The Viking Underground continues to push the envelope on new blog development. I've introduced mobile blogging, podcasting, videocasting, and interactive polls to all my readers over the last year. I dare say that no other Vikings blog has as much technological upgrades as does the VU.

I now bring you the beta-testing phase of Flickr. Flickr is the best way to store, sort, search and share your photos online. There is a huge mass of Vikings photos in my photo vault and Flickr provides a way to organize them in such a way to make it very easy for you to navigate through them.

Over the years I have had people ask me for the original sized photo so they can download them and make their own prints and such. On the other hand, I've had people ask for smaller versions as they have limited broadband resources. With Flickr, the issue is solved.

Click on any of the three photos in the banner that appears at the top of the blog. This will take you to the actual photo within my Flickr account. Notice the "All Sizes" link above the photo? Click on that and you will have your choice of 5 photo sizes to view from. You can also run your own slideshow.

You can do the same within the Flickr Flash link at the top of the right navigation frame. This one requires that you have Flash loaded on your system....which most do.....but I was also wondering which one you preferred? The larger thumbnails at the top or the small Flickr Flash to the right?

At this point, I have loaded 84 photos from the 2005 Development Camp held last spring at Winter Park. Test it out and let me know what you think? Keep this as an option or get rid of it? Your feedback will be instrumental in my decision to stay with Flickr and cough up the necessary money to have unlimited bandwidth and uploading opportunities. I would then add other photo sets for your viewing enjoyment.

So, have some fun. Again, this is only a testing period so if you have issues accessing the Flickr photos it may be that bandwidth has been exceeded. If the feedback is positive and the demand for it is warranted, I will then change my "free" Flickr account to a "professional" and all those issues will go away.

Enjoy!

Shameless Plug

I hate business travel but always relish the opportunity to catch up on my reading whenever I have to fly. My last trip was no exception as I was able to finish the nearly 900-page novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. And I have also recently read it will be made into a movie....which is fantastic news.

I thought the book started out a wee bit slow but I could not put it down in the last third. I'd write my own review but it just wouldn't do justice to the zillion other reviews already out there. So here is one from Bloomsbury that did a nice summation:

'Absolutely compelling...It's an astonishing achievement. I can't think of anything that is remotely like it' Charles Palliser

Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me…

Centuries ago when magic still existed in England, the greatest magician of them all was the Raven King. A human child brought up by fairies, the Raven King blended fairy wisdom and human reason to create English magic. Now at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is barely more than a legend, and England, with its mad King and its dashing poets, no longer believes in practical magic.

Then the reclusive Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey appears and causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and move. News spreads of the return of magic to England and, persuaded that he must help the government in the war against Napoleon, Mr Norrell goes to London. There he meets a brilliant young magician and takes him as a pupil. Jonathan Strange is charming, rich and arrogant. Together, they dazzle the country with their feats.

But the partnership soon turns to rivalry. Mr Norrell has never conquered his lifelong habits of secrecy, while Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous magic. He becomes fascinated by the shadowy figure of the Raven King, and his heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens, not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.

Elegant, witty and utterly compelling, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell creates a past world of great mystery and beauty that will hold the reader in thrall until the last page.

So, if you are a book lover and haven't read this one yet, do so.

Posted by maasx003 at February 24, 2006 01:33 AM