Windows Live Writer - Blogging Software

Installed this at the beginning of the trip, and, as promised I'd inform you about it usefulness how much I hated it, why you should buy it etc.

Windows Live Writer- for Blogger

You install the software and give it the URL for your blog.

Your Google ID and password. The wizard then goes off and takes an imprint of your blog and stylesheet.

Also included is the bits and pieces for formatting and reviewing without a connection, providing previews on WYSIWYG, always handy for previewing those images, tables, maps or videos.

This has been vital in that without a connection, usually you're limited to a Microsoft document and having to do the CSS styles, guess at previews of images tables, CSS conflicts all the rest of it, it's pretty much guesswork until you get online.

With the live writer, this trip, I've not had the normal pressure of finding good connections at every stop, the workload has been dished out in a regular fashion.

It's like a desktop publishing software for blogs. Save your documents and publish when you've got a better connection.

Advantages

The Live Writer has a couple of advantages over the Google platform alone.

I can't say whether I'd use it as much at home but on the road the answer to the Question: - Are Americans clever?

In this case has to be: Yes.

http://www.download.com/Windows-Live-Writer/3000-2068_4-10572482.html

Flickr for image placements

In forthcoming blog, I'll be using Flickr to host the photo's.
This means they'll be available to the open source community to manipulate as they please, but otherwise will be no different.

Windows Live Writer

Are Americans Clever??

Well I wondered this one as I sat in the Blogworld convention in Vegas not more than 6-7 months ago.

"Are Americans Clever?" cos in a way there's a lot of churn over there and most of the people doing the churning don't know they're churning.

WIndows Live Writer
This little piece of software can be testament because if you're a travel blogger, many will be the times when you'll find yourself with all the material to do a blog but a bad connections.

This software, I am hoping, (if Americans are clever), will take away the sins of the non-broadband world and deliver us from bad uplinks, 6-10 minute image uploads and all the other nightmare scenario's you can expect when blogging on the road.

Compose: then post as your connection allows.

Download it here: windows live composer

New Gadget - Pentax Optio W30

Optio W30 underwater Camera

You'll be pleased to hear, with forthcoming bloggage we'll be using this little gadget to capture those things that walk above the earth, and those which slither upon it.

Personal
I've stuck with the optio series, partly because the optio s was the first 'true' compact capable of quality pictures, sound & video recording. Also, I'm familiar with all the features.
At the time, 2003, I hated the idea of carry around a camera. I now own a Canon 350D, so things have moved on in that respect.



My first Optio S lasted for about 1 year, whilst on the road in Rio a little sand became wedged in the lens mech and jammed for which I had to go to Costa Rica to get repaired.
On reaching the Repair shop in San José, I was sold the S5i to continue my travels, this lasted up through the States. Got some nice shots of the mesa verde caves down round Colorado/Nevada area,
carried on through NY got a nice shot of this American flag which everyone seemed to be looking @.


Anyway, whilst in Kosovo/Serbia the S5i went missing somewhere.
That was last year.

New Camera
You might think that owning an SLR would be enough.

but AN SLR WON'T--

Take Videos
Take Pictures underwater

So I bought this Optio W30, water resistant up to 3 meters.

It's got many features 7mega pixel, looks OK and will fit in my pocket.
I got this Cybershot pouch to protect it from random pieces of sand or anything that might damage the lens.

£20

You got 2 in the case and they're reversible+washable.

My two cameras

Canon 350D with Sigma 80-200mm Lens

Optio W30 underwater Camera

Severn Trent Billing tries to Scam me out of money - Part #5

• Dear Mr Tyler
• Thank you for providing your details. I've been in contact with staff
• internally who are better placed to resolve this and I hope they will be in
• touch with you soon. If we have your telephone number on file I am sure it
• will be promptly.
• As an aside, would it be possible for you to remove my name/job title from
• your website please? I am concerned that other customers may contact me
• via our switchboard having come across the post. As I'm not the
• appropriate channel under normal circumstances, this would only add to any
• frustration they may already be feeling.
• Kind regards
• Darren Sandbach
• Web Executive
• Brand and Strategic Communications
• Severn Trent Water Ltd
• 2297 Coventry Road
• Birmingham
• B26 3PU

Blogger Tag Cloud Script

Being bored on a Monday morning, I wrote this script.

Its' for bloggers with an FTP account, (non-blogspot account), this tag cloud will read the contents of your 'labels' folder and create a formatted cloud of links based on file sizes and category headings.

Blogger Tag Cloud Script - (php server - php 4 or higher)

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<style type="text/css">
#container {background:#d8d8ee; width:400px; margin:2px;
padding:2px; font-family:Arial}
.xsnazzy h1, .xsnazzy p {margin:0 10px; letter-spacing:1px;}
.xsnazzy h1 {font-size:2.5em; color:#fc0; text-align:center}
.xsnazzy p {padding-bottom:0.5em; color:#eee; text-align:justify}
.xsnazzy {background: transparent; margin:1em;}
.xsnazzy a:hover {color:#00FF00}
.xb1, .xb2, .xb3, .xb4, .xb5, .xb6, .xb7 {display:block; overflow:hidden;
font-size:0;}
.xb1, .xb2, .xb3, .xb4, .xb5, .xb6 {height:1px;}
.xb4, .xb5, .xb6, .xb7 {background:#ccc; border-left:1px solid #fff;
border-right:1px solid #fff;}
#michaeltyler {background:#7f7f9c; height: 12px;
border-left:3px solid #fff; border-right:3px solid #fff;
font-size:9px; position:relative; }
#michaeltyler div {position:absolute; top: 4px; width: 100%;
background-color: transparent; text-align:center; }
.xb1 {margin:0 8px; background:#fff;}
.xb2 {margin:0 6px; background:#fff;}
.xb3 {margin:0 4px; background:#fff;}
.xb4 {margin:0 3px; background:#7f7f9c; border-width:0 5px;}
.xb5 {margin:0 2px; background:#7f7f9c; border-width:0 4px;}
.xb6 {margin:0 2px; background:#7f7f9c; border-width:0 3px;}
.xb7 {margin:0 1px; background:#7f7f9c; border-width:0 3px; height:2px;}
.xboxcontent {display:block; background:#7f7f9c;
border:3px solid #fff; border-width:0 3px;}

</style>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
</head>

<body>
<div id="container">
<div class="xsnazzy">
<b class="xb1"></b><b class="xb2"></b>
<b class="xb3"></b><b class="xb4"></b>
<b class="xb5"></b><b class="xb6"></b>
<b class="xb7"></b>
<div class="xboxcontent">
<h1>Chunky Borders</h1>
<p><?php
// php tag cloud - blogger ftp accounts tag cloud for labels folder.
// The tag cloud automatically takes the contents of your labels folder,
// reads the files and gives the values according to the number of posts.
// Change the 'labels' location marked.
// Please leave my little marker at the bottom. Thanks.

$handle = opendir('../labels/'); // change **
if (!empty($handle))
{
while (false !== ($page = readdir($handle)))
{
if ($page != "." && $page != "..")
{ $filesize = filesize('../labels/'.$page); // change **
$labels[] = array ("page" => $page, "filesize" => $filesize); }
}


}
// tag cloud functionality ===
foreach ($labels as $key => $value){
$tags[$value["page"]] = $value["filesize"];
}

$max_size = 180; // max font size in %
$min_size = 58; // min font size in %


$max_qty = max(array_values($tags));
$min_qty = min(array_values($tags));


$spread = $max_qty - $min_qty;
if (0 == $spread) {
  $spread = 1;
}


$step = ($max_size - $min_size)/($spread);

foreach ($tags as $key => $value) {
$size = $min_size + (($value - $min_qty) * $step);

echo '<a href="/labels/'.$key.'"
style="font-size: '.$size.'%; font-weight: 200; "'; // change **
$delim = '.';
$page = substr($key, 0, strpos($key, $delim));
echo ' title="'.$page.'" >'.$page.'</a> ';
}
// end tag cloud

?></p>
</div><div id="michaeltyler"><div>
<a href="http://www.michaeltyler.co.uk">Michael Tyler - Tag Cloud</a>
</div></div>
<b class="xb7"></b><b class="xb6"></b>
<b class="xb5"></b><b class="xb4"></b>
<b class="xb3"></b><b class="xb2"></b>
<b class="xb1"></b>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Bye Bye Balkans

Sitting writing this in Dubrovnik airport.

Have returned car and am awaiting my Flybe flight to Birmingham.

Blogger - Clearly the shittest software on the market

Anyone hoping to use blogger and their own FTP server, forget it.

I've just remembered how stressfull, time-consuming and shit blogger is..

Avoid...

Sunday in Belgrade

Fixed a number of problems with the blog. The map icons show the right icons, not the sherry glass for all, and the captions and pictures have been sorted to the right widths.

I built a console to cut and paste information via database onto the map rather the doing each map marker by hand which was fairly rudimentary and time consuming.

Many of the smaller problems are gone and I can begin in earnest.

FTP
Some some reason the FTP is not working on Dreamweaver. This happened once in China.
I can only assume it has something to do with the hotel protocols.

google maps polyline creator

I spent about 20 searches today trying to re-locate, the Google Maps polyline creator tool.

As well as letting you create a polyline realtime and on the fly, it is the only resource on the net which is able to give the polyco-ords interracticveley, in a hh.mm.ss.mm format, Geo RSS format.
> googlemaps polyline creator.

This facility will allow you to grab www compliant co-ordinates from anywhere world-wide.

Hostage taking - The hard line

TOny Blair needs to take a hard-line with Iran on the hostage taking crisis.

If Islamic states are allowed to see it's easy to take Western hostages then they will all follow suit.

To enter into any dialogue with Iran is simply giving credulity to a criminal act.

We need to come down and come down hard.