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Here is the content from the post above. In text for those who can't read it from the screen captured image above.

Spin your Thoughts with a Journal

Do you keep a journal? Sometimes its called a diary, I think that's the old fashioned term. What you write in your journal is up to you. Be creative, rant about your family, chronicle your life, or just spin your thoughts on the web.

Keep your journal in a secret place if you don't want anyone to read it. Or, if you feel like sharing you can read what you write to friends or even keep your journal online with sites like Blogger. Of course, you can do both. Have an online journal and another secret journal for just yourself.

Journals can be kept in plain notebooks or fancy lined paper books you buy in stationery stores like Hallmark. I like to write with a fine tip black pen but you can experiment with all kinds of pens and colours. Add stickers or stick in clippings from newspapers and magazines. If you really want to put in a lot of clippings have a look at scrapbooking. That's another form of journaling but there tends to be less writing and more drawings.

There are lots of websites about journaling and scrapbooking. Have a look around and see which appeals to you.

You Don't Need to be a Professional Geek or HTML Diva to use WordPress

You don't need any great knowledge of HTML or CSS to make and maintain a site on Blogger or WordPress.

I never learned more than a touch of code, or any more than I needed to actually use to understand the general language. It really is a language, just a bit more mathematical than you're used to with day to day English.

If I really need something I find it online and just copy and paste it in where it says to put it. There are loads of great guides on how to do more with WordPress. But, really, just find a plugin and forget it is simpler than dealing with the actual code. Why reinvent the wheel?

I've been using WordPress from the first year it existed. I don't claim to be an expert but I've got experience and common sense for whatever the experience doesn't cover. I run half a dozen sites on my own domains with WordPress. …more

List found at LifeHack.

#1 – Add Creative Images

#2 – Add Facts & Quotes

#3 – Conduct Interviews

#4 – Publish Case Studies

#5 – Add Infographics

#6 – Write an eBook

#7 – Record a Podcast

#8 – Add Videos

#9 – Create Content Often

#10 – Use Creative Titles

#11 – Host Webinars

#12 – Let Your Personality Shine

#13 – Connect with Your Audience

#14 – Include Personal Experiences

#15 – Expand and Create Content on Smaller Topics

#16 – Create More Sought-Out Topics.

#17 – Build Trust

#18 – Copy Ideas from Other Sources

#19 – Segmenting the Content

#20 – Format the Content with Font Styles, and Heading Tags

#21 – Use Popular Themes

#22 – Include Important Links Within the Content

#23 – Create List Articles

#24 – Eye-catching Feature Images

#25 – Add Screenshots to the Content

I'm very happy with Ubuntu. If you want to save yourself from buying Windows, trying to avoid catching viruses online and find yourself able to work faster (well, your computer will be faster) switch to Ubuntu Linux.

You can switch from Microsoft Windows to Ubuntu (a user friendly version of Linux) very easily. It's much simpler and less dramatic than you think. You don't have to be a computer programmer, you don't have to be someone who can repair their own computer or take it apart. You can be anyone who has never done anything more complicated than check your own email, start a basic blog, downloaded a file or joined an online forum.

Changing your computer operating system from Windows to Ubuntu can be done in a few minutes (in addition to the time the computer does the work of installing the software). Note, the computer is going to do most of the work, not you.

If you have ever installed Windows yourself you will find the Ubuntu install pretty simple.

Links to Ubuntu

• Ubuntu Guide

• Ask Ubuntu

Save Your Data/ Files First

When you change your computer's OS you will be wiping your hard drive clean. So, make a copy of any files you have in Pictures, Documents, etc. Don't forget to save files from your desktop too. I also save my bookmarks from Firefox or Chrome.

Make Sure your Computer Can Run Linux

Unfortunately, not every computer will run on the Ubuntu system. I found this out the hard way. I had been running Ubuntu on my computer, an Acer I bought more than five years ago. Then I had the money to buy myself a new computer and I rushed out and bought a new HP computer. I took the time to look at features and prices and stores. What I didn't check was whether the computer I was buying was Linux friendly.

I had told the sales people in the store I was going to be installing Linux. They never mentioned a problem. I don't think the sales people even knew anything about the computer. They didn't know if my monitor would work with it - and it was an HP monitor too. So, don't hope the sales people will be able to tell you anything useful when you are computer shopping.

Go to the website of the computer manufacturer and send them an email, ask them if the computer you are using (or thinking to buy) will run on Linux. You can be sure I will be double checking next time I'm looking at new computers. For now I've kept my old computer in the other room and I have it as a back up, still running Ubuntu. I found I missed Ubuntu and I'm okay going back to Windows, but it's not as much fun as being part of the Ubuntu community.

Before you Begin to Install Ubuntu

First, make a back up copy of your Windows OS on DVDs. Don't skip this step. As long as you have a back up you can go back to Windows if you decide Ubuntu isn't for you (or on the small chance you have a problem installing Ubuntu). If you don't know how to burn Windows on a DVD, check the site. You will likely need more than one DVD if you have Windows 7 or later. I did.

Second, get the latest Ubuntu. Burn it to a DVD as well. This will be your back up copy of the Ubuntu operating system. Ubuntu updates their OS twice a year. You can choose to upgrade then or skip it. Upgrading is simple however and keeps you on track for new developments and fixes.

I strongly suggest you run Ubuntu alone on your computer. For one thing, it makes the install process really simple and uncomplicated. For another, if you give yourself a month to adjust to the little changes you will see between the Windows desktop and the Ubuntu desktop, you won't notice the difference between running Ubuntu or Windows.

The only real challenge to changing operating systems is the software you are used to using. In the case of Internet browsing, you can use Firefox or Chrome, just as you would have been doing while you had Windows. However, MS Internet Explorer won't run on a Linux OS (operating system).

In fact, you will find little change at all in your usual Internet activities. It will only be secondary software which you used for image editing, games, etc which you may not be able to use. In many cases you can find a web version or a Linux-friendly version of the same software. Check the Wine HQ site and see if you can run your Windows applications/ software via Wine. There is an extensive list of Windows software which can be run on a Linux computer.

It's worth taking a look at the software you use before you begin the install. Make your decision based on knowing where you will be after the install. Don't make an impulsive decision to change and then blame Linux/ Ubuntu for your software trouble. Plan ahead and you will find the problems can be resolved easily enough.

If you have come this far...

The actual install and switch to Ubuntu is as simple as following the instructions on the screen. Slip the DVD into your computer and let it run. You will be asked if you want to install Ubuntu alongside Windows or by itself. Choose to have Ubuntu without Windows. Don't let Windows intimidate you or Ubuntu scare you.

Eventually, the install will be complete. Your computer will leave you on the Ubuntu desktop. It's different, chances are it will be shades of orange. Along one side you will see some icons. With Windows the icons are in different locations on the screen. Explore a little.

If you can't wait to get online, install your web browser of choice and get surfing again. That's really all you need to do.

It’s surprising that ANSI art isn’t far more popular than it is. Instead, only a small group of old gamers, artists and musicians seem to know about it at all. Many people confuse ANSI art with ASCII art when they see it. ANSI art uses all of the keyboard characters including those you can’t see on the computer keyboard itself. You can access these extra keyboard characters with the right extra codes and the alt keys.

I don’t make ANSI art myself. I like the puzzle of dealing with plain text. But I do admire all the colour of ANSI art.

It used to aggravate me when people would post text art and claim it was ASCII art when anyone could plainly see there were all kinds of keyboard characters in there, above and beyond the limits of ASCII characters. Now, I’ve become a little more understanding and I see how there is confusion about ANSI art versus ASCII art.

So let me make it clear. ANSI art uses everything you can get out of your keyboard. ASCII art only uses the standard keyboard characters – if you can’t type it without hitting more than just the shift key, it is not ASCII art.

I hope that helps to clear the whole ANSI/ ASCII thing up.

Get to Know ANSI Art

ANSI art is a computer art form that was used on BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems) in the 1980’s. Like ASCII art, but it is constructed from a larger set of 256 letters, numbers, and symbols. ANSI art (extended ASCII) also contains special ANSI escape sequences that colour text with the 16 foreground and 8 background colours offered by ANSI.SYS.

Some ANSI artists create animations, commonly referred to as ANSImations. ANSI art and text files which incorporate ANSI codes carry the .ANS file extension. ANSI art was used for games like MUDs (multi user dungeons), computer hackers, crackers and demoscene (which was about sound music, ANSI art, creativity and competition). ANSI artists released their finished artwork in files which they call packs.

ANSI art is considerably more flexible than ASCII art. The particular character set it uses contains symbols intended for drawing, such as box-drawing, shading, mathematical symbols, card suits, characters used in languages other than standard English, and block characters that dither foreground and background colour. With clever use of the shading characters, ANSI artists could mix two colours and create more shades from them.

The popularity of ANSI art encouraged the creation ANSI editors, some are still maintained today. The decline of BBSes and DOS made it difficult to view ANSI animations. So ANSI art has lost popularity and become retro, geeky or old fashioned and out dated.

Try Creating Your Own ANSI Art

ANSI art is pretty exceptional. Do you feel inspired to give it a try?

There are still a few software programs which will help you create graphics/ images/ pictures with ANSI art. Explore the links I’ve added here, read the reviews and suggestions from the ANSI artists and then pick which ever software gives you the best tutorial on how to get started and where to go from there.