Monthly Archives: July 2003

Gandalf Better Off Than Merlin

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Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Security Update, February 13, 2002 (MSXML 3.0)

Q320920: Security Update (Windows Media Player 6.4)

814078: Security Update (Microsoft Jscript version 5.6, Windows 2000, Windows XP)

816093: Security Update Microsoft Virtual Machine (Microsoft VM)

823559: Security Update for Microsoft Windows

Security Update for Windows 2000 (823980)

330994: April 2003, Security Update for Outlook Express 6 SP1

818529: June 2003, Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1

Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 Express Install for End Users

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (Windows 2000)

Wednesday, January 09, 2002

Windows 2000 Service Pack 2

Root Certificates

Security Update, November 20, 2001

Intel Corporation – Networking

Windows 2000 Compatibility Updates

Security Update, June 7, 2001

Security Update, October 10, 2001 (Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 2)

Security Update, July 27, 2001

Security Update, July 6, 2001

Security Update, June 22, 2001

Security Update, February 12, 2001

Security Update, February 5, 2001

Security Update, October 24, 2000

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6

Euro Conversion Tool

Security Update, December 13, 2001 (Internet Explorer 6)

gahummer.org

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No, it is not Humvees in Georgia, but Hummingbirds in Georgia.

At the bottom of the home page are some amazing photos of a hummingbird nest and baby humming birds. There are also photos of rare “white” hummingbirds (which have black eyes and are not to be confused with albinos.)

Now playing: Being in Dreaming (savasana) by Michael Hewett from “Being In Dreaming”

Chainsaw Blues

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I spotted three trees this spring that would need to come down, so I researched chainsaw options and found a big fan base for the Husqvarna brand (a.k.a. Husky.) I decided an 18″ saw was as big as I wanted to go. I bought the Husqvarna 350 on March 29th from Lowe’s. It proceeded to rain for 40 days and 40 nights (and then some.) I finally mixed up some gas and tried firing up the chainsaw in early July. Wouldn’t start. I decided perhaps the gas was too old, so this weekend I bought new gas, mixed it up and tried again. 100 pulls later I was frustrated and found on the internet that others had bought this model from Lowe’s and had starting problems. So I took the saw back to exchange it.

I ran into a 60 day exchange policy that I did not know about. “Sorry sir, it is policy, and there is nothing I can do,” the exchange lady said, explaining they could only arrange to have it sent out for repair. “But it has never even started. I just tried using it for the first time.” She held firm to “policy.” This is also known as “we don’t care what your story is mister.”

I was already mad and the policy just upset me more. “I’m not buying anything from Lowe’s again.” I declared. (As if she cared.) I was already composing the letter’s to the CEOs of Husqvarna and Lowe’s in my head on the way home, pointing out the effect my internet letters can have on a company like Kodak. I also had already decided Kathy and I would move into a condo where we didn’t have to worry about trees, gutters, or drainage ditches.

When I got home, I took the chainsaw apart to see if there was anything wrong with the switch. The entire time I was trying to start the saw, I felt like the spark plug was getting no power. The on/off switch and choke looked fine. I took off the spark plug boot and looked up inside. There was the problem. The contact spring in the boot was too far up in the boot, and was not making contact with the plug. I put the boot back on, twisting to make sure the spring made contact. Started right up!

It was late in the day, but had to use my newly working Husky. I had felled a sweet gum the weekend before using a bow saw. It had been a tricky fall, so I wanted to cut as high up as possible. Cutting with a bow saw gives you a lot more control and is a lot safer on a high ladder. The tree was lying in two pieces on the ground, and the Husky cut it up into logs like a hot knife through butter.

I felt much better about my purchase, but I’m still unhappy with Lowe’s. I’ll send a letter to the Husqvarna engineers to tell them about the spark plug boot problem. Maybe I’ll get a free coupon for oil.

Now playing: Transmission by Michael Hewett from “Being In Dreaming”

How Not To Get Sued by the RIAA

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The bottom line on this article is to not share files on your PC that have copyrights. If everyone decids to stop sharing, then there will be nothing to download.

What we need is to be able to have restricted sharing among a close circle of friends and family. That mimics the historical (and fair use) way we have shared music, and will keep the members of RIAA in plenty of dough.

EFF: How Not To Get Sued by the RIAA for File-sharing

Photo Blogging

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MovableType is great for managing text-based blogs as well as a photo or two embedded in an article. Photo gallery management requires something more. TypePad has come up with a very clean, complimentary approach.

However, my goal is to manage our growing library of family photos over years and years using an approach that the whole family can use. Apple’s iPhoto has been an excellent way to gather, store, lightly edit, and arrange what is now a library of thousands of photos that we’ve accumulated over three years. I’ve read about performance concerns, but I think we are riding behind the curve of performance, so I’m happy. (Every night our iPhoto library, which is simply directories and jpg files, is backed up to our file server… don’t want to lose them.)

Because iPhoto lets us easily title, categorize, and group a photo and then add text comments, I want a web-gallery publishing solution that draws from that work. I don’t want to have to retype captions and titles.

iPhoto has a built in HTML export method, but it isn’t very flexible. If I don’t like the way text or buttons are positioned, I can’t do anything about it.

That’s where Drooling Cat’s BetterHTMLExport comes in. It integates with iPhoto and provides templates that you can use “out of the box” or tweak. There is a forum where you can get templates and share your own. It still feels like a work in progress, but it is functional and feels like the solution I’ll want to use for years to come.

ImageRodeo is an application that also has the template building/sharing concept. It has both the pros and cons of not being integrated with iPhoto. The pros are that you can work with digital photos from a variety of sources… not just iPhoto. However, the big drawback for me is that ImageRodeo does not read the photo titles and comments from the iPhoto library, so I have to retype them all.

It feels like there is not a tagging standard with digital photos like there is with mpg music files. Or if there is one, iPhoto and ImageRodeo are not talking using one. I prefer the ImageRodeo templates, but I’ll continue to use BetterHTMLExport because it picks up photo titles and comments.

Now playing: Atlantic City by Hank Williams III from “Badlands A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen”