Blog Archive
Welcome to the Blog Archive for Itowler.com
You can use this to browse older postings, by year and then month. To get started, just click on a year, and then click on the month that you are interested, and you will be shown all of the blog posts in that year and month.
New Site Feature
Ian —Mon, 03/30/2009 - 04:00
One of the great things about using a CMS like Drupal is that you can add new "features" to a site by installing a module. I was (and still am) using the Tagadelic module, which creates a list of the blog topics that I have. The terms in the list are then scaled in size based on the number of blog posts that have been flagged with that term. If you look to your right, You can see that the term "Genealogy" is big, and the term "pi Day" is not. I obviously write much more about genealogy than I do Pi day.
The latest module that I installed is called Cumulus. It expands on the Tagadelic idea, and makes the list more 'interactive". With cumulus, instead of the list just being listed, it is in a cloud format, that rotates and moves based on what you mouse is doing. If you hold your mouse near the top of the cloud all the terms will scoll "up", if you have you mouse to the left side of the cloud the entire cloud will scroll left. You get the idea. To slow the list down or stop it from moving, just hold your mouse close to the center of the cloud. Lastly, to select a term, and see all the blogs tagged with that term, just click on a term and away you go!
In Tagadelic, the font size increased the more the term was used. In Cumulus, the font size increases, but also gets darker in color.
I plan to keep both the Tagadelic block and the new Cumulus block active for a while, and maybe down the road I will disable the Tagadelic block. I am not sure about this yet, it might be nice to have both there....Cumulus for looks and fun, and Tagadelic for a straight forward use.
My only gripe about tagadelic is that the install could be a little tricky for someone that is new to drupal. The module functions as a "Block" in drupal, so you have to go t the Block admin page, and enable the module, then edit its settings. This is not that hard to figure out, but if you are new to drupal, it might take you a bit to figure it out. An update to the readme file that is included would help, in my opinion. Other than that this a fun little module that works great!
Adding Historical Facts to you PGV Timelines
Ian —Mon, 03/23/2009 - 04:00
As most of you know the Familytree.itowler.com runs PGV (PhpGedView). I have been using the program for a few years now, and have seen it grow and become better and more refined. One of the newer (although I must admit, I am not sure how new) features is the ability to add historical dates to the time line.
Fund raising for Cancer (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
Ian —Tue, 03/17/2009 - 12:20
It's not Often that I post stuff about my family (or in-laws) but this is a worthy cause. My father-in-law was diagnosed with a leukemia / lymphoma (Still not totally sure what it is) in 2003 and has been dealing with it since that time.
One of my wife's colleagues, Edie Gurewitsch, is a part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. This is a program that raises money to help find a cure for leukemia & lymphoma. Dr. Gurewitsch's team (The Next Generation) will be riding 100 miles on a bike to helo raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
If have the time & or money please take a chance and visit the site and consider donating to this cause. No amount is too small, it all adds up in the end. The site can be found here:
MRCA: What is it and what does it mean?
Ian —Thu, 03/05/2009 - 16:15
If you have participated in DNA Genealogy you may have seen the acronym MRCA. What does it mean? Well it is short for Most Recent Common Ancestor. MRCA is the first person that two different people share. For instance, I share my MRCA Robert Towler with a fellow Towler researcher. MRCA does not only apply to DNA testing, but it is often used often in this setting.