New Tools

Hello, campers. A few new things out there on the Web. Check them out.

The following is presented in no particular order:

Free 125 Cards [http://www.125cards.com.] Based on my experience, I wasn't thrilled. And I wanted to be. After all, several ad sites insist on 125x125 cards for advertising. [EntreCard, in particular needs to add a few new backgrounds in their "Standard" section, especially with the exponential growth in the number of users. I can't speak about what other sites do or don't offer, so I'll just assume the problems are similar there].

Fair-is-fair; Free 125 Cards has a good selection of backgrounds. I especially like the feature that lets you search for backgrounds by color. But once you pick one, working with the text editor is less-than-intuitive [for example, the icons for some options come up BEHIND the text entry box, where you can't see them. Also, you'll probably have to use trial and error to figure out how many characters will fit in each line of your message, then type the message, line-by-line. Wordwrap, or some option that allows you to split lines of text, would definitely be useful here]. And, unfortunately, you can't upload your image to alter. While we're being fair, though, as this is posted the site has only been up for about a week. Perhaps in future incarnations, these issues will be resolved. And, as John Belushi correctly noted in the Blues Brothers classic Rubber Biscuit, "Wad'd'ya want for nothing?"

Improve Your Images Thanks to TechiesDen [http://techiesden.com/] for pointing out Improve Your Images [http://www.improveyourimages.com/]. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks easy to use, and [most importantly, as far as I'm concerned] it's a FREE alternative to Photoshop. Try it, and let us know what you think.

EntreCard News The crew at EC has added a couple of improvements to the system, most notably an option that allows you to add blogs to your account. For multiple bloggers like myself, it seems like a good addition, although I never had a problem using my three sites under the old system. They've also put together an e-book on using EntreCard, which looks very helpful for new users. It also has a few tips that I'm planning on using, so even regular users should look it over. I didn't agree with everything in it [dropping a few cards a day will not help you build up a healthy advertising account], but it does make an effort to bring a little sanity into the process. EC ISN'T just about dropping.

So try these things out. Better yet, look around. See what YOU discover. And, when you do, tell US about it. The more we can share, the better the process of blogging can become for everyone.

-Mike Riley