Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

I just picked up a new sewing machine. It is slightly different than the 30 year old machine I used as a kid. This baby has a full color touch screen that is also used in BMW's. It can embroider whole t-shirts or dresses, or even leather jackets. It has a special system that senses the fabric and adjusts the pressure as it sews it, to give perfect stitches. The presser foot automatically goes up and down as needed. It ties knots off at the beginning and ends of the threads, and cuts the threads at the end. It has a built in computer that lets you adjust and embroidery, add things to it, and align it with your fabric. Sewing machines have come a long way, and I can't wait to show off my handiwork.

Pretty flower

I looked at a couple of mashups on Flickr today. The most interesting to me is Montager. I input a tag, like "flower", and it will make a mosaic. It did a geranium for me, and the outline is rough, but I can see the likeness. It also yinted the images instead of picking ones of that color already, but as I scrolled over the thumbnails, the images in true color appeared, and slightly larger. Then, if you click on one of these images, it will make a new mosaic based on it. The API is simple fun, and you can email it to a friend, but I don't really see any use beyond that. Other mashups seemed totally useful, such as the various uploading and manager API's, but not fun to play around with. As I search, i may eventually find one that would satisfy both criteria.

Flickr- Stories

Once upon a time in Stockville, Nebraska, originally uploaded by Madrid Miner.

Even when studying architecture, I was more interested in old houses than bright new buildings. They have a stroy, a lif lived, a soul that the new buildings lack. I feel some connection to this place, and will watch and wait for its story.

7 1/2 habits

I watched a PowerPoint on lifelong learning, and it mentioned 7 1/2 habits to do so. The easiest for me (besides "play", the half a habit) would be the teach and mentor others. I enjoy sharing the knowledge I have with others. The hardest will be to have confidence in myself. Sometimes I get frustrated, and the goal will seem far away. I do have confidence that I will learn a lot about web 2.0! I look forward to it, and playing along the way.

Learn and Play

I have never had a blog before. I have the usual excuses: not enough time, and my life is pretty boring anyway. However my job is actually paying me to do this, so I said "why not"? So some of this will be work related, but it will be personal stuff too. I hope you enjoy.