Tip

When washing your car in 24 degree weather always, always use the automatic car washes.  Under no circumstances should one wash their car at a car wash by hand.  This is even more true when the wind is blowing at about 6 mph and the car stall acts like a wind tunnel and it's so cold that the soap has frozen in the tube for the brush.

Not that I would ever do something that stupid of course.

Google and AOL

I never really "got" AOL.  It always felt to me like they were dumbing down the internet for people too stupid or unwilling to learn how to surf the web - though I could be wrong.  I can see where Google benefits from AOL using Google as their search engine - that part of this new 1 billion dollar deal is understandable.  But what urks me is this:

Google.com will promote AOL programming on the right side of its page under the "sponsored links" heading.

If AOL wants to pay Google through their normal Ad Words then fine but I really don't want to constantly be subjected to a stupid AOL ad.

Is it just me or does Google really suck lately?

Google, in all their billionaire-ness, has, in my opinion only come out with 3 good products.  Search, Gmail, and Maps.  Everything else is crap.

Custom Homepage API
Google has created an api that allows you to build a module for the Google custom homepage.  Now, I think that would be cool if you could create your own module - then just use it.  But you have to submit your module and, if lucky enough, Google will put it in the directory.  I guess I just really don't like a custom home page - takes too long to load.  So I really don't see how this is cool.

Google Reader
This is crap on so many levels I don't even know where to start.

Gmail WebClips
Gmail is one of the 3 things they did right.  Don't screw it up by adding useless crap like WebClips.  The name is even stupid.

Gmail
When is this going to come out of beta?  It's been like 2 years.  I'm really looking forward to what Yahoo and Microsoft are going to come out with.  Microsoft is already showing signs of moving ahead of Gmail.

Google Calendar
There was a big rumor several days ago about Google announcing a calendar.  That date has come and gone with no calendar but I'm not that sorry.  Based on past launches (see Google Reader) I'm almost dreading what Google is going to come up with.

Google Answers
I have to pay to get a question answered?  What kind of crap is that!  Yahoo's is much better.

Blogger
By now, Google should have changed Blogger up a bit to give it's users more functionality. Granted, I can fully edit the template - but I want categories, stats, multiple pages, etc.  (Note: Blogger's editor really sucks too.  I had to make a change to this post and it totally screwed it up and I had to delete/repost)

Beta/Alpha
I'm tired of hearing about beta products.  If a multi-billion dollar company can't launch a product without tagging it with beta then go away.

</cranky>

Delicious is down

I don't really like the fact that Yahoo bought them.  Delicious's outage this morning just makes for a real nice omen.

To: Blogger - Fix your Atom feed!

Blogger's Atom feed runs on version 0.3 while FeedValidator is now validating version 1.0.  Consequently if you use a feed service such as FeedBurner you'll get error messages every now and then.

Google Calendar expected 12/6

[rubs hands in anticipation] Link

Windows Live Custom Domains

Microsoft's Windows Live has added a feature that allows you to point the MX record for your domain to their servers.  You can then manage your accounts at http://domains.live.com.  This is pretty cool for those that want to use their domain name for email but don't want to pay their registrars for the service.

Some of the items they are offering.

• Create up to 20 e-mail accounts within your domain
• Get a 250 MB inbox for each account
• Check your e-mail from any Web-enabled PC
• Junk e-mail filter protection using Microsoft SmartScreen technology
• Virus scanning and cleaning of e-mail
• Seamless access with MSN Messenger, MSN Spaces, etc.

Since I'm not using markdeffenbaugh.com for email I decided to set it up.  To register you specify your domain name, login with an existing MSN account, then get the server to point the MX record to.  Once you set up the MX record they will verify it then give you the ability to start creating accounts.  Once an account is created you have to go to Hotmail and login with the newly created account.

They say they'll give you 250Mb but there is a disclaimer where you may only get 25Mb.  I received 2Mb.  The Custom Domains people do say in their blog that you have to go to http://accountservices.msn.com and set your country before you sign into Hotmail for the first time.  If you did it like I did then you have to dump your account, wait 30 days, then recreate it.

While the service is a good thing for those that need it I'm not real impressed just yet.  First, I hate Hotmail with a passion.  The interface, the ads, the ads sent with the email messages - it's all bad.  The work they're doing with Windows Live however is a major step in the right direction.  There is a new email system called Kahuna coming out soon that, if they dump the stupid ads, may give gmail a run for it's money.  Tie Kahuna with Custom Domains and Microsoft will come out the winner - for a change.

Everybody should have a wishlist

Everybody has a Christmas tradition.  One of ours goes like this.

wife: So what do you want for Christmas?
me: I don't know.
wife: Didn't you want <insert something here>?
me: Would be nice but I don't really need it.
wife: So you don't want anything?
me: Not really.

Actually I do want stuff but I just don't remember over time all the little things that I think would be nice to have.  I also hate having money spent on me - seems wasteful.  The things I do remember would cost way too much - like a 50" widescreen Sony tv.  I used to hate shopping for Christmas gifts - still do actually but my wife does it all now.  People are hard to buy for and I'm no exception.  Therefore, everybody should have a wishlist.

As an avid Googler I've always used the shopping list on Froogle.  It worked but it was far from perfect because I could only add things to it that I found on Froogle.  Yahoo has come out with a bit more advanced version called the Shoposphere which allows you to sort your items into categories though it's still limited in that I can only add items from Yahoo Shopping.

Then I came across Kaboodle.  Not only is it for keeping a wishlist of products, you can keep a list of, well, anything.  Let's say you're going on a trip with some family and you want everybody  to decide on where to stay, eat, or what to do.  Load all the websites for the hotels, restaurants, entertainment and have the family add comments or vote on the one they like the best.  Kaboodle is a great way to keep thoughts organized while browsing different sites.

Here are a few things I'd like to see added and I'm sure these and more are in the works since Kaboodle has only been live for a month.

1. RSS feeds.
2. The ability to move an item from one page (or category) to another.
3. While the ability exists to make your items public or private, I can only see the latest public additions that everybody on Kaboodle has made.  It would be nice to browse for an item to see what research, if any, someone else has done on a certain product.
4. Need a way to administer your account (change password, email, etc.)

For now it's still worthwhile and very easy to use - try it out.

HP - short review

So I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire this weekend.  We got there a half an hour early and they were already seating.  A few people were trickling in as we made our way to the theater and most of them felt the need to push their way around you so as to, I can only assume, aquire a better seat.  The worst part was the old man with a walker - I let him go by out of fear of him raming it into my shins.

I realize they were going to cut stuff but I think 60% of the book was left out.  Still, it was a good movie with very good special effects.  One of the best things about all the movies is the casting for the characters.  The people they chose fit perfectly with how I envision the characters in the books with one exception - Dumbledore.  The first one, Richard Harris, was perfect but it's difficult to see Michael Gambon in the role.  The PG-13 title is justified - we let The Boy watch certain parts of the other Harry Potter movies but there's no part of this one that I'd let him see.

There, short and quick, just enough to bug certain anti-Potter people I work with.

The best website on the planet

There is no site better than Playhouse Disney and if you disagree then you don't have a 3 year old. It's not a perfect solution but it's great for a little peace and quiet. Plus it's better than letting them watch TV as they get some learning experience out of it.

Daddy I'm Peeing!

Nuff said.

Back to Blogger

Blogsome could be a very good blog if they added more features that other blogs have by default.  So, I'm back on Blogger for the time being.

Star Wars: Revelations

I just finished watching Star Wars: Revelations, a fan flick/short movie produced by Panic Struck Productions and done by volunteers on weekends and only with $20,000.  The special effects and cgi are outstanding and better than many professional movies.  All the space fights, cityscaping, costumes were done very well.  The movie is reminiscent of the original series with all the dialog and scene transitions so you feel like this could easily fit in the Star Wars series.

The acting...ah the acting.  Obviously there was a lot of hard work that they put into the movie so you would think they could find some better actors willing to get some exposure.  The worst one, though he didn't appear much, was Emperor Palpatine - his costume and voice just did not fit.  After 10 minutes you kind of get used to the acting so it doesn't remain too much of an issue.  Another bad part was the light saber duals.  Though the special effects was done well, the choreography was not.

Overall, for a 40 minute space flick it's very good.  I'd like to see it again on the DVD version, the one I saw I streamed from iFilm so it was severely compressed. 

IE Tab for Firefox

One of the best extensions for Firefox, IE Tab allows you to right click a page and open that page in a new Internet Explorer tab within Firefox. Note that you'll need an additional extension if you're using Firefox 1.0.x Link

delicious additions

Tag Bundle
Delicious has created tag bundle which is a way to make tags for your tags - or group/organize your tags a little better. Very nice.

Play MP3's
When searching for MP3's there is now a way to play the item right from the results page. Try it out.

A better URL
For those who hated the del.icio.us or could never remember it, you now have an easier way to get to the site - delicious.com

Scoble on Microsoft's approach to the Web

Robert Scoble, a Microsoft employee, talks about what he hears from other people on reasons why using Microsoft software for websites is bad and open source is good. He says it in a way that probably won't get him fired but he brings up some very valid points about why you shouldn't use Microsoft.

Link

I, for one, would like to break out of the MS shell and into the open source world. The problem is that I'm entrenched in a huge company that leans more toward the need to pay for what you want as opposed to using a free solution that you can customize yourself.

Blogsome not as good as I originally thought

My quest to not have my own server has been foiled. To do what I want with my blog I'm going to have to either run the site from my house or find a decent host (GoDaddy.com just increased storage space - $4 for 5Gb).

Issue #1
Blogsome uses a multiple user version of WordPress and has placed a template manager (Smarty) between the php code and the template. However, the template tags need to be created with Smarty to link to the WordPress PHP code and it seems there are a lot of tags missing that would make Blogsome a really great system to use. Most of the WordPress tags are supposed to work in Blogsome - but, after seeing all the issues on the forum and experiencing it for myself, most of them don't.

Issue #2
Another issue is the XMLRPC problem where a "\" is placed in the front of every double or single quote. So if your main method of posting items is from an application that uses the Meta Weblog API, such as Flickr and Flock, then Blogsome is almost unusable.

Issue #3
It appears that email is not an option. Though I have the ability to add pop3 settings it doesn't actually work.

Flickr Adds Photo Printing

It seems that Flickr has added the ability to print photos. It doesn't come as a shock since Yahoo recently buddied up with Target to offer photo printing. I had been a fan of using Walmart to print my pictures - cheap and easy - but Flickr's prices are now pretty comparable to Walmart.

Flickr also gives many more options in the sizes of the photo such as a 4xD photo. The "D" sizes are more suited for digital camera pictures so there's no extra cropping of your already lopped off heads. I've put together a little comparison and included SmugMug since I'm thinking of using either them or Flickr. Though Flickr now has an extra plus for them because I can pick up my photos at Target and don't have to pay for shipping - or wait for them.

Size	Flickr	Walmart	SmugMug	Recommended Resolution
4x6	$0.15	$0.15	$0.25	900 x 600
5x7	$0.59	$0.58	$0.99	1050 x 750
8x10	$1.99	$1.96	$2.99	1500 x 1200
20x30	$19.95	n/a	$21.99	4500 x 3000
5x5	$0.99	n/a	$0.99	750 x 750
4xD	$0.20	n/a	$0.25	900 x 600
5xD	$0.65	n/a	n/a	1050 x 750
8xD	$2.15	n/a	$2.99	1500 x 1200

Blogsome, WordPress, Blogger

I started using Blogger a while ago just for fun and have accumulated a certain set of requirements.  First I don't want to have to host it and it must be free.  Other than that there are 5 main items that I would like to have.  I've become accustomed to doing posts via email - have only used Bloggers editor a few times.  The template must be fully editable.  I don't need serious stats but I'd like to know approximately how many hits I'm getting.  I'd like to have the ability to set up other pages within the blog.  And finally I'd like to categorize all my wonderful, insightful, extremely knowledgeable and useful blog posts.

There are a ton of blog systems out there but I'm just looking at a few - Blogsome, WordPress, Blogger.  Here's the breakdown.

	Blogsome	WordPress	Blogger
EMail	Yes - Must have pop3 account	No	Yes - Easy to setup
Template	Yes	No	Yes
Stats	Yes	Yes	No - but can do your own
Pages	Yes	Yes	No
Categories	Yes	Yes	No

Looks to me like it's time for a change.

Flock

Flock, a new browser based from Mozilla, has released a pre-beta version. After just a few minutes of looking at it the browser seems to be taking the best of what Firefox is and adding all the social services. Favorites can be integrated with Del.icio.us, clicking a toolbar button brings up a blog editor from which you can choose all the blog accounts that you have set up, and you can drop photos from flickr into your blog post via the blog editor interface.

The only down side so far is that I'm prompted with a login box for del.icio.us every time I open the browser. All I have to do is hit enter but that's a bit annoying.

The blogging thing is nice, has some nice features, but I'm not sure how useful it is since most blogging can be done via email now. A little GMailThis! toolbar bookmark works just fine. However, if you're going to post a lot of pictures in your blog the best way would be to load them into flickr then just drop the photos into your text in the Flock editor - very easy and very cool.

I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface with just a few minutes of looking at this but it could very well be my next browser.

Link

A Beep in the Night

Here's a little break down.

~5:00am - BEEP!  Ugh, one of the smoke alarm batteries is dead.  But which one?  I stand in the hallway to listen for another beep but one doesn't come - I go to bed.

BEEP!  Looks like it's every 5 minutes, I note the time and lay back down.  4 minutes later I get up and stand in the hallway.  5 minutes go by and I walk back into the bedroom to look at the clock - BEEP!  #@$%!  Ok, so it's 10 minutes not 5.  I note the time and lay back down.

5 minutes later BEEP!  Alright, so it's 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes.  Forget it, I think I know which one it is so I take that smoke alarm down by unplugging it from the house and removing the batteries (which required a trip downstairs for a screwdriver).  I set the alarm on the counter and walk away - BEEP!.  Stupid thing is still beeping with zero power.  I go out and stick it in the car.

10 minutes later BEEP!  Wrong alarm.  I take another one down and put it in the car as well (hearing a faint beep as I close the door).  I'm fairly positive I won't be hearing a beep again and can now get some sleep.

10 minutes later my son wakes up.

ASP.NET Jumpstart: Introduction to the Media Share Library Starter Kit

"The Media Share Library Starter Kit enables you to easily create an application that allows registered users to present a collection of media items (such as movie DVDs, music CDs, books, and more) for other registered users to borrow. Users will be able to look through a library of items collectively held by the group using the application and request to borrow specific items from the registered owners of the items. The idea of the Media Share Library Starter Kit is to provide you with a framework that you can use to quickly organize a library collection that can be shared with a larger group of people."

Link

Inquisitor

A pretty good search tool that uses ajax.  I really like how they are probably writing a cookie for whatever search term you type in so that if you hit the back button the text you typed is still there.
Link

Google aggregator

Google has added reader.google.com to their list of services.  The interface for Googles' Reader is very similar to GMail and Google Groups, uses Ajax, labels, the ability to star an item, blog it, or gmail it.  I have all my feeds sorted into folders in NewsGator and when I imported them through an OPML file Reader took all the folder names and automatically made them labels.  I'm an avid user of NewsGator and I like seeing all of the articles for my feeds in one list.  That way all I have to do is scroll down and scan the items to see if anything is interesting.  With Reader I have to click the title of an article to see the article - a little annoying.

But it's not too bad - especially for it's first day in beta.

Fasterfox

Performance and network tweaks for Firefox.
Link

Ning

Ok, this is pretty cool.  Ning gives you the ability to take some of the more popular social websites and fully customize them and host it on ning.com.  Link

Degradable Ajax

Interesting article on using ajax but still allowing your page to be viewed by browsers that don't support it.  Link

Google TV

Need I say more?

Opera is now free

Opera, once requiring users to purchase a license to remove ads from the browser, has removed the license restriction.  Though I'm thinking, way too little, way too late.

Standing in line

A while ago some guys at work and myself had a little discussion about bikers and the rules of the road. On the way home today I saw a biker actually adhering to this whole wildly crazy idea of - waiting your turn.

Picking Apples

Just because I don't feel like doing anything at work right now I'll post a link to some photos I added to Flickr.

I'm thinking of getting the pro account for $25/year. Most people I know don't like Flickr because of it's interface but I like it for the backend. For those of you who know what an api is - it has a very good api. I'm playing with it now so that I can take 3 or 4 random photos from my photos on Flickr that are tagged with something like "banner" then rotate them, add a border, and put them on the header of this blog. It will look kind of similar to what I've done with my old site design, only not static. Then when you refresh the page it would pull a new set of random pictures and display them.

Flock

A new browser is about to surface.  It's supposed to have more of a social type feel to it.

News Article

Flock site

Photoshop Tutorials

I like doing things in Photoshop but I'm by no means good at it so I usually need a tutorial.  I wish I had this site a while ago when I was trying to do and hand stitched image (guys at work know why).

Firefox Preloader

This application runs in the system tray and allows Firefox to start a lot quicker.  A definite must have.

How rich are you?

Another reminder to count your blessings. Link

p.s. Brace your eyes for the horrid background

Another StarTrek?

Ok, they kill Enterprise only to possibly bring back another?  Personally I thought Enterprise was the best one and was really ticked that they ended it.  StarTrek fans didn't want the show to end, the cast didn't want the show to end - so why do another.  Link

Dog Wash

There is a new car wash going in across the street from my subdivision. We had hopes that it would be some nice business to help alleviate a little bit of the hoosier reputation that Arnold has. A car wash in itself doesn't hurt but the fact that they're advertising a dog wash doesn't help. I think there's room on that sign for deer processing and fish cleaning.

Cool Jazz or the Wiggles?

Actually it was just a beep every time he pressed a key.

My son and a mouse

He's learned how to use one....snif.

Deleting locked files

So Brian sends me a link to something to install and check out.  Since we pass stuff back and forth all the time I have no issues with installing this thing.  So I download it and run the executable.  A console window pops up then goes away - hmm.  We realize that the file did not download correctly (the file size was only 8 bytes).  I tried deleting the file and it said another user or process had locked it.  Not a big deal - get those all the time.  However after rebooting - booting in safe mode - chkdsk - rebooting again - etc. I'm still not able to delete the file.  This sucks because the file is on my desktop - and causes all of the guys at work to laugh at me even harder.

Brian does find this program that deletes the file on startup before windows has a chance to lock it.  It worked (lucky for him).

Power Outage

Power's been out for 2.5 hours.  It was actually pretty pleasent to be completely disconnected from anything digital - though I did start to get a twitch in my mouse hand.

Google Maps + Virtual Tour

This is kind of cool. Google Maps mixed with a virtual tour of the marker you click on. Link

Branson

A bunch of pics from our trip to Branson. I usually weed out the stupid pictures but this time I just dumped them all into flickr. This one is the only real good one.

Blogger for Word

Yet another large reason to use Blogger over other systems is the Blogger for Word add-in.  Link.

Virtual Office?

Is this Mike's meaning for "Work is not a place"? Make it look like you're at work when you're not?

Actually this is a software application that allows you to take any photo and convert it into large dots. This one was printed on 45 pages.

My Favorite Commercial

I've always like this commercial. Here's an article about it. Link

Google News gets RSS Feeds

Finally!  You can now get plain ol' Google News or your customized Google News in RSS or ATOM.

A9.com maps with pictures

I didn't know this was here.  A9 has been driving around for a year taking pictures of streets then combining that with their mapping software.  They have only done certain cities though.  Via  Link

GMail Groups

A friend found this earlier today. One of the large missing pieces in GMail is the lack of setting up groups in your contact list. Here is an article that show's you how to get around that. Link

Beginner's guide to developing web apps in AJAX

AJAX is the new (next?) hot thing in web programming at the moment. For example, it's what enables Gmail's interface to feel so slick, and for Flickr to deliver dynamic content. If you have no idea where to start, this article will get you going.

read more | digg story

Whatever Google

Psshh - nice.  Ok Google we know you're the holy grail of company perks but do you feel the need to rub it in by blogging about it?

Irritating Bikers

Every bicyclist must follow the rules of the road and most that I come across do. Now I don't mind passing a biker but I start to get irritated if I have to pass that same biker more than once. What generally happens is that I'll pass a biker then at a stop light that biker will pass me and wait at the light where I have to pass them again. The biker should take his place in line. This morning there was a biker riding on a narrow road where you have to wait until traffic is clear to pass them - so that was irritating by itself. But we come up to a stoplight and the biker passes everybody, then goes right through the red light at this intersection thereby forcing everybody to pass him again. I felt like taking him out with my mirror.

My son's bday

Tim (brother), my son and I at a nice spot overlooking the Mississippi. There's more photos but check with me if you want to see them.

Baby Names

This is a pretty cool java app that shows the popularity for baby names. Link

 

Picasa's "I'm Feeling Lucky"

This is the picture before I used "I'm Feeling Lucky" in Google's Picasa software. I used a flash but I was too far away for it to do any good.

This is the picture after. I'm pretty impressed that anything showed up at all.

Start.com

I had said before that Microsoft needed some serious innovation to earn back the minds and hearts of all the web aficionados out there. As with any large company there comes all the bureaucracy that hinders real innovative thinking. Microsoft has taken a step toward real innovation by allowing a few developers to do whatever they wanted. The result - Start.com. RSS feeds, bookmarks or favorites, news, weather, movies, stocks, etc. These elements are that first cup of coffee of the day for anybody starting their browser. Start.com offers all of these items and they are only in beta - there's more to come. Try out version 3 of Start.com here - http://www.start.com/myw3b

Google Moon

Google has set up http://moon.google.com/ "in honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969". Also, with Google's amazing imagery power, they're able to show you exactly what the moon is made of if you zoom all the way in.

More digital camera testing

Continuing my digital camera testing, I've decided to try customizing the aperture and shutter speeds. In doing so I tried writing "Web Dude" with a flashlight. Yes it looks a little like Web Ducle but shut-up, you have no idea how hard that is. Out of 30 takes that was the best one. I could have done better with a smaller flashlight. The settings for this was 3.4 aperture and a 16" shutter speed (whatever that means).

4th of July

This is my favorite pic from the few I took on the 4th.

B-Day

I'm starting to think birthdays aren't necessarily a good thing anymore.

Office Pictures

Finally getting most of the home office situated. Only thing left are some pictures or something on the walls.

	The chair is the newest addition. Now Laura can read while I work (i.e. play) and/or my son can sit over there instead of crawling on me.
	The flat panel is definitely nice but I still want 2. I like the floating shelves and desk we got from IKEA.
	We took the closet doors off and put in Closet Maid shelves. I used to have all my electronic stuff stashed away in paper boxes. It's nice to now have them in clear boxes. I also like the orange wall.

The terror of being offline for a day

A few days ago I mentioned how I think I'm addicted to the being connected to the internet. I know I'm not alone but it's funny to see someone write about it.

Testing

I see Blogger now has a way to upload pictures from the Blogger interface - just checking it out.  I'm also checking out the timer on my new camera.  Of which I got $100 off by using AntiRebate.com

A little too late

Your image really takes a hit when you try and play catch up.  First Microsoft gets pounded by Google's search capabilities.  Then Google turns Microsoft's Hotmail into a laughing stock when they release GMail.  And now Mozilla's Firefox, in my opinion, destroys IE in every way.  In all areas Microsoft has tried to come back and add the extra features that they lack.  The latest one is adding the ability to aggregate rss feeds in IE.  Unless Microsoft starts getting seriously innovative then...well...it's a little too late.

Colors

My son knows his colors.  He can organize things into piles of the same color but trying to get him to say the appropriate color is like pulling teeth.

Me: Look, this is a blue truck.  What color is the truck?

Boy: yellow

Me: No, blue.

Boy: blue.

Me: What color is the truck?

Boy: brown

Me: No, the truck is blue.

Boy: blue

Me: What color is the truck?

Boy: yellow

....and on and on and on....

I'm an addict

I wonder what it would be like to go 24 hours without touching a computer; or if we want to be realistic - 1 hour.  Do I really need to be chained to this thing all the time?  Do I have that much to do?  Probably not.  I have a lot to do but most of the time I'm checking my e-mail accounts, the news (tech, local, global), my aggregated rss feeds, the mortgage rates, possible job opportunities, etc.  So, am I a web information junkie or a web developer keeping a finger on the pulse of the information technology industry?

Gmail + Aliases

A little known feature of Gmail allows the user to use an alias with their account.  I've always filtered things by the FROM email account but doing it this way will make it much easier to organize.  Link.

Added Blog Stats

I put some blog stats on this page.  This entry is just so I remember when I did it.  Want your own?  Go here.

So it begins

I should be going to bed around 10 but I always decide to just watch a "little" TV.  That usually ends up being a couple of hours watching something like The Blind Swordsman or playing poker through PokerRoom.com (of which I'm 17,000 out of 19,000 players - so I should give that up).  So after staying up till midnight on Saturday I begin Sunday morning at 6:30 with my wife screaming.  It's one thing to wake up quietly with the sound of rain and something entirely different to wake to a scream.  It turns out that the Boy has decided to pee in the potty.

Now, the rules of the potty training game begin with showering the child with loads of praise when he is successful - hence the earlier scream of which I now realize wasn't a bad, I'm in pain, scream but a good one.  Since Laura has done her part, I'm now expected to do mine and I drag myself up, go into the bathroom, say good job, and go back to bed.

So begins the ritual of constantly placing the child on the potty, asking if he has to go, and the constant praise for successes (which requires the parent to be "upbeat" - which is not my area of expertise).  This should be interesting.

Another reason why Google is cool

How many large, world wide, tech companies that you know of have open source projects?  Google has a bunch of projects on SourceForge that look very interesting.  code.google.com

GMail Atom Feed

You've probably known about the gmail atom feed
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom

But did you know you can pull just on label?
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom/SomeLabel

And you can also pull your All Mail. So if you get a new message and you have a filter that puts it into a label and archives it then you can pull your all mail to get every unread message in your account.
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom/all

Only reason I could see for using it is to write your own notifier. But thought it was cool.

Power Over Ethernet

Would be a cool way to put your router in a better location to get the most coverage without having to run power to it. Link

Yeah that's me

A friend at work came up with a description of me that seems to fit well. Mark Deffenbaugh n. Short for computer geek, an individual with a passion for computers, to the exclusion of other normal human interests. Social interests are deeply rooted in Sci-Fi and include, but are not limited to, Harry Potter, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings. Depending on the context, it can be used in either a derogatory or affectionate manner. Basically, Mark Deffenbaugh and geek are synonymous; "Look at that freak wearing that Harry Potter costume sitting in front of that computer. He is such a Mark Deffenbaugh."

Nintendo Revolution

XBox 360 and PS3 will be great machines though I have a feeling very expensive.  I'm not that much of a console gamer so they're a bit out of my league.  The last time I was really into playing was when the NES came out.  Nintendo's new game system, Revolution, is very tiny and will be backward compatible.  So it will play every game Nintendo has ever made - I think that's cool.  They say it's geared more for the casual gamer, like me, so I'm curiously waiting for the price of the system.  Link

Google Maps - Traffic hack

http://supergreg.hopto.org/google-traffic.com/

 Another cool hack of Google Maps is combining it with traffic.

The Energizer Bunny has nothing on this

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7843868/ A new type of battery that could last for 10 years. And it's possible that it will be available in the market in 5 years.

Google ponders Blogger, Gmail integration

http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/05/11/google/index.php
Man I hope they do something. Right now Blogger is constantly having issues when you send an e-mail to do a post. Every e-mail gets bounced but the post will still show up - sort of. Most of the time I have to go into Blogger and reedit the post, then republish the post (which works 70% of the time). I think e-mail is really the best way to do a post anyway so a Gmail Blogger integration would be cool.
Update: Yeah, I had to edit this post too.

What Great .NET Developers Ought To Know (More .NET Interview Questions)

Here's a list of possible interview questions for .NET. It's even broken down into categories like: * Everyone who writes code * Mid-Level .NET Developer * Senior Developers/Architects * C# Component Developers * ASP.NET (UI) Developers * Developers using XML After perusing the questions I realized that I, a self proclaimed half-way decent c# asp.net developer, doesn't know squat. I could answer some of those off the top of my head but if that's really what could come out of an interview then I'd be sweating by the end of it. That's what Google's for anyway - right?

New Desk

We got it from IKEA .

15 things you can do with RSS

http://timyang.com/comments.php?id=630_0_1_0_C Lot's of cool stuff you can do with rss here.

Attached file test

This is just a test to see if Blogger will post an image that is attached to my custom blogger.com e-mail address.  If you see this then cool - it works.

Ctrl-Space

I can write code in notepad but I'm so spoiled with intellisense I can never go back now.  To bring the intellisence window back up I've always backspaced and retyped the dot.  I just found out that you can bring it back up with Ctrl-Space.  ....Obviously a slow several days....

Yahoo's "My Web"

http://search.yahoo.com/myweb

This is probably the first time in a long time that I'm impressed with a search option that either Microsoft or Yahoo has come up with.  In my opinion, Google just keeps beating the crap out of them with every innovative thought.  But this time I really like Yahoo's new My Web.  I'm an avid keeper of bookmarks (currently use FireFox and a Bookmarks Synchronizer add-in) so the My Web thing would be something very cool to have.

However, to use it to it's fullest potential I have to install the Yahoo toolbar - hate toolbars.  I'll just wait until Google comes out with their supposed non-existent browser.

Shhh, don't tell the wife

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4504393.stm

A new clothes washer that, via fingerprint identification, requires 2 people to operate it.  So the person that loads it one time cannot be the same person that does it the second time in a row.

Testing Picasa and Hello again. This picture was taken on 3/3/2004.

Flat Panel Monitor

Finally got a flat panel monitor at home - 17" Proview. It's an off brand but after a sale and rebates it was only $170.

Blogger, Picasa, and Hello...Oh My!

I'm not a real blogger (I have nothing worthwhile to say) but I like playing with cool things. I usually like to play with things that I can install on my web server or things I can tweak myself through code. For a blog my preference is .Text or the new Community Server. But in the past few days I've been testing Blogger - mainly because it's a Google company now and Google is just...well...you know. The main thing I really like about Blogger is the ability to post an article via e-mail. This isn't a feature specific to Blogger but it's difficult to do this when running your own blog if you're not running your own mail server. One thing I don't like about Blogger is what appears to be the lack of an image gallery. ModBlog (http://www.modblog.com) is a new blog that has this but I don't think it runs as slick as Blogger. What Blogger does have however is Picasa and Hello. Running the two together is very nice if you want to post pictures to your blog. Picasa (http://www.picasa.com) is a photo management application that is very nice. I've used it all of 20 minutes and it makes me want to go out and buy a nice digital to take tons of pictures just so I can use it. Hello (http://www.hello.com) is an app that allows you to share photos with friends and family in a unique way or post your pictures with captions to your Blogger blog via the BloggerBot.

This is a shot of Luke that I really like. It was taken on 12/5/2003 but I'm just using it to test Blogger and Hello's BloggerBot.

VB 6.0 to .NET site

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbrun/

 

Microsoft, I guess feeling sorry for the VB 6.0 developers that their beloved development platform is in retirement, has launched a site to help the VB6er's migrate to .NET.  I was a VB6 developer but found the transition to .NET easy, but I guess some people need hand holding.  I even prefer C# over VB.NET - I think it's a cleaner looking language.

Google Search History

http://www.google.com/searchhistory

There have been many times where I know I found something searching Google but when trying to find it again months later I don't remember the keywords I used.  Google's new Search History is a cool way of fixing my memory issues.

Nteam to rival Visual Studio?

http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=3340&cat_id=913

 

I've never been real impressed with the team development aspect of Microsoft's tools.  I had hoped that Visual Studio 2005 would change that but it seems that Microsoft is gearing it more for larger companies.  By combining all the open source applications that most developers use into something that would work with .NET, Nteam would be an interesting, and cheaper, alternative to Visual Studio 2005.

Disney Cruise

Woohoo!  We've just booked a 4-Night Bahamian Disney Cruise for January.  Long wait but so, it's a Disney cruise.

IIS Woes

Nothing like sitting down, all ready to write some code, and have IIS not want to start.  After an hour of trying to fix it I ran netstat and found that Skype was listening on port 80 and 443 (among others) and hence causing IIS to fail.  Now back to coding.

testing

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)

What is RSS?
RSS is an easy way for you to keep updated automatically on websites you like. Instead of you having to go to websites to see if they've written a new article or feature, you can use RSS to get them to tell you every time they have something new.

How can I make use of RSS?
In general, you need to get a program or use a website called a News Reader. This displays RSS information feeds from your chosen websites on your computer.

How do I get a News Reader?
There are a range of different News Readers available. My 2 favorites are NewsGator and Bloglines. These are free website News Readers and don't require installing anything on your computer. But, if you'd like to install something then take a look at some news readers listed in Google's directory.

This is the raw XML for the RSS feed. These just make it easy on some people.