Random thoughts ...

My netbook got a bit cranky this evening, taking a good fifteen minutes to run various updates and a bit longer to fully re-charge.  Guess that's the penalty for letting it sit inert for over ten days.

I waffle between using blogger in draft and regular blogger. I like blogger in draft for it's realistic preview option, especially in conjunction with the new templates, the stats because I just love that stuff and can compare them with feedburner, statcounter, and I especially like the 'undo' button. I like traditional blogger because I can drag image size to suit me instead of having to choose a preset size, the simpler link options are easier to use, and it loads quicker.  Guess I'll just keep alternating to suit my moods.

A new season of Project Runway premiered last week! It will take time for a favorite to emerge, at least for me, but I already question the judges decision to keep some of the bottom players last week.

I am really disappointed in the 'apprentice-like' look to the new season of Design Star.  I have seen two episodes and miss Clive and the overall kitchiness previous seasons featured.  It's too slick for my taste and I don't care about the designers.

Warehouse 13 and Eureka are off to great starts this season.  Last night's cross-over event was well done.  But I have to wonder, if the Eureka characters to go back in time again then return to their old reality, where does that leave the cross-over events?  The Warehouse 13 episodes happened in their new reality - Fargo even said he was running GD.

Out of Beta

Both Blogger Buzz and the Official Google Blog announced the Blogger Design Template is now out of draft format: Blogger Buzz: Blogger Template Designer Now Available to Everyone and Official Google Blog: Blogger Template Designer Now Available to Everyone

"Since the launch, we fixed many bugs and added even more themes and background images. But the Blogger Template Designer has only been available on Blogger in Draft, which is why we’re excited to announce that the Blogger Template Designer is now available to everyone." -- Blogger Buzz, 6/10/2010

The change is immediately noticeable upon (first) log in as a pop-up details the design options update for users. I am a bit concerned with how videos appear after embedding, sometimes they disappear, but maybe that is one of the bugs will fix in the near future. I've spent time adjusting my blog layout using the new design template (see here, here, here, here, and here) and have to admit I am a bit tantalized by the claim they have "added even more themes and background images."

What would it hurt to just take a look?

Another day, another template

I think, maybe, I am having a bit too much fun playing with the new templates in Blogger Draft. I have been investigating the photo background options and some are a bit less blog friendly than I imagined. There is a library stack full of books just begging to be used for a background image. Unfortunately the image does not lend itself to readability of text once it's applied. I tried messing with colors, the transparency factor, and even choosing different color palettes.

Today it's polka dots. They are cheerful on a rainy day and make me happy. At least for now, I can be fickle.

Imagine that ...

I have no idea why, but replacing the Yahoo videos with identical YouTube videos fixed the sidebar problem. Now I'm satisfied and will relax this evening watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on ABC family.  It's another Harry Potter weekend and there are to be clips from the Deathly Hallows throughout the evening.  Even though I am fairly certain they will be the same clips on the Half-Blood Prince DVD set, it is enjoyable watching and amazing to see how they have grown.

Once more with feeling

I spent time this evening again re-arranging blog elements, tweaking colors and sidebar placement, even adjusting the size of videos within the last few posts. Pleased with with the overall look of things, especially since the text blog is a bit larger over all, the sidebar oddity still confounds me and I spent a bit of time trouble-shooting posts currently displayed on my main blog page.

When looking at the blog in its entirety, the sidebar remains at the bottom of the page. When looking at individual entries, the sidebar displays normally on all with one glaring exception, the Super Bowl ad post. It contains a bit of blathering and two embedded videos. The only thing different about the videos in that particular post is they originated on Yahoo as opposed to YouTube.

I'm tempted to switch out the existing videos with the same content found on YouTube instead.