Google Spam Filter - Pretty Good, But...

Upon the advice of a wise computer guru, to fix a out of control SPAM problem, I started to divert most of the mail associated with the grazing blogs through a separate Gmail account with the SPAM filter set at high. When I opened the account this morning there were 1083 messages marked as SPAM.

I was prepared to delete the entire folder, though the advice was to leave it alone and let Google use its thirty day option. Then I noticed a few spots with colored labels at the beginning of the messages. I have friends set for a red tag. There was a message from a friend of the blog. Gmail allows the message to be removed from the SPAM list quite easily.

The lesson learned here is to use the color coding for your labels so the messages so marked stand out in long lists.
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What Could Be a Better Gift?

What Could Be a Better Gift?
Originally uploaded by sgtret.

A friend gave me this acrylic painting a few years ago.  I thought
then, what could be a better gift than something made for me by
another's hand.  Then I got the Amazon Kindle for Christmas from my
Brother-in-law...

To justify this judgment call, I said, the painting's lovely, I will
certainly cherish it for as long as it and I exist on the same planet,
but, I am a geek after all, and a Reader.  The Kindle is Heroin for
readers.  A symptom of heavy drug use is its taking you away from human
company.  The Kindle certainly does this.

More than a book in its raw, non digital form?  Yes.  You have to at
least go somewhere to get the book.  Even if  you have it delivered,
there is a person who brings the brown wrapped item to your doorstep. 
That interaction is removed by the unattached download the Kindle
performs.

A question was asked last week about browsing.  In a book store you can
pick up the book, open the pages, and then decide.  There is nothing
stopping you from still doing this and then, opening your Kindle and
absorbing the book from the cyberfed ether. The virtual browsing can be
accomplished by downloading a sample of the book.  This is usually the
prologue, introduction and first chapter.  I did that with Brave
Companions by David McCullough.

When you get to the end of the sample, a simple click will buy the book
for you.  As I've said before, this is what drug dealers call "a
taste..."
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Morning Reading Habits

LiveJournal Tags: Morning Reading

It has been a very long time since I sat at the table eating breakfast reading the local paper, or the NEW YORK TIMES. Within the last year I have changed my habit several times.  When the year started I was at My Yahoo! in the morning.  Then I went to the email sent to me around five a.m. by the NEW YORK TIMES.  I would click on the stories of interest and then read them individually on Firefox.

This lasted for a while.  Then I found Google Reader. 

At first I used it just to keep up on blogs.  Then I started first with the NEW YORK TIMES and then The Washington Post.  Soon this was followed by BBC TV News and The Scotsman.  Then International Herald Tribune.  Suffice to say there are now twenty eight news services subscribed on Google Reader.

Then the geek material started to creep in.  Software, Hardware, Life——.  Now, instead of reading it once in the morning and perhaps before bed, I keep it up in a tag on Firefox so the alerts pop up when the message is posted.  A service such as this would have cost the high level executive a fortune not that many years ago.  There was a time in my youth when my job was to peruse the morning papers from around the world and clip out those stories that were about the organization for which I worked.  Not stories that I felt may affect the organization, but only those with the organization's name or the names of one or more of its officers.  Now a kid can do that about the girls in his class at no extra cost.
 
Frightening, in some ways.
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The Rush is Over...Whew!

The month of January is not the busiest for our business, but the busiest for me.  It is the preparation for the new year as well as the justification for actions taken in the past year.  This division of years is artificial, as is the concept of time itself. However artificial, it is the reality of our existence if we choose for it to be.

This is now the weekend.  It is a time where the deadlines and barriers for the most part are self created; not created by the company but by the circumstances we have created for ourselves.  It is the time to socialize or sequester. I like to think a combination of the two is the healthiest selection.  In the century before the last there was a time when a person was "at home."

This meant it was a time when people could come to visit and they would be most welcome.  Sunday afternoon, between lunch and dinner was usually this time.  Then Sunday dinner was a meal to which you invited those with whom you wanted to spend more collective time, time where they, you and your household would interact.

This tradition carried over into the Twentieth Century but soon faded with the spread of radio, movies and television.  Now that time where people called and received was reserved for sitting in front of a box and listening to FDR talk, or Artie Shaw entertain.  The Sunday Dinner was replaced by the TV dinner.  The interaction became sitting in the same room with others watching The Show of Shows or Ed Sullivan.

Now, in the Twenty First Century, on a Sunday night, the family retreat to their various forms of electronic communication where they, in each individual way, collectively communicate with others. 

Oddly enough, it is all the same.  The Sunday Dinners, the TV Dinners, the microwaved meal next to the keyboard.  They are all remnants of sitting around the campfire, in the cave, telling each other how we avoided being eaten today by the big bad world outside of the cave.
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43 Things Tags: Socialization

Q-10

A complete screen editor.  What an interesting concept.  I need to change the color of the screen right away or I cannot continue.  Hold on....There that's better.

Oh, I like this.  Being one who learned to type on a manual typewriter, this feels so comfortable.  What the manual typewriter missed was the automatic spell checker and the ability to plug a set of noise canceling earphones into it. 

In the background I have a recording of Fats Waller singing Honeysuckle Rose with the sound of the keys clicking.  It is surreal.  But, then again, what isn't these days?

I like this so much, I may create all of my initial blog entries using this program.  It might be a good time to mention which program.  Q-10.
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Weekend, What's That?

This is the first full weekend I have had since vacation.  Tomorrow is all birthday.  Not mine, but that of son.  He is fourteen tomorrow. 

I remember being fourteen  very long-long ago.  It was a rough time for me for many reasons.  One was a lack of parentage.  At the time, I know I didn't think I minded it.  I was in control.  Yeah, right!!  I was in pure survival mode.

That is nothing I would wish on any one.  Perhaps now I am over-reacting by over parenting.  What do I know?  Really, what does anyone know about too little-too much parenting.  You get what you got when you walked in the door.
Not sure what the meaning of the last sentence has to do with anything.  It wasn't deleted, though. I liked the sound of it.
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Amber has gone dark!!!

Not CommandN, just the hair. I think it is great. Still working hard. Will get back into Blogging when the rush has settled down in February.
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Catching Up with Promised Comments

First, the name of the two books that weren't available for Kindle download.
Shakespeare The Thinker by A.D. Nuttall.
Criminal Reason by Michael Gregorio.

Both were available in print from Amazon. I will buy them when I am next in Brunswick ME. Bookstores have been my haven for more than half a century. Though I am enthusiastic for my Kindle, this will not stop me from buying books.

That's probably similar to something said by a person when they first bought manufactured cloth, "Though this cloth is sturdy and well made, I will still buy from the local weaver widow down the lane." Or, when first buying suits off the rack, "This won't stop me from visiting my custom tailor." Tempus Fugit.

Instead of the David McCullough book, I started with Believe, the beta digital book. It starts in the ER at Bellevue Hospital in NYC. I have been a customer there, so it seemed only right for this to be the first book I complete on the Kindle.

So far, so good.
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Amazon.com: Shakespeare the Thinker: Books: A. D. Nuttall

Amazon.com: Critique of Criminal Reason: A Mystery: Books: Michael Gregorio

LiveJournal Tags: Kindle Beta Books

How To Fill Your Brain in Three Easy Lessons

First, discover Google Reader, subscribe to all of your favorite blogs, news feeds and entertainment sites.

Second, discover RSSOwl and weed through the sites subscribed to with the default installation.

Third, have someone give you a Kindle for Christmas.

It is time for a visit to the dentist. Where I would normally thumb through the offered magazines in the waiting room, I will now read David McCullough's Brave Companions on my, MY, Kindle. Expect comments all day about my dentist.
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Technorati Tags: Kindle and RSS Readers

The Kindle She Come!

After all my B&M comments, I must say, it was worth the wait. 

It came in time for the weekend and a scheduled dentist appointment and children's party pickup.  As would be expected, I have already downloaded three books at little cost.  I bought one copy of the New York Times and Reader's Digest and signed on to do 14 day free trials of several blogs at no additional cost.

The best part so far is the almost instantaneous download.  By the time you drag yourself away from the on-line store, whatever you ordered is already loaded.  The next best thing, having only had in my hands for four hours, is the choice to download a sample of any book you may be interested in.  This takes the place of perusing the hardcopy volume in the book store.

I downloaded the introduction and first chapter of David McCullough's Brave Companions.  I sat on the couch and devoured it.  On the last page, a simple click brought the rest of the book into my lap. 

This could be like an addictive drug, where they give a "taste" for free to get you hooked and then quickly own your soul.

The bad part, so far, is I didn't buy two books in a bookstore over the weekend in Maine because I thought I could download them.  Not so, neither book was available.  I will mention the titles when I write further tomorrow when not utterly exhausted.
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Disgruntled Amazon User and Active Words.

It would seem there are more people out there disgruntled with the practices of Amazon.com. My grievance continues with the lack of delivery of the Kindle which was ordered last year on December 2nd.

Here is a link to an entry at Geeknewscentral.com. If you would like a virtual visit to CES, almost to the point where you can taste the shrimp and the "White Castle-like hamburgers, it is a good time to visit Geeknewscentral.com.

It was during one of the back-channel wanderings that I overheard a conversation regarding ActiveWords. The praise heaped upon this program was a wonder to me. I wasn't sure exactly what it did, but I had to at least load it and see.

So far, most of the actions are in the background and only noticeable, because I am looking for them. Once the marvel of it al fades, I will only notice it when it's not working.

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Technorati Tags: Kindle and Active Words

Midnight Software Rule

After listening to the live feed broadcast from CES on Geeknews.com, and overhearing veteran geeks recommend the Windows program ActiveWords, I had to go find it, download it and install it. 

This was done while simultaneously overfeeding on RSSOwl's feeds regarding CES.  Now that ActiveWords is installed the best place to put it to work was fire up Live Writer and make a blog entry. 

Then, too late, I discovered how utterly exhausted I am.   This will be posted with no links, RAW, like my new DSLR settings.
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One More Thing

No Kindle delivered yet!

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Kindle Update: Still Not Here!!!

In this morning's New York Times, in the technology section, in a column called Talking Business is an article praising Amazon.com to the high hills.  It tells of a wonderful Christmas story where an article, though it made it to his building and even perhaps to his front door, did not make it into the writer's hands.

He called Amazon Customer Service and miraculously the $500.00 item was replaced and in his hands by Christmas Eve.  Miracle of Miracles! 

That's the good news.

Now here's the bad news:

My brother-in-law, in conspiracy with my wife, ordered a Kindle for me on December 2, 2007.  It is now January 5, 2008 and the Kindle is yet to appear.  I wrote an Email to Amazon Customer Service.  The email contained all of the details, numbers, etc. related to the order.

Three days later, I received a template email obviously geared toward someone who very recently ordered the Kindle.  It was many paragraphs long.  The gist of it was, sorry, we stupidly did not predict the incredible number of orders that would come in for this electronic reader and didn't manufacture anywhere near enough of them to fulfill orders.  Don't hold your breath, but your Kindle will arrive one day, this year, maybe.

Near the end of the email, there was a satisfaction button.  I clicked NO, when asked did this answer your question.  This took me to a webpage the use of which would put me back into the loop of rubber stamp online customer service.

Bottom line, five WEEKS late, still no Kindle.  I will keep you up to date here and on all of the other Grazing related web sites.

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Amazon Toll Free Customer Service Line: (+1-800-201-7575)

BuzzNet Tags: kindle

Quicknote 5.4 Retro That Works

You can find information about Quicknote 5.4 at this site. There are many "postit" programs out there, I've tried many of the them and discarded them due to clumsy interface. This is because mostly by the authors attempt to recreate the manner of post-it notes, rather then the purpose.

Quicknote is intelligently compiled, with less emphasis on how it looks than how it works. There is a short learning curve easily surmounted by watching the videos available. Once I learned it and customized it, it has already become second nature for me to use it in creating this blog entry.

Take the time to find out all it does, because it is a modest interface with a powerful right click menu. The good news is the interface is easily modified to fit your taste. The green background and gray border have quickly been changed to dark blue with white print and a translucent border. I missed the blue background white print of the original DOS editors.

Five Stars in all reviews.
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Almanac Links of Great Interest

Each year, for the past thirty or so years, I have found a copy of The World Almanac and Book of Facts in my stocking.  The first section I go to always is the obituaries.  Each year, without fail, I am surprised to find people I thought either still alive, or long dead, on the list.

For the past few years, the second place I go is the Computers & Telecommunications section.

Besides some interesting facts, such as Yahoo sites combined got more hits in July of 2006 than Google sites, there is a list of what the editors believe to be useful webpages.

Each year they've become more selective, weeding out the popular for the interesting.  Now it's my turn to weed even more.  I have visited each of the recommended sites not already in my bookmarks, or Google Reader feeds. 

Using Thunderbird's option of Bookmarking All Tabs, I name the folder 2008Almanac.

Here is the list of sites that have made it through the weeder.

The first has to be The World Almanac Blog.  The feed from this delivers a daily dose of interesting facts to my reader.

The rest I will list without comment for you to explore on your own:

Resource Shelf

Newseum & Today's Front Page

American Memory & Exhibitions

The British Library

Internet Archive

NYPL Digital Gallery

Our Documents

Kayak.com

Library Thing

Though each of the sites listed above are of interest, the one that kept me the longest this morning was Our Documents.  Here are digital images of the actual documents in file at the National Archives.  See the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's handwriting, the hand corrected copy of FDR's December 8, 1941 speech  to a joint session of congress.  See the actual treaty completing the Louisiana Purchase... 100 documents going up to the Civil Rights Act.

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43 Things Tags: Links of Interest,Almanac

Hogmanay with Spam and Thunderbird

Again, happy New Year to all. 

There were many emails on my Thunderbird this morning, most from friends and family, and some from a millionaire in strife-torn Kenya that wants me to hold his money in my bank account for a while.

Not too many of these any more with the layers of SPAM protection, both at the provider level, GMail and Yahoo as well as ICQ and our own servers.

The problem with SPAM protection, much like spell checkers, is they are not perfect. A person most dear to me changed her email address for the New Year.  I knew she sent a message, but it wasn't showing up.  So, I went to the SPAM volume in Thunderbird, and there it was.

I de-SPAMed it by clicking on the NOT SPAM box, creating a filter so that all mail from this address will now go to a friendlier volume and be starred.  I gave it the additional layer of protection by adding the e-mail address to the address book. 

Now Thunderbird will welcome this email with open arms, treat it kindly and give it a welcome home until I can open it.

Though I have an add-on icon that deletes all SPAM without having to open it, I scan the list by sorting it by sender, scrolling down the list and then hitting the destructo icon.

As added protection, the SPAM doesn't disappear with that.  It goes into the trash folder.  Then, at the end of the day, when I scan the trash folder, if I missed something, here is my last "Are You Sure" opportunity.  If all is clear then I hit the SPAM icon once more and it is gone forever.

I have the Thunderbird default set to delete Trash when I close the program.  It doesn't close it that often, but this seems to work for me.  I have recovered more emails from the Trash folder than from the SPAM.

To manage the multitude of emails the blogs can produce, I use the Unread Folders, combined with the Threads with Unread settings.

Doing this only brings up only new mail with only their folders when I open Thunderbird.  If there is an ongoing conversation, where I may need to refer back, the thread with unread View option allows that.

If I need to find an email, I use the search option which narrows down the selection.  If you are like me and don't delete any email from certain sources, don't forget to set the compression option to start automatically at certain times.  This will save a lot of disk space without hampering your ability to retrieve old emails.

Most of the old emails I retrieve are in the RECEIPTS folder.  I find it a good idea to at least copy messages that you may need somewhere along the line to prove a point.  Doing this has saved me hundreds of dollars with PayPal this year.

What started out as a simple happy New Year message has turned into a tutorial.  Blame VideoJug for that.
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43 Things Tags: Thunderbird Management,SPAM

Hogmanay!

link

Is it a Celebrity Blog, an Author's Blog or a Geek Blog?

It is one of those blogs occasionally mentioned in a NYT article, you visit it, browse around and then click the X and it is off your radar.  However, there was one and now there are two blogs put out by authors that I have added to the TO READ folder in my overloaded Google Reader.
The first belongs to Neil Gaiman.  

His blog has had many changes from feeling like an illustrated novel to becoming a more personable blog, with side features to add to it wealth of information.  Mr. Gaiman is one of the contemporary authors who cannot have a book published for very long before it is in my hands and read too quickly.

Now another author whose work finds itself into my hands as quickly is Stephen Fry.  His blog leans more to the fun he is having using computers and the Internet, but still, there are links to the fruit is labor handily weaved into the page design. 

Though the content of Mr. Fry's blog leans toward the Geek, I have placed it in the TO READ file, instead of the KNOWN GEEKS, where Amber MacArthur, Leo Laporte and the like are linked. 

With so much information constantly coming into our lives from so many sources, the need to characterize, compartmentalize and generally cope is becoming more and more a necessity. 

As an example, there is one book of Mr. Gaiman's I have yet to read is Revenge: A Novel

I am waiting for the arrival of my gifted Kindle and intend it to be my first online order/download.

Hogmanay !!
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LiveJournal Tags: Stephen Fry

Patti DeRosa

If you haven't seen her perform or at least heard Patti DeRosa sing, there is a piece missing in your life.

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The Mysterious Object Identified!

In an earlier article on BBC News, a mysterious object over 27 meters long had washed up on the shores of Stinky bay on the west of Benbecula.

The good news is it has been identified. The very good news for our fellow Scots is that it is a fermentation device used to make beer. Though it hasn't been claimed by the Colorado brewing company, the BBC News reports it is very similar to the type they used.

When I first saw the article, I was convinced it was of some sort of military creature right out of Dr. Who or its anagram spin-off Torchwood, where alien articles mysteriously appear on the British Isles, mostly around Cardiff. But the more mundane use for brewing beer; now that's something I never would've guessed.

Well, ye inhabitants of the Western Isles, Hogmanay!
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From whence came all the programs?

Back in the 80's when I took home my first 8080 PC, the program was on one five inch floppy while the OS ran on the other 360K disk.  Then came the 80286>80386 and the hard drive.
Soon after the introduction of the hard drive a 1200bps modem was added. 

Shareware came on floppies collected at monthly PCUG meetings.  Geeks Only!!!

Next was the 486 and the 5600 baud modem.  It was believed for a moment that we had plateaued in information sharing.  What fools!

This bit of nostalgia was brought about by a review of programs evaluated over the past year.  We kept all of the installation files on our backup 250 Gig back-up drive.  That being full, we are now moving the 2005-2007 files to the second 500 Gig back-up drive.

With the 160 Gig drive on the laptop, the total storage connected to this little laptop come to 960 Gig, or .96 Terabyte.

960,000,000K vs. 360K-X2 in twenty or so years.  There was no way I could've imagined making that leap in so short a time.  What more do we get out of this memory?  A great deal if managed rightly.  Too much to handle, if we don't.

Maybe I'll go back into politics...
Nah!
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Link About Living Longer

This link found Lifehacker.com lists way to live longer.  We found the part about dark chocolate to be of the most interest.

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Funny Cartoon

We're back in the States just in time for another winter storm. Here in New England we call this watershed. The more snow that accumulates during the winter, the higher the water tables will be underground for the summer rush on water usage. Also, the surface water in our lakes and ponds, of which there are many, will rise, probably overflow. In most cases this is a good thing. In others, not so much, but we hope for the best.

This cartoon demonstrates what happens to communities who don't think their water policy through.
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Away Bloogging

One of the advantages of using Blogger to base Belltower News is the ability to use a computer not your own to post blog entries.

I am sure there are all sorts of security issues, but if you use Firefox, and set it to delete all of your private settings, then the risk is, if not completely removed, at least it is reduced. In today's world, for what more could you ask.

For those of you basking in the sunlight, enjoying the sunny climes on this week between Christmas and the New Year, a pox on you! You are not sitting in a study, in an ancient New England house overlooking the ice laden water. You don't see the hopefully grateful birds clambering around the feeder, attacking the squirrels feeding from their dropped seeds.

You see sun and surf and all that is attracted to that environment. You lucky dogs.

=30=

Mastering Google Reader

In a few of our blog entries we have complained about being overwhelmed by Google Reader.  This is no longer so.

We have made few modifications in the manner in which it is read, while simultaneously adding a dozen or so RSS links to blogs and other sites.

Whereas before we were reading each blog separately they are now grouped by general interest.  We have BLOGS, NEWS, SOFTWARE, HARDWARE and TO READ.  Each of the selected links are placed into the right group. 

Next we changed the default view from Expanded View to List View.   For a while we tried reading it by group.  Then we advanced to reading list with All Items (#) chosen.

The last, and most necessary of the settings is Show # New Items.

After perusing the  list, do not forget to Mark All As Read.  If you forget to do that, then the rest of the effort was in vain. 

We have recently added to Firefox the Read It Later extension.  Using this tool removed the last bit of pressure.  

Now we select an item from the list, right click to link and choose, Read It Later from the list.  Then the link is added to a list activated by the new icon in the top toolbar. 

Next,  it's onto the new Kindle from Amazon.

Information Overload.  Who would have thought it possible?
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43 Things Tags: Google Reader

 Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

Dolphins Win 2nd Half!!

The Miami Dolphins defeated The New England Patriots in the scoring for the 2nd half of today's game. Unfortunately, The Patriots won the first Half by a lot more points. 28-7. This makes them 15-0.

Just thought you might like to know.
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A Break with Tradition

For the past 12 years, two dear friends of ours from "back in the day" have come up to visit us from the city.  Along with them came their growing family.  In totum now there are seven of them.

It saddens me deeply that this year, due to separate reasons, none of them will be visiting. 

Adapting to this news, we have decided to visit Maine and PEI for the holiday.  I know the Caribbean is the other way, but I have always wanted to visit the island, and we understand they do the season "Right."

Happy everything to all of you.
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Free Fax • Free Internet Faxing

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Zoho Writer Blog Entry Titles

When using the Zoho Writer online to post a blog, the title of the blog will be the title of the document.  If you don't save the document with a title prior to publishing it, then the title of your blog entry will be Untitled.

We learn by example best.
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Just tired

Once a week the "tireds" comes over me. On a normal day, five to six hours sleep is all I need. Tonight, I think ten should do it. This will carry me through to a week of much needed vacation.

If it was my choice for the entire week I would hunker down and watch the weather happen outside without me. But family calls to Maine where I will watch the winter from the family compound. The view is better but the drive can be a terror when black ice rules the roads.
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So There are Rats in Sumatra, Indosnesia at Least.

Fans of the canon will be glad to hear of the recent discovery of a giant rat in Indonesia, of which Sumatra is a part.

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Times are Changing

Fidel Castro, according to BBC News, is hinting at retirement. Wants to make room for the younger generation. I remember watching supportive newsreels of the Cuban Revolution between movies in my childhood, over a half a century ago. It would appear Mr. Castro has a slightly warped idea of what moving over and the younger generation mean.

On a lighter note, the Earl and Countess of Wessex have announced the birth of a new son, Viscount Severn, first name so far undecided. The file photo in the piece displays the Earl in a top hat and the Countess wearing a bird thingy on her head. That's straight out of the 1930's representation of royalty!

Rah for that!
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Weather Report from Patriots New England

Here in balmy New England, I sit around thirty miles from Foxborough Stadium. I know there is a brand name attached to it, but we, being New Englanders, will always call it by its real name.

This goes for the Gimmell house in which we live. The Gimmells haven't lived here since the 1950's but when we tell people here-abouts where we live, "Oh, the Gimmell house." is aways the response.

On a dry Sunday, with no game in the forecast, it would take me less than 20 minutes to drive up Rte. 1 past the Stadium. Today, if I left right now, I might make it there by breakfast tomorrow. It the last Instant Snowstorm of a few days ago, I left Worcester at 1 in the afternoon and saw my front door around dinner time. My knuckles are still white from that driving. I don't intend to make them whiter today.

Our greatest fear at the moment is ice on the cable and power wires. News reports have a large portion of Pennsylvania without power. It would also shut down the heat, but we have fireplaces for back up. Power failure would mean we would have to rely on out Blackberries for the score. Or, there is that thing called a radio... I think we have one in the basement. Where are those batteries?

As far as the weather, three hours before the game, the foot or so of snow on our balcony is now being nicely coated with sleet. We understand there may even be a touch of freezing rain to add to the layering effect. Then, as it gets dark, more snow.

What fun!!!

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BINGO!!!

The problem with the Live Writer usage with Movable Type was looking for the API Password.  It isn't called that in the user profile.  It is called  Web Services Password.  I followed all of the directions to embed the .xml file in the root directory, etc. etc. It was using the wrong password.

For every other system the password you use to sign-in is the same as the one you use to allow an editor, such as this Live Writer to gain access.  The people at Movable Type decided you needed an extra layer of protection by providing a different password for "Third Party Access."

I told you I wouldn't quit that easily.  Now let's see if I can get this work in Scribe Fire and w::bloggar...

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I have tried all of the offline blog editors, even w:bloggar, to get into the new MovableType grazing blog, Movable Grazing. I am getting all sorts of error codes.

The people at LiveWriter gave me an XML file to create and load on the server. All that did was change the error code. Something's going on here. It probably is a misplaced comma or a space where there shouldn't be one.

I will find out what is going on and let you know.

Or not...

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GoDaddy Localhost For MovableType

Now that MoveableType is OpenSource, I couldn't wait to install it on our GoDaddy Host. After what seemed like HOURS, I finally RTFM and found out "localhost" doesn't work when setting up the database in GoDaddy. You have to go into your account hosting manager, click on databases and then find the pencil icon on the right side of the screen.

Clicking that brings you to an informational screen where the local host, unique to your database is named. It isn't even close to "localhost" but it works.

Good Luck!!
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Instant Winter!

One of the disadvantages of listening to music, via iPod transmitter, in your car is you don't get weather bulletins. To make up for that, I do get NWS bulletins in my email, but, that requires reading them.

So, you can imagine my surprise when driving south on the Interstate this afternoon to find myself, just about instantly, on a road, unsalted, and blanketed with snow.

Before Exit 20, brown grass and evergreens, after Exit 20, winter wonderland. It was that fast.

Normally snow creeps up on you, or it's there in the morning when you rise. This was more like somebody up there said, "Whoa! Forgot to install winter and I have train to catch." DUMP! "There, that should do it." In the words of my philosophical guru, "I kid you not!"
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Live Writer Has Arrived!!

Now that Live Writer is a usable blog editor you are guaranteed to see more entries at Random Grazing Space.  The other active grazing blogs are rooted here in Belltower News.  The catchall blog is Other Grazing on Live Journal.

On WordPress we have Grazing Portal and Grazing Press= our last hosted blog.

While at a trade show in British Columbia we set up the Vox blog Trounce Alley.  Because of the lack of off line editors that support this blog and its connection to a social connection portal, we don't count it as an active blog. It does serve as a good place to test programs which tout themselves as all-over blog editors.

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The Patriot beat the Guaranteed Pittsburgh Steelers.  

Technorati Tags: Live Writer and Spaces

The Patriots vs. Pittsburgh

I know we have gone on and on about Google Reader.  There is one thing more powerful.  The New England Patriots.  There is no way, at 1615 this afternoon, I will be anywhere near this laptop at kick off time.

The rest of the world my hate the Patriots, but this is New England.

Expect comments after the game.

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Google Reader-a deus: Drug of Choice

In a previous blog entry, I bemoaned the time taken up by defaulting to Google Reader as the Firefox home page. 

It used to be Google News.  Google News took up enough time to get me somewhat informed.  The occasional dive from a Google News New York Times link to other NYT stories was no where near as time consuming as the links out from the dozens of RSS feeds that now reside on my Google Reader. (One of them being the NYT RSS Feed)

What would Betty Ford do?

Technorati Tags: Google Reader

Google Reader Free Software Feed

In the right hand column of Belltower News is a box.

This is the Google Reader share box. It only displayed the last five links shared from the the Google Reader.

But, if you click on the Read more it will take you to the entire list of shared items. The latest dozen or so are software items available at CNet.

Each is either in use here or on the desktop in the office. All of the listed software is very usable and totally replaces their professional counterparts.

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I Have Been Swallowed by Google Reader

You may find the items in the Google Reader box in the lower right column to be very up to date, whereas the entries to this and the other Grazing blogs have fallen off in quantity. Blame Google Reader. Where we would have come back to the blog and made mention of site of wonder, now we just hit the SHARE key in Google Reader and it appears in the aforementioned box in the lower right column.

A good example of this is the link to the blog entry about the blog entry about the $40.00 eyeglass phenomenon.

You would have seen my own evaluation because I bought six pairs from one of the companies mentioned to my own great satisfaction. But did I have time to tell you? NO! Because I was too busy being dragged from story to story, blog to blog, news bit to news bit by Google Reader.

The line from the fortune cookie:
"Help! I am being held hostage in a fortune cookie factory!"comes to mind here..
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First Zoho, now Live Writer!

LiveJournal Tags: writer

First we discover that Zoho online writer will post to Blogger, LiveJournal and WordPress.  Now we learn that Windows Live Writer has come out of beta as 1.0. 

It has to be said up-front, I am no fan of MS.  I am not a fan of the way they try to sneak their not free software and services into the installation of this blog editor.  When I was automatically taken to Windows Live, I discovered Microsoft Dollars!  I felt like I was walking through a carnival, near closing time...

But, the writer is good.  It does what I want and off line.  Of course, now that I will post it, the "data" that I did not give MS permission to gather will be placed on some obscure file in the bowels of Windows until MS gets me to give permission by some other nefarious means.

All in all, ScribeFire is still the most convenient of the bunch.

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Blog One

This is being written in Zoho Writer.  The question is, can a blog be published from here? We shall see.

• There are some features here like indenting and

                                      
 Graphics as well.

  There is also highlighting and Links.

  As well as change in fonts.

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Zoho Notebook

This is an amazing tool. I have been told it can be used to publish to blogs. I haven't tried it yet, but if you are interested in Zoho Notebook, going to this page will bring up a YouTube link to an excellent demonstration of some of the thing you can do with it.

I paid close attention to the Share parts because I work with four other colleagues spread all over New England. If we get up to speed with this, it can be very helpful.
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Happy Thanksgiving

This was just one of the three tables covered with food.







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Amber and the Dalai Lama

This page is worth a visit just to see the Dalai Lama out of the spotlight for a few minutes and to see him shake hands with Amber MacArthur. I met him in San Francisco many-many years ago. He doesn't seem to have aged a bit.
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Railroad Stove

This is from the Flickr Yahoo Widget.

Railroad Stove
Originally uploaded by sgtret.

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Web 2.0 Comment

We just left a comment at the ZDNet "Web 2.0" article regarding Mozzilla's Firefox memory usage. It implied that anyone really understand "memory leakage." It has been explained in so many contrary ways, we believe it to be a cyber-myth that explains a law of physics with a colander cum punctured tire comparison.

In out comment we mentioned that Firefox runs fine on a laptop, this one, with 42 extensions, including the one with which we are writing this blog entry, running simultaneously.
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Sony Reader - Report of short Honeymoon

At this link from 43 folders, also saved in the Google reader box in the Belltowernews right column, you will find a story from a disgruntled user of the Sony Reader PRS-505.

This saddens me to a great degree. I was ready to go out and buy one with the understanding I could copy my Adobe pdf files, hundreds of which I have for work and the other work.

If this short story is to be believed, and I see no reason why not, they the Sony Reader has not evolved as much as is hyped. Alas!

It makes me sad that a gadget over which I have sinfully coveted, turns out to be a shadow of its promised self.

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::w.bloggar

Okay, this is the NEW, I mean really new ::w.bloggar version 4.02.

I haven't fully explored it yet, but I do know it is still the only one that instinctively uploads entries into SquareSpace. Unfortunately we didn't want to pay for a weblog when there is so much out there, such as this blog, that are, relatively, free.

What will I do with three days off?

After a visit to the doctor today I was told some stuff that wasn't fun.  I have the next three days off to think about it.  The question is, why would I want to waste three days off thinking about bad news?  I think it's time to veg and swim in the Egyptian River.

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Computerworld's Worst Firefox Extension

This is being written using one of the extensions condemned in this article. They say there is no reason for a blog editor when the online blogs all have their own editors.

The reason is you can do just what I am doing now, comment on a web page without having to go to the blog's website, sign on and go through the steps of bringing up the online. This is much easier.

So there!

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Scottish Censorship, kinda!

There was an article in this morning's Scotsman.com regarding some silly drug related "scandal" involving a member of the Royal Family.

It basically says there is a court order prohibiting them from mentioning the name of this Royal. Some other bright person, it would seem the article says, tried to blackmail said unnamed Royal and got caught. It goes onto say, though the court says they can't tell you the name of the person, there a picture of him signing a book in the Italian Newspaper IL repubblica.it

Not being able to read Italian, I am afraid this person's identity or what this person is alleged to be accused of by the blackmailer is unknown to me.
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Whew!

The surrounding tension in New England has lessoned, but not dissipated. New Englanders have become spoiled, with the World Series and all of the record book numbers surrounding members of the Patriots. They won the game, but few points, but, as it said by Patriots fans, a win is a win.

The Colts didn't score the highest against New England, but the spread was much shorter. That seems to mean something. Don't ask me.
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First the Nor'easter and now the Colts

Today we sat around in the morning waiting for the promised Nor'easter. It came. There was wind and rain, fallen branches and a power outage or two. Pretty much as expected.

Tomorrow everyone will be sitting around waiting until 4:15 in the afternoon. That's when the Colts should be running out on to the field. I honestly believe most of the people here in New England are worried more about tomorrow than they were today.

We're used to Nor'Easters. Where not that used to having out team play an undefeated team, going in undefeated ourselves.

I wish I could ignore it. Not being that big a fan of organized sports, you think I could. It would have been easier to ignore the windows rattling and the trees falling today, all day.
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Del.icio.us : NE Patriots

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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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Joni Mitchell Puts If to Music.

There is an article on NPR.com about Joni Mitchell and her latest music. It is worth reading of you are a fan, or planning to become one in the near future. I listened to some of the cuts featured on the site and watched the provided video of Ms. Mitchell singing her coyote song on a 1979 tour. This was all good for me.

What I, being a fan of Rudyard Kipling, found most fascinating was the song she did putting his poem If to music. Very nice. Very nice indeed. As I was listening to it, rendered mostly word for word from the original, I wondered how she would handle to final five words.

She changed them. Much in the same way the man who recently re-recorded her song Yellow Taxi modified the last words of that song to fit in with his gender.

I have no problem with this. It is the general message, akin to the now popular lists used to manage life, that I love. I read it to my son every year on his birthday. I don’t change the last five words.
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NBC’s Chuck is not Jake

Jake 2.0, a short-lived series on SciFi, ran along the same premise of computer technology invading a nerd and making him valuable to the “intelligence” community. Jake 2.0 ran on the Canadian reality while Chuck has California based Corporate Broadcasting’s version of reality as its base. Neither has any idea what it is the people in the CIA and the NSA do.

Both have them as active killers on US soil. The CIA agent stabs half a dozen people on the dance floor and no one notices, except the NSA agent who a few moments ago told his minions that it would be alright to kill the CIA agent, in the club, in LA, if she got in their way. On what planet do these people reside?

As for TV science, similar to cartoon physics, the nano-robots in Jake 2.0’s body were somewhat more believable than the mental download Chuck receives staring into a laptop’s screen for several hours without blinking or going to the bathroom. One saving grace is his sidekick. I haven’t seen a good sidekick on network television for a while.

We will give it a chance, it has been put on the subscribed list on TiVo but its space there is not guaranteed for the season.
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iTunes Problem

The Apple updater seems to have assassinated my iTunes.

About a third of the way through the update it froze and said it couldn’t find the .msi file at a subdirectory that was the subdirectory on the last laptop on which it was installed, but not the directory to which it was installed on this laptop.

So, I dutifully directed with the browse option to the right directory.

Nope, it said, that wasn’t the valid directory. Okay, forget this update, I thought. I hit the cancel button and it uninstalled itself. That’s what I thought it did. Then I tried to start iTunes. The shortcut didn’t work, so I went to the program’s directory to find most of it deleted. (Not the music files!!!)

No problem, I said again. I’ve been working with software long enough to know these things happen. So, I downloaded a new copy, using the control panel I first deleted the currently semi-installed version. Then I tried to reinstall it. ¾’s of the way though the installation, same message, same problem.

I went into the registry, deleted all references to iTunes , ran two registry fix programs and tried to reinstall it again. NOPE, Sam error message...

MediaMonkey, here I come!!!!
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Atlantis WordProcessor.

There is another editor available that I like mostly because of the retro-sound effect that is a default feature. It is called Atlantis Word Processor. Having first learned to type on a 1940’s black and white manual typewriter in my father’s office, the sound of the keys soothes me to some degree.

There are other default sounds and word filling is a somewhat startling when you first encounter it. I will go over the sounds when I am finished typing this entry for the blog. There is what sounds like a cellphone ring if you stop typing for a moment. It will be fun trying to figure this one out.

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Early Morning Browsing Warning...

Do not go to the Mashable .com article on 80+ Online Communities for Bloggers ten minutes before you are supposed to leave for work...

You will be late.

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The Bug Isn't Funny, But...

This link discusses a dangerous bug to the older version of OpenOffice.org. It goes on to say this bug does not effect 2.3 and is only present when .tiff files are opened from another OO.o file.

What is funny here is the chatter that follows this message on ZDNet. Talk about blue and red states. This debate is MS and OpenSource all the way. Humanity always seems to find a reason to fight.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. I would say grow up, but that doesn't seem to help. In fact, I think the grown-ups are much more dangerous.
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Second Author

I have been added as an editor for this blog. A lot of my stuff is loaded here under BR, but now I can do it myself.

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OOo 2.3 vs. Word

In Windows Fanatics they explain how to display the page margins when in Word.

I've never felt a need to do that, but was curious as to how it is done in my default editor, Open Office Text, 2.3. I was very surprised to find it a prominent choice in the pull down menu under View.

Another reason to like Open Office.

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Browsing on Thunderbird

I installed the Thunderbrowse add-on to Thunderbird this evening.

It works exactly as it says it does.

That's perhaps why it seems so weird. It does turn the message window into a browser.

If you use the Penelope three pane view and full screen you effectively have the email on the left and the browser in the right view message window.

Install any of the various gCal add-ons and it's an all in one program, email, browsing and online scheduling as your desktop.

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LearnFirefox Website Redesigned!!

If you have gone to the LearnFirefox website before from any of the many times I have mentioned, listed, or linked it, you may want to take a fresh look.
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