Several unwitting victims, I mean, brave testers have stepped forward to see if Build 52 (http://www.markandtanya.us/scribbles/Build52.html) can work for them, including... Phil at Cornish Pasty Blog (http://lowjib7.blogspot.com/2008/01/posting-with-build52-for-first-time.html) James at Yakap.org (http://yakap.org/2008/01/sesame-chicken-starlet-font.html) James M. at Drivin' the Lead Car (http://sixftunda.blogspot.com/2008/01/way-to-go.html) and Nick at nick_fs Inks! (http://nickfsinks.blogspot.com/2008/01/flying-bug.html)
If I missed anyone, drop a comment with your URL. Sharing is caring. And of course, shout-outs to The Hallel Report (http://thehallelreport.blogspot.com/) and iDorkas' Blog (http://idorkas.blogspot.com/) for pushing me along by using Build 52 "classic". [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
I finally achieved critical mass with ideas to revise Build 52 (http://www.markandtanya.us/scribbles/Build52.html), my Links in Ink building tool. I might pretty it up some more, but it's fully armed and operational. And this time, anyone can give it a try without tinkering with templates.
Yep, this version has all the code embedded. If your blog application has an HTML editing interface, you should be able to use Build 52 to build Links in Ink. No need to add special scripts or styles to your blog template.
I also lifted the limit on the number of Links in Ink that can be added to an entry. The only real limit is good sense.
Finally, the style and color of the links can be changed with each entry. I may add more styles and options here. If anyone has a preference, let me know.
Build 52 is an Internet Explorer-only app, but the Links in Ink appear to work in IE, Firefox, Safari, and Google Reader (thanks to James Morman for that last confirmation). If you see them (or not) in another application, let me know.
One more thing, after pondering a name adjustment to reflect the revision, I decided to let it slide. So the name is still just Build 52. Let me know how you like it.
Today I had a good chuckle (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/24/keith-ledger-heath-ledge_n_83116.html) when I read that Gawker (http://gawker.com/348009/who-the-hell-is-keith-ledger-ask-ben-witticombe) took a jab at Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/24/heath-ledger-found-dead_n_82721.html) for tagging their Heath Ledger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_ledger) coverage with the name "Keith Ledger" (http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?q=keith+ledger&date=2008-1-22&sa=X) . Turns out they did it in order to catch the news seekers who didn't know Heath's proper name. Or as Gawker put it:
If I was writing for a media outlet, I probably wouldn't refer to news seekers in quite that way, but that's just me. Anyway, I couldn't think of another news item that interested me today, and I needed something that I could load up with links to test my new version of Build 52 (http://www.markandtanya.us/scribbles/B52v2.html).
The day was chosen because it is the birthday of John Hancock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock), whose signature on the Declaration of Independence is so outstanding that his name has become eponymous with the word signature. A more appropriate date I cannot imagine.
I missed NHD the past couple of years so I marked it on my Outlook calendar for this year (written in using Tablet Enhancements for Outlook (http://www.tabletoutlook.com/teo/default.aspx), of course). Anyway, after reading all the typed mentions of NHD on the Internet, I thought I'd spill some ink on the subject, and give it a proper handwritten shout-out. Happy NHD! Go out and write something!
The full call-to-action was posted at the GBM forum. The gist is that tablets allow true note-taking so they deserve to be called notebooks. Pretty obvious, right?
BTW, if you're reading this in a feed reader, could you let me know if the Links in Ink are working? Feedback on the viewing in any other app is also welcome. Thanks.
I do so love it when people leave comments letting me know they're ink blogging. Saves me the effort of tracking them down. A blogger going by nick_fs inks over at nick_fs Inks! (http://nickfsinks.blogspot.com/) Aside from loving the blog name, I'm also pleased to report that Nick is posting Links in Ink via Build 52 (http://www.markandtanya.us/scribbles/Build52v2.html).
Great news, but also adds incentive to turn out an improved version of B52. Goals include lifting the fixed limit on links and removing the dependence on external scripts and styles. Have some ideas but putting them together is the tough part. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, you can get your Links in Ink fix here, at The Hallel Report (http://thehallelreport.blogspot.com/), and now at Nick's blog.
Seems like more and more bloggers are getting excited about inking.
A blogger going by Archiwiz let me know she's added ink (and an Artrage painting) to her blog called To fit or not to fit (http://archiwiz.blogspot.com/)!
A long overdue shout-out goes to mobile PC enthusiast Rodfather. He's been spilling ink on two blogs: his "official" blog phony holmes (http://phonyholmes.com/) and his semi self-named mobile tech blog Rodfather Mobile (http://rodfathermobile.com/). Be sure to check out his "inkblog" categories for his pure inky output from a variety of devices.
Fellow named James left a comment on my post about Bradtastic. Followed it back to his very cool photo and ink blog. Most of his entries appear to be photos with handwritten digital annotations. He also makes fonts. Sharp stuff. Can't find mention of his writing tool, but I suspect it's a Wacom tablet. Still very cool and worth a look.
James Kendrick (http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2008/01/its-only-a-stro.html), the "j" and original "k" of jkOnTheRun, was taken off the run by a mini-stroke this week. No loss of function, which is great. I know from family experience that care and attention are required to keep it that way. Fortunately, he's keeping his sense of humor about it, which is a lot better than fueling the problem with stress.
However, he also mentioned he might have picked up an infection in Vegas, which may or may not lead to stress with his wife. Not that it will. I'm just saying the words "infection" and "Vegas" are stereotypically linked in an unsavory fashion.
Kidding, of course. Probably just all that contact with unwashed tech reporters. :P Get your rest. I look forward to your take on the Macbook Air on your return.
We had a small server problem at work today, which is fixable, but it boils down to lack of storage space. Apparently we need more than 500 GB of storage space.
For those of you wondering if that's a lot, let me point out I have more storage than that at home, not counting the hard drive in my tablet and miscellaneous flash storage. My network drive alone is 500 GB, and I selected that model (Buffalo Linkstation Live) (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2007/08/building-my-own-cloud.html) in part because it is expandable via USB drives. 500 GB is plenty for now, but I figured I'd need more later. Apparently, that's true for where I work too.
