I have been busy elsewhere on the web, playing with new toys. I have discovered Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Wunderground and LinkedIn. So I have been exploring each. On the first and last, I am Christopher Calvin. On the middle 3 of these, I am known as CBCalvin.
I find Twitter a bit distracting. If you follow a long list of people, the updates are frequent and probably not related to what you are doing. This requires disciplne to maintain focus on the task at hand. The best part of twitter is its simplicity. A simple input box permits 140 characters of text in answer to the question “What are you doing now?”. Some people, including me, use it as a sort of asynchronous IM to people they know are following. Others use it as a journal. There is a way to watch the whole stream. A few minutes gives you an idea of the esprit de temps. If my message is long, I sometimes try to edit it so that it is EXACTLY 140 characters.
Flickr is a site for posting pictures. All of the pictures you post are part of your “photostream”. If you are a free member, you can organize 3 collections. If you want more and more storage, you can pay a fee and become a professional member. Flickr is a good way to share your pictures.
Facebook is a social networking site. You can locate and communicate with people you may currently or have known in the past. You can post notes and pictures. Most of what you post is shareable with the world if you want it to be. Another way to keep in touch.
Wunderground is basically a weather reporting site. You can get your local weather in great detail with discussion and the whole works. They also have weather pictures of current (the last week) of weather. I have posted some pictures there, not because they are great pictures but just to document the weather.
So because I have been elsewhere, that is why I have not been here.