The Poddyland News

Saturday night, about to go to bed, and 57 lenses now created (7 in WIP though).
So hopefully I will be able to complete enough by Monday night to have more than 50 good ones.

I learned a lot about duplicating processes the last week, with my Song Lyrics lenses all having different content, but having basically the same layout.

I found that if you are in the situation where you are creating multiple similar lenses (which is probably not that common normally), that it pays to create a number in outline, add the modules and anything else common that defines them, and then the bottom of your dashboard is basically a WIP list.

I also learned about duplicating Amazon modules, since if I have 2 lenses for the same band and the CD’s or DVD’s that I want to add are the same for both lenses, rather than searching again, which can be time consuming for some bands, it’s faster to open another lens and to copy/paste the links into the new Amazon module.

Also with Amazon, some bands have names which make selecting using the Amazon module rather difficult.  The Jam for example kept pulling anything to do with Jam , despite my using double quotes.  I found it was easier to open up another browser tab with Amazon, and to use their advanced search.  Then copy/paste the link for the items you want into the Amazon module.

I have another 5 or 6 that I would like to complete by Monday night, so the rest of the weekend is going to be rather busy too,  but it’s a fun experience, not only the research of the artists but finding and listening to the videos on You Tube.

If you would like to see some of my Song Lyrics lenses, please CLICK HERE.

I managed to finish 4 lenses tonight, still keeping the quality there - I can’t do less than that - it’s not in me…

I  had already done most of the research, so really it was a matter oc cutting and pasting and adding Amazon, eBay, You Tube links etc, so I haven’t REALLY created 4 lenses from scratch…

I now have 55 lenses, 10 of which are in WIP.  7 of those I added tonight, all the modules are in place, I just need to do the research and hopefully by Saturday night the I will only have 2 left in WIP, leaving me with 53 - phew!   I plan to create another 5-10 if I can by Monday night, giving me a total well clear of the 50 target I set myself for the end of June.

Then I have to attend to the other lenses…

I updated My Claim To Famed tonight, added 4 more people to The Wall Of Fame.

I then have to complete the Daily Jokes For June - 1 weeks worth of jokes to add, and then to start the Daily Jokes For July lens.

So I’m going to be a busy little bee for the next week too.

It’s all good fun though…

I am determined that if I still don’t make it to Giant Squid this time around, I will at least have 50 lenses by the end of the month.   That’s my goal, and despite the blow of realizing yesterday that the 49 lenses I thought I had were only 41, that just set me into higher gear.

Last night I completed 3 more lenses, and then researched and created the outlines for 5 more.  I hope to complete 3 of these tonight if I can, provided I cando some of the research today over lunch.  The research and putting the main description together is the hardest part, that requires a focused brain, the most time consuming part as always is to complete the Amazon modules etc.   I don’t like to let Amazon or Flickr etc pick for me, I believe that my lens should look as I want it to, so that in itself takes time, but I am more satisfied with the results, and hopefully my visitors will be too.

These new lenses are all Music Lyrics, but I am being careful not to tread on other people’s Song Lyrics lenses, so I have to come up with a list of songs, identify the ones that haven’t been covered, do the research, and Voila! a new lens.

The lenses as always have a little bit of me in them, if only a paragraph on the interesting things that I have found when doing my research on a band or artist.  I enjoy trivia, so it’s fun for me to find out something new.

As of yesterday I had no lenses in the Top 100, although I haven’t seen the updates for today and can’t until tonight.  I did have some new visitors leaving lovely comments on my My Claim To Fame lens yesterday, and I added it to Digg last night, so with a bit of luck it will be climbing back up in the charts again.  I did have 6 in the Top 2000, 6 or 7 has been a constant number for the last few weeks, although the actual lenses that make up that total has changed.  I just need to give the older lenses a nudge back up again, and the new ones a nice sharp kick into life.

Well that’s my news for the day, so far at least.

I was getting all confident about reaching 50 lenses by the end of the month so I might be able to qualify for Giant-Squid-dom, having got 49 created and just needing to finish the last 5 or 6 of them, until bedtime last night, when my Dashboard showed 41.   FOURTY-ONE! (expletives deleted).

I don’t know what happened, I can’t see any lenses missing, so I assume somehow my brain mis-fired and I dreamed it was 49.    Oh well….

I was so hopeful, but now I have 5 days to go until the end of the month and about 12 lenses to go.   I still might make it, but it’s going to be a struggle.   I set myself a goal of 1 per night and then maybe another 5 over the weekend, but I now need to complete 2 a night and maybe 7 or 8 over the weekend to make sure I have enough of them.

Sigh……….  I know what I’m going to be doing for the next week I guess…  No beach at the weekend, no walks or swims in the evening, just coming in from work, grabbing a quick bite to eat and sitting straight down for 3 hours to work on my lenses.

If I make it, I think next week I’m going to take it a bit easier…  I miss my walks, need the exercise, because I sit all day at work anyhow.  But I have that Libran determination in me, and if it’s at all possible I am going to do it!

Wish me luck…

Since the weather was pretty wet this weekend - we have had the daily South Florida summer of afternoon thunderstorms every day now for almost two weeks - I decided it was time to work on some new lenses.

Since Music Lyrics lenses seem to be fashionable, I thought that I would hop on the bandwagon, both to increase the number of lenses that I have, and also to add my input to what I think is a great idea for lenses, one that I think lensmasters can collaborate on to make a wonderful collection of tributes to various artists.

So, I set to and picked a number of great songs, made sure that nobody else had covered them already, and I was surprised just how many music trbute lenses there are, some of them really good.  I do love looking at good lenses as many of you know, so Friday evening was spent researching the lenses to work on.

Having selected my starting package of lenses, I then created them in WIP, decided on a standard format for them, which modules to add etc, and then got to work.  Between Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday I managed 8 lenses, plus another last night, making 9 in all.  I still have 3 from my initial list of 12 to complete, and then I think I will work on another set as I enjoy doing these.

I love working on my “epic” lenses, like my Bournemouth lens or my Lensography, but each one takes a tremendous amount of time, and the subject matter also doesn’t lend itself to any great opportunities for earning income.

I also am now up to 49 lenses, so close to Giant Squid entry level… and although 5 or 6 of my epic lenses are still under construction, I now hope to break through the 50 barrier before the end of the month, which I didn’t think possible a weeke ago.   Wish me luck - and the time to do it…   I still can’t just slap a lens together - I’m too much of a perfectionist for that, and I really would like to add so much more to my lyrics lenses, but having got them published, there is always time to improve them.

If you would like to take a look at them, they are listed in my Lensography under the Music Lenses section.  I hope you enjoy them.

One thing I did enjoy if learning more about some of the artists.  For instance, Rod Stewart sang with The Kinks in the early days, but they didn’t get on and didn’t like his voice.  It’s amazing the little things that you find out when doing your research.  Maybe I should write a Music Trivia lens - might be interesting…

Does anyone else here have an interest in learning more about Wordpress and in getting their questions answered?

I am trying to set up two sites using Wordpress, the first that my girlfriend purchased already setup (My Brilliant Gifts) and the second one I am trying to build from scratch.

There are many things I don’t properly understand about Wordpress, and their forums are not easy to navigate.  Many of the inquiries seem to go unresponded to, and when they are the respondant is often arrogant and rude.   That type of treatment would kill off Squidoo wouldn’t it!

If you would like to swap ideas and problems, let me know.  I don’t know if we can easily do it here, or via a different forum.    Right now I set up a category of Wordpress for this thread.  I don’t know if categories are common to all users or unique to each one (there’s a question for a start).

I updated my June Jokes lens last night as it had magically got a week out of date again - I don’t know how it happens, but somehow once I have updated it the magic clock starts to tick…

Anyhow, I added this GREAT video clip for the June 14th joke, and if you like Stand Up Comedy I think you will find it hilarious.  I hope so….   It’s a Cockney comedian taking advantage of an American member of the audience, making fun of Americans and the American way of life, and also the british way of life.  It’s a good rant and a fun alternative way of looking at how our cultures are different.

WARNING - there are a few 4 letter words - not many but a few, and you might have to listen carefully because of the accent, but if you enjoy if as much as I did then you will probably be passing this clips around.  I hope you do find it funny.

A few weeks ago I was all gung ho with creating my new lenses and working on them, but the last week I have found it hard to focus, and if I can’t focus and be enthusiastic while working on a lens then the changes aren’t going to be good ones.

But I did come up with some ideas for new lenses, however all I have managed to do is to create outlines of these lenses, so as to record the ideas and to snag the URL.  Now I have even more lenses in WIP!

I just need a day or two with nothing else to think about, and the right sort of positive energy to help me focus on these lenses, and then I can pump them out finally.

Meantime, I’m worrying about the end of the month coming up and my need to improve traffic and rankings for my main lenses…

I have been drinking lots of green tea at work, and it’s been great at helping me feel more alive and helping me to lose some retained fluids, however I don’t usually drink much at the weekend except for Water and Juice.

I got a headache Saturday by midday, and yesterday I still had one, and also felt lethargic, so ended up spending most of Fathers Day itself lying on the couch trying hard to stay awake, and dozing on and off the whole day.

I finally figured out what it was - caffeine withdrawal!

I used to get this when I drank 1 mug of coffee at work in the morning, and having not had any caffeine since a Friday morning, by late Saturday or waking up on Sunday my headache used to appear.  I had exactly the same symptoms this weekend. 

Shame I didn’t realize earlier, because I missed a lovely hot day, just felt too tired to go out and walk or dip in the pool, and didn’t poke my head outside the whole day.  Just lay around like a slug and did nothing.  No energy - no desire to do anything at all…  

Oh well, now I know at least….
And I had so many things to do as well, several lenses to work on and complete…

Well there is always next weekend I guess…

I can’t get into Squidu this morning, so not sure if it’s down or what’s happening.
Work blocked all Social Networking sites (or most of them) last week, so I can’t get into Squidoo or Stumbleupon any more, but the Lensmaster Lounge was ok on Friday.
I miss my friends and knowing what’s going on…