Archive for August, 2007
Use RSS Comment Feeds to Simplify Your Life
I’m running six blogs now and between working on them and trying to do new things it is hard to keep up with comments.
So I set up rss comment feeds for my blogs. Now I can check the rss feeds all in one spot and respond to questions and comments much quicker. Some rss tools will even notify you when there is a new item.
For Blogger blogs comment feeds are:
feed://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default/
or if you have your own domain
feed://yourdomain.com/feeds/comments/default/
For WordPress blogs
feed://yourdomain.com/directoryOfYourBlog/comments/feed/
Find an rss reader you like, I found that GReader doesn’t always update the comments rss regularly. Safari does fine. There are several rss feed readers out there, just pick the one that works for you and put in all your blog comment feeds.
Keeping up with comments is a whole lot simpler this way.
Gimp Basics: Text, Paint, Blend
Gimp Text is straight forward. Select the text button from the Gimp tools and click on your image in the top left spot you want the text located. A text editor will open and you can type your text there. On the Gimp tools you’ll see text selection tools for fonts, size, color and more. Select and set these up before entering your text on the image. Once you have your text on your image, close the popup window. If you need to move your text click on the move tool ( looks like a 4 way tire changing iron in top right of Gimp tools in image above ) and you can drag your text box about.
Paint is just what you would expect. Click on the paint bucket; you can then choose your options. When you click back on your image the area inside of the outline will be filled.
Gimp blend is great for creating 3d backgrounds for your website or blog. Click on the Gradient box under mode to select a gradient. There are several included with Gimp. You can adjust the mode ( same modes as in layers ) and change the shape. Once you’ve made your choices click on your image drag and click again. The line you create tells Gimp where to start and end the pattern.
