And the winner is:

I've been having fun playing around with all the little blogging widgets, but I've been slow to add permanent links other than my own, 'cause I don't want to end up with a list a mile long. So, I'm picky/persnickity/choosy/hard-to-please/dense.

But, I've decided that my first permanent link has to be awarded to: That Blogging Wheelchair, authorified by a blogger extraordinaire, who doesn't let her Quadriplagerism "stand" in the way of her keen sense of humor. Congratulations, Ruth Harrigan!!

I have a lot of physical problems myself, Ruth, but they're dwarfed by my mental ones.

Elvish Names

Alert Blogger & Greader* Ma Titwonky brought up the importance of us human-type people having our names translated to Elvish, and lamented that she couldn't find the Elvish name generator/translator she used in the past.

Well, Ma, ya came to the right Blog. There are actually lots of Elvish name translators on the Web (not to be confused with Elvis name translators), but only one of them is actually sponsored by The Intergalactic Union of Elves, and that's the one coded up by Chris Wetherell, Google User Interface Engineer.

Would you believe Chris' engine has over 4.692^32 trillion lines of complex code that carefully evaluates every nuance of every Elvish word from every current and long-demised dialects? Translating 'Ma Titwonky' results in "Ireth Arnatuilë", but you might want to try the engine with other options such as middle name instead of first or last name, or a pen name (e.g. Bic or Papermate).

Your Blog Pal,
Findecáno Singollo (John Lambert)

*Blog comes from Web Log, so I figure Greader comes from Blog Reader. And every Elf I've discussed this with agrees with me.

Put your Blog's name on T-shirts for Free!

You can promote your Blog by putting your Blog's name on dozens of items such as:

T-shirts, hats, mugs, underwear, pillows, teddy-bears, clocks, magnets, post-cards, and much more, all for free! Not only is it a great way to promote your Blog, you may also earn a few bucks.

Here's how it works: You create a graphic design and upload it to your account at CafePress.com, and then associate each design with a set of products. When a customer orders one, CafePress screen-prints the item just for that customer, so there's no wasted inventory. CafePress sets a base price for every item, and you set your retail price. For example, the base price of a black t-shirt is $18.99, so if you set your price at $21.99, you'll earn $3 for each one that sells. And the best part is that CafePress takes care of all the real work: credit card processing, order handling, customer support, dealing with returns (under the 30 day satisfaction guarantee!), etc.

How much does it cost? More good news... There's an option that lets you have your own store totally free. There's also a $60/year option, but I recommend you start with the free option for your blog. You can have as many free "stores" as you want, but each one is limited to one of each product they sell. For example, you can only have one black t-shirt per free store. The $60/yr premium store gives you unlimited product/design combinations, and gives you extra control over things such as layout.

Need help creating a graphic for your Blog? Just post a comment to this post, and I'll take a crack at creating one for you. (I may have to stop this offer if I get too many requests... I don't have a whole lot of spare time.) Or, just go to Cool Text and use their free cool tool.

If you want to says thanks: If you appreciate my telling you about this opportunity, you can help me out, and it won't cost you a dime: When you sign up to open your CafePress account, please put "ElfInk" in the referral box (see image below). That way I'll get a small commission of your first year's sales, but it comes out of CafePress's money, not yours! Here's the link to get started:

Open a Free CafePress Store!