Neddy's Palaver

Below is a screen-shot of part of my PortableReading library at Facebook.

I am very skeptical of most applications at Facebook. I have had some bad experiences with them. A music application I tried took over my computer and would not let me escape from its website. Just today, I tried one that a friend sent me, which resulted in a $9.95 charge on my cell phone - unbeknownst to me. So beware with most of them.

However, here is one, totally “FREE,” that I cannot say enough good things about. At Facebook the application is known as “PortableReading” however, its website calls itself “TextOnPhone,” which is somewhat confusing. “TextOnPhone” is for iPhones and iPods which I have not had much success with on my iPod Touch. For iPod reading I use Stanza, as I have already blogged.

But … “PortableReading” works wonderfully on Facebook. Join Facebook for free, and then sign on for the “FREE” application “PortableReading.” Then you will have your own personal library at your fingertips. You can choose your free books, set the type, colors, and size, so that you can read on your computer screen without scrolling by just clicking the “next” button to go to the next page. I do not know if one can use this application without an Internet connection. I have not been able to do that on my iPod Touch, which is another reason I prefer Stanza for that.

Stanza does not have a Facebook application, so if you want to conveniently read “FREE” books on your computer, PortableReading works great. Give it a try.

The image, My Facebook Library, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Barneykin’s account.

Visit Neddy’s Archives for more of Edna’s writings.

How To Post Music at Facebook

I have been tinkering with posting music at Facebook. The following scheme seems to work nicely for MP3 files.

To get an MP3 file of your own music you must first upload it to your own FTP space. If you do not know how to do that, you can find an MP3 file already uploaded somewhere on the Internet with its own URL. To post a song, you must have an URL of the song. Here is a legal one to use from librivox.org of the Christian hymn “Nearer My God To Thee”. (Right-click on this link and choose “Copy Shortcut” and go to your Facebook account).

The next step is to paste the song’s MP3 URL, that you got when you clicked “Copy Shortcut,” under “Share Link” and then click “preview” on the Facebook screen, or “enter” on your keyboard. Next write something in the blank box, if you want, such as “Nearer My God To Thee.” Then click “Post.” VOILA! Automatically, you should see your song posted as an actual music box, with a music note graphic and play button. COOL, eh? This is a screenshot of my Facebook page where I posted “I Heard the Bells” from Jon Sayles website of free guitar music:

Your goal then is to try and find another MP3 URL of music that you really like. Here is an entire collection of free MP3s from The Owen Family. You may find more legal Christmas MP3 files at librivox.org: http://librivox.org/christmas-carol-collection-2006/. Again, remember to right-click on the MP3 link and choose “copy shortcut.”

The easiest way I have found to post music at Facebook is to use my Twitter account and my Seeqpod account. I post the Seeqpod URL of a song to Twitter. I have Twitter set to automatically post to Facebook, so my song comes through as a link, which when clicked takes one to Seeqpod where the song plays.

You can also go to Seeqpod and get one of their links, under “embed.” These files at Seeqpod are not MP3 URLs. Here is one I already found for Yankee Doodle Dandy: http://www.seeqpod.com/search/?plid=7ba92255c5 . Copy and paste this link just as instructed above. Because it is not an MP3 URL, it will not make a music box, but be an ordinary link. You can add in the comments: “Click link for Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

If you hate pigeons and duct tape, WD-40 is your friend.

It keeps pigeons away so that they will leave no disgusting residue on your balcony, and it will remove the disgusting residue of duct tape that you used to hold your balcony together. However, is it really the 45 Wonder Miracle that a current email claims? It may be, yet the WD-40 company (formerly the Rocket Chemical Company of San Diego) gives its “multi-purpose problem solver” product credit for only the following number of miracles.

3. Protects silver from tarnishing.
4. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
10. Loosens stubborn zippers.
11. Untangles jewelry chains.
14. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
18. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
19. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.
22. Rids kids’ rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
37. Florida’s favorite use is: “cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers.”
43. If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.
44. It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tars and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn’t seem to harm the finish and you won’t have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks. Wash off after use.
45. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!

These remedies should be enough to keep the company in business at least until their patent expires, even if (#38 of 45) the state of New York doesn’t spray it on the Statue of Liberty. If you purchase a can of the lubricant thinking that it will (#7 of 45) keep flies off your cows; or (#36 of 45) that spraying it on your arms, hands, and knees will relieve arthritis; or (#39 of 45) that you can use WD-40 to attract fish or cats because it is made of fish oil; think again. The WD-40 Company does not make those claims. The WD-40 Company does claim that their product is NOT made of fish oil, so please, please, please do NOT add (#46) take a tablespoon of WD-40 instead of your daily fish oil tablet. It is made of the petroleum-based Stoddard Solvent, which is primarily solvent naphtha petroleum, medium aliphatic, so you don’t even have to warn your dinner guests who may be allergic to fish that you (#3) wiped all the silverware with WD-40.

If you are wondering how WD-40 got its unusual name, here is the explanation from the company:

WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. That’s the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion ; a task which is done by displacing water. Norm’s persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try.

See Snopes.com for more information. (Thanks Martha.)

This is a new one for me. Have you ever been to a garage sale where everything was free? This seems to be that type of happening in the blogosphere. The originator labels it bloggygiveaways.com and she invites each individual blogger to offer a free something or other. The catch is that one has to comment at the participating blog and leave an email address. I haven’t checked to see if this may be a spammersgiveaway.com in disguise, however it does appear to be quite innocent and on the up and up.

If you have some extra time on your hands, there are literally hundreds of blogs awaiting your erudite comments. If your comment wins - ta da - you get to take home some of their stuff … for free. Hurry, hurry before the spammers and robots get the message and ruin it for everyone.

Bloggy Giveaways

One of the many injustices of this sweet mystery that is life is that, by the time you finally learn your way around life’s many twists and turns, you find yourself too old to go anywhere interesting.

All of Virginia is abuzz about the upcoming arrival of Queen Elizabeth II to Jamestown and points in between from there to Washington. It was 400 years ago this month that her royal relative, the first Queen Elizabeth, sent her British subjects to the Colony which was named “Virginia” in her honor for being a “Virgin Queen”. One has to wonder if at times the present Elizabeth doesn’t wish she had been a “Virgin Queen” too, considering the antics of her progeny these last few decades.

Some lucky Virginians are going to have the great privilege of coming face to face with the Queen, but few of them know what to say nor how to behave. “Give the Queen a Hand, but When It Comes to Bowing . . . ” don’t, advises WaPo, the local self-proclaimed authority for all things Virginian.

Virginia’s governor has inserted himself into the royal festivities by creating a new Web site illustrating how HE expects HIS subjects to behave when Her Royal Highness comes calling. First tip - she will be greatly insulted if you address her as “Her Royal Highness” , according to “Virginia’s Royal Welcome”. Furthermore, His Highness the Commonwealth’s Governor has created an entire page for Virginians to learn Queenly “Royal Etiquette.”

If you are a United States citizen you are not required to bow or curtsy to the Queen. Jolly good - as after all we fought a war over just that sort of silliness with the Queen’s Great-Great, George III, back in ‘76. For genuine Americans shaking hands is acceptable. If you are British or a citizen of one of the Commonwealth states, excepting Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, you must bow or curtsy, depending upon whether you are a man or a woman. Be real careful about that last rule, as these days it is hard to tell one gender from another, and we don’t want anyone on Virginia soil to be suddenly banished to the Tower of London to lose his, her or its head. If you are an illegal immigrant - anything goes, as no one can lay a hand on you, Queens, Governors, Presidents notwithstanding.

Genealogists have to be especially cautious when talking with the Queen. Her Majesty absolutely does not want to hear that you too are descended from royalty. Even if you have the DNA evidence to back up your claim, keep your lips sealed, or you may be getting a non-tour of the Tower too, as no self-respecting Royal wants to be reminded of the scattering of the Royal seed amongst the hoi polloi.

After all these centuries of British settlement here in Virginia, it was not until the Queen’s own father, George VI, came to call in 1939, that the United States had ever been visited by a British monarch. Queen Elizabeth II is only the second Royal ruler to step upon this formerly British soil that is now the Commonwealth of Virginia. This will be Queen Elizabeth’s third visit to Virginia. It was during a presentation of Appalachian dance many years ago, that the then young Queen Elizabeth referred to it as “clogging”, which name has stuck ever since then. All Hail to the Queen.

Right now you can purchase this blog for half-price. What a deal! That’s 50% off and much less than the $1,000,000 that the “Million Dollar Blog” sold for, and “Neddy’s Palaver” is much more interesting.

Well, believe it or not, but someone named GreatDealsDepot actually bid and won the last 1000 pixels of advertising space on the Million Dollar Home Page, what ever that is. The winning bid on EBay was only $38,100.00. Nice to know that someone is able to profit handsomely from web design. Here is a picture of the finished creation as of 3 January 2006 - Million Dollar homepage completed! And here is the description of the Million Dollar Homepage at EBay, as described by it owner/designer, Alex Tew:

Own The Last 1,000 Pixels on MillionDollarHomepage.com
Hi folks!

Welcome to my eBay auction for the last 1,000 pixels of advertising space on my world-famous site, MillionDollarHomepage.com

You may have seen some of the international media coverage that my site has recently received, including: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, MSNBC, ABC News, Fox News, BBC, MSN, Yahoo!… the list goes on - a long way. I’ve already sold 999,000 pixels of advertising space on MillionDollarHomepage.com, but due to exceptionally high demand for pixels I decided to do the most logical thing and auction the final 1,000 pixels right here on eBay.

At the time of writing, MillionDollarHomepage.com has received over 1.5 million unique visitors and over 2.7 million page impressions in the last 7 days alone, leading to huge exposure and click-throughs for the advertisers on the homepage. Considering the site will be online for the next 5 years guaranteed, the long-term value of advertising on my site is immense (but remember my aim is to keep it online for decades to come - like an internet time capsule). At the time of writing, Alexa.com ranks my site 127th out of ALL websites on the internet. This is your last chance to literally own a piece of ‘internet history’!

The winning bidder will not only win last 1,000 pixels on the homepage, they will also receive a huge amount of publicity associated with winning this eBay auction and my site finally reaching the million dollar mark. I will also mention the winning bidder on my blog, which is read by tens of thousands of people every day. This truely is a unique, one-off, hugely valuable marketing opportunity. Happy bidding!

Alex Tew, 1st January 2006

PS. The last 1,000 pixels are a 50x20 pixel block located at co-ordinates 55,27 on the homepage, which is a prime location in the top-half of the page. You can see the space highlighted in the second image attached to this auction.

All I can say is “say what” ???? Too many hours in front of the computer must be responsible for the brain damage seen throughout the connected world these days.

Don’t forget that “Thank A Soldier Week” began on December 19th.

Christmas at Arlington Cemetery, beautiful image