I Now Have Fish I Can't Kill

I began exploring more of Blogger's gadgets today. Its been a few years since I really used this service, so I figured there would be some new features. There are. You can now add a little fish widget to your page. Mine's in the upper right corner of the home page, if you can't see it due to using the RSS feed.

The neat thing is that you can play with the colors. I used the Color Picker Firefox tool we've been using in class to make my fish match my design scheme.

Also, if you click on the water, you can feed the fish.

Internet Safety Circa the mid-1990s

I have now learned not to chat in Microsoft Word or meet any stranger with just a mustache - not the mustache/beard combo.

Shatner is 80

William Shatner, the actor who portrayed Captain Kirk in the Star Trek series, is 80 years old today.  His internet-savvy fans decided that the best way to celebrate was to circulate a list of 80 Reasons Why William Shatner is Awesome.  The site hosting the list, TrekMovie.com, managed to compile many videos from Shatner's career along with tons of random facts.

Check out the list for some hilarious moments. 

YA Authors Use Twitter to Help Japan

Just after the disaster in Japan, Maureen Johnson, a popular young adult author, and her Twitter followers mobilized to raise money to help.  They picked ShelterBox as a charity and began working.  Using the tag #nameoftheshelterbox, a play on Johnson's upcoming book, The Name of the Star, twitterers posted about donating to help Japan.  Others retweeted, Facebooked and emailed their friends to spread the word.

Donors were asked to tweet their donation amount so a volunteer "Spreadsheet Elf" could keep track of the totals.  Additionally, Johnson offered her only advanced copy of her new book as a prize to a random donor.

As the day went on, over 21 other authors offered prizes.  Johnson's original blog post detailed the contest instructions and prizes as they were announced.

When all the donations were tallied and the contest results posted, the entire effort had brought in over $14,000 for ShelterBox. 

So, when people wonder what Twitter is good for, this is an excellent example of its ability to be used for charitable purposes.

Video LP?

The YouTube community is a very creative bunch.  This time, they've reincarnated the concept of an album through playlists and links.  The idea is that you could listen to the entire thing for free without having to touch it past the initial play click or go directly to the song that interests you.

The Internet Makes Me Feel Better About the World

With all the riots in the Middle East and the U.S. media focusing on a megalomaniac of a sitcom star instead, I get a little alarmed at the current status of the American public.  I mean, really, just because an event isn't shiny and new (or all of a few days old), we shouldn't simply ignore its progress.  Ok, so that's not how the media conglomerates operate, but I'd like to think that's how we should and maybe one day will operate.

As I began to yet again lose faith in the American people, someone created a fantastic spoof of this whole situation.  Its a YouTube guessing game where you are invited to see if a quote was either spoken by Charlie Sheen or Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.  The game is humorous in and of itself, but also pokes fun at the idea that a TV star and a dictator's potential fall should compete for the same news coverage.

That being said, I got every quote wrong.  Either I don't pay enough attention to celebrity gossip to know what Sheen says on a regular basis or those two people are at the same level of crazy.

Spring Break is Almost Here

Although I'm really good at managing my time, I feel a little overwhelmed right now.  I've kept up with all my assignments (although this blog is slightly late) but I really need Spring Break to get a better handle on everything.  Between a book drive that I'm managing, work-related stress, school and wedding planning, my to do list always has something on it. 

The break should give me a chance to catch up and maybe get ahead.  I will also have to make sure I leave some time to just relax.  Anyone else feeling the same way?

Dating Site used for Libyan Protests

Since Facebook and Twitter were being monitored by the government, Libyans apparently turned to a popular Middle Eastern dating site to organize protests.  The protesters successfully communicated in code without the oppressive regime catching on.

This just goes to show that the tool itself doesn't necessarily matter, but the ingenuity of the people using them does. 

(article via Internet Evolution)