Some of you may have noticed whenever I leave Comments on the Blog a little picture of a Gecko shows up next to my Comment. Or, that recently Bruce added his ACS Class picture to show next to his Comments. And, if you visit many blogs on the Internet, you’ve probably noticed many of the people leaving Comments on blogs have pictures also, while others don’t.
So, what are these and how can I get one – you ask?
The little pictures are Avatars. You might say they are your personal icon. They can be created from any picture.
Now if you tie an Avatar to an email address it becomes a Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar).
Once you create and register your Gravatar it will follow you around the Internet and show up any place where you use the email address it is tied too.
Click Here to read the Wikipedia article to learn all the details about Gravatars.
You can create an unlimited number of Avatars and Gravatars. If you create more then one Gravatar you can use different ones at different places on the Internet. You can also have multiple pictures associated with the same email address so you can change from one picture to another anytime you want too.
For example, you could create a Gravatar to use on our Saigon Kids blog by using an email address with your ACS Class picture tied to it, as Bruce has done. Then every time you leave Comments on our blog it would show up (you have to enter the email address tied to your class picture when you leave your Comment. If you use another email address not tied to your class picture, your Gravatar will not show). Now say you were in the military during the Viet-nam War and you belong to a site about your old military unit. You can use a different email address and tie a picture to it which has to do with your old military unit, then use that email address on the military site.
Or, say you want to have several different pictures tied to your email address you use on our Saigon Kids blog so you can change the picture whenever you get the mood too. For example, you could have an ACS Class picture, a picture of a Ba Muoi Ba bottle, a picture of you as an ACS Cheerleader, a picture of your motor cycle in Saigon – then simply switch the picture around whenever you want too.
Yes, yes I hear you now thinking this sounds complicated, geeky and really techie – LOL – :).
Well, actually it is so simple a 6 year old can create a Gravatar (it might be questionable for 60 year olds tho – LOL).
So to make this EASY for you to learn how to create your very own personal Gravatar here is a video made by my friend Joey Smith that will show you step by step (in Plain English) how to create your Gravatar. Just follow the video and you’ll have your Gravatar in a few minutes …
NOTE: If the video is too small for you to see the details clearly go to *full screen* mode by clicking the Full Screen *Tab* located in the bottom right corner of the video player (2nd tab in from the left – 4 arrows). You can return here from Full Screen mode by hitting your *ESC* key on your keyboard.
Click Here to go make your Gravatar.
I hope you found this helpful. I’ll be posting another video in a few days that will show you sites where you can create cartoon and animated Gravatars, as well as, some other cool things.
Rock Onnnnn … Saigon Kids 🙂
Bob
See !!! What did I tell you !!! Intellectual stuff from Bob. I’ll try it Bob, but if it gives me headaches, I’m coming after you with an axe. Ken
Ken – Here is a ‘tip’ about the gravatars: Tie your gravatar to the same email address you have in your Profile here on the blog. Or, change the email address in your Profile here on the blog to the email address you tie your gravatar too. Then your gravatar will show automatically when you leave Comments on the blog, etc.
Bob
Ken – way to go! Welcome to the land of Gravatars – LOL – 🙂
Bob
Hey, Ken! You should talk! I had to do a whole lot of research to finally figure out what you meant when you wrote about a “leaf elephant” awhile back. Talk about intellectual!!! But then a German friend clued me in to its real name: “Laubsauger” … i.e., “leaf vacuum”. But come to think about it, it does sort of look like an elephant, doesn’t it? Here’s a picture of a fellow holding the “trunk” of a and sucking up those pesky leaves.
Bruce
Bruce – I think the ‘leaf elephant’ would make a reallyyyyyyyyyy KEWL gravatar for Ken … since he LOVESSSSSS those leaves (and acorns) sooooooo MUCH!! … ha ha ha … 🙂
Bob
I had no idea what the “elephant’ was called in German…anything with a long hose like that just had to be an elephant to me. The idea is pretty cool, I think. Amazing what engineers can come up with.
Ken – Yes, it is amazing what “intellectuals” (engineers) can come up with … ha ha ha … 🙂
Gee, I wonder what they call the trucks with the long hoses on them, that suck the stuff out of the sewers and spetic tanks … LOL – 🙂 … let your imagination run with that and DO NOT say what you are thinking ON HERE!!! – LOL – This is a “G” rated blog – ROFL 🙂
Rock onnnnn
Bob
[Drat those pesky HTML tags that need a stopper.] Let’s try that again. Here’s a picture of a fellow holding the “trunk” of a Leaf Elephant and sucking up those pesky leaves.
Bruce
Bruce – enlarge the pix … I swear that is KEN holding the trunk of that elephant!!! – ROFL – 🙂
Bob
Bob, how do I see it?
Never mind….Wow, I did it….
Ken – Seeeeeeee told ya a 6 year old could DO IT!! – ROFL – 🙂
Rock Onnnnn
Bob
Ken – Stop having “senior moments” and you’ll see it – ROFL – 🙂
Bob
A strong maybe for the reunion! I’m working in Phnom Penh for at least a few months. Should be back in NC by March unless there is an extension.