I have added a new feature to my blog in the form of a photo gallery. It integrates my Picasa Web Album right into the blog and displays all my public photos. There is a link to the photo gallery on the top right of every page. Check it out!
I am also working on a new homepage for my site and hope to launch it soon.
I originally posted this entry about Prism on the Summersault Weblog, but because I think it is such a great program, I want to share it here as well:
I recently found a neat little application that has been useful both at work and in my at-home computing. It is called Prism, and what it does is allow you to run your favorite web applications (Remember the Milk, Facebook, Google Calendar, etc.) as if they were desktop applications. Because it was built on the Firefox engine, it will run any web applications you can run in your Firefox browser.
Prism is still currently considered a prototype because it is under development by Mozilla Labs, but it seems to function quite well. I used it to access our VOIP-powered phone call routing panel at work and my Remember the Milk to-do list at home. It has resulted in a significant reduction of frustration caused by misplaced or closed browser windows and reduces the time it takes to reach my information because it is available at the click of a button on my desktop.
Getting Prism
Prism is very easy to use and available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux users. To start using Prism, simply download the appropriate version and install it on your computer. (Eventually, Mozilla hopes to integrate Prism into Firefox so you don’t even have to download and install a new program, but for now, it is still necessary.)
Once Prism is installed, start the program, and it will display an Install Web Application window.
Enter the URL of the application you want to use, a name for the application , and the locations you would like shortcuts to appear. Then click OK , and Prism will create shortcuts in the locations you specified and start the application.
For anyone who regularly uses web applications as a part of their work flow or daily life, Prism is a great solution for bridging the gap between web applications and desktop applications.
After doing some looking around in WordPress, I realized that I had my blog setup to require people to register for a username and password to post a comment. Since this can be quite a deterrent for some people, I have turned this off . Now anyone who would like can post comments without the trouble of registering.
Comment Away!
After falling out of the public eye, Net Neutrality is once again back in center stage with a new bill surfacing in Congress. The new bill, dubbed the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008,” adds a “Broadband Policy” section to the Communications Act. It will require the FCC to look into current policies and ensure that the ISPs aren’t blocking or delaying traffic to any websites unreasonably. The bill will also require the FCC to hold at least eight public “broadband summits” to “assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer choice issues related to broadband Internet access services.”
All in all the bill does not actually do anything to write Net Neutrality into law; it simply requires the FCC to do more to keep the net neutral. To me this seems like a small step in the right direction, but it still leaves opportunity for ISPs and telecoms to continue using their money to influence the powers that be and reverse the neutral status of the internet.
To find out more about Net Neutrality and why it is so important, checkout my most recent posting on the Summersault Weblog.
I heard this song recently on net@nite then saw the video in Amber Mac’s blog. It keeps getting stuck in my head so I thought I would share.
The video is actually created by cutting and pasting together various Apple iphone commercials to make the lips of the man match the words in the song. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
I have recently become captivated by the story of a young couple not far from Matt’s and my age. I do not know them, and I am not even sure I know someone who knows them, but their story has totally captivated me just the same. Their names are Tricia and Nate and they live in the Outer Banks but are currently at the hospital at Duke University because Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis and is awaiting a double lung transplant but became pregnant and gave birth.
While I don’t always agree with their theology (they are very religious and their life is very much guided by their faith) or life decisions, I come back to Nate’s blog two and three times a day to see how things are going. I am constantly amazed by their love for each other, their faith, and their ability to see the bright side of life when faced with the grim reality that Tricia may not live and their very premature baby is still struggling to live.
They truley seem to be amazing people, and I am inspired by their story. Their love and faith amidst all this pain and suffering gives me hope and makes me want to somehow be a better person. I know that I won’t ever meet them, and I haven’t even posted any comments on their blog, but I sincerely hope that things work out for them. Somehow I know no matter what happens, they will be okay.
I had to bring back my “Happy Thoughts” post to mention a new version release of Picasa for Linux. (Thanks to Life Hacker and Matthew for showing me this information.) Google has finally released (in beta for now) a new version for Linux that is not only much more stable, but also allows you to upload photos to your Picasa web album quickly and easily from within Picasa. For me this is great because I have family members who do not use Facebook or any of the other social networking sites, and this is an easy way for them to see my photos online.
I also love Picasa’s photo organization features. I know a lot of people swear by Flickr, but I love the unified local and remote experience of Picasa.
I have not been blogging as much as I would like recently, mostly due to revamping my computer to run Linux, making lots of beaded jewelry for the Alternative Holiday Bazaar at Clear Creek Co-Op, learning to knit, and everything else in my life; however, I recently heard about a bill in congress that I CAN NOT keep from blogging or ranting about.
While listening to my daily dose of Buzz Out Loud I heard about proposed “New federal legislation that says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also “alternatives” to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students.” In other words, if universities don’t guarantee to provide a revenue stream for the entertainment industry all students at their college will loose federal funding whether or not they own a computer.
To say I am angry about this is a drastic understatement. This is not only an amazing misappropriation of government time and energy, but it also speaks volumes about our country’s misaligned values. The entertainment industry is now trying to convince those who govern us, with apparent success, that preventing piracy is more important than providing quality education for everyone.
The most disturbing part of this is that it will only serve to further increase the gap between the “have’s” and “have not’s” by making higher education virtually unattainable for low income students. Students who’s families cannot afford to pay for college without federal financial aid will be the ones who suffer whether or not they have ever committed piracy.
On top of that, this flies in the face of net neutrality by forcing the universities to filter their networks and put money into select “alternative” sources. This feels like the first precarious step off of a very slippery slope.
I stumbled across this on Leo Laporte’s blog and thought it was worth sharing…
Which way do you see the woman in this image turning? According to the article, the way you see her turning determines whether or not you are right-brained or left-brained. (Counter-clockwise you’re left-brained. Clockwise is right-brained.) A few folks apparently can also see her spinning either direction. I am not sure I agree that it shows whether you are left-brained or right brained, but it was definitely entertaining.
In case you were wondering… I see her spinning both ways.
I am one day off because I just found out this existed, but I thought it was worth participating in a day late. According to the official Blog Day website:
“BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors. With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. This way, all blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs. “
So, with that in mind, here are 5 blogs I find interesting:
Chris Hardie’s Weblog:
This is basically a blog of Chris’ thoughts and interests, but he hits some pretty interesting and often controversial topics. Definitely worth a look.
Search-this:
This is a blog about website promotion, internet marketing, blogging, web standards, usability, design, and development. It is great for keeping up with what is going on in the web world.
Dvorak Uncensored
Yet another technology-based blog, but this one also covers a lot of what is going on in popular culture as well. Plus there is Dvorak’s interesting commentary.
Amber McCarther’s Blog:
I love Amber! She is a self-proclaimed techno-geek out of Toronto, Canada who is currently working as a reporter for CityTV News. She also does a podcast every Tuesday with Leo Laporte called net@nite (one of my favorite). Her blog is full of interesting things she comes across in the technology world and it is usually quite amusing.
Help Derek.com:
This is a plug for my friend Derek. He is an aspiring producer/camera man who writes a blog about his life and his attempts to move to CA and make it big. His site still needs some work and for the time his blog is rather untraditional, but he is getting there and I am sure he would love some new readers.
