Tag: how to

People don’t read, they watch TV.

Since the dawn of the Television Age, this has been a club that the Power That Be have hit us on the head with. People watch TV, and those with money can buy their way Onto TV, and those approved by the estalishment are Broadcast on TV News … and progressives, whether progressive elitists or progressive populists, are largely left out.

And when progressives get on, its because the trendy lefty cocktail set … could be New York, could be Hollywood, wherever … sniff about the inability of TV to cover any Important Issues … and so the progressive populists, about whom nobody sniffs if they are ignored, are left out entirely.

But … well, but the environment is diff’rent. The technology exists. We can do what the Russian dissidents did … we can spread our message by Samizdat.

And how do we get people to read it? Well, we hand them a video, and they can watch it on TV.

That’s the Video Samizdat Revolution.

And it hasn’t happened yet, but if you want it to, it can.

1. Wear tight fitting jeans and a free Jacket from Marlboro Country.

2. Stand in middle of parking lot and take pictures of the mountains.

3. Get pissy with the Ticket Agent for not honoring your photocopied coupon.

4. Walk into Rental Shop and say every pair of boots hurts your feet.

5. Drag rental skis and poles across parking lot.

6. Lessons are for wimps…head immediately for the double black diamond slopes.

7. Leave all the buckles on your boots nice and loose.

8. Bend over at the hip, stick your poles through your arm pits, lean back and ask for a push from another skier.

9. If you see a tree or boulder aim for it, gravity is tricky, anything you aim for you’ll probably miss.

10. Big Air, you’ll probably catch some big air on the way down so now is a good time to try all of those tricks you’ve seen on the X Games.

11. Ignore all Ski Patrol signs, they are just the man tryin’ to keep you down.

12. Lift Line Etiquette – most people who have been standing in line for 20 minutes just love having you and your friends cut ahead of them by scooting under the rope.

13. Never look up the hill when traversing across a slope, it’s more fun to live dangerously.

14. Lodge Etiquette – take over two or three tables by covering them with crumpled napkins and spraying ketchup (preferably Heinz) all over.

15. At the end of the day it is considered good form to cry and throw your skis at the rental person.

16. On your way home be sure to stop at the local gas station and brag about the things you did.

So you’ve made your first web page based on the last tutorial and now you want to know how to change it and upload it.  The most important thing to remember when working with web sites, web hosts and servers is that everything is based on files and folders just like your computer.  On most hosts you’ll be allowed to access the folder “www” or “public-html” in your account.  This is where you’ll be doing 99% of your work.  Inside that folder you can create unlimited new folders for various parts of your website.

Editing Your Page

You already know the basics of HTML if you are posting on blogs.  You know how to create links and most know how to add images.  How the page looks now, however, is up to you.  There are a number of free web design programs but I think it is important that you know how to do coding by hand.  This way you’ll be able to locate and fix mistakes later on.

Open up your “myfirstpage.html” page which you stored on your desktop last time.  Right click or double click anywhere on the page to and select “View Source” or “View Page Source”.  You will see the coding you cut and pasted last time.

Now let’s personalize it:  

Solar Powered George Bush Chariot Ride:

🙂 🙂 🙂

Wind and Solar Energy How-To

A down home guy giving some down home tips:

2 More below the fold

Many of you have noted that you perceive web design as voodoo magic or something completely outside your realm.  I get the same reaction when I bring up Art or people watch me draw.  Well I’m here to demystify things for you.  If you follow the simple steps outlined you’ll create your very own web page.  In the following essay I will tell you how to put it on the web.

There are many reasons that a netroots person may want to create a web page or HTML document.  Single pages can be used as billboards for various topics you are interested in.  They are static, which means they will be easily indexed by most search engines and will help to build interest in long-term issues like the environment, health care etc.

So what makes a web page a web page?   Some very simple coding.  Below the fold you’ll find the bare minimum coding you’ll need to make your first web page along with an example.

Way back when you all first stumbled onto a political blog or message board you may have felt overwhelmed with what you didn’t know.  You may have felt it an almost impossible task to get up to date on important topics being discussed so that you too could have something of value to add.  I know I did.  I also felt frustrated because by the time I got up to date, everyone else had moved along to another topic.  The frustration quickly left however when I realized that there were other people in the same situation and that we all needed help.  So I made it my task to ask simple basic questions of the top posters so that the rest of us could understand the material as well.

When others were looking to emulate Wonk in all it’s glory, I saw that as elitist and adverse to the cause of including more voices.

Once comfortable in the community(ies), the facts and information begin to flow quicker, until you feel you are at the same wavelength as the information you are receiving and it is processed in real time.

Occasionally a spark will happen that will galvanize the community.

A mother of a dead soldier stands in a ditch waiting for a President to open his door.

A massive Hurricane strikes and your friends are on the ground there and need help.

Photos of flag draped coffins are deemed unpatriotic.

This is when it is possible to advance to another level.  You go from responder, to actor in the world stage.  People are looking around and wondering what to do, you step up to bat, you realize you must perform to the best of your ability.  Everything you learned about communication skills come into play.  All of your contacts become utilized and turned into resources.  In one hour you can change the world.  Why?

Suggested tools: biscuit joiner, router, drill, table saw, saber saw, wood glue, framer’s square, large wood clamps, trim router, chisel.

1. Go to Lumber Yard

2. Buy Wood – pick up some 5/4″ x 12″ stock, about 36 board feet for the base and 12 board feet for the top.  And another 12 board feet for the bottom. Pick them up in 12 or 6 foot lengths.  Clear White Pine works very well and is available most anywhere.  If you don’t have a board planer at home make sure to get finished wood otherwise you can get rough cut and plane them down yourself.

3. Buy 4 wheels for the base, I prefer the spherical rubber wheels. Buy some piano hinge for the top and some handles for the side.

Well, I spent the morning before Little Loner woke up walking around Orientation Island on Second Life, completing tutorials, and happily taking snapshots. Well, snapshots are disabled on Orientation Island, and I was too sleepy to notice, so there went my morning.

Still, thanks to the screenshot utility in Ubuntu Linux, I can show you  how to log in to SL, and the first four tutorials on Orientation Island – the required ones.

Again, if you’re not interested in Second Life and/or think it’s a waste of time, don’t bother telling us – this diary is a response to requests for help from the community having trouble with Second Life, so I’m not going to bother trying to sell it.

Oh, and lots of pictures below the flip. You have been warned.

Join me below the flip for links and what your first login to Second Life will look like.

When I offered the community the option of having in-world tutorials for Second Life, or a howto diary, the community overwhelmingly chose howto diaries.

Notice I snuck in a plural there – due to screenshots this is going to be a series. But, I will be making this as thorough as possible so that everyone will be able to join the growing Daily Kos community in Second Life.

I won’t bother to try to sell Second Life here, and if you’re not interested or think it’s pointless, don’t bother commenting to that effect – this diary is help for people who have shown an interest.

That said, join me over the flip, and I’ll introduce you to Kossack Fullstop.

Oh, and lots of screenshots, so be warned.