MSN Spaces Book: Blogging

Custom Made Avatars

Fri, 26 May 2006 22:31:16 GMT

I had a chat recently with Linda Criddle the online child safety expert at MSN. We were talking about personal photos on the Internet, and maybe it isn't such a good idea for so many people to know what you and your family look like. There are some safe ways to do a photo-- I have been noticing some folks on MSN Spaces have some great ways of posting a photo that obscures part of their face.

But I really like this idea--custom avatars. I read about this on springwise trendwatchers.com.

From springwise:

"Based in Brooklyn, graphic artist Lina Chin creates digitally illustrated portraits. Working from photographs, her black and white images are stylized likenesses of their subjects. The finished product is a digital file, delivered as a vector image, which lets customers enlarge their portrait without losing image quality. In a small size, digi-portraits make excellent avatars or buddy icons. Prices depend on a portrait's complexity."

--Juliana

Adding Music Lists

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 16:02:02 GMT

My music collection is scattered all over the place. I have tons of CDs in my house, in my car and in my office. Half of the cds I own have scratches because I move them so often from one place to another. I haven't purchased an iPod. I want one, but my hubbie keeps saying to wait for a cell phone because he thinks the iPods are a fad. Well, really he doesn't like the idea of me downloading all my music at a $1 a song.

I'm slowly, slowly getting some music on my Tablet PC at work. The pain is that I have an external CD-Rom drive which I have to plug in in order to then rip music from my cds. So, in most cases, I have been downloading them at $1 a song. I know, I know, I should just try to rip one a day. I was looking through my cd collection at work yesterday to see about taking something home for the commute, and realized there were CDs I didn't even know I had.

Does anyone have any good tips or pointers for organizing a music collection from physical cds and your computer?

I've also been wanting to add a music list to my blog, but finally after reading how to do it in chapter 6, I posted a list of Selection of Songs on My Tablet PC this morning. These are a few four and five stars pulled directly from my media player...it is a rather eclectic mix--Fred Astaire, Concrete Blonde, Dixie Chicks, and John Hiatt.

--Juliana

Why I blog and should you?

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 15:42:46 GMT

People tell me, I would like to start a blog, but I don't know where to start. I see your blog, you have lots of lists and entries, how do you find the time? I'm thinking of starting a blog, but I want to make sure it looks good so I'm thinking of hiring a designer. I don't want to start unless I do it right.

The key is to just do it. Don't think too hard. Just start one. Start it small with just an entry and one list and then gradually add to it. A big decision is whether to make it private for just family or friends or public to the world. Making it private is a bit safer and you can control who comes to your site. Making it public means you will meet all kinds of people who share your interests and thoughts.

Don't think you have to be world class writer. Just write. Blogging is almost a stream of consciousness type of writing. If you don't think you have great writing skills, and are not excited about sharing your innermost thoughts and desires, than just link. Share the links that are important to you with a comment or two.

Why do I blog? Because it starts conversations. Since I started the Jaldous Journal my work colleagues know more about me as a person. I have my blog listed on my email signature and I've had more people tell me in meetings, "You know, I checked out your blog and I liked that book too." or "I didn't know you quilted." I posted an opinion on Google print and Tate Nunnelly contacted me and gave me some good background. I received a thanks from the authors of Freakonomics after I posted about how their book was being marketed. I reviewed Cali Yost's book on Work+Life, emailed her to let her know, and as a result put her in touch with a colleague who has just mentioned she was looking for someone to write an article on Work/Life Balance.

Blogging started a conversation with Mike for this book. I saw Mike's space. I sent him email and asked if he knew who I should talk with over at MSN Spaces about a book. He had written a proposal already, and sent me a link on his blog where he had asked the question, "Why are there no books on MSN?"

A question for you...If you blog, why do you do it? What changes has it made for you? If you post an entry on your blog, let us know here by tracking back. If you have a brand new blog, let us know that too.

--Juliana