Monthly Archive for July, 2006

My Web 2.0

Published on July 29, 2006 in Computers and Life. 0 Comments

I just realized that with all this Web 2.0 talk of late, that I don’t surf the web anymore. Yes, I visit websites from time to time but most of time on the Internet is not surfing. For me, I’ve taken technologies that make Web 2.0 what it is – Web 2.0 – and transformed it into the next net based experience. In effect, however, I’ve removed myself from the very sites these features are meant to support.

What changed my browsing habits is RSS. Most of us techies know that RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Summary – as I just learned). For those non-thechies, it’s a way for authors & publishers to deliver content without (necessarily) having people visit a site to do so. An RSS reader is employed to go to the site with the desired content for that person and fetch the latest story, post, weather forecast, or whatever automatically and periodically for the reader to scan at their leisure. These readers keep track of the read and unread messages and provide a way for the public to manage their data in different ways. RSS (and the related RDF) standards are already based off of XML (a standard itself) so its very easy to work around. After subscribing to a few RSS feeds, one can see how helpful it is to not only stay on top of the latest blog post but it also helps control and manage the information out there for the world to consume.

Before I found out about RSS, I would read maybe 5 or 6 sites regularly and each have a tab setup in Firefox for that website or blog. Soon, my list of sites ballooned to 12 and it was slowing down my computer whenever I would refresh the tabs. When I downloaded Thunderbird, I tried their built in RSS reader and found out what everyone else was talking about and, more importantly, why RSS was so helpful.

Within moments, I had subscribed to 50 feeds with fantastic ease. I downloaded the latest headlines and casually waited for new stories to come in. I subscribed to all types of sites with all sorts of topics – one of these days, I’ll take my favorites and add them to my Blogroll. Nevertheless, I read automotive blogs, computer/technology blogs (of all kinds – Mac, Linux, Windows, I don’t discriminate here), gossip, and news. I use RSS to get the latest weather forecasts and even keep track of my own information; I subscribe to my own Calendar RSS feeds so I’m notified of any changes my wife makes.

And those 50 feeds eventually became 75 and 100 and now over 130. I’ve organized them into different categories to help make reading easier with Technology, Lifehacks, and Lifestyle being my most read categories. Technology is self explanatory. Lifehacks are sites that offer tips on how to GTD, simplify your life, and offer a better mouse trap for those who need a cleaner existence. Lifestyle is where I put my automotive, TV, movie, and video game feeds.

How did I get all those feeds? Well, I used the traditional search and surf method to find a site which linked to sister sites of the same company or another site that carried the original scoop which they were citing. I’d look up that other site and subscribe to its RSS feed. And with that, I would find yet a few more sites to subscribe to. Now-a-days, I rarely find a site to subscribe to by the old Googling method; I think I did it once when I started looking up gossip blogs for, um, my wife… yeah…

Do I read every feed? No. Do I read every article? No. I scan the sites that interest me the most on a regular basis. But I will read the headlines and open only the articles I want to read and mark the others I don’t want read (after I’m done with the site) so I don’t get too many unread posts cluttering up my reader. When the other sites are not posting new things, I’ll read the other sites and, again, scan them for something interesting.

So before, I read MSNBC, WSJ, Engadget, LifeHacker, Autoblog, and TUAW in tabs on my desktop. Now I read their articles through my news reader. What news reader do I use? Bloglines. It’s a web based system that allows me to read all my feeds wherever I go. They offer a Java Script button for Firefox that makes subscribing to feeds easier than it ever was (and it was always really simple… pardon the pun). I’ve tried many different news readers for the PC and the Mac and Bloglines (although not pretty) is the best one for me and my many feeds.

I do miss the search and surf model of Web 1.0 and enjoy seeing the AJAX features of these 2.0 sites. But I can’t do it for long. I’m too frustrated with browsing, now, to spend the energy. I’m so glad that RSS came to exist. Its the best Web 2.0 technology and, I think, it will be hard for someone to top RSS in making the web what it is for me on my terms.

I’m always looking for new ways to use RSS, however. If you have any interesting uses, please let me know. and if you don’t use RSS, please let me know why as well. I am certainly not the most tech savvy and I could be missing out on a Web 3.0 technology that will make things even better.

Upgrade to WordPress 2.0.4

Published on July 28, 2006 in Site. 0 Comments

So I just completed my first ever upgrade of WordPress and I have to say that I’m very impressed with how easy it is. I just followed the directions of backup the MySQL database, backup the code files and copy over the new ones. My FTP program only overwrote the files that WordPress comes with and none – from what I can tell – of my customizations were changed. Of course, I didn’t hack anything core to the system, really, just installed some plugins and themes.

I haven’t fully tested all those plugins but some of the major ones seem to work. If anything seems broken, please use the contact form to let me know. And hopefully, that isn’t broken.

Tips: Firefox Upgrade Script for Ubuntu

Published on July 27, 2006 in Computers, Linux, Mozilla and Tips. 0 Comments

So the other day, the Mozilla Corporation released Firefox 1.5.0.5 for all operating systems and Windows XP.  Being the good geek that I am, I downloaded the build to patch those vulnerabilities and to say I’ve got the most recent version of something running on my computer.  The last time I upgraded Firefox was when I downloaded Ubuntu for the first time and, although not difficult, was not he easy install script that most Windows and OS X users are used to.  But this time, I found a better way of upgrading.

Before, I uncompressed the .tar file’s contents into a temporary folder somewhere on the hard drive.  Then, I followed someone’s instructions on how to backup the build’s original location and move over the new one.  I then was asked to follow some other commands that either linked the existing shortcuts to the new directory or something.  I didn’t really understand it but I followed it on blind faith knowing I could just rebuild the OS at any time.

But with some upgrades and some personalization already completed, I didn’t want to risk this (too much).  So I downloaded the new version and proceeded to uncompress it like I did the last time.  But foolish me couldn’t just overwrite the current directory; I forgot about those superuser permissions that get in the way.  And, because I haven’t figured out all the nuances of Ubuntu and Linux in general yet, I couldn’t get anything I tried to work – even using the sudo command to become the superuser.

After 5 minutes of this, I just about gave up.  But I did one last search for upgrade tips and found this script that automatically downloads the most recent version of Firefox for your local (and it asks you for your language), extracts it, and handles all the install bits that I don’t know yet.  Even though I couldn’t trust the script, I did it anyway.  If it failed, it failed.  If it destroyed my browser, I could always try to fix it or rebuild the OS (something I would hate but not as much as having as OS without a browser).  And if it worked, well I’d write about the script and give it praise.

Well, you can imagine that it work because it did.  Although the script said it failed (I think because my previous upgrades may have broken something) it did, in fact, upgrade Firefox without any adverse effects.  It still launches from the launch pad on top and the version checks out.  All in all, I’m really happy with it.

I’m going to read the script to see what the developer (or someone using this space) did so next time I might not need it.  But until then, all 1.5.0.x Firefox releases are going to be installed with this.  If you need to upgrade, make your life easy and run it.

Newton’s Law of Porn

Published on July 26, 2006 in Computers. 3 Comments

Warning: This post might be unsuitable for people under the age of 18 (or 21 in some states). It contains adult themes, language, and free thought that could be found offensive or NSFW. I advise everyone to read it anyway.

Ok… Now that the disclaimers are take care of, on with the post.

Newton, being the genius that he was, came up with three laws of motion each equally valuable in their own way. The third one came to mind recently when thinking about the latest Web 2.0 site I happen to come across. The third law, in his own words, reads: Actioni contrariam semper et æqualem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse æquales et in partes contrarias dirigi. For those who dropped their Latin course (like me), it translates into: All forces occur in pairs, and these two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

In the business world, there is a similar idea (although the name of the concept escapes me). The concept is that for every successful product, service, or idea, there is an equal but opposite idea. Examples of this idea are Garbage Pail Kids, The Onion, and <insert company name here> sucks.com. Parodies and satires are the most common artistic representation of this idea; think Spaceballs, National Lampoon movies, MAD magazines, SNL, and others.

Porn is notorious for taking mainstream media/art and producing an anti- version of it for the adult industry. A quick Google search led me to find this link which as a list of what I’m talking about. Take a look and you’ll see what I mean. And in keeping with statistics, the adult entertainment industry has taken an idea already out there and turned it into an anti- version for its own use. In fact, I’m willing to bet that this news iteration will make money (and a lot of it) before its non-exotic, original, version does.

So what am I talking about? I’m talking about PornoTube. From what I can tell, its just like YouTube in that you can upload or watch small clips of adult content. I really didn’t look at it beyond the homepage so I don’t really know what else it has. But a review observation of it over at TechCrunch says it has all the same social features of YouTube like tagging, ratings, and comments. Like YouTube, Google Video, and others, it streams these videos over Flash and offers its visitors an RSS feed of its latest offerings.

So Newton, again being the genius that he was, predicted it. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction – in porn. For every YouTube, there is an equal and opposite PornoTube. And for every Flock, there is HeatSeak. I doubt the trend will stop anytime soon – it’s become a law in and of itself. I wonder what Web 2.0 idea they will use next. Wiki-porn? Booty-del.icio.us?

Google Calendar (Life) Hacks

Published on July 24, 2006 in Hacks, Life and Money. 0 Comments

Although not much of a hack. I’ve been using Google Calendar to hack my life in positive ways. Not only am I putting everything on the calendar, I’m taking advantage of the near limitless calendars you can create in Google’s online PIM of AJAX-y goodness.

In addition to creating my own personal calendar, I made one for my wife. We share each other’s personal calendars and we share a “family” calendar that I set up too. The personal calendars are for those obviously personal appointments. I have my eye doctor visits, for example, of the my calendar and when she goes out ‘with the girls” she adds that on to her agenda; I do the same with my friends on the rare occasions I go out. When we have guests over (like we have this Wednesday) or when we are doing things together – say, going to a party – we put it on the calendar. That way, we know what each other has planned and what we have planned for each other.

Furthering the multiple calendar idea, I’ve created five additional calendars. The first calendar is for our pay days. The second is for the bills. The third calendar is for our meals. The fourth is my volunteer calendar and the fifth is actually an RSS feed of our local weather. To help distinguish one calendar from another, I use the color code system Google provides.

The pay day calendar obviously tracks when my wife and I get paid. We are on different pay cycles with my checks coming twice a month and hers every two weeks. I assigned a dull yellow color to that calendar because I wanted to be drawn to the events but not give a sense of utmost urgency.
The bill calendar is in red. That way, I’m alerted to when the bills are due. Reminders are set two days in advance so I can be prepared for the eventual drawing of funds. Eventually, I’m going to add – or create a new calendar – for the days that the bills arrive in the mailbox. Since snail-mail ends up in a pile in my office, I never pay attention to when the bills arrive. With the secondary bill calendar, I will only add an event when a bill arrives. Over time, I’ll be able to predict when the bills come in and understand the statement cycle of our payees.

The meal plan is mostly for my wife but I benefit greatly from it too. along with our Fresh Direct orders, we add the meals we plan to make that week. Today, I made buffalo burgers. Tomorrow, my wife is making turkey chili. And Wednesday, she is making salmon with potatoes and asparagus. Thursday is always pizza and beer nights for us so we never have problems remembering what’s for dinner but its always good to know its on its way. And like the pay day calendar and the bill pay calendar, the meal calendar gets its own color.

I am getting involved with a non-profit organization that promotes parks in my town. Don’t worry loyal fans, I’m not getting all granola. I want my property values to go up and parks are one way to do so – not the 1000s of condos they keep building. Anyway, I add the meetings, fund raisers, discussions, and my contributing work to that calendar with its own color so I can tell when I’ll be fulfilling those responsibilities.

The last calendar is just one that I added using Google’s RSS importer. That way I know what to wear for the day. I choose a dull gray color so I don’t get distracted with lesser important information (vs the bill payment calendar).

In the future, I’ll add my exercise routine to a new calendar so I know what workouts I’m scheduled to do on any given day. I’ve also started to train for bike races with my friend Paul and I’ll add our routes to the workout calendar or create a separate calendar for those days.

Since I now check my Google Calendar several times a day, I’m always on top of what needs to be done and what’s coming up in my life. I’m hopeful this life hack will help keep me organized. Give the multi-color, multi-calendar approach a try and see if works for you. If there are other Calendar hacks out there that have made someone else more productive and more organized, please pass them along.

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