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Tue, Aug. 28th, 2007, 03:00 pm
Lunar eclipse of 28 August 2007
The lunar eclipse of the morning of 28 August has come and gone. This was a nice one to say the least. All photos are here: I came upon it at 5:10a, apparently my clock is a bit off, for the eclipse was suppose to start at 4:55a EST. It seemed that it was about 30 minutes off, but it still was a good show. I got several photos of it, 40 in all. Sadly, I didn't have a really decent camera to do this with (something for next year when I raise the $1,000 or so :\ but I managed to at least get the shape. The file names are as follows: Example 30-06 04 48 08-28-2007.jpg The first 2 digits: file number to keep the pictures in sequence the 3 sets after the first digits: hour, minute, and second when it was taken in 12h format 06:0448 = 6:04am) Last three sets: month, day, and year The large pictures are done with either full optical zoom, or else with the digital zoom. I did a few though the binoculars as well. But focusing though it, is nearly impossible, so sorry for the poor quality. But maybe next year I'll have the tools to make high-quality photos. Anyway, when the final part of the moon had disappeared into the umbra, the amount of dimming was astonishing. While I could use the 'Sports' setting on the camera to take the normal eclipse, as soon as the moon disappeared, I had to take it though the 'night' setting, and even that was having problems as you can see starting with the file named: 30-06 04 48 08 28 2007.jpg. I'm thinking that part of the reason, is the wildfires that is going on in Greece. During times like this, the moon disappears. Sometimes however, it's a blood red. At the end, even though binoculars, I had problems seeing the northern rim of the moon, and after the last picture, the moon was completely blacked out. Soon afterwards, it drifted down under the trees, and I couldn't see anything more. The beauty of it, was during the period between half-way though the umbra (13-05 39 26 08 28 2007.jpg) to the time when it just slipped fully into the umbra, in the 'red period.' ( 30-06 04 48 08 28 2007.jpg) the east and west rims was in a faint glow, giving it a pair of horns :). A most enjoyable eclipse today.
Sat, Aug. 18th, 2007, 03:09 pm
News from this week
The drive yesterday was rather interesting. I went though the same area I went before during the major storm of 16 August. There was evidence of major damage. One barn I spotted had pieces of roof peeled up. There was metal sheeting on the side of the road in another place. But the trees showed the worse damage. One was a huge pine, split in half. Branches ripped off. That's just around Ky #59. No idea what other damaged was in other parts. Mt. Carmel seemed to be the worse hit with numerious trees damaged, or destoryed. On other news; something that I started a few months ago, is starting to really come into being. I started harvesting seeds from flowers I find, and now have a small but growing collection. Not only seeds from my own stock of vines, and unusuals, but Ky native, wildflowers as well. Just reicently found one lovely plant, which I found yesterday to be 'Touch-me-nots' Impatiens capensis At this appraisal I did, there was clusters of bright orange flowers, and when I first tried to get seeds, the pod exploded in my hand. I thought at first it was a grasshopper that I accidently got ahold of. But every pod I found did the same. Finally with a bit of looking, I found out what they was, and had to train my hand to not automatically open when the pod exploded :). Yesterday, I found another collection of flowers, and the owner told me to take a plant. With her shovel, and wet newspaper I brought home a nice specimen, and now it's in it's own pot full of miricle grow. I think it'll live, but will keep harvesting seeds whereever I find them. Also got an e-mail from Snowtiger; a poster on the local BBS. She's invivted me to come to meet her, and her horses sometime. I'm flattered really. She's mentioned that she's been wanting to see me for sometime, and have similar interests. We both have an unequal love of horses though, and she's been asking about names for a new geld she's got. I suggested a few names, but she hasn't picked one yet. But I would love to meet her, and him. Just got to find the time it seems. Aye, but that's the rub hm? Finding the time. I'm hoping with my new license I'll be able to make my own time. The apprasial license test is so aggravating, I'm wanting to take it and get it over with so I don't have to worry about it anymore. But I do like the idea of more money :) Finally the computer repairs will be started as soon as possible. Just waiting for the car to be repaired so I can take what I've saved and give it. By then, I'll have some more money to put on medical, and the computer. Ug, money is such a royal pain in the rump. I think I finally got all my time-sharing schedule set right. Except for Dr. Who, I don't think it's taping still. But I've got 2 more VCRs, I'll have to set them so I won't miss it. Speaking of which, I've got Eureka to watch now. Lil Bush was a hoot as always, as well as Mythbusters. Now just got to wait till Battlestar Galactica, and Heroes returns and I'll be in TV heaven. Gaa...here I go again. Got to get out. I'm going to try to keep this journal update much more if I can. Life hasn't been as easy as I thought when I first started it.
Thu, Jul. 5th, 2007, 10:44 pm
Black Beauty; an observation
I just posted an entry on the local BBS, that I thought some would like to see and/or comment on. http://www.maysvillekybbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=36242#post36242BTW the BBS now allows guest commenting, so you don't have to register if you don't wish, but wish to make a comment. - Kc
Fri, Jun. 29th, 2007, 11:07 pm
Are Americans THAT stupid??
I hate to post to my journal again, with spit and venom, but are we really THIS DAMMED STUPID??? I just read, yet another post about China products being tained by chemicals that can kill. When the dog/cat food contamination was going about, I was bitching up a storm on this, for I didn't know if I fed Schyner any tainted dog food, then had to switch to an expensive type that didn't have the gluton in it, which she's still on. Then comes the toothpaste recall, now that didn't affct me, as I always used crest. Now I read that 4 types of seafood is banned because of chemicals they put in it. Hey China? If you want to poison your own people, go ahead. But we don't want it. Now I read this from CNN: China protests U.S. ban on Chinese seafood BEIJING, China (AP) -- China has lodged a protest with the United States over its "indiscriminate" ban on Chinese seafood, state media said Saturday. "China cannot accept the indiscriminate and automatic detention of four kinds of Chinese seafood by the United States and the ban on those products entering the United States," the head of China's quality inspection administration, Li Changjiang, was quoted as saying. Li made his comments late Friday during a telephone conversation with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Like - DUH - what the hell are we suppose to do? Just bring it in, and let it poision everyone here? I got news for you, the food industry is doing that by sticking enough carbs, salt, and fat in to our food supply so everyone dies of cancer, heart diease, or diabeties - or just plain fat.
"China cannot accept the indiscriminate and automatic detention of four kinds of Chinese seafood by the United States and the ban on those products entering the United States,#1, China can't do squat, period. If we don't want it, it's going to rot on the ship before it's brought in. #2 You need our stupidity, but we don't need you. So get off your high-horse and go fuck yourself and .... well lets say I won't finish that, because the horse shouldn't suffer. You know why this really is biting my ass? Because of the stupidy of the american people, and the incredible GREED of the corporations. They take all our jobs and sends them overseas to India, and China. I have nothing against the chinease and Indian peoples, but there is no reason to take jobs overseas, when you can take some jobs at least and put them in rural areas that need jobs badly. Like Lewis Co., could do the phone tech service they give to India. Thatt's american jobs, so we can afford to buy inferior made, and unsafe china made products. The stupidy of americans is the other bitch. We in this country have the power to stop this once and for all. Just don't buy Chinese made products! Its' marked clearly, but yet go to a dollar store, 99.99999999999% of that junk is china made. Go to Wal-mart, 80% is china made, Just think, everything you buy from China is stuff that's made by chinese workers, not american workers. American workers who can't afford to feed their family, or buy them nice things at Chinatmas - er - Christmas. Now because of american's stupidy we're slowly getting poisioned, our pets getting poisioned too. And if the goverment does the right thing (boy isn't THAT a rare thing.), spoiled little China throws a little hissy fit. WELL CRY ME A FRIGGING RIVER! I swear, 50 years ago, we wouldn't do a dammed thing with a 'red country' now we're falling over ourselves to give our jobs, and money away to every bad country. I guess after China, and India, we'll feed Cuba, or Venezuela - wait, we're already there. What other evil nation? Oh yes, Iran, and Syria. Oh yes, got to give our jobs, and money to them so they can launch a nuclear strike here. That rant is brought to you by the stupidy of the majority of the american people, George W. (brown noser of corporations) Bush, and the God fearing, emperors of the U.S. the corportations. It's also dedicated to the one person who sees this, and is opening his mouth about it; Lou Dobbs of CNN. Thank YOU Mr. Dobbs!So go ahead, keep buying more china junk. It'll come eventually to bite you in the rump. - Kc
Sun, Apr. 15th, 2007, 04:47 pm
[sighs]
You know...this is one reason why I hate going to those places I go on the internet. The mucks I've spoken about. I'm posting here, and trying to be careful of what I write, because I know the person in question reads my other journal, but I'd like a place where I can let off steam. I've been on that muck for 13 years. In the intervening times there, I've had the unpleasent job of being a crying shoulder of every ' clingon' on the net. I seemed to be a magnet. Once certain things happened, that dissipeared. Until now. There is a person from Ireland, who's barely an adut, still with his folks, and is depressed to the point of sucicide. He's already alleged to have cut his wrists. Of course, I can't be sure. But you know what? This is one reason I started over. To get away from people like this! I go to the mucks, to have a good time, to decompress after a long day, to meet with friends I am close too. Dispite my best efforts, I get one more clingon latched to me. Now adults that don't live with their parents, I have no problems with. I deal with them, I help if I can. I'm glad to be with them, dispite their problems, they can cry on my shoulder if they like. Those are fine, no trouble at all. Richard, Sarah, Meg, Justin, Dawna, Heather, I know you'll see this, that means you all. So don't take this personally. But dammit, this one person I speak of, is living at home with his parents, who are controllers (alleged), and apprently doesn't do squat to help him. WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSE TO DO??? I don't DARE get any closer to him, than I am already. I can see this, escolating into a major law-enforcement fight with Scotland Yard, and our police, because a pair of nut-case parents going baliastic. But I am concerned about this possible sucicide attempt, and his continuing depression. Parents = DANGER! I've given all the advice I've come up with, and stressed the need to get physical help, close by. But I have no idea if he's doing anything, or blowing smoke up my ass. Personally I'm thinking it's time to get away from the muck, or go onto a hiatus again. Come back with a fresh character, known only to a select few (of course those who read this, and know what I'm speaking of will know them too.) I spoke to Dawna awile back about this thing, the danger of the parents and such. But I honestly don't know what to do really. Second Life really isn't the mecca for me. It's mostly a business venture anymore. I've made a few friends, but nothing like the muck, so I can't really dissipear there. How does others deal with the histerical parents, child/adult living with parents? I know...at times I wish I was one who had no emotional attachments to anyone, or at least as hard as some I've met there to keep those dammed clingons away, but I'm not that. I want to help everyone, but as one said to me once; "you can't help everyone" [sighs]
Tue, Apr. 3rd, 2007, 12:01 am
1 stop pet food recall portal made
Hi folks: I've been very busy on the local BBS, about the pet food recall, and finally wipped out a huge portal to help everyone with it. For now, it's at this web page address: http://www.maysvillekybbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7106Once I fix my domain name on my web site, it'll be listed on it. (I'll post info here) In the meantime spread the word about the portal, and this note and I'll keep it updated. Keep your pets safe! - Kc
Thu, Jan. 25th, 2007, 12:39 pm
A friend of mine, asked to post a link to generate traffic, and so I agreed :). His mom is a top-notch artist, and he's doing a web site selling her works as well as others. So Please check out: http://www.lmrgallery.com/and help out? :) If you can, post this to your own LJ, or other places as well. I'll soon have an affiliate program on my web site with this company too. I've known Xerxes for at least 10 years and he's top notch, and totally honest. So you won't have anything to worry about. Enjoy! - Kc Sat, Jan. 6th, 2007, 10:50 pm
Priceless
used book = $8.95 Visa debit card = Free Internet's best used book store (abebooks.com) = free Robert Heilein's last book " Variable Star" - priceless For sci-fi readers, this is a GEM. For everyone else, I pity you :) Oh, BTW got done with Stephen Baxters, and Authur C. Clarke's last book; Sunstorm. Not the best they wrote, but like all by them...worth it! Be gone for a few days. Fri, Jan. 5th, 2007, 11:38 am
Pets survey - thanks to Skyglider
1. Do you have any pets? If so, how many, and what are their names?One dog, a dalmation named 'Schyner' (pronouced shiner) a little over 2. She's a runt, but a sweet little bundle of energy 2. What was your very first pet? Do you remember its name?Gods...hard to, but I *think* a cat named 'Tabby' If I remember, he was a mutt, and I do know he had his back-leg partly amputated by a piece of farm machinery he got around :\ But he lived an extra eight years afterwards just hopping around. Amazing. Pity I can't remember much about him. 3. Is there an animal you would never have as a pet?Difficult to say, but probably one of the less friendly animals like an alligator, Wolveren, Tazmanian Devils :) 4. What common pet have you always wanted but never had? Why not?Mouse/rat, Ginni pig, Hamster, etc. Mother would have a complete hissyfit when I was younger if I bought something like that, and also couldn't afford all the habitat stuff either. Now with Schyner, and life I barely have the time, or desire. 5. What wild animal (extinct or not) would you own if you didn't have to worry about its adjustment or the cost of captivity?Like Sky, there's tons of animals. But I think if I could do it without guilt, and have a private island, a herd of white-tail deer :) At least they wouldn't be 'pets' in the purest sense, but I'd still be taking care of them.
Sun, Dec. 31st, 2006, 05:03 pm
Problem
Ok folks: Just a FYI. I ran into a major computer problem, so I'm going to take this opporunity to fix some remaining problems I've had that Microsoft can't seem to fix. I about got the problems fixed, just need to bring the computer down hard. I'll have internet access, but only though the downstairs computer. Which will be a headache. But if I fix the problems, it'll be worth it. So BB ASAP.
- Kc Tue, Dec. 19th, 2006, 01:20 pm
Other two FYIs about christmas
Since I posted the Roudolph FYI, thought I'd also post these older Christmas ones too.
A couple of years ago, I asked folks what they'd like to see on the board. One said a series of tiny articles about something. So I did just that. Since it's the christmas season again, I thought I'd bring back some that's just for Christmas. They're old, but still we have new members who may have never seen them. So here's the two christmas ones I wrote a couple of years ago. I'm considering a new one. Will post it later.
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FYI: Christmas trees, and Ornaments
12/23/04
By Kevin C. Redden
Where did the tradition of evergreens, and decorating trees for Christmas come from? Like many traditions, it's rooted (sorry) deep into the past. So far in the past, that many legends and myths sort of mix together, so it's nearly impossible to tell exactly what started what.
The use of the evergreen has been associated with Christianity. According to legend, 1,000 or so years ago, St. Boniface, who was credited with converting the German people to Christianity, was said to come across a group of pagans worshiping an oak tree. In his anger, St. Boniface was supposed to cut down the oak, and a young fir sprung up from the roots. He took this as a sign of his faith, Today, the Christmas tree, can be any sort of evergreen including the Fir. Although this is suppose to be the start of the symbol of the faith, it wasn't till the 16th century before the tradition of bringing in the tree indoors, started.
The tradition of associating trees, especially evergreens, with religious faith goes back a lot farther than the first Christmas. When the winter solstice arrived, Egyptians brought in green date palm leaves into their homes, to symbolize life's triumph over death.
Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a feast called 'Saturnalia' in honor of the god Saturnus (AKA: Saturn). Their homes was decorated with greens, lights, and exchanged gifts. coins was given for prosperity, pastries for happiness (except if you was a diabetic :), and lamps to light one's journey though life.
Centuries before, in Great Britain, wood priests called Druids used evergreens in their ritual called 'Yule: The Midwinter Solstice' In this ritual, homes are decked with holly and ivy, and feasts of cakes, wine, and presents are exchanged. Some believed that presents should be made instead of bought. According to this myth, the Christmas tree represents the Asguarding tree 'Yggdrasil' the world tree. The mistletoe, and holly was sued as symbols of eternal life, and placed evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits.
Later, in the middle ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreens, inside their homes or just outside the doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring.
Now how did lighting the tree come into play?
According to legend, Martin Luther (founder of the Lutheran branch of the Christian faith), begin this. If the legend is true, around 1500, he was struck by the beauty of a group of evergreens, as he was walking though the snow-covered forest. Coming home, he put up a small fir indoors, so he could share this story and beauty with his children. It was decorated with candles, which he lit in honor of Christ's birth.
Now the Christmas tree tradition isn't as clear on how it came to the U.S., but it's said that either Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants in Pennsylvania, and Ohio started this. (Personally I believe the German version.)
However, the tradition and customs spread slowly. Puritans banned Christmas in New England, As late as 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job, because he allowed a tree in his church. Boston schools stayed open on Christmas Day though 1870, and sometimes expelled students who stayed home.
Selling Christmas trees, also has a known start. In 1851, Catskill farmer Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of Evergreens into New York city,and sold them all. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and 20 years later, the custom was nearly universal.
This you can probably guess. The Christmas tree farm took root (sorry :) during the depression. Nurserymen and greenhouses couldn't sell their evergreens for landscaping. So instead they cut them down, and sold them for Christmas trees. Cultivated trees was preferred because they have a more symmetrical shape than wild ones.
From Germany, we get many of our songs, images of Santa, customs, and European hand blown glass ornaments, and pines. But how did this get started into a world-wide tradition?
This started, from the good Queen Victoria. In February 1840, the queen married her cousin, Prince Albert. She fell in love with him, while visiting relatives in Germany in the town of Coburg. When married, they returned to England, and Prince Albert provided a Christmas tree for the family. Admired by all in England, it was decorated in the best hand-blown glass ornaments. The queen was so beloved, that even the peasants was said to bring in evergreens, and decorated as best as they could during the holiday season.
In the United States, in 1890, A.F.W. Woolworth (I believe the same founder of the Woolworth department store.) brought the glass ornament tradition from England. From 1870's to 1930's Germans made the finest molds for making ornaments. Nearly 5,000 different types was produced by over one hundred small cottage glass blowing workshops in Europe. Today, only two great German factor teams are capable of producing the ornaments.
However, before WWII, almost all ornaments was made in Lauscha, a small town nested in the Thuringian mountains. After WWII, the glass ornament production declined. Many craftsmen left for West Germany, where quantity was stressed over quality; the Communist management philosophy. Such practices left many of the original molds in disrepair.
By the 1960s, it was 'fashionable' to have an aluminum tree, and all the same shape, and color. But lately, the older traditions have started to return, including a 'memory' Christmas tree. Where an ornament represents a memory, or event of that year.
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This FYI can be used in educational settings without charge. Credit to the author is requested, and the URL, be preserved for future copies, and other FYIs, and other articles written by the author.
#2:
FYI: Legend of Santa Claus
01/01/05
By Kevin C. Redden
Ever wonder where the idea of Santa Claus came from? The red suit? White beard? The reindeer? Coming down the chimney? Well surprisingly a lot of it is based on fact, that can be gleamed from old legends. Some comes from legends from other countries, and some bits come from companies trying to cash in. Like all legends, there is a lot of half-truths, speculations, and down right lies, as well as full truths.
The legend of Santa can be traced back to to a Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna (Izmir), According to legend, he was born around 280 A.D., in a town called "Patara" near Myra, in modern-day Turkey. His piety and kindness was much admired, and he became the subject of many legends. One legend has it, that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. he also was said to give much joy to poor children, by tossing gifts though the windows.
"St. Nicholas" as he was later known, was raised to a position of great esteem, by the Orthodox Church. Russia's oldest church, was built in his honor. The Roman Catholic Church honored Nicholas, as the one who helped children and the poor, and he became the patron saint of children and seafarers. His name day is December 6th.
The name "Santa Clause' has a more recent origin. The original name, came from a dutch legend of "Sinter Klaas", which they brought to New York in the 17th century. In 1773, the American press gave it as 'St. A. Claus' but it was Washington Irving, who gave Americans their first detailed information about the dutch Saint Nicholas. He published a book called "History of New York" (1809), using a non-de-plum of Diedrich Knickerbocker. In it, he described the arrival of the saint on horseback each Eve of Saint Nicholas (which is on December 6th).
The poem, called "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" or more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore, included details such as his laugh, wink, and nod, the reindeer, and the way he goes up the chimney. The famous "Lays his finger aside his nose" came directly from Irving's 1809 description.
Guess how the gifts in stockings came in? In the U.S., and England, children hang their stockings on or near the fireplace on Christmas Eve. This tradition can be attributed to something that Saint Nicholas was said to have done. One story goes that three poor sisters couldn't marry for they had no money for a dowry. (This is an abominable practice, that is still practiced in many countries. It's in essence a gift from the bride's family to the groom's family. Google has good information about this.)
To save them from being sold into slavery by the father, St. Nicholas climbed on the roof, and dropped gold coins down the chimney into the socks that hung by it to dry. One did land in the stocking, another landed in a shoe. The coin that landed in the shoe, gave birth to the tradition of leaving shoes out to be filled in the Scandinavian countries.
Basically the entire tradition and legend came from many countries, and is still evolving to this day. Rudolph, the 9th reindeer is from the 1920s, the rotund figure comes from Harper's magazine of the 1860s, to the 1890s. illustrator Thomas Nast did a lot to add bits and pieces to the legend, including the 'naughty' and 'nice' list, making him a human sized, instead of elvian size of Moore's poem.
Merry Christmas! Tue, Dec. 19th, 2006, 01:17 pm
FYI #5 - Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer
Just a little something I make for the local BBS: FYIs FYI #5 - Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer
12/09/06
By Kevin C. Redden Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer I've sure you've heard the legend of Santa, and his eight tiny reindeer. There is Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen and Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen. But you may ask, "Where's Rudolph?" Well I hear he's on a stakeout at your house, cause Santa is the head of the CIA! [cough] Wrong poem... :) As I was trying to mention, the legend of Santa's reindeer is an old one, but Rudolph isn't. In fact, the date and time of Rudolph's birth can be traced back sixty eight years (at the time of the writing of this FYI.) According to the Ace Collins' book Stories "Behind The Best-Loved Christmas Songs" this was told by Robert "Bob" May to his four-year-old daughter, Barbara. According to one source, Barbara's mother had died of cancer, and Bob wrote it, to comfort her during Christmas. Another source has said that he was asked by the company he was working for, Montgomery Ward to write a children's book for a give-away promotion, in 1939. What is agreed on, is that Mr. May did write it, and Montgomery Ward first published it, giving it out to children by their department store Santa's. Thanks to the book, and royalties, Mr. May went from poverty, to riches. Mr. May wrote the story in verse, using a series of rhyming couplets. His four year old old daughter, Barbara tested it for her father. Nevertheless, she was thrilled by the story, but Mr. May's boss was worried that the idea of a reindeer with a glowing red nose; images associated with drunkards, and drinking may be unsuitable for a Christmas story. However, with a friend from the art department; Denver Gillen who did a series of pictures using real reindeer he found at the zoo, overcame the problem Mr. May's bosses had. After it was approved, Montgomery Ward gave away 2.4 million copies in 1939 alone. WWII's paper shortages slowed printing of it until the end of the war, a total of six million copies was given away by the end of 1946. Today, in 2006 the story invented by an unknown author has now sold worldwide, infused itself into our culture, and spawned numinous books, stories, movies and TV shows. Not to bad, for a minor investment in an employee?
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This FYI can be used in educational settings without charge. Credit to the author is requested, and the URL, be preserved for future copies, and other FYIs, and other articles written by the author.
Mon, Dec. 18th, 2006, 07:24 pm
Well...we're now on DSL at the house
and jezzzzzz.....
Speed test
Gaaa....what will I DO with this sort of speed?
Tue, Dec. 12th, 2006, 09:57 pm
The Printer Cable for 12/12/06: FOSS software: Introduction, and a Business software review.
The Printer Cable for 12/12/06:
FOSS software: Introduction, and a Business software review.
Part #1
By Kevin C. Redden
As a major advocate of FOSS (Freeware and Open Source Software) I use lots of it. In fact, 99% of my software is FOSS, the holdouts are Windows 2000, and Dreamweaver (and both can be replaced ;)
If your looking for good FOSS, where do you start? Well one way is to actually know what your looking for. FOSS doesn't just mean shareware, it means one specific thing, Free software (as in free beer, candy, dates, what ever you'd like to get for free), and Open Source. Open source is good for security reasons, since you and everyone else can see the actual source code. No way that spyware, or viruses can be added to it, without everyone knowing it.
TERMS:
Before we start, I've listed a few terms that are useful to know when looking for FOSS, plus a few places I go to, for a good selection. Please note, that this isn't an exhaustive list. Merely a few of my favorites, you may know of others.
The family of software is broken into four siblings:
Commercial: This is the shrink-wrapped, from the store, pay before you even consider putting it on your computer software. Windows is definitely commercial.
Shareware: Shareware started in the late 1970s, based on the honor system. You like the software? Share it with your friends,and co-workers. But be sure to pay the author something, or what they specify if you use it beyond a certain period of time.
Freeware: This is software, that started around the same time or even earlier than shareware. Like it's pay-for cousin, it's software that can be freely given to your friends and co-workers, but unlike shareware, freeware is just that. It's free to use and keep as long as you wish.
Open Source: The most generous of the three. Not only is it usually freeware (Hence then name 'FOSS') but also you got a copy of the source code. With that, you can actually modify the software to do more than it was designed.
So is that all? Not quite. Some less known types are: Nagware, software that has built in pop-up screens reminding you to buy it, or screens you got to click a number or wait a certain amount of time. Sometimes also called 'annoyware' or other more derogatory, and over PG rated names ;) Adware I advise to ignore it. It was what led to spyware :\) Crippleware: A type of software, that has some features turned off. Features you can get, if you pay for it. This is either good or bad, depending on what you desire. (One program I'm reviewing in later articles, is 'xplorer lite' which I'd classify as crippleware), Demoware; Like the name implies, it demonstrates what the program can do, if you buy it, and Timeware: This software only allows you to use it within a certain amount of time (A few hours to 30 days usually), or a certain number of times. With all of those, it's advised to check carefully. (especially the ad, and timeware categories.)
FOSS has a couple of sub-categories that can be quite useful in spotting freeware in some repositories. Look for 'GPL' (guaranteed it's FOSS for that's what GPL requires.) and free
Before I give you some of my picks for repositories, here's one caveat. Much FOSS can be considered 'beta' software. You can usually see that with version numbers that are less than one (1) much like foss.exe v.03, or greatfoss.exe v.09. This doesn't mean it's not worth downloading, but know you won't have fully mature code, and it may crash at times. This isn't critical for most programs, but is for Operating systems like Windows :)
REPOSITORIES:
Although there is many, many repositories out there, here are a few I automatically turn to:
Sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net/) - By far, one of the biggest sources of pure FOSS you can get. Sourceforge is also one of the biggest repositories too. The web site is a bit confusing to use at first, but combine it with google, and you should be able to find something. It doesn't discriminate between operating systems, but know that it's more Linux than Windows biased. So be sure to look for Windows, in the list of program versions.
No Nags (http://nonags.com/) - Absolutely the best for pure freeware, and FOSS. The name says it all. This is software that not only is freeware and guaranteed but none of it, is nagware. A major plus in my book!
Simtel.net (http://www.simtel.net/) The granddaddy of them all. This one I used while still in DOS. It still has tons of dos software, plus Windows.
A few others I've dealt with, that has both FOSS, and shareware include Tucows, Major Geeks, Softpedia, and Dogpile (no, this is a repository for software, not...you know :)
For each article, I review five new pieces of FOSS that I use. Doesn't mean it's the best on the market, but it's what I use, and very familiar with. Now to the reviews:
Business Software
#1 Office software: If you use Microsoft Office (MSO), but getting tired of paying for it, or for the licensing fees, check out this MSO killer, Open Office (OO). OO is a FOSS office suite, with a wordprocessor, database, spreadsheet, and presentation. What makes this worth looking at, is that it's been designed from the ground up as direct competition to MS Office. The organization that controls and distributes this software, has made major strides in getting many countries' governments to switch to Open Office. Plus the file formats are now helping push the industry toward a open standard of file formats; the XML format. This is critical as what I read a few months ago, in which the author raised the point of, "Your data will outlive your computer". If your data is saved in a proprietary format (IE: MS's .DOC format) and someday no one uses that format, it may be impossible to recover your data. With open standards such as OO's, Your more assured you can get your data when needed.
Although OO uses this new open standard, it is able to read WordPerfect file formats (This has been confirmed by the author. It read my old WP 6.0/Dos files without a problem) and MS Office files (rarely have a problem here, except the most recent formats like Word 04).
I've been told, that the format of the program, is very similar to the newer MS Office layout, so switching to this would be very easy. My advice on switching? Install OO, and start using it. If you run into problems, jump into MS Office for things you can't do yet in OO, until your able to do everything in OO. Then finally just erase MS Office, but keep the CD in case you run into a problem. I switched from WordPerfect 6.0/Dos to OO in just this way. With v2 of Open Office, I took WP 6/Dos off for good, when I could finally convert the WP6/Dos forms into OO and save them to OO's own format.
#2 Making PDFs: Ever read a PDF file? I'm sure you've used the Adobe Acrobat reader many times. But ever wondered how those PDF files was created? You just need a simple program to do this for you. Although I've found about three different programs, the best I've ever used is PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/)
This is just a printer driver that gives any program that can print, the ability to make PDF files. MS Word, Firefox, you name it. If there's a 'printer' command, it's now got PDF creation capabilities.
#3 PDF Viewers: Although Adobe Acrobat is considered the default PDF Viewer, Adobe is going overboard with features. Why download 20.5 megs (Acrobat reader v8.0 – 12/08/06), when a simple 1.5 meg program would suffice? Especially when all you want to do, is read and print PDF Files?
Foxit Reader: (http://foxitsoftware.com/) is a very lightweight, compact and a “does the job” PDF Reader. It's only 1.5 megs, and yet, even used in a corporate environment, I've only had two cases where I couldn't read a file. One was sent to Foxit (the company) and within a week had a fix. Now that's service! After which, that program could then read the confidential PDF I didn't send.
#4: E-Mail clients: By far, one of the most used programs out there, aside from your operating system is the e-mail client. Although Microsoft Outlook Express is one of the most widely used, it's also one of the most insecure on the market. Primarily because of MS's stupidity of giving it read/write access to your hard drive with a programming language called 'Active X.' This has lead to hundreds if not thousands of viruses spread by this one e-mail client alone.
If you want to stop the flood of viruses, and have an easy to use, and robust e-mail client, check out 'Thunderbird" (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/). Written by the same people who created the Internet Explorer killer, FireFox, Thunderbird is a great e-mail client. Lots more secure because basically it doesn't have any Active X support built in. But it comes with it's own security built in as well. It can also read and load up any critical files from Outlook Express upon installing. So you don't loose a thing switching over.
From their web site it offers
Full-Featured Email
Junk Mail Filters
Anti-Phishing Protection
Advanced Security
Automatic Updates
Customize Thunderbird
#5: E-Mail checker: No e-mail client would be complete, without a simple e-mail checker. Although Mozilla doesn't make an e-mail checker that compliments Thunderbird (and I believe they should) still, there is one I've used for at least four years, and find it to be more than adequate; Eprompter (http://www.eprompter.com/)
It's very tiny; only using 13,076k in memory, and yet it can check up to 16 e-mail accounts, every minute if set that way. On the office machine, it's checking 11 accounts, every 1 minute! (Since I have broadband, it's no problem).
It's features include not only an audio, but visual alerts to new mail, review of new mail; allowing you to erase, or keep the mail. (great for mail, or e-mail viruses), and a simple e-mail compose/send feature for quick e-mails.
It has one caveat. It saves all the mail accounts in the registry, instead of on the hard drive. Saving there, would allow me to backup the accounts and restore them incase I have to re-install the program. Aside from that, it's highly recommended.
Coming in future articles. Astronomy programs, games, and utilities. Plus much more. All articles can be found on my web site at: kevinredden.name (www.kevinredden.name) and the Maysville Ky BBS (www.maysvillekybbs.com) Mon, Nov. 27th, 2006, 09:39 am
Interesting diabetes finding
Although I never had such, this is interesting to say the least. X posted to my diabetes journal; ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) 1mdj Panic Attacks Linked To Poor Outcomes For Diabetic Patients, Study Finds There is a strong link between panic episodes and increased complications from diabetes, according to a study conducted at Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle-based nonprofit health care system that coordinates care and coverage. The work appears in the November issue of General Hospital Psychiatry, The researchers surveyed patients with diabetes about their symptoms, disability, social and emotional function, and quality of life. They also collected data on the patients' blood sugar levels, diabetic complications, and other illnesses. The team had previously reported a strong link between diabetes and depression, which often goes along with panic disorders. They were interested in examining panic independently, however, to see whether patients who have panic without depression would also have poor diabetic outcomes. "Panic attacks can mimic episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), so we need a better understanding of how the two conditions are related," explained Evette Ludman, PhD, lead author of the article and a research associate at Group Health. "We don't want people adjusting their blood sugar thinking they are having hypoglycemia when their symptoms are actually caused by a panic disorder." Of the 4,385 patients surveyed, 193 reported experiencing recent episodes of panic or fear that caused them to change their immediate behavior. After accounting for the effect of depression, panic episodes were associated with higher blood sugar levels, increased diabetic complications and symptoms, greater disability, and lower self-rated health and functioning. About half of the patients with panic also reported having major depression. By contrast, only 10 percent of patients without panic episodes had major depression. Panic episodes may be a consequence of the diabetes itself, the researchers explain. Also, panic may interfere with patients' self-care and ability to follow their treatment plans. If you have diabetes and you know that anxiety is an issue for you, you should talk to your doctor about possible treatment for your anxiety," advised Ludman. And doctors should carefully assess their patients with diabetes, looking for signs of depression or panic disorders, she added. The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Founded in 1947, Group Health is Seattle-based, consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system that coordinates care and coverage. The Group Health Center for Health Studies conducts research related to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of major health problems. It is funded primarily through government and private research grants Sun, Nov. 26th, 2006, 11:55 am
Ok so i suck @ grammar sue me! :)
Your Language Arts Grade: 81% You're getting warmer. Remember, possessive pronouns don't have apostrophes but contractions do. Oh, and word processing grammar checkers often lie.
Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz Thanks to that well versed gafennec, and lovely skyglider for this Fri, Nov. 24th, 2006, 01:54 pm
Boy talk about blowing your pilot light out!
You are The DevilMateriality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition. Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it. What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Not sure if I should thank silverfur for this one or not?? :) Thu, Nov. 23rd, 2006, 01:13 pm
Thanksgiving - bah humbug
Well, tried to install Ubuntu linux onto the new system. Great news - it worked. Found the new SATA drive, without a problem, had no problems with nVidia video card. Everything worked fine. Bad news - It completely fucked up the MBR on the harddrive, and now Windows OR Ubuntu won't load! Great...got to spend Thanksgiving re-installing Windows, and my programs. Thanks a fucking lot, Ubuntu The problem came from the partitioner. It wouldn't allow me to install on anything but the Windows partitions. There is 3 partitions (c: - the OS/Apps partition), the D: partition; my 'temp' or in linux terms the '/tmp' drive, and my E: partition - the working area with all my data, etc. Of course, for some strange reason, Linux thinks there's 6 partitions. I looked carefully - there was about 186g left which I purposely left for linux. I knew that HDB 1,2, and 5 are windows partitions. So I told it to use only the #6 or greater partitions. No luck, it refused to use those. Kept wanting to partition the windows sections. So I went back, used the partitioner and told it to use only the free space. I thought it took it right, since it said it was going to install Grub. Uh uh... Boot the system, says 'it can't boot OS' Thanks a lot. Hey, Ubuntu developers. Do you think people, especially business folks like to spend holidays reinstalling that joke called Windows and all their programs? I'm not a hacker anymore. I have a business to run, so I can't afford to have my computers down for days while I reinstall Billy's jackass OS. (Not to mention all the company software that cannot run on a real OS like linux cause Billy boy and the markets have convinced everyone that Windows is the only OS in the world.) Know what you should added to Ubuntu, instead of all the eye candy? Well, not only get the bugs worked out BEFORE you ship the product, but also to put in a ' protect pre-made partitions at all costs' in the partitioner! Also might be helpful, to read the partitions names incase a windows user can't understand HDB1, 2, and 5. Mine are labed with 'Winboot (c:)' 'D: tmp' and 'e: Work' At least add the drive letters. Want Windows users to use Ubuntu? Then think of them, not linux users. I couldn't install Ubuntu on my laptop, an OLD I BM T-22 laptop, but Debian could. I tried Ubuntu to see if I could start using linux on the new system, it fucks it up. Does anyone see a pattern here? Ubuntu is now offically off my list of linuxes to use ever again. I'm just going to wait till I get the new SATA drive for storage, then use the old 80g PATA drive, as an experimental OS/Apps drive, where I can install ReactOS, and Linux. At least that way, I can yank the data cord from my windows drives so they're not touched when/if an install goes tits up. My choice of Linux? Definately going to be Debian again. It installed on my laptop, so I'm done with fancy-smancy linuxes and going with the standard. I want a linux that works, not eye candy. I hear that Debian Itch (or what ever it'll be called v4 I guess) will be out in December. By January, I should have the bills caught up, and by then, I can buy that new HD. By THEN Debian should have the bugs worked out too.
Wed, Nov. 22nd, 2006, 12:48 am
Just an update
Just wanted to say, yes I'm still around. Things are finally starting to calm down around the place. Calm - hehe - around this time of year? Got the new system finally and completely working. Nothing less than two straight weeks of work, headaches, and sweat. Although I do love the new system's speed, I'm still not totally happy with it. Mainly due ot the tempature the processor is running. So far, it's stablized down to 45c, but only after tweaking the BIOS, keeping the cover off the case, keeping the ambiant tempature to 21c/70f. I can't think of anything else to do. I may seriously have to go with watercooling next year before summer hits. The room can easly run 23c/75f, so the computer wouldn't be able to run. Won't be too much longer, before I get the new monitor, new HD, extra gig of memory, and the two Sata based DVD+-DVD drive, and DVD-Rom drive. In the last week, I've tried to install both ReactOS, and Debian Sarge on it. No luck. ReactOS isn't ready for Sata, isn't ready for even FAT32! - Yesh..I'm not going back to 8.3 character filenames for any reason. Linux won't install because of the Sata drives. It wouldn't even reconize there was Sata's installed! So I've got two options. Use a different distro, in order to get a more updated kernal, or wait till I get the new Sata storage drive, and free up the old PATA drive which it reconized. I'll have 1 EIDE connection, for two pata drives which I could put linux on. But those are at least several months in the future, so I may try a new distro. I may just go with Ubuntu, but I'll check before I get any, to make sure its sata ready. I've got lots of drive space waiting for linux, on the sata OS/apps drive. Speaking of lots of space - I'm just itching to get that new storage drive. I went though and emptied about 100 diskettes. We got to talking how diskettes will be obsolete very soon, and I remembered I had a bunch of old ones, and only one functioning diskette drive. So I checked every disk, took what I could off them, and threw them away. I found stuff from 1986, an old Apple //e 3.5" disk (drive wouldn't read it), and my old Flight Simulator 4.0! Amazingly it still worked, and the disks back in 86 still was readable. Incredible. Sadly no porn ;) Now, that I have that done, I need that new HD, in order to dump nearly 300 CDRs. I plan on reburning them all to 8.5g DVDs once I get them all archieved. I've got 10s of disks of old-time radio shows, MP3s, Movies, old fur pics, backup disks. You name it, I probably got it. I even know there's a few warz disks. Not that I use warz anymore - haven't in nearly 3 years but never threw the disks away. I probably will this time. FOSS has surpassed the need for warz, and commerical software. As for the new video card, it's a jewel. I'm running second life, Orbiter, and Flight Simulator 2004 on it, with full graphics. Not a problem with display! Even the most demainding thing, it plays without a problem. Sweeet! It's a BFG nVidia 7300 OC. Well worth the money I paid, so thanks to iron_raptor for his suggestion. Oh! Just wanted to let everyone know, I'm going to do the cards bit this year ago. So if you want a card, make sure you alert me early. I've yet to find a good set of cards that I really like. But then, am I not picky when it comes to my friends? :) Please e-mail me your current address - don't assume I have yours, since I can't remember my own name at times :) I've been looking though my old Analog, and Asimov sci-fi magazines, and starting to find all sorts of little jewels of reading. Two stories by my favorate author; Dr. Stephen Baxter, and I found one reciently that took a Sherlock Holmes story, and wrapped it in sci-fi. I loved it. The author; John Gribbon, captured the style of Doyle, well. I think I need to look around for more of his works now. Anyway, got to get to bed. Hope everyone's having a good holidays.
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calm
impressed
pissed off
aggravated
sleepy