Month: June 2005 blog archive
keyword bookmarks in firefox - 30 Jun 2005

If you use Bugzilla as a bug tracking database, or use any bug tracking database for that matter, this may be a handy tip. I often have a bug ID that I want to look up and it’s kind of a pain to have to go to the main bugzilla page, click in the search […]

Categories: Useful,Web browsers
restless legs syndrome - 29 Jun 2005

Have you ever been lying in bed with the feeling that your legs wanted to do something other than relax? Every once in a while my legs decide they’re not interested in snoozing with the rest of me, making it hard to get to sleep. I didn’t know there was a formal name for this […]

Categories: Useful
opera 8.0 review - 28 Jun 2005

I’ve been an Opera user for several years along with being a Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox aficionado and now that Opera 8.01 is out, here are my thoughts. First, what I like. Easy to switch plugins on and off (F12 and you can turn on flash, Java, sound etc) Fast (page rendering and generally as an application) Works […]

Categories: Reviews,Web browsers
time’s 10 cool sites - 24 Jun 2005

Time Magazine put together a great list of 10 cool websites, a few of which I already use regularly. The others may soon be in that category as well.

Categories: News
how to address an alien - 23 Jun 2005

I’ve never thought about how to address an alien, since I don’t expect to have that need anytime soon. However, I now know the correct salutation: Gnorts. Why Gnorts? Because of Neil Armstrong, which isn’t his real name of course. It’s a code for how to address an alien. Read backwards, Neil Armstrong is ‘Gnorts […]

Categories: Entertaining
breakup by mail server - 22 Jun 2005

Whenever I get a bounced e-mail from a mail server running qmail, I wonder what the developers were thinking when they wrote the following message: Hi. This is the qmail-send program at example.com. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to deliver your message to the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I’ve given up. Sorry […]

Categories: Humor
le presse reviews - 21 Jun 2005

I was captivated by an infomercial several years ago about a product called Le Presse. The demonstrations made chopping things up so easy and quick, I came close to buying one. Then I learned that it was $75 ($59 plus $14.95 shipping) and decided it wasn’t worth that much. Recently I was thinking about how […]

Categories: Useful
super pogo stick - 20 Jun 2005

For the low price of $299.99 you can buy a pogo stick that bounces over five feet high! Why, you could leap small houses in a single bound. It’s called the Flybar 1200, and is developed by Flybar (an incidental coincidence I’m sure). There are a few demo videos on the site (although they don’t […]

Categories: Technology
plurality explored - 17 Jun 2005

I have noticed a distinct oddity having to do with plurality in the English language. If you say you have 2 miles to go, I would propose we all agree that miles should be plural. If you have 1 mile to go, that’s singular, which again, I think we’d all agree on. The confusion begins […]

Categories: Language
Opera 8.01 is out - 16 Jun 2005

Opera 8.01 has been released with some security fixes. You can download it from the official site. Here are the changelogs for linux and windows.

Categories: Web browsers
voice over IP with Vonage - 16 Jun 2005

I had heard the term ‘voice over IP’ dozens of times before I made any effort to learn what it was. Then I clicked on an ad (which I rarely do) from Vonage, advertising the use of your broadband internet connection to replace your phone line. Having had a horrific time with AT&T, I was […]

Categories: Technology
upcoming movies - 15 Jun 2005

I saw an ad for a new movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki called Hauru no ugoku shiro (aka Howl’s Moving Castle) and I recognized the name. Miyazaki directed Spirited Away, which I really liked, so I have high hopes for this one too. It’s in theatres now (it was released on June 10th). Another movie […]

Categories: Movies and Theatre
why so many numbers? - 14 Jun 2005

I keep confusing the names of three companies with each other. Maybe you can see why. 43 Folders 43 Things 37 Signals Adding numbers to your web site name is apparently a hip thing to do nowadays, but I don’t really like it. I find myself wondering if there were 41 things, or 43 signals, […]

Categories: My Thoughts
100 best products of 2005 - 13 Jun 2005

We’re only halfway through the year, but PC World has already assembled a list of the 100 Best Products of 2005. Maybe they’ve decided that nothing else will be coming out in the next six months that will be worthy of their list. Whatever the deal is, here’s what I have to say about it. […]

Categories: Technology
check it out first - 10 Jun 2005

I remember getting a letter in the mail telling me I could get a loan for up to $10,000 at 3% interest. I began filling out the request form but then a little warning bell went off in my head. The form was unlike any normal credit application I had seen, I didn’t recognize the […]

Categories: Useful
responding to comments - 09 Jun 2005

I recently posted a comment on a blog where the author said, “I blog mainly because I love getting comments, emails and feedback from other people in the world who make me smarter. It’s also rewarding to help others by sharing knowledge and ideas, but I know I love the feedback because I click on […]

Categories: Blogging
hertz car rental review - 08 Jun 2005

I rented a car from Hertz on a recent trip and my overall experience with them has been quite positive. It had a few bumps, but they fixed the problems quickly and to my satisfaction. When I first picked up the car there was only one person at the counter (it was 11:45pm so I […]

Categories: Reviews
automation of paper towels - 07 Jun 2005

In the bathroom at work we have automatic paper towel dispensers where you wave your hand in front of it and out spits an appropriate amount of paper towel so you can dry your hands. So far, so good. There are two dispensers, but one of them has become quite stingy recently, giving none of […]

Categories: My Thoughts
hardware identification on windows - 05 Jun 2005

I was helping someone with some computer problems recently and suggested they could benefit from an increase in RAM. Having not dealt with that computer before, I didn’t know what kind of RAM it needed and I didn’t want to have to open up the case to find out. In order to save myself some […]

Categories: Useful
learning to use vi (or VIM) - 03 Jun 2005

When I first heard about vi and ran it, I grew confused and frustrated. I couldn’t do anything when I ran it, and I couldn’t even exit. I tried typing help but it displayed an error (No File). Then I tried typing quit, and it said something about recording and then insert, and then a […]

Categories: Linux,Useful
words that aren’t in the dictionary - 01 Jun 2005

Here are 10 words that aren’t in the dictionary, but may be in the future. I like ginormous, snirt and lingweenie (although I had to look up the definition of neologisms). I wonder how many of the new words will make it into common usage.

Categories: Language