Slim Picking Continues

There have been times where there were close to a thousand entries in our Google Reader.  Today, not so much.

There was a link on Hulu for a preview for the TV show Niew Amsterdam; another immortal show coming up on March 10th on a network near you.  Like most cop/fantasy shows, the male is brooding and the woman partner a knock out who talks tough.

Not sure if we'll give this one a chance.

Next was the  AskTheGeek.com link to Adobe AIR. 

On this page AIR struts its stuff and allows you to download it for free.  How long the freeness of this lasts is yet to be seen.  Adobe is not know for its charitable nature. 

We will run it and get back to you later on its end-usability.

The most charming of the bits in the feed this afternoon was this page on Neil Gaiman's blog.  The first part is about the hives in his woods and the garage-bucket-cheesecloth method of harvesting honey.

The second part is about the evolution of his newest book.  I have found it fascinating to read the ruminations of a published best selling author as he creates and gestates what I hope will soon be his next best selling tome.

That's the afternoon report from the Google reader.

del.icio.us Tags: Gaiman

Except for Harry and a cheap iPod Shuffle, bleak Reader Morning

Perhaps it's too early in the morning. My end of winter cold wouldn't let me sleep in on this snowy March morning. I went into Google Reader expecting to read important "stuff." The highlight was a humorous VideoJug piece on Speed Reading.

Then, in the Gnome feed was a link to a deal on a 1Gig iPod shuffle. When I went to the page there was a pop up saying that sales will begin on Saturday night. Did the link overpower their software?

Most of the news links lead with stories about the leak on Prince Harry's deployment to Afghanistan. Poor bloke.

Everything else was more of the same. Could it be I have reached a saturation point? Is that possible?

We'll come back after breakfast.

Scribefire Upgraded

If you go directly to the ScribeFire website, you will see the features added and fixes to this version 1.4.6.

I have been using Live Writer for most of my blog entries but now that the one item that annoyed me (issue #40) has been fixed, you will see more Powered by Scribefire additions to the blog entries.

American Gods - Free to read on-line

Go this link:

Here for the next month you can read American Gods by Neil Gaiman courtesy of the author himself. He ran a survey on his blog as to which books his fans would like to see posted free on-line.

I voted for Neverwhere, but his more popular novel won. I liked it too, so everyone's a winner.

-30-

del.icio.us Tags: American Gods

Nobody Slipped.

The highlight of tonight's Academy Awards was the slippery floor on stage left.  This was THE most boring of the many shows I have seen.

It could be we had nothing invested having not been inspired enough to go to the theater to see any of these films.

Congratulations to each of you.  Whoever you were.

Never Made a Penny

You will see occasional links to books on these pages that will take to Amazon.com.  These links, if followed from here and purchase made allegedly will add change to my pocket. 
Never a penny.
I did set this program up for a not for profit web site where they have made a few hundred dollars having their members, all of whom are avid readers, make their orders through them.
Now Amazon.com is selling baby strollers and car seats. This is a 20% off sale on the Britax brand until March 2nd. 
I must admit I have never heard of this brand and my youngest is now taller than I.  
We do, however, buy loose tea from them on subscription. 
This allows for a major discount and free delivery of something I would've bought anyway.
Will baby strollers and car seats make me rich?
I think not.

LiveJournal Tags: Amazon.com

Inside or Indoors, Does It Matter?

The problem with shooting a plog North of Detroit in February that is normally shot out of doors, creeping down the alleyways, with exotic Canadian urban backgrounds is the poor hosts freeze their collective tookii.  It makes for good video, but may shorten their lifespan.

This is the condition commandN finds itself.  I personally like the man on the street feel of the blog.  Sometimes the sound is somewhat overwhelmed by the back ground noise, but this is part of the character. 

It is our fervent hope the weather in Toronto improves enough to allow our brave podcasters to return to their natural environment.  Or, as they did last year, to the MicroMini dealer.  I liked that episode so much I bought one.

LiveJournal Tags: commandN

Feel Like Visiting Someplace Urban?

The IHT blog list of its local color journalists is proving to be a relaxing read.  No heavy world crisis or political news.  It just tells you what is interesting about a place.  It is written by people who live there.

It did come to light for me a dozen or so years ago that the only way a native gets to know what is fun to visit in their native town is by showing people around who are not from there.  There have been many fascinating places in the cities wherein I have settled over the years.  It took a visitor for me to have reason or even the energy go there.

The rest of the time we just stand around waiting for things to happen. 

LiveJournal Tags: IHT,travel

Snow Changes Day Quickly

There were 5 things on my agenda for today.  The snow was scheduled for noon.  Someone forgot to verify this with the weather system.  I am looking out my office window at what would appear to be about an inch of snow.  Weather Dot Com showed that this is the northern edge of the storm.

As soon as the snow hit, my Blackberry started buzzing.  Not only is this snow, but it is Friday.  Combine the two, and the memory of the lousy commute home a month or so ago, and wham, the meetings get canceled, moved up or shortened.  I am waiting on news form my nine a.m.   

tick tick tick...

-30-

Bedtime musings

LiveJournal Tags: RSS,browsing,Shakespeare

After two hours of browsing using the RSS feed reader I opened the History column in Firefox and counted the number of sites I visited.   There were 25 pages on Shakespeare alone.  For some reason I was looking for the speech in Henry V where he speaks of Saint George, Harry and England.  Found it in the Shakespeare Concordance. 

The browsing went from the International Herald Tribune to a page on the Gutenberg free books site displaying a memoir of a Colonel in the American Army during the Revolutionary war.  I noted in the index it read that this was something from the Civil War.  I wonder if that index was created by an Englishman?

I downloaded a few programs.  I installed all of them and deleted all of them except the Foxit Reader.  I haven't had time to run it yet.  I am looking for something like the Kindle to display the free stuff  found on-line on the laptop . To view it easier it should be something other than HTML, text or PDF. 

What amazes me still is the amount of information that just pops out at you.  For some reason, when I started my newly installed VLC media player, a window popped up showing Jurassic Park. 

That spooked me even more when I stopped it and it started showing episodes of Stargate Atlantis from a few years ago.  I pretty much want a media player to open what I ask it to and not default to some European movie site.

Where I have it now is listening to on-line radio. The station is called Cryosleep, Zero Beat Guaranteed.  I am listening to this to drive the images of the alien beast that was being hacked live for meat on the last episode of Torchwood.

These are my ramblings before going to bed.  I am teaching a class tomorrow and need my beauty sleep.  Or, at the very least, I need a beauty of a sleep.
-30-

The Snow Leopard in Arlington

This link to the Sunday New York Times Book Review reveals a fact about the author of The Snow Leopard that was a bit of surprise to me.

I can't say it was unbelievable, considering the time and it was Paris, but still, is nothing corrupted?

-30-

LiveJournal Tags: corruption

Taking Sunday Off

That may sound strange, to take Sunday off, but after a very long week we have canceled all social obligations for the day.  I am sitting here in the home office, listening to Ingrid Michealson's The Way I Am to be followed by Stacy Kent singing Stardust. 

These songs came about with my discovery of Amazon.com's music download.  iTunes was just too complicated for me.  I am listening to the music on my laptop with the GPL Licensed  VLC cross platform media player.  It is the simplicity the interface to this programs full set of features that appeals to me.

Mark Knophler's Coyote (Album Version) just started playing.

This could go on all afternoon, but I would rather just chill, thank you...

-30-

...Stacy Kent is now singing I Got it Bad...

Technorati Tags: VLC Media Player,GPL

Simply Amazing!

If you have nine minutes you can spare in your day, you couldn't fill them any better than to go here and listen to Charlie Hunter and his guitar.

-30-

Thunderbird Gmail IMAP Drafts and Sent Errors

Technorati Tags: IMAP,GMAIL,THUNDERBIRD

If like most geeks in the world you have set your Thunderbird Gmail settings for IMAP, you may be getting unknown Drafts and Sent folder messages. 

It is an easy fix.  Go to this Lifehacker page for the instructions.  When you start to look for the Sent and Drafts folder in the boxes side menu, don't settle for the first Drafts or Sent folder.  Make sure you look for the [Gmail] first and THEN the Sent Mail and Drafts folder inside this folder.

That was the only part that confused me for ever so short a moment.

Good Luck!
-30-

Tiny Spell - Harmony or Disruption - Stay Tuned

Technorati Tags: Spellchecker

The tiny spell utility has been added to my laptop.  I already have two spell checkers, but I figure, could it hurt to have another?  Will they counter act each other, or show each other support. I am writing in Q10 now.

New boxes are popping up when I type words that are not in the tinySpell dictionary.

Will this be a war of spell-checkers or will it be peace and harmony on the writing screen.  Stay tune.
-30-

Live Writer Test

We changed the layout of the blog and the DNS to which the URL points.

Now we need to see if the original Live Writer setting still apply or do we have to reset the editor?

-30-

We Are Back.

The changes were subtle but significant. We weren't sure if we blew the blog off the Internet, but it would seem the DNS corrections took. It was scary for a few moments, but we had confidence it would work. Now we have to convince Live Writer.
-30-

Maintenance For Belltowernews.com

We are making some design changes early on Tuesday morning.  You may not be able to gain access to the site from 24 to 72 hours after midnight.

Meanwhile, go to Grazing Portal to keep up to date with the latest entries.

-30-

Bell Tower Disappeared

We've changed some of the setting and Bell Tower News seems to have disappeared. This is NOT a good thing!!

Chewing Gum and Soccer

del.icio.us Tags: Man City

It was in something I read on the Internet that said chewing gum made you smarter.  I am not so sure about that.  I rarely chew gum but a piece was offered to me during Coffee Hour this morning and impulsively I took it.  Normally, when people offer gum or a mint at a social gathering it means your breath might be on the brink of acting as a capable paint stripper.

But, as I am still chewing the gum hours later, I believe it has removed my ability to write at all.  Or it could be because of how little I know about Association Football? 

I do know that Manchester City has defeated Manchester United in a soccer game in the not too distant past.  I do know that is like the New Jersey Giants defeating the New England Patriots.  I do know that my friend, a new citizen of these United States, is a die hard Man City fan.  That's all I need to know to be able to say: Congratulations Man City!!!
-30-

Kindle Has No Effect???

Technorati Tags: Kindle,Sony,Kodak,Polaroid

One of last things I read on the web today was a comment by someone at Sony saying the Kindle has had no effect on the sale of books. 

On what planet is this guy?  The Kindle has only been out a few weeks, to the general public at least, they are on back order well into May and they are only available in the US.  Of course they haven't had an effect on the market yet.  They are, in all reality, not ON the market yet.

An independent thought occurred to me this afternoon while waiting on-line for a burrito with my son.  We had just left the local Borders where he depleted his birthday gift cards by half.  While he was browsing the stacks, I sat in the café reading a sample of a novel called The Sufi and Jinn.  The sample ended right after a fable told to a gathering of believers.  It took me less than a second to decide to read rest of the book.  I clicked on buy and before I could get back to the home menu to select it, the entire book was now on my Kindle.

There was a touch of guilt on my part buying a book from Amazon.com while sitting in the café in the back of Borders.  It didn't last long as I watched my son walk by with a stack of books.  Borders was getting its own.

The independent thought I dropped a paragraph ago had to do with Kodak.  When a boy, I had a box Brownie. 

It wasn't an antique.  Don't go there. 

The trick with the Brownie was they cost next to nothing.  When you were finished taking the pictures, you sent the camera, film and all to Rochester N.Y.  The photos were returned with a refilled Brownie.  The money Kodak was making was in the sale of film and development.

Polaroid made its money from the film as well.  They recently stopped making the film.  Could digital photography have something to do with that?

How much money would Amazon.com make if they gave away the Kindles?  Would the increase in sales make up for the cost of manufacture and distribution?  Then there's the cost of the Whispernet.  That book didn't appear on my kindles in the Borders Café by magic.  It was downloaded thorough what is really a sophisticated broadband cellular network. 

So, maybe not for free, but at a subscription, to pay for the phone perhaps.  The more I think about this; the more sense is made of their original business plan.

Can you tell it's late?

Good Night All.
-30-

Two Hours At Google Reader

Using the Firefox Extension, Read-it-later, I was able this morning to hold for later viewing all of the links below while browsing through the Google Reader .

What assisted me in copying these links I as perused them in Firefox clicking on the Read-it-later and the Read-it icons was the newest note taking utility added to the laptop, Quicknote. Quicknote was praised in an earlier blog entry.

The Read-it-later extension is not only for Google Reader. It copies to its bookmark any link you may encounter while browsing. Therefore, one or two of the links below may have come from browsing places like Technorati or commandN, but most come from Google Reader, whither there are feeds from both of these sites

I have loaded the complete link below the names of the sites instead of embedding them. This way you can see, before you click on them, exactly where the link is taking you. However, some links were so long, in the original entry, they went off the page. Those I have embedded in the name of the link.

Read-It-Later Links

What is Relativity?
http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080208-relativity.html

Tinker
http://www.tiinker.com/

GMail Skins

WOT For Firefox
http://www.freewarefiles.com/wot-for-firefox_program_39708.html

The Draco Tavern
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786159472/omnivoracious-20

Archbishop Defends Remarks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7236174.stm

Google Map Mashups

Stephen King On Writing
http://www.amazon.com/

First Look at Firefox 3.0
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061212-8409.html

WiFi Sites
http://hotspotr.com/wifi

Photo Enforced
http://www.photoenforced.com/

The Elegant Variation
http://marksarvas.blogs.com/

eHub-Flexadex
http://www.emilychang.com/go/ehub/app/flexadex/

Duke of York Trashes US
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7227627.stm

Creative Swearing (This is very fast but funny)

Configuring GMail Imap in Thunderbird

Daylife
http://www.daylife.com/

Romney Exits (Herald Tribune)

Dignity Village

Smoke at Ansonia

commandN #121

Add Content to Google Maps

Create PDF Magazines
http://www.pdf-mags.com/index.php

Cram Magazine (PDF)
http://www.cram-mag.com/

Daily Dose of Imagery
http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/

The Tenant Who Wrote Macbeth

Word and OpenOffice Compatibility

How to Fold a Towel Monkey

Digital Camera Reviews
http://www.dpreview.com/

Blogger Buzz
http://buzz.blogger.com/

LiveJournal Tags: Read-it Extension,Google Reader,Quicknotes. Live Writer

Firefox Back Up

It should be mentioned that Firefox, though no manipulation of my own, is now back up and running. 

When it activated all of my add-ons, along with their associated websites.  I had to go in and turn off the add-ons not currently in use.  It did surprise me there were so many.  I am a taster.  When I find mention of something that may make the browsing experience more interesting, will try it.  Mostly the reason I turn it off as to do with loading time or its conflict with a already running feature.  I only delete the ones that have an obvious detrimental effect on my set-up.

I wonder if this huge patch, whose pending arrival was all over ZDNet news. (Google Read Feed), was a precursor to Firefox's version 3.0.

-30-

Technorati Tags: Firefox Patch

Contemplating Ashes in the Cave

Technorati Tags: commandN,Google Reader,Kindle,Q10 Editor

It was good to start the morning with my newly arrived loose tea now on standard order with Amazon.com and a podcast from snowy Toronto.

Work in the trenches has kept me from keeping the blogs in good working order. I would love to promise improvement, but there is this quirky eating thing to which I have grown so accustomed. The other two distractions are, as before, the Google Reader and Kindle.

Our Google Reader subscription list is now a ridiculous number. However, the shortcuts, such as the letters m and j as well as the space bar do let me browse at a quicker pace. There is literature out there that says the human attention span is diminishing due to browsing in this manner. I don't know about that.

When mankind had little more to do then contemplate the ashes from last night's fire, the attention span may have been longer, but now with the entire world coming to our face on the computer screen, we need to be able to triage the information.

The program Q10, a full screen editor that brings me back to my DOS 8086, with the blue back ground and yellow print it helps to remove the distraction of bars and pop ups. I am using it now for the first copy of this entry.

The sound effect of the typewriter also soothes my ancient soul.

On the Kindle front, I have discovered Samples. I have mentioned a comparison between the Kindle and heroin. The offering of samples is along the same line.

This morning, before anything else, I went to the Amazon.com kindle books Web site and chose a dozen or so books to sample. Of the dozen, I chose to buy Gore Vidal's memoir. I am toying with The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes but will decide that after finishing Gore Vidal's book.
If you go down the right column on Belltowernews.com you will see the Google Reader box. I am constantly adding links in that box even when not making entries to the blog.

So, if you come to Belltowernews.com or any of the other Grazing Blogs, and there are no new entries, it would behoove you to at least glance at the Reader links.
Some of this stuff is fantastic.

Back to Google Reader!!!
-30-

Firefox Upgrade Killed Firefox!!!

Firefox just updated itself.  It also updated all of the extensions-add-ons.  It activated all of the disabled extensions, of which there are many. 

For those of the extensions that have third party web pages begging for donations, it opened all of them  as well.  When I started to disable the extensions, FIREFOX HAS A PROBLEM box popped up. 

Now I can't get it to restart.  This is not good.  Not good at all.   
-30-

Belltower News and Grazing. What's the Connection?

A legitimate question was asked by one of our viewers.  "You constantly refer to Belltowernews.com as the original Grazing blog.  What connection is there between Belltower News and grazing?"

As I consider it, it's a wonder this question hasn't be asked earlier.  The answer is economics. 

A while back, when working as a solo development act, an establishment in Vermont asked me to help with the set-up of an on-line newsletter.  As was usual for back then, I created a domain name and a hosting site for the newsletter that was the same as its name, Belltower News.

The creation of this domain name was a bit premature.  They wanted the newsletter to reside on their own server as a link.  Haste makes waste.

Not wanting to be wasteful, I was looking for a place to link the newly created blog Random Thoughts Grazing.  I had found that the words Random and Thoughts in many variations were already used in many blogs.  So, I linked the blog to Belltowernews.com and changed its name  to fit the URL

Backwards engineering of a sort, but I like it.

There about a dozen or so grazing blogs still in operation. All of them do have the word Grazing in their title, just not this one.  It is in the subtitle.

--30--

BuzzNet Tags: Belltowernews.com

Twitter: What's Up?

The only one from whom I seem to be getting any information on Twitter is Leo Laporte.  He used the twitter email address to get his information from his visit to the Nile back to US.  Now, did the Internet connection for North Africa and India  collapse while he was there or after he left.  Hmm.

Then, in today's CommandN, Twitter add-ons were part of the weekly Tech-Tips.  Realizing I hadn't been on Twitter since last December I went in to see what I had left behind.  Pretty much nothing.

I let Twitter look at my GMail contacts only to find none of the several hundred people on my list seem to have Twitter accounts.  More likely, if they do, they're not using the official email address that would be found in my Thunderbird address book.

Jaiku makes much more sense.  That, and we have it as box on in the right column of Belltowernews.com

I need to read more about Twitter and see about the fuss.
-30-

Technorati Tags: Twitter

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.
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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..."
-30-

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.
-30-

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.
-30-

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.
-30-

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.
-30-

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.
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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.
--30--

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.
-30-

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.
-30-

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.

-30-

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.
-30-

One More Thing

No Kindle delivered yet!

-30-

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.

-30-

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.
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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.

-30-

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.
--30--

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 !!
-30-

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.

-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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!
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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!
-30-

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.

-30-

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.
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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?
-30-

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.
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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.
-30-

Free Fax • Free Internet Faxing

Powered by ScribeFire.

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.
-30-

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.
-30-

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.

-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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!
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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!!!

-30-

Powered by Zoundry

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...

-30-

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...

-30-

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!!
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.

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!"
--30--

Powered by ScribeFire.

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.

-30-

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.

-30-

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.

-30-

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..
-30-

Powered by ScribeFire.