I want a free laptop

What's New is Old Again?

2008-02-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

1984 - Revenge of the Nerds:

2008 - Grammy Awards:

Say Bye-bye to Netscape

2007-12-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

After a near fourteen year run, Netscape is no more. AOL is kickin' it to the curb. In case you didn't know, Firefox is Netscape's little brother. The Mosaic killer is going strong.

In honor of Netscape, do this: open any Mozilla derivative browser and type: "about:mozilla" (no quotes) and see what you get.

Adobe Udating the Updater... INFINITY!

2007-12-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

be
"The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"

I got this Adobe CS2 updater message while doing an update at work. One would think that Adobe could afford a few decent technical writers (in order to avoid these sort of things).

No. There is an elephant in the way.

2007-10-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

They got a "0" for that? I would have given them a 100!

Fujiya & Miyagi Ankle Injuries

2007-09-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Net Neutrality Explained

2007-09-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Little Superstar

2007-09-19T08:18:00.001-07:00

Zombie Kid Likes Turtles

2007-09-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Social Networking Sites: The Ultimate Stalker's Resource?

2007-09-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, Facebook, Friendster, and MySpace are the ultimate stalker's web sites. I have been a Facebook user for a few years now, but I have never gotten into MySpace. MySpace bugs me. I hate the busy web pages people put up, as well as the noisy music they add to their pages. Blah! Friendster is a great place to meet a 14 year old girl, but sorry, I am not in the market.

I am quite sure people get an immense amount of entertainment value from social networking sites, I see them on computer screens all day while at work. I think the public computers at Ohio University would be less crowded if students did their school work and not looked at social networking sites! :-)

I have noticed in the last year that the public is more aware of the dangers of social networking sites and the site owners have made many improvements in keeping their users safe. I just hope that the users know that all that personal information that they put up is being data-mined and looked at by the entire world.

Podcasts: TV and Radio?

2007-09-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, some smart cookies figured out that they could make Internet radio shows, rip them to MP3, Real Audio, etc. and release them on the Internet. Fast forward to 2001, Apple made a splash with the iPod (why does it seem like iPods have been around for longer than that to me?). The fad caught on, Apple then added an easy Podcast interface to iTunes. Video podcasts evolved and became more popular. Apple then decided that watching videos on an iPod was commercially marketable, and the Video iPod was born.

I have listened to audio podcasts on my iPod for several years now. For me, not a single home improvement project or a lawn-mowing session goes by without listening to one of my favorite podcasts or a rockin' tune from my iPod.

Here's the deal, you don't need an iPod or or any other brand of MP3 player to listen to or watch podcasts. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. You can watch/listen to many podcasts via a web browser, Real Player, or iTunes, VLC, as well as a few other players. It's easy to subscribe in a browser via using RSS.

Here's a few of my favorite podcasts:

Web-based Apps: The Next Wave?

2007-09-18T06:02:00.001-07:00

Online applications have been in the technology news for a long time, but it seems like they have never really broken through to the mainstream. Years ago, I remember reading about Larry Ellison (of Oracle) giving a speech about an inexpensive computer system that would be Internet networked-based, getting it's apps off of Oracle's network. That idea never really got off the ground.

I started using Google Docs last year. It's a pretty decent little suite of web-apps. You can create or import word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation documents. I have used it to save a few things that I use or print a frequently (like directions to my house, etc.). It works rather well for me.

Here's a Zoho Writer document that was exported as a public HTML web page:Web-based Productivity Applications. You will find a list of web-based apps.

Scope out this document that I imported into Google Docs and published for public viewing: How To Win 23 Quick Reference.

Wiki? Is That a Hawaiian Bus?

2007-09-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

I love wikis. Any run of the mill guy or gal can share their knowledge (however incorrect or incomplete) with the world. The next person comes along, and says: "Hey, they don't know what they are talking about" and cleans it up a bit. Wikis are free information, not always reliable, but damn, are they a true form of democracy.

I have created several wikis on Wikipedia. I think Wikipedia is just swell. Here's one of my favorites that I created: Athens Lunatic Asylum.
Here's a library related wiki: Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. It has some great information on getting your library "2.0'ed." Libraries can benefit from wikis in many ways. The most obvious to me is getting information to patrons in a quick and easy way.
Here's a link to the WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki.

Library 2.0 & Web 2.0: Just More Buzzwords?

2007-09-18T04:08:00.000-07:00

I hear stuff like "Library 2.0" and "Web 2.0" a lot at work and it usually makes me cringe. I looked at the Wikipedia Library 2.0 entry for some insight. I found out that the term Library 2.0 was originally coined by Michael Casey on his blog LibraryCrunch (Library Crunch? Is that cereal?). The crux of it is that library services are frequently evaluated and updated to meet the changing needs of library users. Library 2.0 sounds like a new, great theory. But as I read on, it might just be something that's been around for a while and simply has a new name. I

I then read the Wikipedia entry for Web 2.0. To me, it was verbose and did not give much insight. I loved this sentence: "Given the lack of set standards as to what "Web 2.0" actually means, implies, or requires, the term can mean radically different things to different people." Hmm... I found a listing for travel 2.0 as well, and let me tell you, it's even more of a "2.0" explanation than I expected.

As a side note, I am currently working on "Me 2.0." I am operating in the "Me 1.5 Beta Version" right now. I was once asked if I was into Second Life and I replied: "Once I get my first life straitened out, maybe I can work on a second one."

Technorati

2007-09-18T03:09:00.001-07:00

Technorati started out as a search tool for blogs but now features other web content such as video, photos, audio, etc. To get your blog listed, go to the Memeber Sign Up page and create an account. Make sure you click the box to "Claim" your blog and follow the directions.

There's a section in Technorati called: "WTF." You may ask "WTF is it?" Well, it stands for Where's the Fire and it is designed to highlight what is hot on the web. The users post the entries and can vote on them. I scoped a few entries out and I was not all too impressed. I even a saw a few that looked like spam posts. WTF? all right!

In a previous blog (Give RSS Feeds a Chance?), I talked about RSS and listed a few search tools. This time around, I fooled around with Technorati Advanced Search, and it worked quite well for the searches that I made. I think I still dig Digg the most, but Technorati is growing on me.

you.should.try.del.icio.us

2007-09-18T02:44:00.000-07:00

A cute use of URL, and a helpful service: del.icio.us. Have.you.ever.tried.del.icio.us? Well.maybe.you.should. It is a good tool if you are like me (and use a multitude of computers throughout the day). Here's a decent guide on using delicious: Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us. Make sure you look over the section on using Firefox Live Bookmarks because it makes life even easier.

Another tool for multiple computer users (that use Firefox and have a Google account) is the Add-on: "Firefox Google Bookmarks." It creates menu to access Google Bookmarks from any computer.

Hey Dude, Roll One for Me!

2007-09-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to make you own search engine? Well, now you can... sort of. Rollyo is powered by Yahoo!, and you simply add a web site URL (or up to 25 total), and give it a name. Then you are off searching. You can get examples, or even modify a popular search to meet your needs. Try it out: http://www.rollyo.com/createroll.html#createsearch.

Making a Rollyo Firefox Search Plugin
You can add a custom Rollyo Firefox search plugin to your FireFox Searchbox too. If you use Firefox, this adds even more functionality and convenience to Rollyo.

Making a Rollyo Searchbox for your Web Site
You can add a Rollyo searchbox for your very own web site. Just plug in your website name and URL in a form and it will generate the code. Copy and paste, then your done. Try it yourself: http://www.rollyo.com/searchbox.html.

I made this searchbox that searches this site:

Making Your Own Firefox Search Plugin Without Rollyo
Not into Yahoo! or Rollyo? Do any of you hackers and/or crackers out there want to make your own Firefox search plugin? Here's a "Quick start guide to creating Mozilla-Search plugins" that will help you do that. Don't get excited now people, it's not that tough once you've read through it. When you bust-out your first search plugin, just thank our always innovative buddies at Apple for cooking up the standard via Sherlock, oh so many years ago (1998 to be exact).

If you don't like any of this, just sit back and eat a ROLO Carmel.

LibraryThing

2007-09-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Do you secretly want to be a librarian? Do you have the urge to catalog everything? Do you want to find books based on what you own or already have read? Well you little nerd, I might have just the thing for you: LibraryThing. You can not only catalog your books, but get this: it's also a social networking site for book nerds! You can even get recommendations based on the books in you catalog.

Here's a catalog that I started in less than a minute: My Catalog. I don't think I will ever use this site much, or perhaps ever again, but it was a fun few minutes of looking at books.

Web-based Generators

2007-09-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun blog: The Generator Blog. It's a blog that provides links of web-based generators that range from a rumor at Apple, ASCII art, a typo, to a Spell with flickr generator.

I made a sign with the Gas Station Sign Generator:

Give RSS Feeds a Chance?

2007-09-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to be more of an RSS guy, I look at a few RSS search tools. Here's my rundown:

Feedster - Using Feedster, you can search RSS feeds in news, blogs, and podcasts. It seems like a jumbled mess to me. The page layout is ugly and confusing to me. Yuck!
Syndic8.com - Using Syndic8 you will find a directory of RSS feeds that are user submitted. It is a sophomoric and unprofessional layout that is hard on the eyes and not much easier to use. Two thumbs down.
Topix.net - The Topix search tool can search RSS news feeds via a keyword or phrase. Although it only focuses on news and media outlet feeds, it is a nice layout with a pleasing look. The content organization is well-planned and very simplistic. It has local information forums and news, which make this site mildly interesting.
Bloglines - With Bloglines search tool you can search for news feeds, posts, citations, and even websites. The layout and organization is not too bad, but you have subscribe to use it. It comes in third place for me. I am still not hooked on RSS though!
Technorati - Technorati is a tool that lets you search for blogs, videos, movies, and news. I like the the "Popular" page, it shows popular blogs, web searches, videos, movies, and news. What came first, Digg or Technorati? The layouts look very similar to Digg. I would say this is my second favorite tool.
Digg - Digg is a tool in which you can easily discover and share content from anywhere on the web. We are talking everything here... from a video, a picture, news, a web page, to an obscure blog entry (like the one you are reading). What makes Digg unique, the content is voted on by it's users. It's a simple, understated layout, and the content is varied and usually pretty entertaining. There are several topics that will help you find content. It seems the best organized and entertaining out of all the tools of which I have used. And don't forget to scope out the Dignation podcast!

RSS: Really Simple Syndication?

2007-09-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have never been a big RSS fan. I might occasionally use the Live Bookmarks feature in Firefox to see the latest headlines, but I have always thought it is just as easy (and more visually enjoyable) to simply go the website and get the content myself. In fact, I have never once used the "subscribe to this page" icon in Firefox or the RSS icon in Safari.

I only the RSS feature I use is in iTunes to get the latest episodes of my favorite podcasts, but that is about it. So... I created a Bloglines account to see if I can get into RSS. It is simply a web interface for getting news feeds from several sources. The advantage I can see with their product is they catalog a huge list of sites and blogs. Even some are listed by subject of interest. I guess one might find something new, but I am still no RSS dude. I'm not digging it.

I guess I will stick to just getting my news by going to the actual web sites.

Hey Mac users (that are Flickr junkies):

2007-09-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

There’s a freeware Mac OS X only program called 1001 that can upload photos to your Flickr account, notify you when new photos from your contacts, everyone, or your favorite tags are uploaded. It comes in PPC or Intel flavors. Go here to download it: http://infinite-sushi.com/software/1001/download/

There’s a really cool feature in 1001 that allows you to view the stream of photos passing through Flickr and to see what’s being currently uploaded. And to boot, 1001 comes with a Flickr screensaver that will display the latest image from Flickr. Just double-click the “1001.saver” file and follow Finder’s directions.

Pretty spiffy, huh? The one thing that might make it even cooler is if it were a Dashboard Widget.

Windows 95 is Twelve Years Old

2007-08-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

On August 24, 1995 Microsoft released Windows 95. Most critics considered it to be better than Windows 3.1, but Xerox PARC and Apple Computer both said "Been there, done that." Microsoft formally ended its support for Windows 95 at the end of 2001.

Beastie Boys' Flickr Pool

2007-06-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

The Beastie Boys have a Flickr pool! They have been putting up pictures from their recent tour.

Ch-ch-ch-check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscilloscope/

Chocolate Rain via a Series of YouTubes?

2007-06-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

Ted Stevens: The Internet is a Series of Tubes

The internet is not a truck? Senator Ted Stevens rambles on about something he doesn't understand or know anything about.

Chocolate Rain

Chocolate Rain? You gotta love it! This video is getting a ton of views on YouTube and has landed Tay Zonday several TV appearances and coverage in a multitude of print media outlets.

YouTube is a great place to see "rising stars" like Tay Zonday or catch a movie or TV show clip. I have been a YouTube fan since I discovered it in 2005. I was hooked then, and I still love watching an occasional video today. I have been astonished by YouTube's growth, and it has been interesting watching it grow to what it is today.

Here's a few YouTube Spinoffs:
http://www.jewtube.com/ A Jewish video site.

http://www.godtube.com/ A Christian video site.

http://www.pornotube.com/ Yes, it's really pornography, so I wouldn't click on the link (unless you want nasty porn and spyware)!

:-)

Free MP3 Player? Free Laptop? Sign Me up!

2007-06-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

"At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for the second glass. The refill contained the antidote."

-Emo Phillips