Limes with Orange

Apparently you can now create an online scrapbook. I think it's a great idea, but it turns out that it's not actually any easier to create than a real scrapbook, just less expensive and easier to share… which are actually pretty good reasons to opt for this method, now that I think about it.

The site has a lot of options to choose from, which is great but rather overwhelming at first. Though I think it would be a little less overwhelming if the thumbnails were a bit bigger so you had at least some idea of what the paper (or sticker or whatever) will look like before you click on it.

Hey, you know what would be cool? A gallery of templates that you could use as-is or use as a starting point for customization. That would definitely make it less intimidating for a newbie and give you an idea of what's available as well as sparking your own creative ideas.

But here's my first attempt: a wee tribute to my horse, Night Wing.



Hmm, one area that could actually use MORE options is the fonts… very limited at the moment. And for some reason my text placement and alignment seems to have a mind of its own. But I guess a few glitches are to be expected when the site isn't even in Beta yet. I'll definitely be revisiting this site when it's a little further along in development. At which point it'll be great to add to my genealogy sites!

P.S. To the folks at Heart Vault: In order to embed this into Blogger, I needed to add a closing "/embed" tag to the end of the code provided on your website. And adding this P.S. made me think of something else I'd like to see on the site: a way to contact someone please .

Labels: animals, art and photography, cool sites, genealogy

I'm not very good at asking for favours. Fortunately, there's this new site that makes it a whole lot easier. Zakle.com — do favours, get favours from anyone in the world.

How does it work? By providing a website that allows members to post requests for favours and offers of favours to which other members can respond. Individuals can earn Points when they grant favours and spend Points to obtain favours.

So I decided to sign up and see what happens. (Just a heads up… there's $2 verification fee that they don't explicitly disclose. If you've already verified with PayPal, you might expect that you're going to get that fee back after Zakle verifies you through PayPal… but you won't. Another registration note: make sure you enter your address exactly as it's listed on your PayPal account or the verification won't work.)

These are the offers I submitted:

Title: Métis Card - Genealogy Lookup
Details: Would you like to apply for your Métis card but don't have the documentation that you need? I have access to the Glenbow Museum Archives that has a vast amount of Métis resources for Western Canada. And I have professional experience in utilizing those resources. So let me help you get your card.

Title: Short Story Editing
Details: I am a professional writer and editor. I would be willing to edit and provide feedback on your short story, up to 3000 words in length.

Title: Review your website
Details: I have several blogs, one of which is bound to suit your website. I also have some background in website design. My offer is to review your website, applaud what's good, suggest things that could be better, and provide a permanent link to your site.

And these are my requests:

Title: A photograph of the Ashbel Woodward Museum
Details: The former home of Dr. Ashbel Woodward, a Civil War surgeon, was turned into a museum a few years back in Franklin, CT. My ancestors lived in the house next door (which may or may not still be standing). I would love to have a photograph of the Woodward home. And, if the Mumford home beside it is still standing, I would love a photo of that as well.

Title: Link to my Film Blog
Details: I've started a Filmmaker's Blog on MySpace (blog.myspace.com/weirdgrrl). If you have a blog with some decent traffic, I would love to have you review my blog and provide a permanent link.

Title: Film Editor Needed
Details: I am in the process of editing a short film. I have basic knowledge of Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects and I have my rough cut done. But this short film requires sci-fi effects like wormholes which are somewhat beyond me. I would love to sit in with an experienced editor while they finish my film. Estimated time: one day.

So I did the Zakle. And you can do the Zakle, too!

Labels: blogging, cool sites, film, genealogy, odds and ends, writing

Having been neglecting my genealogical websites recently, I decided that maybe I would start a forum for my Franklin, CT genealogy site. So I checked out GoBoardz Forums to see if that would suit my needs. And it kind of did. Here's the forum that I created.

It's a simple layout, which is fine, and you can customize the colours (thankfully) but I have two main issues with the site. The first looks like it's just a glitch. I don't know if it's a temporary glitch of the site itself or if it doesn't like my browser (Opera), but I can't enter a description of my forum that is more than 10 characters long. Yep, 10 characters... not even 10 words. And secondly, there doesn't seem to be a place to suggest further categories for GoBoardz. Not that I need people to find my forum that way (since I'll be linking to it directly from my Franklin, CT GenWeb site), but you would think that genealogy is big enough on the internet that they would actually have a category for it and not make me decide between "Hobby" or "Other."

I would also like to be able to link back to my Franklin site, but I'm not sure if it will let me do that on the main forum page or not. I guess I still need to do a bit more exploration. Aside from those complaints, I have to admit that it's pretty easy to use and will probably serve my purposes just fine.

Labels: genealogy

Now I know I don't talk about genealogy much on this site, but the fact that my side bar includes links to my three genealogy sites may have clued you in that I kinda like genealogy. And, if you'll allow me to apparently jump topics without a segue, I am also a huge fan of playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Which, I hope you all know without me pointing out the glaringly obvious, is a play on the phrase "six degrees of separation" (great movie, by the way). So why is all of this together in one paragraph when a paragraph is supposed to consist of sentences that all relate to the same topic? Well, they do! The topic in question is ZOOOF!

ZOOOF, The Family Network is a website that is interested in the real degrees of separation between people around the world. Users can build interactive flash family trees, invite family members to become family builders, and see your family tree grow every day. I have to say, I think this has the potential to be be pretty cool.

They currently have a small group of beta users in 49 countries, but it opens up to everyone on February 14. Though if you already want to give it a try or to take a look inside before then, you can mail them: name, e-mail, country and gender to invite[at]zooof[dot]com and you will receive a personal invitation link. I did!

Labels: genealogy

I know I don't often talk about my genealogy research here, largely because I've been letting it slide a bit. But I decided it was high time to update my genealogy websites... at least the ones I host for USGenWeb.

I've started with my site for Clay County, Minnesota, since that site has the most information, the most links to update and the state and county have the most new stuff for genealogists.

But I've also had some offers of help for my Franklin, Connecticut town site so I hope to be updating that one soon, too. (Soon probably being after Christmas... hey, "soon" is relative, right?)

Labels: genealogy