Cats, Jelly Babies, FeedBurner and an iPhone wallpaper!

The last few days have been particularly manic!

Since Friday I've embarked on the process of updating Nick Smith's blog template and publishing his Blogger hosted site to a custom domain name using GoDaddy (you can register domain names from any of a number of different registrars). This is no mean feat when you factor in html coding, FeedBurner, AdSense and Google Webmaster Tools amongst others!

Cat City Online
Cat City Online is the weblog of Nick Smith, author of "Scriptwriting: The Secrets Unleashed," "Milk Treading," "The Kitty Killer Cult" and "Undead on Arrival."

Drop by Nick's new and improved site and leave a comment. He's a good friend and a creative chap...

Memorial
Making further progress with my mother's memorial project! Today Shop@Panasonic, Harlequins Centre, Exeter, pulled through with a Plasma HDTV TH-37PX70, which will be installed at Lucerne House once the refurbishment work on the Alphinbrook Unit is complete! And a Shop@Panasonic staff member recognised me from myentertainmentnews.co.uk (formerly Unit News)! Always a pleasure to meet a fellow Doctor Who/Torchwood fan!

In addition to the plasma television, we've bought a PC, widescreen monitor and a Nintendo Wii (includes Wii Sports)!

The next steps include researching the needs of each resident and costing the peripherals and software needed to facilitate the highest level of transparency! At this stage I have no idea of the total cost - anywhere from £300 to £3000 and beyond! I'll give serious consideration to approaching disabled charities, for extra funding, if my mother's memorial fund falls short.

FeedBurner Help Group
Be sure to visit the brand new official FeedBurner Help Group, which launched last night (GMT), where I'm a Community Expert! I'll help out as much as possible along with my fellow Community Expert peeps Improbulus, Charles LaPage, Mathaba and Franklin Tse.

One last thing...

"Peek-a-boo" wallpaper
I was inspired to create a wallpaper for the iPhone (and it looks cool on iPod touch too)!

"Peek-a-boo" is my cheeky homage to the Apple logo and started life as my Twitter avatar!



More wallpapers to follow.

Mothering Sunday

This is the first ever Mothering Sunday sans my mum! She died, last summer (link to obituary notice), under most tragic circumstances culminating in an out of court settlement with the RD&E NHS Foundation Trust Hospital! The Chief Executive apologised for any deficiencies in my mother's care! My father and myself consented to samples of my mother's brain and lungs being retained for teaching and medical purposes. This post will not address medico-legal matters - they were reported, independently, in the online and offline press - but, instead, concentrates on my mother's enduring legacy...



What follows is a transcript of my article, written for Lucerne House's The Home Front newsletter, regarding the inception of my mother's computer-based memorial (funded by donations from family, friends and business acquaintances).

Margaret’s Memorial
Written by John Hood

At the start of January, Paul wrote to Robin, my dad, and me with the excellent suggestion that the donations, made to Lucerne House Care Centre, in memory of Margaret, my mum, be used to fund equipment for the computer room on Alphinbrook Unit!

In view of my computer expertise, not only will I be able to provide input, with Paul’s support, on suggested computer peripherals to provide assistive technology for residents. But, I will also be able to offer bespoke training to each resident, who wishes to use the computer (including setting up e-mail addresses, etc), over the coming weeks and months… I’ll speak to each resident, individually, about this.

Dad and I have already donated a 22” Samsung widescreen monitor, which I installed in January, with Les’ help, and this can be viewed on Alphinbrook! I’m most certain that Rona - Resident Roving Reporter - will be more than delighted to show-off her superlative Solitaire and creative visual skills on the big screen!

Stay tuned for further updates, regarding the computer-based memorial, in future issues of The Home Front!

I will continue to post further newsletter transcripts. It is my intention to broach the subject of my mother's memorial, at Lucerne House, to the local press, in the hope that they may wish to report on it!

In addition to the memorial. We're also donating a Nintendo Wii to the Young People with Disabilities (YPD) unit! Broadly speaking, Nintendo's interface paradigm opens up a galaxy of interactivity to individuals whom, otherwise, could be precluded from positive gaming experiences.