What Peanut Says

In case you haven't looked recently, we have a weblog where we occasionally post stuff about our birds. Vicki recently updated it with many more things that we've heard Peanut say more than once. Take a look: it's quite a list! [Sneak Preview: "I don't want to go to Paris. It's cold!"]

Tools I Want to Try

I've been listening to various podcasts (in case you hadn't noticed) and recently heard about some very interesting tools for building websites. I'd very much like to spend a few days with each of these, putting together a simple website just to see how it works and feels.

• Jifty - heard on Perlcast in this episode
• WebGUI - heard on Perlcast in this episode
• Seaside - heard on Distributing the Future in this episode

And, of course, there's the now ubiquitous Ruby on Rails. Since I've already ready one Ruby book, Rails is definitely in my list of tools to try soon.

In addition, the makers of Seaside have put together an online, malleable, collaborative database called Dabble. This would be great for something like the Rockville UMC choir music library, if only we had Internet access from the choir room.

Take a look

Here are three links, just in case you haven't seen these recently. Enjoy!

• Vicki's weblog - with some pix of our recent mini-vacation to Assateague Island
• Our cats' weblog - with a little help and artwork from Vicki
• All our weblogs and sites

Collaborative Word Processing?

While reading Groklaw today I came across a reference to Writely. It's an interesting idea, and I suggest that you visit their website and take the tour.

How to send files

I got an early look at this program a few days ago, and I'm impressed with what they offer. The program gives me the ability to share files with you. One of the company founders writes, "I never attach files to e-mail anymore." So, take a look at AllPeers and share something with me.

I need a database generator

I've run into several problems, recently, in which it became clear to me that I was doing work that could better be done by a format template combined with data in a database. Unfortunately, I haven't made friends with MySQL yet to a sufficient degree that I could just whip out a few more tables and get the job done. Someday, perhaps. . . .

Online Gripes

I'm dealing with two ISP-related gripes today. First, our inboxes have been hosted at Comcast.net, while our e-mail is forwarded through EasyDNS.com, which handles our DNS registration. Unfortunately, Comcast has repeatedly concluded that the EasyDNS servers send too much spam, and so Comcast blacklists them.

It appears that someone else with a hacker bent shares my plight, because these blacklistings tend to be short-lived. Comcast provides a mechanism to request that you be removed from the blacklist, and my guess is that my fellow sufferer has set up a script to make such a request on a regular basis, perhaps every 15 minutes. However, the blacklisting, however short-lived, has caused an untold number of e-mails to me or to Vicki to bounce back, causing consternation to our family and friends.

Comcast appears totally uninterested in correcting this situation, so I've finally moved our inboxes to Gmail, and plan to drop Comcast as our ISP within the next few days.

Part of the reason for not dropping Comcast months ago is that our faster ISP, Verizon FiOS, blocks port 80 in-bound, meaning that we cannot directly run our web server with its handful of websites. I had been introduced to IPower.com, which offered a virtual hosting deal for $32/month. Unfortunately, it appears that their price has gone up to $49/month, and that the entire 12-month price must be paid up-front. I don't have that kind of money available, so this appears to be a dead-end. I'm frustrated by this, as IPower appears to be a much better hosting option than any other available to me at the moment.

Sorry for the gripes, but this is what's been on my mind for the last few hours.

NSA eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional

I don't know how long this link to the story on CNN will be valid, but it's working at the moment, and I want you to know about it. Thank you Judge Taylor!

Commute Education - Week 16

[One reason I list these podcasts as I'm listening to them is the hope that you will be interested in listening to them too.]

August 14, morning:

• Brasscast - 8/6/06

August 14, evening:

• Make Video Podcast: Weekend Projects - Make a Pinhole Camera and Darkroom - 8/11/06
• DTF: Patterns for Communication, Moderation, and Information Processing - April 03, 2006
• Brasscast for 08/13/06

August 15, morning:

• IBM developerWorks This week on developerWorks: - Jul 19, 2006
• Perlcast Interview with Chris Nandor - 01.05.2006
• NPR: Technology for Thursday, 01 Jun 2006

August 15, evening:

• IBM developerWorks This week on developerWorks: - Jul 26, 2006
• IBM developerWorks This week on developerWorks: - Aug 02, 2006
• IBM developerWorks Making SOA real with WebSphere, Episode 5: Optimizing Reuse and Connectivity - 7/25/06
• IBM developerWorks developerWorks Interviews: Bobby Woolf - 8/8/06
• IBM developerWorks developerWorks Interviews: David Rhoderick and John Thomas - 7/28/06

August 16, morning:

• Make an auxiliary display - 7/25/05
• Brasscast for 4/30/06 (repeat)
• Brasscast for 4/23/06 (repeat)
• Brasscast for 12/25/05 (repeat)
• Brasscast for 7/17/05 (repeat)
• Brasscast for 7/3/05 (repeat)

August 16, evening:

• Brasscast for 6/19/05 (repeat)

August 17, evening:

• Perlcast Interview with brian d foy - 01.17.2006
• Perlcast Interview with Chad Fowler - 01.26.2006
• Perlcast Interview with Andy Hunt on "Practices of an Agile Developer" - 07.11.2006

August 18, morning:

• Perlcast Perl News - 2006-08-14
• DTF: Boot Camp and Video Game Music - 4/10/06
• Brasscast for 6/05/05 (repeat)

Commute Education - Week 15

[Yes, I've pretty much shifted to a focus on my screen during my commute. I didn't listen to any podcasts during week 14. However, I'm finding that there are times when I could sneak in at least a short podcast, and so I'm beginning to listen again, occasionally.

August 8, morning:

• IBM developerWorks This Week - 7/12/06

August 8, evening:

• Distributing the Future: Great Location Hacks - 7/10/06
• IBM developerWorks Making SOA real with WebSphere, Episode 3: Running WebSphere Business Modeler, MarketWatch - 5/17/06
• IBM developerWorks Websphere Application Server V6.1 performance updates - 6/30/06
• IBM developerWorks Making SOA real with WebSphere, Episode 4: Integrating with WebSphere Process Server, MarketWatch - 6/30/06
• IBM developerWorks Special episode: Service orientation on Linux - 7/14/06
• Make:Weekend Projects: Make A Wallet Out of Tape - 7/14/06
• Make:Weekend Projects: Make a Workbench - 7/7/06
• Make:Tikva Report: Reconnect Sweatshirt - 6/30/06

August 11, morning:

• Make:Weekend Projects - Make a Rodent Powered Nightlight - 7/21/06
• Make:Weekend Projects Make a Kite Aerial Photography Rig - 7/29/06
• Make:Weekend Projects - Picnic Geometry - 8/4/06
• Make:HOW TO make a USB PSP charger (audio with slides) - 7/18/05

August 11, evening:

• Brasscast - 9/4/05 (repeat)
• Brasscast - 9/18/05 (repeat)
• Brasscast - 7/23/06
• Brasscast - 7/30/06

Commute Education - Week 13

July 24, morning:

• Brasscast - 7/16/06

I Got One!

I first saw these new Park Passports in June when we visited the Chickamauga Battlefield. Yesterday I got one when we visited Mammoth Cave.