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Cool Iris

I was listening to Allison Sheridan on the NosillaCast Podcast yesterday, and she had a segment on Cool Iris, which is a plug in for your browser that enables you to view pictures on the internet in a 3D wall. Descriptions of the pictures appear when you position your mouse over each picture. You can use it on YouTube, Flickr, Google, Amazon and other sites to view pictures about news, entertainment, technology, politics, etc. If you love looking at pictures on the web, you'll love Cool Iris!

Labor Day 2008

I hope you are not laboring today since today is a holiday for all of us laborers in the US. It's been a nice long week-end for me, but I'll be going back to work tomorrow like most people. Labor day is traditionally the end of Summer and the beginning of the Fall season, which is my favorite season. So, if you've worked hard all year, take this day as a day to relax and enjoy.

TWYE

If you Twitter, you should also TWYE or tweet what you eat! Tweetwhatyoueat (TWYE for short) is a Twitter-based food diary. Use Twitter to track what you eat and your weight, by ‘tweeting’ food items to your personal food diary on Tweetwhatyoueat.com from your mobile phone, IM or through Twitter.

]]> You might say, "Why would I want to bother?" Well, it helps to keep you aware of what you are putting in your mouth. Most people aren't aware of just how many calories that they are consuming during the day. It can be quite an eye opener. I don't intend to do it every day, but it helps to keep me on track and to know approximately how many calories are eaten.

Dreamweaver Class

I'm taking an online class from August to December 08 entitled Dreamweaver CS3. I bought the software a few weeks ago. Now, I just have to figure out how to use it. I know I could go through all of the exercises in any Dreamweaver CS3 book and learn how, but having the structure of the class helps me to actually finish. I've taken classes on HTML and CSS so now I want to learn how the WYSIWYG editor works. I've got to tell you, though, it's tedious. I wish there was an easier way. Something like waving a magic wand, but I guess the only way is to study and practice. Hopefully, some day I'll be able to redesign this site!!

Taupe Afghan

I haven't abandoned my crochet hobby for my iPhone, but I haven't been able to crochet as much in the past few weeks. I just finished the above afghan last week. It's 36" x 56" so it is more of a lap afghan. The pattern is available for free at Project Linus. It is very easy and quick. It can be made into a baby afghan by changing the type and color of the yarn.

]]> I have just started another shawl for my Aunt for her birthday. The color is "lavenda" and the yarn is from Malabrigo Yarn, which is a family owned yarn company located in Uruguay. The 100% wool is hand dyed and is the softest wool that I have ever touched. It seems to be so easy to work with, and it's such a pleasure because it is so soft. Anyway, I have to mail it by November, so I think it will be done by that time. I'll post a picture of it when it is finished.

iPhone Favorite Applications

I've been enjoying my iPhone since I got it about a month ago. The applications are fantastic. I love reading the blogs about favorite applications, so I thought I'd post mine. Here they are:

Twinkle, which is a Twitter application that keeps you in touch with your friends and others who you choose to "follow".
Exposure, which shows photos from Flickr. You can also see photos that were taken in your location, wherever you happen to be at any given moment.
Pandora allows you to select a favorite recording artist and a radio station is created around that artist or you can select a mix of all of your favorite artists.
WeightTrack keeps track of your weight and gives you a history of each date and how much you weighed. This helps keep me on track.

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Jott for recording notes that are translated into text.

StitchMinder to keep track of my crochet stitches.

aSleep that puts me to sleep at night (see previous post).

These are just a few of the applications that I consider worth-while. They are also free on iTunes. If you have some that you are particularly fond of, post a comment and tell me all about it.

aSleep Application

One of my favorite applications for the iPhone is called aSleep. It can be found on iTunes and it is absolutely free! I use it to fall asleep at night. There are 4 nature sounds including Beach, Forest, Rain and Wind and 2 relax melodies plus a programmable timer. It is easy to use: tap a sound to start or stop the music and tap the timer button to set the timer. At the and of the timer the app shuts down and your iPhone goes to sleep as usual. This is just one of many applications that I found on iTunes and most of them are free!!

Do You Twitter?

Has anybody ever asked you that? If you do, you're probably a geek. Twitter is a free service that lets you keep up with friends, news, current events, or just about anything really. After you sign up, you can post about what you're currently doing, who you've seen, or anything else you want to share. Your updates can appear on your web page, your mobile phone, or on the twitter page. You can also select certain people to follow and keep up with what they are doing and they can also follow you. On the iPhone there's an application called "Twinkle" that shows all of the people that I'm following plus it shows people in or near my location.

]]> You can use the ‘Near Me’ tab to see tweets from twitter users who are within X miles of you. The default is 50-miles, and you can choose to change this to 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 100, or 1,000 miles. I've just started using it, but it is sooo addictive. It's fun to see what other people are doing or what's going on in my area. I just wish more of my friends used Twitter. When I ask them if they twitter, they don't know what I'm talking about. So, if you twitter, let me know!!

My iPhone

I finally got my iPhone from the AT&T store. It took exactly a week for it to come in. Next time, I think I'll go directly to an Apple store because I think they probably have more stock. Anyway, the little gadget is amazing. I've never seen a phone like this. You barely have to touch the screen to make the functions work. I have yet to play around with it very much, but one thing I tried was the location button in Maps. A circle appears at your current location and a little dot moves along as you move. By entering an address, you can get directions, etc. There's a map view and a satellite view.

]]> While at home, the phone connects to my Wi-Fi network, so it's very fast. I haven't tried the 3G network yet, but I've heard that it's fast. I got the black phone, and it smudges up quite easily, but I put a protector on it, so the phone underneath stays clean and I can just wipe off the protector. There are so many applications available now, but YouTube has many, many videos to show how to use them. So, when I have time.....

New iPhone

As you know, I'm a nut for Apple products, so I finally decided to get one of the iPhones. I've paid for a 16 GB black model and I've ordered an Invisible Shield from Zagg.com to protect it. There's only one problem, though, I don't actually have the phone yet! After waiting in line at my local AT&T store for 2 hours, I was told that they had sold them all. So, I had to order one. I could have gone to the Apple store in the next town and waited in line for another few hours, but I just decided to order it and let them notify me when it arrives. After all, I've waited this long...what's another few days!

]]> I am anxious, though, to see if it lives up to all the hype and if it can replace my trusty Palm pda, which I love. I can't imagine being without my Palm because I use it as my calendar, check-book, journal, note-taker, Wi-Fi connection to the internet, calculator, photos, contacts, etc. I love the fact that I can jot down quick notes using the stylus and use memory cards for books, music, documents, etc. The only thing it doesn't do is a phone call So, that's the reason I decided to get the iPhone. If you've got one, I'd love to hear your opinion....so leave a comment.

My First Shawl

I finished this shawl last night. It was an easy pattern to crochet. The pattern is Simply Shawl from Caron Yarns. I did not include the picot trim on the shells, because I used a different yarn (Patons Decor) than suggested in the pattern, and I decided that it was a bit too thick to make the delicate picot trim. I've bought some Malabrigo yarn to make another shawl for a Christmas gift.

]]> I'm pretty pleased with this project and looking forward to my next. I think I learn a little more with each project accomplished. If you ever need any inspiration or just want to connect with others who crochet or knit, take a look at Ravelry. It's an online community of over 141,500 people who have come together to share ideas, techniques, patterns, etc., and to show pictures of their completed projects.

5 DC Shell Stitch Afghan

This is my second full size afghan. I saw the 5 dc shell stitch in the book, The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller, and on the internet at Knitting Dragonflies. I wanted something to crochet while watching movies, and this stitch is very easy to remember. The appearance of this stitch can differ quite a bit by using different weight yarns and hooks. I used TLC Heathers acrylic 10 ply yarn and a size I hook for this afghan. It is very heavy. I will probably add a border to it eventually when I find the perfect color.

]]> There is a close-up of the stitch in my May 3rd post. I've already started another afghan using the same stitch, but in a wool and acrylic blend (Paton's Decor), which is quite a bit lighter and softer. I'm planning a solid color in the middle with a multiple-colored border.

iLife 08

I went to an iLife workshop last Saturday through the Apple users group that I belong to. Jim Heid, the author of iLife 08, was the speaker. I learned so many things that I can do with iLife that I hadn't realized. One thing he showed us was how to create slide shows using photos and movies and importing them to iDvd, iMovie, or the internet. There are so many tutorials and tips in this book on how to get the most from iLife. The only problem I have now is finding the time!!

Wallpaper

I have just found the most amazing desktop wallpaper site: Interfacelift.com. I must have spent over 30 minutes looking at wallpaper and saving it to my desktop. The download time was almost instantaneous and there are a variety of resolutions offered. The pictures are just gorgeous and you can specify whatever category you want. I really have to tear myself away from it because I do have things to do, but I'm looking forward to going back to look some more, as I like to change my wallpaper frequently. There's also instructions on how to submit your own pictures.

Happy Mother's Day

I received these flowers for Mother's Day. Lovely, aren't they? One of my favorite quotes about Mothers:

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~ Tenneva Jordan: Motherhood Quotes

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms!!