Blogger is getting pretty fancy for a free publishing site. I have to give them a lot of credit for not restricting the new features to premium members only. Now you can write in bold letters, italics, color, add links within the body of your blog, adjust the layout, add bullets and blockquotes...just like a real word processor. They even offer a "remove formatting" tool. I'm truly impressed. Let's see if MT follows their lead.
It's too bad I don't have a lot to say tonight that would give me the chance to use all those goodies. But it's late and I'm pooped. We've been enjoying (?) a mini-heatwave here in Southern California, and there's nothing like moist heat to sap the energy right out of you.
One app I've been having fun with again the last couple of nights is instant messenging. I deleted every IM app from my computer over a year ago because that obnoxious little window would pop, up with a pointless conversation from someone I didn't really want to talk to anyway, at the most inconvenient times. It became such a distraction, I just eliminated the thing. Then recently, I began meeting people I really wanted to keep in touch with, and the easiest way turned out to be IM. But this time around I'm being more selective as to who can reach me. And another difference is that now I have Gaim, a great open source, cross-platform app. Last night I was chatting in real time with England on one tab, Illinois on another, and a friend about 8 blocks from here on a third. Tonight it was California, Illinois and Virginia. Ten years ago this either wouldn't have been possible, or would have racked up huge long distance bills. I've been rereading "Small Pieces Loosely Joined" by David Weinberger (highly recommended), and agree with him that at the core of the web is the hyperlink. But another worthy use is IM, if done politely and with content. This truly is a wired world, and communication has taken on a whole new meaning and dynamic. And I embrace it all.
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