Katy's Morning Rant

Solved the :sudo :port command not found

2009-08-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm somewhat terminally challenged, as in using Terminal on my Mac. I know just enough to be dangerous and every time I try something I have to re-lookup how to do it, so this time I'm keeping instructions here. Today it's a Darwin installation, including solving my sudo port command not found problem, installing TightVNC and finally getting my local WordPress to work; maybe tossing in a DynDNS into the mix (we'll see).
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Below are the steps I finally learned but it was Software Development that saved my bacon when he explained how to edit the .bash_profile file. I had already messed with this so had created a .bash_profile, noticing I'd kept the original too (always a smart idea). this also reminded me that I could edit in Terminal using TextMate simply by typing "e"

How to get Darwin Ports and TightVNC

1. Go download Darwin Ports disk image then click to install.
2. Once installed update Darwin Ports using Terminal. Type command:
% sudo port -d selfupdate
Password:

(this is explained when you get the Darwin Ports disk image) Type your password. If you get the dreaded :sudo :port command not found then edit your .bash_profile (or create it with: touch .bash_profile if it doesn't already exist

3. Now update, and if you just installed it'll probably tell you it's already up-to-date but whatever.

4. Now install TightVNC via Darwin Ports

It's fun to learn your way around the Terminal app. As long as you save backups of files you mess with, you can't really screw things up too badly, can you...

Free SEO Tool

2008-10-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

This is a rave, not a rant. Maybe I should rename the blog? Just discovered SEOAutomatic via the SEMPDx newsletter. SEMPdx is the "Portland Search Engine Marketing" group and if you don't belong, get to it.

Use SEOAutomatic to check what you could do to improve your search engine ranking. Yes, you can check this on your own, but this tool makes it easy and fun.

Firefox Add-ons I Gotta Try

2008-09-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

Best of the New Firefox Extensions
Here's a new list of Firefox extensions that look interesting, but I haven't had time to check them out. Reviewed firefox extensions you should really try are at the top.

Surf Canyon ~~purports to add other engines to the~~ adds functionality and extends search results when you use Google Search. It does this by adding a little bullseye icon which if clicked, produces related results from other engines such as Yahoo, MSN and even Craigslist. The best part is it also shows results from deeper within the various engines as well, so you don't have to scroll through page after page of results.

Pros: Surf Canyon puts them right there (where they should be) on page one! Awesome. ~~We'll see how useful that is,~~ This is a great time saver and one of those, "why didn't they think of this sooner" type things since usually ~~when~~ the first 20 Google finds are garbage or adverts.

Cons: None, so far

Update! Hey, I installed Customize Google (see below) and Surf Canyon disappeared. Odd, to say the least. I'm reinstalling Surf Canyon so we'll see if there's a war in the browser.

Customize Google. ~~I'm not sure what this one is about, but~~ I like the name. It seems to be another add-on to enhance Google (duh) but here's a nice twist; they've included a link to the Internet Wayback Machine. Now the Internet Wayback Machine is the best marketing tool ever and I'll be happy to elaborate on why in another post when I find the time (probably when I should be doing something else much more important).

Pros: I especially like the "filter" feature. You can select websites you know you don't want to visit so you never see them in the results again. History is another favorite. I like to see how a successful web marketer started out -- shows that no one was great at first, but over time. Use "History" to see how someone created a business over time. Ton of options, including turning off adverts! Those of us who actually make a living online like to see competitor's ads, but not everyone wants them cluttering up the screen so this is a great feature.

Cons: There are so many options, it may take awhile to play with them all (not really a con, just a heads-up)

Still need to try these

Resurect Pages I use the Internet Time Machine all the time, so this could be an interesting addition.

Idea Shower. I don't remember even seeing this before, but there it was in a tab in my browser, and I love the site! Edgy, but ... somehow compelling as to its potential usefulness. Doh! Now, I remember, the add-on (formerly known as extensions) is called "Read it Later" and that I plan to do just about constantly. Problem is, I never get back to read those "read it later" entries, but hey, I love collecting ideas.

Between my "Quick Note" entries (I have many, many, many lists in Quick Note), Google Notes, and now "Read it Later" I have about 50 years of reading to do to get it all done. My magazine pile is 36" high as well. Time to go on an information diet.

Fireshot a screenshot and more capture utility is sadly not available for the Mac. Oh, woe. I'll check it out anyway. I still use my Windows computer, despite hating every moment of it.

Print PDF I want to review for those who don't have the ability to print just about anything to a PDF format. I try to remember to print to PDF instead of printing paper so I have an archive of documents, rather than a huge pile of paper to scan later (and create into PDFs). This could be a real solution.

See now why I never get any work done! If only someone would hire me to review software and utilities.

Watch for Recurring Charges in online Transactions

2008-08-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

I've screwed up again. Signed up for something online then months later realized I've been paying every month for it. Doh!

When you see those "segpay.com" and other billing service's names but don't know the merchant, it's easy to plan to check it out later, then forget all about it. Hundreds of dollars later you realize you've been paying someone for your procrastination.

Whenever you buy something online, check that receipt carefully. Make sure it does not say it will be a "recurring charge." Set up a filter to catch that statement and highlight the message, so you don't end up sending money down the drain, like me. So sad.

Iterasi vs. Zotero Smackdown

2008-08-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

I'm using Zotero on my mac in Firefox, and Iterasi on Windows XP, so now Xterasi is available on the Mac, so should I switch? Should I just use both? Should I not bother? I'm also a beta tester at Twine, and I still like Delicious. Holy cripes, this is getting ridiculous.

Not much of a Smackdown though! My headline is misleading. Who's got the dirt? What should we use? Should we just quit wasting all our time in this neverending quest for better software and accept that we are losing productivity in the process?

Internet Time Suck

2008-08-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

Sites to visit, August 2008:

Hulu.com, watch Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog. May have to search for it at Hulu, not sure which is why I haven't checked this out yet. It may involve work.

Check out Unix Academy Training's 4-DVD set, Linux and Unix for a beginner. Just absolutely the best value anywhere.

How to Turn off Beacon

2007-12-07T07:17:00.001-08:00

Hey, there's a bunch of hoopla about some "feature" Facebook install which gives info on where you go on the web to marketers. Not cool. Anyway, they caved under pressure and now you can turn it off. You have to go to Privacy > External websites > check the box that says "don't allow..." then your back to normal.

Here's a page that shows the settings in case you want a visual How to Turn off Beacon.

Flash Player Bug Fix

2006-09-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

Yet another bug fix. Alerted via PCWorld which is a decent mag. Most people don't see these fixes, since they don't sit around reading computer magazines for fun, but I see them, so might as well post what I fix or tamper with here, eh!

Go to Adobe for the fix or if that doesn't work, try the PCWorld.com download page.

Bob Martyn Baseball Almanac

2006-08-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here's dad's page at the Baseball Almanac

Instant Content for Websites

2006-08-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

Another fun toy from the FreeDictionary.com. I wish Blogger would make these links automatically to open in a new window. It's stupid to want to check something that's recommended but you lose the original page.

If you want to follow links without losing the page you're on, just do a Shift - Right Click which "should" open the link in a new window. I say "should" since not all browsers react the same.

I like the "Match Up" game, which is matching words to their meanings. Granted the words chosen the day I saw this were a bit out of the ordinary such as turgid and loquacious but then again, use them in a sentence and see the eyebrows raise. It's a fact that the more words you know the smarter you are. Ask anyone with a big vocabulary and they'll tell you.
I'll toss more fun junk I find into this post, if I remember that is.

Crazy Patents

2006-05-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Fun site, Free Patents Online, with loads of links to idiotic patents granted in the Good ole, United States., the country with too much time on its hands.

I referenced one of my favorites, the Anti-Eating Face Mask at The Slimming Pool Weight Loss Blog, in draft today so if I remember, I'll come back and fix the link after I post it.

Best Chocolate in the World

2006-05-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Where to Find the World's Best Chocolate?
I've collected tons of links for chocolate sites but do you think I can ever find where that list is kept next time I want to look for something? Nah, that would be too easy. I'll post a few here, and see if it leads to something (like organization). This might be better over at One More Bite, my Weight Loss site, but then again, if someone wants to lose weight maybe they don't want to hear about how I am obsessed with chocolate? Hard to know which is the right way to turn, ya know?

A quick turn to my QuickNote file and I find:

Vosges Chocolate My note said, "Order for Valentines" and actually I did. They were wonderful too. If you see their chocolate bars and think they're too expensive, think aagin. They are wonderful, and you're not scarfing the whole thing, just eating a square or so, then saving the rest for next time. Really. With good chocolate, it's pretty easy to have a bit at a time.

Candinas

John and Kiras. Order their catalog! Nothing better than getting chocolate catalogs in the mail. They are socially responsible too, so hey, support their efforts and buy some chockies.

La Mason du Chocolat - er, this is just sitting here. Does it have an address? Maybe some day I'll find that info.

Chocolate Festival, 2005 World Chocolate Awards Winners:

L'Artisan du Chocolat was an OFM award winner. They state, "we love them for their unfailingly high standards, and the fact that they're still a tiny little shop making huge waves and getting their wonderful chocolate into all the best restaurants. So, luck holding, we'll be stuffing our faces with these." Located at 89 Lower Sloane Street, London SW3, 020 7824 8365

RICHART French Chocolates
For the serious chocolate lover. Get the catalog and try the mice.

Fortnum & Mason's chocolates score highly on many counts, not least as an excuse to amble around the food hall. Their pencil-thin chocolate buyer, Chloé Doutre-Roussel, does mesmerising tastings, and packaging is sublime - lovely Oriental padded boxes, wonderful graphics on their dark chocolate selection (£22). --Hey, again, where's the addy? Sheet.

Cocoa-covered truffles (£14.40) this year will come from La Maison du Chocolat - absolutely delicious. The shop is in Piccadilly, London; 020 7287 8500. So much chocolate, so little time...

"And swirly chocolate painters' palettes will come from Hotel Chocolat, which has just opened its first London shop opposite Harrods in Montpelier Street." Mail order: 0870 442 8282 --Cripes. Mail order? How quaint.

Some of my favorite Oregon chocolatiers:

Moonstruck

Godiva

Sees

Michele's Chocolate Truffles

Ladybug Chocolates

Chocolate Decadence: Chocolate Decadence has the added benefit of being dairy, lactose and casein free

Lillie Belle Farms

Jaciva

Guanaja

Teuscher

Dagoba

Euphoria

Godiva Chocolatier: What? No website? You gotta be kidding me?
888 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR, phone: (503) 226-4722

Jaciva's Chocolates & Pastries. These folks make some wonderful looking desserts.
4377 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, phone: (503) 234-8115

Moonstruck Chocolate Company
526 Northwest 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97210, phone: 503-247-3448, toll free: 800-557-6666

Portland Chocolate Fountains: Rent, don't buy. Who in their right mind would purchase a chocolate fountain? The first time it's kinda cool and the second it's like, "Wha?"
PO Box 5757, Portland OR 97228-5757, phone: 503-639-2134

No websites but worth visiting:
Suki's Vanduyn Chocolate: Hey! Suki get a website.
900 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR, phone: (503) 227-5187

Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland: Website in NY, but here's a shop in Portland.
531 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205-3425, phone: (503) 827-0587

Truffles by Serendipity
Portland, OR, phone: (503) 684-9371

Van Duyn Chocolates
10162 Se Washington St, Portland, OR 97216-2426, phone: (503) 262-0729
12000 Se 82nd Ave Ste 1033, Portland, OR 97266-7739, phone: (503) 659-1031
1212 Lloyd Center, Portland, OR 97232-1301, Phone: (503) 281-2421
9982 Se Washington St, Portland, OR 97216-2422, Phone: (503) 262-0729

Verdun Fine Chocolates
421 NW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209-3112, phone: (503) 525-9400

Wild Sweets Chocolate Factory
Po Box 14215, Portland, OR 97293-0215, phone: (503) 232-6931

More Favorites:

Joseph Schmidt: I used to buy these in Portland, at $2.50 each they may seem expensive, but they are gigantic so one is plenty. They are egg shaped. Recently I found them at Safeway in the bakery department so I bought six to show my support.

Clare Du Lune Confections

Hand Painted Chocolates

Good Search, Better Search, Best Search

2006-05-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a Google addict. I almost always go there first, but sometimes their results just don't cut it. That's when I think, where did I put that giant list of all the other search engines? I've got way too many lists, favorites and otherwise.

Clusty is a great place to start. Seth Finkelstein has an excellent post in his InfoThought Blog about how he was able to find how much to put a logo on a chocolate poker chip. Now that's some handy info to keep. He details wending his way through the muck and all. Good stuff. I've gone looking for info and found nothing but dreck, but he hit pay dirt! Way to go, Seth. That's why they pay you the big bucks!

So, this is the beginning of a place to put details on various good search sites. Let's just see how well I keep up that plan...

Meandering in Hyperspace

2006-05-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Just another day in paradise, I like to say.

Why am I constantly looking at 50 pages at once and then never wanting to close any for fear I'll never return? I can't be the only one. Here's today's selection which is somewhat left over from yesterday.

Things I'm trying to accomplish include finishing this month's Bits-n-Bites newsletter, which always leads me in a million directions but that's another rant.

I joined Dave's Garden since I want to grow flowers and it looked like a good place to learn a few things. I haven't joined for the paid part, but may do so later, which is why I left the thing open. I'd love to hear if anyone has a way to track the things they want to return to repeatedly because favorites lists won't cut it. I must have a thousand sites in my favorites, so I keep starting other lists which get lost too, and so it goes.

I know, I could start a "Daily Page" for stuff I want to do regularly, only it would include just about every category, so that's not helpful either. Maybe I'll do it anyway. If I do, Dave's Garden is getting a spot. There's a plant sale in Hillsboro May 6th, but alas I think I'll be in Eugene anyway. If not, I posted for the address, so now how do I know if someone replies? I prefer bulletin boards that send you e-mails when you get replies. Who's got time to keep checking back?

So, out of an abundence of paranoia, I'm leaving that page open for a few days, just in case I find out where that plant sale is going to be.

I started a page at Voo2Do.com but it's unlikely I'll keep using it. I still just don't trust online services--I mean what happens if they up and disappear?

I had the page of a business mentor up--I saw his page with pricing so that led me to a forum he had with posts from he and a client and I spent about a million hours reading those. Frankly, it was good at first then it slowly turned into nothing more than conversation.

I also had the Slow Food Forums page going. Must have been my day for forums. This happens to me all the time: I find a forum and they are in my area so I'm all interested then I finally notice the posts are from 2004 so they're way too old to bring back to life. Sad really.

That's all for now on this browser anyway.

MySpace for Networking?

2006-04-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

What about using MySpace.com for networking? I saw someone's post yesterday that included a link to her MySpace site and I thought, "Hey, there's an idea." Then again, there's not an idea.

I went to the group that was supposedly medical professionals and found about 5000 photos of young, urban whatnots. I seriously doubt any of them were medical professionals, so much for that idea.

So my question becomes: Should you create a separate identity at MySpace just for networking, or use the same one you may use for personal purposes as well? I'd love to hear from any professionals using MySpace.com as a true business networking vehicle.

Why I'll Never Be Rich

2006-04-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Up less than two hours and here's what happened.

I read a sig file which led to a chat on IRC so of course had to check that out. That led to the script source at sourceforge which led to ad avert link to Googlebar for Firefox (my old version wasn't working), so I clicked that.

Now I've got a new Firefox extension installed so I have to shut-down the browser, and must close all open windows, meaning I have to either finish what I'm doing, make a note to return or ... go off on some new tangent.

Another side trip today: A posting mentioned a business opportunity having At Home Weight Loss Parties. Sounds weird, but hey, weight loss is my deal, so off I go. The poster said she'd met the owner of the Belly Buster Parties at the Ryze network which I'm also using, but not active since I'm like, "Whose got the time?" Sheesh it's bad enough how easily distracted I can be.

Anyway ... back to my story, I'm interested in being more active in Ryze and networking with likeminded professionals so I wanted to see who this person was, so naturally I click t he link to her site callled Belly Busters. The owner's contact info was found there, Lee McCaskill at (772) 224-0753 or e-mail her at Bellybusterdiet@aol.com so now all I need do is follow up. I'd rather find her at Ryze but will that ever get done? Don't hold your breath.

I also want to make contact with Barbara Casey who had the site that led me to the Belly Buster lady. She had a post about using EFT for weight loss, and duh, that's my deal, so there you go.

What got me on that? Blog Search. I was at Blogger.com and saw a search box for "search blogs" so I tried it with "weight loss" and "eft weight loss" but sadly about 90% of the posts led nowhere. Funny too since it was nearly always my text about my free e-book, Changing Beliefs, that was in the search results. Very strange. It didn't work very well though, so I'm not likely to waste more time in there, thank God.

Article Sites: Taking Over the World

2006-01-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

Whatever happened to websites? Today, you read an article with a link to the author's website and it leads you to nothing more than an article directory. Check any of the articles and they too lead to nothing more than more article directores. Whatever happened to websites with some content? Like Wendy's used to say, "Where's the beef?"

Looting vs. Finding

2005-09-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Could the scream of racism be any louder?

Lists, To-Dos, What-Nots

2005-07-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Man, I love lists. I spend half my day making lists and rewriting my lists, and I never really get around to doing anything on them but boy, what great lists!

Today I came across TaskToy.com which appears to be an online place to keep your to-do lists. I'm going to give it a whirl--why not? I've got nothing better to do. Better add, TaskToy, to my list...

Webpage Snipets - How to Save That Info

2005-07-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

I'm still looking for that "best of the best" program to save bits and pieces of web pages. I use InfoSelect, and have downloaded tons of programs, but I'm still not completely satisfied with any of them. Here's where I'll post links to the newer finds.

NetSnippets - Free

PDF Reader - FoxIt

2005-07-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

Adobe is starting to cause problems for lots of folks, yet we still want to read our PDF files! Enter FoxIt!

This little program is small, fast, and does what it's supposed to do: allows you to view and print PDF files. Neat.

Drop a Load - Instead of E-mail for Attachments

2005-07-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Where to put those enormous files people keep trying to send via e-mail? Drop them at DropLoad.com, then send the url for pickup. Nifty. DropLoad.com. Files are kept for seven days, then deleted whether downloaded or not, so this is temporary, but oh such an easy way to trade files.

Extract Revenge with Net Disaster

2005-04-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

Finally, a way to anniliate other sites, without causing actual damage. They say, "Find a need and fill it," and the folks behind Net Disaster really took that to heart.

The premise is quite simple, yet oddly satisfying: Choose your target and go for it. Maybe your work's site, or your ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend's chronological musings of their trek across South America? Whatever, doesn't matter.

Start by going to Net Disaster, then choose your weapon, put the url of your target site and watch the fun. I really have to get out more.

43 Things, New Place to Wile Away Your Life

2005-04-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just discovered the site, 43 Things which looks like a great place to waste tons of time, like I needed another distraction. Sheesh. My work will never be done, and I'll only need come back here to see why. I set up an account with my standard user name of OneMoreBite, so if you go visit, you can easily find me there. ;-)

It's fun because you can post goals or wish lists, etc., and you can find people in your area with those same dreams. Might be a new way to hookup, we'll see. I think I've made more friends since I became active on the Internet than I have over the last 30 years in the "real world."

Blogger Sucks Lately!

2005-04-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

I've had trouble getting anything to post on Blogger for more than a week, and it's tiring. When you go to the trouble to write something witty and wonderful, you just want the world to see it, ya know! So, then I hit Publish and wait and wait ...

Sometimes you get an error, sometimes it just keeps waiting. So, that's it. No big huge rant this time. I'm just tired.

I did waste an enormous amount of time putting up a bulletin board for my OneMoreBite site, although it's not open to the public so no point in putting the address here just yet. I tinkered with it for hours on Saturday, trying to get the stupid smilies to display correctly, and it's not even important! What's up with that?

Monitor Body Fat by Going to Toilet

2005-03-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

There are some strange goings on in Japan at a company called Toto regarding innovative toilet design. No simple go and flush for these folks. No, they like technology; consequently, we have toilets that can give you an entire health assessment, including body fat percentage, your weight, glucose in your urine and blood pressure. How this is all possible via your daily "deposits" is beyond me. Next you know the toilet will nag you to eat more fiber.

I've been refreshing their page over and over in the hopes of seeing an image again. It was some cartoon characters showing off a toilet to a little girl and I just have to know what's the deal. It looked as if the toilet was talking. Is that it? A talking toilet for toddlers perhaps? "Hey, you. Yeah, you. Come over here," says Mr. Toilet.

More research to come ...

Slackers Sell Spare Time for Fun and Profit

2005-03-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea. Lots of people just sit around doing nothing all day, so why couldn't they market that wasted time to someone who desperately needs it, like me for instance? I could use a 16 hour day, and hey, they're wasting 12 or more hours every single day, sitting on the coach, doing nothing, so why not sit around and make a profit at the same time? (Note to self: Be sure profiting on sold time and sitting around at same time isn't double-dipping for IRS purposes).

Just think of the possibilities! More productivity for the busy bees and more money for the slackers! It's brilliant.

All I'd need is some machine to suck the time from the slacker's reality, bottle it up (maybe tablets would be nicer for the Busy Bee buyer), and then deliver it all nice and tidy. That would be so awesome! Anyone genius inventors want to take a stab at this, just go for it, and let me know when it's finished so I can be the first to try it.

Please call 1-800-GetTime if you want to buy time or sell time. Call now. There's no better time than right now! So Call. Now.

Time Wasting as an Art Form

2005-03-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

I've been known as the "Queen of the $1000 Car", and "The Procrastination Queen," and for awhile I was the self proclaimed, "Ms. Fitness," (before there was a real title called Ms. Fitness, mind you), but now I think I'm deserving of a new title: "Queen of the Time Wasters." You think you're easily distracted. Hah! You've got nothing on me.

I can waste so much time just trying to write a simple book review, or worse, design a brochure. This is why smart folks pay the pros! It's way cheaper in the long run to just let someone who's good at something do it for you, and you do what you're best at. I'm donating my 8-week course to help raise funds for my son's upcoming alcohol and drug free graduation party from Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, and I'm just having a dickens of a time with my handout brochure.

Buying or selling a home? Call my sister, Linda Brown, or your favorite realtor. Need car repair? Call a repair guy, don't do like I would and go to the book store and then the library, then call everyone and get a million opinions, then research for a month on the Internet looking for the best deal, and then finally call the repair guy.

If someone in Vancouver calls me right now, I'll hire them. I really need to get this done, and frankly, here I am posting about it instead of doing it. That's a time wasting pro in action.

Trust me on this one. I know how to waste time. I'm working on a 12-step program for time wasters right now except I haven't gotten past Step 1: Admit you are ... Hey, wait. That looks interesting. Excuse me, I just have to go check something real quick...

What Not to Do

2005-03-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

While watching my morning productive time slip by, I visited one of my favorite sites, the Journal of Improbable Research, where I came across their delightful listing of Prohibitions Competitions.

One of my favorites was this entry from a Bombay Restaurant

Prohibitions are obviously things you SHOULD NOT DO, in case you didn't know.

I happen to own a lovely little volume entitled simply, Don't, a Little Book of Early American Gentility. My copy is a reprint dated 1968, so I don't know the original publication date but judging by the entries, it's been awhile evidenced by this first entry:

"Don't, as an invited guest, be late for dinner. This is a wrong to your host, to other guests and to the dinner."

We wouldn't want to do a wrong to the dinner, now would we?

One more before I go: "Don't expectorate on the sidewalk but go to the curbstone to discharge excess saliva. Men who eject great streams of tobacco-juice on the sidewalk or on the floors of public vehicles ought to be driven from civilized society." Amen, to that.

I'll post more Don't-isms as I find time. ;-) Probably when I should be doing other work, undoubtedly.

Programming Needed Can Pay in Chocolate

2005-03-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

I'm rapidly becoming obsessed with saving every link to everything chocolate, so it's getting out of hand. I need somewhere to keep all these links, and despite my best intentions I never keep current with my listings at various and sundry places. In fact, half the time I forget where they are.

I do use Powermarks still, despite it not working well with Firefox, but hopefully one day that will change, or someone will write something equally useful for Firefox. I absolutely do not like having to cut and paste the link, then go to Powerdesk, then make additional keystroks to input the bookmark. I just want to right-click, choose Bookmark, maybe a category and go. Is that too much to ask? Can any programmer type help me out? I'll pay you in chocolate.

I realize there is a Bookmark feature in Firefox but it sucks badly and that's all I'm saying on that subject. I have to be able to search them by keyword or I'm doomed, doomed, I tell you. Check my earlier post on how easily distracted I am, if you need evidence for why this is so.

Blogs and Blogging Tools

2005-03-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

Everything related to blogs and blogging goes here for now. Guess I'll date these entries for now and later find some other way to sort them because I'm sure this will grow into a serious list:

Added July 28, 2005: Findory.com This tool claims to "learn" but we'll see. I haven't submitted my blog here though--I always think "I'm not worthy," and first want to make it the best blog ever. Dumb, yes.

Added Mar 4, 2005: This from Loren Baker's Search Engine Journal where he says to go ahead and post a comment. I tried but don't know if my comment posted, and then I didn't want to post again only to find it just was delayed and I then look like an idiot for posting twice, so there you have it. The usual dilemma of the Internet. Did it post? Am I finished? What do I do now?

PingOMatic.com wildly handy for when I submit new entries to my blog The Slimming Pool and Daytrader's Bulletin Pre-opening Commentary.

Any RSS. This is way cool and I just came across it today. It gives you the ability to create news feeds on your site using RSS.

NewsGator

Wiki Application List. Yahoo's nifty API developer types (geeks or nerds never can remember which is which) can use to do all sorts of fun stuff with their massive database.

The Human Search Engine. Contrary to it's tag line it doesn't search for humans but rather is a search engine by and for humans. Get it? Sort of like DMOZ but without the multi-year wait to get listed.

Spurl Set Up Page which I never mastered but I will, I promise.

Del.Icio.Us Another blogging utility, or rss reader, or whatever is the best catch phrase. If you don't know much about RSS readers join the club.

DayPop.com which is an information junkies paradise.

That's a start, anyway.

Can You See Why I get Nothing Done?

2005-03-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

Here's why I never get anything done. Today I'm ready to get some REAL WORK done, and here's what's presently open in my browser:

1. PingOMatic.com wildly handy for when I submit new entries to my blog The Slimming Pool and Daytrader's Bulletin Pre-opening Commentary. I haven't wanted to close that window for fear I'll forget all about it. I really need some type of software which has my daily links, etc. but I'll spend a hundred hours searching for software so let's leave that for another day. That gives me an idea: I'll create blog pages for my various interests! Category: RSS Blogs XML

2. Ditto, One Techie's Love-hate Relationship with Technology. I'd say it's more love. This is the type blog I can spend hours reading, so naturally I link to it and then occasionally return to find some new area of interest. Category: Places to Waste More Time or Gadgets Gallore I have a million entries in this category and might some day find time to post them all, but I doubt it.

3. Affiliates article I started to read but was distracted elsewhere and now I don't want to close the page: Category: Affiliate & Marketing

4. RingTones. This looked promising, maybe for the kids to start a site and earn their way through college? You never know. Category: Ideas to Make a Million Bucks Before I'm Dead

5. Miscellanious marketing hype. I spend hours reading marketing pages, really, literally hours. I read them, I print them, I think I'll go study them to see why I want to buy what they are selling, but I never do. It's a sickness. Really.

6. Any RSS. This is way cool and I just came across it today. It gives you the ability to create news feeds on your site using RSS. Category RSS Blogs XML (I really need a catchy name for this category).

7. NewsGator. More RSS stuff. Once I have a central repository for these things, this won't get so out of hand. Really. It's true. I'll be much better organized and life will be swell. Category: RSS, et al

8. Wiki Application List. Yahoo has created a nifty API which developer types can use to do all sorts of fun stuff with their massive database. Google started this trend and it's a good one, so hear, hear. I'm not smart enough to know how it works but I can certainly take code and alter it for my own use, so this is a handy link to keep. I'll file it in Category: RSS ATOM XML BLOG

9. The Human Search Engine. Contrary to it's tag line it doesn't search for humans but rather is a search engine by and for humans. Get it? Sort of like DMOZ but without the multi-year wait to get listed. I'm not yet participating because I ran into trouble getting the Spurl link to operate in my Firefox browser. Don't know what's the problem, so I have to file it in my "Do Later" list where there are baout a thousand other things waiting. Sort of like a DMOZ editor's life I suppose. Hummmmmm
Category: RSS, etc.

10. Spurl Set Up Page which I never mastered but I will, I promise. Category: More RSS (popular category for me this morning I see).

Are you starting to see why I get nothing done? I'm up to over 10 windows open with stuff I either want to research further or spend some time with, and frankly, I have other things I wanted to get done today. I need a 48 hour day!

11. Del.Icio.Us Another blogging utility, or rss reader, or whatever is the best catch phrase. If you don't know much about RSS readers join the club. Sheesh, having a central place to keep these links would be OH SO handy! Category: Blog Hell

12. Now I'm finding some duplicates and some Google search pages so I won't bother to list all those. It just gets boring about now.

13. Oops, I spoke too soon. I followed a link to DayPop.com which is an information junkies paradise. Category: News? or RSS? Is this a sickness? Please tell me I'm going to be all right...

The task I intended to perform was not related to any window opened above, thereby, I'm so totally "off task" as they say in middle school. Focus, Kathryn, just focus.

Musings of a Scatter Brained Redhead

2005-03-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

Today I’m looking into photo printers. I just assumed you could print photos on any color printer, but evidentially I was wrong. Suddenly there is a world of "photo printers" and I’m out of the loop, again.

What Drove Me to This Madness?

I want to make life sized stand up cardboard cut-outs; one for me with my weight loss before after photos, and one (or more) for my son Moses just for kicks.

This of course leads me to Amazon.com – why does everything lead me to the bookstore?, and I’ve found lots of books specific to using Photoshop with digital photography. Great, only they are written for the latest Photoshop version, so do I also need to buy that?

Let’s see. I wanted to make a good quality photo print and now I’m up to buying a $400 printer, a $600 software program, and probably $100 worth of books, not to mention the 100 or more hours it would take me to feel I’d at least gotten down the basics of the new software. Sheesh. Why do I do this?

Geek Girl - Make Magazine

2005-02-27T12:51:00.000-08:00

Interesting new magazine in book format called Make Magazine. I'd like to subscribe (I always want to subscribe), but I'd like to see an issue first before I shell out $35, so I'll wait. Amazon has current issue at just over $10 (no shipping if you manange to buy something else and get your total over $25), so maybe go that route.

As an aside, a friend recently purchased something, paid extra for 2-day shipping at Amazon and it took about five days so there is no point in paying the extra. Amazon will not guarantee your package to arrive quicker despite paying extra for it. Again, big Amazon rip-off, so beware. Don't do their stupid pay us a fee and we'll give you a break on shipping either -- double rip-off, if they don't guarantee 2-day delivery now when you're paying extra, what's the odds they'll give you better and quicker shipping later when you're no longer paying extra. The annual fee is just to keep one hand in your pocket and my pockets have far too many hands now, so forget the paying in advance for discounts BS.