Time Widgets

This icon-making business is a lot harder than it looks.

I have noticed the post I was using to check international times has now dropped off the end of the recent post list. That means if I want the information close at hand, I will need some sort of link on the side bar.

So here is a symbol for the international time clock website, for current local time in various cities.

And a similar icon for a different link–this one can be used for planning, i.e. “If it’s 9 AM in Amman, what time is it in London?”

Now, to eliminate clutter, why can’t these two icons be combined into a double button, each side linked to the appropriate website?  On the left is “local current times around the world” with all the appropriate adjustments for daylight savings and so forth.  On the right is the time zone converter.

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Okay, it’s done but I don’t like it. A simple link might have been better.  But I’m not going to change it now–maybe later.

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Something simpler. The time zone converter link can be accessed from the world clock link.   So one icon and one link. In orange, I think.  A clock-world-orange.

Do you have an astrologer?

Yes, I do have an astrologer.

The Jordan Times used to have a really great horoscope for people learning English. I wish they still had in in their online paper. It was great because of the understandable English. Every day we started class by reading our horoscopes out loud. The Moslem students–and some of them were pretty devout–assured me it was okay to read horoscopes as long as it was for entertainment and not a substitute for Allah.

Some time ago I put a horoscope widget in the lower right column and linked it to Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology. Every once in a while, when politics gets me feeling a bit jaded, I go over there and read my horoscope just to smell the fresh air. For entertainment only, of course.

For some reason, today’s message was just what I needed to erase today’s static and be ready to get back on the hamster wheel tomorrow:

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT
You are potentially a genius. Maybe not in the same way that Einstein and Beethoven were, but still: You possess some exceptional capacity that is absolutely unique. You’re a masterpiece unlike any other that has ever lived in the history of the world.

Furthermore, the precise instructions you need to ripen into your genius have always been with you, even from the time before you were born. In the words of psychologist James Hillman, you have a soul’s code.

You might also call it the special mission you came to Earth to carry out; the divine blueprint that contains the open secret of how to be perfectly, unpredictably yourself; the master plan that is your heart’s deepest desire.

Would you like help in deciphering it? The Divine Intelligence Formerly Known as God is always on call, ready to help. It’s your birthright to ask Her a specific question every day about what you need to do next to express your soul’s code; it’s also your birthright to receive a response.

The divine revelation may not be as unambiguous as a little voice in your head. It might appear in the form of a TV commercial, an odd dream, or an encounter with a stranger. It could be demanding and difficult, delivering information you’d rather not have to deal with. Or it might show up as a clear and simple feeling of knowing exactly what to do, and it could be easy and fun.

What question will you ask the Divine Wow today?

‘Thinking Blogger Meme’ enters Spamland.

It’s rough to be a spammer these days. Newer and more powerful programs block out even the most persistent forms of spam. Most bloggers don’t take time to go through the literally thousands of pieces of comment spam looking for genuine comments. Spammers keep trying harder and harder to convince the few people who venture into the spam holding cell they have a real comment and are not just trying to sell you viagra or painkillers.

“Your site has made me smile”, says an insurance spambot, and posts a smilie. “Your site is also very interesting, very calming effect just reading it…” says a spambot selling diet pills. “I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….” sounds almost human, until you see that this week everyone is using it. There is even a dangling modifier English-is-not-my-first-language version of it from another diet pill spambot: “I found your website after I have been surfing the internet to be useful”. Or the mindless sycophant-bot:”I have admire your unselfishness in taking the time to make this web site.” This last one seems to have missed something in the translation: “Hi. Yes, interesting surrender all are described. I recently read about this article in on the other resource.”

Then, this comment spam from a certain “doctor pp” pill spambot stopped me up short:

Hello, I just wanted to say you have a very informative site which really made me think, Thanks ! A site with a wealth of info.!…thanks very much! Have a nice Day!!

Holy catfish. That’s the Thinking Blogger Meme. Back in February it was started over at:

http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/02/thinking-blogger-awards_11.html

and now it’s being used by some spammer in Milton, Australia. Do you suppose it’s about to go ….viral?

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Related posts:

Gems in the Spam Sewer

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A new widget button: Astroweather

I’ve been waiting for this button.

When I was a graduate student, every month I used to pick up a free copy of Lightworks inside the outer door of the neighborhood bookstore near the campus. It has all sorts of astrological advice and advertisements, and features Guy Spiro’s Astroweather, which will show you times of planetary configurations throughout the day and explain what you can do about them.

It was nice to think that some of my frustrations might be due to the stars, or at least to something out of my control. I was particularly fascinated by the idea of the moon being “void of course” which I take to mean it’s not under the protection of a particular planet. In a world that values decisiveness and has any number of self-help books that will help you overcome procrastination, here was someone saying there are times when the cosmos does not want you to make decisions, and that you must wait until the proper time to start a new enterprise if you want it to prosper.

After I graduated I missed the little catalogue with the New Age art on the front, but of course everything has a website. Now after updating their website, they have thoughtfully provided a little button for people who want to link to the site.

UPDATE: 8-9-07 Guy Spiro’s Astroweather has not been updated for some time–since May 31, but no explanation was given on the website.  I left the widget up, though, since people do go on vacation this time of year, and its sister site, Lightworks, was also on hold. Now the Astroweather website is completely unavailable, so sadly I will take the button off of my sidebar. I hope Mr. Spiro is well.

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UPDATED UPDATE: Mr. Spiro is indeed well and is writing again |here|. The Monthly Aspectarian is being published again too. And AstroWeather is now available in Chinese as well.  I bet there’s a story behind that.

Related posts:

~Potato-shaped asteroids guide my horoscope for the week–is this Pluto’s fault?>
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Potato-shaped asteroids guide my horoscope for the week–is this Pluto’s fault?

The world has not been the same since Pluto got demoted from planet to asteroid.

A few months ago I put a horoscope button on my right widget column, mostly so it would be easier for me to check my horoscope. The site doesn’t provide the code, so I had to save their horoscope symbol to disk, then upload it to wordpress with the link attached to it. Not an artistic endeavor, but it got the job done.

Here is my horoscope for this week:

Due to a rare conjunction of three potato-shaped asteroids in your astrological House of Productive and Forgivable Gaffes, you have cosmic license to make a lot of really cool mistakes. I’ve gathered some witty remarks you can invoke to disarm anyone who might be critical of your messy experiments: (1) “You’re just jealous because the little voices are talking to me and not to you.” (2) “When I have to choose between two evils, I enjoy picking the one I’ve never tried before.” (3) “Do you have a clear conscience? A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.” (4) “I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.”

So what is this supposed to mean? After you get done laughing, of course? Potato-shaped asteroids? Since when do potato-shaped asteroids figure in a horoscope?

The Jordan Times used to have a really great horoscope for learning English. Every week I would bring my copy of the paper to class and my English conversation students would pick their horoscope out of the paper and read it to the class, adding a little to their vocabulary in a fun, and therefore easy to remember way. Even the devoutly Moslem in the group found no offense if the horoscopes were read with the understanding that it was for entertainment only. Allah is to be worshipped and not the stars.

Oh, but this horoscope button….I do so look forward to whatever jolt away from the mundane I will experience from it each week, and I suspect they are also quite serious about guiding your life.

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Related posts:

~A new widget button: Astroweather
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