Craigslist

Craigslist helped me give away a (working) TV today. I love the freebies section.

Some freebies I've found on Craigslist: clothes, toys, and even the chair I am sitting in. One's trash is another's treasure, or so they say.

I know people make a profit in the cars+trucks section. I purchase 2 autos listed there. But I hope nobody uses the freebies for profit.

Give to someone who has less than you, that's my motto.

Wild about the 'Skins

Yup, the Nation's Capitol has a playoff-bound football team.

In trademark Joe Gibbs fashion, the Redskins are running their way to victory. The 'Skins have won four games in a row and looked very sharp against the 'Boys today.

They are the hottest team in the NFC and their defense gives them a chance to beat anyone in the NFC. If I screw my lids tight, I can pretend the 'Skins have a chance to win four more games this season.


I was hoping for a Redskins Super Bowl victory when I chose the name Gibbs' Comeback. GC won the fantasy league title... Now I'm waiting for the real thing. Let's go 'Skins!

Ruth the Star

The 'Star Student' gets to wear the wireless mic and do a show-and-tell presentation with some favorite objects. Ruth made quite a show of the family pictures, her favorite books, and teddy bears.

How to Solve the Rubik's Cube

About 25 years ago, I solved one for the first time. Now that my kids have one (a Christmas gift), I tried to solve it again. I still remembered the top two layers, but was totally stuck on the third layer.

I found this solution very similar to the one I learned so many years ago. Other sites have pictures and alternate solutions. Of course, YouTube has many demonstrations in case you need to see what is happening.

Cody just got it mixed up so I'll be fixing it again soon.

Blogger Hacks

Hacks add feature and functionality to Blogger. How 'bout the Bookmark and RSS Feed icons from AddThis? And the Tag Cloud from phydeaux3? And how could I forget the Beautiful Beta Picasa Album Widget? Or the Tips For New Bloggers Search This Blog box?

I'm sure Google appreciates the Blogger hacks as much as I do. Thanks hackers! Where would we be without you?!

Not dreaming tonight.

I took a little nap yesterday afternoon and then lay awake all night. Sometime around 3 AM, I decided to make a three-column Blogger template. Fortunately I ran across The Rounders Three-Column Mod. I downloaded the sample and got some late-night inspiration.

I couldn't just upload Vin's sample because I want to keep my widgets. Instead, I inserted a second sidebar. It's identical to the original Blogger sidebar.

#rightsidebar-wrap {
width:240px;
float:left;
margin:15px 15px 0;
font-size:97%;
line-height:1.5em;
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

I placed the right-sightbar divs in the body, just before the footer.

<div id='rightsidebar-wrap'>

<div id='sidebartop-wrap'><div id='sidebartop-wrap2'>
<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebartop1'>
</b:section>
</div></div>

<div id='sidebarbottom-wrap1'><div id='sidebarbottom-wrap2'>
<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar3' preferred='yes'>
</b:section>
</div></div>

</div>

Next, I widened #outer-wrapper to 995px. I had to widen the rounded corner images for the header and footer to 995px also. I linked to the resized corner images in the #header and #footer definitions.

The new sidebar fonts were all funkified, so I added some definitions right after #sidebar.

#rightsidebar-wrap a {
color: $bottomSidebarLinkColor;
}
#rightsidebar-wrap a:hover,
#rightsidebar-wrap a:visited {
color: $bottomSidebarVisitedLinkColor;
}

While making changes, I previewed the blog several times. Just to make sure things were going as expected. I saved the template and then moved widgets around in the wireframe editor. That's all there is to it.

Four short digressions... I learned these tips on Blog U and Blogger Tips. Very useful!

1. I stored my 995px-wide corner images and favicon on Ripway.
2. The favicon links come right after the head tag.

   <link href='http://h1.ripway.com/sf12/favicon.ico' rel='shortcut icon'/>
   <link href='http://h1.ripway.com/sf12/favicon.ico' rel='icon'/>

   
   
3. You can show/hide the navbar by placing this code after the head tag.

   #navbar-iframe{opacity:0.0;filter:alpha(Opacity=0)}
   #navbar-iframe:hover{opacity:1.0;filter:alpha(Opacity=100, FinishedOpacity=100)}

4. Type special characters (e.g., < >) in posts by using the ISO Entity Name.

I'm dreaming...

White Christmas is my fave song of the season. Here are some interesting facts if you're curious.

I mostly like the song because it is nostalgic for happy days gone past. The etymology of nostalgia comes from the Greek words for "homesick". So sentimental, awww...

But did you know White Christmas was originally performed with blackface singers? Just like a lot of songs/movies/acting from the twentieth century. So racist, ewww...

White Christmas can be our reminder to stay objective while getting nostalgic for the past. We don't need to glorify a racist heritage or thoughtlessly regurgitate any of that virgin birth nonsense just to have a good time.

So enjoy the season with your family. Spread some cheer to those around. And make your day a 'White Christmas'. In 50 years, we will be nostalgic for tomorrow.