Thing 3

Yes, I know...I skipped thing 2 somehow. I'll come back to that, I promise.

I checked out Technorati, Sphere, BlogLines, BLogPost, etc. and discovered that you can waste a helluva lot of time surfing the net. Groundbreaking, I know. So, my new tip for a newbie would be....tada....stick with google if you have a question about anything. I swear you could probably google "how to give your cat a perm" and you would find someone, somewhere who has done it and has a ton of tips for you. While some of the listed sites might be relevant for some, google is your best bet. However, if you're at work and bored (hey Steve :-), there's a lot of places you can go with the help of Technorati, bloglines, etc...

1st Thing

One of the first things I learned (technology wise) was also probably the most important. DON'T FREAK OUT! O.k., so I'm an 80's child and still say things like "freak out"...I digress. It does seem to be everyone's first inclination when something doesn't happen like they think it should. They panic. They chide themselves for wasting precious time even trying to learn something so obviously advanced...and then they remember an 8-year old does it, and does it well. So then, hopefully, they buck up and try to figure out where the misstep took place. At least that's my experience when trying to be a VERY low-level tech support guru on the phone. Sad, that someone knows so little about computers and the web that they would consider me as a means of support.

So, when one of the first things we are supposed to do is watch a video "23 things at Murdoch University" and the link is to a YouTube site which is blocked by our filtering software.....I get a lot of calls that start with either A-"you've got to be fricken kidding me", or B-"I told you I couldn't do it, now I've proven it". BTW, statement "A" actually came out of my mouth, but after having a 10-second panic meltdown, I realized there was a link by the empty box (the box where the video was supposed to be playing) that took you to an alternative viewing site. Simple fix. So, it reinforced tip #1. Don't panic. There' more than one way to skin a cat.... sorry PETA.

Thing 1

O.K., so it wasn't that bad. Blogger.com is actually pretty user-friendly and though sometimes I felt lost, it didn't take long to get back on track and feel like I was actually creating something. Yeah! Now, on to "Thing Two"....