News From the Hill

Archive for the ‘Cyberspace’ Category

Do you often find yourself reading web-pages that have lots of ads, tabs, login buttons, animations etc?

I find that some web-pages are distracting and that it takes longer to read the story that brought me there or that it is harder to focus on the story and ignore the background images.

This situation can sometimes lead me to click on other links that lead me astray and then I become frustrated about wasting time or loosing track of what I was researching/reading.

There is a great solution to this distraction and I love it – it is called Readability and works simply by clicking on a button on your shortcut toolbar – and the web-page magically becomes simplified.

First you need to visit the Readability website and make a choice about which page format you prefer – you get to choose from a variety of styles, sizes and margin layouts. Once you have decided which style suits you best you simply add the bookmarklet to your bookmark toolbar and the next time that you are faced with a web-page like this…

Very Busy web page, lots of distraction

and turn it into something much easier to read, like this…

Clearer page, simple with just the relevant text and pictures

I was grazing the web as I am wont to do and found the blog for the Centre of Alternative Energy over the water in Wales. It was here that I learnt that World Poetry Day had completely passed me by without notice – apparently it is on March 21st and has been for some years now,

World Poetry Day was declared by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1999 “to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world”  identified as “the unrestricted pursuit of truth” - and presumably the enjoying of poetry throughout the world.

Well, it managed to happen again this year without any of my help because I have only just learnt of it. I did however find an enjoy a lovely post about it over on the CAT blog and I so enjoyed this particlular offering that I am going to copy it here -

Less is More, was written by Matt Harvey; poet, writer, broadcaster and Wondermentalist, inspired by the Schumacher conference of the same title:

Can less be more, can more be less?
Well, yes and no, and no and yes
Well, more or less…

More bikes, fewer cars
Less haze, more stars

Less haste, more time
Less reason, more rhyme

More time, less stress
Fewer miles, more fresh (vegetables)

Fewer car parks, more acres of available urban soil
More farmers’ markets, less produce effectively marinated in crude oil

Less colouring, more taste
More mashing, less waste

Fewer couch potatoes, more spring greens
Fewer tired tomatoes, more runner beans

More stillness, less inertia
Less illness, more Echinacea

More community, less isolation
Less just sitting there, more participation!

More wells (not oil ones, obviously), fewer ills
Fewer clean fingernails, more skills

More co-operation, less compliancy
Less complacency, more self-reliancy

Less competition, more collaboration
Less passive listening, more participation!

Less attention defic…, more concentration
Less passive listening, more participation!

(Less repetition)

Less of a warm globe, more a chilly’un
More of a wise world, at least 34 fewer parts of C02 per million

Less stress-related cardio-vascular and pulmonary failure
More nurturing quality time in the company of a favourite clematis or dahlia

More craftsmanship, less built-in obsolescence
More political maturity, less apparently-consequence-free extended adolescence

More believed-to-be-beautiful, known-to-be-useful things
Less cheap, pointless, petroleum-steeped stuff

So Yes, less is more – and enough’s enough…

I am really excited about having moved my blog to a new server courtesy of a local business – Irish Solar.

My blog posts have always been written using renewable energy  because that’s the energy I have – we use a home made wind turbine and a photovoltaic array to provide our electricity.

I was always keen to have this blog hosted on a server that also uses renewable energy however it was not easy to find a solution that I was happy with – until now…

I am thinking about changing my blog template. Actually I have been contemplating this for awhile and kept putting it off for the simple reason that I really like this template.
I like the photo in the heading, the page-style layout and the overall colour and texture.
The final decision was made last night as I tried to play with google analytics and realised the template is too old to work well with it – a line of code appeared over the banner – not an attractive look!
So I will start to play with designing a new template for myself – what an exciting prospect!
Keep an eye on what happens here and please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think about the changes – when they happen….
It could take awhile – don’t hold your breath!
I do love to get comments – even if it just to say that you passed by for a mement so don’t be shy – drop a line….

Today I read a blog that is on my goggle reader list, written by a woman, Sharman Apt Russell, who writes beautifully about feeling connection with place.  Her blog is here.

This particular entry is called “Love of Home” and it was the last paragraph that gave me pause for thought – It buoys me with proof that one person with one shovel can change everything, given a guiding vision of a more abundant life, a life more intimate with the gifts of its place.

I would encourage you to go read the post in it’s entirety so as to have the excerpt in context. It has me think more about last nights post and whether to become more actively involved in politics, not actually running for election or anything heady like that, simply whether or not to join a particular political party in order to help change it’s focus.

I like that one person with one shovel can bring about great change, it’s more in line with my current thinking, to just do what you do and let that be enough.

Knowing that it is enough is key.

Knowing that it is enough to just do your best doing what you do and let that be.

Letting it go and not try to influence or change anyone else, just do your own thing and trust that it will work out…

Easier said than done…