[donspatch] 2008-11-15

#105,  November 15, 2008  from http://www.don-guitar.com

Online version:  http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html

Archives:  http://www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/ 
 
First word, from Don: 
 
All the stores seem to be ready for Christmas, how about
you?  Are you ready?  Let's see, what do I want for
Christmas?  Oh yeah, the same thing I've wanted every
year since 1982 and I'm not even going to mention it
because we can't afford it, again, this year.  In Lewis
Carrol's 'Alice in Wonderland' the White Queen insists
that when she was younger she managed to believe as
many as six impossible things before breakfast but I
think that's a bit extreme.  One impossible thing is
quite enough for anyone.  So, I expect to get the
thing-I'm-not-going-to-mention sooner or later, but
not this year, and I'm content with that.  If you
wish for the same impossible thing every year it's
far less disappointing in the long run should you
never get it.  Of course if you do get it, then you
have to spend hours and hours deciding on something
else you've always-wanted-but-can't-afford.  I can't
speak for anyone else but for me that would be a real
problem and I'd prefer to spare myself the trouble.

It may sound as though I'm being slightly facetious
but truthfully, I have much to be thankful for and
very little to complain about.  Life is good, love
is wonderful.

May you always enjoy the best of love, luck, health
and happiness.

Don 
 
 
Our feedback form (goes to both of us):
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html 
 
Our personal news page. 
http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html 
 
Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar

Don's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/

Lisa at myspace.com.  http://www.myspace.com/81825549

Lisa's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/dirtgoddess
http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/ 
 
 
Section One by Don. 
 
Maybe I'm not so smart after all, I found this one
to be very difficult.   http://www.genius-test.com/

I'm not a fan of heavy metal or hard rock but, as a
musician, I can certainly appreciate this young man's
talent.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATub40Npxik
Then there's the rare musician who just fit nicely into
an category.  Whether you like him or not you pretty
much have to grant that Ingwie Malmsteen is amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNOa5Gjh2lc&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cVIOuvDUGE

Opera, which is something of an 'also ran' when it comes
to regular web browsers, is becoming quite the 'contender'
as a mobile browser.   http://my.opera.com/chooseopera/blog/

Here's where I set my watch.
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java
This one's pretty cool too.
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/simpletime.html

How about a clock for your website or blog?
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/clocks/wtsclock001.aspx
http://24timezones.com/online_clock.php

Who's up for learning something?
http://www.tutorial5.com/index.php

I strongly recommend against purchasing one of these,
but isn't it cool?   http://www.chumby.com/

an extensive art portal.   http://www.artpromote.com/

Knowitall.org is ETV's educational Web portal, a
collection of fun, interactive websites for K-12
students, teachers and parents.
http://www.knowitall.org/

techno-geeky web dev.   http://www.useit.com/alertbox/

The Chebucto Community Net (CCN) is a Canadian FreeNet
operating in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality
(HRM).   The Mousepad is a column on computer-related
issues provided as a public service by CCN members.
http://beacon.chebucto.ca/Mousepad/

A forum for users and fans of vintage computers.
http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/index.php

Here's a flash based sort-of polling site.
http://www.ownyourc.com/
 
End of Section One.  
 
 
This publication is only mailed to verified 
double opt-in subscribers, and is brought 
to you by me, Don Crowder, my wife, 
Lisa Miller, and http://www.freelists.org 
 
 
Section Two by Lisa 
 
Sometimes we just need some good advice.
http://www.everybodysuncle.com/

A good omnivore should really try it all.
http://omnivore100.notlong.com

An active life is a good life.
http://www.active.com/
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/active.htm
http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/

Friend and computer-club compadre Cranz
reminded me of droodles; remember them?
http://www.droodles.com/

Nerds aren't exactly new, Bob Cringley was one of
the first.  http://www.pbs.org/cringely/
His crash course on HDTV is very helpful.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse/

Lots of costless stuff.
http://www.activefreestuff.com/

What would a psychologist say?
http://counsellingresource.com/ask-the-psychologist/

Swap books, music, dvds or video games.
http://www.swaptree.com/

Fascinating facts about animals.
http://www.animalwebguide.com/

Most of us recently "fell back".  So what is this
Daylight Savings Time thing about, anyway?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

A nice site for kids.  http://www.funbrain.com/ 
 
End of Section Two. 
 
 
At the time this issue was posted, 
the current subscriber count for 
this publication was 392. 
 
 
This issue's collection of online news, blogs, 
magazines, videos  and/or other informational
sites.  These are chosen for maximum diversity
regardless of "spin" and in some cases may
have offensive or questionable content. 
http://seedmagazine.com/
http://www.newscientist.com/
http://www.computerworlduk.com/
http://www.belgiumpost.com/
http://www.thinksmall.nl/
http://feministing.com/
http://randomknowledge.wordpress.com/
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Home
http://www.realchange.org/
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/
http://pipka.org/
http://bethesignal.org/ 
http://practical-tech.com/

 
Section Three by Don. 
 
I don't know from sports but this looks interesting.
http://conferenceusa.cstv.com/

In some places the Commodore 64 is alive and well.
http://www.c64.com/

Math, science, and robots.   http://www.botball.org/

Forsooth!  The complete works of William Shakespeare.
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

V-Day is a global movement to end violence against
women and girls.   http://newsite.vday.org/

Timothy Bond's photos.
http://www.earth.li/~kami/gallery/index.shtml

The Internet Classics Archive.   http://classics.mit.edu/

Here's a nice site with all sorts of info on the hardware
of technology.   http://www.tomsguide.com/us/

Frank Potter's Science Gems isn't a destination, per se,
it's an enormous portal.   http://www.sciencegems.com/

Need a readme for you blog?   http://www.namaii.com/readme/

Practical technology for practical people.
http://practical-tech.com/

Go ahead, let the stars get in your eyes.
http://starryskies.com/

Are you a pure hacker?
http://www.armory.com/tests/hacker.html
Maybe you're a pure nerd?
http://www.armory.com/tests/nerd.html

What is (all sorts of geeky stuff)?
http://www.wisegeek.com/

What is a MUD?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD
Here's a MUD client.
http://tinyfugue.sourceforge.net/
Whose got the best MUD?
http://www.topmudsites.com/

A nice forum for photo enthusiasts.
http://photocamel.com/forum/

A couple of sites that belong to camera collectors.
http://www.cameroddities.com/
http://www.camerasdownunder.com/gallery/index.php

End of Section Three. 
 
 
If you'd like to help promote this 
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Section Four by Lisa. 
 
All kinds of writing help.
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/

Career tips and articles.
http://www.chicagojobresource.com/careertips.htm

Doesn't look good for the next incarnation
of Windows.   http://oops-for-ms.notlong.com

Silly but pretty cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knd_K8JQbqs

You just can't have too many dictionaries.
http://www.alphadictionary.com/index.shtml
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.bartleby.com/61/

Altitude physiology research and education.
http://www.altitude.org/index.htm

All about drugs.   http://www.drugs.com/

Full-text U.S. patents from the U.S. Patent Office.
http://www.patentstorm.us/

The American Heart Association.
http://www.americanheart.org/

Have birthdays gone beyond the pale?  Make your
child's birthday a pleasure, not a pain.
http://birthdayswithoutpressure.org/

Thousands of world newspapers.
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/ 
 
End of Section Four. 
 
 
We welcome all comments, suggestions, or
criticism.  The form doesn't access your
email client (it's a CGI form), so your
privacy is assured.  If you know of a
website that would be a good candidate
for this ezine, please pass it on via
our online feedback form (link above).
Our feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html 
 
Section Five by Don. 

Electronics hobbyist goodies.
http://www.elecfree.com/
http://electronics-diy.com/index.php
http://electroschematics.com/

Goodies for DIY enthusiasts.
http://www.instructables.com/
http://www.makezine.com/

A blog written by a group of genuine rocket scientists.
You can tell they're 'the real thing' and accustomed to
working with the government because they won't let you
read their blog unless you agree to the disclaimer.  :)
http://www.reallyrocketscience.com/

The impending changeover to digital technology in TV
broadcasting has an interesting side effect.  Something
old has become new again; the antenna.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx

Antennas made for digital TV can be quite costly but
there are some highly affordable DIY alternatives.
http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw
http://swik-net-diy-hdtv.notlong.com
http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/

DIY antennas are a hot topic with WiFi users as well.
http://engadget-bigquad.notlong.com

Instead of investing in HDTV hardware you could just
watch internet TV.   http://revision3.com/
You could even watch HDTV on your computer.
http://pop-mech-hdtv-pc.notlong.com
 
End of Section Five. 
 
 
Archives for this ezine are available online here: 
http://www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/ 
 
The current issue is also available on our website. 
http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html 
 
RSS feed is available via this link. 
http://www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/feed.rss 
 
 
Section Six by Lisa. 
 
Tip Diva makes your life easier ten tips at
a time.   http://www.tipdiva.com/

Information about one of the most fascinating
men of our time, Albert Einstein.
http://www.westegg.com/einstein/

A very orange site about reducing your trash.
http://www.reducerubbish.govt.nz/

Haven't you always wanted to learn Chinese?
http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/online.htm

The renowned 1911 Edition of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica.   
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Main_Page

For and about elder care givers.
http://www.ec-online.net/

The Medieval and Classical Library.
http://omacl.org/

A blog about knitting.
http://knitbuddies.blogspot.com/

A Project Gutenberg copy of one of Godey's Lady's
Books, the first American women's magazine.
http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/PG/Godey/godey.htm

A wonderful true story.
http://truelife.notlong.com

The CIA World Factbook is a wealth of
information about nations.  Here's a
look at Nepal.   http://cianepal.notlong.com

All about house and home.
http://www.gomestic.com/

I've been researching organizing and cleaning
sites.  This one looks good.
http://cleannmean.notlong.com

Tips and tricks for for Wacom tablet users.
http://www.wacom.com/tips/

This entire site is useful, but a good
start is  by reducing your junk mail.
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm
 
End of Section Six. 
 
 
The Linux Corner. 
 
Linux News Log Podcast.   http://linux.quicksurf.com/

Here's a nice collection of tips from the LinuxSA group
of Prince Alfred College, Kent Town, South Australia.
http://www.linuxsa.org.au/tips/

Linux howtos and tutorials.
http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/

Unix/Linux Forums.   http://www.unix.com/

Lots of good info here.   http://www.linux.org/

Linux tutorials from O'Reilly.
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/q/linux_tutorials

Linux help available here.   http://www.linuxquestions.org/

Paul Anderson's Linux tips.
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Tips-HOWTO.html

Enterprise geekiness.   http://www.linuxworld.com/

'News, docs, tips, tricks, hacks, fun and more.'
http://www.linuxscrew.com/

Linux News Today.   http://www.linuxnewstoday.org/

Professor Norm Matloff’s Beginner’s Guide to
Installing and Using Linux (a pdf document).
http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/~matloff/Linux/LinuxInstall.pdf

Whether you want to learn Linux, or teach it,
this is one very cool place to start.
http://learnlinux.tsf.org.za/index.html
 
 
A Little Humor. 
 
'In my next life I want to come back as a
weatherman. That way I can be dead wrong
80 percent of the time and not get fired.

There once was a mendicant holy man who walked barefoot
most of the time, which gave him large callouses on his
feet. He also ate very sparingly, which made him frail,
and his odd diet gave him bad breath. In other words,
he was a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

A guy took his cross-eyed dog to the vet and asked, 'Is
there anything you can do for him?' The vet picked the
dog up and peered into his eyes. 'I'm going to have to
put him down,' the vet said finally. 'Just because he's
cross-eyed?' asked the owner. 'No', said the vet,
'because he's heavy'.

Two cows are in a field. One turns to the other and says,
'I'm worried about getting mad cow disease.' The other
cows replies, 'Don't worry, we're giraffes!'

Q:  How much did the pirate pay to get his ears pierced?
A:  A buccaneer.

'We need a twelve-step group for compulsive talkers.
They could call it On Anon Anon.' (Paula Poundstone)

'Some sad news from Australia. The inventor of the
boomerang grenade died today.' (Johnny Carson)

A story told about Calvin Coolidge, known as 'Silent Cal':
A young woman won a trip to Washington as a prize. She
was introduced to President Coolidge; as she shook hands
with him, she said, 'Mr. President, my father bet me ten
dollars I wouldn't get three words out of you.' The
President looked at her and said, 'You lose.'

A guy shows up late for work. The boss yells, 'You
should have been here at 8:30!' The guy replies,
'Why? What happened at 8:30?'

 
Tips for This Issue.

One Cool Tip.   http://www.onecooltip.com/

Windows Tip of the Day.
http://windowstipoftheday.blogspot.com/

Tips from the Kim Komando radio show.
http://www.komando.com/tips/ 
 
Tip of the Week from the National Geographics Green
Guide.   http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/tow


Contributions From Our Readers. 
Links from readers are always 
welcome and you can even write 
your own link descriptions if you 
like.  Guidelines are available here: 
http://www.don-guitar.com/descriptivetext.html 
 

Our web sibling Patrick Barden says that, according to
the the National Institute on Aging you should carry the
following information on your person at all times.
Your name, a list of your medical problems, a list of
your medications (including herbs and supplements),
the names and phone numbers of your doctor, family or
close friends and whether you wear contact lenses.
http://www.medids.com/free-id.php


Here's another good weather site from web sibling
Chip Befort.   http://www.impactweather.com/


Web sibling Nathaniel Eliot says 'Who wants a job with
the new President?'.   http://change.gov/page/s/application


From our web sibling Jo-Ann (Jo) Burton: 
( Jo's site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/ )

Made up languages, whatever their origin, are called 
'conlangs' or 'Constructed Languages'. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conlang 
Here's a site that's all about conlangs. 
http://www.langmaker.com/conlangs.htm 
 
Johan Huibers has built a scaled replica of Noah's Ark. 
http://www.arkvannoach.com/language/en/ 
http://www.pbase.com/paulthedane/noahs_ark 
 
Vehicles with one (1) wheel.  http://linkasa.com/qX 
Two wheeled vehicles.   http://linkasa.com/rX 
Much more from the Museum of Retro Technology. 
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/museum.htm 
Still more to explore on 'The Self Site'. 
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/index.htm 
 
Dpchallenge, digital photo contest (a must-see). 
http://www.dpchallenge.com/index.php 
 
Ryan Brooks's 6502 Nixie clock. 
http://www.hack.net/nixie/ 
 
The language isn't English but Jo says the images 
are universal.   http://Ernst-Haeckel.notlong.com 
 
Here's another one that isn't in English.  Baloon 
art.   http://baloon-art.notlong.com 
 
Ann P. Smith's cool robots. 
http://burrowburrow.com/robots.html 
 
Roadside America's guide to uniquely odd tourist 
attractions.   http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ 
 
The sculpture of Joel Hass. 
http://www.joelhaasstudio.com/FRONTPAGE.htm 
 
Interesting/unusual text/images. 
http://www.neatorama.com/ 
 
Pictorial atlas of the world. 
http://www.flipflopflyin.com/atlas/index.html 
 
Some facts are simply TMI (Too Much Information). 
http://www.infowisps.blogspot.com/ 
 
Killerplants is devoted to the mystery and excitement 
of botanical connections that make our lives and 
civilization possible.   http://www.killerplants.com/


Here's a cool link from web sibling Jerry Fox.  Do
these stainless steel automobiles look like they
where made yesterday or what?
http://alleghenyludlum-com.notlong.com


From our web sibling John Lepse. 
( John's blog: http://hucknjim.blogspot.com/ )

Eva Cassidy is awesome.  That's all I can say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd9pWLrjyUg

Organized Wisdom calls itself a 'Human powered
health search'.   http://organizedwisdom.com/

The real Rain Man.   http://linkasa.com/sX


From our friend and fellow Highland Lakes
Linux User Group member, Cranz Nichols.

Buy, sell or trade an iPod or iPhone.
http://www.nextworth.com/

Cash for your gadgets?   http://www.gazelle.com/


From our friend and neighbor, Stevie Scott.

An eleven year old guitar player.
http://video.yahoo.com/network/100063489?v=3776071

Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 for Windows XP.
http://linkasa.com/uX

Some scary articles.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1733
http://linkasa.com/vX
http://linkasa.com/wX

Linux-Unix cheat sheets (the ultimate collection).
http://linkasa.com/xX

The top 50 proprietary programs that drive you crazy
and their Open Source alternatives.
http://linkasa.com/yX


Web sibling Bob Tegner sent this link to a music
and video site.   http://www.dizzler.com/


From our web sibling Steve Turner.

The Windows Command Line, batch files, and scripting.
http://commandwindows.com/

Computer articles, presentations and tutorials.
http://vlaurie.com/

Troubleshooting, tweaks and fixes for Windows XP.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Registry tweaks and scripts (Windows).
http://registryonwindows.com/registry-tweaks.html


Thank you Patrick, Chip, Nathan, Jo, Jerry,
John, Cranz, Stevie, Bob and Steve.

 
Last word, from Lisa: 
 
The weather will be starting to get very cold tonight
in Central Texas.  My favorite plants have been brought
indoors, to protect them and cheer me up over the winter.
Already I'm looking forward to a rest from outdoor
activities, but paradoxically, planning my garden in
the Spring.

Complicated creatures, we humans.  Silly, too.

'Til next time,

Lisa 
 
Our feedback form (goes to both of us):
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html 
 
Lisa at myspace.com.  http://www.myspace.com/81825549

Lisa's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/dirtgoddess
http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/

Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar

Don's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/ 
 
Our personal news page. 
http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html 
 
Don Crowder and Lisa Miller 
Friday, November 14, 2008 
11:30 PM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA 
Served by the U.S. Post Office in Tow (rhymes-with-cow), Texas 
 
 
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A bit of advice from Internet veteran Bayard J. Fox:

New computer users are often in awe of the things you can get 
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