Geek TypePad Blog

Great Canadian Beef BBQ

Toronto had Sarstock. Winnipeg, due to the many struggling farmers over the nearly 3 month old single case of Mad Cow in AB that has allowed the US to punish Canada for it's lack of support, has been at both Sarstock and the huge barbecue at Portage and Main this lunch hours. Manitoba beef burgers were sold at the concert in Toronto headlined by the Rolling Stones, and the same will be sold for $2 including a drink, on all four corners of Winnipeg's best known intersection. The proceeds, CJOB's Charles Adler tells, goes to Winnipeg Harvest, ad it allows Manitoba's farmers to sell their cattle at decent prices, and gives them the chance to get the word out of the troubles faced by cattle producers in this province, where no Mad Cow has yet to be found. I will enjoy!

TypePad day 4: TypeLists

Now we come to the most useful of all the TypePad features, in my mind. TypeLists are like blog rolls, but on speed. Not only can you do people lists, but you can do music and book lists too, both of which produce images of the covers, and link to Amazon, which as I have blogged before, it is possible to have them link to your associate ID so you can get a little cash to cover the costs of the service at the same time. For instance, on the music one on the Geek TypePad Beta Blog, I have Johnny Cash, Darryl Worley and Kenny Chesney, while on the books I have pretty much every book in my house. I only wish I could do a more thing so people could see a full list, not just the 15-20 I have listed there. Overall, this is the best feature I found in beta.

TypePad's next 2 days

So, why wait, you might say. Why not post yesterday. Well, that's because the 2nd day was moblogging, and I have very little experience with it other than to ensure that the blog by mail works. Beyond that, it is all foreign to me, and I really do not know what all it entails. I do, though, admit that I am familiar with the third day, Photo Albums. The set up for creating a photo album is great, with an easy to use interface allowing you to interactively move pictures throughout the album, add titles and names, and then to add using the Template builder I mentioned Monday, though I honestly wish it were easier for the last one. Right now, you have to publish the photo album, then go into template and check that you want the album, then go into layout and decide where it should go. There should be a link when publishing that says 'Publish and insert' or something. As well, I worry without a site folder view that when working in template builder, they will not be able to locate the correct info.

Slow news week

Ok, you might have noticed a distinct lack of posts. I just cannot force myself to write about meaningless stories covering financial statements and other useless crap. This week either I seem to be seeing less in the normal stories, or there really is nothing big happening. The biggest thing this week is that TypePad is allowing it's beta testers to talk about select features, the so called 5 days of TypePad, and at the end of that we will see a total loosening of the rules for us beta users, with permission to post screen shots and to review the service. We also might just have pricing information around the end of the week, and a word as to what us loyal beta testers will get for our hard work. I am just happy I had the chance to try the service out, and can now give my readers an educated opinion of it.

A time of reflection

I really don't know. I try to avoid these kinds of posts,t he highly personal but still utterly useless variety that seem to common on newer blogs before people find out that others rarely wish to just read about them and their cats latest furball. I have found, as you might have noticed, myself a little... off. I usually blog quite often, but I cannot bring myself to catch up on the many draft posts, and it is surprising when I can actually keep up in a day. I have always blogged in spurts, this is one of them as I type this, but I find those getting shorter, and less focused as of late. I do not know if it writer's block, or just an utter abandonment of creativity and/or energy, but I really need to pick this up. I am more than a week behind, and almost 20 posts overdue. *sigh*

TypePad launch possible

Ok, so the word has gone out that there is likely about a week left of the TypePad beta, but first we will have what they are calling the five days of TypePad, where us the beta testers who have used the service can tell you all about the daily selected feature of the service. At the end of the week I am told we can talk about anything, post screen shots, and we will have access to pricing information. Todays feature, for instance, is the template builder. This is a decent set up, with the ability to either have it arrange your blog itself, which might be problematic if their code gets a bug, or you can edit the templates yourself ala Movable Type. It allows you a little control, or a lot. It's up to the user to choose what they want, but the choice is a nice thing for the non geek.

Bob Hope lost at 100

The world lost Bob Hope, possibly the greatest family entertainer in the world. The editorial cartoons of the next week or so are sure to reflect this loss, though they will likely point to much more. They will undoubtedly point to the loss of a great entertainer, to the friends gone before him, and those left behind. It is a time to remember his contributions to the world, the many specials, the golf tournaments, and the USO tours on which he was a regular, from Normandy to Korea. It is without a doubt that Bob Hope leaves behind thousands of fans and friends, but he also goes to join more as only a often seen entertainer on the USO tours can. He goes on to meet and entertain friends, to fans, to soldiers. To quote a channel, 'The world is Hope-less now'

Week ahead

Ok, now that the weekend is behind my, I plan to look forward. Dizz is back from his vacation with pictures of fish and fillets that could make the most discriminating of pallets water in anticipation. I have Wednesday off, which means the early part of that day will be spent trying again to catch up on blogging, and then I hope, if it goes on, to catch Dizz's radio show live. I especially look forward to the food part of Dinner and a Mix, the show's title. I go into this week with many memories of the weekend, and the unforgettable sunburn on my legs and arms, as well as the back of my neck. I did, though, have a lot of fun on Saturday with Cody and the friend from work, and on Sunday helping Cody learn the game he was playing. Here's to a new week.

End of week cleaning

Enjoy.

• Backyard Paparazzi to the Stars
  
• Judge OKs $1.1 billion Microsoft deal
  
• Patriot Act Complaints Reviewed
  
• PeopleSoft new obstacles for Oracle
  
• Real Basic to target Linux
  
• Red Hat to dump retail, devolve package work
  
• Cracking Windows passwords in seconds
  
• Google Beefs Up News Searches
  
• Hackers Lose a Patron Saint
  
• IBM giving SuSE Enterprise Linux away
  
• Games firm sues Eminem for fraud
  
• Linux in Munich - Gartner gets retaliation in prematurely
  
• Red Hat opens Linux development process
  
• SCO scoops up Web services start-up
  
• Wal-Mart to Face the Mother of All Lawsuits
  
• Watchdog asks Justice Dept. to block Oracle
  
• PeopleSoft details stock swap
  
• Oracle confirms bid for bigger PeopleSoft
  
• Today is Sys Admin Day - again
  
• RIAA, Colleges Seek Piracy Fix
  
• RIAA blocks attacks with TST-Secure-OS
  
• Congress disappoints FCC, DoJ
  
• How to Tell if the RIAA Wants You
  

Future geek

It is said the one true sign of a geek is how much he spends in front of his favourite game. If this is the case, at least in my humble abode, there were two geeks present this weekend. You see, my nephew was over this weekend, and if his game playing desires are anything, there is no doubt in my mind that he is a future geek for sure. The kid is great, I love having him here, but it seemed he always wanted to be inside, on my nice 2100, not outside enjoying everything. He wanted to cut the Fringe trip short, and tried to use my suspected heat stroke as an excuse to leave early. I know I am partly to blame, I tried to get him into computer big time, but I want him to use computers, not play computers. I want more tool use, not just gaming. Ya know?