"Murphy was an optimist!"
Will getting computer parts in Knoxville become impossible? February 28, 2007 11:15 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of InterestOh how I’ve longed for a Fry’s within driving distance. I do try to order online from vendors like Newegg but in a pinch I bite the bullet and pay CompUSA’s rates on their limited stock but that may not be an option for long. CompUSA is closing 126 US stores. I bet Knoxville doesn’t make the cut.
2commentsKnoxville Asperger Support Group January 12, 2007 8:39 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Aspergers, Of InterestThe upcoming meeting dates for the Knoxville Asperger Support Group are:
- January 22, 2007 (Please note this is the 4th Monday, not the 3rd, as the library is closed on January 15th)
- February 19, 2007
- March 19, 2007
- April 16, 2007
- May 21, 2007
The support group has a Yahoo Group which can be found on http://groups.yahoo.com/ by searching for Knoxville_Aspie_Support. It meets the third Monday of every month unless there is a conflict or holiday (such as this month) at the West Branch of the Knoxville Public Library (map) at 100 Golfclub Rd from 6pm to 7:30pm.
1 comment so farBlogger – the gateway to WordPress January 4, 2007 7:54 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Blog, Cool Sites, Of Interest, PublishingBlogger with its minimal barrier to entering the world of self-publishing helps people understand the pleasures of blogging. Then it frustrates us with service outages, bad customer service, and the inability to backup data and years of work. Then we discover there is a world of highly configurable, open source content management systems freely available. We learn about a wiki and that they too abound in open source but wikis serve a different a purpose than CMS.
A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.kiË]
or [ˈwiË.kiË] [1]) is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring. … WikiWikiWeb was the first such software to be called a wiki. Ward Cunningham started developing WikiWikiWeb in 1994 and installed it on Internet domain c2.com on March 25, 1995. It was named by Cunningham, who remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the so-called “Wiki Wiki” Chance RT-52 shuttle bus line that runs between the airport’s terminals. According to Cunningham, “I chose wiki-wiki as an alliterative substitute for ‘quick’ and thereby avoided naming this stuff quick-web.” “Wiki Wiki” is a reduplication of “wiki”, a Hawaiian-language word for fast. The word wiki is a shorter form of wiki wiki (weekie, weekie). The word is sometimes interpreted as the backronym for “what I know is”, which describes the knowledge contribution, storage, and the exchange function.
[Source]
A content management system (CMS) is a computer software system used to assist its users in the process of content management. A CMS facilitates the organization, control, and publication of a large body of documents and other content, such as images and multimedia resources. A CMS often facilitates the collaborative creation of documents. A web content management system is a content management system with additional features to ease the tasks required to publish web content to websites.
[Source]
I am a WordPress fan. WordPress has a shared solution similar to Blogger at WordPress.com and provides an open source solution at WordPress.org. The open source solution will give you more control but you will need to have a place to put your website which means paying for some hosting (which is cheap these days!).
On January 2nd I mentioned that Latte Man moved to WordPress. I should have also mentioned that Newscoma has moved to WordPress! Update your marks. Find Newscoma at http://newscoma.com/. Jon is still trying to get Katie to make the move away from Blogger.
There are other solutions. For great examples of Drupal installations, look at any of Tim’s sites. Anghus suggests that we take a look at Joomla.
Btw, if you are a programmer writing CMS systems, like I do, then this link to compare wysiwyg editors will be invaluable to you. I personally almost always end up with Xinha.
6commentsUpdate your marks! January 2, 2007 9:49 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Cool Sites, Of InterestIncase you missed it, Latte Man has come over from the dark side and converted to WordPress! Visit him at http://tripleventi.com/, and add his rss feed and his comment feed to your readers. Talk to Jon about feed readers.
3commentsAnd he’s back December 13, 2006 7:47 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of InterestSerious bloggersweb publishers that quit are like Knoxville natives that move to another city…they always come back.
Schools Closed Today December 8, 2006 9:08 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Daily Life, Of Interest, SarahAs I drove Sarah to school this morning, I did my morning torture and forced her to listen to NPR. Once again, we found ourselves stunned to hear the announcement of school closings. Sarah contained her excitement and disappointment but I still say she sat up straight in her seat at the prospect. I guess we live in the wrong county.
| School | Status |
|---|---|
| Campbell County | Closed |
| Christian Acad./Campbell | Closed |
| Claiborne County | Closed |
| Crossville Christian School | Closed |
| Cumberland County | Closed |
| Fentress County | Closed |
| Grainger County | Opening 1 hour late |
| Hancock County | Closed |
| J. Frank White Acad. | Closed |
| Morgan County | Opening 2 hours late |
| Oneida | Closed |
| Scott County | Closed |
| Sevier County | Closed |
| Tri-State Christian Acad. | Closed |
Whodda thunk!? Closing information provided by WBIR.
add a commentCan’t stop the signal! December 8, 2006 8:40 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Firefly / Serenity, Of Interest, TV / MoviesJoss Whedon said Firefly is no more and we have seen all kinds of drama and hype yet the fan base shows no sign of slowing. Fans have even created their own documentary
1 comment so farMultiverse, maker of a free MMO-creation platform, plans to announce Friday morning that it’s struck a deal with Fox Licensing to turn the show into an MMORPG in the fashion of Star Wars Galaxies or Eve Online. [Source]
AtomicTumor site overwhelmed November 17, 2006 1:48 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Cool Sites, Of InterestA flood of traffic seems to have brought down the Tumor. I am sure it will be back soon.
1 comment so farService Temporarily Unavailable
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.
A Blogger Has Passed November 17, 2006 12:57 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of InterestGoldenAppleCorp has been declared brain dead. I assume that means this is her last offical day. May she rest in peace. May those she leaves behind be at peace.
Take a moment to hug a loved one. Forgive that person you have fought. Resist the urge to rage on that stranger. Make a random act of kindness. Never part company angry. Reach out. Love.
add a commentMLADS Now Maszman Speaks November 13, 2006 10:08 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Cool Sites, Of InterestHurray! Blogger loses another one! Tom Maszerowski has moved My Likes and Dislikes from Blogger to Maszman Speaks using WordPress. Way to go!
On a similar note, we moved Aspergerteen from Blogger to Aspergerteen.com using WordPress but we haven’t started posting again yet.
8commentsAh! Generic pills means generic machines November 9, 2006 3:10 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, News, Of InterestSo we make cheaper pain medicine by using inferior equipment?
1 comment so farWASHINGTON – A major manufacturer of acetaminophen sold by Wal-Mart, CVS, Safeway and more than 100 other retailers recalled 11 million bottles of the widely used pain-relieving pills Thursday after discovering some were contaminated with metal fragments.
…
The contaminated pills included metal fragments ranging in size from “microdots†to portions of wire one-third of an inch long, the Food and Drug Administration said. Perrigo discovered the metal bits during quality-control checks after realizing the equipment it uses to make pills was wearing down prematurely… [Source]
A Passing in Our Small World. November 7, 2006 12:37 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Daily Life, Of InterestA blogger’s grandfather has passed.
GAC is hanging in there although it sounds like the hospital is in dire need of a dialysis machine.
add a commentDoogie Howser is ghey November 4, 2006 1:13 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of Interest, TV / MoviesWell now..How are Harold and Kumar going to feel out the love stains in the backseat of their car now?!
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Neil Patrick Harris is gay and wants to quell any rumors to the contrary. “(I) am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest,” Harris tells People magazine’s Web site. [Source]
hehe. Apparently "White Castle" is only in America. The Canadian title is "Harold et Kumar chassent le burger" and the UK title is "Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies" Fans may be happy to hear that scheduled for 2007 is "Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam." Color me skeptical.
add a commentThis Big Small World November 4, 2006 10:59 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Daily Life, Of Interest, Touchy Subjects
Six years ago Cathy and I walked through West Town Mall. We had a wonderful store called The World of Knowledge. Outside an employee was playing with devil sticks. I borrowed them, showed off, and gave some advice. Apparently she remembered, because six years later we met again at Atomic Tumor’s party and she pointed saying, "ow ow ow! I know you!". It was a good moment. Now she is in the hospital and holding onto life by a thread.
nurses are telling me that her vitals can’t support life for long, that I told my 9 year old son as lightly as I could that his mother might die, that, despite HOW HARD I TRY NOT TO I can’t help figureing out how I’d word her obiturary on this stupid web page because I might just need to, I start to break down. [Source]
Head over to AtomicTumor, give a shout in the chat box found in the sidebar, leave some supportive comments, and say some prayers, send some positive energy, and think good thoughts.
3commentsComedy Central Returning to Youtube! November 2, 2006 12:48 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of Interest, Publishing, VideoSome intern at Viacom’s legal department probably got scolded harshly after Viacom released how popularity of Youtube clips of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have helped their shows.
Comedy Central clips aren’t leaving YouTube for good. Viacom, Comedy Central’s corporate parent, has confirmed that it wants to find some way to keep the clips available, and has apparently given the green light for YouTube to put the material back up. No deal between the two firms has yet been done, but it sounds like one is imminent. [Source]
I understand the various business models that could be used to make money from these clips. ABC is doing very well with its popular shows being freely available online. I’ve watched more commercials rewatching Lost online than I would on television. Revver shows a great revenue model by appending an add to the end of every user uploaded video. There are many other ways. But one way to make money is to simply let the video clips air on Youtube and keep the popularity of the shows very high. Thank you Viacom for returning the clips to Youtube!
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