GravityOnline

NORTHERN LIGHTS TIME LAPSE

2011-07-18T00:59:00.002-03:00

This vid didn't get many views on my HH Youtube and thought it would be a good fit here on GO! Enjoy!!

Stealing Videos

2011-06-21T14:53:00.016-03:00

Ok, I make fan videos. Xena videos! I use clips that I acquired from the dvds which takes a tremendously long time. I get mad when someone steals one of my videos or uses clips from them.

How is this any different from me "stealing" clips from NBC Universal? Well here's how:

First of all let me say I place a credit in all my videos usually at the end, or in the description, or both, giving credit to NBC Universal.

Second of all, let me say that NBC Universal had claims on all my videos a couple of years ago. They retracted all their claims a few months later. I even have a screen capture that I took at the time, just in case they ever came after me in a legal way. I would be able to show that they had their chance to remove my videos, but they didn't. They retracted their claim, and in essence (in my mind anyways) gave me permission to keep my videos up. I don't know if I really have a leg to stand on, but it was worth a shot.

Third of all, let me say that I never upload raw footage. By that, I mean I don't upload 10 minute videos in 5 or 6 parts of Xena episodes in order to upload an entire episode. Actually when people do that, it kind of makes me mad. NBC Universal knows about our fan videos, and have allowed them to stay up. But when people upload raw footage, I think that pisses them off, and they block it. I'm just afraid that one day they'll get fed-up and decide to do a clean sweep and remove everything.

Ok, I do have somewhat of raw footage, which is the Hercules opening from the Hercules movies which I uploaded in order to display on my old Herc blog(that no longer exist). But I never had trouble with it! No claim whatsoever. I think NBC Universal is more concerned with raw footage from the episodes itself. They want you to buy the dvds! Or buy the episodes from Itunes or Amazon. They want to make money! I can't blame them for that. It is a business after all!

But I think they saw the light when it came to fan videos. We promote them! We do it for free! We are contributing to keeping the fandom alive, and in turn, are helping them make money! There have been countless people who have ask me where they can get the Xena and Hercules dvds. There have been countless people whom have discovered my videos through a tag or the music, and although they weren't Xena or Hercules fans before, their interest has been peeked and they leave a comment telling me how much they enjoyed my video. I've seen comments (and/or received messages) on my videos and other videos of people saying they became fans after watching videos!

I'd like to add, that I do indeed know there are other owners of Xena and Hercules, but they haven't shouted at me yet about my videos, so until that time comes I leave the credits as they are. Also I'm not really sure what the status of ownership is these days!

So taking all this into consideration, this is why people stealing videos from me is different from me using clips from the dvds. NBC Universal knows about me, and indeed all fan video makers, and have chosen to allow us to keep our videos up!

I don't know why people still get their videos blocked by NBC Universal? In my case, I think maybe they like it that I give them credit. Also I really don't think it's a good idea to say anything bad about them at Youtube(or bad about youtube either), which I have seen happen and those people have gotten their videos blocked and/or their channel terminated. And perhaps they are indeed eyeing the quantity a user may have, and that is also consideration for them.

Videos also get blocked because of music. Although some labels have come around and have made deals with Youtube. They place ads and offer a "buy at Itunes" link. If only they could come around just a little bit more. I happen know there are a lot of people that have have discovered music and different artists through fan videos, including myself, which in turn I did purchase at iTunes. Once again proving that fan videos not only promote tv shows, but music as well!

When I make a video, I usually already have a song in mind, and an idea of what clips I want to use. Like I said before, this takes a lot of time! You can't just zap a 30 second clip and have it in 5 seconds! It usually takes the same amount of time the clip is, in order to acquire it. The video making process takes time as well. From trying out different transitions and effects and adding them, to editing and cutting clips and getting it lined up just right to the music, all the while dealing with moviemaker crashes. And oops, I forgot to save which means I may have to redo something all over again!

So when someone steals from me, they are not using raw footage, they are using my edited footage. All the clips I acquired! All the transitions I added afer trying many out! All the effects I added after trying many out! All the frigging time I spent!! They don't have to worry about lining the music up because it's already been done by me in the cutting and rearranging process! My creative vision stolen by someone else because they are too lazy to do the work themselves!

Let me just say I don't think my videos are exactly the greatest, but they are something I worked hard on and accomplished myself. In my free time! For free! For other fans to enjoy! And because I love the tv show Xena WP so much!

I'd like to add that there have been a couple times in the past where clips were stolen from my videos, and the people apologized and took the videos down. They've earned a small measure of respect from me. They took ownership! But others........they don't apologize.......they don't always take the videos down.........and they don't take ownership!

Everything I've laid out here is why I get mad when someone steals videos from me, my friends, and others!

-Klipp

Lucy's Facebook Page Wins Prize For Her Starship Charity

2011-03-09T21:38:00.003-04:00

Hey readers, guess what! Lucy's Facebook page won that $5000.00 prize for her Starship charity which benefits sick kids!:) Thanks to everyone whom went over there and "liked" the page. See how simple that was readers! You(those of that "liked) helped to contribute $5000.00 to a charity! =D> Isn't that a good feeling! :D Here's Lucy's facebook message:

Resene Fastest Art Exhibition - Lucy Lawless
You guys rock! Argo has won the race!! Thanks for all your amazing support and 'likes' of this page - it means Starship wins $5000... but the real winners are the beautiful Starship kids. I can't thank you enough. Love Lucy

Lucy Lawless Argo Starship Warrior Princess For Starship

2011-02-19T00:57:00.002-04:00

Important message readers:

Help Lucy Lawless win an extra $5000 for the Starship Foundation in New Zealand. Please go to Lucy's Resene Facebook Page and LIKE the page. The Resene Page with the most LIKES wins an extra $5000 on top of the auction of the horse! Please go to: http://goo.gl/Dqt8L and LIKE the page. Help Lucy get the most LIKES and help the kids. Please go LIKE http://goo.gl/Dqt8L

http://www.youtube.com/user/ausxip1

Lost Girl Actors on Twitter Week

2010-12-06T22:26:00.010-04:00

************Update December 10 2010*************
Many of the Lost Girls actors have been on Twitter this week. They are so gracious. So sweet of them to take the time and talk to fans. Most of them are new to Twitter and it was beyond cute watching them try to figure it out. Today Anna Silk was on. She is ever so nice. Here was my tweet to her and her reply:

@lostgirlseries *waves* from Nova Scotia! Loves Lost Girl. You're awesome in it! Already a fan of yours from the Nico Derm commercials;)less than a minute ago via webKlippart Klippart

thanks! Love NS! have spent some good times in Halifax! @klippartless than a minute ago via HootSuiteLost Girl lostgirlseries

@lostgirlseries G'night Anna! Thanks for coming on:)less than a minute ago via webKlippart Klippart

thank you and thank you all for joining me today!!! Sleep well and watch the finale on Sunday!!! so excited! @klippart less than a minute ago via HootSuiteLost Girl lostgirlseries

So nice!

Remember when I wrote about Lost Girl back in September readers?

Well it turns out the show has become a huge hit! It's also been renewed for a second season much to my delight. What is it about this show? Well like I wrote before it's great campy fun. To read more about it go the Lost Girl Series Official Site. I think episode 8 "Vexed" is a pivotal episode. Things got a little more serious and a little less campy. All the episodes are a must see, but in particular this one.

There have been some comparisons between this show and my other all time favorite show ever, Xena. Hmmmn....let's see. Tough chick in leather? Yep. Cute funny sidekick? Yep. Campiness? Yep. Girl power? Yep. I think that's where it ends and Lost Girl branches out on it's own special journey. Xena had heaps of subtext. The main character in Lost Girl, Bo is out-and-out bi-sexual. No subtext needed here readers. She has been with both guys and girls, as the show clearly depicts. Not to mention she's a swinger too, lol. Maybe she is more of a tri-sexual. ~Wink~

This week some of the actors are tweeting from from the official Lost Girl Twitter. How cool is that readers!! Today Zoie Palmer whom plays Lauren was tweeting. She is sweet and gracious. I love the way fans complimented her, and she receives it kindly and then reflects the compliments back onto fans. A very witty charming lady!

I was lucky enough to tweet her and get a response:

@lostgirlseries *waves* From Nova Scotia. Lost Girl is my new fave show! You're awesome in it! :)less than a minute ago via webKlippart
Klippart

@Klippart thanks very much, you're my fave too :)less than a minute ago via webLost Girl lostgirlseries

Obviously I loved that tweet. And it's not like I'm going to screen capture it, print it out and hang it on my wall or anything.~Wink~

@lostgirlseries Thanks for spending some of your precious time today to talk to us curious fans:) We really appreciate it:)less than a minute ago via webKlippart
Klippart

@Klippart it is my pleasure I appreciate you all more than I can say!less than a minute ago via webLost Girl lostgirlseries

Ever gracious.

A few things I learned readers: Zoie will be in the season finale. She will be in season 2. She has a hunch that Lost Girl will air in the US soon. I hope so readers, because my American friends have no clue what I'm talking about when I rave about this show. They are totally missing out! Speaking of fans, I love the camaraderie that I saw over at twitter. My fellow fans were awesome!

Zoie's Facebook fan page is here.

The schedule for the rest of the week at twitter is as follows:
Tues - K.C. Collins (Hale), Wed - Rick Howland (Trick), Thurs - Kris Holden-Ried (Dyson), and Fri - Anna Silk (Bo)

The season finale airs Sunday December 12 2010. 9pm et. Check your local listings.

Thanks for reading readers,
Your friendly neighborhood Xenite,
-Klippart

Debate or Hate: Reading Between the Lines

2010-12-01T19:01:00.016-04:00

I use to be fan of a certain actor for many years readers. About a year and and a half ago he joined Twitter and Facebook. This is when I discovered his true value as a human being.

He has strong views which differ greatly from mine. Okay fine. I have no problem with that. I have many friends that have different views from me. We agree to disagree and remain friends. Right, left. I don't care! My problem is not just the views, it's the dialogue behind them.

He says he is inspiring people to think. To create debate and discussion. The problem is he always places links to hateful articles over, and over, and over again! These articles are always the exact same point of view! All the time! Everytime! How does this create debate? He says they may not be his point of view. How is it not his point of view if he is consistently posting links to articles that demonstrate the same point of view everytime?

Why would anyone do that? Post the same point of view articles all the time and then say they may not be his point of view? Well maybe because they are indeed his point of view, and perhaps he's covering himself from any potential backlash. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read between the lines readers.

This brings me to to the hate part of this article. I've noticed that this actor groups all Muslims together as terrorists. Here is an example of what I mean: You all know about the ground zero controversy readers. I really don't want to go into what should or shouldn't be done about that. That's not what this is about. It's about this actor's attitude. He doesn't want the cultural center to go there. He made that very clear with the links he was posting, even during the time when the 911 anniversary was coming and it was like a powder keg about to blow up! To tell you the truth readers, I was afraid someone was going to get hurt.

You would think maybe he would say something to somehow help. But instead he continued to post hateful articles, all the while making sarcastic remarks about what a peaceful religion Islam was. His supporters like to portray him as stirring the pot. I call it fanning the flames! He could have used his celebrity in a positive way to calm people down. Even if he doesn't agree with the cultural center going there, he could have encouraged peaceful ideas and suggestions from his fans. He could have been a voice of reason to them. Or, he could have said nothing at all. Instead he kept posting those hateful links. As far as I'm concerned he was abusing his celebrity!

He kept posting those links all the while patting himself on the back and telling everyone what a great guy he is for creating debate and discussion. That is just one example out of many of his Islamophobia. It's sad really, because a few gullible fans believe in him and his hateful views. To them he is a celebrity, and what he is saying must somehow be true? I'm certainly not saying other people's opinions and points of view are wrong if it differs from my point of view, but I do however believe spreading hate is wrong. Don't you readers?

This actor calls himself a Christian all the time. Didn't Jesus say to love everyone? He hateful links certainly don't sound very Christian to me. The dialogue between him and his fans were rather disturbing: they; them; those people.

Let me be clear, I'm not cool with the spreading of any kind of hate. Whether it be against Christians, Jews, Muslims, Americans (or other countries), sex, sexual orientation, transgender, color, etc. Nope. None. Nada. I've heard a lot of: well they do this, so why shouldn't we? Well maybe because somebody in these situations should know better. I don't know about you readers, but I'd like to hope that I would be one of the people that would know better.

And using the word "they" implies all. No readers! Not all! A few. Some. But not all. There is good and bad in all walks of life, no matter the religion, culture, country, sex, orientation, etc. See what I'm saying? Don't group all the apples together just because there are a few bad ones. If you do, then the same rules apply to you and you're no different from the people you accuse of doing hateful things. I wish this actor could understand this. He seems too busy posting the same exact hateful point of view articles over and over again, and then saying he likes to create debate, but they may not be his point of view!

I should try that. Post links to hate articles all the time, and then say they may not be my point of view. I wonder how far I'd get in the admiration game. Not far I imagine, other then with hate filled people.

He has hurt many of his fans, whom I suppose are former fans now. Who wants to believe that an actor you admire could be like this? Some still don't. Many excuse him by saying he is only stirring the pot, repeating his rhetoric: it may not be his opinion. Then there are others. The creeps of society. The people whom are already filled with hate and rage and have grasped onto this actor even though they weren't even fans of his before. I feel sorry for his fans, but this is truly how I feel. I believe that they are in for more hurt and disappointment.

Freedom of speech? Yep, I'm a blogger. I agree with this. But spreading hate, I do not! Debate? Yes always, but only if it's done fairly and responsibly. In this case it was not. It was very easy to read between the lines of his postings readers.

I guess what I'm trying to say readers, is don't be fooled by a person's celebrity status. Just because someone is a celebrity it doesn't automatically make them a good and fair person. I love, love, love, certain celebrities as most of you well know readers, but I will never give up my dignity for anyone. I hope you won't either.

Thanks for reading readers,
Your friendly neighborhood Xenite,
-Klippart

Editorial:

This was initially going to be Part I. But I stopped here as I don't want to pay this actor anymore attention. Some of the other things I would have brought up are his eyebrow raising comments about women. His Obama hate which he denies. Hate for illegal immigrants. All-in-all poor taste comments. The fact that he's very easy to read despite trying to hide his true feelings behind the mask of only being a joke. I've been told recently he posted a Hitler joke video. Some fans weren't pleased. All of the sudden he posted a pro-Israeli article. He's been accused recently of being homophobic. IMO I think there is a very good possibility. He suddenly posted a pro gay/lesbian article.

He must be keeping very busy cleaning up after himself.

December 8 2010, 1;00 pm Atlantic time
Klippart, Editor-In-Chief

Celebrity Impostors

2010-10-25T00:50:00.013-03:00

The case:
A few days ago a celebrity impostor was outed on twitter. Why did I take an interest? Because the celebrity in question just happens to be my favorite actress, Lucy Lawless. I discovered the twitter account(lucylawless1968) through a google alert. So I went over to check it out myself. It took me all of one second to figure out it wasn't her.

How, you wonder? Let me say that it hadn't been announced on Lucy's official site. But I didn't know that because I didn't visit Lucy's official site that day. The reason I knew instantly was because of the style of writing. Lucy's posts on her site are always charming, humorous, clever, witty, fun. An absolute delight to read. The imposter's tweets were dull, boring, and uninteresting. And short, probably because he/she was trying to be careful.

Furthermore:

The impostor uses emoticons a lot. I've never seen Lucy use them in her posts. Not to say she wouldn't, but the impostor used them way too much. The description "Some of you may know me as the actress playing 'Xena'." just didn't strike me as the way Lucy would have wrote her bio.

I looked at whom she was following. This made me lol. I just couldn't picture her sitting there and searching for a bunch of Xenites to follow. This is just common sense! She was following Kevin Sorbo! I seriously doubt that she follow someone whom disses her and her husband every chance he gets! The first person she followed was Justin Beiber??? Lol(she has since deleted many of these follows). I would imagine the first person she would follow would be Sharon Delaney whom runs her official site. Just saying.........

Geeze, I'm starting to get too proprietary here. Sorry.

She also listed http://www.lucylawless.info/ as her official site. This is Ausxip's site. The largest, best resource site for Xena/Lucy on the Internet. But not Lucy's official site. Lucy's official site is http://www.lucylawlessfanclub.com/. When Ausxip pointed this out to fake Lucy, the impostor insisted that it was her official site. This caused many of us to lol at twitter. Lucy not know what her own official site was???? Hilarious!

Anyways, the impostor was outed by Sharon Delaney and Ausxip.

Tips:
All this leads me to a few tips I use to sort real celebrities from the impostors (for unverified accounts):

(1) Did the celebrity in question announce their twitter account on their official site? If not, then it's probably not the real deal.

(2)Reliable Sources. Are other celebrities encouraging follows for this person. Are they tweeting @ them? I'd say it's the real deal if this is the case. Reliable sources can also be people whom aren't celebrities themselves, but may have insider information for one reason or another. These are trusted people whom have always, or at the very least, almost always have been right in the past about celebrity situations.

(3) The profile picture. I notice a lot of celebrities use a never-before-seen personal pic and not one that is out there in the public. Good sign if this is the case. Even better: a picture of themeselves holding up the name of their twitter id.

(4) More pictures. Most celebrities will upload personal photos they take, or are taken of them on a whim. Via twitpic or other. Obviously a faker could never do this.

(5) Appearances. If the celebrity says beforehand that they will be at a certain place, and later it is reported as being so, along with pictures, this is a good sign.

(6)Following, followers. Look at whom they are following. And who is following them. Are other celebrities following them? I ask this because I assume they would have somewhat of an inside track as to whether this is the real deal or not. You know, like maybe they are friends in real life and talk to each other on the phone. And what about following? In this case you kind of have to use your deductive skills here. Does it make sense? Which brings us to tip number 6.

(7) I hate to put it this way, but use your common sense. Think logically. If 2 and 2 don't equal 4, then it's an impostor.

What's the harm?:
What's the harm? Some people think: well they're just having fun and it's no big deal.

Imagine if the impostor said something bad. Maybe told a fan off! Or, what if a fan sees the real celebrity at an event, and says "I'm so-and-so at twitter." The celebrity would have no clue as to what the fan is talking about. This could really hurt a fan's feeling either because they think the celebrity is cruel, or they realize they've been duped. What if the impostor says's they are going to be at a certain place, and a lot of fans show up only to be disappointed. The scenarios are endless, causing harm to both the real celebrity and fans.

Think of it this way: How would you feel if someone pretended to be you at facebook or twitter, and was saying all kinds of things that you would never say. Do I really need to say more readers as to why this is so wrong!?

Final thoughts:
Impostors should think about the consequences. It can cause damage to the celebrity's image and reputation, not to mention hurt fans. Just because you are on the Internet, that doesn't give you the free-for-all to do anything you want, even if you feel like you're 10 feet tall! I live in Canada, and more and more there have been court cases for various newspapers to turn over email addresses and ip addresses of commenters in slander cases. And guess what, the courts agree!

Just be wary readers when following a potential celebrity from an unverified account. Verified account are great, but sometimes it takes a while before an account gets verified. In the meantime watch their tweets and utilize some of my tips. I'm not an expert or anything but so far they've worked!

Interesting reading:
A story about twitter tightening up with verified accounts. Plus the fake Dalai Lama debacle:
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/02/how-celebrity-imposters-hurt-twitters-credibility051.html

Another story about twitter tightening up with verified accounts. Plus a lawsuit by a celebrity:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/08/trusted_twitter/

Impersonating another person is against twitters terms of use:
http://support.twitter.com/groups/33-report-a-violation/topics/148-policy-information/articles/18366-impersonation-policy

Quote Box Code Correction

2010-10-05T20:47:00.000-03:00

I wanted to make a correction to the quote box code from an earlier blog codes post. The code wasn't complete. Here is an example of a quote box:

You can put your text here. Singa little song♫♫♫ dua little dance♫♫♫ You can put your text here

They are great for snippets of articles or quotes from your favorite authors.

The following is the correct code:


<div style="background-color: #ddddf0; border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; border-left: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid; border-top: #000000 1px solid; color: black; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: left;">
You can put your text here. Singa little song<span style="font-size: small;">♫<span style="font-size: small;">♫<span style="font-size: small;">♫</span></span></span> dua little dance<span style="font-size: small;">♫<span style="font-size: small;">♫<span style="font-size: small;">♫</span></span></span> You can put your text here</div>



The areas in blue is where you would change the colours to your liking. In this case I made the 4 borders black(#000000),made the background a light purply color(#ddddf0), and the text black(black) The yellow hightlighted area is where you would write your quote.

Lost Girl

2010-09-27T02:00:00.005-03:00

I like this new Canadian show, Lost Girl. It's campy and sexy. Something for me to sit back, relax, and have fun watching. I hope it has more seasons. I usually don't invest in new shows, preferring to wait until a couple seasons later and watch on dvd, but the promos were good and I ended up watching it. Here is the trailer for it:

Lost Girl is a supernatural series that follows our hero Bo on her quest to unlock the secrets of the mysterious Fae world. Premieres September 12 on Showcase. Visit showcase.ca for more.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Showcasedotca

Official Site
Official Facebook

I was pleasantly surprised to learn the starring actress, Anna Silk is in one of my favorite Canadian commercials. I remember when I saw this years ago, I thought: that girl needs to be in a sitcom, lol. But I'll take Lost Girl instead. Here is the commercial:

Psycho Flight Attendant---NicoDerm Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/user/r8edE

Here's another one

New NicoDerm Commercial
Our favourite Psycho Stewardess returns in new commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/user/nightcrawler2005

One more:
newest Nicoderm Commercial
Anna Silk returns as Deb our beloved Psyco Stewardess in a brand new Nicoderm commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/user/nightcrawler2005

Timelapse Montage

2010-09-22T17:40:00.001-03:00

Just because it's so beautiful!

Timelapse Montage from Mike Flores on Vimeo.

Adding the new Tweet Button and FB "Like" Button to Blogger

2010-08-14T20:08:00.008-03:00

If you already have the addthis bar in your blog, it will be updated with the new tweet button. However I had a couple problems. For one,  I wanted the tweet to say "via @Klippart" instead of "via @addthis." The other problem is when I tried adding the code that was  from Twitter's goodies  center, it would not tweet to a specific post.

Tweet to Specific Post

The following is a cutomized code that will have the tweet go to @YourUsername in it. Plus I added Facebook's like button to it. If you don't want the like button, simply delete that line. This code also includes "share" options.

This code is the one for a specific post.

*You should save your template to your pc first.

You must click from your dashboard: design-> edit HTML->check the expand widgets templates box.

Look for:


<div class='post-footer'>

*The best way to find it is to use Ctrl f

Then copy and paste the following code right after:


<div class='addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style' expr:addthis:title='data:post.title' expr:addthis:url='data:post.url'><a class='addthis_button_compact' href='http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4c66f89b15c1b121'>Share</a>
<span class='addthis_separator'/>
<a class='addthis_button_tweet' tw:count='horizontal' tw:via='Klippart'/>
<a class='addthis_button_facebook_like'/>
</div>
<script src='http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4c66f89b15c1b121' type='text/javascript'/>


Change Klippart to your username at twitter.
Click save template and you're done!

Tweet in General to Your Blog

The next code is a general code for your blog, and not directed to a specific post
It includes the Facebook "like" button. If you don't want that then simply delete that line in the code. It also incudes "share" options

This code is for the sidebar or footheader.

Copy and paste the following code in the html widget:

<div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_pill_combo">
       <a class="addthis_button_tweet" tw:count="horizontal" tw:via="Klippart"></a>
        <a class="addthis_button_facebook_like"></a>
        <a class="addthis_button_compact">Share</a>
    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=YOUR-ACCOUNT-ID"></script>

Change Klippart to your username at twitter.
Save and done!

Are You Being Stalked?

2010-08-11T20:11:00.019-03:00

Have you ever been stalked? Well I have. Online. My experience is not as drastic as some people. I believe I caught on to the stalking early. Let me tell you what happened. I'm going to use generalizations as my stalker is still out there.

- I'm going to call my stalker "Jack." Jack may be either a he or she.
- I will not name which social networking site I'm speaking of.
- I'll be using the word "connecting" a lot, which could stand for connecting, contact, following, or friendship.
- Messages could be messages, postings, or tweets.
- The fandom we are both fans of shall be refer to as ****
- Jack's peculiar postings shall be referred to as ?????

I met Jack on a social networking site. Jack is a fan of **** as I am. Jack likes my artwork. A lot! At first things were easy going. Jack was very sweet and kind. I wasn't close to Jack, just shared a common interest, and chatted a few times. I noticed that Jack's public messages were a bit odd. It's hard to explain. Jack seemed very.........immature. I wondered if Jack was 10 or 12 years old or something. Later I found out Jack was in his 60's.

Jack loves my artwork. And posted links regularly. Naturally I was flattered. Jack asked me if I could do some artwork for another fandom. I said I'd think about it. I told him I had no pictures from this fandom. Jack offered to send me pictures, but would need my email address. My inner instinct kicked up a fuss. I have to tell you dear readers, that although it hasn't been so all of my life, for about the last 5 years my instincts about people and things have been 100% correct.

But I digress. Anyhow, I told Jack That I would get back to him. I wasn't comfortable at all about giving my email to him. I only give my email out to close trusted friends. Before anyone says: waitaminute!!!!! I thought I was a close trusted friend, but I don't have your email. Yes, that may be true, however the occasion hasn't arisen yet where exchanging emails was necessary. After all social networking has their own private messaging system.

I digress again. Sorry. Anyways, I kept putting Jack off. Btw, all these messages back and forth are public. Finally I told Jack that he would be better off getting someone, an artist, directly involved with this other fandom to do the artwork. I told Jack, that my time was limited and wanted my free time to be devoted to my own fandom. Jack never really said anything in return, but I believe he was satisfied with my excuse.

Later, I can't remember how long, Jack informed me that my art should be viewed by the celebrity I did art of. He wanted to find a way to make this happen. I told Jack that although it would be cool if said celebrity came across my art by chance, I didn't want anybody actively seeking out this celebrity so they could view my art. I thought this issue was finished. Wrong! Even though I said no to this, Jack didn't listen, and was indeed actively trying to contact the celebrity in question through the celebrity's representative.

I was pissed off to say the least. Also mortified! I didn't want anybody to think I put Jack up to this. Talk about a lack of respect for my wishes. This led me to post an angry public message without actually addressing Jack. It went something like this as follows: I Really appreciate it when people respect my wishes especially when I ask them "not" to do something on my behalf. I think Jack got the message.

Without going into too much details, Jack post a lot of peculiar stuff. Which shall be called ????? I mean a lot. One tired day, I came home from work, not in the best of moods, and there were pages and pages of this. It took me forever to find messages from other people. I should have messaged Jack privately, but went on the record publicly and stated that all these ????? were saturating messages, making it hard to find messages from my other contacts. That this site was not to right place to post ?????. I even suggested to proper avenues where ????? could be posted.

Jack apologized, and said he would stop. I felt bad. It was such a faux pas on my part to post all that publicly. Anyways, I told Jack to not to stop posting ?????, especially if that's what his other contacts liked, and that it was my fault for staying connected. I told him that I would be unconnecting myself from him, because all his ????? were too much to filter through. Although Jack was disappointed, he seemed to understand. And he could still contact me.

Anyways things were going along great. Then Jack contacted me. To say hi, or something kind about my art. I can't remember. Anyways, I responded, and went over to look at Jack's profile. That's when I noticed he seemed to be badgering celebrities to respond to him. I thought to myself, OMG!!!!

A few more times he contacted me. He says he's a "fan" of me. That was fine. Not thinking really. I should have analyzed more. Anyway I checked his profile again. I suppose that makes me the stalker, but I wanted to see if my gut instincts were right, and that I should cut ties completely. Anyways, Jack was indeed badgering a celebrity to respond. Also another one, an up and coming singer, sending her music links to famous talk show hosts, even though the singer asked him not to. Sound familiar!? That was it for me! I found the whole thing very disturbing. So I blocked him! I didn't want anything to do with him.

That's when the real stalking began. Jack stalked me all over the Internet. Joined sites where I was at. Tried using other id's to connect with me. But I discovered these and blocked them too. All the while posting messages about my art and what a "fan" he is of me. He also submitted me for some kind of award.

By this time I was aware that I was being stalked. I also told a couple close friends what was going on, just to make sure I wasn't being overly paranoid. They were in agreement with me. The award he submitted for, he got others to contact me about it. He was telling these people that I didn't like his posts and that's why I disconnected myself. Not true, I never said I didn't like ?????. I said it was too much and that it made it difficult to filter through to see other messages.

Anyways, about the award, to me it was as though he was saying: Look at me, look at me. Look at all I'm doing for you! I had to contact the administrator of the award to withdraw my name from it. I told them what was going on. And that if I won the award Jack would never, never leave me alone. He'd be so puffed up about "all" he'd "done" for me. He'd never stop! Some point after this Jack managed to send me a message from another social networking site. Here is the exact message:

"PLEASE UN BLOCK ME SO I MAY ENJOY YOUR ART WORK, WITH THE REST OF THE FANS... I HAVE DONE YOU NO WRONG... IN FACT I FORWARD ALL YOUR WORK AND HELP LET ALL KNOW OF YOUR WONDERFUL GIFTS... PLEASE, THIS IS/WAS NOT FAIR...THANK YOU..."

I blocked him at this site to. Jack is extremely kind and sweet. Jack continues to use my art work as backgrounds. Jack continues to promote my art work. Even after I made it clear I want nothing to do with him! Does that make sense!? No! Not unless Jack is indeed stalking me! I don't think Jack even realizes that he is stalkerish. At times I'd feel guilty, because as I said he is very kind and sweet. Then I'd remember how I felt. Like someone is invading my space all the time. Like he is standing right in front of me, in my face, literally, wanting to "help" me because he is my "biggest fan." Even though I say no.

Here's some research I've done on online stalking:

Understand Stalking

Stalking is defined as repeated and persistent unwanted communications and/or approaches that produce fear in the victim. source

I believe the above applies to me. Although I'm not fearful, more like wary.

Most often cyberstalkers find their victims in some type of online forum, such as chat rooms, bulletin boards, online groups, MySpace, etc. Once the cyberstalker finds their victim there are numerous things that they can do to them, but the key to cyberstalking is that the behavior is repeated. Cyberstalkers, like physical stalkers, will harass and abuse their victims because they enjoy scaring and harassing other people. But something to keep in mind is that cyberstalking, like stalking, is not always done by someone you know; the person stalking you can be a complete stranger that has suddenly fixed on you for some reason. source

Mine found me on a social networking site.
I'm struck by this line: the person stalking you can be a complete stranger that has suddenly fixed on you for some reason
And this line: key to cyberstalking is that the behavior is repeated.

Here are some signs that you are a victim of online stalking and harassment.

Sign one:

One thing that you are going to need to look for is to see if the person is following you online. One way to tell if the person is following you online is if they are visiting the same message boards that you are and they didn't belong to the message board until after they met you. Or they follow you around from chat room to chat room no matter how hard you try to avoid them.

Sign two:

You are receiving numerous emails from the same person after you have already told that person you don't wish to talk with them. The person basically ignores your one letter of communication and repeatedly sends you email covering all sorts of different topics. Most of the time the emails are a personal nature rather than forwards, but you need to realize that even forwards can count when it comes to unwanted emails.

Sign three:

Something else that you can look for when it comes to online stalking and harassment is the person not stopping the behavior. What this means is that they are constantly insulting you or threatening you regardless of what is going on. Or they can also be super nice to you and offer to help you. It doesn't matter what it is they are doing but when they are stalking you online they are going to be repeating the unwanted behavior.

Sign four:

Something else that you need to look for is people who are directing things, such as comments or suggestions, directly to you. Basically you are feeling singled out because this person always comments on what you have said or makes some kind of remark in response to what you have posted. The posts can be verbally abusive, but they can also just give you a bad feeling. Either way you should take notice and be aware of what is going on because it can mean they are stalking you.
source

Number one: yes they are followed me all over online
Number two: yes, I made it clear I do not wish to communicate them, yet he continued to try and contact me.
Number three: yes, he continued to be super nice to me, and continues unwanted behavior
Number four: yes, he made it seemed as though I were the one to blame by lying and telling people that I said I didn't like his ????? When actually I said it was too much. And yes, I felt bad, either guilty bad or mad bad!

According to the Psychiatric Times, they described five stalker subtypes:
(2) The Intimacy Seekers pursue someone they have little, if any, relationship with in the mistaken belief that they are loved, or inevitably will be loved, by the victim. The stalking satisfies needs for contact and closeness while feeding fantasies of an eventual loving relationship. source

I only listed the one that I believe applies to Jack in my situation. Click the link to read more.

Different article on signs of stalking.

Step 1

Frequent contact. One of the early warning signs of a potential cyber stalker is contact via email, instant messenger, or personal messages on forums, multiple times a day. If you start to feel overwhelmed with the number of times this person is contacting you, you need to stop and pay close attention to the messages themselves. They may be cyberstalking you.

Step 2

Unusual interest in you. While it's common and normal to be curious about the people you meet online in forums or chatrooms, it's NOT normal to be dogged with personal questions about where you live, what other forums you frequent, and what sort of work you do. Someone who asks several questions about your personal, private life, they are trying to get a glimpse of who you really are (as opposed to just a name on a computer monitor).

Step 3

They give you information about yourself that you didn't give them. When a person online asks you about certain information about yourself that you know you didn't give them, that's a sure sign you're being cyberstalked. They most likely attained this personal information by Googling your name to see what sort of information about you that they could glean from the internet. For instance, if they mention seeing a photo of you with your dog, and you know that that photo is on your Flickr account, they have been researching you. Also, if they mention seeing some work you've done online, and that work was done several years ago and you know it's been archived, they are definitely searching to dig up information about you.

Step 4

They know where and when you're online. A cyberstalker will keep up with your moves online. They might send you emails or private messages saying, "I know you were online because I saw some messages you left for others, but you didn't answer my email." They might also "conveniently" show up to chatrooms or message boards when you do. Most likely, this isn't a coincidence. They may know your schedule or may have been waiting for you for hours
source

I believe all of the above applies to me.

Although I believe my situation wasn't as drastic as most people, you should still be careful out there and know your rights as the following quote states:

But, stalking is a legal form of harassment and is against the law. So, it important to know that the law is available to protect you from any stalker or someone hounding you and your "virtual " identity. If you even suspect that someone is stalking you, don't wait until it escalates. Contact the authorities immediately. The information is out there, so get educated quickly. source

In closing I would like to say that the stalking has decreased tremendously. However, since we have common friends, every now and again Jack does invade my space. I think he tries to figures out ways to somehow "get" to me whilst seeming all innocent. As an example, Jack posts things and the asks our common friends to repost them, which means I will see them. They are not about me, let me be clear on that. I think he just wants to make me aware that he is still around.

I don't know how Jack will feel if he reads this post. Or should I say when!? I imagine he will be either clueless or in complete denial. Maybe mad? I dunno. Some part of me hopes that Jack will realize what he's been doing. Not just to me, but others as well. But I decided to make what happened clear. As there are times when I may say, post, or tweet things that people don't understand. (such as my "about" section that I mention in the next paragraph). Or, on the flip side, not respond at all.

Because of all this, I tend to be more wary of people. I keep it tight on whom can comment and message me at all my sites. If you've ever read my "About" section on my Klippart Shangri-la blog, you can now understand why I wrote all of that.

-Klipp

PS:

You can draw you own conclusions, but I will never say who, what, when, or where.

*******Update********
Just a little note about Jack asking our common friends to repost things. It's ok friends. Repost away! I can live with it. No worries. I feel a million times better now that I've gotten this off my chest. And I want to make it clear that if you think you know whom Jack is, I in no way want you to take sides or ostracize anyone. I never wanted to hurt Jack's feelings. I just want him to leave me alone.

*******Update********Aug.21 2010
Jack created another id and started watching me again on Aug. 17. Apparently he has many, many different identities, as I found out from a common friend. Now I really don't care if Jack sees this!

I'm pretty sure Jack hasn't read this post yet. I believe he was prompted to watch me again because I made my profile private at the site. About a week later for unimpotant reasons you don't need to know, I made my profile public again. And that's when Jack started watching me again. He probably figures if I decide to go private again, he'll still be able to see my messages. I haven't blocked him thus far. Some friends suggested I simply ignore him. So at the moment things remain at a standstill.

I also wanted to mention that I've been at the site in question since May 2009. Many of the things I talked about occurred over time, with everything culminating around February 2010.

*********Update*********September 4 2010************
I decided to block Jack's new id as well. I just wasn't comfortable with the situation. I don't see why I should have to put up with it. I don't!

What's Happening

2010-08-01T21:58:00.028-03:00

What's happening? That is the question!

You got 140 characters to answer that question!

Are you at that wacky place, Twitter? What!!! That place is weird, I don't get it!!

Well, neither did I at first. But I got it figured out now. It's a very useful tool if utilized the right way.

Twitter = super-fast information

Twitter = links, links, links

Twitter = celebrities

Twitter = promotion of yourself, websites, blogs, projects, etc.

Twitter = promotion of things you love: books, movies, celebs, fandoms, etc.

Twitter = the things/people that you want to follow because they interest you.

I like to use twitter as sort of a feed via the lists section. I sort them out into different categories, news, special interest, tech, celebrities, various fandoms, etc. The great part is you can place someone on a list and not follow them.

Why would you do that you ask? Well, for example the news list has so many tweets in it that it would saturate pages, and pages thereby making it difficult to go through all the tweets to find my other interests. With lists I can simply go through each one and click on the links that interest me, and retweet things that I think others might find interesting as well. Don't get me wrong, I still follow people, I'm just very picky about whom I follow.

FYI, you can also keep your list private

Here are some:

Do's:

-Do follow your interests.

-Do take the time to look at your followers, and perhaps follow them in return as you may have common interest, or maybe it's just friendly tweeps(friendly followers;pals; friends).

-Do retweet things that you find interesting and truly believe your followers will too. Accomplish this at a cautious pace so as not to bombard people with endless retweets. Also if you're in a fandom remember not just to read but to retweet things so as to promote the fandom. But don't over-do it!

-Do use hashtags. This is simply a tag: # (the pound key) to find things in the search engine. The hashtag is always as follows: #hashtag not ~~#hash tag~~ or ~~# hashtag~~. There are no spaces.

-Do #FollowFridays or #FF ~occasionally~. This is a fun way to support your followers and/or people you are following. I wouldn't recommend doing this for your entire list of followers, or people you're following. Instead just pick a select few that you feel deserve for whatever reason that week. You should always give a reason as to why you're promoting to follow these people.

In this pic I normally would have done a #FF, but perhaps it wasn't Friday. I can't remember. I would have done a: #FF @names. The point is I let all my followers know the reason.

-Do talk to other people. You don't have to talk to everyone and/or all the time, but occasionally is nice.

-Do check your @ everyday to see who is talking to you. You will see these tweets if you follow the person by scrolling through everything, but this pulls them up specifically. You can also see tweets from people you ~don't~ follow the same way, by clicking @username in the right margin. I've actually connected with a lot of people this way.

Here are some:

Don'ts

-Don't bombard people with spam. That's an obvious one.

-Don't bombard people with retweets. Okay, I've been guilty a few times. Mea culpa. Btw, if the person you are retweeting is already being followed by your followers, then you don't have to worry about it, because they won't see the retweet. That is, unless you decide to copy and paste instead with ~RT~ in front, which is the old method of retweeting but still commonly used.

-Don't hound celebs or anyone for that matter. I've seen people do it. Not good! And please don't get upset if a celeb doesn't respond to you. They have very busy lives(Well, so do we all! But you know what I mean!), and tons of people tweeting at them. From what I've seen they try their best, or at the very least, they pick questions to answer that many have asked.

-Don't ask people to follow you. Or follow for follow. ~Tres tacky~! Makes one look desperate. Also reminds me of youtubers requesting subs for subs. Ugh!!! Have a look at your followers instead to see if you're interested. And don't worry, people will follow you. If you share common interests........they will come........! It's not a race you know! Or a popularity contest(although some fools think so) It's about ~your~ interest! Remember that!

-Don't role-play and/or storytell. Sorry roleplayers/storytellers, but I've seen people do this. All it does is saturate tweets. It's actually kind of borderline selfish. People have others that they follow, and would like to get a chance to read their tweets sometime this century! Have some consideration for your followers! People have limited time. It's too much to ask your followers to filters through all of that in order to find other tweets! On the flip side, one doesn't have to follow roleplayers/storytellers either. Simply unfollow. It's your choice.

-Don't worry about unfollowing people or being unfollowed. I mean really, who cares!!! If you don't wish to read someones' tweets then unfollow. And there may people whom don't want to read your tweets anymore. So what! Maybe they have good reason. Maybe they discovered you don't share the same interests. Or maybe they are spammers that got caught. Don't sweat it, just move on!

- Don't worry about sounding stupid! Whether it be to celebs or not. There are tons of us on twitter, and we all sound stupid (at least to ourselves) one time or another.

Here are some:

Always:

-Always be respectful, and considerate. If someone is getting on your last nerves, word things carefully. Remember everything you tweet is public! (Unless you choose private setting, which I don't believe is as private as one may think. Just saying.)You can always unfollow or block or send a direct message.

-Always think of your followers if you go all potty mouth. Have you done that all along? Fine, then they know it. If not, then think about it first.

-Always be careful. As much as you talk to each other, keep things easy going. You really don't know whom others really are in most cases. Beware of stalkers. You may think someone is being nice, but are they really? If you feel uncomfortable with someone getting in your face all the time, albeit in a nice way, it could be a sign of stalking.

Here are some:

Tips:

-Try as best you can to keep it fun. The best tweets are cute, funny, witty, charming, and teasing. Or, informative! Sorry, but religious promoting or political promoting tweets turn me off....... yawn......

-Use url shorteners. That way you get more words in. I personally love Tweetdeck which has so many different options such as which url shortener you want to use, or picture host you want to use. Also it has columns to which you can put each list in.

-Try and have a life away from twitter. You don't need to be there all the time. Do you? Mmmnn, maybe I'd better not answer that.

-Remember what I said at the beginning: ~It's a very useful tool if utilized the right way.~

Have fun tweeting!

G20 Protests in Toronto Ontario

2010-06-27T15:43:00.011-03:00

Some people are going crazy in downtown TO since the G20 Summit started a few days ago. Police cars have been set on fire, people have been arrested for security reasons and, looting

along with loud protesting are all taking place. Toronto's never seen such behavior! Of course I believe we all have the right to express our concerns through peaceful protests, and not brute force...most of the protesters were indeed peaceful and I don't believe that one bad apple should spoil the entire bushel...hence our free country!

Editorial:

It's a shame that this happened. It was suppose to be a peaceful protest. Unfortunately a group broke off from the rest of the protesters and caused all kinds of chaos. Thereby ruining everything. The only thing this group proved was that they're nothing more than criminals. Although this group will say they had causes to protest, the ironic twist of fate is that they themselves disrupted the peaceful protesting, not the police. The causes of the peaceful protesters have gone by the wayside, because of them. No one cares anymore why and what they(peaceful protesters) were there to protest. This group in a sense became the very thing that they rallied so violently......literally, against.

Canadians have the right to protest. The majority do it peacefully. Remember that dear readers. We should not group all in with the bad few.

July 1 2010, 2:42 pm Atlantic time
Klippart, Editor-In-Chief

Purr-fect Mom to Baby Bobcats!

2010-06-06T22:41:00.001-03:00

Check out these cuties:

Purr-fect Mom to Baby Bobcats!

BigCatRescue — May 08, 2010 — Update on the three orphaned bobcat kittens...Midnight, Rain and Storm are all doing grr-eat thanks to their surrogate mum Bobbi the domestic cat!

They're all eating well and gaining weight and starting to explore their environment more!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BigCatRescue

Facebook

2010-06-01T14:21:00.003-03:00

I agree with you Klippart; Facebook is an invasion of privacy. The fact that FB fools people into thinking that deactivating your page is enough is an invasion of privacy as well. Like they are holding people hostage. I did not realize a while back, that when you register, ALL contacts in your email automatically know that you are on. This was a total invasion of privacy as I had put up a page incognito for personal and private reasons. This invasion also caused a huge misunderstanding between me and a good friend who thought I was ignoring her FR. I did not even know about her FR until she alerted me to it. Once I checked, I noticed that ALL my contacts that were on FB had FR's pending on my FR list! The apps are UBER-annoying as well. Not that I don't appreciate friends sending hearts and flowers etc, but I honestly have no time to go through all that every day. Not even every week. There are just too many. This is also not a good thing seeing as those very friends may take offence to a no-response which isn't personal. There are also other people that we may add out of politeness, that may play a quiz and name us in it; it's not always in a good sounding tone. There are many reasons why I'm not fond of FB, and this is why I'm not on FB any longer. Privacy is the biggest reason; I am waiting the two week period for permanent deletion. My only regret is that Kevin Sorbo and wife are on and I hope no one thinks I don't want to be a part of that; I just refuse to be a part of the FB operation any longer!

Blog Update

2010-05-28T19:00:00.001-03:00

I quit my job that I've been working at for the past ten plus years. I start a new job on Monday. I'll be posting a lot less now. I'll also be spending less time at all my sites, including my blogs. This is a new blog, my generic blog. There' s not much here, still, I hope you get something out of it. I shall continue to post, just at a much slower pace.

Although I'm saddened about spending less time with my online friends, I'm excited and happy about my new job.

Much love,
Klipp xo

Facebook Privacy

2010-04-25T16:03:00.011-03:00

It's important to protect yourself online. Isn't it? I don't think Facebook believes that. With all their endless applications, which is invasive enough, they now want to share data about you with other non-facebook websites.

They're not even asking! They're automatically setting your permission to "allow" by default! This new setting is called "Instant Personalization". The "Instant Personalization" application allows users to see websites tailored to them based on their interests and social connections, as long as they are logged into Facebook.

You can change this setting by going to "Account" > "Privacy Settings" > "Applications and Websites">"Instant Personalization", and uncheck "Allow." While you're in "Privacy Settings," you may want to take the opportunity to go through each option and setting them to be more private. Here's a good video which gives a nice outline of the privacy settings. 2:41 is when the part about "Instant Personalization" comes up.

I like Facebook ok. I only went there because friends of mine were there, as well as stars I follow at Twitter. I find it way too time consuming, especially with all those apps( which you can block btw, by going to your request page and clicking "Block this Application"). I suppose that's the point, they want to keep you on their site as long as possible. The thing I like the most there is seeing photos.

In the end I prefer Twitter. The information flow there is super fast! I meet friends there. I have access to all my interest via the list option. Kind of similar to having feeds that you like right at your fingertips.

I know some people love it at FB for the socializing aspect. It would be a whole lot more enticing to me if they got rid of all those applications, and not want to giveaway our privacy to everyone simply because they want to have a monopoly of the social networking scene on the internet. Sometimes less is more. At least for me it is!

Earth Day

2010-04-22T00:25:00.000-03:00

Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky

2010-04-18T14:17:00.000-03:00

A flash of light, later explained to be part of a meteor shower, was spotted over Iowa and Wisconsin. (No audio)

Read more

More Blog Codes

2010-04-12T23:35:00.003-03:00

Here are some more codes that I have used on my blogs. You can adjust the height, width, and colors yourself to your own liking. But first, some other stuff I use:

Color picker- to select your color choices
Stat counter- a good safe counter
Flag counter- I like to have this one shown on my blogs
Add this- share gadget. Follow the instructions as to where to place it in the html template. Remember to save your template first. I also place it in the footheader.
Twitter gadget- official twitter gadgets and buttons can be found at the bottom of the twitter page in the link that says "goodies."

Now for the codes:

Table:
A table like this is nice to make tabs across the top of your blog, or you can use them to make thumbnails for pictures

LINK

Simply copy and paste the following code, replacing "link" with your text, link, or pic:


<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none }</style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table style="text-align: left; width: 460px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>LINK</td>
<td>LINK</td>
<td>LINK</td>
<td>LINK</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

Scroller box:
I use these boxes to post links to articles in the sidebar. It helps to keep the sidebar from getting too long.

text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!

Copy and paste the following code, replacing "text or link here' with your links:


<div style="height: 250px; overflow-y: auto; width: 180px;">
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!</div>


Scroller box with color and scroll bar color:
The color gives it a nice look. Please be aware the scroll bar will only colorize in IE. There seems to be no fix for this. If I find a code, I will update this post.

Copy and paste the following code, replacing to your links or text. Then simply replace the color to your liking:


<div style="OVERFLOW-Y: auto; BACKGROUND-COLOR: red; WIDTH: 200px; SCROLLBAR-BASE-COLOR: black; HEIGHT: 170px">
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!
text or link here!text or link here!text or link here!</div>

Scroll box:
Nice for an announcement.

Write your text here

Copy and paste the following code. Replace with your colors and text in the highlighted areas:

<div
align="center"> <marquee bgcolor="#39A8D4" scrollamount="2"
direction="up" loop="true" width="35%"> <center>
<font color="#ffffff" size="+1"><strong>Write your text here </strong></font> </center> </marquee></div>

Scroller box sideways(bulletin):
Another nice one for a bulletin.

Write your bulletin here

Copy and paste the following code. Replace highlighted areas with your colors and text:


<marquee bgcolor="#000000" direction="left" scrollamount="2"><span style="color: white;">Write your bulletin here</span></marquee>

Quote box:
Really nice for quotes from your favorite authors, or snippets from articles.

You can put your text here.

Simply copy and paste and replace the highlighted areas with your color choices:

<div style="background-color: #F2cc8f; color: #00000; border: 1px solid #444444; padding:4px 5px 4px 5px; text-align:left;">You can put your text here.</div>

I Am Canadian

2010-04-07T14:14:00.001-03:00

A favorite video which really stirs the Canadian in me. Done with a quirky sense of humour.

Blog Codes

2010-04-05T01:06:00.010-03:00

I thought I post some codes I picked up along the way. I'm not a css or html expert or anything, just learned as I went.

A few tips first:

-save your template first before you do anything to it
-use Ctrl f to find the right spot in the template. Simply type the code in the box that opens and it will be highlighted in the css. Keep clicking "next" until you find the right spot to place the code.
- use color picker to select matching colors to your blog(you won't need it here for the codes in this post, but in general later on for widgets,embedded videos,etc.)

-Hide the navigation menu:

Look for:


<b:skin><![CDATA[/*

And Place this code right after:


/* Hide Navigation Bar */

#navbar { height: 0px; visibility: hidden; display: none; }

/* BloggerSentral.blogspot.com */

Click preview template to make sure. Then save. Done!

-To create a drop down menu(main label widget such as the one in my sidebar on my blog)

Make sure that you have NOT checked the “Expand widget templates” box.

Look for:


<b:widget id='Label1' locked='false' title='Labels' type='Label'/>

Highlight it and replace with:


<b:widget id='Label1' locked='false' title='Labels' type='Label'>
<b:includable id='main'>
<b:if cond='data:title'>
   <h2><data:title/></h2>
</b:if>
<div class='widget-content'>
<br />
<select onchange='location=this.options[this.selectedIndex].value;'>
   <option>Select a label</option>
   <b:loop values='data:labels' var='label'>
      <option expr:value='data:label.url'><data:label.name/>
         (<data:label.count/>)
      </option>
   </b:loop>
</select>
   <b:include name='quickedit'/>
</div>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>

Preview and/or save it. Done!

-Open links into a new window:

(you can use this code to open links into a new window. However the problem is that it will open ALL links into a new window. Such as about, older post, home. So think carefully before doing this)

Find:


<head>

And change that to:


<head>

<base target='_blank' />

Save. Done!

-Open picture into a new window.(as opposed to all links as in the previous code)

Simply copy and paste this code in you blog post in html mode. (another word when you upload a picture click html mode):


target="_blank"

Here's an example of where it goes:


<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">

<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hVi2Ac_4Yo4/S7gbvHjECBI/
AAAAAAAAD0M/022Z89_0OqI/s1600/Wild+Shadow+by+Klippart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" nt="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hVi2Ac_4Yo4/S7gbvHjECBI/
AAAAAAAAD0M/022Z89_0OqI/s320/Wild+Shadow+by+Klippart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>

Post it. Done!

Ebook Reader

2010-04-04T17:19:00.000-03:00

Youtube: Thumbs up or Down

2010-04-03T22:56:00.002-03:00

For my first post I decided to write about Youtube's new rating sytem and layout.

Thumbs up. Thumbs down. Really??? Have they gone all Facebook on us! The beauty of the 5 star system is that it covers that grey area. You don't absolutely love it, but don't hate it either. 3 star rating! Worth watching then. Other individuals might like it. We all have different taste.

Where are all the old ratings!? Oh, I see. When you give thumbs up or down then you see them. But how does this help the viewer filter out decent videos from bad ones beforehand? I did a search on cats. Most relevant. Why cats? I don't know? Ok, ok, you got me, I love cats. But I digress. Out of the top 4 only two came up "most liked" with the number of views listed and dated. The other 2 had none of this information. When I clicked one of them, it had almost 1.5 million views. And positve comments. Surely some people must have given it good ratings?

And WTF is up with putting the embed button right next to the flag button!? Oop......sorry, meant to embed it, but accidently flagged it! I realize there is a form you have to fill out when flagging.....it's still there right? But I hate clicking on buttons accidently. What if it still counts for something?

This new rating system doesn't sit very well with me. Maybe some will like it. And of course after a while we'll all get used to it. It doesn't appear to be going away. My rating for Youtube's new layout and rating system: thumbsdown!

XML Code For Logo in WMM XP Tutorial Video

2009-04-06T12:21:00.002-03:00

<TransitionsAndEffects Version="1.0">
<Titles>
<TitleDLL guid="{353359C1-39E1-491b-9951-464FD8AB071C}">
<Title name="@My Logo" iconid="13">
<Param name="InternalName" value="TitleMultiTitles"/>
<Param name="Description" value="Puts mylogo.gif in bottom right corner"/>
<Param name="LogoBitmapFilename" value="AddOnTFX\mylogo.gif"/>
<Param name="LogoRect" value="0.8 0.8 0.2 0.2"/>
<Paragraph>
<Param name="IsOneLine" value="true"/>
<Param name="BoundingRect" value="0.1 0.075 0.8 0.15"/>
<Param name="MaxCharacterCount" value="32"/>
</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>
<Param name="IsOneLine" value="true"/>
<Param name="BoundingRect" value="0.1 0.25 0.8 0.1"/>
<Param name="MaxCharacterCount" value="32"/>
</Paragraph>
</Title>
</TitleDLL>
</Titles>
</TransitionsAndEffects>