Geek Practitioners Blog

Ever think about switching to a Mac, or adding one to your stable of computers?

Phillip Zannini has written a cleverly named book and transition guide: A Mac Eye for the Windows Guy - The Complete Guide to Software for Your Mac!

It’s worth a look, if you’re thinking about expanding your horizons.

If I had more money and less else to occupy me, I would consider going to the Providence Geek Dinner tonight. Oh well.

That and I don’t always do well jumping into a crowd of people I don’t know and socializing.

Desktopple sounds like the thing for me. I work centered mainly around the desktop, but that leaves me having to clean it up periodically. Usually that’s a dramatic sweep every couple months, with “running out of space” sweeps of the easy to move stuff in between.

Talk about feeling watched. No sooner did I remove the rogue links than they were replaced with similar ones off a different college URL.

I dropped everything to upgrade WordPress. Seems to be working so far.

I came over here to update the blogroll and noticed a funny thing:

Someone was able to hack WordPress in a way that gave them access to the blogroll. No idea when it happened, but the links all redirected through this WordPress blog using a trailing structure in the form of:

?q=cash-loans

At the end of the URL to which I linked. Not sure offhand what the ?q is and how it differs from the ?s format used to return search results. It did the job, anyway, redirecting to an entirely different location. I suspect the blog in question was also victimized and had no active role.

The lesson? This is probably why there have been security-related updates to WordPress that I should have installed periodically. I’m pretty sure none of the WP blogs in our “empire” are fully updated except the newest one. Oops.

The other lesson? If I posted here regularly as I really do plan to, I would notice these things promptly, limiting any benefit accruing from the linkage.

Now multiple WordPress updates are on my list of things that must be done sooner rather than later.

I have updated my resume page. Eliminated beta and scratch stuff and added a link to the current blogging resume in Word format.

Perhaps I’ll get around to posting other stuff here one of these days…

Web Worker Daily remains a source of great content, but I hate their new design enough that I’m not sure I can call it my favorite anymore. Not only does it not fit the name neatly as the old design did, but as is so common, the featured content panel across the top feels like an obstruction getting in the way of my perusal of the posts.

I got over the redesign of Ars Technica that I disliked almost as much, but in their case the content has also slipped a bit since.

I also like to check out The Register, which for me predates almost everything I read online, and ZDNet Tech Blogs daily. Once in a while I also peruse ITtoolbox Blogs. Everything else is on a no more than once a week basis.

You would never know it by the Middleboro PTA’s current online calendar, but there will be a craft fair this Saturday, December 1st, at the Burkland School cafeteria. The school is on Mayflower Avenue, which is right off the main drag of route 105, near the lights at route 28. SouthCoastToday.com actually does have mention of it buried here:

HOLLY DAYS CRAFT FAIR: Sponsored by the Middleboro Elementary P.T.A., 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Burkland School cafeteria. Proceeds from the fair and sales of the ornaments made by the children will be used to purchase books for the elementary schools libraries.

Deb will be in it, so if you’re local enough, you should go buy stuff from her there. Heck, you might see stuff you like at one of the other tables too. The proceeds they mention above are the table fees. We’d love to make back the table fee (which is an amusing term given that you have to supply your own table), though that shouldn’t be that hard.

If you’re not local, now is the time for Christmas shopping online. Deb has created the coolest snowmen to put in the shop, including so far Kris K. Snowperson and Monica Snowperson, with more to come. Including Jeremy Snowperson, who came to life while I was typing this post.

Bookmarks make great little gifts. So do her popular coasters. There are also dishcloths and towels, facecloths, creatures and aliens in addition to the snowpeople, coin purses and card wallets, and you can make a gift card extra special by using a gift card cozy (holder).

Deb has made a pile of awesome stuff you won’t see in the online shop unless it doesn’t sell in the fair, after which it will filter onto the site. Some of what is currently in the shop may be available at the fair.

It’s worth remembering that Deb does custom orders or variants on existing products. For instance, this tic-tac-toe game was inspired by the original. This drawstring pouch was inspired by this blue drawstring pouch and this small rainbow drawstring pouch. This custom set of eight coasters was inspired by other coasters done in sets of four. I know I’m showing you a lot of sold items, but they are great examples of what is possible.

So if you are in the area Saturday, come on by the fair and see some of Deb’s cool stuff in person, but otherwise check it out online.

Crossposted from Blogblivion.

Hi Jay. You said okay to a test.

This is a test post from a Blackberry.