If you've been following my website for a while, you know that near the end of last year I added a Twitter box to the navigation side of my website. Since getting my iPhone I've begun Twittering and following Twittering more closely. I don't have a wide network of friends, mostly it is folks that are into technology (mostly Macs) and whose opinions I care about. I've met, virtually of course, a few others that I follow. I have to say that Twittering is fun and during the day makes me feel a little more connected to the world at large. It's strange how a service that allows folks to connect virtually with no human contact, makes me feel more connected.

After getting more involved in Twitter, I heard folks talking about Facebook. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about. I created a Facebook account a last week and it's pretty interesting. I even found an old friend from college. i found another, but he hasn't yet responded. I even found my daughter on Facebook; but she hasn't responded either. Hmmm, could it be a pattern?

Anyway below are the links to my Twitter page and my Facebook page. Check them out and Join the Digital Social Revolution!

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kspore
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Kelly_Spore/1032206172

Tags: Twitter, Facebook

I came across this link from Don McAlister who posted it on Twitter. His note was "I know there are worse things going on in the world, but this made me sad." It made me sad too. I can't easily explain it, so you will have to read it. If you have a pet, especially a pet of many years though, I promise you will have a lump in your throat by the time you are done. I should be so lucky to have an Obiturary written about me that sounds so wonderful.

Mr. Murray Is Dead

Tags: Pets

Check out the link below. The blogger talks about how a great photo sometimes from great timing. That timing could be something that was strived for, or could have been related to good luck. Think, right place at the right time. Some of the photos catch man in the middle of bad decisions and others nature at her most interesting.

25 Photos Taken At The Exact Right Time

Tags: Photography

Leopard's Safari has a great new clipping feature that allows you to grab any website element and turn it into a widget that appears in Dashboard (Mac Users know what I am talking about). To demonstrate I chose YouTube and their "Videos Being Watched Right Now." The clipping appeared on the Dashboard and I then clicked on one of the videos to demonstrate. I got more than I bargained for, a huge laugh. No, Tracy wasn't laughing at me; but a pretty talented blogger Kevin Jumba. He describes high school and the various cliques, showing you what they look like and how they act.

I've never heard of him before or seen his YouTube videos, but this one made us both laugh. It's amazing what you can find just cruising the information super highway; sometimes it's a good laugh.

If you want to see more Kevin Juma check out his YouTube Website.


If you don't see a video above, your company or ISP may block YouTube.

Tags: Video, Comedy, YouTube, iTunes

The future of entertainment is on-line; at least many of us who use the internet believe this to be true. Now, whether that is downloading the video and then watching on your computer or iPod, or if it is streaming the video to your computer via a website or a program like Joost; seems to be a matter of debate. Apple has been leading the charge for the past few years, enjoying a great deal of success with music and to a lesser extent with video.

Over the past 12 months you may have heard that the music publishers and the major studios have started to experiment with options other than iTunes. It seems the over riding reasons have been less to do with meeting customer needs and demands, and more with keeping control of their products through the entire life cycle. To date no one has really been very successful in going up against the iTunes store; except maybe Amazon, but they already know on-line retailing.

Earlier this week NBC Universal released a beta of their new service Hulu. It is designed to be an iTunes killer. I can't tell you much about it as I am still waiting to get an invite so that I can log on and take a tour. MacRumors was able to get an invite and showed off an interesting aspect of Hulu, the ability to embed video in a blog or web-page. You-tube and other services allow this, but this should be the very first time a major company offered such a service for copy righted materials.

Below is a full length episode of The Office. Check it out, pretty interesting. For TV episodes I'm not sure how useful this is; but apparently you can edit down to clips as well. One thing I know, you can't do this with iTunes.

Tags: Video, Entertainment, iTunes

I was reading CNN.com this morning, and came across this front page story about Dallas. Below is a link to the story, as well as the story itself.

DALLAS TAKE BIG-CITY FUN DOWNTOWN

(CNN) -- Dallas has long been a sociological curiosity. With its mix of sweeping ranches and high-end shopping, it's sort of a "country meets culture" destination. And you don't have to drive all over the metroplex (as the locals call the Dallas-Fort Worth area) to have a good time. All the food, fun and fanciness can be found in the 1.5-mile radius of downtown.

Dinner and a museum
Take restaurants, for example. Drive down any downtown street and it's clear that food is definitely a big part of Big D.
"Dallas has more restaurants per capita than New York City," says John Crawford, president and CEO of DowntownDallas, a private organization that serves as downtown Dallas' leading advocate. He says that in the downtown area alone, there are 250 places to dine, ranging from the elegant French Room (1321 Commerce St.) in the grand Adolphus hotel to family-friendly pizza joint Campisi's (1520 Elm St., Suite. 111).
The fare is versatile, too: Sure, Dallas does Tex-Mex well, but the town also boasts plenty of places that offer twists on the basic burrito. Fuse (1512 Commerce St., Suite 100), a hip eatery that opened in 2006, serves up dishes like brisket pot stickers in a style they refer to as "TexAsian."
The only thing that rivals the restaurant scene in downtown Dallas is the arts scene. It's true. "We've got the largest urban arts district in the country," says Crawford. "It stretches across 17 continuous square blocks." Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Dallas, CNN

You might have noticed on the Kellysworld.net home page there is now a small grey box that has some personal message from me. That message is provided by Twitter, an interesting mixture of instant messaging, blogging and SMS. As other's can explain this cool service better than I, please see below for the Twitter description as provided by one of my favorite web sites, Wikipedia:

"Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) via SMS, instant messaging, email, to the Twitter website, or an application such as Twitterrific. Twitter was founded in March 2006 by San Francisco start-up company Obvious Corp.

Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and also instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone is the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application. For SMS, currently three gateway numbers are available: short codes for the USA and Canada and a UK number for international use. Several third parties offer posting and receiving updates via email.

Due to Twitter's success, a large number of sites imitating its concept have sprung up around the world, offering country-specific services (e.g. frazr) or combining the micro-blogging facilities with other ideas, such as filesharing(e.g. Pownce). In May, 2007, one source counted as many as 111 such "Twitter-lookalikes" internationally." SEE THE REST OF THE TWITTER STORY...

Check Out My Twitter Page

Tags: Twitter, KellysWorld

Came across a cool website while reading Digg, Josh's iTunes Album Art. What is it? Well, it is a webisite that had figured out a way to dig into the heart of the iTunes Music Store and pull out the album art it holds. Why is this cool? Well, if you don't buy your albums on iTunes you may not have the album art and don't want to scan it yourself. If that is the case, then you can use this website to try and grab a high-res version of your new album's cover.

Now, if you are using iTunes then you may already know that Apple gives anyone the ability to download their digital album art; even if you didn't buy the album from iTunes Music Store. It's really easy and works on both Macs and PCs. Josh's iTunes Album Art website is great if you don't have this or don't use iTunes. In any event, it's pretty cool to use. Of course, Apple could shut him down anything they want, and may do so. One never knows with Apple.

Tags: Apple, iTunes, Entertainment, Music

I was reading an article on MacRumors I saw a posting that showed this image of an iTunes support page dropdown that included the following (click on image):

• DidNotReceiveMovie-RentalMovie
• AccidentalPurchase-RentalMovie
• ContentQuality-RentalMovie
• DuplicatePurchase-RentalMovie
• WrongVErsion-RentalMovie
• BadMetadata-RentalMovie
• Other-RentalMovie

There have been rumors that movie rentals were coming to iTunes. While Steve Jobs seems dead set against a subscription model for music (I agree with this stance), a rental plan for movies makes sense. The rumor is that you could rent the movie for 30 days for $2.99 and be able to move it to one other device (i.e., iPod, AppleTV, iPhone, etc...).

Read the MacRumors article HERE

Tags: Rumors, iTunes, Entertainment, Apple

Tracy has created a couple of web galleries using .Mac and iLife '08. I have to admit, they are pretty amazing tools. The look of the galleries is simply fantastic.

They may not as be as functional as Flickr, nor have the same amount of inexpensive storage; but Apple graphical and design prowess are undeniable. When viewing photos you have several different views: Grid, Mosaic, Carousel and the ubiquitous slideshow. In "Grid" and "Mosaic" you can reize all the photos on the fly, with Grid being the default mode and Mosaic probably being the mode folks will enjoy the most for finding the photos they want to see. Then there are the two modes best for just watching photos, "Carousel" and "Slideshow."

Slideshow works exactly as you might expect, with play and pause. The look is fantastic. Then in Carousel you view the photos from left to right with the photos zooming into view; as if you were scanning through them on your desk. It's a view you have seen in photo programs, but not much on the web.

The entire album gives you a great deal of ability to customize your view, more so than Flickr or any other photo website. So check out Tracy's photos and enjoy the exceptional "Apple Experience."

Links to her web galleries are below:
Photography - Architecture
Photography - Nature
Photography - People

Tags: Photos, Tracy

Tracy has created a website just for Carlos Jr. It's dedicated to his first year, and his very first birthday. I might also mention that this is really Tracy's first website. Visit "About Being Born." The site has a video that I created recently in honor of his first birthday, plus many, many photos.

Let Tracy know what you think of her creation by dropping line. Click here to e-mail Tracy. I'm sure we will be seeing many more web pages in the near future!

Tags: Carlos Jr., Tracy

If you happen to visit EternalMagic.net you might notice that the contact page and the gallery are missing. That's for two separate reasons.

The contact page was removed because I have begun getting a great deal of junk e-mail from that page. Apparently EternalMagic has been struck by the bane of the internet, web crawlers that use forms like my contact page to sell the wares and ideas of some moron hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. May they swim in the swill they create.

The other problem is an outgrowth of that problem, combined with the simple fact that I will have to resource the photos in my web authoring software. My software ties directly into iPhoto, but I don't use iPhoto anymore; a change that took place only in the past few months. On KellysWorld I've been working on moving my photos into a more archival friendly and web friendly format.

While the contact form probably won't return, the galleries will. I have no plan to remove the website anytime soon; although I don't see any updates to it of any major degree. It's a part of our wedding, a part of our history.

Tags: Wedding, KellysWorld

Okay,

I have heard through the grapevine that some of our regular visitors (we have regular visitors????) have complained that the photos Tracy and I keep telling people are on KellysWorld are not easily accessible. For all of you, please know that I have learned the error of my ways. I have made finding the photos of 427 Da Vinci Lane so easy, Gracy (that's my dog) could do it.

Wait, you wonder how easy is it? What have I changed? Well, if you are reading this article shortly after publication then all you need to do is look directly to the left of this text (and a little up) and you should see a simple link that will take you directly to the photos.

But wait, there's more! For those that need it really, really easy, I MEAN REALLY EASY.

CLICK HERE
(If you are currently looking for the "HERE" button, please turn off your computer and throw it away.)

Here at KellysWorld we strive to offer our visitors the very best in customer service and satisfaction. After all, you, our readers pay the bills.

Wait, no you don't..... Okay, so why am I making this easy?!?

Oh yeah, my wife threatened to raise my voice two octaves if I didn't. See honey, I do as you ask me.

Tags: KellysWorld, Photos

If you check out the Gallery you will find that I have added a new video. I created this video last weekend for Carlos Jr. first birthday party. The video is a three part photo montage of Carlo's first year of life. It wasn't too difficult to create, especially using the tools on my Mac; in fact it was a lot of fun. I started working on it the night before and had the DVD burned before we left 12:30 the next day. It really is way to easy to do this, all you need is an idea and the willingness to put in a little time.

So, check out my lastest video masterpiece and let me know what you think. As a side note, when you click on the video it may not start right away; the video downloads first. After a little waiting click on the video and it should start. If not, wait a little longer. You can also right click on the link and download the video to your computer.

I've also included an actual video I did last year on the video page, and will include some other videos I've created over the past year or so. All but one are actually photo slideshows set to various types of music.

Go HERE to find the videos.

Tags: Video, KellysWorld

If you check out the About section of the website, you will see that on the 3rd change I added an update to reflect a few of the changes that have taken place over the past few days. Nothing major, but worth noting.

Tags: KellysWorld

Recently the software I used for KellysWorld was updated, bringing new features and abilities. The changes are really on the back-end, but they do allow for eaiser customization and building of the site. One of the downsides of the updated software is that my previous set-up wasn't working as well as I would have liked. Even after getting most everything working, I still wasn't thrilled with the results. The final option was to do a slight redesign of the site, making use of some of the new back-end features. That change precipitated a change in header graphic, the one I had originally used I couldn't find; at least not the original photoshop document.

You won't see anything incredibly different as you tour the site, just a change in color scheme and the blog has some changes. You will notice that not only are their categories, but also tags. Basically, two different ways for me to index the blog, and allow the reader to find what they might be looking to see.

So while we have a new look, it is still the old look. Tell me what you think.

Tags: KellysWorld

You have undoubtedly noticed that KellysWorld has an unfamiliar look. You haven't landed at the wrong site, I've just been working on several issues related to a recent upgrade I made to my web authoring software. The theme that I have used for well over a year doesn't seem to play all too friendly with the updates software. So in the mean time I am using this theme which does seem to work, well, mostly work anyway. Click Here to Read More...

Tags: KellysWorld

There are levels of coolness in Technology. They range from "man this is so cool to look at it, but I can't imagine what I would use it for," to "man this is so cool it could save the universe from the alien incursion!" For that last one, think Independance Day. Well, Google Maps on your computer is some where in the middle. I use it all the time to check directions and use the satellite maps to check landmarks to aid me in finding whatever I want to find. I've also used Google Maps in home searching and just checking up various locations around the world. It's just plain fun and pretty useful. The single biggest drawback is that you can't take the functionality with you. You can print out the maps and images, but if your plans change or you need to reroute due to traffic, your are on your own. Unless you have Google Mobile Maps.
Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Google, Mobile Phones, Maps

Here is another article by Orson Scott Card. I can't speak to the validity of his statements nor the ones made by Steve Berry, Author of Alexandria link; none-the-less the article itself is very interesting. If political thoughts and statements don't do anything for you, still consider reading. You probably like fiction and his argument is a good one for anyone that ever wonders the affect fiction has on what people think of history. Oh, and when I say politics I really mean in the classical sense, not the "I Hate Clinton," or "I Hate Bush category of politics."

I've not read Mr. Berry's book so I can't speak to how well it is written. I assume it is pulp fiction; which is basically where Orson Scott Card lands as well; basically they are both popular fiction writers of our era. They seem though to have different viewpoints on history. I've provided a little of the article for your review, the rest will be on his site and I've provided that link as well. Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Books, Writting

I was doing a search on something and came across a website called The Ornery American. I quickly learned that it is produced by a favorite author of mine, Orson Scott Card; creator of the novel series based on one of his first books, Ender's Game (Link to Amazon). I don't know a great deal about Mr. Card, but I believe he is a devoutly religious man, but one that doesn't believe in forcing his views on others. In fact there is another article, his most recent one, that I will point out in another post that shows basically where his beliefs lie in how he feels others should think about him and the world at large.

This article is actually the Afterward of one of his most recent novels, Empire (Link to Amazon). I've not yet had a chance to read it, but saw it in the bookstore the other day. It's the story of how a 2nd American Civil War gets started and the men in the military caught in the middle. As I said I haven't yet read it, but after reading this article and knowing his personal writing style, I'm more inclined to do so. It should be noted that the book was written at the request of a software publisher looking to create a game franchise.

Again, I have not yet read the book and don't know if it is any good or not. Amazon's Editorial from Publisher's Weekly decries him basically has a hypocrite for writing a book that pits the Red States against the Blue States, making the Red states champions the hero of the book then writing an afterward (what follows below) about how intolerant both sides have become in the political debate. So while I don't know the reason why the messenger sent the message, I like the message. Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Books, Writting

A picture from a magazine! Shows like a model home! Fancy formal dining room with custom drapery & opulent chandelier. Grand Living room with cozy fireplace, ceiling fan, and surround-sound wiring. Open kitchen with built-in appliances:microwave, electric range,dishwasher, breakfast bar & separate dining area. Split master suite has sitting area and bathroom with double vanity, garden tub, shower, & walk-in closet. House completely wired for network & cable(includes router).

That's the description you will find in the MLS database describing my home for the past 4 years. I have to admit it is a little strange seeing my house listed, my very first house; but it's exciting as well. If you know anyone looking to buy a quaint little home in Wylie, have them call our agent. We would be happy to show them the house.

If you are interested in seeing the listing, as seen on Realtor.com, Click HERE.

Tags: New House

If you visit the Photo Gallery you might notice a slight organizational change. Nothing big, but trying to create a structure that might be more scalable than what I was using before. I've also increased the size of the photos in the flash slideshow. No need for all that white empty space right!?!

Tags: KellysWorld, Photos

This morning I noticed that David Pouge, New York Times columnist, wrote an article about Second Life. He also did a report for CBS Sunday Morning. Both the article and the report are linked below. Feel free to check them out. Whether you would actually want to log-on and play around in Second Life or not; the phenomenon is still very interesting. Apparently over $600,000 is spent every day in Second Life.

David Pouge Article
An Experiment in Virtual Living
CBS Sunday Morning
Second Life

Tags: Games

Well, as crazy as it seems, terrorism has finally made it's way from the streets of Iraq to the online world of Second Life. In an effort to get the attention of the operators of Second Life, Linden Labs, long time users of the virtual world game set off two "virtual" nukes near two major corporate headquarters to protest the unfriendly turn that Second Life has taken in recent months as the population has grown by mammoth proportions and so to apparently has the in-game violence. Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Games

If you check out the section "File Share" on KellysWorld you will find some interesting, maybe in useful documents. The list is currently short, but I will add to it in time as I find documents that I think others may find useful or simply interesting. I've started the collection with a spreadsheet I created for helping in my search for a new home back in 2002, along with some government and political documents. Included with these are the United States Constitution as well as the Declaration of Independence. With both documents the US Archives have made the original documents available for download as either PDFs or JPEGs. These digital versions were made from high resolutions scans taken of the documents. I've included readable transcripts as well the scanned versions. You will notice that the scanned versions are showing serious signs of age; but then how well will you look in 200+ years? The document to the right is a digital scan of the Declaration of Independence.

If you know of a document that I should add to the site, please let me know. You can check out "File Share" HERE.

Tags: KellysWorld

Some of you may have noticed that last year i added a link to the family DVD collection (a feature that existed early on in KellysWorld history but that was removed in 2005), as well as books and video games. I hadn't updated the list in some time and now I don't think the video game collection is relevant with so many of them counting their age in years. The book collection isn't very up-to-date either, just haven't added them into the database we use. So the new list includes a complete list of all 277 of our DVD's, but does not at this time include video games or books. I have yet to determine if I will add them at a later date or not.
Click Here to Read More...

Tags: KellysWorld, DVD

The other day I posted that finally CoffeeTalk, Tracy's personal blog, had returned. Tracy has started making some entries, so you should check it out. In her latest entries she talks about the dinner party that Courtney had last weekend as well as her return to the world of blogging. I have no doubt that these are just the first of many entries to come.

Welcome back Tracy!



I've made it real easy to get there. Just look to the right and you will see CoffeeTalk in the main menu; or just click on the image above!

Tags: KellysWorld, Tracy

If you have been reading this site for a long time, you might remember that Tracy had her own blog for a while. When I made the move to my Mac I switched to a client side based web authoring program and lost the ability to easily control where her blog (or journal) appeared. Recently an add-on to RapidWeaver was released into Beta and this add-on gives me the ability to sync her Blogger Blog to my website. What does this mean? Well it means she can independatly update her blog using Blogger and then just tell me she has done so and i can quickly sync it over to my main site. Her Blog is now tied into KellysWorld keeping the same look and feel as the rest of the site.

You can check it out now by clicking on CoffeeTalk to the right of this entry in the main menu, or simply go to her page directly at http://www.kellysworld.net/coffeetalk.

Tags: KellysWorld, Tracy

Yes, it probably looks like I've been gone forever; but I haven't. I've just been absent. Since returning from our honeymoon I've been busy with the life of being married. Not that a lot hasn't happened; there has been Thanksgiving, Christmas and even New Year's. All of which were fun filled and interesting. This Christmas I enjoyed doing the "family rounds" as I call them. First down to Houston to spend the days before Christmas with Javier, then over to The Colony to spend Christmas Eve with Tracy's parents. Christmas morning we headed off to the traditional Christmas morning with Jim, Sharon and clan. Finally, we had Jim, Sharon and Tim over to our house for Christmas dinner. So, yes, very active. Just not writing much. But then, that is an ongoing problem.

I pledge to try and do better. I really do... No Really, I DO!

Tags: KellysWorld, Wedding

I've added more photos under the Family Archives section of the site. For now I am just pulling all photos of Mom, Dad and Brion; my eventual plan is to limit these photos to the more distant past. I'm still going through and dating photographs and creating various albums in iPhoto. I will add more photos hopefully over the next several days. Trying to get a bit more work done on this site and EternalMagic. You should be able to view the photos just fine regardless of the system you are using. The photos will show-up in a Flash slide show that should play in most browers, including Dad's.

Tags: KellysWorld, Photos

I've added a new feature to the site, it is a beta test for the site and I don't know if I will keep it or not. It adds a calendar that ties directly into iCal on my Mac. Basically, it makes my personal calendar available for view by family and friends. It's limited in the fact that it doesn't combine the various calendars of iCal together, you have to publish each one separately. That is by design of iCal. A different concept, but one that typically works very well. One very cool feature is that it does allow for someone to subscribe to the calendar if they have access to either iCal or a calendar program that works with iCal. Can't say if I will keep it or not, but will try it out.

Tags: KellysWorld

Back on June 23rd I wrote a letter to David Pogue regarding an article he wrote about Bill Gates and the charitable works Mr. Gates was planning on increasing as he steps down from the day to day activities of Microsoft. I posted that letter, with a link to the story, on the 23rd. Today I was reading an article he wrote that showed some of the responses he received and what, to my amazement, did I read... Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Bill Gates, David Pogue, Letter

This morning I read an article by David Pouge of the NY Times. It was very interesting and I encourage you to read it Article Here. I enjoyed reading it and with the power of the internet, have the ability to tell the author what I think. Below is my response.

Mr. Pogue,

I just read your article on Bill Gates. I have to admit that like many I can be extremely cynical about Mr. Gates. I don't have 80 billion, or whatever the current amount is; I don't have 80 million. So like many, I distrust those that did and wonder how they made their money. Click Here to Read More...

Tags: Bill Gates, David Pogue, Letter

I would suggest not bookmarking any of the photo pages on my site, at least not for the time being. The file structure is not what I prefer at the moment, so it the coming days I will change it. I wanted to get the site up and live, but the photos were added at the last minute. While they all work fine, the file structure needs work. Nothing major, but I wanted to warn those that might be inclined to bookmark individual albums. In any event, it is best to just go to the main page and then work your way to the album of your choice. I seldom ke