Postcards From Myself

This is totally random, but I just came across a site that is so odd and interesting that I have to share the madness. This is the kind of site that the Internet was created for and that I can literally lose myself in for hours. Take a look at Strange Maps. Seriously, look a it and then scroll down and look some more. When you are feeling that the world is a dull place and everything looks the same, consider these maps that can take the extremely ordinary and present it some amazingly different point of view. From New York under German occupation to Europe as a conglomeration of cartoon characters, the maps on this site convey more than places and directions; they offer up an alternative way of looking at all that surrounds us.

Enjoy!

There is a new service for bloggers on the scene that you may or may not have heard of. It is named RssHugger, and it is probably best to let them explain it in their own words…

RssHugger is a unique website that aims to bring bloggers and readers together. rssHugger aims to provide blog owners with a unique easy-to-use way to promote their blogs by sending them traffic, building backlinks for search engine optimization, as well as attracting new rss subscribers if the content is interesting to the reader. rssHugger aims to help visitors be able to easily find blogs that write about subjects they are interested in. These subjects include: internet marketing, making money online, charity, sports, gambling, and many more. If the visitors find a blog that they had not previously heard about, they can easily add it to their RSS readers or bookmark it.

This looks like it is going to be a very interesting service for many reasons, not the least of which is that it seems to be generating a lot of buzz in the online communities right now. Another thing that really intrigues me about RssHugger is that the verifications for membership are done by hand. Yes, by a real person. With any luck that may eliminate a lot of the “get rich quick” blogs that seem to be clogging things up recently. Sorry, but I really don’t care about how somebody wants to get rich and how to help. If I was interested in that I would watch the infomercials that come on TV at 3am.

Anyway, I am going to give the service a try and report back here in the future. In the meantime, if you have any opinions or experience with RssHugger, please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks!

Here is a picture of my desk and computer. Yes, this is my humble office at home. Sorry, I can’t show you a wider shot, but it is also our bedroom. The book case on the right holds lots of automotive books on MGs, classic car racing, and BMWs. There is also a decent collection of British car models and toys and one very nice clock that was given to me by The British Car Club of Charleston on their 20th anniversary. It is in recognition of me founding the club in 1983. The computer you see on the desk is my 14″ iBook. What you don’t see in this picture, off to the right beyond the bookcase, is a big chair that I settle back in with the laptop when I don’t want to sit at the desk. All-in-all a very nice setup.

Now, look closely. Click on the picture to make it larger then look up there in the upper corner of the window. I have one of those suction cup bird feeders on the window. I like to keep the birds fat and happy, and I like to watch them while I work. But today, something else appeared. Again, look closely - look sitting on the feeder. A thief! Yes, that’s right, a furry little thief. Well, actually not so litle. In fact he or she is actually pretty fat. Want a closer look? Click here. I guess I can’t be too mad though as he is kind of cute. And all creatures great and small need to eat.

Really just two pointers for people who work a lot on their computers, don’t we all?

First, and excellent article on becoming an email ninja. This was written by Leo Babauta of the Zen Habits blog, but is actually a guest post by him to Tim Ferris’s blog over at Four Hour Work Week. If you are suffering from that avalanche of email traffic, you owe it to yourself to read this one.

Second, of importance to Mac people, Adobe has finally announced their new version of Photoshop Elements for the Mac. It has been out for a while now for Windows, but us Mac people haven’t had an upgrade in a few years. Photoshop Elements 6.0 will be demoed at next week’s MacWorld, and it looks like general release will be in the second quarter of this year. This is great news for all the people for who the full version of Photoshop is overkill and too complicated but for who iPhoto and other programs just don’t go far enough.

On a side note, if you are one of those people who needs some basic photo manipulation for the Mac, give Image Tricks from BeLight Software a try. It won’t do a lot of the heavy lifting, but I find it quite useful for just a quick resize, crop, or minor adjustment.

I have been trying to figure out what I am really doing and where I really want to go, right? So I started thinking last night and the following questions popped into my head. I would love to hear your answers…

1. If all the ties that bind you were broken, what would you do?
2. A few close friends or lots of casual acquaintances? Which do you have and which would you prefer?
3. The future. Hopeful or depressing?
4. Which do you prefer to watch, the sunrise or the sunset?
5. The time of year you enjoy most - Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter?
6. And the old standby, chocolate or vanilla?

These were just some of the things I was trying to use to define where I am and where I want to be. OK, the chocolate / vanilla thing just kind of popped in there and sounded fun. For the record, I know it is boring, but in ice cream I am a vanilla person. In cakes, candies, and most other foods I am a chocolate person. Very deep, rich, dark chocolate.

So, come on and let me know where you are on these!