#114, April 1, 2009 from http://www.don-guitar.com Online version: http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/ First word, from Don: Twitter is interesting but, like social networks, it doesn't really seem to do anything. That's true for me at least. I have a twitter account, http://twitter.com/eldergeek just like I have a facebook account, http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-Crowder/1321324044 but I don't use them much. I just signed up out of curiosity. I know there are folks who're really into expanding their personal networks as a means of enhancing their businesses but the web isn't business for me; it's the playground I always wanted. Not everyone shares my belief that 'learn' and 'play' are synonyms and I'll admit that I haven't always believed that myself but that was then, this is now. I'm not talking wonderland, I don't need to believe any impossible things before breakfast, but I sure do get a kick out of learning something new before breakfast. It's probably been at least a month since I reminded you how much we truly enjoy hearing from you and that's too long, so I'll tell you again. Send us a joke, a complaint, a compliment, a question, a link or just say hello. Do it often. Your email gives us ideas, inspiration, incentive and the occasional much-needed laugh. Roy-from-Joplin, thanks for the stuff (he sent us some novelty items made from recycled computer parts, I'll try to get some photos posted for the next issue). Do you make those things yourself? How come you don't have a website? Our feedback form and contact info: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar Don's blog. http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/ Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549 Lisa's blog. http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/ Section One by Don. The U.S. Border Patrol site might seem boring... http://www.cbp.gov/ ...but there's occasionally some interesting reading on the site. http://tinyurl.com/cu2cqc A nice resource for Windows users. http://www.ntcompatible.com/index.html Helpdesk is a little 'fringy' at times but is a very funny cartoon. Here's episode one: http://www.ubersoft.net/comic/hd/1996/03/alex-loss-words A nice science and medicine magazine. http://www.nature.com/ Open Access is, to me, an exciting new concept. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access_(publishing) http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm Awesome video lectures. http://academicearth.org/ New, cool stuff in Web 2.0 and Social Networking. http://www.acestartups.com/ Placing authors on the map. http://www.authormapper.com/ Patent search. http://www.boliven.com/patents The British Monarchy. http://www.royal.gov.uk/ UK dept. for culture, media and sport. http://www.culture.gov.uk/ UK Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/index.html Learning professionals (and others) on Twitter. http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/socialmedia/edutwitter.html Social networking and other resources for folks with disabilities and those who care for them. http://www.disaboom.com/ Here in Texas we refer to this industry as the 'Awl Bidnez'. It pays good but not consistently (because it fluctuates with the economy). http://www.drillingsite.com/ A view from the Edge. http://www.edge.org/ It's about Europe. http://www.europeana.eu/ 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 //www.freelists.org Section Two by Lisa A wonderful musical artist, Susan Tedeschi. http://susantedeschi2.notlong.com Understand and resolve life challenges. http://www.helpguide.org/ Simple steps to green living. http://www.simplesteps.org/ Designer help for landscaping. http://www.crocus.co.uk/ A helpful guide to the Web. http://www.freebyte.com/ 10,000 steps for a healthier life. http://www.thewalkingsite.com/10000steps.html Employment opportunities and job resources. http://www.rileyguide.com/ Save our planet, one poop at a time. http://flushdoggy.com/wordpress/ Japanese language and culture. http://www.kanjistep.com/ Landscape enhancement through billboards. http://www.billboardom.blogspot.com/ A blog about art. http://www.linesandcolors.com/ Do you have a well-rounded education? Do you know how to keep live bait? http://keepbait.notlong.com Fun, safe activities for young girls. http://www.newmoon.com/ End of Section Two. At the time this issue was posted, the current subscriber count for this publication was 394. 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. Note: This section is being temporarily expanded until my media folder gets thinned down a bit. http://www.radiotiki.com/ http://www.magistery.com/ http://www.networkcomputing.com/ http://www.alternativeradio.org/ http://rebecca-goetz.blogspot.com/ http://dudespaper.com/ http://johntaylorsblog.com/ http://famousdc.com/ http://www.merinews.com/index.jsp http://www.theroot.com/ http://www.plasticbag.org/ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ http://www.tothepc.com/ http://www.babble.com/ http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ http://www.quickandsimple.com/ http://www.mansized.co.uk/ http://www.cognitive-edge.com/ http://www.scifeeds.com/ http://www.citeulike.org/journals/ http://www.myjournals.org/ http://www.climatechangecorp.com/ http://popurls.com/ http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/ http://turtlemadness.net/ http://www.bellaonline.com/ http://www.thestar.com/ http://www.goergo.in/ http://www.jaunted.com/ http://www.youknowyouwanna.net/ http://mamamusings.net/ http://www.thepcspy.com/ http://gratesofrat.blogspot.com/ http://www.belligerati.net/ http://wigu.com/ http://www.whiteninjacomics.com/index.shtml Section Three by Don. Instead of beating or joining the Open Source movement Microsoft seems to be attempting to a walk a parallel path. http://www.codeplex.com/ 'How to embed almost anything in your website' http://linkasa.com/lb1 Here's a little magazine which I've mentioned before. I get it every month and often find very useful and/or interesting information buried among the advertising. http://www.remedylife.com/ Search scholarly / intellectual ejournals in the arts and humanities. http://www.jurn.org/ Another contender for 'king of the search engines'. http://www.melzoo.com/ Online document sharing. http://www.twidox.com/ An online dictionary/thesaurus. http://www.memidex.com/ A search engine for biomedical literature. http://www.novoseek.com/Welcome.action A biomedical and life sciences search engine. http://www.vadlo.com/ A search engine for eBooks. http://pdfse.com/ A wealth of math learning resources. http://www.khanacademy.org/ Radiology resources. http://www.medicexchange.com/ oDesk might be a pretty good resource for anyone who wishing to hire short term technical staff or for unemployed technically trained folks who dwell in third world countries but friends of mine, who work in Information Technology (here in the US), tell me that McDonalds (yeah, the hamburger place) pays better. http://www.odesk.com/w/ An Open Source world street map. http://www.openstreetmap.org/ This site is a sort of online readers digest of scientific research. http://www.scitopics.com/ Screentoaster is an online, platform independent computer screen recorder. http://www.screentoaster.com/ Have you some old textbooks you'd like to unload? http://www.unitextbooks.net/ Advice on... still images. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/stillimages/ Moving images. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/movingimages/ Audio. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/ Cross-media. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/crossmedia/ A few interesting music videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtzgwNDZAs4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFqK6PBq-hA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVR8lg1YLuc Cute, funny videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ALIL7T764 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a--3q4fOL5g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ovXqfigNzo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW3z70WMCTg This video makes a profound statement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d-7IFN4DKA End of Section Three. 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 either of these two locations: http://www.don-guitar.com/subsmanager.html //www.freelists.org/list/donspatch Section Four by Lisa. Vintage graphics and clipart. http://www.grandmasgraphics.com/ Vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium for open standards and operability. http://www.opengroup.org/ The art of Ron English. http://popaganda.com/galleries.shtml Skills for coping, and perhaps thriving, for those with gluten-intolerance. http://www.gluten.net/ One couple's journey renovating their historic house. http://www.hereandthere.org/oldhouse/index.shtml A system for getting things done. http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/ Historian John Hope Franklin changed American culture through scholarship and perseverance. http://jhfranklin.notlong.com There are many organizations "without borders". Exploring some of them has been a treat. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/ http://www.teacherswithoutborders.org/ http://www.motherswithoutborders.org/ http://www.lawyerswithoutborders.org/ http://mbaswithoutborders.org/ http://builderswithoutborders.org/ http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/ http://www.ewb-usa.org/ http://www.scientistswithoutborders.org http://www.clownswithoutborders.org/ http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/ http://www.idealist.org/ http://www.acuwithoutborders.org/ http://www.chemistswithoutborders.org/ Thinking about a trip to a tropical island? How can you choose? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamas http://ciathebahamas.notlong.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. http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html Section Five by Don. Phil Bradley's take on Twitter. http://www.philb.com/twitter.htm A Twitter-people search engine. http://justtweetit.com/ Twitterfeed. http://twitterfeed.com/ Twitter groups. http://twittgroups.com/index.php Yet another Twitter gizmo. http://tweetree.com/ Welsh art. http://www.welshartnow.org/ Freedom on information requests in the UK. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ Freedom of information requests are doable but a bit more complicated in the US. http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/index.html The lines between newspapers and blogs is beginning to get a little blurry isn't it? Like this site, is it a newspaper or a blog? http://www.feedchronicle.com/ Neighborhood search. http://www.streetwire.org/ Need a DIY shed for your shop? Here's a place to start. http://linkasa.com/mb1 Internet bird collection. http://ibc.lynxeds.com/ A resource for guitarists. http://www.freemusicstudy.com/ A music resource, depending on where you live. http://www.spotify.com/en/ Education blog awards. http://edublogawards.com/ Things found in books. http://www.thingsinbooks.com/ http://enclosures.blogspot.com/ Strange, unusual, bizarre, and, in some cases, icky stuff. http://www.oddee.com/ Found things. http://www.foundmagazine.com/ Halls of Fame (continued) Mascots. http://www.mascothalloffame.com/ Jewish-American. http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/ Trapshooting. http://www.traphof.org/index2.htm Pro wrestling. http://www.pwhf.org/ Michigan women. http://www.michiganwomenshalloffame.org/ Colorado women. http://www.cogreatwomen.org/ North Carolina auto racing. http://www.ncarhof.com/ Burlesque. http://www.burlesquehall.com/ New Jersey aviation. http://www.njahof.org/ Mississippi musicians. http://www.msmusic.org/ U.S. labor. http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/laborhall/main.htm U.S. sprint car. http://sprintcarhof.com/ Italian American sports. http://www.niashf.org/ Space technology. http://www.spacetechhalloffame.org/ ITA women's tennis. http://www.itahalloffame.com/ (to be continued) End of Section Five. 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 Section Six by Lisa. Lots of good info from the Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.com/ Once again, the most addicting game on the 'Net. Don't say I didn't warn you. http://www.addictinggames.com/helicopter.html What is the Federal Reserve? http://www.federalreserve.gov/ Compare and shop for home services. http://www.whitefence.com/ We love the song "Jalisco" done in the Mariachi style. http://jalisco.notlong.com Don't you just love old computers? http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp Beautiful antique bottles. http://www.greatantiquebottles.com/ Once in your life, you must play Mr. Picassohead. http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html High Dynamic Range Photos-HDR, are noted for their depth and realism, much like the way we actually see. Here's an online tool to produce one from your photo and a tutorial if you'd like to know how it's done. http://www.createhdr.com/ http://howtohdr.notlong.com This online tool creates favicons from your pictures. http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ Creating icons with GIMP. http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Creating_Icons/ I think Murphy beds are so cool. http://www.wallbed.com/index.html End of Section Six. The Linux Corner. Austin has become something of a musical mecca, rivalling Nashville in some genres, but it's also a hotbed of computer technology and, consequently, computer geeks. Among that noble gathering are numerous Linux users. http://geekaustin.org/ Linux against poverty. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73812541302 DDP HackRadio. http://www.ddphackradio.org/ Polar bears and penguins. http://linuxgeeksunited.blogspot.com/ One click Linux. http://www.oneclicklinux.com/ A Little Humor. From our other-brother Bill (Beeyil) Lanoue: Tech support: What kind of computer do you have? Female customer: A white one. Customer: Hi, this is Maureen. I can't get my diskette out. Tech support: Have you tried pushing the Button? Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck. Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note. Customer: No, wait a minute, I hadn't inserted it yet, it's still on my desk, Sorry. Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen. Customer: Your left or my left? Tech support: Good day. How may I help you? Male customer: Hello... I can't print. Tech support: Would you click on 'start' for me and. Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates. Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it. Customer: I have problems printing in red. Tech support: Do you have a color printer? Customer: Aaaah, thank you. Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am? Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me. Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore. Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer? Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer. Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back. Customer: OK Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you? Customer: Yes Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard? Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah! That one does work. Tech support: Your password is the small letter 'a' as in apple, a capital letter V as n Victor, the number 7. Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters? Customer: can't get on the Internet. Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password? Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it. Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was? Customer: Five stars. Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use? Customer: Netscape. Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program. Customer: Oh, sorry, Internet Explorer. Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears. Tech support: How may I help you? Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail. Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem? Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it? Customer: Hi I have a problem with my Canon printer. Tech support: Are you running it under windows? Customer: No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine. Tech support: Okay, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager. Customer: I don't have a P. Tech support: On your keyboard, Colin. Customer: What do you mean? Tech support: 'P' on your keyboard, Colin. Customer: I'm not going to do that!! From our web-sibling Patrick Barden. The bad part: an unidentified 39-year-old man in Moenchengladbach, Germany, lost his keys. The good part: he was pretty sure he had accidentally tossed them into a public trash bin with some papers. The bad part: it had a narrow opening, and the top doesn't come off easily. The good part: he could fit his head and arm into the opening. The bad part: he got so stuck he couldn't move. The good part: a friend happened by, and called the fire brigade to come help. The bad part: they couldn't get him out either, so they widened the hole and shoved him the rest of the way in. The bad part: it took another half hour before they were able to get the top off. The good part: by the time he finally emerged, he had found his keys. The bad part: in his pocket. Thanks Bill and Patrick. Tips for This Issue. Here's a great consumer resource. http://consumerist.com/ Moving tips. http://www.meyersmoving.com/movingtips/moveout.asp This information on buying a car was written as a helpful guide to recent U.S. immegrants but the information it offers would be useful and valid for any U.S. resident. http://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/car-buying-tips.html Tips for handling crawfish and other fresh seafood. http://linkasa.com/nb1 A nice collection of web dev tutorials, http://woork.blogspot.com/2007/10/table-of-contents.html and a nifty eBook. http://woork.blogspot.com/2009/01/woork-handbook.html Household tips and tricks. http://www.ircbeginner.com/justfun/usefultips.html Golfing tips. http://golf-tips.useful-tips.com/ Motorcycle tips. http://tielai.notlong.com Letter writing tips. http://www.writinghelp-central.com/letter-writing-tips.html Some of these tips, from writer Tom Johnson, are humourous. All are practical. http://preview.tinyurl.com/d3rzna Easy computer tips. http://www.easycomputertips.com/ An enormous computer help site. http://www.helpwithpcs.com/ Dr. Mercury's computer corner, from Maggies farm. http://preview.tinyurl.com/c75m79 A nice collection of tips in many categories, offered in several languages. http://www.raymond.cc/blog/ Contributions From Our Readers. Links from readers are always welcome and you can even write your own link descriptions if you like (just tell me when you send them if that's what you intended). Guidelines are available here: http://www.don-guitar.com/descriptivetext.html From our web sibling Patrick Barden. ( http://rrwbushangel.blogspot.com/ ) Patrick, who is something of a stick-on-the-mud, is pleased, and a little shocked, to have finally given up Internet Explorer. He's switched to Chrome. http://www.google.com/chrome Readability. http://lab.arc90.com/2009/03/readability.php From our web-sibling Jo-Ann (Jo) Burton: ( Jo's site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/ ) Pete Souza's blog (official White House photographer). http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/ The haunted world of Ed Wood Jr. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIBNWqfQV_k A one-owner home, built in 1955, that's never been lived in! http://www.2204stephen.com/index.shtml The World's Oldest Movie. http://preview.tinyurl.com/ctv2rp An informative collision between science and fiction. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/superman.shtml Frequency of a cat's purr. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/LevMazniker.shtml More to explore. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/ Proof that subscribing to this ezine is good for your brain. http://preview.tinyurl.com/8cfhnt More to explore. http://drdeborahserani.blogspot.com/ Jeffrey Martin's panoramic photography. http://www.360cities.net/profile/jeffrey-martin A strange, interesting game with dominoes and tomatoes. http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/domino/domino.html More to explore. http://www.gamedesign.jp/index_en.html Jo says 'I love this cute fan dress. Best of all, the fans are actually made from folded up junk mail and then sewn onto canvas'. http://www.recyclerunway.com/pages/PFJunkMail1.htm More to explore. http://www.recyclerunway.com/ Scandalous women (an interesting blog). http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/ From our web sibling Vinette (Vi) DePhillipe: ( Vi's site: http://360.yahoo.com/vinette1 ) Remember me (a video). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0 This information is date sensitive and it'll be too late when you read this but there's a slim chance it will help someone so I'm running it anyway. http://preview.tinyurl.com/ctkxeb http://preview.tinyurl.com/cytb27 From our web-sibling Jerry Fox. The American form of government. http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment From our web-sibling John Lepse. ( John's blog: http://hucknjim.blogspot.com/ ) An interesting book review, a challenging occupation. http://preview.tinyurl.com/d8rble Conjoined twins, Abby & Brittany Hensel turn 16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkKWApOAG2g I just hate the way blogs are laid out so that you've got to track down however many previous posts it takes to get you to the beginning of a story, so you can read it in chronological order. That being said, that's exactly what I suggest you do on this site. It's worth it. Because History Matters. http://teachinghistorymatters.wordpress.com/ From our friend, neighbor and fellow Linux user Steven Scott. By now most everyone's at least heard of Linux and is aware that the Linux mascot is a penguin named Tux. Soon, for a limited time, Tux will be replaced by a Tazmanian Devil named Tuz. http://preview.tinyurl.com/dgbw6x From our web-sibling Dan Urban. The percussion in these music videos is provided by, of all things, a tractor. They're both quite good but I have to say, I much preferred the Volvo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ThSi1wbqU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwadWc-QeAg Thanks Patrick, Jo, Vi, Jerry, John, Stevie and Dan. Last word, from Lisa: There's something to be said for lifelong learning. I've recently become interested in learning to play the drums. Perhaps I'm just making sure that there will always be something I do badly, but I love that feeling that my brain is so busy I can hardly sleep. Building new neuron pathways, no doubt. The adventure continues... Lisa Our feedback form and contact info: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549 Lisa's blog. http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/ Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar Don's blog. http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/ Don Crowder and Lisa Miller Wednesday, April 1, 2009 1:42 AM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA Served by the U.S. Post Office in Tow (rhymes-with-cow), Texas 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 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 and deserve your support. 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.