RickScheibner.net

Rich Kirkpatrick doodling is kind of like LeBron James playing HORSE. Even when he’s just messing around, he’s going to beat you hands down. Rich’s doodles are leagues better than my most valiant attempts at art. Lucky for us, Rich has posted his doodles on his blog which you can see here: Rich Kirkpatrick’s Weblog: Art

And Rich, if it’s ok, I’m including your latest Earth Day doodle for us to see:

I generally use either Windows Live Writer or the blog editor right inside of Flock, but sometimes I’m away from my laptop, and all I have is portable Firefox on my USB drive to work with. Scribefire is a blog editor that exists as an extension within Firefox. In the past, that’s been a “just good enough” scenario, one that’s just slightly above the native editor inside of WordPress itself. That’s not saying much. However, the latest release is a considerable improvement on the old one, and there are several features to it that just might become a consideration for your full-time blogging use. Just a few of the updates:

• Tabbed editing, so you can keep multiple posts out at the same time. Just in case you’re a blogging junkie and can’t get enough of them at once.
• Quickblogging feature to quickly edit posts that are already up.
• Adjust timestamp.
• New Share/Promote tab that lets you quickly submit your posts to social bookmarking sites. However, I see a few buttons from sites I don’t recognize, and there are a few that are missing…namely del.icio.us.
• Quick YouTube and Flickr integration

I might also add that the layout is considerably cleaner and user-friendly than in the past. Adding images and other media is a snap now. If you want a blog editor available right inside your Firefox browser, then you need to check this out. I’d been getting used to the Flock editor, but I think I’ll be using this one any time Live Writer isn’t available to me.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Firefox, Scribefire, extensions, add-ons, social networking

I’ve really connected with a few tweets from fellow tweeter and all-around good guy John:

It’s Sunday… Another run week of deciding between an array of social networking churches that even fail at that

I’ve been there, and in that town even.  Social networking is as old as the first century church, at least.  Sadly, that concept is lost on a lot of churches these days.  Gotta take care of our own, ya know.  The invitation is always open over here, guys…

There is something unsettling about seeing a really great kids’ face on the County’s Most Wanted list.

Amen to that.  This is a great kid, and I’ve trusted him in the past to babysit my kids and take care of my place while I was away.  Whatever it is he’s gotten into, I hope he can get things turned around soon.  We’re praying for you, bud.

Listening to: Jonas Brothers - Hollywood — Is it bad to like a band the kids are listening to?

In general, no.  I only know about the Jonas Bros. from cd’s that the kids have at my house, though, so I can’t speak much to them.  My oldest son has turned me on to the music of Flogging Molly.

Run across any good tweets today?

What if Star Wars was real?

You’d get Queen Amidala at the Jamillia Convention, that’s what. 

Mark your calendars for this March 20, which has been dubbed “Won’t You Wear A Sweater” Day.  This honors what would have been the 80th birthday of Fred Rogers, the late host of the long-running “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” which aired on PBS from 1968 to 2001.  Here’s a PSA with more information from David Newell, who we Gen X’ers know better as Mr. McFeely, the Speedy Delivery guy. 

Got your cardigan ready to go?

Day 2, and I’m rather enjoying it for the most part.  A few things:

• When I log into YouTube and go onto the site, it automatically adds that account to the People Sidebar, whether I want it there or not.  I figured out how to go in and delete it, I just think it will be a pain to do that every time.  I don’t see a way to keep it from doing that.
• The built-in feed reader is actually pretty nice.  I converted my Google Reader feeds successfully, and I was able to import them without too much trouble.  (Thanks for the tip, Evan).  One thing I miss from Google Reader is my ability to scan titles, then have them open up individually when I click on them.  With the Flock reader, I can have all posts open, partially open, or closed.  It’s an all or nothing deal. 
• I got all of my regular Firefox extensions to work (so far) in Flock.  Google toolbar, FireFTP, ChatZilla, Adblock Plus all work like a charm.   I still have a few more to try out, but these are the important ones.  In fact, I’ve been able to get Flock to look and act more like my Firefox setup than I had originally anticipated. 
• I really, really like the Media Bar that goes across the top.  What a great way to scan and preview a series of media files, then get them out of the way quickly when you’re done.

So am I switching yet?  Still haven’t decided.  I’m really into Twitter these days, and I’ve been doing that from my Google Talk client that resides in my Google Desktop sidebar.  Twittering from the People Sidebar as well would be more cumbersome and a little redundant.  Even on my 1280×768 resolution screen, I lose a little more real estate than I’m comfortable with.  If I end up staying with Flock, I’ll probably lose the Google Desktop sidebar. 

Tags: Flock, browser

Dan Meyer doesn’t like Animoto. That’s ok, because I do, although I agree with the reasons why he doesn’t like it. First of all, let’s take it for what it is: You upload pictures, pick a soundtrack (or upload one), and wait for it to put together a nice video montage for you. It really is that simple. Dan’s objection:

Animoto is a staggeringly cool tool which almost everyone…appreciates for the wrong reason.

Specifically, Animoto creates photo montages better and faster than any other Internet utility but, over the long run, the fact that the montages jitter and bob with the music — its most celebrated and distinctive feature — does nothing for me as a media consumer and less than nothing for me as a educator.

And maybe those are the wrong reasons to like this service.  I just like it because I can preserve some memories in a web-friendly format without a lot of investment on my part.  I don’t think I would ever recommend teaching with this service, or that it can take the place of a well-crafted, professional video job.  It is what it is.  Here are our photos from last summer, Animoto-ed:

What’s your take?

Technorati Tags: Animoto, video, YouTube, Dan Meyer, teaching, education