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Mar
16
Productivity Ninja: GQueues
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About a month ago, I posted about my attempts to get Todoist and Remember the Milk to handle my task lists in a way that worked with my brain. A commenter suggested that I check out Gqueues, and I did. After a month of using GQueues, I only slightly miss Todoist.
GQueues allows me to create tasks, break those tasks into subtasks, tag and re-mix sets of tasks, and leave notes on tasks. Tasks and subtasks are easily moved around (although they don’t always land where you drop them). I colored my lists to match the GCal label the tasks went with, even though the GQueues calendar in GCal is the all one shade.
Where GQueues makes me miss Todoist is in how it interacts with its gadgets. You can see the tasks. There are toggle boxes to check them off. Nothing actually happens when you mark something as done, though. I keep hoping that eventually that will be fixed, but for now the gadgets are good visual reminders of what needs to get done.
There are some definite hiccups, but the site is young and growing, and the staff is pretty responsive when you let them know you’re struggling with something. They keep evolving features, which is helpful. When I started, you had to create duplicate tasks for recurring tasks and use a complicated, carpal tunnel-inducing keyboard shortcut to create subtasks. Both are now much easier processes to accomplish.
All in all, I’m pretty happy working with GQueues as my task manager.
Mar
11
Create365: Colorful Socks
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The Challenge: Figure out a way to add some color to your day in a new, unusual, or wacky way.
Spring and Winter flip-flopped in Seattle this year. After an uncomfortably warm Winter, we’re now coasting on cooler temperatures into Spring. It’s the perfect weather for warmer socks, and the perfect time for this challenge because some of the warmest socks I own are my toe socks!
In terms of the Create365 project, I’m still exploring what settings are available to me and how to use them to minimize the time spent in photo-editing software. This particular picture is completely untouched, and I’m proud of how it turned out.
Mar
9
Create365: Wearable Stories
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I was getting dressed for work this morning and noticed the bowl that holds some of my more frequently worn or recently acquired jewelry, and I just really liked how the pieces were laying in there.
I don’t know if they translate into this post, but most of the more visible pieces have notes on them. Some were hand-crafted. Some I just keep for fun.
Mar
9
Classic Characters
Filed Under animation, character development, writing | View Comments
I’ve often read that what makes a classic cartoon character is the character’s ability to fit into any time and space. Bugs Bunny could walk the streets of France, sing an opera, and run away from a (rather inept) hunter. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles can face the Shredder in modern-day New York, New York of the future, and cyberspace. Mickey Mouse can drive a steamboat, enchant brooms, and still find time to court Minnie Mouse.
It works that way in books, too. Look at the Nancy Drew books. Nancy solves cases all over the world, and has for decades. Children’s picture books like the Arthur series feature similar timeless characters who can move naturally between very different situations.
These characters are strong in their own personality. They’re defined more by what they do and how they do it rather than by where they do it, and that gives them a flexibility that allows them to draw viewers or readers in and drag them along on their adventures. That, in turn, gives them a timelessness that allows them to reach out to different generations, making them truly classic.
Mar
9
Twitter Updates for 2010-03-09
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- Dear GQueues, why is it I can get to every queue *but* the one I need? #
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Mar
8
links for 2010-03-08
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Mar
7
Create365: Seattle Kitty
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My cat hates being covered by anything. If I throw a blanket over her, she quickly wriggles out. So when I accidentally threw my flannel shirt on her tonight, I definitely wasn’t expecting her response:
That would be my cat, stretching out to take a nap…under my flannel shirt.
(She also hates having her picture taken, going so far as to run and hide when she sees the dark green thing in my hands, so the fact I got several shots of her making herself at home under the shirt was just phenomenal.)
Mar
7
Twitter Updates for 2010-03-07
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Mar
6
Create365: What Did You Say?
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I’ve spent part of today wandering back and forth through my house trying to work out why any of the characters in the manuscript I’m currently editing are involved in this story. Somehow, only the antagonist has a goal and an obstacle. Everyone else is just there to be the obstacle. It’s bizarre, even for me.
But I’m stuck on the opening scene, which is now back to being the opening scene because I have a wonderful friend to set me straight about these things. I was reading over both drafts of the scene, trying to decide if there was anything salvageable, and discovered that one character describes something that probably didn’t need to be discussed in such detail, actually revealing the treasure that’s the entire point of the novel in the process.
Her sister immediately responds with: So, the treasure is here? How are we going to find it?
I have no idea what I really wanted the sister to say, but I struck that line right out.
Now, I have what I feel are the best, strongest parts of both drafts pulled into a new file, and I have questions all over the place. Hopefully, once I find these characters’ goals and obstacles, I’ll be able to beat this into a better opening.
Mar
5
Create365: City Planning
Filed Under content development, education, writing | View Comments
I have this dream of someday pulling together my love of certain media and my passion for teaching to create multimedia math and science lessons. Occasionally, I’ll get an idea for a teaching moment and jot it down.
This one features an NPC who is the assistant to the player/learner’s city planner. She’s trying to help the student plan out space allotment through a percent lesson. It’s not good. It really is just a sketch. But it’s something to launch from.
ASSISTANT
25% of the population will want to live in this area of town. Hmm… How can we figure out how many people that is?Well, “percent” means “for every 100″. So 25 out of every 100 people will want to live there, or 25/100 people. 25/100 is the same as .25. So .25 of [town population] wants to live there.
.25 x [town population] means [answer] people will want to live there.
What about this 12% who will want to live in this other area?
The player/learner then has to figure it out and type in an answer, which will trigger an appropriate response from the assistant.
I wrote it in script form because I haven’t decided yet whether I would present this as text or as narration.
