I have some things to learn about sizing and I need better pix, but you get the idea. This is that bird netting we use to keep fish IN the pond…
I have some things to learn about sizing and I need better pix, but you get the idea. This is that bird netting we use to keep fish IN the pond…
The lilies are beautiful.
They’re kind of Egyptian colors—there’s a gold cast to them that just does not come through on my screen. Gold and pink, and sometimes as many as 8 blooms at once. This particular plant has become two plants, and is branching like a mess of amateur wiring all over the shallow end of the pond!
One day we will have so much lily coverage that a raccoon will find them about as forbidding as a net.
It’s my hope to use many more pix now that I can control it! I just have to take a look at sizing.
beautiful picture!
I guess you’ve heard of the current computer mess. The short response is, “Update patches NOW! Windows, iOS, Linux, it doesn’t matter, it needs to be done ASAP.” And if you use/rely on computers others control and you can influence, get them on it right now too.
I’ve been playing this game for a long time now, and this has never been seen before in my memory.
Here are three articles I think are relatively authoritative about the issues and responses needed:
https://spectreattack.com/
https://www.wired.com/story/meltdown-and-spectre-vulnerability-fix/
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/05/spectre_flaws_explained/
p.s. I agree, nice picture.
Good luck finding the updates you may need. The people in Redmond aren’t updating much, as far as I can tell.
Since I read your blog through NewsFox, I don’t see the picture, but I pulled up the homepage and, yeah, it is a very nice picture.
If you want to experiment with some graphics, you might try the free version of http://www.Canva.com. I use the program to distinguish the different courses in my Learning Management System, Canvas.
Thanks, all!
Re the pointless mischief, change your passwords often in the current computer mess. Back up the precious pix and correspondence, and watch your credit card bills in case somebody doles part of what they hack out to petty thieves.
Check with your system manufacturer to update your bios. The bios update is pretty easy with Dell, if you let them use System Detect to access your precise build and let them tell you which download you want. You must be sure you follow instructions immaculately, are plugged in, are reasonably sure there’s not going to be a power glitch, and do not lose patience and try to stop the process. Bios flash gone wrong can turn your computer into a brick, as I understand it. And should be done periodically as new versions come out.
If you are NOT computer savvy, I’m pretty sure the Geek Squad at Best Buy or any good computer fix-it shop could do this for you safely.
You can also get a free password manager at Last Pass and others. If it assigns passwords, be sure to write them down exactly, especially the master password that gives you access to your password list. Last Pass can log you into your sites or do form-fill up to a point for credit card purchases, which is nice.
Mostly, most of us stay safe by being a skinny inconspicuous gnu in a massive herd of other gnus, wildebeests and zebras, not clicking on ads and staying out of gambling and porn sites. If you’re a big corporation, you may have more worries.
Mostly good advice, definitely agree with prudence. But I’d demure on a couple points.
BIOS updates are rarely necessary these days. Generally they’ve been needed to support special hardware, but these days systems come with the sorts of hardware most people need. You’re right about the risks, so my advice is: Don’t, unless you need to and if you need to there’ll be no question about it. A BIOS update WILL be needed only for Intel “Skylake” processors, et seq., along with OS updates to combat the two current CPU flaws.
Have a care who you let mess with your computer, and especially insert something like a USB thumb drive! Those easily become infected. Some people voice more confidence than they warrant.
I also have a problem with password managers, they’re a prime target. I use just a simple file, but I never put a password in it–just a hint that makes sense to me, but nobody else. I often use a house address–it has numbers, upper and lower case letters, even punctuation,
Keeping a “low profile” isn’t a bad idea, but it’s much less effective now, since attacks are now programmed and even if success is marginal, there’s no penalty for trying. Even if your computer has no valuable data to be stolen, it can be suborned by a “botnet”.
Bottom line: like having a pet animal, if you’re going to have a computer it comes with certain responsibilities and obligations.
A reply to this seems to have gone astray.
Oh, man, am I dense today. It took me far too long to realize you didn’t mean you’d posted a photo in the blog post, which photo I was not seeing; but that instead, you had updated the photo in the header to the lilies rather than the koi. I, er, appear to have my brain missing. If anyone finds it, please return it, as it is in need of use! Actually, I think I’m just overly sleepy. A neighbor couple had a domestic dispute at about 4:00am Sunday morning. This threw off my day yesterday, and my sleep, and, er, it seems today, I’m not nearly as bright as I thought.
I like the lilies quite a bit. I also liked the koi. It’s very nice indeed to see something of the natural world. The landscaping around here just doesn’t say, Mother Nature to me. The lilies and the koi do.
On the plus side, I got in some good writing practice, up until the last portion, which I now think I should yank, in favor of keeping the remainder. I somehow dropped the thread, fumbled it, and need to pick back up from there. So at least I’m recognizing what or where it went off, to correct the course. This, I’m counting as a good result and maybe an improvement in skill.
aha! control!
I believe my WordPress course has a chapter on sizing. I don’t know if I can email it as an attachment, but I’ve got it on this computer. I’m presuming you have enough WordPress experience (more than I have, I think) that it shouldn’t a problem to follow.
I have my WordPress blogs set up to show a different header picture each time you access it, from a select group of photos.
This may have to do with the theme you’re using, but this is how I did it: Upload the pictures you want to use to your media library. If you go to the dashboard and click on “Appearance,” then “Customize” that gives you a menu from which you can choose “Header Image.” When you add a header image, it will have you crop it so it will fit in the designated area. After you’ve loaded and cropped the header images you want to use, then select “Randomize uploaded headers”.
One thing I rather miss is the links to various subdomains that used to be in a bar along the top. I stole our library’s copy of Emergence while it was waiting to be prepped for circulation and read it over the weekend. When I wanted to comment in the spoilery section though, I couldn’t find it. Will that section be making a return?
I can see them if I go down the left sidebar.