New Technologies

New technologies ?? Well, new for me anyway, some of them have been out for a while. Here are a few of my favourites:

Prezi: Use Prezi to create funky presentations easily. I created one about Disaster Recovery for SQL Databases. You can see it here, it's really simple and took about two minutes to create.

Survey Monkey An online Survey Builder. I have not created any, only used them. Mumsnet use Survey Monkey when they are seeking bloggers to test a certain product. Sharepoint also has a Survey tool. Try it out !

Pingg I created some electronic inviations for my recent 'Not-Insignificant' birthday. If you're fed up with paper invitations and want to do something a little more modern, then try this. You can also use it for 'Save the Dates' and to send Thank You messages after the event.

Voki Use voki to create an avatar with voice. The image at the top of this page is created using an avatar site without voice - I think it was Doppel Me It's a pretty good avatar, but I really wanted an Avatar with voice.  I added this one to my facebook profile instead..

About Me A great web page to fill with information all about yourself ! Add your facebook account, twitter account, an email address, work details etc. If you click the link you will go to one that I created in just a few minutes.

QR Codes are those odd-looking squares with lots of dots and squares that you see on products, in newspapers, and out and about. To be able to read these codes you need a QR-code reader on your phone, tablet or other electronic device.

I just created a QR code really quickly at the QR Codes site using the  samelink in the About Me above. Please see ir below, try and read it with your phone and see that it takes you to the same link.

Well, have fun trying some of these out.

Turning Forty

Just a matter of days ago, I turned 40..

I had already had a legacy moment a few years ago, when I started to question what my footprint on the world might be.. and, whilst keeping this on a quiet simmer, as I approached this milestone birthday, this feeling burned even more..

As it happens, this coincided nicely with CC finishing her first year at grammar school. CC has shown such amazing independence this year, which has given me the confidence to be able to branch out.

I must just mention, by the way, that CC has just been selected to represent her borough at the London Youth Games 2013 taking place in July. I'm so pleased for her. She will be competing in the Aquathon event - swimming 200m and running 1km. Good luck CC!

But more about my life decisions later, I ran a great half marathon a couple of weeks ago, but it has to be said that the less I am running, the less I feel like running. Even though I know I feel great after it ! That's not good is it. So, what to do ? Well, I need to find a new focus, in terms of a new race, so if you know of a good running event coming up, please leave me a comment.

Another aside, I must say 'Well done' (understatement!) to my cousin, who just ran an absolutely amazing time of 3:36 in Milton Keynes marathon a couple of weeks ago. That really is a fantastic result, and I'll be honest, I'm jealous, but only because, at the moment at least, that seems like a time that will never, ever be possible for me. (I'm crying into my hankie... regretting mispent youth, and all that...) That really is an excellent, excellent time and, dare I say it, particularly for a female runner.

I've been having some fun online lately extending my social profile. So, you can now find a little page about me here: http://About.Me/Carolyn.McNamara or you can connect with me on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is such a fantastic networking tool. Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter, my twitter name is @KookyGirlBlog

Returning to the original post title, just exactly how did I celebrate my birthday? Well, firstly BB and CC took me to Sardinia for the Easter break. We flew there, and had the most fabulous time, the sun shone and the Italian food was amazing, and the people so friendly. I want to go back !!

Then, on the eve of my birthday, I had a huge party, with all my family and friends. We built a marquee in the garden. BB was very popular with the music as he had pre-compiled a play list of music videos from my 'formative' years, we then connected the PC to the TV monitor, and we got an extra long HDMI cable and had another TV monitor in the marquee. So, we had five hours of classic music videos.. 'Ice, Ice Baby' at 3am anyone ?

To be honest, I don't like to be the focus of too much attention..therefore I didn't have an 18th, a 21st, a 30th or  a big wedding.. I decided that this was therefore a time to celebrate.

I would love to hear how you are extending your social profile, or celebrating your special days this year. You know what to do...leave me a comment !!