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February 27, 2006
Firefox: Build the Super Bowser
Check out: The Super Browser
Anyone who has spent any time using Firefox and its many extensions will appreciate this one. Splasho.com has a great post about running Firefox with 100 of the most popular extensions installed! The non-Firefox user probably won't appreciate the post, but I thought it was great for a laugh. I am currently using Flock as my default browser, but I had used Firefox exclusively for some time. Still, I never had more than 6 or 7 extensions installed...
HERE is the FULL SIZE SCREENSHOT of this beast of a browser.
A tip of the hat to digg for this story.
People are Talking:
online, cyber life, Firefox
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Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2006
Thinking in Web 2.0: Sixteen Ways
"Thinking in Web 2.0"I highly recommend the above post for an excellent read regarding present and future online technologies. It is a great read for developers and users alike.
To summarize Dion Hinchcliffe's points:
1. Before you even begin, understand your goal simply.
2. The link is the fundamental unit of thought.
2a. Everything on the Web is linkable with a URI or URL (and if isn't, it should be!)2b. Saving any link lets you get back to what the link originally referenced, and it lets you share it with anyone, anywhere, at any time.
2c. The anytime piece in #2 is crucial and means the link is really a permalink that won't change or go away without good reason and prior warning.
2d. Links should be human readable, consistent, and their purpose self-evident.
3. Data belongs to those that create it.
4. It's about data first, experiences and functionality second.
5. Be prepared to share everything with enthusiasm.
6. The Web is the platform; make it grow.
7. Understand and embrace the "capability gradient".
8. Everything is editable. Or it should darn well be.
9. Identity on the Web is sacrosanct.
10. Know thy popular standards and use them.
11. Obey the law of unintended uses.
12. Granulate your data and services.
13. Provide data and services that are for user's individual benefit.
14. User-driven organization and filtering are not just nice to have. Not critical, but very important.
15. Offer/use rich user experiences.
16. Embrace and enable rapid change and feedback.
Read his entire post:Thinking in Web 2.0: Sixteen Ways
Technorati Tags: Computer, Web 2.0, online, cyber life
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Posted by capecodcyclist at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2006
Trying to use Flock With Movable Type
Movable Type - Flock Community:
"When setting up a Movable Type blog in Flock you might encounter an error near the end of the wizard that says 'There was and error detecting your blog settings'..."
Lately, I have been all about trying new Web 2.0 apps and such (PageFlakes and News Alloy are the two most noteworthy of these). So, it should come as no surprise that I have also been checking out "browsers" that claim the ability to combine many of the features I have been enjoying: blogging, tagged bookmarking, aggregating, etc. Tonight I decided to take Flock for a spin. No offense to you Flockers, but what a let down.
First, I am no newbie to any of this. I use Mars Edit to do most of my blogging now when I am at home. I didn't have any problems setting this up with my MT blogs. However, despite perusing bug reports, forums and comment sections, I could not get my Movable Type install working with Flock for the life of me. Hopefully Flock makes this an easier transition for MT users before they go public. I spent the entire evening trying every tip and hint I could mine from Google, and all I can say is, "What the Flock?!?!"
I give up. It's time for bed.
UPDATE: Spent my entire morning trying to connect to my blog through Flock... still nothing. I can connect and post to my blog through Flickr, Mars Edit, etc., no problem, but Flock will simply not let me log in.
Technorati Tags:
blog, blogging, Computer, Flock
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Posted by capecodcyclist at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2006
culiblog: Google Recipe Finder
culiblog: Google Recipe Finder:
This is the stuff computers are made for. After reading the blog post at the above link, I combined a Butler hotkey combination of "Control+R" with the Google Recipe Finder. I press two keys, a search bar pops up in the middle of my screen, I enter any ingredients from my refrigerator (ie chicken+carrots+ mustard, etc.) and I am instantly presented with the google recipe search results for my ingredients. Does this mean I will be cooking more?
A tip of the hat to culiblog for this trick.
People are Talking: Apple, Mac, Computer, Butler, Google, Recipe, Cooking, Food
Posted by capecodcyclist at 09:06 PM | Comments (1)
February 19, 2006
Apple Store: Derby Street
Jesse and I took a road trip to Hingham for the grand opening of the new Apple store at Derby Street yesterday. The line and the wait to get in was surprisingly long, especially considering temps were in the 20's and the wind was howling. They would have done well to get more unconverted Apple fans out. Most of the participants already seemed to be dedicated Apple users. Who else would stand around in the freezing cold for so long?
We did have a good time despite the cold and the wait. We scored new T-Shirts, hit some of the other stores (REI was the highlight for me), and did lunch at Rustic Kitchen... a nice weekend date.
Other people are talking about the grand opening at: The Unofficial Apple Weblog
*Peter and Rebecca Wood's photo gallery of the event
*Another photo gallery at V1beta.com
Related Technorati Tags:
Apple, Derby Street, Apple Store, Mac, Computer
Posted by capecodcyclist at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 17, 2006
The Snoozing Affair
You know you are due for a weekend off when:
You awaken to find yourself fondling the snooze button... trying to milk out that last bit of slumber.
Is the weekend here yet?
People are Talking:
sleep
Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:45 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2006
Cyber-crime on the rise: Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, FL.
Tallahassee Democrat - www.tallahassee.com - Tallahassee, FL.:
"Billions of dollars are lost each year in communities such as Tallahassee to cybercrimes, Tallahassee Police Department Chief Walter McNeil said Wednesday. To combat that problem, the department has created a cybercrimes unit to work on these cases.Sgt. Bill Bierbaum, supervisor of the financial-crimes unit, will oversee the cybercrimes unit. He said 40 to 50 percent of crimes reported are computer-related."
Sgt. Bierbaum further explains the need for this move: "Sophisticated criminals are trading in the pry bar and gloves for a computer."
If forty to fifty percent of reported crimes in Tallahassee are cyber-crimes, it seems that more of our communities will eventually be forced to assign officers to this growing problem. If our law enforcement agencies were not already so strapped, this might not be such a big deal.
I don't think we are talking about criminals "trading in their pry bars and gloves" either. I think we are just witnessing the birth of a new breed of criminal. Is the guy with the pry bar and gloves in it for the challenge? They may be similar in that they view other people's property as easy money I suppose...
Similar Technorati Topics:
cyber crime, cyber-crime, law enforcement, crime, identity theft
Posted by capecodcyclist at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2006
SkySails: What Will the Anti-Wind Folks Say About This?
"The SkySails system consists of a fully automated towing kite propulsion and a wind-optimised routing system. It is used offshore, additionally to the propulsion of the ship's engine, if the wind conditions allow."
Just when you thought the skies might be safe from new technologies aimed at harnessing the wind...
A tip of the hat to Treehugger for this story.
Similar Topics Via Technorati:
travel, transportation, technology, wind, wind power, kite, sail, sailing, wind propulsion, clean power, hybrid
Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 09, 2006
Blog Recall: Remember When...
Blog rerun (February 2005):
"It will feel good to stretch these blog muscles. Yes, I have been continuing my low-blog diet.House update: the waiting game on the house continues. The mortgage process and planning of the post-tenant restoration are taking center stage. Anyone who has never purchased a house should be warned: the process is terribly aggravating! In a country where virtually everything is about instant gratification, the home purchase and mortgage process is like having the carrot dangled in your face for weeks on end. The end result will be well worth it, however, as housing options on Cape Cod are becoming limited to say the least.
On the relationship front: Jesse and I just celebrated our first Valentine's Day together and a four month anniversary. Hard to believe that four months into the relationship we are so sure about our future together. The prospect of starting a home means so much more knowing we will have one another's company.
It seems like such a short time ago that I moved into my current $500 a month rental in an effort to save money to buy a house. I did not expect to be in this position so soon, especially in the position to buy on Cape Cod. Amazing how quickly things change."
Here we are a year later. Personally, I think I am still suffering burnout from all the work we did to make this our home, but the end result is just what we had hoped for. A second Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and now the wedding day draws closer. Amazing...
Posted by capecodcyclist at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)
New Aeroscraft Technology
The word Aeroscraft describes a flying craft that derives its lift partially from lifting gas (helium) and partially from the traditional dynamic lift created by the shape of the body. Aeros has designed a craft that takes advantage of both methods of lift.This design approach has resulted in the evolution of a craft that can fly further, operate more economically, and lift more than any other craft in the skies. The Aeroscraft has been designed to fill the very widest range of missions and conditions.
I know my chances of getting Jesse up into a plane without tranquilizers are not good, but what about getting her up in this mother of all air ships? My first thought upon seeing this rendition: "WOW!" My second thought: "What targets those will make..." It's too bad. It would be great if these could see real world use in the future. You never know...
To read more about these amazing air vehicles: Worldwide Aeros Corporation
Technorati Tags:
travel, transportation, technology, aero, flight, flying, air, blimp, dirigible, airship
Posted by capecodcyclist at 08:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 05, 2006
Are You Ready for Some Football?
Spell with flickr: SUPER BOWL!
I just can't seem to get excited about the Super Bowl tonight... but I can get excited about spelling it with flickr!
Posted by capecodcyclist at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2006
I Think I've Been Blogwinked
blogwink
verb
Using a blog or blog comments to cause people to accept what is false, especially by trickery or misrepresentation: beguile, betray, bluff, cozen, deceive, delude, double-cross, dupe, fool, humbug, mislead, take in, trick. Informal bamboozle, have. Slang four-flush. Idioms: lead astray, play false, pull the wool over someone's eyes, put something over on, take for a ride. See honest/dishonest.
Posted by capecodcyclist at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2006
Guts Should Not be a Prerequisite for Blogging (although sometimes they might help)
I am prepared for the fact that this blog may make me sound like a "girly man," but I am okay with that. I am not a tough guy, and I have never claimed to be. A commentator on Cape Cod Today made a comment to my farewell post there today that will stick with me, and made this all so clear:
"Don't blog; you don't have the hide for it."
I don't have the hide for it? Why should blogging require a thick skin? This simple comment made it so clear to me how confused some people (even bloggers themselves) are about blogging.
Blogging is just another form of communication for me. It began as an offshoot of my Cape Cod Cyclists' Escape website that I had already been messing with for a couple of years. My first blog post was made in May of 2003, on Memorial Day. I began with "Life by the Drop," which soon turned into "Sunday Morning Blog" after I discovered someone was already using the previous title. My first couple of posts were about my failed vacation, irritation at baseball announcers' abuse of the word "scuffling" when they were describing "struggling" teams and players, and this post which I made in my first week of blogging (May 27, 2003):
The Cape Wind Farm opponents are at it again. Today, the local rag (Cape Cod Times) took the Audubon Society's position statement on the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm and twisted it to suit their own agenda. See "Birds vs. Windmills," 27 May 2003. "The Audubon Society supports the ""responsible planning and development"" of offshore renewable energy resources." Yet, the Cape Cod Times manages to twist this position into the Audubon Society being against the Cape Wind project.In the wake of the recent spill of over 100,000 gallons of oil here in Buzzards Bay, I do not see how any sane person can deny the importance of finding alternative energy resources. Although it is true that the Cape Wind project would not eliminate the Mirant corporation's Canal Electric power plant (to which the spilled oil was being shipped), it is one step in the direction of reducing our reliance on these dirty, fossil-fuel burning energy sources.
By 2020, wind could provide up to six percent of the United States' energy needs according to the American Wind Energy Association. That is nothing to sneer at.
For more on the Audubon Society and alternative energy sources see: Beyond Oil
Obviously, like any human being, I have opinions. It is apparent to me, now that I am questioning what this blogging thing is all about nearly three years later, that very early on, blogging was about expressing my views on things. Please note a couple of my chosen phrases from this early post: "the local rag" (to describe the Cape Cod Times), and "sane person" (might be interpreted to mean that people who don't agree are insane?). There is no denying that I have opinions that might be contentious. My approach to these subjects has not always been neutral or politically correct. However, I am expressing myself and my opinions and I not trying to harm anyone by them. I have blogged with only the most innocent of intentions, and until now the results have always mirrored this fact.
Some of the best things in my life have resulted from blogging. If it wasn't for my blog, I would have never been introduced to Cookie's blog. If I had never met Cookie, I would have never been introduced to Jesse's blog. If I had never met Jesse... well, let's not think about that. Jesse and I are due to be married this coming April as the result of the amazing coming together of two bloggers. Blogging has done me enough good that I will never deny its benefit. That there have been negatives is my own fault.
It was "my bad" (I despise that phrase) that I started to post my thoughts to a blog on Cape Cod Today without doing so anonymously. Not only that, but my first experience with Cape Cod Today should have been enough to keep me away. After making a post that attracted some great comment section interactions with Rep. Matt Patrick of Falmouth, the post was snubbed in the headline section of what was then the primary link to people's blogs. Instead of packing it in for good after feeling the sting of politics in the media, I returned for more. Having a letter to the editor ignored is one thing, but I was going to put my thoughts out there in a way that could not be ignored. Again: "my bad."
If you put your thoughts out there, and you have strong opinions, you are going to ruffle some feathers. Especially if you learn the number one community blogging lesson too late: if you don't have anything positive to comment about on someone else's blog, keep it to yourself-- or post an opposing view in your own space. Maybe I learned this lesson too late, or maybe I am just blaming myself for something I shouldn't be. Regardless, by the time I was questioning where the venom was coming from in some of the comments to my blog posts, the damage had already been done. Not that many of these people require fuel for their fires. There are obviously nutjobs out there with some serious issues. Still, with friends like bloggers in a public blog forum, who needs enemies? Talk about dysfunctional- Cape Cod Today wrote the book, and I was going along for the ride. Until...
The other day, I posted an article that included an illustration of one of the most disgusting pieces of legislation that I have ever heard. I expressed my displeasure with legislation proposed by a Georgia Congresswoman (my first mistake: she is a woman, my second mistake: she is black) that would place a permanent memorial of all records relating to the life and death of Tupac Shakur (womanizing, drug dealing, convicted felon, gangster rap-artist) in the National Archives and create an additional repository at The Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain Georgia. What seemed an obvious waste of our money to me, was an example of my racism to a fellow blogger on Cape Cod Today. The comment section for this post quickly spiraled away from the issues of my post into a debate about the realities of my being a racist. My tactic was not to defend myself-- racism is not an issue I have to defend myself against, however the attacks continued (as my upset escalated). Despite warnings that bloggers should be playing nice, this was the second of such unprovoked attacks against me in as many days. The first came after I commented to another post with one sentence stating that I felt Judge Alito was representative of mainstream America. I was immediately accused of being sexist and that I would prefer all woman be behind their "invisible burqas." Blogging on Cape Cod Today was losing its enjoyment. I blog as a creative outlet and for intelligent debate- not for personal attacks.
This brings me to tonight. I am blogging. It may not be in a public forum, but I have control of the content, and all comments pass through me. It feels better, but there is also a sense of loss. In a public forum, your space is not really your own, and freedom of speech requires you to allow comments that you would not necessarily endorse or approve of:
Open blog comments, freedom of speech: someone comments, calling you a racist. The comments remain hanging out there for all to see. Someone whose life work you admire calling you a racist makes it even more difficult to swallow, and makes the pain even deeper. It might be different if I just didn't give a shit about racism, but my second edition copy of The Apartheid Handbook has not remained part of my collection so many years because it is valuable or looks nice. I didn't tell people on Cape Cod Today this. Why would you defend yourself against something that is so far off base? Instead I pulled the plug on my blog, started deleting posts, and closed my comments. It just wasn't fun anymore.
Blogging is about expressing myself. I appreciated the public audience, but not at the expense of my reputation or my family's good name. None of my comments or posts have ever or could ever bring any shame to my family or I. But enduring being called a sexist or a racist in a popular public forum, by someone whose life's work you admire is/was too much to endure. It wasn't just one person on the Drew bashing crusade. I just gave them what they had been clamoring for since I first started blogging there: I quit.
Blogging isn't about being strong. Blogging should be about expressing yourself freely, and being comfortable and happy doing so. I am not one to toot my own horn. I will not defend myself against accusations that could not be further from the truth. I would rather just leave. Go ahead and call it "tucking my tail between my legs." I call it sanity. I try to live my life to the best of my ability every day. Today that meant removing myself from a horrible situation. That others whom I also respected tried to interfere with that, and forced another day of comments on what I thought was MY Cape Cod Today blog, only made it hurt all the more that I was being denied this outlet that I enjoyed so much. There is nothing to keep me from enjoying it still. It is just different-- like being sent to your room without cause. I am sure it will grow on me not having the attack dogs barking at my heels. I just realized that my jaw hurts from clenching it all day. No, I'm not upset, not at all...
Posted by capecodcyclist at 10:38 PM | Comments (5)
It's All About the Benjamins
Will nothing online remain free from advertising? People are even selling space in their RSS feeds now.
I suppose everyone should be entitled to make a buck, but really... in your feeds? I am ready to unsubscribe to a few feeds I have been subscribing to. The biggest sell out is a political, Conservative-minded blog I often read that has sold space to the most blatantly Liberal newspaper in existence: The New York Times. How can you people live with yourselves?
Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:53 AM | Comments (0)