So What’s It All About, Anyway?

I used to post my Linux Journal here. I kept it up for a while, then completely forgot about it. Then I got a new toy for Christmas—a Microsoft LifeCam. It’s a nifty gadget, but it doesn’t work under Linux.

I played with the camera for a while, then went online to see what information I might be able to find about it. I found quite a lot, actually. And one of the links Google turned up was Windows Live Writer.

Live Writer is Microsoft’s contribution to offline blogging. Using it, I can create & edit my blog entries to my heart’s content, then upload them to my blog.

Adding pictures is easy. And unlike some other similar tools, LiveWriter uploads the pictures automatically.

Writer is a great client for Windows Live Spaces but also works with other weblogs including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, and many others.

Writer supports RSD (Really Simple Discoverability), the Metaweblog API, and the Movable Type API.

In fact, I used LiveWriter to create this entry.

But let’s get back to the camera for a bit. The reason my dad sent it to me is that he lives in Pennsylvania and I live in California. Before we got together in Seattle last September for my daughter’s wedding, we hadn’t seen each other for almost 3 years. That’s too long. So now we can have video chats whenever we like, thanks to its built-in microphone.

 

The LifeCam is, first and foremost, a web cam, designed to work with Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger, which is the replacement for Microsoft Instant Messenger. But the camera will also take snapshots, record audio clips, and record video clips (although at 1.3 megapixels, it won’t be replacing my 8-megapixel Canon). Once you’ve snapped a picture, the camera software can upload it to your blog on Windows Live Spaces, or launch your email program in compose mode and attach the picture to the message. All you have to do is address it and send it.

So I’ve got several blogs I’m using to test LiveWriter. There’s this one, obviously, but there’s also the one I have at Windows Live Spaces. I’m also going to play with it on the blog on my web site. That blog is still Not Ready For Prime Time, but I’ll post a link here when it is.

STILL TO COME: How I’ve made peace between Windows and Linux.