Don's Patch #63 from http://www.don-guitar.com February 1, 2007 First word, from Don: I'm starting to get used to Firefox 2.0.0.1 and while it hasn't got all of the features I'm used to, at least it's up-to-date and far more secure than IE6. Why, you ask, don't I just download IE7? Well, it doesn't happen to be available for my Win2K Pro system. Of course I haven't used IE for years but my browser-of-choice, Slimbrowser, runs on IE components and to keep Slimbrowser as secure as possible I need the very latest version of IE which, as I mentioned, isn't available for Win2K. I've resisted switching to Firefox for a couple of years now but how could I continue to hold out when even Microsoft is, in their own inimitable way, encouraging me to make the switch? Beginning with this issue I'm going to try to confine the Linux stuff to a single section instead of spreading it throughout the ezine. That'll make it easy to skip for Windows die-hards and more fun for Linux fans. Have I reminded you lately that we want to hear from you? Your input has always been, and will continue to be, very important to us. Criticism, comments, questions, suggestions, links or just your thoughts and opinions on any subject that matters to you are welcome and greatly appreciated by us. Don Don's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html Lisa's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/lfefo.html Note: I don't have the CGI forms back online but both contact pages have email links and addresses on them. Our personal news page. http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar Don's blog. http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/ Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549 Lisa's blog. http://blog.myspace.com/81825549 ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª I understand folks who don't care to travel too far from home, being one of them, but here's another take on the concept that never even occurred to me; buying close to home. It makes good sense but I think it might be difficult to do. http://www.100milediet.org/home/ Multilingual health brochures. http://library.med.utah.edu/24languages/ Just another blog, but what a blog (check out the haiku). http://www.auntcalamity.com/ If you're still on dial-up this may not be worth waiting for; a cute little music video. http://snipurl.com/18t7s I'm not sure about this one, employment for persons inflicted with wanderlust maybe? http://www.backdoorjobs.com/ Is this what happens when muppets grow up? http://bert.secret-wg.org/ This site makes a valid point. The media treats weight-challenged people very unfairly. http://www.bigfatblog.com/ The art of John Bindon. http://www.bindonart.com/ Bits of wisdom? http://www.blinkbits.com/ a nicely done fan site for a comic strip which was once popular in Scotland. http://www.thatsbraw.co.uk/index.html I didn't even know what "microfiber" was but now I know how to clean it. http://snipurl.com/18u6x Mrs. Clean's house cleaning tips & stain removal (a wealth of information here). http://www.mrscleannw.com/tips/ Who's got an axe to grind? http://www.commonvoice.com/ What is involved in a humane sustainable culture and how we can get there? http://www.context.org/index.html I got this in a forwarded email and enjoyed it. http://www.ipadventures.com/blog/archives/000415.html Ken Camp is the man behind the blog where I found it. http://www.ipadventures.com/ Feel like showing off your desktop? Fair warning; a few of these many not be particularly family friendly. http://www.desktoproject.net/desktoproject/ I don't know, this seems a little "over the edge" to me. http://www.dogster.com/ If you're as bad about reading End User Licensing Agreements as I am, maybe this is worth the effort. http://www.majorgeeks.com/EULAlyzer_d4759.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª 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 //www.freelists.org ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª This site is... http://www.damninteresting.com/ A compendium of Asian art galleries. http://www.asianart.com/galleries.html Incredible Virtual Lab. http://www.chemcollective.org/applets/vlab.php A search engine that does not set cookies or track your search habits, gives you greater exposure to low-ranking websites (more variety) and you get over 300 results from each search query without clicking "Next page". http://www.devilfinder.com/about.php A Print Screen utility. http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/ Dialog Box Assistant adds two extra buttons to your Windows Open and Save dialog box, most recently launched files and most recently accessed folders. http://www.win-utilities.com/dba/ A career and job-search hub. http://www.dice.com/ Lots of costless apps. Solway's Software Page. http://theabsolute.net/sware/#screenit A disk cleaner for Windows. http://www.diskcleaner.nl/ Images of Chinese culture. http://snipurl.com/17hqh Find out what's hidden on your computer's hard disk and recover lost or deleted data. http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/dskinv.html DIY Data Recovery systems. http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/error404.htm Radical Transparency, an intriguing idea whose time has come. http://snipurl.com/3yv1 Shareware and costless programs. http://www.worldstart.com/software.htm The best online photo management and sharing application. http://www.flickr.com/ This site appeals to my miserly soul. http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm A comprehensive shell for MS-DOS. http://www.ritlabs.com/dn/index.html Human Genome Project information. http://genomics.energy.gov/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª At the time this issue was posted, the current subscriber count for this publication was 385. ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª This issue's collection of news/magazine/informational sites (these are chosen for maximum diversity regardless of "spin" ). http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ http://www.oecdobserver.org/ http://www.rogueprojectleader.com/index.html http://www.freerepublic.com/home.htm http://www.sfist.com/ http://www.eschoolnews.com/ http://tech.v7n.com/ http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ http://www.osnews.com/index.php http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/default.aspx http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/ http://www.firstlist.com/ http://www.freespeech.org/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Richard Harter's world is wild, wacky and full of wonder. http://home.tiac.net/~cri/index.html Here's where you can find all the nifty cool add-ons and extensions for Firefox. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/ Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer who developed what many consider to be a revolutionary method of sustainable agriculture. http://fukuokafarmingol.info/ For people who live alone or with other people. http://www.growinglifestyle.com/ Your ears can help you identify a hard drive that's going bad. http://snipurl.com/n3x5 Holy Bible Sketch Pad, the art of Deborah A. Reeder. http://www.holybiblesketchpad.com/ Do you live in an older home, like we do? What needs fixing at your place? http://www.allabouthome.com/ The art of Ann Telnaes. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/telnaes/telnaes-happily.html A sure cure for boredom. http://www.instructables.com/ Seems to be about food. http://www.iteeth.net/ If you've heard of Ken Silverman and are a fan of the PNGout plug-in in Irfanview, you might find it exciting that there are versions for Mac and Linux. I don't know from Kzip or Zipmix but they're here as well. http://jonof.edgenetwork.org/index.php?p=kenutils A podcast for the new Linux user. http://www.linuxreality.com/ Answers to your Linux questions. http://www.linuxquestions.org/ Bob & Judi always wanted to travel. http://www.longpassages.org/ An odd "bloggy" sort of media site. http://www.lowculture.com/ It's about making stuff and also about blogging. http://www.makezine.com/blog/ Sarpy Sam is pretty clearly a "real" cowboy who lives somewhere in the state of Montana. http://nowherethoughts.net/sarpysam/ This site is great if you need help with, or information about a modem. http://www.modem-help.com/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª If you'd like to help promote this non-commercial publication, please forward this ezine to anyone you know who might appreciate it. To spare them the forwarding carets (>>>>these things) I suggest you copy/paste the ezine to a new email window, or save the ezine as a text file to be inserted, or copy/pasted to a new email. If you've received this publication as a forward and wish to subscribe you may easily do so from online forms in these two locations: http://www.don-guitar.com/subsmanager.html //www.freelists.org/list/donspatch ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Probably everything you'd like to know about fishing. http://sportsvl.com/water/fishing.htm Ancient fishing techniques. http://www.critfc.org/text/fishing.html Bio and paintings of Vladimir Alexandrovich Serov. http://www.allartclassic.com/pictures.php?p_number=123 http://www.abcgallery.com/S/serov/serov.html This program will extract the messages from an Outlook Express (5.0 - 6.0) mailbox and convert it either to the standard mbox or the Outlook Express eml format. http://freenet-homepage.de/ukrebs/dbxconv.html Arguably the first weapon to reliably bring home the bacon. http://www.atlatl.com/ News, features, reviews and how-to's from CreativePro. http://www.creativepro.com/front/home Cake-mix cookies from a personal chef. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46679.asp "The Tree of Life is Self-Pruning". http://darwinawards.com/ Derek Powazek is a very interesting person. http://powazek.com/ Excellent beginner's guide to photography. http://www.photonhead.com/ Disk Investigator finds all the hidden information on your computer and can help with data recovery. http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/dskinv.html DIY Data Recovery. http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/error404.htm Well-presented course, resources and goodies for HTML. http://www.draac.com/ Advice and strategy for saving money. http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm A comprehensive shell for MS-DOS. http://www.ritlabs.com/dn/index.html Make fascinating fractals. http://snipurl.com/18jm6 Open Source Software projects. http://www.drk.com.ar/index.php Dungeon's and Dragons fan? http://www.dndadventure.com/index.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Our feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html 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). ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª A text "thingy". http://mtirnanic.googlepages.com/ The (U.S.) National Housing Institute. http://www.nhi.org/ I'm Only a Farmer (poem). http://www.onthefarmradio.com/Only_a_farmer.htm Pearls of wisdom. http://www.onthefarmradio.com/pearls.htm Farm radio. http://www.onthefarmradio.com/ Advice on refurbishing / refinishing / repairing wood furniture. http://thefurnituredoctor.net/ More advice and tips on furniture preservation and restoration. http://www.refinishfurniture.com/ The rural image library. http://www.eatimages.com/ I don't suppose there's anything too terribly interesting on this site if you don't live in rural Washington state but I was much amused by the spelling in the text of the flash animated slide show on their home page. http://www.ruralresource.com/ Chris McKibbin's awesome photoblog. http://www.projekt1design.com/photolog/ Michelle Higa's blog. http://slanted.org/ Candid, if sometimes impolite, commentary from Target employees. http://www.targetunion.org/ An Australian site detailing almost 200 high voltage and other projects. http://tesladownunder.com/index.html A sort of wiki for frugal living. http://www.thriftyfun.com/ Steve Beard calls his site a "truck stop for the soul". http://www.thunderstruck.org/ An office humor comic. http://www.workrfun.com/ A Los Angeles (CA) vegetarian web magazine. http://www.vegparadise.com/ Windows Vista tips and tricks from Chris Pirillo. http://snipurl.com/18uit What do you know how to do that hardly anybody else knows? You should write about it here. http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page Firefox facts. http://www.firefoxfacts.com/ Exposing dietary and medical misinformation. http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/index.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Archives for this ezine are available online here: //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. //www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/feed.rss ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Zoho Virtual Office. http://www.zoho.com/virtual-office/index.html Utility for creating accurate thumbnail images and scaled-down/up copies. http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/ The adventures of Echo the Bat. http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/echohome.html Explore the world of art, science and history. http://www.eduweb.com/portfolio/adventure.php Good jewelry-making ideas at this commercial site. http://www.eebeads.com/ News, articles and opinions about electronics. http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/ It all ends up in the E-Mail Junkyard. http://www.emailjunkyard.com/index.cgi Environmental News Network. http://www.enn.com/ Two tools to record and simplify installations. http://www.epsilonsquared.com/ Jump into creativity with CSS. http://meyerweb.com/eric/css/edge/ Daniel D'Agostino's web site. http://dino.shiftedphase.com/ I'm having a frugal-attack! http://www.armhammer.com/brochure/ http://frugal.families.com/blog/ http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/175 http://www.frugalfun.com/home.html http://www.simpleandfrugal.com/ Free Enterprise Land, it's a good place. http://www.freeenterpriseland.com/ Bunches of cool games and great clocks. http://www.blinkyou.com/codes/flash/ ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Websites everyone should know about. These aren't sponsors, they're the best of Internet publications and we highly recommend them all. http://askTCL.com http://luem42.com http://www.langa.com http://windowssecrets.com/ http://www.lockergnome.com http://www.scotsnewsletter.com http://www.tricksandtrinkets.com http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Linux Corner ~~~~~~~~~ Yes Virginia, Linux users can have Internet Explorer too. http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page I don't necessarily agree with Clement Lefebvre's choices for the top ten Linux distros but his reviews are thoughtful and well written. http://snipurl.com/18ukf For months I've been scrounging hardware, a piece at a time, to build my own PC based recording studio. The coolest thing about this project is my totally (costless) Operating System (I'm using the 32 bit version). http://64studio.com/ A resource for anyone interested in Linux. http://www.newlinuxuser.com/ One of the more intimidating things about Linux, for new users, is the Command Line. Mind you Windows has one of these too but most of us never bother learning how to use it. You can actually learn Linux without bothering to learn how to use the Command Line as well but when you set you mind to learning it's not so difficult after all. I'm slowly getting the hang of it anyway. http://snipurl.com/18ung The main site looks interesting too. http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/ Linux offers plenty of alternatives to Windows but the two most popular desktop environments are Gnome (officially pronounced guh-Nome but it's ok to make the "g" silent) and KDE (spelled out although, in fairness, I think it ought to be ok to say kuh-Dee) and each environment has its adamant supporters. Lisa and I prefer KDE but our good friend Lee Parmeter is a vocal supporter of Gnome. I think, in the end, it's a Ford-vs-Chevrolet sort of thing; everybody has a preference but nobody has any real good reasons. Anyhow, these sites go into some detail on the differences between the two. http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/kdegnome http://www.psychocats.net/essays/kdevsgnome http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/01/26/192056.php Even though Linux is generally immune to the sort of evils which plague Windows systems there are folks who expect this to change as Linux becomes more popular and there are many Linux distros being created with beefed up security, like this one. http://annvix.org/Home If the thought of partitioning a hard drive is alien, or a little frightening to you, skip this link, it's for experienced users only. http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php Grafpup Linux is a desktop operating system with a focus on providing a complete and stable workflow for digital imaging professionals and graphic artists in a very compact package. http://grafpup.com/ I'm pretty sure that English isn't the developer's first language but Julex could be a very useful thing for anyone who's experienced a total system crash. http://julexlinux.sourceforge.net/ Knopperdisk is another tool that might be worth adding to your computer-fixing kit. http://knopperdisk.knopper.tk/ ============== Humor ============= A florist went into a barber shop to get his hair cut. When he reached for his wallet to pay the barber the barber said, "Oh, I'm doing this for community service. I cannot accept your money." The florist graciously thanked him. Next morning when the barber arrived at work there was a thank you card from the florist and a dozen carnations. Later that day a policeman came into the barber shop. When he reached for his wallet the barber's reply was the same, "Oh, I'm doing this for community service. I cannot accept your money." The policeman graciously thanked him. Next morning when the barber arrived at work there was a thank you card from the policeman and a dozen donuts. Later that day a senator came into the barber shop. He got a haircut and was reaching for his wallet when the barber said, "I'm doing this for community service. I cannot accept your money." The senator thanked him and left. The next morning when the barber arrived at work there were a dozen Senators on his doorstep. ============== Tips =============== Windows tweaks and tips from Doug Knox. http://www.dougknox.com/index.html Lots of useful information on computer hardware. http://hardwarehell.com/index.shtml Windows 95/98 information from Jan Steunebrink. http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/ ======== Reader Contributions ========= 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 ================================= From our friend Irving Stein. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1956 to 1960 Juke Box brought to you by the Briarcliff Manor High School Class of 1960. http://www.bobforrest.com/JukeBox.htm A flash presentation. http://www.thedashmovie.com/ WeatherMate is a little Windows app that gives you instant access to current weather conditions and forecasts. http://www.ravib.com/wm/ While MS no longer offers updates or active support for Win98 they do still offer some information. http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/default.asp Worthwhile images. http://www.worth1000.com/ ================================= From our web sibling Jo-Ann Burton. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recipes from McCormick. http://www.mccormick.com/ Take the Monk-ish quiz. http://www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/monkish/ An American icon. http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/ The Recipes http://www.girlscoutcookiesabc.com/atc/recipes/default.asp http://www.littlebrowniebakers.com/cookies/recipes/recipes.html Wikipedia dishes it out about the Girl Scout Cookie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramel_deLites The History http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/cookie_history/ Cookie Fun Facts http://www.littlebrowniebakers.com/cookies/funfacts.html What's your cookie personality? Take this quiz to find out http://www.littlebrowniebakers.com/cookies/personality.html Type in your zip code to see how your city stands against national averages. http://www.bestplaces.net/zip-code/ The surprising thing is that he sold out at a dollar a pixel. Here's the FAQ. There's a Homepage link on the nav bar. http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/faq.php ================================= From our web sibling John Lepse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a (costless) firewall app. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1969207,00.asp Tips and techniques for stress management. http://www.davidposen.com/pages/tips/tips.html Dealing with difficult people at work. http://www.fabjob.com/tips180.html 37 Fads That Swept The Nation. http://snipurl.com/18xct A useful utility from Dennis Nazarenko. http://www.tidystartmenu.com/index.shtml ================================= From our web sibling Patrick Barden. http://rrwbushangel.blogspot.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). http://www.loc.gov/nls/ SSCrabble anyone? http://www.themaninblue.com/experiment/SSCrabble/ Crafty stuff from Disney. http://disneyexperience.com/models/movie_machine.html Patrick Barden, who is legally blind, is anything but disabled, has a rapier wit, a ready laugh and is an incomparable digital artist. I offered him web space to showcase some of the computer background images he's created and, as usual, he went the extra mile by creating some brand new ones for our readers. You can find them here. http://www.don-guitar.com/romanrw.html ================================= From our web sibling Jerry Fox. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an interesting visual panorama. http://xrez.com/manifest/xRez_manif.html Musical instruments made from um, bedpans. http://www.keithcary.com/commodium/ A terrific resource for DIY musical instruments. http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/ An amazing Bush impersonation (media intense). http://snipurl.com/18xr7 ================================= From our web sibling Vinette DePhillipe. http://360.yahoo.com/vinette1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vi says this is a fun place to hang out if you have time. http://www.gotoquiz.com/ Thanks Irv, Jo, John, Jerry, Vi and special thanks to Patrick for sharing his awesome artwork. ================================= Last word, from Lisa: It's possible you've noticed that I usually list a link or two to sites that feature the biography and work of famous painters, Degas, Cassat, Manet, VanGogh, etc.. I keep a folder titled 'Art' for a rather ordinary reason, the most famous paintings make wonderful wallpapers! Here are some of my favorites; Serov's "Girl with Peaches" http://snipurl.com/18r8m Degas's "Four Dancers" http://snipurl.com/18r8w Monet's "Waterlilies, gr.refl." http://snipurl.com/18r91 O'Keefe's "Shell". http://snipurl.com/18rag ...and on and on. Make yourself a folder and knock yourself out every day. Lisa Lisa's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/lfefo.html Don's feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549 Lisa's blog. http://blog.myspace.com/81825549 Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar Don's blog. http://blog.myspace.com/donguitar Our personal news page. http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html Don Crowder and Lisa Miller Thursday, February 1, 2006 12:30 AM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA Served by the U.S. Post Office in Tow (rhymes-with-cow), Texas ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª Privacy: We will never share, sell, or otherwise compromise your email address. Privacy Policy on our website. http://www.don-guitar.com/privacy.html Freelists.org Privacy Policy. //www.freelists.org/privacy.html ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª The most important people on the Internet, for you and I as computer users, are software developers. The world's coolest computer, without software, is like a car without fuel. It might look great, but what can it do? It doesn't matter who produces the software you love and use regularly, the developers of that software need your support. ------------------- :-( Begin promotional blurb )-: ------------------ Please rate this ezine at the Ezine Finder. http://www.ezinefinder.com/vote.html?pub_code=donspa You may also review us at BestEzines.com: http://BestEzines.com/?id=898 -------------------- (-: End promotional blurb :-) ------------------- A bit of advice from Internet veteran Bayard J. Fox: New computer users are often in awe of the things you can get without cost on the Internet. There can be hidden costs for the unwary. Use a "throw away" email address to register, and be constantly on guard against giving away personal information. Use a firewall, and provide only the barest minimum of information on questionnaires. ___________________________________________________________ Subscription management for this publication is available online here: http://www.don-guitar.com/subsmanager.html or here: //www.freelists.org/list/donspatch