Karma Thegsum Choling Minneapolis

Daily tormas that will be offered during the Long Amitabha Puja.

Notes and information provided to assist with your use of the KTC Minneapolis Web Log (KtcBlog).

If you should need any assistance please feel free to contact me. You can reach me at: tomwaknitz@ktcminneapolis.org

Web logs, short for web (internet) based logs have sprung up almost over night. Today it is simply called “Blog” or “Blogging”. The reason for its virtual over night success are the tools and features provided, giving internet users the ability to organize mountains of information into manageable content.

My hope is to provide information (as non-geeky as possible) to gently instruct you in your use of the new KTC Minneapolis Web Log, or KtcBlog for short.

If you are using Macintosh / Safari take a quick look at the Macintosh page under Operating Systems for an alternative.

It might be helpful to just print this page first

1. Go to http://bloglines.com/ on the Internet by typing that address into the address window of your Internet browser (usually at the top –a narrow, white horizontal rectangle) and clicking the “Go” or arrow button to the right of that address window. Or you can click on the blue-highlighted link just above (print out this page first for reference).

2. Point your mouse to the “sign up now, It’s free!” line in the middle of the page and click on that.

3. At the registration screen, give them one of your e-mail addresses. It must be a working one that you have access to right now. Invent a password, provide your local time zone, your default language, and I would leave “subscribe to bloglines newsletter” unchecked for now.

4. Click on “register”. Once you have done that the web page will update and you will receive the following: “You are registered with Bloglines. Soon you will receive a confirmation email. Reply to that and you will be fully registered.”

5. Sign in to the e-mail account of the address you listed in registration and wait.

6. Within three minutes, you will receive a confirmation e-mail to the address you gave Bloglines. Open that e-mail.

7. In the text will be a “confirmation link.” That will be an Internet address that looks something like http:www.bloglines.com/val?key=wl8JANRH-TO. In some e-mail programs, that Internet address will be underlined and appear in blue type. Simply click on it. (If it appears in plain text, you will have to copy it into the address window of your browser; the easiest way to do this is to use the cut/copy/paste feature in your computer, then click “go.”)

8. Your browser will then take you to a welcome page for Bloglines.

9. In the upper left hand corner you will see “My Feeds”, select it by clicking on it once.

10. Right below the “My Feeds” tab after the Web site refreshes you will see “add”, select it by click on it once.

11. After the Web site refreshes you will see “Blog or Feed URL:” and an open space to type in information. Fill this open are with http://www.ktcminneapolis.org/ktcblog/ and click “subscribe. The easiest way to do this is to use the cut/copy/paste feature in your computer, then click “subscribe.”)

12. On the next page after the Web site refresh there is a bunch of scary technical looking stuff. All you need to do is put a check mark in the box under “Karma Thegsum Choling Minneapolis”. You do this by clicking on the box next to “subscribe to this feed”. Then select “subscribe” by clicking on it at the bottom of the page. NOTE: Sometimes in setting this up I have seen multiple KTC Blog feeds, just select one. The top one has usually been correct, reading something like this http://www.ktcminneapolis.org/ktcblog [http://www.ktcminneapolis.org/ktcblog/feed/]

13. At this point you should be back to the orginal “My Feeds” page on the left side. You should now see 2 feeds; one for bloglines and the other for Karma Thegsum Choling Minneapolis. If you click on that link you can begain to read the RSS Feed created at KTC Minneapolis. What fun!!!

14. Create a bookmark in your browser for http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs Your computer should store your password and log-on info so that bloglines will open automatically when you click on that bookmark. The page automatically refreshes itself every few minutes to let you know how many unread postings are in your list of feeds.

If you would like further assistance please see the support page.

Over time I will be adding notes for alternative RSS feed readers. However, for now we are going with the keep it simple method. If there is something you would like assistance with please feel free to ask

If you would like further assistance please see the support page.

What is a “feed”?

It is a Web product that allows you easily to see (and read, if you wish) what is new on the Web site and Web logs you visit most often.

Why can’t I just visit these sites myself, one by one?

You can. This way is easier.

What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a great way for you to know when new information is posted on a Web site you subscribe to. RSS is an XML (Extensible Markup Language)-based format for distributing Web content.

How do I read RSS feeds?

You can setup up a service provided through your internet browser (for beginners) or you can download and install a RSS reader on your computer or web browser (a little more advanced).

Does it work on Macintosh, Linux, and Windows?

Yes. I will begin to provide instructions for various operating systems.

Generally speaking in the open sources internet browsers (Safari, Firefox, etc) there is a built in RSS Feed reader built in.

We will start nice and easy though

Notes and information provided to assist with your use of the KTC Minneapolis Web Log (KtcBlog).

If you would like further assistance please see the support page.

Use energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs. An excellent selection is available from www.buylighting.com.

(In the 1970’s) “… We had even obtained the use of a large property near Lake Perry not far from the Topeka city limits where the marchers could camp. This was an important halfway stop for the Indians because the marchers who had come all the way from the West Coast were joined by runners from the North, and the two movements merged and joined forces. Their numbers grew to over one thousand and they remained at the Kansas campsite for over one week …

The Indians broke camp quickly and quietly and set out on their eastward journey at sunrise one morning and, though for many days hundreds of them - men, women, and children - had cooked, slept, and played on the land and held their many sweats and ceremonies, they left not one single sign that they had ever been there.”

Doug Boyd from MAD BEAR Spirit, Healing, and the Sacred in the Life of a Native American Medicine Man by Doug Boyd. Simon & Schuster, 1994.

“We always compare the records and the prophesies when we get together with Tibetans. They’re pretty much the same because we’re the same people-you know, from the same original roots.”
Mad Bear

From MAD BEAR Spirit, Healing, and the Sacred in the Life of a Native American Medicine Man by Doug Boyd. Simon & Schuster, 1994.

Eat less

KTC Sangha members learning the Long Amitabha Sadhana with Lama WuuFang, April 2006.