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Ya know I haven't updated in a while, but thats mainly because when I sit down to write my mind goes blank. Dont get me wrong - when Im in the car or grocery store or anywhere far from a keyboard, my head is full of things to write about. Then I get to a keyboard and have a few minutes and *POOF* all empty. Its frustrating. I should warn you that this is going to be stream of consciousness as I hope some of the ideas from this morning commute come back. Wish me luck.
So, I have started playing with two new things, computer wise... The first is Konfabulator. This is a utility which allows you to run widgets on your desktop. Essentially, it is browser-less browsing and application-less applications. For example, I have the local traffic cams, weather, etc. right on my desktop. I also have a to do list, a battery monitor, and a wireless network monitor all neatly on my desktop. No need to run special programs or click something in the system tray. They are small and I have turned down the opaqueness so they dont clutter my background too badly. The other thing is GreaseMonkey. Now this is the shite! Like the content of a web page but dont like the way it functions? Grease Monkey will let you change it. Everything from reformatting a page layout, to automatically adding hyperlinks, etc. Both of these dont require you to write anything - because people who have written stuff (widgets for Konfabulator and scripts for GreaseMonkey) share them out. And there is a lot of very kewl things out there. Best of all, you really dont need to be a geek to enjoy these.
I saw an interesting discussion on a Doctor Who bulletin board. For those who do not know, the BBC has started a new Doctor Who series. It is produced by Russell T Davies who created Queer as Folk Anyway, if you live in the US, with the exception of parts of, I think, Iowa, you cannot see the series as its too expensive for PBS and, for some unfathomable reason, the SciFi Channel passed on it. OK, quick aside. One of the most popular SciFi series in the history of TV. Built in audience. Guaranteed ratings. Exactly the correct genre. WTF?? I miss their logic completely. Anyway, back to this discussion on the bulletin board... excuse me 'forum' ... The debate was between someone who said he was downloading the episodes and watching them and that it was not copyright infringement since the show was not being aired in the US and he was not decreasing the BBC's profits, and that when it is released on DVD he will buy the series. On the other side was the argument that it is copyright infringement and that the first guy was trying to justify his actions and neither the lack of airing in the US or his intentions to buy the DVDs when they are released justified violating copyright law. This got me thinking. He downloads the episodes, watches them, and deletes them. What is the difference between this and someone's friend taping a television show and giving them the video tapes. We all do this and dont think twice about it. Is the video tape example fair use? I don t know. If it is, then its a harder argument for the TV industry to make. Or, I am completely wrong...
Been having weird sleep cycles this week. Hopefully that wont last.
zihuatanejo asks an interesting question about names and which you prefer to be known by - ok, actually her question is which do you introduce someone by, but... It got me thinking... I have had a bunch of names over the years:
- O'Neal (my Mom calls me her Irish son)
- Sneal (when she starts with my brothers name and switch)
- Leon (high school)
- Buz (short for Buzzard - from high school)
- Schmealer (college fraternity)
- Whealer (college fraternity)
- Dealer (college fraternity)
- Nealman (my other college crowd)
- Nikulai (SCA)
- Nachum / Nachum-Yankle(my Hebrew name)
And those are just the ones I can remember. Its interesting - different crowds call me by different names. And some people think Whealer is my last name. I can tell who knows me from what source based upon how they refer to me.
Well for someone who claimed not to have much to write about, I've gone off the page. Time to post this bad puppy. (I love mixed metaphors.)
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