Change Your Desktop Background, Change Your Energy

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 03/28 at 12:10 PM • A Little Design -- Not About Blogs

imageIt’s Tuesday. The adrenaline rush that was Monday’s panicked sprint into the week is over, the first night of sleep deprivation is hitting hard, and I’m staring at the computer with the vain hope it will do my work for me. (No luck so far, and I spent how much on this thing?!)

I need a pick-me-up, something more than the several cups of caffeine I’ve already consumed. Something legal. Something fun. Something… it must be time to change my destop background image.

Happily for me, joey interactive has done the research for cool desktop backgrounds for me. This list of sites of “Desktop Backgrounds for Designers” will keep me visually appeased for some time to come.

Now, has anyone found that plugin or patch that makes my computer design Web sites while I knit?

 
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Trixie Tracker—Blog Business Spinoff—Launches

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 03/21 at 02:21 PM • Blogs

imageTrixie Tracker, a tool for tracking your infant’s “Sleep, Diapers, Bottles, Solids, Nursing, Pumping and Medicine” launched this month. Trixie Tracker is a spinoff from the popular blog The Trixie Update, Ben MacNeill’s blog about his daughter’s birth and growth. The Trixie Update, written initially for the benefit of Trixie’s working mother, was an Internet hit, thanks to MacNeill’s entertaining prose, the gorgeous pictures of Trixie, and of because of the unique telemetry tool MacNeill added to the site. Trixie fans could track her food intake, diaper changes, and sleep schedule—and now you can do the same for your child with Trixie Tracker.

 
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I am SXSW

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 03/11 at 10:54 AM • Blogging Events -- Blogs

After an unending day of flying yesterday, I’ve finally made it to Austin for the SXSW Interactive Festival. When I left Vancouver Friday morning, I left two inches (to my inexpert eye) of snow on the ground. I arrived in Austin near midnight to 78 degrees and humidity. My body is still reeling from the change.

This is my first visit to SXSW, and I’m so excited about it. This festival is huge—my cabdriver (“It’s not that I’m prejudiced; I just don’t like foreigners.”) told me he expects to make $800 in cab fares from festival attendees every day of the event. Even at midnight last night, the streets and hotel lobbies I caught a glimpse of were packed. There’s a lot of energy here, and it’s almost all GOOD.

Wish me luck now—I’m off to pick up my badge and find my fellow panelists for our 3:30 talk about making a living designing blogs. I haven’t met Peter, Joelle or Lisa in person before, and I know we have tons of talking to do, comparing our businesses and this industry. Paul Chaney, our moderator, I have met before and it’s always great to reconnect with him. There are some busy days ahead!

 
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When Newspapers Blog

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 03/03 at 07:44 AM • Blogs -- Blogging News

Check out this article on BluePlateSpecial.net, “The Best Blogging Newspapers in the U.S.”

Fifteen undergraduates in journalism, two grad students, and one professor set out to determine—by our lights—the top blogging newspapers in the U.S. among major dailies. We found six standouts, two honorable mentions and some wacky blogs. Number One in our eyes: the Houston Chronicle. By a mile.

The Blue Plate Special editorial team is drawn from the students enrolled in Prof. Jay Rosen’s blogging 101 class, plus two graduate students working with him. Other contributors are drawn from around the Web.

 
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