Ping.FM??

Posted Saturday, October 10, 2009 — 7:59 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

The Flowers of Maine

We’re using Windows Live Writer for most of our blog posts.  Inserted into Live Writer we have the xPollinate plug in.  This plug in has primarily been used to post blog entries made in one Famous Grazing blog to the others in the series.

There are a few of these blogs we couldn’t connect with xPollinate. We’re going to try its Ping.fm feature to connect the stories to Posterous and Vox when we post this message to Random Grazing Space.

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Hold On Charlie!!!

Posted Saturday, October 10, 2009 — 7:32 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

Note: Cross posted from Grazing Press=.

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NRT-2009

When I write a blog entry I never expect anyone to read it.  That is why it was a total shock to find one I had recently written while in a philosophical mood on Belltowernews.com.

It was seen by me as mostly an historical observation.  The almost instant remarks referring to me as a person of opposite political opinion of the commenter but using words that require the vocabulary of a school yard bully were a surprise to say the least.

Rising Early on a Saturday Twixt Seasons

Posted Saturday, October 10, 2009 — 7:16 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

Note: Cross posted from Bell Tower News.

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Weathered Phone Pole

It was almost a year ago when I took this photo in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.  The weather was the same, but the country certainly wasn’t.

On that day the ascendant party in power was full of hope and the defeated party was licking the wounds of a sounding defeat.

Before We Start Posting in October

Posted Thursday, October 8, 2009 — 11:51 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

Note: Cross posted from Bell Tower News.

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The local governing agencies have established new rule regarding the behavior of bloggers.

“No more Wild West” was one of the comments that drew out attention.

Over the Office Door

We will be reviewing this information.  At the time, being not affiliated much with anyone, we need to review our commenting policy to make sure it is with in the guidelines of the  the whims of the powers that be.

The RSS Wave

Posted Monday, September 7, 2009 — 6:45 by sgtret
Categories: Live Writer, Musing, RSS

Does She ever smile

Image by sgtret via Flickr

Residing on the East Coast of the United States I can feel the tide of content flow over my head in the morning coming from the east.  I monitor my RSS reader, FeedDemon from around 0600 until usually past midnight.

The first flow is always from Europe, reading English as my primary language, mostly from the UK, but certainly other parts of Europe and Africa contribute to the content.
Then, as the sun grows brighter, the Canadians seem to perk up before the pundits from NY and Boston add their morning stretches to the mix. After that, the more civilized who actually sit down to breakfast, get the kids off to school, or settle into their cubicles begin to comment.

During the work week, I don’t go back to reading the feeds until after 1800, but when I do, I find the Midwest and Pacific coasts of Canada, the US and parts of South America have all contributed to the content.

After my own Dinner and the house has settled in, I make my last scan to say good morning to the left side of the Pacific Rim, Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the most vociferous, Australia and New Zealand.

Beside the 600 meters a second scientist are saying we travel through the universe, this gentle wave of information, not intrusive but actively available has become my connection to civilized thought.  Without the RSS reader, it would be much more difficult to scan so broad a range of information, opinion and shared wonder.

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Posting Using the Posterous Model

Posted Sunday, September 6, 2009 — 7:48 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

Posting to a blog has always been for us something done when stuck at the desk with a blog writing tool, such as Live Writer. That will probably remain the primary method.

Following the social media curve and using the Posterous Model, we intend to post more spontaneous messages via mobile phone. This is being sent from a remote site using our Treo combined with an online mail service.

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Need to Write

Posted Thursday, September 3, 2009 — 21:45 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

Walter With Flowers

Image by sgtret via Flickr

(The piece below was written for a now dead blog. It was written nine years ago, before I did get to go to Alaska and the Yukon.**)

As with most Bloggers, this need to write often accompanies a lack of subject.—

Note: Cross posted from SquareSpace.

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The Labor Day Weekend

Posted Thursday, September 3, 2009 — 21:22 by sgtret
Categories: Musing

Pepper Gold

Image by sgtret via Flickr

The days are getting shorter and the first week of school is done.  It’s won’t be long before the leaves turn gold and red and them become so much litter.

Though we all know Summer has a few more weeks to it as the world tilts, but, tilt be damned, we have created this day in September, Labor Day. 

It was originally designed to celebrate the working man and later woman.  Now it is seen more of seasonal marker.

The fun is over, the business begins. At least in the US of A.

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I know it’s only a day, but..

Posted Sunday, August 30, 2009 — 8:58 by sgtret
Categories: General, Live Writer, Soapbox

Summer on the Estate

Image by sgtret via Flickr

There never was a summer vacation that I recall that ended while it is still August, but my son is expected at school tomorrow, August 31, 2009.

I know it’s only one day, but it is still August. 
I know there is the Swine Flu Thing, but it is still August.

It just doesn’t seem right. To me.  My son seems to care less. 

He is actually looking forward to going back to school.

What has happened to kids today???

Back in the day we would have organized committees, tacked signs to sticks, prepared safe houses and decided what to do if the police came. Now, they get on the bus, plug in their iPods, put on a happy face and go to school.

But, it’s still August!!!
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When Did This All Happen?

Posted Sunday, August 16, 2009 — 21:07 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

Looking down at the application bar on my laptop, I see FeedDemon, Google-Chrome, RocketDock, TweetDeck and LiveWriter open.

A few minutes ago, I answered a Tweet on TweetDeck sent by an American expatriate in Dubai regarding Skype CSV – FSV transfer.  While I was sending it, in the News column I have on TweetDeck, a flash popped up about a building collapsing in Dubai.

Before the Gulf War it can honestly be said I never heard of Dubai.  I was still stuck on the Ottoman Empire and Lawrence of Arabia. Now here I am communication with someone there while almost simultaneously reading relatively local news about her home country.

While this is fascinating, in truth the laundry isn’t getting done, I haven’t finished a conversation with my family about a new car and it is past noon an I haven’t had a meal yet.

Granted, it is Sunday.

On a normal day, I would now be at work doing this or, more importantly, that. Still, shouldn’t Sunday’s be a day to chill from the cloud?  Perhaps but it won’t happen here any time soon!

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August and March

Posted Thursday, August 6, 2009 — 15:59 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

A friend in Sonoma just commented on noticing how it isn’t as light now when she gets up at 0530.  Why she gets up that early in Sonoma escapes me, but I am sure she has her reasons.

Note: Cross posted from SquareSpace.

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Shortbread

Posted Saturday, July 18, 2009 — 15:55 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

After a very long workday, I knew I was coming home to an almost empty house. (see: cat)  With no one here, I only turned on the lights I needed to get settled and didn’t notice the square white postal box sitting on the Chinese apothecary in the

Note: Cross posted from SquareSpace.

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You’d Think Things Would Slow Down in July…no.

Posted Sunday, July 12, 2009 — 9:05 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging

A wooden Filing Cabinet with drawer open

Image via Wikipedia

After a short break on the Rocky Coast of Maine and a rather disconcerting encounter with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, we came back to find regulations unknown to us were waiting to remove a portion of our collective buttocks without properly filed documentation.

It was one of those things where everything in real time was done correctly but the documents proving that to the future were stuffed in a drawer, left open on a laptop’s desktop and not filed or were sitting in a briefcase in the trunk of car.

Created by Joost de Meij, screenshot taken fro...IOW, no big deal but the skills of an experienced file clerk were needed. That and a good, and scheduled, back-up program.  The second digital issue was fixed immediately. 

The surprise was that none of had every really done any filing. We lived in our laptops and Blackberrys.  A chart was drawn i.e.: get file cabinet, find room for it, get the proper size hanging green things and properly colored folders.

Once the receptacle was in place the next step was collection. It took only one very long meeting for everyone to figure out who had what and how to bring it all to one place.

The services of UPS and Federal Express were needed as well as a FAX machine.  There’s another blast from the past.  We weren’t sure there was a FAX machine until we noticed it was a feature in the mega-wattage printer in the backroom where no-one goes.

The collective angst was soon abated when all the pods were in place and a plan created to prevent its reoccurrence.  Part of the humor here is no one is probably every going to look at these files now they’re in place.  However,  the law of chance says, if they weren’t there, someone would ask about it tomorrow.

Believe it.

As an aside, my constant use of Evernote made my portion of this adventure much easier.  I didn’t need the FAX or the overnight couriers.  I brought up the program, signed in and, presto-change-o, there were all the files I needed.  A quick connection to a color printer and I was sitting pretty.
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SquareSpace online editor & Firefox RC3

Posted Sunday, June 28, 2009 — 13:01 by sgtret
Categories: Blogging, Firefox, SquareSpace

Mougli weighing his frolic options

Image by sgtret via Flickr

We’ve discovered the cause of the problem we were having with SquareSpace online blog creator and manager and Firefox RC3. 

It was the LastPass add-on the Firefox.  I inadvertently, meaning clumsily clicked through a pop-up box without reading it.  LastPass was filling in fields I had mindlessly instructed it to fill.

Thus, every time I brought up the editor, it filled in the blanks and defaulted to the Fathers Day entry, during the creation of which the offending action on my part took place.Pepper Gold

When there is a technical problem we always first ask, “Is it plugged in?”  Now when we have  Firefox problem, we need to ask, “Is it a plug-in?

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Happy Father’s Day!

Posted Sunday, June 21, 2009 — 7:20 by sgtret
Categories: Musing

Sam at Bethesda Fountain in NYC Central Park Copyright 2004 JDK Communications of New England.

Image by sgtret via Flickr

To all the fellow fathers out there, think not of today as your day.  It is the day for your children, your family, to show their love for you by doing things they feel you would like. 

It matters little whether any of these things are to  your liking.  You must show appreciation for the spirit in which they are given. Do this and you will be a good father.

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