How to Create a 3 Column Blog

This article saved my Dreams of Fantasy Photos' life.

It's my favorite article because of its ease of reading it and applying its tutorial to create such a blog.

Hacking Blogger Beta: Building a Three Column Template
By: KumikoClick here for the original article

Note: Before you even attempt any of these steps, backup your blog template – just in case. Simply click the ‘Download Full Template’ link in the Blogger admin area to download it to your computer.

Step 1: Creating A Three Column Template

Note: These instructions apply to the existing Minima Templates in Blogger Beta yet the same principles apply to all templates.

The first thing you want to do is enter the ‘Edit HTML’ section for your blog through the Blogger admin area. Next, find this portion of the HTML (a simple, ‘find text’ search will suffice):

#sidebar-wrapper {
width: 220px;
float: right;word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

This bit of code defines the format of the sidebar for your blog which in the Minima Template is on the right. What we want to do is make a new sidebar with a new name (eg ‘new-sidebar’) and put it on the left hand side of the blog. Copy the code below and place it directly below the above code in your blog:

#newsidebar-wrapper {
width: 220px;
float: left;word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

The next part is a bit tricky. We’ve added a new column, but we haven’t changed the width of your blog. Look just above the code we just inserted in your blog to the #outer-wrapper section. Notice that the width is 660px. Yet what we have at this point is (left sidebar + main + right sidebar). Or (220px +410px +220px = 850px). Therefore, we need to change the width of the outer-wrapper so that it can fit our blog. You can vary the widths depending on the design of your blog, but in this example we’ll change the width to 850px so that the outer-wrapper section looks like this:

#outer-wrapper
{width: 850px;margin:0 auto;
padding:10px;
text-align:left;
font: $bodyfont;
}

Now we’ve defined the columns in our blog but we still need to put them into the blog. Next, we want to find the *div id=’sidebar-wrapper’* portion of the text. Once again, a simple ‘find text’ will suffice. It should look like this:

NOTE TO THE KIM2THEKIKO READERS: Unfortunately, I had to replace the brackets: <> with these stars: * and * or else it would've messed up the html on my homepage. So wherever you see the stars: * and * replace it with these brackets <>. I apologize for the inconvenience but please read on:

*div id=’sidebar-wrapper’*
*b:section class=’sidebar’ id=’sidebar’ preferred=’yes’*
*b:widget id=’BlogArchive1′ locked=’false’ title=’Blog Archive’ type=’BlogArchive’/*
*b:widget id=’Profile1′ locked=’false’ title=’About Me’ type=’Profile’/*
*/b:section*
*/div*

This section adds the existing sidebar to the blog. We want to change it a little so that we are adding the newsidebar on the left. Also, Blogger won’t let us have the same two elements in both sidebars, so we want to remove the ‘BlogArchive1′ and ‘Profile1′ part of the code. Add the following newsidebar code directly above the *div id=’main-wrapper’* part of the HTML:

*div id=’newsidebar-wrapper’*
*b:section class=’sidebar’ id=’newsidebar’ preferred=’yes’*
*b:widget id=’Text1′ locked=’false’ title=” type=’Text’/*
*/b:section*
*/div*

Save it and that’s it!! Go to the ‘Page Elements’ tab and you should see three columns in your blog ready to be edited!

Hacking Blogger Beta: Building a Three Column Template
By: Kumiko Click here for the original article

5 Ways To Boost Your Confidence

I'm a bit paranoid about when I post a blog with a link, that after a week the link will direct my readers to a blank page. So now I've decided to just copy and paste the whole article and leave the link at the top of the page. At least if they changed the link, you still have the article.

So read on:

5 Ways To Boost Your Confidence
Matthew Stefanson
For the original article click here

Not feeling comfortable in your own skin?
With all of the various social, moral and romantic quagmires in today's society, it's easy to lose confidence in your own abilities. We've all been told for years that the only thing a man really needs is the confidence to do whatever he wants, and like so many of the things we consider to be cliché, it is actually true. But how does one attain this magical feeling of power? How is one to quell the rebellious mental demons that seek to destroy the tender ego? Well dear readers, I, the swami of self-assurance, will reveal to you the broad strokes of acquiring your own mojo.

Style

Your outward image is the only way you can convince people you don't know that you are worth something. This doesn't exclusively mean your clothes, though they are a small part. It's how you carry yourself that really matters. Work on your posture and smile more; train your voice until you can be heard over a train. The only thing that matters is your attitude, so if you're even a moderately good actor, you can convince almost anyone that you're worth the effort. Maybe you can even convince yourself.

Conversation

The most common problem with conversation isn't the boring topics that most people view as trivial; it's not having the charisma to carry those topics out into something unique. You can talk about the weather and be fascinating, you can extol on the virtues of Snapple cap fun facts and capture the rapt attention of everyone around you. The wonderful thing about conversation is, the more you try at it, the easier it is to figure out. And the more you figure out, the more of it you will do.

If you're someone who has a real problem interacting with strangers, then a good way to gain some social grace is to just start talking. Start slow and simple; a hello to the fellow bagging your groceries, or a good morning to the bus driver. Baby steps, folks.

Become Fearless

This one may sound like non-advice, but I'm not advocating confidence as a cure for a lack of confidence. If it was that easy I would have stopped there. What this means is that you need to identify all of your irrational fears such as: fear of rejection and fear of awkward pauses. These might make you uncomfortable, they might give you some butterflies, but the only way to gain confidence is to fight against your ridiculous fears and realize that they don't matter. Even if you do fail, even if you stammer out something without getting a favourable response, remember, it doesn't matter. The consequences of such a thing are so minimal that they have no effect on you. There is nothing to fear.

Exercise

I know, this might be more than you bargained for, and how dare I mention a step that requires actual work? But this is one of the most important ways of gaining confidence in yourself and in your abilities. Something as simple as lifting weights or running on a treadmill can do wonders for you. The crazy thing is, it's not because you get in better shape, though that is a nice side effect. The point of this is to give yourself goals that you can attain. Try to run farther, swim more laps or add more weight to your routine. The ability to set goals and actually reach them is an incredible boost to anyone's ego. Your improvement is the best thing you can do for yourself. This leads me to the next item on our agenda.

Success

The fact is that success is an addictive and evolving process. Every new victory gives you fuel to power you through the next hurdle. It doesn't have to be anything major. You don't have to be a captain of industry. Start with something simple; learn how to shoot a bow, take an improv class or become the world thumb-wrestling champion. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's important to you, it will help in your everyday interactions with the rest of the world.

_______________________
you, but better

So there you have it. You might have noticed that at no time did the words, "be yourself," appear in this article. This is because it doesn't really work. Being yourself is a right you have to earn and can abuse once you've tricked someone into being friends with you. Your job for the first few months is to make yourself as interesting and wonderful as possible.

5 Ways To Boost Your Confidence
Matthew Stefanson
For the original article click here

Hope You've Been Exercising

Especially since all the Christmas parties are being planned at this very moment.

Whether it's a work party or a church event, get your body ready to digest all those extra calories. Just eating a bowl of salad at the restaurants is full of unneeded calories!

If you've been exercising already I suggest to add another 15 to 30 minutes to your workout! And for the couch potatoes, I suggest walking to work/school/or other place of regular duties instead of the car or bus. If walking is too long, just take a shorter bus ride and walking longer to work. Also taking the stairs instead of the elevator is a good idea and maybe even eating more breakfast (wake up earlier so that you can have time to prepare it) but eat less supper.And one last thing... please stay alive during the holiday festivities:

Be safe and plan ahead for transportation for the holiday parties please.
Drinking = NO DRIVING.
And if you do drink and you were the one who was suppose to drive your friends/co-workers back home PLEASE PAY FOR A TAXI. Yes I know you don't want to waste your money but think about it, is it really wasting money to save your life and someone else's? Don't be ashamed if you drank a little too much at the company Christmas party. It's worth it to leave your car at the restaurant and get it back in the morning.

If you want more tips about well-being during the holidays just check out the links below:

1. Healthy Holidays
2. Healthy Christmas
3. Healthy New Year's
4. Drinking and Driving during the Holidays
5. M.A.D.D during the Holidays
6. M.A.D.D

The Initials "dof" Mean a lot to Me

Read on for those who never knew...

At 16yrs old I had broken up with my first high school boyfriend. After the breakup it triggered a perception about a world that I've always wanted to live in. I tried writing a novel about it but I had too many ideas, maybe one day someone could help me with that. The world was suppose to be called "Dreams of Fantasy." This is the reason why I call my main blog Dreams of Fantasy instead of "Kim2theKiko's Blog." Kiko was one of the characters I created for the new world.

Also I am one of the "Daughters of Florence." Pretty cool huh? My best friend J.T and I came up with the initials (her's is D.O.A, Daughter of Anne). We would use these initials when we would pass notes to each other in the hallways in high school.

Oh, by the way we passed notes because we only had 4mins between classes to chat. Two girls can't talk for only 4mins!!!

So this is what D.O.F means to me...
And I thank you for understanding.

I Am a Morning Person 002

Just as long as I've had a good night's rest.

Here's my current schedule:

4:45 am: Workout with Maya
5:30 am: Breakfast
6:00 am: Shower/Clothes/hair
7:00 am: Clean room/check emails
7:20 am: Leave for work!
4:45 pm: Finish work
5:10 pm: Train back home
6:00 pm: Supper
6:30 pm: Getting ready to go out/stay home to relax

Compare this schedule with my April one.

This Will Become My Career

I love my new job!Where I work is called eXplorance.

They are the founders of an entreprise software called Blue (software used only in business). Blue is a survey creating software. Think of it this way: Photoshop is a software program that you install onto your computer so that you can create photos, images, pictures etc. So Blue is a program that is installed in company computers (on the network though) so that they can create surveys. Companies need surveys to evaluate personnel, products and services so that they can find out their strengths and work on their weaknesses. They may use the surveys on their own employees to rate employee satisfaction on: paid vacation time, managers/supervisors, even satisfaction on the availability of parking or they use it on their clients to rate services/products.

My first week was great. I'm just learning how to run Blue. After my learning period is over, my job will be testing Blue. I guess you can call me a Blue Tester! Have you heard of those guys who get paid for playing video games? Well, what they're really suppose to be doing is testing the video game to see if there are any glitches/bugs. Then they have to write a report on these bugs to inform the video game creators to fix them. That is the jist of my job, test Blue, report bugs and inform the Blue creators what needs to be fixed.There is a lot to learn. Not only do I need to know how to run Blue, I need to know how to install it over a network, because it is a server based program and just understanding the server is a job in itself. My computer education is limited to just installation of the computer's hardware (building a regular computer from scratch) and software (installation and customization of the Operating System and various programs, for example: the BIOS, Windows, programs of Windows/etc).

I take the train to work which is better than driving. Instead of paying attention to the road, I can review my notes and read non-related literature.

I'm excited for my second week!
Well that's it for this post so this is me signing off!

Bye!