"Murphy was an optimist!"
DomesticPsychology.com url shortener May 25, 2011 9:48 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Cathy, Daily Life, Family, Sex, Technology, Touchy SubjectsI’m a strong believer in owning your content. URL shorteners like http://bit.ly/ and http://3.ly/ bother me in that if the business changes or goes under, your short links die. http://3.ly for instance has been acquired or changed to http://qr.net which I still feel was a bad business move. If the business becomes unethical, they could sell your short links to redirect your traffic elsewhere. So, just like I believe you should view Facebook and Twitter as temporary places for content (much like a bulletin board on a college campus) and instead host your own site like http://domesticpsychology.com/blog/ (much more like a library or museum…and yes I know Twitter gets archived at the Library of Congress), I believe you should own your own url shortener.
Anyhow, to live by my own words, I thought I’d buy Cathy a domain for her own url shortener for DomesticPsychology.com. My first thought was http://dp.me After two cups of coffee, I rethought that one. I’d say I am not sure Cathy would want to direct people to http://dp.me but then again I haven’t ever broached the subject 
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SCIENCE! That planets are aligning in the sky April 29, 2011 10:43 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Science, Space, TechnologyThis is a great week to wake your children early and peer into the sky. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are visible to the naked eye. Binoculars or a small telescope will allow you to see Uranus and Neptune. Any camera with a telephoto lens should be able to capture all 6 at once.
For the last two months, almost all the planets have been hiding behind the sun, but this week they all emerge and are arrayed in a grand line above the rising sun.
[Source, LiveScience, Six Planets Now Aligned in the Dawn Sky by Geoff Gaherty]
Picture credit: Starry Night Software. Picture borrowed from LiveScience
Inspire your children. Awe them with the wonders of the universe. Arise early. Hear the birds. See the planets.
If you get confused looking at objects in the sky, consider the iPhone/iPad app "GoSkyWatch" It is undeniably one of my favorite applications. I spent most of my life with astronomy books unsure if I was correctly identifying objects in the sky. GoSkyWatch removes all doubt, adds factoids, and makes star gazing so much more fun. [Link to app]
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Tune in tomorrow 9-10am April 5, 2011 1:01 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Blog, Communications, Of Interest, Publishing, Technology
Tomorrow, April 6, 2011 from 9am to 10am, I’ll be discussing blogging with Brian Hornback (Twitter: @brianhornback), Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas on WNOX‘s 100.3 The Ed & Bob Show (listen live online). You can interact with Ed and Bob on Facebook and Twitter. I suspect you can call in with questions or feel free to use twitter to send messages to @djuggler or post in comments here. This will be a blast!
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Computer Lesson of the Day April 2, 2011 6:17 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Hardware, TechnologyIf you find yourself asking, "I wonder how hot that heat sink is?" use an infrared thermometer
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NASA Plays God March 29, 2011 2:49 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, Science, Space, TechnologyI learn something new every day. Today I learned how to make my neighbors move.
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Dear Apple.. an obvious feature request March 25, 2011 1:15 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, Software, TechnologyDear Apple, when can I have the ability to prevent my children from moving or deleting items in my iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad)? I’d also like to give them the ability to use the device without accessing particular applications. I’m not asking for user profiles but at least give me the ability to demand a system password for moving and deleting apps and give me the ability to use the same system password to lock selected applications (or screens) so that my financial and business applications aren’t accessible while they use their games and educational applications. Thank you! Doug, father to 5 children in a household of 4 iOS devices (and growing) that often change hands.
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I love technology. However… March 17, 2011 7:05 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Communications, TechnologyI find this commercial disturbing.
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Ministry of Truth to be created in California March 17, 2011 1:57 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Communications, Conspiracy, Politics, Technology, Touchy Subjects, United States, War, World PoliticsA California corporation has been awarded has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom) to build the Ministry of Truth. "The project has been likened by web experts to China’s attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet."
The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".
[Source, guardian.co.uk, Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media]
Now, before you grab your tinfoil hat (and mine is shinier than yours), note that "said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to ‘address US audiences’ with such technology"
…any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.
In his evidence to the Senate committee, Gen Mattis said: "OEV seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda." He added that Centcom was working with “our coalition partners” to develop new techniques and tactics the US could use "to counter the adversary in the cyber domain".
[Source, guardian.co.uk, Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media]
See also: Inspector General – Information Operations Contracts in Iraq page 9, Operation Earnest Voice (OEV) – online engagement, The man behind Operation Earnest Voice, and Operation Earnest Voice Part III.
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1000 words – checking for radiation March 17, 2011 12:12 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Environment, Of Interest, Technology, Touchy Subjects
If you aren’t following what is happening in Japan and Fukushima, you should be.
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This does not make me proud February 17, 2011 6:34 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Politics, Security, Touchy Subjects, United States, World PoliticsThe land of the free, the promised land, the place people once longed to visit or immigrate is quickly becoming the land to stay far away.
going to the US is more unpleasant than going to Soviet era Russia or even Iran 10 years ago. Sure, you sometimes have to bribe people, but at least I’ve not had gear stolen off me during security checks or had people break my gear without at least compensating me.
And taking pictures. Well, let me put it like this: you are 20 times more likely to get hassled for whipping out your camera anywhere in the US than in, say, downtown Teheran.
I offer this as an observation from the outside. The US is isolating itself and it is becoming a very, very unpleasant place to visit. I often talk to fellow travellers and even a lot of business types in nice suits often relate how they’d rather not travel to the US if they could help it and that they’d rather work with people in Europe or Asia. I can relate to that.
[Source, Reddit, Why I stopped travelling to the US and I largely stopped doing business in the US.]
My fellow Americas. Can we please return to the pre-9/11 sensibilities we once had?
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Call to action: WordPress Developers Please Comment February 17, 2011 9:33 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : PHP, Programming, Software, Technology, WordPressHello WordPress developers! (me included). When you make a theme, I implore you, please use a simple html comment at the top of each page to identify the template. For example: <!- – TEMPLATE: single.php – -> would allow someone unfamiliar with your theme to look in the generated source and see which template(s) are influencing the output. Yes, experienced WordPress developers should already know which files are being used but we don’t write themes only for experienced developers. And even experienced developers get stuck, tired, or would like things to be sped along and a simple comment, <!- – TEMPLATE: page.php – ->, would help tremendously. Thank you!
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I just wet myself! February 16, 2011 12:41 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, TechnologyI must have an interactive mirror in my house!
Interactive Mirror from Alpay Kasal on Vimeo.
A special thanks to Makezine for making me aware of LitStudios and their fantastic work with "dielectric glass mirrors with LCD panels built into them."
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The sun rose 48 hours early in Greenland and, yes Virginia, there is global warming January 14, 2011 3:09 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Environment, Science, Touchy Subjects
For a month and a half, there’s absolutely no Sun in Greenland because of Earth’s angle in relation to our home star. People there eagerly await for January 13, when the Sun rises again, every year. Except this one. This year, the Sun rose 48 hours ahead of its projected date. … [Source, Gizmodo]
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Well stated! ‘The loss of civil rights happen slowly’ January 7, 2011 12:08 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Conspiracy, Politics, Security, Touchy SubjectsTake heed!
The loss of civil rights happen slowly, so we are not supposed to take notice. Once our freedoms are gone, they will not be given back to us. [Source, NetworkWorld, The Stripping of Freedom: EPIC vs. DHS on TSA Body Scanners]
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Our Brains Are Shrinking January 3, 2011 9:52 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Mental, Of Interest, Politics, Science, Technology, Touchy SubjectsA scientific explanation for the tea party.
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