May 2003 Archives
If you tweak your Movable Type templates, you need to save them somewhere for back up purposes. So I just put mine here in an extended entry. Had to change all the lt and gt tags to make the code viewable.
For me, I could not understand TrackBack until I used it. As soon as I used it, I realized it was an alterative way to adding a lengthy comment. (At least that is one obvious use of it.)
Kelly posted an article and enabled the "Allow Pings" option.
This made a "TrackBack (0)" link appear next to the "Comments (0)" link. Clicking on the TrackBack link produces a TrackBack URL that can be copied and pasted into the "Ping" field on my own blog article. By pinging from my article, my blog sends an update to Kelly's blog, incrementing the link to: "TrackBack (1)". Then, others can see I've posted a response, seeing my article title with an excerpt.
Very useful for an exchange of longer articles, giving the responding author the ability to fully edit the response. (Once you've posted a comment, you can't change it.)
Read more about TrackBack in TrackBack for Beginners.
[Update: 6/20/2005. With 10.3.9 sendmail is configured to run "Automatic". It just works w/ no configuration or fixes required. So notifications worked right away when I moved to the G3 running OS X 10.3.9.]
Sendmail quit working properly at some point. This meant notifications generated by MovableType were not being delivered. They were stuck somewhere.
This may have been caused by an Apple update of some kind. I think creating the NetInfo entry as described in on these pages is what finally solved the problem.
Since Kelly says she is bored, maybe I can help! Here are some things to do:
1) Clean up her room.
2) Give Clyde a bath.
3) Wash Dad's car.
4) Water the flowers.
5) Go on p--p patrol.
6) Figure out how this trackback stuff works!
Note to self: Install on Merlin when it goes to WIN2K. BCWare NoSPAM
See also:
Tips & Newsletters-SearchDomino.com, presented by TechTarget
IBM Redbooks | Lotus Domino 6 spam Survival Guide for IBM eServer
Part of the blogosphere culture... Creative Commons
While looking for a way to integrate MovableType with Photo Gallery... Interview with Paul Bausch, Co-creator of Blogger and Co-author of 'We Blog'
His website: OnFocus.com
Market Timing is way too complicated and no fun. Investing should be entertaining, not just about money. Whether you are buying a house and fixing it up, raising kids, starting a company, or owning shares, if it interests you then you are guaranteed a return on entertainment (ROE), even if you don't get an ROI.
It also means you get to know your investments over time and can be smarter than the market who doesn't know the investment. (I'm smarter about kids than I've ever been!)
My current strategy is to invest in known brands that fluctuate. I buy when they are artificially low (usually because of something in the news), and I know they can go up. I sell somewhere on the way up when I make 35% or more. I don't worry about short or long term. I don't try to get greedy and make more than 50% (anymore.)
I only invest in companies that I continuously read about and preferably experience their products as a consumer. This has worked for me with Intuit, Apple, ETrade, and Dell. I hope it is going to work with Microsoft and Home Depot. It did not work very well with 3COM who just melted down. I got out when the bad news stayed bad. I did not lose much because I only try to buy low.
What I'm banking on is that these stocks have more volatility because they are well known brands who create a lot of news which the media overhypes (in both directions.) Because so many consumers are directly investing now the market is more easily influenced by the hype.
"I can't figure out what is going on with the market," one of our board of directors told us in a meeting. "Prices go up and down when it doesn't make sense."
I'm banking on that, and so far it has worked pretty well.
Long URLs can be a problem because they can be broken up in e-mail messages and quit working.
I wanted to send a MapQuest URL showing how close the Morton's live to Chastain park. (They get to listen for free!)
Using TinyURL.com, I can e-mail this:
http://tinyurl.com/cres
Instead of this:
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&ct=NA
&1y=US&1a=4250+Beverly+Lane&1p=&1c=Atlanta&1s=GA&1z=&1ah=&2y
=US&2a=Powers+Ferry+and+Stella+Drive&2p=&2c=Atlanta&2s=GA&2z
=&2ah=&lr=2&x=80&y=16
Not sure how long it will really last, but good enough for short-lived URL needs. Thanks to Bill Crane for this tip!
Strange Banana generates random web site styles (although the colors seem complimentary.) You can save the page and use the styles as a basis for your own web site.
Hit "renew" to see different sites, but if you like one, save it. You may never see it again!
Merlin was hacked and set up as an FTP file server. Time to become a Windows Admin I guess...Securing a Windows NT System
Follow the link below for Kodak's reply to my letter. They don't get to keep me as a customer!
I bought a Cannon, and it feels like a better engineered product.
Analog creates an html analysis of webserver log files. It runs very fast, and can be run automatically with AppleScript.
This article, Why Am I Getting All This Spam?, is a good report on SPAM and anti-SPAM measures. To boil it all down: Don't put your e-mail address on public web spaces (like blogs.) Instead disguise:
[email protected]
like this:
larry at aol dot com
People can figure it out, but the robots won't.
Poor [email protected]. This posting is probably going to get him some SPAM. Sorry Larry.
A nice song to play at a wedding or funeral.
Composer's Note
The Yellow Cake Revue takes it name from the popular term for refined uranium ore, and concerns the threat of the proposed uranium mining to the economy and ecology of the Orkney Islands which islanders are determined to fight, down to the last person.
Stromness, the second largest town in Orkney (pop. 1500), would be two miles from the uranium mine's core, and the centre most threatened by pollution. Yesnaby is the nearby clifftop beauty spot under whose soil the uranium is known to lie. -- Max Davies
While I researched it, I feel like I got lucky with this purchase. Found this review after I had made the purchase. The camera is much smaller than I thought it was going to be, and it feels much better engineered than the Kodak. The A70 still has the power of 4 AA batteries. The right "hand grip" allows the extra two batteries to fit.
Danny observed immediately that the power button on the Canon will last much longer than the one on the Kodak. iPhoto on the iMac immediately recognized the camera and offered to import all of the pictures... just like the commercial.
From a story about the making of the music behind a Charlie Brown Christmas:
In 1962, Guaraldi and his trio--which then included Bailey and Budwig, who was about to quit the band and move to Los Angeles--recorded their own album titled Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, which spawned the Grammy-winning jazz-pop hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind." The tune is recognizably Guaraldi's--the sound of a self-proclaimed "reformed boogie-woogie" pianist fusing his cool-jazz leanings with his Afro-Cuban fetishes.
To:
Daniel A. Carp
Chairman and CEO
Kodak Corporation
Dear Mr. Carp,
I am seeking to have my camera repaired by Kodak free of charge. I believe the micro-switch inside the camera was poorly designed and not meant to last after thousands of on/off slides by a human thumb. An explanation follows.
I have enjoyed using my Kodak DC280 camera for two years. Recently the power switch quit working. It just "went loose." It seemed that something inside was broken. When I took out the batteries, a small piece of plastic fell out.
What happened?
A human thumb turns on the camera by sliding a power switch to the right. The power switch slide (which seems strong and very well engineered) pushes a tiny piece of plastic inside the camera which is part of a micro switch.
That tiny piece of plastic is what broke off in the attached photo (taken with my brother's Kodak digital camera.)
I contacted customer service and talked to a very nice customer service rep. However, she told me that Kodak's policy for digital camera repair is to charge an upfront, flat fee of $135. There would be additional shipping, parts, and labor fees. She sounded embarassed to admit this could add up to almost half the price of a new camera or more.
I told her I thought this was a manufacturing defect, and she said the policy still applies, but I could write a letter to her supervisor. I decided to write you because this kind of policy can drive away loyal customers. My first gut reaction was that if I had to buy another camera, I would buy Sony. But I'd rather see Kodak win. (I also buy Apple, Jeep, and Tivoli Audio.)
Please share this information with the Kodak digital camera engineers and also customer service. I hope you agree Kodak should stand behind internal parts if they have been inadequately designed.
Please stay in the consumer electronics business and keep improving your products. Many of us like to support American engineering and innovation, but quality and service have to back it up, not drive us away.
Sincerely,
Jeb Cashel
