Tech Tip: Sidebar Box

For this tech tip I added some text underneath the weather gadget.  It never ceases to amaze me how many people forget about the extraordinary weather that happens here.  Especiaduring the spring!

There is no excuse to not take five minutes to watch a weather forecast.  I watch Mike Morgan because I trust him far more than David Payne - News 9 has horrible looking radar.  KFOR's is much more sophisticated - you can actually watch a tornado move from street to street.

My mom and I watched as the Moore tornado from when it first formed all the way until it roped out on KFOR.  Why people still sent their children to school, I'll never understand.  Mike Morgan had been warning people for a week that there was going to be strong tornadic activity.  And I'm going to stop there, because that's a rant for another time.

Moral of the story: pay attention to the weather.

Tech Tip: Blog Profile

I clicked around and saw what my blog would look like without my name and Google + photo - and I didn't like it.  Mostly because that's my favorite picture of Stella.  She's got a spinach leaf on her head and she was kinda miffed about it (but she's kinda miffed about everything, so).  I also like it because it shows off my gun tattoo.

Steeeeellllaaaaaaaaaaaa

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

For this week's tech tip, I added the weather widget.  I noticed it on a few other blogs, so I thought I could be like the other cool kids and add one to mine, too!

My favorite weather is during summer - I love being out at the lake with an ice cold beer whenever it's 80-plus degrees and the sun's shining and there ain't a single cloud in the sky.  My least favorite weather is anything below 70 - that's just horrid!

My friend and I down at Arbuckle Lake earlier this year after all of that crazy
rain - a lot of the picnic tables were flooded.  It was great!

Tech Tip: Blogger Template

I browsed through the available templates, I just couldn't find one that was better than the book background.  I liked the travel one with the airplane, but books are where my heart lies, so I've decided to keep it.

Tech Tip: Embedded YouTube

I used this video because it never fails to make me laugh and hopefully it'll make whoever stumbles on this post laugh, too.  

For those not in the know, this is from the 2013 ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards campaign season, when Blake Shelton hosted for the first time after Reba McIntire stepped down.  This video shows his "search" for a co-host.  Blake showcases his straight-man comedic timing and self-deprecating humor.

For some more chuckles, here's the response from Luke Bryan...

Tech Tip: Creating Fake Tweets

Hello!  I'm here to tell you about how you can create fake tweets.  I used the Twitter Tweet Generator to create tweets for my storybook project.  All of these pictures are screencaps of the process that I'll be walking you through.

Step 1: Go to the website.  This is what the blank slate looks like.  As you update the fields on the left, they'll be reflected in the tweet on the right.

Step 2: Upload the picture you want to use for the profile picture.  Since this was for my storybook, I uploaded an image of the character I was using - the Doctor - who is watching the goings on of the story, and livetweeting it.  After you've first uploaded a picture, you can lick on "select an image" to use the same picture for each subsequent tweet you're creating.

These are images that I have uploaded previously to be used as profiles pictures.

After selecting a picture, the preview is immediately updated.

Step 3: Fill in the username information.  For those familiar with Doctor Who, this is an inside joke.  For those unfamiliar, I'll let you in: the Doctor, a space- and time traveling alien, often uses the alias "Dr. Smith" because of how common it is.  The "Not That Dr. Smith" comes from that, because for the purpose of my Storybook, he's really just an ordinary Dr. Smith, and not the time traveler.

Step 4: Fill in the message field with the tweet!

Step 5: Tweak the tweet's little details such as changing the date and time of the tweet, and whether or not you are following the user.

Step 6: Save the image.  You can either screencap the image or click on the button that says "download tweet" - which will lead you to a new screen (below) where you can just right click and "save as."

The result:

Final note: I don't know why the images have been coming out fuzzy today.  The generator was giving me clear images just a few days ago.

Tech Tip Website

I am doing a storybook for my project.  It is based on the Aesop animals and I'm having some of them go to therapy via Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer.  It's called: The Trouble With Aesop's Animals.