What Was I Saying...?

With the recent decisions and actions taken by LiveJournal’s owners, many people are migrating their personal blogs to Dreamwidth, a “LiveJournal-like” blog that uses a very similar interface and can import existing LJ posts, comments, and settings to make the transition easier.

Unfortunately, Dreamwidth lacks some features of LiveJournal, including direct Twitter integration. But if you would like to have a script that will automatically post a tweet to your followers, there’s an easy workaround, thanks to a handy website called IFTTT (or, “If This, Then That”). IFTTT requires creating a free login, but is more than useful enough to be worth it.

The following steps assume you already have Dreamwidth, Twitter, and IFTTT accounts up and running.

Step One: Find Your Dreamwidth RSS Feed

A website’s RSS feed (short for “RDF Site Summary” or “Really Simple Syndication”) is a tagged XML file of posts made to that website, designed to make it easy for other services to “consume” the page.

Every time you post to your Dreamwidth account, your RSS feed updates, and that will be the trigger for IFTTT to send a post to Twitter. Most Dreamwidth styles have a button labeled “RSS” somewhere on your blog posts page. You can either click through the button, or right-click (contextual click) to find and copy the feed URL. If you can’t find it, try simply appending “/data/rss” to the end of your Dreamwidth account’s URL.

Step Two: Create a New IFTTT Applet

On IFTTT, go to the user menu on the upper right and select the “New Applet” option. That will take you to the “Applet Maker” screen.

Step Three: Choose the RSS Feed Source

Click on the blue “+this” link to choose a source, and from there click on “Feed” to select the RSS feed option.

That will take you to the “Choose Trigger” page. Select “New feed item” to have the service scan for new post entries, and when prompted, copy and paste the RSS feed link from your Dreamwidth account (found in Step One) into the Feed URL field.

Step Four: Choose the Twitter Posting Result

Submitting the feed URL should take you to the next step of the IFTTT applet builder, giving you a prompt that looks like this:

 



 

Click on the blue “+that” link to select your output destination, and then select “Twitter” as your action service.

 

 

This will send you to a screen asking what action you want to perform on Twitter. Select “Post a Tweet,” which will take you to a screen showing your various posting options.

A simple entry of “EntryTitle EntryUrl” will tweet the title of your Dreamwidth post followed by a link to that post, but you have several other options as well, including a timestamp (“EntryPublished”) or free text of your choice.

For my own Dreamwidth account, I entered “Dreamwidth: EntryTitle EntryUrl”, which produces a result like this:

Step Five: Finish!

Once you have your tweet format set up the way you want it, click on “Create action” and you’re done! You’ll be given the chance to review your applet and make any final edits you might want. Once you approve the applet, it will go into the “My Applets” library. Then all you have to do is add a new post to your Dreamwidth journal, and your Twitter followers will be notified.

This same method can be used to create a wide variety of “cross-posters,” which is handy for anyone who runs more than one blog or other content creation service. The results may vary from service to service— different blogs have different methods of consuming and posting RSS feeds— but it is very flexible tool.

-The Gneech

While crunching away on everything else, I have managed to do a few bits of art in-between. And here they are! Because I love you.

Finally, after however many years, I’ve got revised business cards on the way, with new avatar, the current websites, and a new funny bullet.

Graveyard Greg asked me to do up a Ghostbusters-themed badge for BLFC. The theme is ’80s-tasticness in general, with emphasis on pink and purple, so I went with more of the “Real Ghostbusters” style than the movie guys. And of course, with a GB pic, I couldn’t resist a little self-insert.

I have no idea who the wolf gal is, but she’s blonde and she’s got glam stars on her cheek– that’s ’80s enough for me!

It’s almost time for Jenny Everywhere day, 2013! My submission this year has Jenny catching a ride on a handy airship! I decided to make her human, just to be different, using Nichelle Nichols as my inspiration.

If any woman ever deserved a steampunk fantasy action show of her own, it’s Nichelle Nichols!

If you’ve never heard about Jenny Everywhere, check her out: www.jennyeverywhereday.com.

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

So this morning my various social media feeds are buzzing with the story of the gal who dated a geek, discovered he was a geek and went “OMG Yuck!” and then proceeded to post a ranty blog about it, only to have the rest of the internet rightly tell her what a nasty thing she’d done.

Okay. I would submit that anybody who posts to any blog anywhere has no business blasting someone for being a geek, but that just serves to underscore the ridiculousness of her tirade. But that’s not the point.

See, almost immediately after I read that, another story came up about women bloggers being systematically targeted with death threats pretty much for being women with opinions about things. That leads me to look at some of the more vicious reactions to the gal’s rant with a bit of a wince.

Having recently been blasted for stating what I thought was a perfectly reasonable opinion and having the reaction be that Diana’s pack of hounds chased me down and tore me to shreds, I find myself in the curious position of being sympathetic to Alyssa Bereznak, not for her piece (which was awful) but for waking up one morning to discover that the internet hates you.

It’s not fun.

So please internet, I ask you, exercise some restraint. Yes, her blasting of Jon Finkel was not cool, but she’s a human being too. Don’t forget that.

-The Gneech

PS: Spreading the word about this idea would be appreciated. Thanks!

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

Part two of The Three Micahs take on pricing and art. Much food for thought here!

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

Episode 001

Come on over, give it a listen, tell your friends! Hear Graveyard Greg lose it over the opening stinger for the Bloody Pen of the Ranting Editor!

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

So somebody posted to me in a comment, “Are you on Twitter?” I was somewhat surprised by the question, given how much I talk about my various internet connections. I am the sinister spider at the center of a malignant web! Er, I’ve made an effort to reach out across a variety of platforms, because some readers prefer one over another and I’m trying to make my work available to everyone who might be interested. I am that needy an attention-hound.

So! For all those who are interested, here’s a rundown of the various ways you can find me online:

• gneech.com — Your one-stop Gneech shop. Includes all of the following links, as well as stories, reviews, periodic fits of madness, and bad poetry.
• RSS — An RSS feed of my gneech.com posts.
• LiveJournal — Still my “social medium” of choice, LJ also includes my more personal ramblings.
• Facebook — I don’t care for FB myself, but some of my readers use it exclusively.
• @the_gneech on Twitter
• Goodreads.com — My Goodreads.com author page. I could use some more friends there!
• Amazon — My Amazon author page, such as it is. Not the easiest thing in the world to maintain.
• DeviantArt — A smattering of my art.
• Artspots — A gallery of my furry art.
• FurAffinity — Another gallery of art. Warning: Not always the most family-friendly of sites.

…I think that covers ‘em all, or at least all the major ones. So! Pick your favorite and hang on for dear life! If anyone has suggestions for places I should be but I’m not, I’d love to hear them.

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

Noted here for my own reference as much as anything, Writing for Comic Books, by Joe Edkin. Lots of detailed discussion, well thought-out.

Definitely worth a read for comic creator-types!

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

Just a shout to my crisp and lovely U.K. fans — the collected Fictionlets are now available for the Kindle via Amazon.co.uk!

Volume I

Volume II

Come and see me at Confuzzled next year, and I’ll happily sign the screen of your e-reader!

…Okay, maybe I won’t do that. But still! At a mere £0.74 each, what have you got to lose?

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

Something that pleases me no end is when somebody buys an ad on gneech.com that catches my eye and turns out to be very cool indeed. Such is the case with The Three Micahs, a blog by M.C.A. Hogarth (a.k.a. “Haikujaguar”) about the business end of creative pursuits. In an engaging and perky writing style she gives artistic types — often less-than-stellar businesspeople — useful tips for getting their heads out of the clouds long enough to actually succeed and hopefully even prosper at their vocation. My first introduction to the blog was a banner ad at the top of my own site (proof that advertising works ).

I am particularly impressed at the holistic (and pragmatic) approach she takes to the artistic life, including the necessity for most of having a day job. Far from seeing this as a curse, she spends a lot of time showing how to integrate the day job into the whole package and use it to fuel your art.

Above all, your #1 strategy: if the job isn’t working for you, start looking for a new one. This Day Job is not your career. Your goal is to make enough money to free yourself from some (or all) of your financial anxieties and to get out of the studio… not to chain yourself to a miserable existence. Remember the mindsets: I am not my Day Job, and I am allowed to choose the work I do. Arm yourself with these realizations and keep looking until you find the right fit.

She also illustrates the blog with cartoon jaguars, so what’s not to love? All my fellow woolly-headed artistic types, I heartily recommend you check it out.

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

What writer hasn’t been here?

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.