a visionary

"We say most aptly that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves."

-- Ada Lovelace (1843)

Ada Lovelace Day

technorati revisited: site categories

When you register your blog with Technorati, you must choose 1-3 preselected categories to describe it.

There are special categories for "Anime" and "Hockey" but none for "History" or "Biography" or even a vague "Social Sciences." Or for that matter, "Education." My blog is pure history/biography. I wound up choosing "Home" (I do talk about Thomas Jefferson's home life and sneak in a recipe now and then), U.S. Politics" (even though this is completely about the years after he retired from politics), and "Celeb" (even though most people would understand that to mean gossip about living or recently dead celebrities, rather than serious biography about founding fathers).

technorati revisited: blog registration

Went to Technorati today to register my Jefferson blog. The process has become less error-laden but more complicated since I registered this blog doing Thing 14 last year.

What they don't tell you is that after you fill out the first part, you've got to go back to your profile, and under "My Claimed Blogs" click "Check Claim." Since you've just been told your status is being processed, so there seems to be no reason to check it. Good thing I got curious. It takes you to a page with a code you have to insert into a post. Yep, a silly , distracting, confusing, random string of letters and numbers to put up before your public audience. It's especially glaring in a blog like the one I was registering, which is built on the conceit that it was written 200 years ago. Really messes up the mood.

this puts the "personal" in "personal computer"

Skin-based interface transforms the body into a touchscreen

(Mar. 2, 2010 Gizmo Watch)

twitter

O.k. So I finally gave in. Got a Twitter account. Sold my soul for a couple of course credits. Not that I had anything specifically against Twitter, but I have enough trouble keeping my Facebook status reasonably up to date. I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY. Certainly nothing that fits into 140 characters. Yes, it's because I have no "life." Not an interesting life (i.e., no adventure, no wild sex -- I've been married 25+ years), anyway. The interesting stuff is in my imagination, and takes more than 140 characters to explain.

http://twitter.com/pawzonthepage

if you want to be bored.

another useful thing

Gravatar is a free service that lets you create an avatar linked to one (or more) of your e-mail addresses, so that it shows up when you comment on blogs, even ones hosted by sites that you don't have an account with.

This Youtube video shows what it is.

Gravatars Part 1/3 : What Is A Gravatar? And Why Would You Want To Get One?

This one shows how to set it up.

Create Gravatar Microprofile

Another explanation, with some good screen shots and a bit more about managing multiple picture choices.

Get your Gravatar on!

increasing increments of sharing

There's a movement toward modes of communication opening up to a wider circle. Google has added a controversial feature called "Buzz" to its Gmail. E-mail has generally been considered to be for private communication between two people. Or if sent to several people, the sender deliberately chooses them. Buzz automatically broadcasts certain aspects of one's profile, including a changing status statement, to a group of contacts. There's been some controversy about how those contacts are chosen. Here's the latest.

Privacy group files FTC complaint on Google Buzz

(Feb. 16, 2010 WJLA)

Buzz is trying to imitate Facebook in its degree of openness, and Facebook has recently changed to allow it to imitate (and encourage) the openness of Twitter, which broadcasts not only to a select group of "friends," but to the public at large.

The Facebook Privacy Fiasco Begins

(Dec 9, 2009 TechCrunch)