.

Have fun and let us know what you think of the new Windows Live Spaces!

The Spaces Team

Live Has Arrived

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:05:03 GMT

Well, they told us it was coming and lo and behold here it is. Yesterday must have been implementation day because I went to my space last night and it was all screwed up. Earlier in the evening I couldn't get to it at all so I figured they were making the changes. At first I was thinking GRRRR they've totally messed up my space and all my hard work, but then I told myself to be patient as it would probably take several hours for this huge undertaking. After all, don't they have millions of users? So, I calmed myself down and played around with stuff to see what worked and what didn't while I waited. Sure enough, about 1am it started looking better and more like my space and the various buttons/customization controls began working. Finally at 2am I went to bed figuring I'd check it out some more today. There are, of course, changes/differences from the old msn spaces. Change always takes getting use to and time to figure out how everything works, but it's not all bad. Here's what I've found so far:

Wider page. YEAH team. A much needed improvement and they've also centered it. Of course, that means the modules have also changed size and I'll be making some changes to my layout.
Modules. The look of the modules has changed as well as their size. I like the larger size. They now have square corners instead of the rounded ones. I was rather partial to the rounded corners because they have a softer look and it made msn look different from the other blogs out there. The change in the modules also included the colors and the title bar which changes the overall look of the space and for the most part looks very nice. I checked out some of the other themes I like and found that change to be one I liked in some of them while in others I did not like the change at all.
Title module. What the ? They've done away with the title/tagline at the top and made it a module. I understand the concept (it's movable and makes your title part of your layout), but that's all it is. It's plain and ugly and until the button works to eliminate it I will move it to the bottom of the page. With the wonderful banners some of us make it's unnecessary anyway. Personally, I liked the old one at the top.
They've also changed the background color that shows on the sides. For instance, on mine it used to be the darker color that is at the top and now is the same light pink of the patterned background behind the modules. It makes for a more even flow and less of a choppy appearance, but whether you like it or not is totally personal preference based on whether you like what they chose for your particular theme.
The sandbox and media modules seem to be working fine, but the tweak one seems to have problems. It could be we won't be able to tweak the appearance of our space quite so much. We'll have to wait and see.
The buttons and basic workings of the space are close enough to the old to be easily figured out and shouldn't be a problem. Just a few minor changes. I'll know more after I've played with it more.
And of course there are new modules to be investigated.

Windows Live Spaces

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 08:08:09 GMT

Here's the latest info on Windows Live from Torres Talking by Mike Torres

Oh Boy

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 02:43:08 GMT

Oh Boy, now I know how mochamomma and mad dad felt when people misinterpret, take offense or fail to see the humor in what you wrote. I don't write a lot and most of what I do write is everyday happenings or fluff and fun type stuff, but the other day I felt ranty and wrote a piece about don't move to Oregon. Most took it in good humor (remember - tongue is most often planted firmly in cheek), but two who of course left no name or link thought I was being overly negative and unfriendly. Come on people! Take a look at my space - is it not primarily a happy, friendly place? I am probably one of the most friendly people you could meet. In fact, you could say that I go off the charts on the extrovert/friendly scale. But even happy friendly people are entitled to a down day or a rant once in awhile. Maybe that's what they were having - a down day. Either that or they are incredibly serious individuals, in which case they need to visit TVandStuff for a good dose of humor. I do hate all the traffic and such that a rapid increase in population brings, but I don't dislike people or begrudge them wanting to move to a beautiful, wonderful, friendly place like the Portland area or anywhere else in Oregon for that matter.

Meanwhile it's been great fun having all the new visitors and reading their comments. You've been so kind to someone who still feels very much like a beginner and yet also feeling like I'm getting the hang of it. Some of you have even said that you found my space inspirational *blush* when it comes to building your own. That is exactly how I built mine - by checking out the other spaces and learning how to do what I saw and liked. I'm trying to get back to each one of you to thank you *in person*, so to speak.

Wow

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:06:44 GMT

Wow, people are congratulating me on being featured so this must be the week. Msn never told me which week it would be. Guess I'll go take a look and see what they said.

To all my new visitors

Welcome

I hope you enjoy your visit to my little space on the internet. Please leave a comment in the guestbook or on a blog entry and I'll stop by to visit you.

Spaces Live

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 18:42:01 GMT

Spaces Live is supposed to come alive by the end of July.

Does anybody know whether all the work (customization) that we've done to our spaces will disappear or continue on?

What I've seen of the examples looks very plain and definitely different from what we currently have.

I'm excited to see and experience all of the new stuff, but at the same time am a little anxious about the possibility of losing what I like about the current spaces and the work I've put into mine.

OMGosh

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:46:11 GMT

OMGosh! I can't believe the email I just got, well actually I didn't just get it - I just opened it. I've made it a practice not to open mail from people I don't know and usually delete it, but this one from the 12th had escaped my attention. The subject and sender's address looked ok so I decided to open it. THEY WANT TO FEATURE MY SPACE on What's Your Story! At least that's what the email said. Of course, I don't know if the email was ligit and it may mean months from now, but gee whiz, I better start honing my writing skills. You know, those non-exsistant ones, or at any rate miniscule ones that only seem to show up when I'm making comments on other people's spaces. Bill, Chris, can you believe it? I owe it all to finding your spaces which inspired me to give blogging a try.

Changes on space

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 00:14:20 GMT

My space was doing really strange things last night and then disappeared altogether so I knew they must be implementing the changes and sure enough today shows the change in my address. I like the change in the address and it makes sense to me, but I do not like what they did to the photo album. It doesn't look as nice and takes up way more space. The old one was better in my book and I want it back!

What other changes are they going to be making? Has anybody tried the spaces live they've been talking about?

I'm not sure why, but

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 18:26:23 GMT

I'm not sure why, but since discovering msn spaces and setting one up I've become fascinated (or addicted ) to visiting other spaces and continuing to fool with my own. I decided to visit my first attempt at blogging which was on Blogger back in February 2005. I had exactly one written entry and several photos and hadn't been back since (or at least hadn't added anything), but hey, I had great fun setting it up. The entry is very similar to the first entry I posted on this page and I have included it below. I learned two things -

Even though I know myself well and am being honest with what I write, I have to quit with the self-fullfilling prophecy! Habits do not go away on their own (that's why you don't have to think about them - they're on automatic pilot). You have to replace them with a new, more desirable habit. I'm always saying "I'm not a writer" and the action that follows those words is 'You Guessed It' - I don't write.
There's been improvement on the stick with it front - at least a little bit anyway. I not only set this one up, but I've stuck with it for 2 whole months now! Stand up and clap you people.

February 2005

Computers - How did I become so addicted to sitting in front of this thing? My husband & son had to drag me into using it 6 years ago and now they can't drag me away from it. Five years ago I closed my business and had some surgery which left me with lots of time to just play with it and figure out how things worked. Before long I was adding software, installing & uninstalling, downloading, changing or adding new equipment and fiddling with the settings on just about everything. I find I enjoy setting stuff up even more than using what I've set up. Who knew? I've always been pretty good at figuring things out and understanding directions which has made me the one to set up the phones, cameras, and computers (I now have 2) and then tell my husband what buttons to push. :)

Talking about URL Changes

Tue, 23 May 2006 23:44:58 GMT

Thanks to WideAwakeWesley for the heads up on these changes. I blogged this from spacecraft.

URL Changes

All MSN Spaces Users:

Please note that your MSN Space's URL will change on June 5, 2006. As part of investments in the improvement of MSN Spaces, it we will be migrating all of the URLs from http://spaces.msn.com/<NAME> to http://<NAME>.spaces.msn.com. (For instance, instead of http://spaces.msn.com/thespacecraft/ you will now see http://thespacecraft.spaces.msn.com.)

On and after June 5th, all viewers and users going to the "old" URL will be automatically redirected to the new URL. In addition, your MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger buddies will also be automatically directed to the new URL when they click on your contact card to view your Space. We want to assure you that all of your data and information will remain intact, and we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely,
The MSN Spaces Team

Table #2

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:47:00 GMT

Thanks to HMS

for all that info

Table

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:42:01 GMT

Customize Your Space

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 06:35:06 GMT

Media Player Powertoy - how to

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 23:26:16 GMT

Hi - for those interested - this is how to install and use the media player on your space. Log on to your space and go to edit mode and customize. In the address bar - at the end of what is already there - add "&powertoy=musicvideo" - without the quotation marks and no spaces and click on go. Then click on customize and go to modules. You will now find the player listed, click on it and it will now be installed on your page. Wow - first step accomplished! Now for that blasted URL everybody talks about, but doesn't tell you how to get. In order to have your player play something you need to insert the url to a song. It doesn't work to simply have the song on your computer (although that is where you start) you have to have it somewhere out there on the internet. Go to File Lodge or similar site that allows you to store files on the internet (free of charge by the way). Sign up, click on upload, follow the directions (I used drag & drop), upload a song from your computer. When the upload is complete click on files, a list of the songs you've uploaded will appear, select the song you want and click on linking codes. A box now appears with your song inside it and above it is the ability to change the format, click on URLs and magically your song is now usable. Click on copy to clipboard and OK. Now go back to your space in edit mode, in URL box on media player module insert the song by clicking on paste in Internet Explorer. As far as I know, this copy paste thing only works in Internet Explorer. Have fun & enjoy the music!

I did it!

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 07:40:37 GMT

I finally figured out how to not only get the media player installed on my space, but actually got music on it, too! I searched through the Q & A and Spacecraft until I found the information I needed. I had to set up a free account on File Lodge to upload music from my computer and then from there you get the URL to copy it into the media player. It took me several tries to get it right, but now I have music on my space. It doesn't seem to allow more then one song. I hope they'll change that.

Well, here goes!

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 07:02:16 GMT

I was brought into the computer age (kicking and screaming) when my husband bought us a computer in July of 1999. Within 6 months I was totally hooked and knew more about using it and how it worked then he did. He uses one everyday for work (drafting) and that's about all he wants to know about them. I'm self-taught though and have a tremendous amount of holes in my knowledge (due mostly to wanting to tinker and play rather then read manuals). I'm definitly going to have to apply some discipline in that area because I'm horribly inefficient and spend an awful lot of time figuring things out (more than once when it's something I haven't used in awhile). I have no background or schooling in anything computer related (gee whiz guys - I was born almost before television).

I also tend to live in my own little world at times or figure I'll do such and such when I get around to it (I'm sure you know how that is). Consequently I'm only now attempting to put some time and energy into creating my own space and blogging. I've started to do it on other sites, but never really finished and kept it up. I guess I like organizing and setting it up more then maintaining it. I like the way this is set up and how easy it makes the putting together of a page and the variety of looks. I've never been a writer or kept a journal, but this seems like fun. Maybe I'll stretch myself for a change.

I guess I could have figured that between my husband and me, I'd turn out to be the techno geek. I've always loved gadgets and toys and am better (or more patient) at figuring things out. Funny thing is he's the one that insisted on our first dishwasher, microwave and computer. Once he got me on board though it fell right in line with my picking out stereo components, cameras, sewing machines, etc. Of course, there's years at a time when I know nothing about any of it because I'm not looking to replace something (or lack funds ). Right now I'm using a Nikon D100 although I will occasionly drag out my film camera (Nikon N8008s). I stick with Nikon because I can use my existing lenses and they're really great cameras. I gave my Coolpix 950 (my first digital) to my daughter-in-law and she is enjoying it. My dream now is to have the new D200 and a small pocket size one.