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When I taught college Web design courses, I always gave my students a list of design aspects to consider when creating their own Web sites. To give them some practice at thinking of the things on the list, I always gave them an in-class, ungraded assignment to break into small groups and use the list that I had given them to critique my Web site. Chris Poteet's 10 Greatest Web Design Taboo List is a small subset of the types of things I always taught my students.
Regular readers of this Journal know that, for the past 2 years, I've been hoping to eventually replace Windows with some version of Linux on my main PC. And that I'm still waiting for my free CDs of the extremely popular Ubuntu and Kubuntu versions of Linux. Lately, I've been surprised to see stories about famous people switching to Ubuntu Linux. Why was I surprised? Because the switchers were former Apple fans. If you're thinking of switching from Windows to Ubuntu Linux, then do like I did and bookmark the Windows to Ubuntu Transition Guide for future reference.
If you have your own Web site, and you're smart enough to be using Mozilla's free, open source Firefox Web browser, you need to download and install the Web Developer Firefox extension. It's an amazing tool that will save you time and trouble in a hundred different ways.
Stare at the dot in the center of the weirdly colored photograph. Keep staring at that dot, even after the timer runs out. If you keep staring at that dot, you'll see the photograph surrounding it in normal color, with blue sky and green grass. After you see the colors, move your eyes and your brain will suddenly realize that the color photograph that you saw is actually in black-and-white.
Even if you saw them on Inside the Actors Studio a few years ago, you'll probably enjoy seeing two cast members from The Simpsons
do their characters' voices on the Conan O'Brien show.
My free CD of Kubuntu Linux arrived in Saturday's mail and I've already spent more than 6 hours with it. A few years ago, I tested several different Linux distros and was very disappointed, concluding that I would be ready for Linux when Linux was ready for me. From what I've seen of it so far, Kubuntu may be exactly what I'm looking for in a powerful, friendly Linux distro. I haven't installed it onto a hard drive yet, but even when booting from the Kubuntu CD itself, it recognized my sound card, U.S.B laser printer, graphics card, DSL network, and other devices.
While browsing the Web with the Linux Konqueror browser, I discovered that all of the text on this site displayed at a fraction of the size that it did in Windows. So I stayed up until about 4:00 this morning to troubleshoot the problem by repeatedly booting into Windows to make changes to my CSS file, and then booting into Linux to view my site. I finally solved the problem by recoding all of this site's font sizes in pixels instead of ems. As a result, this site's text now displays at the same size in Windows, Mac, and Linux browsers. While I worked on that problem, I also eliminated this site's use of Microsoft's proprietary Arial font.
I've finally learned enough that I feel that I can install and configure WordPress and manually convert this Journal's hundreds of posts to use it. Now I'll have to figure out which one I want to do first -- install Kubuntu Linux on a hard drive and learn to use it, or install WordPress on my remote Web server and learn to use it.
The creators of The Ultimate Boot CD For Windows released a new version about 3 weeks ago. Unlike older versions, which required you to download and assemble several software "pieces," the new version is just one download that includes the entire BartPE setup. The only other thing you'll need to create the UBCD4Win is your Windows XP installation CD. If you need a reminder, "UBCD4Win is a bootable CD which contains software that allows you to repair/restore/diagnostic almost any computer problem. All software included in UBCD4Win are freeware utilities for Windows." As always, the UBCD4Win is free.
Are you getting older? So am I. Sometimes it's not much fun, but then, as they say, it's better than the alternative. Here's an award-winning
animated film that reveals the precious lifetime memories of two sisters in their old age.
If you're tired of downloading and installing hundreds of separate Windows updates and patches each time you reinstall Windows, you might want to try AutoPatcher.
Do you want to be a great Web site publisher? There's some good advice in 10 Common Traits of a Great Website Publisher.
If you have children who have computer access — either at home or at school — please read Teach Kids Web Safety and Safety Tips for Social Networks to learn how to teach them to be careful when they're on the Web.
In what was probably just a publicity stunt to build up interest in her upcoming seventh-and-final Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling recently announced that she may kill off the boy wizard in that last episode. A lot of people think that would be a good idea.
What do you get when you put five baby pigs in a cage with a full-grown female tiger? In this case, you get
some very cute photos.
I had some free time yesterday, so I thought I'd go ahead and install WordPress; however, as I read through the WP forums, I learned that they're having a 24-hour "bug hunt" today and tomorrow. They hope to release a new version soon, so I decided to wait until then to install it.
Digg is one of the many sites that I check every day, to find stories to include in this Journal. Several days ago, Digg introduced a redesigned version of their site that no longer displays in 800x600 screen resolution without forcing you to scroll back and forth. I went looking for a low-res solution (clever play on words, eh?) and discovered a Firefox extension called Stylish. Once you install Stylish, you can create global or site-specific CSS files to "rearrange" the display of any CSS-formatted Web site that you visit. If you don't know how to use a site's existing CSS file to help you create a new CSS file for it, Stylish will let you choose from a few hundred CSS files that others have already created. And of course, you can toggle your alternative style on and off as needed. I didn't find a Digg style that was as simple as I wanted, so I created my own, and then uploaded it to the Stylish site so that others could use it, too. It's called Digg 3.0 - Stripped to the bones. While I was in the mood, I also created a style for Reddit called Reddit - Stripped to the bones.
How safe do you think you are from identity theft? How safe do you think your parents or your children are? You may feel angry and vulnerable after you read Identity Thief Finds Easy Money Hard to Resist.
Saturday Night Live always does a good job in their parodies of the TV game show,
Jeopardy.
Does your web site look cool, hot, hip, fly, rad and bad? If so, it might be because it uses many of the 8 Web Design Cliches of 2006.
Do your favorite comics have their own online blogs? Check Tapestry, "a directory of feeds for online comics." Who knows — you may even find a few new favorites among the 150 current listings.
If you're in the mood to see and hear a fantastic guitarist and singer who can also do a pretty mean trumpet impression, check out Raul Midon.
Speaking of fantastic guitarists, you've got to see and hear Erik Mongrain's incredible high-speed taps, hammers, slides, harmonics, and other impressive guitar techniques in
AirTap!.
Its existence has spawned lawsuits, controvery, and user backlash. Now, Microsoft plans to drop the "phoning-home" portion of its Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool, according to an unconfirmed report from the U.K. If that's true, I think it's a justifiable setback for Redmond's intrusive anti-piracy efforts, which have always treated the company's paying customers like potential software pirates.
Those disrespectful skallywags at The Onion make fun of everything. In this 8-year-old piece, it looks like they may have had their fingers on the pulse of Microsoft's corporate philosophy.
If you've had any problems with the free, open source Firefox browser, take a look at Firefox Essentials: Fixing The Fox. It's got several valuable configuration tips, plus links to troubleshooting procedures and Mozilla's list of troublesome extensions. Don't worry that it's on a Linux web site — everything that it says also applies to Firefox running in Windows.
Now that Windows Vista is on its way, and Microsoft is discontinuing all support for Windows 98 and ME, what are you going to do with your old Windows 98/ME PC that can't possibly run Windows XP or Vista? You might as well
install a brand new, free, secure version of Linux on it.
The free Adobe Acrobat Reader, (AKA Adobe Reader) has served a useful purpose on millions of PCs for the past 13 years, but at a cost. See if you agree that it has become The Screaming Child of Software. UPDATE: Journal reader Rick Robinson sent me an email message, recommending Foxit Reader as a tiny, free replacement for Adobe Reader. There's also a version of Foxit Reader for desktop Linux.
E-mail usage has become so prevalent that your grandmother probably has her own email account. Do you ever think about how your email messages make you look to others? You may want to see if you make any of the 8 E-mail Mistakes That Make You Look Bad.
They say that if you want your favorite restaurant to remain your favorite restaurant, never, ever look in its kitchen. In that same vein, if you want to feel good about The Geek Squad tech support department at Best Buy stores, don't read this behind-the-scenes expose by a former employee.
Nope, my free CD of Ubuntu Linux hasn't arrived yet. As I've said before, based on what I've read, and based on my very positive experience of using Kubuntu right off of its bootable CD for several hours, I have very high hopes that Ubuntu or Kubuntu will start life on my main PC as a triple-boot with Windows 98 SE and Windows XP Home Edition, and then will eventually become my main OS of choice. But first I need that free CD of Ubuntu to arrive, so I can decide whether I prefer Ubuntu or Kubuntu. Apparently, PC World prefers Ubuntu, naming it Number 27 on their list of the
100 Best Products of the Year. Amazingly, that choice was based on their review of last year's version of Ubuntu, not the even-better version that was released last month.
If you create PowerPoint presentations, you know that they can quickly grow to be very large files. Here are 5 Steps to Smaller PowerPoint files
Once I install, configure and convert my Journal entries to use WordPress, my Journal will become an interactive blog, and you'll be able to post comments at the end of each Journal entry. Here are 10 Ways to Promote One's Blog and 10 More Ways to Promote One's Blog.
SalesCircular shows you all of the best deals going on this week at "Best Buy, Circuit City, CompU.S.A, Kmart, Office Depot, Office Max, Radio Shack, Sears, Staples, Target, WalMart and select local retailers."
If you're taking my advice and trying a free version of Linux for the first time, you'll get some good advice and information from Beginner Linux Tips.
It's been several years since I saw a quick-change act, but here's
a good one. See if you can figure out how they do it.
Are there parts of your web site that you don't want Google to search and display to the world? If so, there are several ways to post digital Keep Out! signs. Be sure to read the comments at the end of the article, too.
By looking at this site, you can tell that I agree with all but one of the top 10 signs of an amateur web site.
Even if you've been on the Web for many years, you may be surprised by a few of the 30 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do on the Internet.
What is
his problem? See if you can figure it out.
Here's something that could keep you busy for a long time: 100 Things You Can do Right Now To Make Your Web Site Better. How many of them are you willing to do?
There are plenty of good reasons to post messages to a blog. Here are Seven Reasons Not To Post To Your Blog.
If you're going to paint and then hold up a sign that accuses other people of being morons, you might want to check your spelling.
Cousin Rita send me a link to Where The Hell Is Matt? He's an interesting guy who's spent a lot of time and money traveling around the world, doing a silly little dance in front of many famous landmarks.
What is the
Bendito Machine? Where did it come from? What is it doing? Who are those people and why do some of them want to worship it while others want to destroy it? Can you figure out the symbolism of this clever little animated short film?
Today is the day that Microsoft ends all support for Windows 98 and ME. For the past few years, the company has been trying to cajole, convince, and scare the 50 million users of those operating systems to upgrade their PCs to Windows XP. That could be a very expensive option for companies and schools whose older PC hardware would also have to be upgraded or replaced in order to run XP. ZDNet thinks that some users might choose to switch to Linux instead. I know that's what I'm hoping to do.
If you want a quick, basic PC education, here are nearly 100 articles on all kinds of PC setup and support topics.
Last Thursday, I was telling someone how, over the years, I've learned to let my subconscious work on problems for me while I'm sleeping, and even "in the background" when I'm awake. As a result, I often wake up in the morning with the solution to a problem or situation that I had "given to my subconscious to work on." New research shows that I'm not the only one who does that.
Even though I'm not a big Mac fan, I think those new Apple vs PC commercials are cute, clever, and thought-provoking. Here's a funny video that makes fun of them. WARNING: Contains adult language.
It's more than 16 years old, but I hadn't seen it until now.
Balance is an award-winning stop-motion short film with simple
Seussian symbolism. It would make a good "lesson" film to watch and then discuss with your children — or with your friends.
It's been postponed so many times that I wonder if anyone even remembers that Microsoft's Vista operating system was originally scheduled to be released in 2003. Now Bill Gates says that there's an 80% chance that it will be released in January of 2007. Yawn.
Last week, I told you about a free alternative to the bloated Adobe Acrobat Reader. In a similar vein, PrimoPDF is a free alternative to the expensive Adobe Acrobat (PDF-creation) software. Unlike Adobe Acrobat, which has its own PDF document editor, PrimoPDF lets you "convert to PDF from any application by simply 'printing' to the PrimoPDF printer - it couldn't be easier! Within minutes, you can create high-quality PDFs by converting from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and virtually any other printable file type."
There's no question that this guy is a really good ukelele player. Here's his version of the Beatles' song, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Even though he takes some annoying (to me) liberties with the original melody and chords, his skills are pretty impressive. Unfortunately, his instrument has the tonality and sustain of a plastic toy. No wonder none of the popular rock bands have ever had a lead ukelele player. Still, if you watch this video, you can tell people that you heard one of the very best players of a very poor instrument.
We all know that Michael Jackson has some serious mental health problems. After you see
this funny animation, you'll understand why. For added fun, pause it so you can read the protest signs.
I'd like to extend a very special "Welcome!" to this site's visitor number 160,000, who will arrive some time today.
In yet another desperate attempt to try to prevent newly unsupported Windows 98 and ME users from switching to a version of the Linux operating system, Microsoft has released software that gives older PCs some of the security benefits of Windows XP. Unfortunately, it accomplishes that task by removing most of their processing functionality and essentially turning them into thin clients. Yawn.
I've always said that a smart person learns from their mistakes, but a wise person learns from others' mistakes. Be wise and learn some valuable lessons from Confessions of an IT Pro: My Nine Biggest Professional Blunders.
If you like to see funny software error messages, you'll enjoy Pop-Up Potpourri: June Bugs and its sequel, Pop-up Potpourri: Julialicious.
How popular is your last name in the various U.S. states? You can see the answer at Gens-U.S. Surname Map. The states that have the most people with my last name are California, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. If you're Italian, here's a link to a related page that will show you how popular your last name is in the different regions of Italy.
Until I saw this video, I had no idea how many beautifully surreal processes take place
inside a Coke machine each time someone buys a drink.
My free CD of Ubuntu Linux arrived in the mail yesterday. I tried booting from it, and it recognized all of my PC's hardware, just like the free CD of Kubuntu Linux had done a few weeks ago. I'm very impressed with both versions. As I've said before, I've always preferred the more powerful KDE desktop interface (GUI) that comes with Kubuntu (and other versions of Linux) to the simpler Gnome desktop interface that comes with Ubuntu (and other versions of Linux). Yesterday, however, the Ubuntu CD ran much faster on my main PC (AMD Athlon 2100+ with 512MB RAM) than the Kubuntu CD had run. After giving it some thought, I decided that I will install Ubuntu (with its simpler, faster Gnome desktop) onto my PC's hard drive, along with EasyUbuntu's additional software applications. Then if Ubuntu meets my needs, I will stick with it. On the other hand, if I discover that I'd prefer a more powerful (but slower) GUI, then I will replace Ubuntu with Kubuntu. Either way, it looks like there's a good chance that one or the other will eventually replace Windows and be my OS of choice.
Two days ago, a dashboard warning light came on in my 2002 Saturn, saying, "Service Engine Soon," and the engine started running really rough. When I looked up the meaning of that warning message in my owners manual, it said that I should take my car to my Saturn dealer so they can determine what is wrong, to prevent possibly serious damage to the engine. That sounded pretty ominous, but I hate going to the Saturn dealer because it seems like they have at least a $200 "cover charge" no matter what they fix. So instead, I went to "Ice Cold Air," a regional car repair chain that diagnosed a bad battery in my wife's car a few months ago free of charge. When I told the guy behind the counter that my car's "Service Engine Soon" light had come on, he told me to take it to AutoZone, an auto parts store, and they would connect a computer to it and tell me what was wrong for free. A few minutes later, I stopped at AutoZone. When I explained the problem, a friendly clerk came right out to my car and plugged a handheld computer into the dashboard. The computer said that there was "a small leak" in my car's vehicle emissions system. At that point, the clerk said, "See if your gas cap is on tight." It wasn't, so I tightened it, and the "Service Engine Soon" light immediately turned off (and the car has run perfectly ever since then). The clerk then explained that my car's anti-pollution system was designed to work with the gas cap completely tightened, so if it isn't tight, the whole system malfunctions. I said, "I'm so glad I didn't take it to the dealer for that!" He smiled and said, "They probably would've charged you $80 for that test." AutoZone is now my new favorite auto parts store. To be honest, I didn't have a favorite auto parts store before, but now I do. And "Ice Cold Air" is now my favorite car repair place. I feel like I can trust them because now they've helped me twice, and both times they did it free of charge.
Now that Microsoft has dropped all support for Windows 98 and ME, users of those older operating systems are trying even harder to support each other. For example, the
Unofficial Windows98 Second Edition Service Pack 2.1a site says that it "contains all Windows98 SE updates from Windows Update site and more." I think it's nice that people are trying to help each other, but I have no way to verify whether it works completely correctly and absolutely securely, so I would never trust my computer's reliability or security to any privately produced "Windows Service Pack." That's why I'm trying to replace my old version of Windows with a brand new, free, secure, and fully supported version of Linux. In other words, if you see that the Captain and crew have abandoned the sinking ship, don't trust one of your fellow passengers to keep it afloat — find a lifeboat.
If you're still using Windows 98, 98 SE, or ME, you should probably disconnect your PC from the Internet. That's what a lot of security experts are saying. Before you disconnect, be sure to read Win98 Train Wreck Is Finally Here, to see what other options you have, and to read others' opinions about the real or imagined dangers of continuing to use those older operating systems online.
To get Google to index all of your web site's pages, you pretty much have to create a sitemap for Google to follow. Basically, a sitemap is a list of all the web pages that you want Google to index, along with other information, like how important each page is and how often you update each page. There are several free sitemap-creation tools, but the one that worked well for me last night and is highly rated for large sites is GSiteCrawler. GSC runs in Windows (with an Internet connection) and automatically creates a sitemap file that you can then upload to your web server for Google to find and use.
Why do PDF documents open right in your Firefox browser window, instead of opening in a separate Adobe Reader window? Disabling PDF Display in Firefox explains why it's better to have PDFs open in a separate window, and then shows you how to quickly configure Firefox to have it work that way from now on.
You may have seen him on the TV show, America's Got Talent. He's The World's Most Dangerous Comic.
If you want to see an example of what real love is, watch
Pillowfight.
If you're like me, you enjoy sharing thoughts, feelings, tips, and advice with others in your blog (my Journal). If you'd like to learn how to improve your blog, take a look at the good advice in 10 Things to Think About Before Publishing A Post. As I wrote in a comment at the bottom of that article, I'd like to add add one more thing to the list: "11. Will this post come back to 'bite me in the butt' in the future? You should assume that everything that you write will get archived by search engines and other sites, making it available to others long into the future, even if you delete it from your site. For example, if you write a cathartic post about wishing that your boss was dead, there's an ever-increasing chance that your boss -- or even a future prospective employer who does an online search of your writings -- will eventually see your post. So, before you click that 'Publish' button, ask yourself if you're willing to live with the possible consquences of what you've written."
As you probably know, I try to keep up with all of the latest technologies, medical research, web development trends, management techniques, entertaining videos, great deals, and much more. As a result, this site and this Journal cover a very eclectic range of topics. That's why it surprised me that I had never heard of any of The 10 Coolest Technologies You've Never Heard Of. I guess its author did a good job of naming that article.
When you were a kid, did you ever play with an Etch A Sketch? If so, then you remember how difficult it was to draw even one completely round circle with it. Imagine how long it would've taken you to draw even one of these pictures with it, let alone one of these.
Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls! For your entertainment and amusement, I now present
the future of skateboarding!
I've used and recommended Bright-Byte's web hosting services for the past 2 years and 2 months, so yesterday, I finally signed up for their affiliate program. From now on, if anyone clicks on the "Hosted by Bright-Byte" icon in the left navigation column and signs up for a web hosting account, I will get a few dollars for recommending them. If you're looking for an affordable and reliable web host, I recommend that you read what I wrote about them in ComputerBob's Guide To Web Hosts, and click on the "Monitored By..." icons in the left navigation column to see the incredible up-time that they've provided for this site.
The Open Source Free CD 3.0 is a 467 MB ISO download. It contains "a compilation of high quality Open Source (and some Freeware) software for Windows." Give it a try; some of its software could easily replace the expensive commercial software that most people have on their computers.
When I first saw The 25 Biggest Wusses - Ever! I didn't think I would like it. I was surprised to find that I agreed with most of its choices.
You're way too smart to let a couple of strangers walk up to you and steal your cell phone right in front of you. Or are you?
Here's a funny little monkey who takes a lot of dangerous chances in order to tease a couple of tiger cubs.
In a triumph of style over substance,
Adicolor Pink is a visually impressive little video that seems to have no purpose other than to be visually impressive. It serves that purpose well.
I just discovered why no one has signed this site's Guestbook for the past 2 months: the 'Sign the Guestbook' link isn't working! I'm working on it, and hope to solve that problem soon.
Just a quick follow-up to my July 14, 2006 Journal entry: my Saturn is still running beautifully, without any dashboard warning lights. Have you checked your car's gas cap lately?
Are you still considering upgrading your computer's hardware so that it can run Windows Vista some day? Maybe you should read Top 10 Windows Vista Hits & Misses. It might help you to wait awhile longer for that long-overdue operating system. On the other hand, it might just give you even more reasons to want to replace Windows with a free version of Linux.
If you find celebrities and other famous people annoying, you're going to love The 50 Most Annoying (Based on votes). I'll bet you'll find several people who you love to hate. For extra fun, take the quizzes to find out how annoying you are to others.
You play Pug Bowling by setting up plastic bowling pins and then having a pug dog chase the light from a laser pointer until he knocks them down. It's not a terribly original idea, but I chose this video because of its background music. It's a frenetic Latino version of the Eagle's Hotel California by The Gipsy Kings that Cousin Rita introduced me to several months ago. The verses are in Spanish and the classical guitarist is very talented, but, for some reason, the singer repeats the first 2 lines of the chorus over and over in broken English. Welcome to zee Hotel California. Such a luv-uh play. Such a luv-uh play. Welcome to zee Hotel California. Such a luv-uh play. Such a luv-uh play. As weird as it sounds, it will probably be stuck in your head for hours after you hear it. If you want to share that experience with your friends, you can download a free MP3 of that song.
How fast are your reflexes? Are they fast? Really fast? I mean really, really fast? Incredibly, incredibly fast? Sorry, they're
not fast enough.
Yesterday, I discovered that this site's visitors hadn't been able to sign its Guestbook for the past 2 months. I did a few hours of troubleshooting, but was unable to locate the problem, so I posted a message in the Lazarus Guestbook support forums. For several hours, I traded messages with the Lazarus software's creator, and by evening he had figured out what was causing the problem, even though it wasn't caused by his free Guestbook software. Within a few minutes of him figuring it out, I got my Guestbook working again. See my Guestbook for details on what had caused the problem. And sign it while you're there!
I stayed up until about 4:00 this morning, but I finally got the "Newest Posts" section of my home page to display the latest headlines from my Forums again. I had removed that section a few months ago, when it suddenly stopped working. After trying everything else I could think of to no avail, I finally fixed it by re-downloading and reinstalling its PHP script, which apparently had somehow become corrupted.
I always thought that I was a very observant person. After watching this video, I was shocked to see how much I had missed.
Why would a company want to feature a soccer match streaker in one of its commercials? The answer will be obvious after you watch this commercial.
TV shows and news reports always make it look like the job of a sharpshooter is to kill criminals. In this amazing video, we see how a really good sharpshooter can also
save someone's life.
Here's something that's been kind of rare for the past few years: a tropical storm that probably won't turn into a hurricane, and probably won't threaten the Sunshine State. That's nice.
In case you missed it, a few days ago, I announced that I had finally joined the affiliate program at Bright-Byte, the hosting company that I've been using and recommending for the past 2 years and 2 months. If you're looking for an affordable and reliable web host, I recommend that you read what I wrote about Bright-Byte in ComputerBob's Guide To Web Hosts, and click on the "Monitored By..." icons in the left navigation column to see the incredible up-time that they've provided for this site. By the way, I just added several valuable tips to the "Check Out Any Potential Host Yourself" section of ComputerBob's Guide To Web Hosts.
Over the years, I've spent a lot of time trying to make this site as user-friendly as possible. You can learn about a few of the things that I've done to this site by reading Designs That Say "Thank You Captain Obvious".
Here's even more reason for me to think that Ubuntu Linux will be able to replace Windows 98 SE as my operating system of choice -- once I find the time to do some hard drive juggling so I can install it on my main PC. eWEEK has declared Ubuntu Linux to be the eWEEK Labs' Analyst's Choice and the current desktop champ. See if their review of it convinces you to give Ubuntu a try. Remember, the free Ubuntu CD works as both a "live CD" that will boot up and let you try Ubuntu without installing anything on your hard drive; and as an installation CD that will install Ubuntu on your hard drive if you decide that you like it.
Do you remember the huge Milli Vanilli lip-sync scandal of 1989? They were stripped of their Grammy award after they were caught lip-syncing in a live concert and their producer admitted that they hadn't sung any of the songs on their CD. Learn how that incident compares to the other Worst Onstage Meltdowns. Funny that article doesn't mention the fact that, years later, Ashlee Simpson was caught lip-syncing on Saturday Night Live. I guess the general public doesn't care about artistic honesty any more.
I'm not a big fan of the TV show, Family Guy. It has too much "bathroom humor," too much "adult language" and too many "adult situations" for my taste. Still, I find it interesting to watch this "behind the scenes" video of that show's actors in a sound studio,
recording their lines.
When I totally redesigned this entire site to use valid CSS layout and XHTML 1.0 Strict code 3 years ago, I also spent a lot of time making sure that each of its pages was as accessible as possible, even though, at that time, many web designers didn't consider accessibility to be important enough to spend much time on. Now Google has tipped its hat to accessible sites by creating a new Accessibility Search Engine (currently in Beta). The new search engine considers several accessibility factors for each site to optimize the search results for the visually impaired. That gives sites like mine a big advantage over sites whose designers didn't care about accessibility.
For several weeks, I've been explaining how I hope that Ubuntu Linux will be good enough to be my new operating system of choice in the very near future. I've told you that it's free, secure, easy to install, easy to configure and use, and it looks like it will work with all of my existing PC hardware "out of the box." After reading all of the things that I've said about why I want to switch to a version of Linux, how much do you know about Linux itself? Feature: Linux free, easy & secure will fill any gaps in your Linux knowledge, and possibly make you feel more comfortable about trying a free version of Linux on your PC.
Someone created a funny satirical ad, showing the logical conclusion of those Mac versus PC commercials.
They think they might be hallucinating, and that makes them laugh. Of course, it can't be because they're drinking. And what about that irresponsible moron who's supposed to be driving the car -- pull over to the side of the road before you kill someone. Don't you just love beer commercials -- they're so funny.
Here's a good idea for a one-page book:
Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford.
PDFCreator is a free utility that "easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows application." Give it a try and see if can replace Adobe's expensive Acrobat software on your PC.
Did you ever see the old Alfred Hitchcock movie thriller, Rear Window? In it, Jimmy Stewart plays a man who breaks his leg, and while he's cooped up in his apartment, rehabilitating, he spies on his neighbors in an adjacent apartment building. Flatlife is a cute little animated movie that lets you spy on some people in their apartment building.
Hey, aren't you the woman who started to sing the National Anthem at last night's hockey game? Oh, man, that was really, really funny! Ow! Ow! Stop hitting me!
For decades, actor Wilford Brimley played an overweight, cantankerous old coot in movies and TV shows. For probably the past 20 years, he's been playing an overweight, cantankerous old coot who has diabetes in countless TV commercials for a diabetes supplies company. For years, they aired several times every night. If you've ever been bored by those commercials, you'll enjoy
The Beetis, a very funny rap video that someone created by re-editing them.
There are tens of thousands of viruses, trojans and other malware that are designed to attack Windows computers, while there are only a handful that have ever attacked Linux computers. Some people say that's because there are far more Windows users than Linux users, and that makes Windows "a bigger target" for attackers. Others say that even if Linux were as popular as Windows, there still wouldn't be many Linux viruses because Linux is more secure and less susceptible to viruses. Whichever one you think is true, the fact remains that there are very few pieces of malware out there trying to attack Linux computers. That may be an important factor to consider for those who are thinking of switching from Windows to Linux, especially since a security expert now says that 80% of all new viruses, trojans and other malware are not detected by any of the major desktop antivirus packages.
The article didn't mention any practical uses for it that I would personally utilize, but it seems logical to think that we'd all somehow benefit from a new nano-etching process that makes LEDs more than 7 times brighter than normal.
How many hundred times have you heard that tired old Happy Birthday song? I bet you'd like to hear some new Happy Birthday songs in several different musical styles. You can even order personalized recordings of them.
Though movies and cartoons often portray dogs and cats as mortal enemies, my dogs and cats get along great, like wonderful little brothers and sisters. Here's a cute commercial in which a dog and cat team up to foil some burglars.
Who are these people, and why did they build a
giant elephant marionette and a creepy
giant little-girl marionette? And where did they get that awful, weird music for the little-girl video? Yes, they are very strange, very unusual videos.
Yesterday, I installed Ubuntu Linux on my main computer. Now it has a triple-boot of Windows 98 SE, Windows XP Home, and Ubuntu Linux. Then, I allowed Ubuntu to download and install all of the latest security and software updates, which took a couple of hours because several of the official Ubuntu repositories (software download sites) were down for a few hours. While I waited for them to start working again, I installed EasyUbuntu, which automatically installed several multimedia codecs and other useful software for me. When EasyUbuntu finished its work, I was able to view and listen to all kinds of online videos and musical formats, including Quicktime videos. Occassionally, one of the unreachable Ubuntu repositories would come back online and a message would immediately appear, telling me that I had xx number of updates that were waiting to be downloaded and installed. Eventually, the Ubuntu Update Manager confirmed that my computer was completely updated.
I spent several hours trying everything in Ubuntu. It took less than 2 minutes to install the Ubuntu-recommended driver for my laser printer, which worked perfectly afterward. My scanner worked without me having to install anything. Icons for my Windows 98 SE, Windows XP drives, data drives, and backup drives all appeared on my Ubuntu desktop, making it easy to find information from them that I wanted to copy to my Ubuntu drive. I popped a music CD into the CD drive, and a few seconds later, it was playing, without me having to install or tweak anything. I even used the fast-and-easy Synaptic Package Manager (Add/Remove program) to install several new pieces of software, like the Firestarter firewall, the latest version of the Thunderbird email client, the Gnome Partition Editor (gParted), the Bluefish HTML editor, the Quanta+ HTML editor, and some others. And I successfully configured and used all of them pretty easily.
A few hours later, I was very disappointed by the default Ubuntu CD burner (Nautilus). It looks very amateurish and it hardly has any features at all. So, using Synaptic, I installed K3b CD burning software. That required me to also let Synaptic install the huge KDE desktop libraries, since K3b is designed to run under the more-powerful KDE desktop instead of the simpler Gnome desktop that ships with Ubuntu. Fortunately, Synaptic made the whole K3b intallation easy to do. All I did was click on a few things and then wait for Synaptic to automaticaly download and install everything for me. Unfortunately, once it was installed, K3b refused to copy the Ubuntu CD for me. Each time I tried, it read the entire CD into a temporary file on my hard drive, in preparation for burning it onto a different CD, but then it immediately stopped, telling me that it was unable to eject the Ubuntu CD. That was very disapointing, and several Google searches failed to provide a solution to the problem (other than instaling a second CD drive in the computer), so I uninstalled K3b.
And so I was left with an Ubuntu intallation that worked pretty well "out of the box" -- in fact, I'm using Ubuntu's text editor right now, to write this Journal entry, and then I'm going to use its gFTP application (which I installed with Synaptic) to publish it. Sadly, I don't think Ubuntu works well enough at this point for me to want to use it every day. As I suspected a few weeks ago, Ubuntu's simple Gnome desktop interface just feels too limiting to me. And from what I read yesterday, not only does it not come with a good CD burner, but users have reported a lot of bugs with the more-powerful CD burner software that can be added to Ubuntu. So, as soon as I find the time, I'm going to delete Ubuntu Linux and install Kubuntu Linux in its place. Kubuntu is basically the same thing as Ubuntu, but with the more powerful KDE desktop interface and many more software applications. I hope that Kubuntu will be able to do everything that Ubuntu does, and that its K3b CD burner software (installed by default) will work without any problems.
UPDATE: After I used Ubuntu's gFTP (Gnome FTP) software to upload this Journal entry, my site's home page refused to display, and instead showed a white screen with several error messages about not having permission to view the page. I determined that gFTP had changed this Journal entry's file permissions to 711 (rwx--e--e) when it uploaded it to my server. Unfortunately, I didn't know what permissions the file was supposed to have, so several combinations of permissions that I tried setting in gFTP didn't work. I finally solved the problem by rebooting back into Windows, creating a new empty file in Macromedia Dreamweaver, copying all of the code out of the "bad" Journal entry, pasting it into the new empty file, and then using Dreamweaver to re-upload it to my server. My site's home page immediately started displaying again. Then I used FileZilla FTP software in Windows to determine that Dreamweaver sets each file's permissions to 644 (rw-r--r--). That's good to know.
I stayed up really, really late on Sunday night, then got up really early on Monday morning, and then stayed up Monday night until 3:45 this morning, all so that I could uninstall Ubuntu Linux and install Kubuntu Linux in its place.
First, I used the bootable gParted CD that I told you about on May 21, 2006, to move some disk partitions around and create partitions for Kubuntu to "live in." gParted did a great job getting the partitions exactly the size and places that I wanted them.
The Kubuntu installation was painless and trouble-free. Afterward, I used Kubuntu's Adept package manager (Add/Remove program) to download and install a boatload of security and software updates without any problems. Adept doesn't have quite as many features as Ubuntu Linux's Synaptic package manager, but Adept still makes it very fast and easy to install software in Linux. On startup, it shows you a long list of all the software that you have on your computer, and tells you which of them have available updates. If you want to install a new piece of software, you just type the name (e.g. GFTP) or keyword (e.g. firewall) of the software that you want. Adept shows you which ones you already have, which of those have an update available online, which new applications are available to be installed, a helpful description of each application and what it does, and much more. Right-click to mark the application(s) that you want to install. Then, click one button to confirm that you really want Adept to do its work. Adept then automatically downloads your new software, along with any software libraries and dependencies that it requires. When Adept finishes downloading, it quickly installs everything, and then tells you that it is done. Installing new software in Linux used to require you to manually download the software and type in cryptic commands to uncompresss and install it — now it's easier than installing software in Windows, thanks to Kubuntu's Adept (or its big brother, Synaptic, if you're using Ubuntu Linux).
When I tried to run EasyUbuntu to have it automatically download and install all of its multimedia codecs and other goodies, it gave me error messages, saying that it couldn't find the software to download. After I added some more software repositories (download sites) to Adept's repositories list, EasyUbuntu was happy to do its magic. Just like I had done in Ubuntu the previous day, I spent several hours trying everything in Kubuntu. I installed the Kubuntu-recommended driver for my laser printer, which worked perfectly afterward. The Kooka scanner software found my scanner and made it work perfectly without me having to install or configure anything. Unlike Ubuntu, there weren't any icons for my Windows 98 SE, Windows XP drives, data drives, and backup drives on my Kubuntu desktop, but I found a checkbox in the Desktop configuration screen that made them appear. I tested them by successfully copying some files from them to my Kubuntu home drive. Then, just like I had done in Ubuntu, I popped a music CD into the CD drive and it started playing, without me having to install or tweak anything. Then I used the Adept package manager to install several new pieces of software, like the Guarddog firewall, the latest version of the Thunderbird email client, the latest Firefox Web browser, the KFTPGrabber FTP client — which worked far better than the gFTP software that I had used in Ubuntu, plus the Quanta+ HTML editor and several other minor applications. And just like I had done in Ubuntu, I successfully configured and used all of those applications and several of the Kubuntu-included ones pretty easily. I also spent a lot of time tweaking everything to look and work the way I wanted it to, like adding an extension that automatically empties Thunderbird's trashcan and compresses its folders, and adding several of my favorite Firefox extensions
As you know, the other day, I discovered that Nautilus, the Ubuntu default CD burner, was really lame, so I installed the Kubuntu default CD burner (K3b) into Ubuntu, but it had refused to copy a CD for me. There were no such problems when I ran K3b in Kubuntu, probably because Kubuntu includes K3b as its default CD burner. It worked perfectly, copying the Kubuntu installation CD for me at my CD burner's maximum 48x speed.
Here's the bottom line: Ubuntu worked pretty well for me, but I found its simple Gnome desktop environment, its sparse collection of included software, and its lack of a good CD burning tool to be too limiting for my needs. On the other hand, Kubuntu was able to do everything that Ubuntu had done for me, but Kubuntu's KDE desktop interface was much more powerful and came with many more software applications, including the very versatile K3b CD burner.
It's been 3 years and 8 months since I wrote ComputerBob's Guide To Windows vs. Linux, describing all the reasons that I wanted to replace Windows with Linux on my main computer. It's been nearly that long since I wrote my review of Mandrake Linux 9.0, which was very expensive and turned out to be a huge disappointment. At that time, I said that Linux wasn't ready for prime-time yet, but that I would be ready for Linux when Linux was ready for me. Since then, I've tried 2 versions of Mandrake Linux, 2 versions of Mepis Linux, 2 versions of SUSE Linux, 2 versions of RedHat Linux, one version of Pink Tie Linux, one version of Lindows Linux, 2 versions of Knoppix Linux, one version of Lycoris Linux, and one version of Xandros Linux. Many of them refused to work with one or more of my PC's hardware components, no matter how much help I got from others. Others ran very slowly or were very unfriendly, or required a lot of editing of configuration files and typing of cryptic commands to try to make them work. In the end, not one of them ever came close to replacing Windows 98 SE as my operating system of choice.
Then, a few days ago, Ubuntu Linux came close, but it still just wasn't quite good enough to become my new favorite operating system.
Today, I am very happy to announce that I absolutely love Kubuntu Linux. It was completely free, it was easy to install and configure, and it is a joy to use. It works with all of my PC's hardware and does everything I need it to do, without any problems. Plus, the Ubuntu/Kubuntu software repositories contain several thousand more free applications that I can select from in the future, as my needs change. After trying 16 different Linux distros in the past few years, I've finally found one that I want to keep using, and I'm eager to completely replace Windows 98 SE with Kubuntu Linux. Once that transition is complete, I'll have a dual-boot of Windows XP Home Edition (so that I can support people who use it) and my new favorite operating system, Kubuntu Linux.
You may be wondering what a Kubuntu Linux desktop looks like. If you click on the thumbnail image to the left, you'll see that, like most modern versions of desktop Linux, it looks just like a Windows desktop. There are my hard drive icons on the upper-left side, plus windows containing my Firefox browser, the Konqueror file manager, a CD player playing a CD of some Christmas guitar music, and Thunderbird email, which is minimized at the bottom. In the bottom-left corner, you can see that I'm selecting the K3b CD burner in the K menu, which looks and works just like the Windows Start menu. To take the screenshot, I used KSnapshot, and to reduce its size to display here, I used Krita, an image viewer/editor. If you're wondering why Kubuntu Linux and the names of many of the Kubuntu software applications start with the letter K, it's because they're all designed to run in the KDE desktop environment. For the same reason, the names of many Ubuntu Linux software applications start with the letter G, because they're designed to run in the Gnome desktop environment. That fact makes it easy to choose new software applications to download that are designed for whichever desktop environment you're using.
UPDATE:
On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
Now that I've been using Kubuntu Linux for a few days, I'm quickly getting used to using it for all of my normal computer tasks. In fact, yesterday, I didn't use Windows 98 SE at all. And now I'm remembering all of the reasons why I spent almost the past 3 years looking for a version of Linux that could replace Windows on my main PC.
Oh, and one more thing — did I mention that Linux is completely free?
Yesterday morning, I found some good advice in Switching from Dreamweaver to Free Software Web Development. I followed that advice to make a few minor edits to yesterday's Journal entry from within Kubuntu Linux, and then upload it to my web server. Then I spent a few hours using that same editing/uploading technique to solve a minor problem with this site's CSS. With that experience in hand, I created and uploaded today's Journal entry completely from within Kubuntu. Though it was a relatively easy process to edit and upload one or two files at a time, I think it would be too awkward to use on a large site like this one, especially when I want to edit several files at a time. I'm going to look for a Linux HTML editor that includes project management capabilities. Or maybe an "intelligent" FTP client that will only upload any files that I've changed. That way, I'll be able to edit several files and let the software remember which ones need to be re-uploaded to my web server, like Dreamweaver did for me in Windows. I think Quanta Plus and Screem are two Linux HTML editors that have some project management capabilities, so I hope that one or the other will be able to do what I want.
UPDATE: On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
Last night, I copied my Firefox bookmarks.html file from my Windows data drive to my Linux home drive, giving me all of those hundreds of bookmarks in Linux. When I have time, I'm going to try to convert my MS Outlook address book and thousands of email messages into the Thunderbird email client in Windows, and then see if I can successfully copy them to my Linux version of Thunderbird.
If you came here looking for funny videos and stories about new technology, don't worry — I'll start posting those again pretty soon.
I haven't used Windows at all for the past 3 or 4 days. I actually can't remember exactly how long it's been because I've gotten a total of less than 12 hours of sleep since some time this past weekend — I've been busy learning everything I can about Kubuntu Linux. It's funny, but I've got Kubuntu set up to look so much like my Windows 98 SE desktop, and I've already gotten so proficient at using it, that I keep forgetting that I'm using Linux instead of Windows. And this is the second (third?) day in a row that I'm writing and publishing this Journal entry completely from within Kubuntu Linux.
If you've been thinking of trying Ubuntu (or its brother, Kubuntu) Linux on your PC at home, but you've been waiting to find out whether they're just a flash in the pan, or whether any major corporations will use them, then I have some very good news for you. Google's developers use a variant of Ubuntu Linux on their desktops. If it's good enough for them...
UPDATE: On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
Do you have some free time on your hands? If I did, I'd be sleeping right now. If you're looking for some fun to fill those long, boring hours between when you get home from your exciting job and when you go back to your exciting job, check out the Top 10 Free Time Wasting Sites on the Net. Just don't wake me up to tell me how much fun you're having.
When a company registers a new domain name, they should always check to make sure that it is clear, memorable, and doesn't contain any unintentionally embarrassing phrases.
My favorite of the Top 5 Strangest Home-Built Gadgets is the 26-inch TV fish tank.
Most U.S. baby boomers know it as The Theme from the Lone Ranger TV Show, but it's actually the
William Tell Overture by Rossini. Here's a video of
the worst rendition of that song that I've ever heard — of course it's also the only rendition of it that I've ever heard in which someone plays it by squeezing their hands together.
I still haven't used Windows at all since some time last weekend. I like Kubuntu Linux more and more every time I use it. Yesterday, I connected my digital camera for the first time in Kubuntu. Its icon appeared on my desktop and in the Konqueror file manager, but I couldn't find any way to transfer photos from my camera to my computer. A quick Google search revealed that Kubuntu itself works just fine with hundreds of digital cameras, but not yet with my particular camera. The solution was to download and install free digiKam software, a process that literally took less than 2 minutes from when I told Kubuntu to find it for me, to when it finished automatically installing it. Now Kubuntu works with my camera perfectly. If you're still wondering if it might be a good idea to switch to Kubuntu Linux (or to run both Windows and Kubuntu Linux on your computer, which is really easy to do), read the Top five things Microsoft can learn from Linux.
If you've ever looked for a version of Linux to try on your computer, you found out that there are hundreds of different distros (versions) of Linux. Here's something you may not have known. They all use the same Linux kernel (the basic Linux "engine"). The things that make each distro unique are the things that they add to the Linux kernel, like an installation program, a package of software applications, one or more graphical user interfaces, a software package manager, an automatic PC hardware detection feature, etc. Yesterday, I discovered that when I installed Kubuntu Linux on my computer, it installed the Linux kernel files that are optimized for the 20-year-old Intel 386 processor, even though my computer uses a 3-year-old AMD Athlon CPU. My guess is that it probably always installs that "least common denominator" version of the kernel to make sure that it will run on really old PCs as well as new PCs. Iif your computer uses a newer CPU, you can upgrade your Linux kernel to the version that is optimized for your computer's CPU. With that in mind, I told the Kubuntu Adept package manager (Add/Remove program) to install the K7 version of the Linux kernel. It took Adept less than 2 minutes to automatically download and install the new kernel and two of its support files, while I continued to browse the web. I didn't even have to restart my computer when it was done. To me, that's absolutely amazing, and it's just one more reason why Kubuntu Linux is my favorite operating system of all time.
UPDATE: On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
How effective is your Windows antivirus software? Find out by visiting AV Comparatives. Click on the menu item titled Comparatives, and then click on the links on that page to see "independent comparatives of Anti-Virus software. If you look at their latest May, 2006, online results, and read across the bottom row titled TOTAL, you may be very surprised to see how poorly every popular Windows antivirus package performs. By the way, I would have linked you directly to those results, but the AV Comparatives site specifically asks that everyone link to the site's home page instead of its sub-pages.
Two female California college students probably thought it was fun to hack into a professor's private computer account, assign grades to almost 300 students, and order food, magazine subscriptions and computer supplies in the professor's name. Now they're learning a very hard lesson that they'll probably never forget. Hi, honey. What did you learn in school today?
Here's a funny commercial with a very funny surprise at the end. See if you can figure out what the surprise will be.
Do you think you know what causes global warming? You're probably wrong. Find out the real cause in this funny Futurama clip.
My dog Max is a brave little guy, but he would never be brave enough (or stupid enough) to do
something like this.
I hope you're not tired of reading it, but I just have to write it one more time: my experience with Kubuntu Linux just keeps getting better and better every day. I've been using it for less than a week, and I already don't miss using Windows at all. Right now, I'm using Kubuntu's multiple-desktops to write this Journal entry. Here's how they work: In the task bar at the bottom of the desktop, there are icons numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. When you start Kubuntu (and most other modern Linux distros), the default desktop is number 1. If you click on one of the other numbered icons, you get another empty desktop, where you can do whatever you want. Why would that be a good idea? Well, for example, right now, I have desktop number 1 displaying my Firefox browser window with the stories that I'm going to write about today, along with my Thunderbird email windows, checking for new email messages every 5 minutes. In desktop number 2, I have my Kate text editor and my Konqueror file manager — the two tools that I'm using to write this Journal entry and then publish it. All I have to do is click on desktop number 1 to get the URL of a site that I want to write about, then come back here to desktop number 2 to write about it. It's a lot easier, cleaner, and more efficient than having Firefox, Thunderbird, Kate and Konqueror all fighting for space on one desktop. And by right-clicking any of the desktop-number icons, I can choose to have 1-20 different desktops available at all times. Imagine the possibilities. While I was writing this Journal entry, a red triangle icon appeared to the left of the tray clock, telling me that there was an upgrade available for one of my applications. A couple of mouse clicks later, Kubuntu's Adept Updater automatically downloaded and installed the newest version of the Thunderbird email software, while I kept working on this story. Incredible.
UPDATE: On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
A few weeks ago, I told you that I plan to convert this entire Journal into a WordPress blog, to make it much more interactive and searchable, but that I was waiting for a new WordPress update to be released. WordPress 2.0.4 was released today, and it contains tons of bug and security fixes. That's exactly what I was waiting for, so now the ball is in my court again; I'll have to find the time to install it on my web server, create a new theme for it, to make it look like the rest of this site, and then manually convert my hundreds of Journal entries into WordPress blog entries. Don't hold your breath — it may take me a month or more to do all of that.
It appears that Microsoft may be behaving in monopolistic ways again. In an effort to make Windows more secure against the threat of rootkits, the software giant has introduced a new security feature. According to one of those competitors, the new feature doesn't even solve the security problem, but it may result in making it much more difficult for Microsoft's competitors to create Windows security software. A spokesperson for one of those competitors stated, "Nobody knows if Microsoft has done this intentionally, but we can't avoid the suspicion that this move may have been designed to force users to rely on Microsoft and only Microsoft for Windows security."
Here's an invention that I could live without. Imagine going to the mall to buy some clothes. As you step into your favorite discount clothing store, the carpet tells you that you're too old and fat, and directs you to the Plus sizes department.
Here's a funny video in which people who try to help a pretty woman
get an ugly surprise.
If you're like me, every once in awhile, something happens to humorously remind you that you think about computers way too much. One of those things happened to me yesterday. I saw my wife reading the news, and there in the middle of it was a huge ad for a mattress company. My first thought was, "Adblock would remove that for her." My second thought was, "They don't make a version of Adblock that works on newspapers, you idiot."
I found a better Kubuntu Linux tool for publishing files to my web sites. Instead of using the Konqueror file manager to manually publish each file that I've changed, I'm using the KFTPGrabber software that I installed several days ago. I have it configured so that after I edit several files, I just tell it to upload the folders that hold those files, and it intelligently uploads only the files that I've changed.
UPDATE: On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
Windows Vista is on its way. We've been saying that for the past few years, but it's still anyone's guess whether it will finally be released this coming January, or be delayed yet again. We do know that, once it comes out, it's probably going to come pre-installed on 99.999% of all new computers, and it will have some pretty impressive new features. So, how will Linux compete with that? You can read one person's opinion in What Linux Needs to Beat Vista. Personally, I don't care how glitzy Vista turns out to be — I'm a Kubuntu Linux user now, and I'm not going to be fooled into going back to Windows.
Are you old enough to remember when late night TV talk show host David Letterman was fresh and funny, instead of cranky, repetitive and boring? If so, then you might remember the sketches in which Dave used Rubert Jee to bother people, and the sketch in which Dave worked at a McDonald's drive-through window. Now those were funny.
I missed watching Last Comic Standing this past week, because I was working at my computer (of course). Here's
Josh Blue's performance from that show.
Having used Kubuntu Linux exclusively for the past week, I completed my transition from using Windows 98 SE to using Kubuntu last night. A few days ago, I moved all of my Windows Firefox bookmarks to Kubuntu Firefox — all I had to do was copy the bookmarks.html file from my Windows Firefox profile folder to my Kubuntu Firefox profile folder. Last night, it took a lot more time and effort to move my Microsoft Outlook 2000 address book and thousands of email messages, due to the fact that MS stores them in proprietary formats — no surprises there. Fortunately, I found several sites that described how to convert from Windows Outlook 2000 to Thunderbird in Linux. Unfortunately, each of them was missing an important step or two along the way. By reading and comparing all of them, I managed to figure out everything that I had to do.
Like I said, it was a lot of work, but now I'm finally free of Microsoft Outlook 2000, and I believe I'm also completely free of Windows 98 SE. I'll wait a few days to make sure that I didn't forget anything; then I'll archive my entire Win98SE partition onto my external hard drive. After that, I'll delete it from my main computer, leaving a dual-boot of Kubuntu LInux and Windows XP Home Edition. I don't think I'm going to use Windows XP very much, other than when I need it in order to help Windows users.
UPDATE: On September 2, 2006, I switched from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux.
My wife and I enjoy watching the TV show Jeopardy! most weeknights. Some nights, we answer more questions correctly than the contestants. Other nights, we hardly know any answers at all. If one of us answers a question that none of the three contestants could answer, we declare that we won that night's game. It's really fun if that happens two or three times on the same night. Several months ago, we got caught up in "Ken Jennings fever," as the soft-spoken computer software engineer from Utah won 74 Jeopardy matches and a total of more than 2.5 million dollars (U.S.D). Now Ken has "bitten the hand that fed him" by posting a tongue-in-cheek blog entry that could be seen as being insulting to the show and its host, Alex Trebek. My wife and I think that Mr. Trebek and the show's producers could improve Jeopardy!'s popularity if they would display a sense of humor by implimenting a few of Ken's silly suggestions — just for one episode.
I've personally used 14 of the items on eWEEK's list of The Top 25 Products of the Last 25 Years. How many of them have you used?
To me, this man is a true artist. He has cerebral palsy, yet he creates works of art by pressing the @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) and _ keys on an old typewriter.
Several days ago, I posted a screenshot of my Kubuntu Linux desktop, showing that it looks like a Windows desktop. What will the Linux desktop look like in the future? Take a look at this video of the Linux XGL desktop that is expected to be released this coming November.
Here's a funny video that shows that things
aren't always the way they appear.
