Broken Link Repaired-Be Prepared To Be Easily Amused!

I just discovered this morning that the link in the Easily Amused section located at the bottom of the blog was broken. I have just fixed it. Click on the link occasionally and it will take you to one of the sites that Easily Amuses me. Hopefully, it will Easily Amuse you also.

PS-I will change this link weekly at some random time. So check back often to be Easily Amused.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Some Of My Blog Tools

There are several blog tools available for the novice blogger. I will mention a few that I use. This is by no means a complete list or necessarily the best tools. they are simply the ones I use and have become accustomed to. Lets face it. When you get to be my age one you learn something it is best to stick with it a while and then ease into something new.

One of the first things you need, after a blog site and a host service (Sometimes these are one and the same) is an image host or server. I use Picasa for three reasons: 1. They host a relatively large amount for free; 2. It's easy; and 3. It's what I started with so I know how to use it. (Refer back to the last sentence of the first paragraph.)

After getting my blog started I decided that I wanted to find out where the visitors came from. That is how I came upon Feedjit. They give a nice tool that you can use to post a map on your blog that shows where the traffic comes from. They also supply the Live Traffic Feed that lists where your traffic comes from and sometimes how they exit the site. Both of these post on the blog and give your visitors a good idea of the scope and reach of your blog. I use both.

There are also tools that you can insert in the site code that tracks the visitors. Among these tools are Google Analytics and Stat Counter. Both of these tools are interesting. Stat Counter especially gives you a wealth of information; such as Country/State/City/ISP information. Stat Counter will also give browser information, time on site, entry point, and exit point. This is good information for designing your site to be compatible with certain browsers, and also determining what type of information your visitors are looking for.

Another tool that I use to try and increase my reach is to burn an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. In this way readers can subscribe to the blog and receive each new post via their RSS reader. I have links to many of the more popular RSS feeds on the bottom of the blog page. My RSS feed is burned through Feedburner. If you would like to subscribe go the bottom and look for your feed service and click. If you don't see your contact and I will try to add it. You can also subscribe to my blog by e-mail. I have those links in the same area.

If you have any advice, questions, or comments drop me a line. You can comment on the blog post or e-mail me. The e-mail link is at the top of the sidebar just below the date.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Blog Tweaks

I hope that you like the minor tweaks that I have made to the blog. As you can see I have kept the same basic layout and design.

I have tried to place similar things together in the sidebar on the left. I kept the Headline animator at the top and then tried to place all blog raters next. There is still one on there bottom of the page since the code for it has to remain where it is in order for it to work.I have moved the Bible Verse of the Day just above the Feedjit widget. Below Feedjit I have added the Live Traffic Feed. Below there I placed the Neighborhood from BlogCatalog. Below the Neighborhood is My BlogMap. This is interesting because it shows the location of nearby bloggers that belong to the BlogMap site. It also indicates when any of them are online.

Next comes the venerable Kitten that we all know and love. Kitten keeps perch above the Donation and Shopping Section. Yes you can actually make a donation to Kitten through PayPal at the link here. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and E-Checks; but then you probably can see this. Next in this section is new advertisers interspersed with links to my stores at Cafepress and Amazon. Next in the sidebar are my favorite links as well as some of my del.icio.us links. You can add me to your network here.

Then we have the Blog Vault which contains the blog archives. Following this I have placed the News Center with various weather, news, and sports feeds. Enjoy this section. It took me a while to get what I wanted.

Then more Shameless Commercialization. Yes more ads to help pay the bills. You will also see an expanded commercialization section at the base of the blog with various banner ads. Below the sidebar commercialization I have updated the About Me picture. Next we have our copyright information. Finally, in the sidebar we have our USO link.

At the base of the blog is the first banner area that contains the various catalogs and directories which I am affiliated with. There are also links here to subscribe by e-mail or perhaps rate the blog. You Tube is still here to but it has been moved to the bottom.

Tomorrow I will try to briefly explain the various affiliations. For now, Have A Great Day. I know I am!

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

No Time To Rest

Spring Break for teachers can be a time of rest and relaxation. It is also a time to catch up on important tasks. Like filing income taxes. I completed and E-Filed income taxes this morning for Chris and I. I also completed and filed for Julie. My next task is completing business tax appraisal for the county.

Yesterday I spent half the day at the doctor. He said I am fine and has released me to fend for myself for the next six months. The other half of the day was spent tweaking the blog. I have tried to arrange it more logically and I have changed weather and news feeds. It's amazing how long that takes when you are trying to watch movies at the same time.

I am also getting ideas together for a new web-site. I want it to be educationally themed, targeting Kindergarten. I am needing to plan the page design and content but I can't find the html editor I like. If you have any ideas, shoot them my way.

It is raining today. Hopefully it will stop today and dry out enough to put the garden in on Thursday. I am shooting for Thursday because that is the only day that Scott can help.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Picture Monday, March 17, 2008

The pictures today are devoted to my sister Michal Ann. I found these last night while going through a few boxes. All were take while she was enrolled at Sam Houston State University during the latter half of the 1960's.

This was probably taken when she ran for Homecoming Queen or some other honor.

This picture was taken when she was cheerleader. This is the Homecoming in which she ran for queen. Obviously it was taken at the parade. Michal is in the middle wearing her cheerleader uniform.

Michal and the other cheerleaders. Michal is in the upper right.

Michal and the other cheerleaders again. This time at the bank. Probably a shoot for an ad. I would imagine that the bank was a sponsor of some sort. Michal is in the upper left this time.

This is a picture of Michal and her sorority sisters. She was a member of the Pink and Green, Delta Zeta. Michal is in the #36 jersey in the front.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I'm Back UPS

This is the weekend. Yesterday was, well, short of spectacular. First I still have this awful sinus business going on. Which means it is hard to sleep at night. Which means sometimes you take sleep when you can get it. Which means sometimes I get real sleepy in the middle of the day. Which means, well, I take a nap. If there are any missing I may have them. Yesterday I was afforded the luxury of taking a nap. When I woke up Chris asked, "Did you turn the computer off?" "No!" I said. "Well it's off!" she said. "Turn it on!" I said. "Won't come on!" she said. After a few more "He said," "she said's" it was determined the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) had been interrupted. It must have taken off for South Padre Island for Spring Break. This was determined by the lack of power spewing forth from it. That and the fact that nothing connected to it was working. So I headed to Sam's Club to get a new UPS. I decided to do this because a new battery for mine would cost $149 and the fact that I needed it like now and not whenever it could get here. Once at Sam's I determine that I will purchase the APC Back-UPS NS 1250. With tax it came in at just over $150. I opted for this one because of the self diagnostics and the automatic shutdown if an "event" occurs while I am away. I pile the thing into the truck and head home for the next task. I'm home now. I disconnect the computer and unpack the UPS. I glance at the instructions and hastily begin to hook it all up to the new UPS. Mid way through the process I realize that I need to install the software. I start this and then notice that the screen is black. WHAT? Everything else works. What's the problem? "OH!" It helps to hook up the monitor too. Now I finish hooking all the components too the UPS and fire it up. It works beautifully. I run diagnostics and all went well. THEN.....the computer told me it could not communicate with the UPS. WHAT? They have already had a spat after 5 minutes? Is it an age thing? After all the computer is much older than the UPS. After monkeying with all the cables, the computer, and the way I tilt my head; I decide there is a problem and have to pack it up and take it back to Sam's. The new one came home with me and cooperated with the computer to the Nth degree. It works great and I'm a happy camper. Oh by the way, the UPS is made by APC (American Power Conversion). It was manufactured in India. Go figure! © 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.