iblog.stjschool.org

Student blog will win $10,000 Scholarship

One blogger chosen by “the internet” will win $10,000 US scholarship … for keeping a blog.

As the ratio of high school student blogs I read to the number of college student blogs I read approaches infinity, I think it a good time we troll a few of the best college bloggers in the US.

All STJ student bloggers have been involved in assessment of one another’s blogs since the beginning of STJ iblogs in 2006. I’m certain we’d pick a deserving “Final Four” from the list of 20 finalists.

I’m curious to know for what blogs STJ bloggers vote.

Submit your comment (or trackback) here with a brief reason/detail/example justifying your vote for the $10,000 US scholarship.

Consider our recent emphasis on structure and voice: How are these college bloggers defining themselves through voice? What structures/patterns do successful bloggers adopt? What role do comments play in the development of the blog?

Yaaar, there be pirates in one of the blogs . . . but don’t let that influence your vote.

Tags: blog, bloggers, Blogging Tips, CTS 10, detail example, English 20, English 30, final four, good time, iblogs, infinity, Information Highway2 INF0220, pirates, scholarship
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Looking for News

Try the following suggestions to increase your daily intake of news feeds.

• Surf the latest headlines from all over the world. Results are based on google search rankings, the larger the font –> the more hits in google, I recall. Headlines link to an array of news organizations.
• Aggregate a few headlines from, say, cbc.ca/rss in your own blog sidebar.
• Create your own online newsreader at bloglines.com or google reader.

Add your own suggested news feeds or feed aggregators in a comment or trackback here.

Tags: blog, Blogging Tips, CTS 9, English 20, google, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, iblog, Information Highway2 INF0220, Pedagogy 2.0, result, sidebar, stj, view
Posted in Pingo Lingo

In the News(CTS bloggers)

CBC RSS feeds. Browse the many RSS feed categories. Select at least one to be added to your blog’s sidebar.

• Copy(right-click or control-click) a feed url from CBC RSS feeds.
• Go to Dashboard–>Presentation–>Sidebar Widgets–>Add RSS widgets.
• Drag RSS widget to your sidebar.
• Paste the url into the RSS widget.
• Save and view site.

Tags: blog, bloggers, Blogging Tips, CTS 9, dashboard, English 9, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, Information Highway2 INF0220, Man, presentation, right, sidebar, view
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Creat a Sitemap for your blog

Write a page(not a post). Title it Sitemap.
You’ll find the code here that you’ll need to paste into your page.

Enter Sitemap as the Page Slug.
Disable Comments and Pings.
Publish.

Go to Dashboard–>Options–>DDSitemapGen.
Enter the same Slug, update.

Add the link to the sitemap via your theme’s menu or sidebar or add a Pages widget.

Tags: blog, CTS 9, dashboard, Information Highway2 INF0220, map, sidebar, theme, Word Processing INFO1030
Posted in Pingo Lingo

CTS InfoPro Module Outlines

CTS InfoPro Module Outlines

• Word Processing
• Graphic Tools
• HyperMedia Tools
• Information Highway 2

Tags: CTS 10, form, graphic tools, Graphic Tools INF01040, hypermedia tools, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, information, information highway, Information Highway2 INF0220, outlines, process, Word Processing INFO1030
Posted in Pingo Lingo

New features Gallery2 and Subscribe2

Gallery2 integration works, mostly. Well the sidebar and full page embedding works, more to come. Activate WPG2 by pointing it to http://stjschool.org/gallery2/ and it should autodetect the rest. Then place the STJ Galley widget in your sidebar.

Subscribe2 allows you to email, automagically, site updates(a new post for example) to your subscribers. A new Subscribe link appears in your footer.

Tags: Blogging Tips, CTS 10, footer, Graphic Tools INF01040, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, Information Highway2 INF0220, sidebar, stj, Troubleshooting, Word Processing INFO1030
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Audio Posts (But not quite podcasts, yet)

Or rather, Audio in Posts.

They’re not iTunesey podcasts, yet, but they’re simple enough.
Your mp3 file must be less than 2MB and uploaded to your blog in the normal way.

Go find the menu in Dashboard–>Options–>Audio Player.

Read the check boxes, the third check box will automagically change your mp3 links in your posts to embedded flash players. Easy-peezy.

Look at wmcauley’s mp3 links.

Tags: blog, Blogging Tips, change, dashboard, English 20, English 9, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, iblog, Information Highway2 INF0220, stj
Posted in Pingo Lingo

iBox for your images

Click the images.

Before iBox

After iBox

Want to know how?
Start a thread in the forum, “How to iBox?”. When three STJ bloggers post, let me know and I’ll join in with the secret.

Tags: blog, bloggers, Graphic Tools INF01040, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, iblog, image, images, Information Highway2 INF0220, stj, wit
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Here’s an idea that could snowball!

Find a “copyright-free” etext online at, say, Project Gutenberg or here or here

Start a new blog.

Parse your etext into manageable chunks and insert into your blog.

Add graphics and organizers. Edit theme. Voila.

Look at Castle of Otranto and The Jesuit Relations and the History of New France as examples.

Search for works by the following at Gutenberg:
Austen, Jane
Barrie, J.M.
Brontà«, Charlotte
Brontà«, Emily
Dickens, Charles
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Carroll, Lewis
Chesterton, G. K
Christie, Agatha
Twain, Mark
Collins, Wilkie
Connor, Ralph
Conrad, Joseph
Corelli, Marie
Defoe, Daniel
De la Mare, Walter
Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
Eliot, George
Galsworthy, John
Haggard, H. Rider
Hardy, Thomas
Henty, G. A.
James, Henry
Jerome, Jerome K.
Joyce, James
Kingsley, Charles
Kipling, Rudyard
Leacock, Stephen
Mansfield, Katherine
Maugham, W. Somerset
Maupassant, Guy de
McClung, Nellie L.
Melville, Herman
Montgomery, L. M.
Moodie, Susanna
Moore, Clement Clarke
Nesbit, E.
Oppenheim, E. Phillips
Potter, Beatrix
Sabatini, Rafael
Scott, Walter, Sir
Shaw, George Bernard
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Sinclair, Upton
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Swift, Jonathan
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Trollope, Anthony
Wallace, Edgar
Walpole, Horace
Wells, H. G.
Wilde, Oscar
Wodehouse, P. G.
Woolf, Virginia
Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Tags: Arthur, blog, Christ, CTS 10, Dick, element, English 20, English 9, history, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, iblog, idea, Information Highway2 INF0220, Man, Manage, peace, right, stj, theme, use, Word Processing INFO1030
Posted in Pingo Lingo

cool smilies

The following smilies have an extra space after the first character so you can see them here in text form. Remove the space and the smiley appears in published posts.

‘ : )’ => ‘icon_smile.gif’,
‘ : D’ => ‘icon_biggrin.gif’,
‘ : -D’ => ‘icon_biggrin.gif’,
‘: grin:’ => ‘icon_biggrin.gif’,
‘ : )’ => ‘icon_smile.gif’,
‘ : -)’ => ‘icon_smile.gif’,
‘: smile:’ => ‘icon_smile.gif’,
‘ : (‘ => ‘icon_sad.gif’,
‘ : -(‘ => ‘icon_sad.gif’,
‘: sad:’ => ‘icon_sad.gif’,
‘ : o’ => ‘icon_surprised.gif’,
‘ : -o’ => ‘icon_surprised.gif’,
‘: eek:’ => ‘icon_surprised.gif’,
‘ 8 O’ => ‘icon_eek.gif’,
‘ 8 -O’ => ‘icon_eek.gif’,
‘: shock:’ => ‘icon_eek.gif’,
‘ : ?’ => ‘icon_confused.gif’,
‘ : -?’ => ‘icon_confused.gif’,
‘ : ???:’ => ‘icon_confused.gif’,
‘ 8 )’ => ‘icon_cool.gif’,
‘ 8 -)’ => ‘icon_cool.gif’,
‘: cool:’ => ‘icon_cool.gif’,
‘: lol:’ => ‘icon_lol.gif’,
‘ : x’ => ‘icon_mad.gif’,
‘ : -x’ => ‘icon_mad.gif’,
‘: mad:’ => ‘icon_mad.gif’,
‘ : P’ => ‘icon_razz.gif’,
‘ : -P’ => ‘icon_razz.gif’,
‘: razz:’ => ‘icon_razz.gif’,
‘: oops:’ => ‘icon_redface.gif’,
‘: cry:’ => ‘icon_cry.gif’,
‘: evil:’ => ‘icon_evil.gif’,
‘: twisted:’ => ‘icon_twisted.gif’,
‘: roll:’ => ‘icon_rolleyes.gif’,
‘: wink:’ => ‘icon_wink.gif’,
‘ ; )’ => ‘icon_wink.gif’,
‘ ; -)’ => ‘icon_wink.gif’,
‘: !:’ => ‘icon_exclaim.gif’,
‘: ?:’ => ‘icon_question.gif’,
‘: idea:’ => ‘icon_idea.gif’,
‘: arrow:’ => ‘icon_arrow.gif’,
‘ : |’ => ‘icon_neutral.gif’,
‘ : -|’ => ‘icon_neutral.gif’,
‘: neutral:’ => ‘icon_neutral.gif’,
‘: mrgreen:’ => ‘icon_mrgreen.gif’,

=> ‘icon_smile.gif’,
=> ‘icon_biggrin.gif’,
=> ‘icon_biggrin.gif’,
=> ‘icon_biggrin.gif’,
=> ‘icon_smile.gif’,
=> ‘icon_smile.gif’,
=> ‘icon_smile.gif’,
=> ‘icon_sad.gif’,
=> ‘icon_sad.gif’,
=> ‘icon_sad.gif’,
=> ‘icon_surprised.gif’,
=> ‘icon_surprised.gif’,
=> ‘icon_surprised.gif’,
=> ‘icon_eek.gif’,
=> ‘icon_eek.gif’,
=> ‘icon_eek.gif’,
=> ‘icon_confused.gif’,
=> ‘icon_confused.gif’,
=> ‘icon_confused.gif’,
=> ‘icon_cool.gif’,
=> ‘icon_cool.gif’,
=> ‘icon_cool.gif’,
=> ‘icon_lol.gif’,
=> ‘icon_mad.gif’,
=> ‘icon_mad.gif’,
=> ‘icon_mad.gif’,
=> ‘icon_razz.gif’,
=> ‘icon_razz.gif’,
=> ‘icon_razz.gif’,
=> ‘icon_redface.gif’,
=> ‘icon_cry.gif’,
=> ‘icon_evil.gif’,
=> ‘icon_twisted.gif’,
=> ‘icon_rolleyes.gif’,
=> ‘icon_wink.gif’,
=> ‘icon_wink.gif’,
=> ‘icon_wink.gif’,
=> ‘icon_exclaim.gif’,
=> ‘icon_question.gif’,
=> ‘icon_idea.gif’,
=> ‘icon_arrow.gif’,
=> ‘icon_neutral.gif’,
=> ‘icon_neutral.gif’,
=> ‘icon_neutral.gif’,
=> ‘icon_mrgreen.gif’,

Tags: Blogging Tips, form, idea, Information Highway2 INF0220, question, use, Word Processing INFO1030
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Snowsuits for Grades 9-12

Something very new has been built into iblog.stjschool.org, “snowsuits.”

Be up to date with your posts.

Hand in an up to date “Assessment Data Sheet.”

If you think you can handle the responsibility, and if I think you’ve got the skills, I’ll enable your access to “snowsuits.”

D. Sader
(Fed your inner geek lately?)

Tags: blog, Blogging Tips, English 30, Graphic Tools INF01040, iblog, Information Highway2 INF0220, something, stj, wit
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Style Your Blog

Before you go further, choose a theme that has a “Theme Editor” (variously titled such as “Theme Options”, “Edit Styles”). Choose a theme that allows you to change the header image AND the font colours(StripedPlus isn’t only one, is it?).

Step One: Title your blog.(do not use your name)
Step Two: Write your own one sentence blog description.
Step Three: Get an image from www.freefoto.com.
Step Four: Use Photoshop to put all layers together. Export the image, keep it less than 20k. Small .png is best.
Step Five: upload your image, find its url and copy/paste.

Pay attention to the imagery in the photo, synch with your blog title/description. Pay attention(eye dropper) to the colours in the image and edit your font colours. Choose a “unique” font in Photoshop for your blog title/description. Scale the final result to fit the fixed height/width of the header in your theme.

Tags: blog, change, Final, Graphic Tools INF01040, image, Information Highway2 INF0220, result, theme, use, wit
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Do you want to send free text messages to a cell phone?

Look for the Quick SMS widget on any theme that has sidebar widgets. Mine works(vmobile.ca). I need someone to verify that the Telus Mobility widget works, too. If your provider is not listed, and you want it, let me know. Receiving texts messages on my cell phone, for me, is free. It’s sending them that costs me a dime. How much is Telus to send/receive? The Quick SMS widget lets me send at no cost. You can put any number(10 digits), so behave. Enjoy, report abuses to me.

D. Sader

Tags: Blogging Tips, CTS 10, English 30, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, Information Highway2 INF0220, sidebar, theme, use
Posted in Pingo Lingo

CTS 10 Graphic Magicians

Thanks to those helping/experimenting with graphics for shop.snowotherway.org. Progress is slow, but carefully done. What works? 5-6 images of each garment with hardwood background, adjust==>image size 320×240px and 72 dpi, and adjust==>auto levels so white balance looks better. Be certain to name each image according to corresponding “product code.”

Check out T-Shirts, others a piece at a time.

Thanks Braden, Deena, Michael M., Adam M.

Tags: experiment, Graphic Tools INF01040, image, images, Information Highway2 INF0220, Respond, wit
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Anti-Bullying Song Research Assignment

Blog an online research about a song that relates to Heather’s workshop(s) about:

• Bullying
• Domestic Violence
• Peace
• Getting Along

Requirements:

1. Lyrics, portions cut’pasted with hyperlink to source.
2. 250-words:

• What is going on in the song?
• What is the message the artist is trying to send?
• How do you feel about this message?
• How does it focus on the workshop topics?

3. Composer, performer, dates, album art, awards.

4. History, background, items/ideas of interest

5. Hyperlink all sources.

6. Add to Assessment Data Spreadsheet and apply Critical Thinking rubric (1-4)

7. Moderate three comments on your own. Leave plenty of comments, at least three, on other iblog.stjschool.org blogs.

Tags: blog, critical thinking, CTS 10, English 10, focus, form, Graphic Tools INF01040, history, Hypermedia Tools INF01070, iblog, idea, Information Highway2 INF0220, peace, poetry, research, rubric, stj, Thinking, wit, Word Processing INFO1030
Posted in Pingo Lingo

Capatchas Stop Spam

Check your plugins, activate, learn, manage access to your blog/comments.

Tags: blog, Blogging Tips, CTS 10, Information Highway2 INF0220, Man, Manage
Posted in Pingo Lingo