Christmas Eve and Santa Tracker Live

Wishing you a Happy Christmas Eve.

Follow Santa's trip via Google Maps and Santa Tracker

House Blessing

"PLENTY and GRACE BE TO THIS PLACE"

I photographed this terracotta plaque on a fireplace mantle recently. I am trying something new just to see if it works. I am posting from my iPhone. This is a test!

The verdict. I had to resize the photo on my computer because I had not selected image size in the settings. It was way too big to fit in my template. But now I know I can post and save as a draft for computer tweeking later. Could come in handy and now I have the free Blogger App on my iPhone and iPad. You can't change fonts or do anything with rich text. Pretty basic. Come on Google, you can do better!

How can I get rid of the +1 Button?

A while ago this strange button appeared on my blog. I didn't ask for it, I don't like it, and I do not want it. Does anyone know how I can get rid of it or 'opt out'? After watching this video on YouTube I now know what it is...but I'm sure nobody else does. Is it on your blog too?

A Follower on Twitter sent me the instructions and I edited my template and removed the +1 Button without taking away the nice share buttons. Instructions here. So happy now.

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Google Takes Street View Into Art Museums

Google Takes Street View Into Art Museums - NYTimes.com
"Now that Google has conquered a majority of the earth’s major streets with its Google Street View project, the company is starting to move inside. It’s creating the Google Art Project, a virtual equivalent of 17 major art museums, including the the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Britain and the National Gallery in London, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, among many others."

I'm A Woman Who Runs On Coffee

This certainly holds true for me.

"Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee."

I used yesterday's free font for the quotation marks. Like it?

I've had two large mugs of coffee this morning and I'm feeling powerful!

coffee beans graphic from Google Images




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THE SNOWMAN 1982 | Full-Length Film | Absolutely Wonderful

I couldn't believe it when I found this classic animated film THE SNOWMAN (1982). Please promise me you will watch it when you have a spare 26 minutes (hysterical laughter from your side of the screen). Make a cup of tea and take a break. Be sure to send it to someone you love. Watch it with a child. Bookmark. It's wonderful! Thanks, Google for offering this gift to all of us.

From the book by Raymond Briggs. Introduced by David Bowie.


You might have to click on the balloon on the slider to make the movie start after you click on the arrow. The music is hauntingly beautiful.




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LONNY :: Great new online magazine just like Domino . . .

Have you heard about LONNY? It's a wonderful new magazine that is only available online. I know, I know, you prefer to read your magazines in person but in this case it's simply not possible. Trust me, you'll love it! It is almost identical to the beloved Domino which just bit the dust. It loads very quickly (especially with the Google Chrome browser) and you can choose different views - full screen is great. Enjoy! Let me know how you like it. ♥Rosemary

Web Browsers explained [Video]

I wish somebody had explained web browsers to me years ago! I've always used Internet Explorer and was afraid to try anything else because I really didn't understand how simple and easy it would be to have more than one. I've been very unhappy with Explorer lately because it's soooo sloooow. I tried everything. I deleted old photos and old files in my documents, ran several programs to clean up the hard drive, defragmented, etc. and it was still slow. I decided to be brave and download Google Chrome and Foxfire. I am absolutely thrilled with Chrome because it's shockingly fast. Watch this short video and maybe you will get up enough nerve to download one too. It's good to have more than one browser; you can have several open at once and switch back and forth. Let me know which one is your favorite. Good luck!

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks for stopping by the cottage for a computer lesson, fall artwork, and a quote. ♥Rosemary

Daisy after a rain . . .

Webster and I went for a walk early last evening after a hard rain. This was the first time I'd had my camera along in quite a while. Got a good photo of a daisy with a sharply focused center.

I downloaded Google Chrome as an alternate browser. It is a little different but seems to be much faster than Internet Explorer. I've never experimented in this area but thought it was time to give it a try. We shall see.

Real estate has been eating up a huge chunk of my free time. The worst part is having to wear grown up clothes. So far, so good. Webster doesn't think much of this chapter in my life. He likes for me to be "at home" with him. Thanks for stopping by the cottage to check up on me. ♥Rosemary

Queen Elizabeth's Posh New Website QE2.0 . . .

And it came to pass that Her Majesty the Queen of England decided her website needed a little juice-up. Thus, on the 13th day of February in the Year of our Lord 2009, she stood before her subjects and held aloft the royal remote control and behold, there appeared on a screen behind her what nobles and seers would come to call QE2.0, the new and improved official website of the British Monarchy.

Photo: Time Magazine

http://www.royal.gov.uk/
The Royal visit to Google.

Her Majesty and His Royal Highness tour the building and meet Googlers, YouTubers and children taking part in a Doodle-for-Google competition. At the end of the visit, The Queen uploads the latest Royal YouTube video.

Create your own JACKSON POLLOCK masterpiece . . .

I just noticed the Google Doodle today and wondered what it was. It is a squiggly painting celebrating the birthday of Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956).

I have had this link saved to my computer for years. The paint splatters when you move your mouse and the colors change with each click. When you "finish" your masterpiece, you can even save and print it. Very cool indeed. Here is the link to bring out your inner artist: http://jacksonpollock.org/

“The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.”
— Jackson Pollock

The Prado Museum's Masterpieces on Google Earth [Video] . . .

The Prado Museum's Masterpieces
in ultra high resolution via Google Earth.

Google Holiday Doodle . . .

How nice.
Full-size image here.

Google Reader enables easy translation . . .

This is a screen shot from my computer. I was so happy when I read about a new feature on my Google Reader today. I subscribe to several feeds in foreign languages and can never understand what the blog authors are saying. I just try to "picture read" which is not always accurate.

You can enlarge the photo above and/or go to this link to read all about it. This is so wonderful. Now my readers in other countries who subscribe to my feeds can read my posts in their native language. It is win, win all around the globe. Hooray!

Housework | Illustrated Quote . . .

"Housework is something nobody notices until you don't do it." Anonymous

Image source: Life Magazine via Google.

I get some of my best work done in my pajamas!

See how a Google Doodle is created . . .

Google doodles, the drawings that are designed on, around and through the Google logo on their home page, are the creation of 30-year-old Google Webmaster Dennis Hwang. Since Dennis began celebrating and marking worldwide events and holidays with his doodles in 2000, his work has been seen by millions and reached cult status, with fans waiting anxiously to see his next creation. There are numerous websites and blogs devoted to his work.
Doodle 4 Google

How to subscribe to a blog...

I am going to attempt to teach you how to subscribe to my blog. Notice I said my blog but my tutorial will enable you to subscribe to all blogs or anything that has an RSS feed. Confused? Don't know what an RSS feed is? Well I didn't either until I watched a video on YouTube. You will thank me a thousand times once you master this simple technique.

First I have to ask you a few questions. How do you log on to my blog? Do you have a shortcut on your desktop? Am I listed in your favorites? Do you click on my blog often only to be disappointed that you have already read my current post? Wish you could be notified when I post something new? Well you could if only you had a Google RSS Reader.

A really cool dude from Common Craft will now teach you in a very easy to understand film.

Now wasn't that easy? I found a page on Google.com that has picture icons of all the products they offer. I couldn't possibly exist on the internet without a great number of these items. I am a Google Girl all the way! When the page comes up, look on the right side under communicate and click on the icon for the Reader.

Now I will teach you how to subscribe to MY BLOG in your reader. At the top of the page under SUBSCRIBE TO I have two boxes. Click on the one that says posts on the little arrow to the right and some choices drop down. I have no idea what the first few mean...just look for the little orange box at the bottom with the word Atom. Click on that. Then copy the URL in the address box at the top of your toolbar. Then paste it in the add subscription box in your reader. And there you are! Aren't you proud of yourself?

Still can't do it? Don't know how to copy and paste? We could never be friends! Just kidding ~ I will do it for you. Here is the URL: http://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Now go and ask someone to teach you how to copy and paste. I read somewhere that if you don't know how, you should just put your computer and monitor out at the curb on trash day. Just bite the bullet and do it...it will make your on-line life so much easier.

PS...UPDATE: I just tried something new and it's awesome. When you click on my POST box a little icon pops up with a + sign and a Google box. If you click on that another box pops up that will enable you to put the subscription directly in your reader. Cool. I try to learn something new every day and just did! Please share your new-found knowledge with a friend.