Cool But Useless

Okay, here's the thing: There is an online editor that will send the stuff you write on it to a blog, or save it as a text file. What I don't understand is why should you add this layer to creating a text file when this can be done using notepad on any computer?

Why would you go to this site to load what you have written into a blog when you can just as easily go to the blog site itself and load it, with all of the onsite bells and whistles?

The way it works is neat. The why you would use it baffles me. It does remind me of the older monotone monitors. It gives you the choice of colors. Amber and Green are the colors that bring back the old days.
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Technorati : writer bighugelabs

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Use GIMP?

If you use Gimp, and who doesn't, you may want to upgrade to version 2.4.

You can download it here.
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Mapping online

For those of you who automatically go to either MapQuest of Google Maps, the online mapping services listed in this CyberNet article about five other places to go for maps may surprise you. 

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Taking The Week Off Listening to News

On the way to work on Monday I was listening to NPR. This is not shock-jock radio. Thoughtful, considered commentary and reporting. Perhaps it was this that did it, but when I heard the comments about World War III coming from the Oval Office, I just turned off the radio. I brought me back to the days in grammar school when we ducked and covered on a regular basis for the upcoming Soviet invasion.

Then this morning I read an article in the online International Herald Tribune regarding the partitioning of Iraq. Historically speaking, this is an excellent idea. The country was formed on the whim of a British woman after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. It is said in all that is written about the wisdom of this partition that no ethnic research whatsoever was used.

Pure whim. Perhaps now, with intelligent examination and the participation of the people who live there, a reasonable solution to this can be found.

What I want to know is why wasn't this worked out BEFORE the invansion? Isn't that way things were done in the good old days, when invading countries was a sport for Britain and the other European powers?

Thinking this gave me a huge headache. This is why I am taking a week off from the news.

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Wishlist Camera

If you watch CSI, you will notice it is Nikon digital cameras that they use. All of the photographs you see displayed on this blog that were created by us in the last two years have been taken with the Nikon D50. The D80 is our wish list camera.

It was on a trip to Alaska that inspired us to get something more than a point and shoot camera. We took a point and shoot on the trip to Morocco and kept leaving it places. It was only through sheer luck and a fellow traveler who lived within driving distance of my brother that got that camera back to us.

I started with a Konica and a Leica SLR back in the late Sixties but once Nikon came into the picture it has been a fight between their SLR and the Elf point and shoot. For quality, it certainly is the Nikon, hands down.

These are not the opinion of a professional photographer, but of someone who took over a thousand photos in ten days along the coast of Alaska and up into the Yukon. Even with the 4Gig memory card, I still downloaded onto my laptop's auxiliary drive.

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Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
Flickr : Nikon D50-D80

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Don't Forget Open Office

Open Office from 2.3 on is a wide open Blog Editor as well. I recently tried the “Oxygen Office” add -on for OOo 2.3 and am not sure if my collection of attachments, add-ons and skins has been carried over. This seemed like as good a time as ever to find out.

I decided to take a break from the news for the next weekend. There is just to much going on all around us. I know there has always been too much, but at the moment, it seems too in your face for me. NPR is freaking me out in the morning with talk of WWIII over Iran's trying to match Macho with the US. This is a 5,000.00 year old chip on the Persian shoulder we're playing with here. It's all Alexander's fault.

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Zoundry - Only One of the Ten

Of the ten blog editors mentioned in the Mashable.com link to this list, they only one I've set up that I don't already use is Zoundry.

The interesting thing about this editor so far is the Media Repository option. It asks for the FTP settings for where you host your blog. It was easy to fill out as soon as I was able to remember the server password. Everything is set up to act automatically it is a wise thing I keep a secure list of my passwords on... Wait! That wouldn't be a very smart thing to do...

This is written in Zoundry.

Lets see what it looks like live on the Blog.

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Technorati : Zoundry

Treasure Trove for Bloggers

This link at Mashable.com brings to the list of 10 Desktop Blog Editors.

I found two about which I knew nothing or little.

If they work, you will see comments here about them.

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Colbert in SC for Prez?

When Pat Paulson ran for President six times, I believe he was on the ballot of at least a dozen states.

Colbert is only registering in South Carolina.

Do you think there will be write in campaign in the other 49 states and the territories? Because, though it isn't French, but with his way of saying it, at least sounds French, I believe the francofile expatriates will certainly write his name in.

I am seriously considering it here in the Commonwealth.

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Hospitals Culling the Herd?

Until my brother died in May of what the hospital called MRSA* Pneumonia I had never heard of the bacterial infection. Since then I have read a lot about it.

In this morning's NYT there was a disturbing article that, among other startling things, said that almost 19,000 people have died in one year, while under health care, of this bacterial infection.

Patients are put in jeopardy by going into the health care system, this article further states,because "busy hospital workers disregard basic standards of hand-washing more than half the time." Our overworked hospital staff are so busy; the people who are devoted to care, when rushed, are causing patients to be killed by the "caregivers" who are supposed to save them.

I will offer no opinion here other than to ask you to read the article and consider what actions you may need to take to protect yourself and those you love.

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* Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

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The Green Box in the Right Column

If you look at the green box in this blog's right column you will see a list of links. These are entries I have discovered in the Google Feed Reader. I have been using this box as a hold link for myself, but I think you may find the stories, blog entries and freeware links to be of some interest.

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Blog Action Day

Air is good to breathe, water is good to drink.

Let's keep it that way.

'nuff said!
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Too Many Feeds, Too Little Time

I started with putting a FEEDS folder in my bookmark toolbar. That seemed to work quite well, for a while, they I split the FEEDS folder to BLOGS and NEWS.

That grew as well. All the while, the one-line descriptions provided in the menu bar, though increasing the speed of the initial scan, was causing to me to go to sites only to find the subject of little interest to me.

Then I re-discovered Google Reader, through a You-Tube entry in Boing-Boing.

I spent the last few hours setting that up. It is the SHARE feature that sold me on it. Now when I find an article or blog entry I want to share with the blog readers, but haven't the time to make a decent blog entry, I can click on the Share button and it automatically goes to the box in the right column of Belltower News. I will move the box up above Flickr later in the day.

And so it goes here in cyberville, USA.
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WinAmp and Trojan Message

Stopzilla blocked the instalation of WinAmp 5.5. with a Media-Codec file identified as a highly dangerous Trojan. A little research in the WinAmp forums and around the net found this to be a False Positve reading. I also discovered in my wandering that StopZilla deleted the instalation componants of the file. Not good.

If this happens to you, shut down StopZilla during the instalation. When all of the basic options are set for WinAmp, close it and reboot. This will restart StopZilla, (Assuming you have in the StartUp file.) Then WinAmp should play with no problem.

Speaking of WinAmp 5.5, it can totally replace iTunes in the management of your iPod. I mentioned in an early blog entry that the plugins for iPod control in WinAmp were clumsy. Not a worry any more, it is now part of WinAmp to manage any portable Mp3 player, including iPod. I synced all of the files I have loaded since iTunes committed hari kari in its last upgrade attempt. No more worry, at least with my ancient 60 Gb iPod Photo.

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Skype Users Update

If you are a Skype user, I am told by people who know these things, that it is very important that you upgrade now. They also tell me not to go to any particular site for this upgrade, but to start Skype, click on the Help menu and check for updates. It takes a second or two, but it is worth it, or so people who say that sort of thing, say.

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Trying ISBN Inserting Plug-in

There is a plug-in for LiveWriter that is supposed to add a Amazon Link with your affiliate number embedded in the insert. I tried it earlier but it kept claiming the ISMN number was invalid.

This is me trying it again:

Amazon.com: The Traveler (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 1): Books: John Twelve Hawks

Very nice, very nice indeed.
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LiveJournal Tags: John Twelve Hawks

We Will Admit to Over Reaction

When the comment was made by a person from MS regarding the 404 message so soon after we installed it, we will admit to a touch of over reaction. 

It is not normal for us to trash a program such as this that a lot of people obviously put a lot of effort into creating.  It's just that MS has taken on its own governmental identity amongst the geek community.

Synchronicity, perhaps, but still it must be admitted the timing was the reason for the knee-jerk reaction.  If anyone was offended, we would be surprised, but still sorry.

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Okay, No More Live Writer

Besides being cumbersome and not compatible with my SquareSpace blog, the 404 comment below solicited a comment from MS itself.

I don’t mind being monitored by commandN, now and then, but when MS makes
a comment like that within the hour of my uploading the software, when
I made no effort to contact them, is too Big Brother for me.

I will delete Live Writer and its associated logs tonight.
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Live Writer One

I put together an elaborate blog entry with pictures and links but I kept getting 404’d by LiveWriter. In the set up it was able to post a temporary log entry that was deleted but not before Blogger sent me an email showing me the entry.

This one, with no formatting, links or pictures, will be posted now.

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The Advice of Leo!

On his new blog, Leo Laporte, recommends Windows Live Writer for blogging. I just downloaded and installed it.

I will try it after dinner.

Wish me luck.

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Quite Weekend

Yesterday I took my son and friends to King Richards Faire. The highlight of that trip was a juggling jester called Paolo Garbanzo. We saw him last year as well but this year his fame has obviously spread because though most of the other side theaters were half empty, Garbanzo’s was standing room only.

The audience was about one third in costume, but entirely into the performer. He knew how to engage them with practiced buffoonery, clever puns and skillful juggling. He made light of the danger as he swallowed fire, transferred flames from his tongue to torch and ate a juggled onion balanced on a ball.

One of the kids with us tipped him five dollars. Considering his allowed spending limit was twenty five, that was quite a tip.

Spent today light shopping and watching football.

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