Widgets Fun

Thanks a million for your warmest birthday wishes!
You guys are so sweet. I feel so lucky to have people
like you as readers. Thank you for being so nice and supportive!




By the way, isn't the thing above so cool?
I don't know if it works properly if you are looking at this post
via the google reader, but it's supposed to rotate forward and backward
depending on how you move your cursor around it.
What you see there are the photos that have recently been
added to Made it Based on Pink Penguin's tutes pool.

Looking for some widgets to spice up my blog, I stumbled upon
Roytanck where I found this coolest flickr widget!
I personally think it's more appealing than that of the flickr's
original, so I switched my flickr widget to this kind on the right
sidebar. So far I love it!

It was really easy too. Simply go to your flickr page, click on
the 'you' tab, scroll down, look for the little RSS feed icon
(the orange one), click on the 'latest' next to the icon,
copy the URL, paste it onto Feed URL here, click on
"generate code snippet", and get the widget code.
If you use blogger, you can simply go to your
Layout page, add a gadget (HTML/JavaScript),
paste the code, and you're all set!



I also noticed that Blogger now has new gadgets such as
the one that allows you to show the most recent comments
on the sidebars. I've added it and am really liking how
comments from you guys appear right next to my posts!
This gives me the sense of community,
not like me just rambling alone here. ;)



Also, I found a solution to something I was looking for:
embedding a comment forum below each post. You know how every
time you leave a comment on Blogger blogs, you'll either
see a pop-up window showing up for the forum or go to the
'comment forum - only page' where you can't see the original post.

Blogger has enabled us to have it below a post, just like
those cool typepad and other blogs. I learned this here.
It was super simple and quick.
Just go to your Settings page, click on the Comments tab,
change your "Comment Form Placement" by choosing
"embedded below post", and save setting.

I might be giving info that is totally not new to you,
but I was too excited not to share these things, in the case
any of you with a Blogger blog are looking for something like these.
I'll keep looking for more ways to spice up my blog. hehe.
It's just a lot of fun.




Last weekend, our friend Matt came over from Seattle.



The first two pictures are Joe, Matt, and Saurabh playing
with dollar bills. The last two were taken in San Francisco.
We went to a really good Italian restaurant called Alioto's.
The Vongole spaghetti I had there was so YUMMY!
I keep thinking about it ever since. I have to make
one like that.

By the way, Joe and Matt are going to Iceland for their
vacations next week. They really want to meet Icelanders
there. Here is a message from him:

"Hi Guys, If anyone is willing to show me the inside of
their house, I will bring over some fabric from here.
I am really interested in seeing how the typical Icelander lives.
Consider this an open offer. Thanks!"

If you're interested, e-mail me at
ayumi_seattle at hotmail dot com.


Thanks for coming and reading!

Set up your original mark in the address bar (Blogger)

Like I did with my blog, it is possible to change your mark that is shown next to your blog's html address in the address bar! I don't know about how other blogs work, but they probably work just like Blogger so that you have control over your entire html codes on your blog. This is how I made my own pink penguin mark to show up there. 1) Make your icon using a photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop to create 16px by 16px image. 2) When saving the file, make sure the name of the file ends with ".ico" just like "Penguin.ico". 3) Go to your blog's editing page where you type in when creating a new post. Then click on "Add image" button. 4) Upload the mark you just created. 5) In "Edit Html" you'll see a long cord for the image you just uploaded. Look for the direct link cord that comes after src=" and end with .ico" Copy the link. (the quote marks exclusive) 6) Then go to Layout/ Edit HTML page. 7) In the editing text box right before </head>, type in... <link rel="shortcut icon" href="(Your code for the image that ends with .ico)"></link> and save the template. 8) Now go to your blog and see if the mark in the address bar has changed;) *Note* This does not seem to work on some web browsers such as Internet Explore 5.0 or below but it's supposed to work on most of the common browsers. Was this clear? I am not very knowledgeable about html, but if you have any question about this particular fun little html project, feel free to ask me! Thanks for reading and Good Luck if you are trying this!