Stargate Cake

The credit for creating this awesome Stargate cake goes to Cassie. It was made for Steven's birthday, but it was so amazing I couldn't resist sharing the construction process.

Velociraptor!

Cassie carved the above pumpkin today for Halloween. It was so awesome I thought I would share, even though she said I am "totally stealing her intellectual property" by posting the picture on my blog. No matter the case, it still is an awesome pumpkin.

When I get a new profile picture...

When I get a new profile picture it takes a while for me to update everything. Even before that, Cassie has to draw my profile picture. My habit for my last five profile pictures is to have them custom drawn by Cassie. She really does a great job and tends to use different art styles each time so they all look really different.

However, just getting my profile pictures is the first step. She doesn't tend to draw them in perfect squares, so my first step is to crop it to a square. While I'm at it, I edit the picture down to a smaller resolution for those services that don't support the higher resolution images.

Once I get finished making all of the technical preparations I then start uploading the picture to everywhere on the internet that I have a profile picture. This is actually a rather lengthy list. I keep a folder on my computer where I sort my old profile pictures. In addition to the pictures, I keep a Word document containing the locations that I use a profile pictures. This gives me a quick checklist when I get a new pictures so I know I've uploaded it to everywhere.

1. My Blog
2. Facebook
3. Skype
4. Pownce
5. Technorati
6. Flickr
7. Digg
8. Last.fm
9. Gmail
10. Windows Vista (Laptop)
11. Windows Vista (Desktop)
12. Hulu
13. Twitter

I don't really use everyone of the above services regularly, but my profile picture exists at each location so I keep it up to date. I really do see a need for standardization with regard to updating information across multiple services. It is nice that some places, such as Gmail, update across multiple applications now, but it still does take a decent amount of time to update all of the different locations.

Actually updating the pictures doesn't really bother me that much. It is an event for me. It is even fun to a certain extent. However, there is a little headache that goes with the process. Mainly compatibility. The problem is different services don't like taking the new pictures. The two that really give me a hard time have been Pownce and Gmail. It normally takes more than one try to get the new profile picture to stick.

I can see how a service that would help standardize this process would definitely be useful. For the time being, I will continue to go site to site updating my picture. The main thing I need to remember is when I register for a new service, I need to add it to my list of places to update.

New Profile Picture

Last night Cassie sent me a new profile picture.  I've updated it in about 10 different places (Including my blog) where I can have a user icon.  It is a different artistic style than my last one.  I really like the change.  My previous one wasn't bad but change keeps things fresh.

Thank you Cassie! :)

Cassie submits Sicko story to Digg

This is really geeky...

Basically, I watched Sicko and really wanted Cassie to watch it.  She didn't want to at first but she finally did.  Then she blogged about it in her post: Health Care Doesn't Care That totally took me off guard because she never blogs, although I'm trying to encourage her.

Then she submitted it to Digg a while after she posted it.  Health care doesn't care (Digg)

I was just talking to her on Skype and she sent me this...

"I about died when I checked it and saw I had 6 diggs."

As of the time that I posted this article her story now has a total of 7 diggs.  That is definitely more diggs than any story I ever submitted to Digg.  It even has three comments! (Although one of them was mine.)

I am slowly converting her into a blogging, digging, computer geek.  My plans are progressing nicely... ;)

Cassie was actually really excited about the fact she gained attention on Digg.  Although she probably won't be homepaged, I promised her a cake if she ever does become homepaged.

I can't wait and see how many diggs it has tomorrow.  It is not the fact that it was submitted by her that is really great, it is the fact she wrote the blog entry.

Five Weeks Left!

There are now only five more full weeks of summer semester before I start my summer break.  Speed school really takes it out of you.  Hopefully, I'll be able to accomplish some stuff in between semesters.

I started to read Wikinomics at the beginning of the semester but I just haven't found the time to make any progress. I really like the subject of the book because it is along the same lines as what I want to do with the rest of my life (and my college degree when I finally get it).

Also, during the break I want to do some type of mod.  The last big thin I did was build my arcade.  That will be almost one year ago after this semester.  Maybe a little less.  I might do a brainstorm post about the possible things I could make.

One of the things I have in mind is to build a Digg button.  It wouldn't be that complicated and I would probably learn some things by doing it.  Also, it wouldn't cost that much money.  I'll probably have a tight budget for whatever I decided to do, but at least I'll have something to play with.

I will also spend some time with Cassie when I get back.  We don't get to see each other very much, about once a week tops.  I also have quite a long list of movies that I still want to see.  Maybe I can catch up on that too.  I know the break is going to go extremely fast and before I know it I'll be back here for fall semester.

Cassie's Corner

I have great news: Cassie's Corner was started yesterday!

Cassie started her blog. She is still working on it but it is definitely under way. Her blog will definitely not be as dry as mine considering the main thing she will be posting is pictures she has drawn on her tablet (not technology like me).

Hopefully she works on the layout (which already looks great) and some of the features over the next few days. I know I will be frequenting it to see what she has posted. I also know I will be bugging her to post more often (but I can live with that). Hopefully she is not too upset I forced her to get a blog and.

If I already haven't said it enough, Thanks Cassie! You are totally awesome!

Personal: Cassie's Blog

... does not exist yet. :(

You can see the picture she drew of herself to the left. She also drew the picture of me that is located to the right at the top of my blog (assuming I don't totally rearrange everything or your looking at this on Facebook).

I've not been blogging for very long, so it is not like I have much authority, but I really want Cassie to start blogging. I know she is not going to post like technology, she is not a geek although many people think she is (sorry Cassie) because she is good with technology.

What I think would be perfect for her is if she blogged about her drawings. Just upload a few of them and write a brief description of what it is and maybe where she got the idea. Mainly just to get her stuff out there. I know I enjoy looking at it (since I am totally unbiased), and some of her work is just awesome. I know I plan to blog about photographs I have taken if I ever get any time to take some.

Here is what her complaint is: people will respond negatively to what she posts. Since my blog is about technology and myself, people will not post negative things. My response was that no one looks at my blog at all to even post ANYTHING. I guess she just needs a little encouragement. I think she will finally start one after she finishes finals this week (good luck by the way). I'll probably help her set everything up and will be sure to have a link posted in an entry and permanently on the side of my blog.