I have not uploaded the last 5 or six columns, but they can be found near the back of the .pdf filed and archived Beacher issues.

I’ve learned much over the years from scanning the web. Now I will enjoy the great outdoors a lot more. The weather is fine here in Arizona, and I am already spoiled.

Cover of Face Painting (Hotshots Series)

If you planted a garden, by now you should be enjoying some of the vegetables that your hard work has earned. Believing that it is never too late in the season, I found a website that can help you to become an even better gardener and as a double bonus, provide you with a host of tasty recipes for your over-abundant crop of zucchini. That was the first websearch I performed this past week. Next, I decided to scope out as many pretty pictures—scenics, that is, that I could find on the internet. That was easy, and I am going to tell you how to do it if you do not yet know. And lastly, I stumbled upon a recognizable name from Beacher Country while foraging for websites this week. Keep reading.

Garden Guides (www.gardenguides.com). Have you been harvesting the vegetables you planted in May? Is your crop of tomatoes, peppers and zucchini so abundant that you are overwhelmed? Fear not. Just log on to the Garden Guides, type in the veggie you have perhaps too much of, and voila! –you will be given some recipes that will help you consume your goodies without wasting them. While you’re at the website, you might find other items to help you become an expert at growing things.

Beautiful Scenery (type in with quote marks and use your favorite search engine). Sometimes I make it harder on myself than necessary when I set out to find a particular topic. I recently had a yen to look at some landscape scenery that I might want to use as desktop wallpaper in the future. Instead of searching for “desktop wallpaper,” I just typed “beautiful scenery” into the Bing search engine. It returned pages and pages of pretty scenes, and I could have spent half a day looking at all of the images. And as long as we are on the subject of search engines, I recently discovered that I could find reviews of businesses and tourist attractions by just typing in “reviews of [fill in the blank]”. You can read my review of my recent trip on the Grand Canyon Railway on my blog, razmataz (http://cottonwoodaz.wordpress.com).

Face Painting in Motion by James Kuhn (look for “hawhawjames” on YouTube and Flickr). It has probably been a decade since I wrote about James Kuhn’s oversized holiday light show in Three Oaks in the Beacher. This talented local artist hit the internet big time in 2009 when some of the really popular blogs started plugging James’ one-of-a-kind face paintings. James’ creative soul is out there for all to see.

Do It And How (http://doitandhow.com/). Whoa, Nellie! Did you know that you could write clear messages on a banana? Do you want to learn to line dance without going out in public? These and dozens more instructions are here for the taking. Just reading the blog is lots of fun.

Image by Cade Buchanan via Flickr

This was a tough week for me, web-review wise. I decided to scan a demographic that I rarely talk about here, and it has to do with teen girls’ websites. Believe me when I say there are a lot of them. These are the flashy, ad-driven and marketing-savvy splashy sites that you’ll know are backed with corporate megabucks. Teen girls are a moneylicious opportunity for these Madison-Avenue type websites. After you’ve surfed awhile, you find it easy to tell the difference between these and your more original, grass-roots- type websites. Let’s start with the sites that are part of the “sugar” group:

Fabsugar (www.fabsugar.com). If your teen daughter is heavily influenced by what celebrities are wearing, then chances are she already has this website bookmarked. I can best describe this website by comparing it to a glossy magazine such as Teen or possibly Glamour, if the college-age women are attracted to it. Here is where the gullible might fall victim to those purported “must-haves.” Wooden sole shoes are big, and the taller the better. Handbags are getting smaller. Hint: pack away yesterday’s fashions. They’ll be back in vogue within five to ten years.

Savy Sugar (www.savysugar.com). I was expecting to find all kinds of money-management tools here, but it’s the same run-of-the-mill stuff you’ve been hearing from Suzie Orman, only condensed into smaller reading bytes. Stick to bankrate.com for the nitty gritty.

Belle Sugar (www.bellesugar.com). If you’re going to have Fab Sugar, you need to compliment it with this beauty site. Barbie would love it. In fact, the more I read the “Sugars” the more I thought of Barbie. The big feature here (when I read it) was about the pros and cons of eyeliner: how thick should a lady apply it? Personally, I am glad I am way past that stage of my life.

Fit Sugar (www.fitsugar.com). I hope you haven’t overloaded on the sweet stuff yet. Could you expect less from the Sugar franchise if they didn’t include a site devoted to diet and exercise? Of course not. Was I surprised that they had a link to sparkpeople.com? Not really. Spark People is the latesd hot website devoted to fitness. I am guessing that its popularity came from the buzz from Facebook users. I am beginning to think that there are two worlds—Facebook and the Others. If you are in the latter category, which includes me, then you are so out of the loop that you’ll never again be with-it.

The Daily Beast (www.thedailybeast.com). Finally, not a Sugar! This is a news and feature site that (I’m guessing) television and radio news shows scan to get the latest hot topics to talk about on-air. If you don’t watch much television or listen to the radio, you are still in luck, because you’ll get enough information here to feel confident talking around the water cooler.

Related articles

• Sugar Shout Out: FabSugar Goes to Chanel! (popsugar.com)
• Sugar Shout Out: Learn How to Shoot Light Trails (popsugar.com)

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As summer vacation winds to an end, at least for students going off to school, there are two activities that should be put on your summer to-do list: attending at least one farmers’ market, and attending the DCI World Championship prelims at Ames Field next week. I’ve been able to attend several area farmers’ markets here in Arizona, but I sure do miss drum corps. I see that Rik Richards wrote a story about the annual show at Ames on July 5. Those who missed that one have a second chance to experience the talented corps before they head off to the championship competition in Indianapolis.

Michigan City Farmers Market: (http://tinyurl.com/4xjenhc). This website is sponsored by Local Harvest (www.localharvest.org). In addition to a brief description of the items for sale, it provides a nifty little checklist of specific veggies and other items you can expect to find. If you have never tried fresh beets, for example, you’ll be pleased to discover some recipes right on the website.

Michigan City Mainstreet (www.mcmainstreet.com). How nice to find an events calendar plus blurbs about local doings and places to go all at one convenient website. I like the abundance of pictures of featured places, too. Next to The Beacher, Michigan City Mainstreet is a great little resource for people in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan—even Chicago, for that matter—to find fun things to do in and around LaPorte County.

Drum Corps International (www.dci.org). For most local folks, the Rosemont Cavaliers are the drum corps most loved. And the world class, award-winning Cavvies are loyal to their Michigan City fans. Not only are they on top of the leader board going into the finals in Indy, they have continued to amaze and entertain thousands of people from in and around Beacher Country. Imagine getting to experience their “Extraordinary” show one last time before the DCI finals. For the past three years, I watched the DCI finals in the comfort of a local movie theater—all six hours of it. If that is not an option, or getting to Ames Field Monday and Tuesday isn’t workable, then sample the pages and pages of information on the Drum Corps International official website. I wrote about this website years ago, when you could watch a corps’ entire show online. Alas, you can’t do that any longer. You can buy videos of your favorite corps’ programs. You can purchase online streaming. But the freebies are gone. And if you want to read up on Drum Corps doings, look for Michael Boo’s byline. Mike, a Chesterton resident, is a former Cavvie who writes for DCI publications as well as for Outdoor Indiana. He is also a composer and active member of Save the Tunes. Mike is usually up in Ames Field’s press box during the drum corp shows.

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One of the things I miss here in Arizona is Lake Michigan and her beaches. For one extraordinarily lucky year in my past, I lived just steps from the beach. I went walking every morning before work and sometimes, on my days off, I would lose my sense of time beach-combing along the shoreline. At least with walking the beach, one doesn’t have to worry about beach closings. That is the subject this week of one of my suggested links. Two other links have to do with autism. They are blogs written by a Valparaiso husband and wife, parents of Alex, an autistic teen. I know a pretty fair amount about autism. Here in Arizona where I’m living I’m only twenty minutes from Rusty’s Morningstar Ranch, so I see the autistic ranchers often. Each of the guys, including my son, Brian, have their individual quirks, and each of the ranchers have something to teach. So does Alex Byrne, whose parents Ed and Pat keep individual blogs worth reading. Since I’m betting that you, reader, know of someone diagnosed with autism (the numbers are becoming astounding), you might be interested in links to those blogs.

Beach Guard (http://tinyurl.com/5szj681). The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has developed a website to alert the public to beach closures. The site lists 52 public and 2 private beaches thus far, and those are located in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, and a few other northern Indiana counties. When I accessed the web pages on July 11, the beaches at Stop 24 in Long Beach and Stop 21 in Shoreline Hills were closed due to contamination. I figured it must be because of recent rains. Dunes State Park and Beverly Shores‘ beaches were open. If I had to drive more than a few miles to get to a particular beach, I would access Beach Guard first, to make sure I could swim at my chosen beach. This website is a welcome addition to local public service sites.

One Autism Mom’s Notes (http://pambyrne.blogspot.com).I think Pam Byrne is on to a good idea by keeping a diary of her thoughts and Alex’s behaviors from day to day. A parent of an exceptional child (as those with disabilities used to be labeled) can sympathize, can know exactly where Pam’s thoughts and emotions are coming from, and as they read the blog, they don’t feel so alone. Pam, an English teacher of middle school students, knows how to write, and her words flow effortlessly. I’m sure that part of her blogging process brings catharsis, and maybe even a little bit of respite. If you are either a special ed professional or just someone who wants to truly understand your friend, neighbor or relative’s process of parenting a child with autism, Pam’s blog will deliver that wish.

Autism by Edward Byrne (edwardbyrnepoetry.blogspot.com). Ed is a professor in the English Department at Valparaiso University, and he has published eight collections of poetry. His autism piece is a work in progress. As I read his verse, I could not help thinking that perhaps his son Alex is the real poet in these lines, and Ed is the interpreter putting the words and impressions onto paper (or in this case, digital print). I like how both parents have created blogs chronicling their journey with Alex. And Alex is lucky to have two parents working in close partnership to raise their autistic son, and perhaps raise the consciousness of the rest of us.

I want to thank friend Marilyn Lowenstine for providing me with the Byrnes’ blog information.

Related articles

• Autism and Intellectual Disability in the DSM5: My Submission to the DSM5 Neurodevelopmental Disorders Work Group (autisminnb.blogspot.com)
• Autism and Empathy: Rachel’s new blog. (born2bme.wordpress.com)
• Autism and Aspergers: Interview With Lesley Cutts – Autism SA (radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com)
• Using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale to Screen Autism (brighthub.com)

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I am happy to announce that I have a brand spankin’ new computer. I’ve loaded it with Microsoft Security Essentials, Malware Bytes, Open Office 3.3, Internet Explorer 9, and Firefox’s latest browser with the Web of Trust (WOT) add-on. Plus my Magic Jack. I am all set for a faster, more up-to-date browsing experience. But, I have not moved my bookmarks from my old laptop. That means I am browsing like a first-time computer user—everything is fresh and new.

Cloud Computing. You probably have seen the commercial where a woman says, “to the cloud,” making it sound like only newer computers have the capacity to use cloud computing. Not so. If you use Web-based email, as I do (Yahoo), then you are accessing the “cloud.” I have many photographs stored on Flickr.com, another example of being “in the cloud.” Not to mention my two blogs on WordPress.com. Using online services saves people from bogging down their own machines with additional data or software. But there is a caveat: cloud computing messes with your rights, and can compromise your privacy. But we all marked that little checkbox—probably without a thorough reading—that gives the cloud servers permission to do stuff with our data at our own risk. For more information about privacy issues, you can go to http://epic.org/privacy/cloudcomputing.

QR Codes (again). Several months ago, at the prompting of Tom Montgomery, I wrote about the promise—or–doom of Quick Response codes. They are those black and white squares you are beginning to see more often on various products. They are similar to a bar code, but unlike the more familiar bar codes, the QR codes can contain considerably larger amounts of data. Their uses are only limited to the imagination. Currently, they are being used on business cards and in catalogs by marketers with eyes on the younger, smartphone market. And this month, a company known as Skanz will start selling I.D. wristbands to the digitally tuned in generation..

Don’t have a pen and paper? No problem. Just scan my QR code and get my name, address, phone, resume, link to my Facebook page perhaps, and whatever other information I choose to have included on that ubiquitous little square. And I know you are thinking what I’m thinking: here comes Big Brother. Yes, I can envision our personal QR code tattoos—forget wrist bracelets– being scanned as we walk through security at the airport—no need for a driver’s license or other I.d. The mark of the beast? Mark my words—you will be hearing lots more about QR codes soon, pro and con. The young will scoff and accept QR codes as the wave of the future. The older generation, those who were sure that barcodes were the sign of the fall of civilization, can now worry about this new digital threat. I have an unwanted tattoo on my side put there in 1952 by misguided officials. Holocaust survivors have their horrifying, unwanted tattoos. We will be among those worrying about the misuse of QR codes.

Related articles

• Create Your Own QR Code (blogher.com)
• 20 QR Code Tools and Uses | Practical eCommerce (bjconquest.com)
• Skanz bands: QR codes get social (news.consumerreports.org)

Image by vxla via Flickr

 A person could spend all their online time viewing nothing but YouTube videos. In fact, a writer (such as myself) could focus a column totally on YouTube video reviews without ever running out of new uploads to watch. I’ve tended to avoid talking about YouTube in this column. Now I am wondering why. Could be because my 7-year old laptop just doesn’t have the oomph to play a complete video without buffering at least six or seven times. And that is very annoying.

Somehow, I was patient enough to withstand the buffering when watching a few videos from YouTube recently. And that’s the subject of this week’s column, so let’s get to it right now.

Grand Rapids Lip Dub (http://tinyurl.com/3rd8q9w). We might as well as “lip dubbing” to the dictionary, since it is a popular way to express creativity and to get a community of people together for some fun. As I write this, I have just watched the Meredith Viera sendoff from the Today show. Their lip dub was nowhere near as cool as this production from Grand Rapids. I found it via a tip from Bits & Pieces, a blog I often read. The Grand Rapids Lip Dub evolved from a comment in Newsweek that referred to the Michigan town as a “dying city.” Well, now. The citizens of that fair city northeast of us were offended. But rather wallow in hurt emotions, they made lemonade by producing a 9-minute movie that Roger Ebert has called “the greatest music video ever made.” It is, by all means, a top-notch production. Go view it. You’ll see what Roger Ebert means. It’s well worth being patient during buffering, if your computer is slow like mine.

Michigan City Blizzard of 1958 (http://tinyurl.com/232daf8). As long as I was feeling extraordinarily patient, I decided to search YouTube for some local fare. I had done so a little over two years ago, but had not been back. I am glad that I reconnected. Comcast’s local access channel 3 has been putting together old film footage of the city’s past. Last year they uploaded this video. What’s particularly fun is looking at the old ’58 Fords and Oldsmobiles (and others) with four feet of snow on their roofs, travelling the barely-passable streets in town. According to city folks who remember, the storm dumped four feet of snow upon the city and region, and the National Guard was called in to help clear it. Watching this old footage helps me realize (in moments of homesickness) why I moved to Arizona. I could drive up to Flagstaff and see the same thing in the winter, if I wanted to.

South Shore 1958 (http://tinyurl.com/3pn6j2t). Another video from Comcast and the MAPH Foundation lets us look at Franklin Street at 11^th Avenue, when the South Shore had not one, but two tracks running the length of the street. As a young child riding through the town during a family outing, those pair of tracks used to scare me. I could not figure out how cars could travel the road if a train was approaching. Apparently so did a lot of other people. The South Shore tore out the set of tracks and re-set just one pair of rails in October, 1958. You can watch that footage. And we can thank the person behind the movie camera who shot the footage for all of us to reminisce about.

Related articles

• City Proves Its Mettle With 5,000-Person Lip Dub [VIDEO] (mashable.com)
• The Grand Rapids LipDub (the1955hudson.com)
• How Cities Are Using Web Video To Take Control of Their Public Image (mashable.com)

Because I have moved away from my native state and all things that had been familiar to me, I am experiencing first-hand how greatly the internet has impacted my life. Whenever I get homesick, I log on to my hometown websites to reconnect. That is, of course, in addition to keeping in touch with friends back home via email. And Skype, if I used it. Oprah made Skype famous on her television show. She interviewed dozens of celebrities thanks to webcams and video feeds. Both sender and receiver need to be signed up for Skype to use it. That is not the case with my Magic Jack, but then, it does not require a webcam and acts like a regular telephone.

So, before I get too far off track, I wanted to let you know that I have stayed “in touch” with happenings back in Michigan City by visiting local websites. I’ve noticed some changes since I last accessed them. And so, I’m commenting about that this week.

Michigan City Public Library (www.mclib.org). I love the new home webpage, yes, indeed! It has been at least 3 years since I last visited. What used to be static and boring is now bright and lively. First thing you’ll see is a listing of the month’s events within the library and without. Once upon a time most library websites were no more than digital card catalogs, with links to other places of local interest. That’s not to say that the online catalogs are gone. It’s just that there appears to be more information on the site. It’s shiny, bright, and more inviting. Kudos to the Web designer. I want all Michigan Cityzens to take a look at the website. But I will give away one little slice of information I found at mclib.org: they list eight establishments, within the city, along with addresses, that offer wifi. That’s a new bit of information that libraries can offer the public. The times—they are a changin’ and our local library is right on top of things.

Westchester Public Library (Chesterton) (www.wpl.lib.in.us). Notice the web address? It is much more cumbersome than Michigan City’s. Somewhere within the state, a person decided that the public libraries could use “lib.in.us” as a recognizable part of their url. Listen: it’s difficult to remember, and not fun to type in. And let me be the first to tell you that I’ve been loyal and biased towards Chesterton’s library. Not only was I a patron, I worked there for a few years. But, I think Michigan City’s homepage has Westchester’s beat. Not that they are in a contest against each other. It’s just a visual, and an access issue. Their home page declares the theme of the summer reading program for kids. Nothing wrong with that. I guess I wanted to see a more inclusing community events listing link somewhere on the site. One bonus the Chesterton library can brag about it its downloadable books.

We Are MC (http://wearemc.us). When I registered at this website founded by long-time Cityzens, there were fewer than 1.000 people registered. Presently that number has jumped to 5.000. Isn’t that terrific? This is a place where grads from Rogers as well as Wolves’ alumni can reconnect, recount days gone by, mourn the loss of former classmates, relate interesting bits of history, announce upcoming reunions, and, well, just stay connected. Not being a graduate of a school in Michigan City, I did not belong there, but I was embraced anyway by the online community when I wrote a Beacher feature years ago about the sock hops downtown. If you want to read about that, log on to the Beacher.

The Beacher (www.thebeacher.com). How many of you access online the greatest little paper around LaPorte County? I know, I know. I like the feel of the extra-thick and classy paper in my hands, too. But if you want to find articles from a decade ago, this is the website that will accommodate you. Don’t take it for granted. The Beacher is a great little paper, even if I am biased about saying that.

Related articles

• Participate in a beach cleanup in the Chicago area (chicagolandh2o.wordpress.com)

I hope you find at least one of these collaborative writing sites a perfect fit for you. Back in the day (something we geezers say a lot), there was no internet. There were advertisements in various magazines for “Creative Writers’ Institute” or some such name, and all you had to do was take a little quiz, or write a few lines to see if you qualified. Other ads, which may still be around, stated that they were looking for writers for children’s books. No matter what genre you feel attracted to, there is a website devoted to developing your skills.

One Million Monkeys Typing (www.1000000monkeys.com/). Count ‘em—six zeroes. You may get tired of typing in that address, so bookmark it. This is a smallish group of about 2000 monkeys er—writers. You have the choice of collaborating on projects in fiction, nonfiction and/or poetry. From what I read, I found the quality of the contributions above average. The site encourages participants to creat 300-word snippets, or “seedlings.” Using the metaphor of a tree, the website is structured, and one either gets a thumbs up or if consistently bad, an extinction notice. The site calls itself “an evolutionary writing site where only the strongest stories survive.” And in my mind, that’s a very good thing. Because, if you are serious about developing your writing, then you don’t need to shuffle through sites that publish very poor material, poor grammar, poor spelling—you know what I mean.

Novelit.com (www.novelit.com). This is for fiction fans only. Read, vote, write, and/or edit and become part of an international collaborative group which takes its writing seriously.

Protagonize (www.protagonize.com). This site has approximately 14,000 registered users whose objective is to explore their hidden writing talent. What I like about Protagonize is that it actively encourages constructive feedback and critique. If you cannot make it to meetings of writers’ groups locally, this might be a good option for you. These online writers’ groups seriously want to offer help. There is a lot to explore on this site, and I recommend a look at it.

Writer.com (www.writer.com). This creative colony has been around for a decade, and it’s still going strong. I hesitate to recommend it as your only source of writing support, because you truly have to sort the wheat from the chaff here. (I will probably get lots of hate mail for that comment, but it’s just my opinion). As are the other previously mentioned sites, Writer.com provides plenty of social networking.

Charley McKelvy’s Blog (www.charleymckelvy.wordpress.com). Hurray for Beacher colleague Charley, whose “Travels With Charley” have entertained and enriched us for many years. While the rest of us writers had immersed ourselves in the digital world years earlier, Charley was a little shy to join us, relying on his trusty typewriter to pound out his stories. When he finally got a computer, it took him a while before plugging into the World Wide Web. And now, as 2011 dawns, our man on the go has finally launched a blog! Be sure to check it out.

While you’re at WordPress, have a look at my unofficial blog, Fewer or Less.

Related articles

• 7 Collaborative Storytelling Websites to Weave Your Own Digital Stories (makeuseof.com)
• How to Get Paid to Write Articles Online? – Easy Guidelines To Employ In This New Decade (preciseinternetmarketing.com)

Although I stopped posting my weekly columns from the Beacher many months ago, I have continued to write them. You can find them in the archived editions on the Beacher’s website. The weekly editions are in pdf format, so it make take you awhile to find what you are looking for.

I’m posting a recent column about writer’s resources here for my friend, Tian. She is destined to become a great author but needs a kick in the pants to keep on truckin’

Before I say adieu, please take a look at my newest blog, titled Fewer or Less. I decided to start it as a way to process my thoughts about all manner of issues bugging me. Fewer or Less is not a column–just a bunch of comments about topical issues. Enjoy.