I want to setup a blog for my family (got domain name already), but I can't decide between the various software packages available out there. I definitely don't want to run slash or other news-oriented software. Yet, the blog should obviously be presented in a sort of journal format in order to share family events with visitors and family members.

I need the blog to allow images upload, possibly organized in a photo-book ala Yahoo images, allowing photos to be sorted and handled by event. This is required IMHO to share family life moments through pictures.

The software should obviously allow members to register themselves (possibly with an admin approval step), and manage their personal details as a family and as individuals.

I am considering Moveable Type for the moment as my best choice, but I don't know if MT does all I need or want since I haven't had time to play with it yet. Anyone has experience with this ?

Has anyone heard of something else that fits my description ?

"Thirteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, 10 states have been deemed ready to join the European Union. The historic move would enlarge the EU to 25 nations by 2004", report CNN and the BBC.

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus -- have been deemed ready to compete inside the EU's single market from 2004 following often painful economic and social reforms.

Bulgaria and Romania have been given a date of 2007, but Turkey has been left out until the country establishes a better human rights record...

Update: some more links to ABC News - Voice of America - Deutsche Welle - Radio Free Europe - Radio Netherlands - Forbes

Meanwhile, the editors don't think this is important news (after all, it isn't for geeks) ( * 2002-10-09 18:15:48 EU to grow to 25 member countries in 2004 (articles) (rejected)), but tend to think that we care for what's in this guy's toolbox or if some senator gets sued for $80. You may also notice that /. doesn't even have a EU section yet. Pathetic.

As some of you know, I recently got married. It's been little over two months now.

My wife and I want to begin having children, but it seems it's not easy. In some cases it comes unexpectedly, but sometimes people wanting to have children wait several months (or more) for it to "work". We shall see.

A couple of weeks ago we did something interesting: skydiving. You can see pictures of us here and here. Skydiving is _really_ scary. I tried bungee-jumping before, and the fear is about the same. But once in the air, OMG... It all happens very quickly, then it's plain cool :) Highly recommended. Not for the faint of heart, though !

I was once told that whatever energy you spend trying to date or chat-up other girls, you will gain 10x more if you spend this energy in your own marriage instead. I think this is very true, for having spent hours cooking and caring for my wife during special occasions (birthdays, etc.) and sometimes for no special reason at all. She does the same to me and likes to offer me flowers and comic books once in a while ! So I tend to spend less time at the computer than before. I even gave up IRC (after so many years sucked-in...)

How's life for all of you soon-to-be-married, wish-you-were, been-there-done-that, etc.? Write in here and tell us what's up for you !

This should be happy times, I guess. In little over one week, I'm getting married. That's right. Proof that the Slashdot readers aren't just nerds and college dropouts.

I'm an old fart, and I also have a social life after IRC and Slashdot.. So anyway, she promised that she'll yes and now we're busy preparing the ceremony and stuff.

I'm actually looking forward to it very much, for multiple reasons.

First, we want to have babies. Lots of babies. We'll start with one, of course, but then there is no stopping us. But we couldn't have children without being married first, so that was the logical move.

Then, we've been preparing this event for over a year and frankly, I'll be happy when we'll be through. I am tired of not having an hour to spare at home in the evening, because there are always things to prepare. Once we'll be done, we can get together in the evening, and say `this feels odd, we don't actually have anything planned for tonight'. This hasn't happened to us in weeks.

I'm still a little nervous about the number of guests invited. There should be ~370 at church, ~225 at the dinner and ~200 at the barbecue on the next day. That's quite a crowd and I will feel a bit nervous when the time will come to say `Yes' in front of this crowd...

Wish me luck :)

I want to subscribe (that's right, opt-in) to spam using a carefully selected email address, for research purpose (spam tracking). The email address will obviously be active only for a finite length of time, then will be discarded. The subscription mechanism should be on the web, such as what we see on some porn sites, and voluntary. The expected result must be to enlist said email address in the greatest number of spam lists.

Where do I begin ?

Found this page with some good media (Windows only). I feel that I should bookmark it for whoever likes the song too.

Elvis vs. JXL "A Little Less Conversation" -- main page linking to the various media.

The media:

Official Elvis vs. JXL Video

The commercial spots from Nike:

• Secret Tournament
• Rematch

Wired reports that the US Army is rolling out their latest video game used for training. The first 10 missions of the game are available for download, free of charge. The remaining nine missions will follow over the course of the summer. nVidia carries an interview with the Executive Producer of the game. It isn't the first time that video games are used in the army for training; from Doom II spawned the military version Marine Doom, which has been used for years.

Update 2002-07-04 11:48:09 US Army Rolls-out New Combat Game for Training (articles,usa) (rejected)
...Eww, that was a good story:-(

I've had many friends and foes in the past, and to a lesser degree some fans and freaks (what a horrible name btw). But in the recent past, I have come to realize that foes really aren't worth listing as such, even the crapflooders and annoying trolls (at least to me). Some people are more annoying than others, but this doesn't matter to me anymore. Plus, some of the trolls out there (you know who you are) I consider to be plain funny. So, with no more hatred, I decided to unlist all my foes.

Fans are so much better to have than Karma. Screw karma. People I like, and who like me (for the most part), took the 5 seconds of their precious time to click on this gray dot then press submit. Thank you. I love you too ;) I actually check my fans list on a regular basis just in case some new ones appear whom I haven't got in my friends list yet.

All the fans of recursiv are my friends. Recursiv is a nice fellow, I like his style even if he doesn't talk very much on this forum. We shared some opinions on our views of the friends/foes system in the past, and agreed on most things. In an attempt to reap more fans, I've listed his beloved fans as my friends. If some of them read this, me being a fan of them at this time, they might consider returning the favor if they care !

It is funny to check out some of the most prominent figures on Slashdot. The number of fans of Taco and who are his freaks is interesting. JonKatz really isn't popular, but not quite as much as Klerck who has an even bigger freaks list. I guess that people are tired of PWP, but this is the price to be a pioneer. He is in returned, loved by an army of trolls.

I have also witnessed more and more guys advertise an URL in the form: slashdot.org/zoo.pl?op=addcheck&type=friend&uid= their UID. This is amusing to see those flourish, since I think I was the one to come up with the idea first. To me, this is a trademark to find people interested in the same as I am: making more friends and fans ! So please, don't stop now and let the fans flock to me :)

By the way, since editors refuse all my my poll ideas no matter how hard I try (story submission, email taco, email pater, etc.) I gave up and instead, decided to propose you a poll right here:

Favorite online cartoon:

• Dilbert
• Garfield
• Megatokyo
• Penny Arcade
• User Friendly
• BrandX's pic of the day (I know this is not a cartoon, consider this as the CowboyNeal option)

The choices are sorted alphabetically to leave my personal preferences out :)

I need to replace a dual-cpu PC computer by a new machine, but I'm facing some kind of dilemma.

I've been a long-time PC user, in fact since the very first 8086s, and I normally build computers myself from carefully selected parts.

Currently I have 2 computers. The oldest one (built in 1996) is a dual pentium 200 mmx with 256 MB EDO ram, SCSI CD-ROMs and CD-Writer, 30 GB IDE hard disks and a 21" monitor. The newest is a Dell dimension 8100 (pentium 4 1.5 Ghz, 128 MB RDRAM, 140GB IDE hard disk, FireWire).

I am primarely using Linux at home (on the older PC), and occasionnally Windows 98SE or ME (I don't have and don't want W2K, XP or else). Windows ME is the only OS on the Dell. I mostly do "desktop" work under Linux (email, mp3s, scripting...) on the old computer, and I play and do video editing on the newer, faster machine.

My dilemma is the following: if I should buy a new machine, should it be a MAC ?

This question has a huge impact for me, since I'm such a long time PC user. Allow me to explain why I am perhaps considering a Mac.

1. These days I do mostly "desktop" tasks and I would like to emphasize on video editing. A Mac Powerbook G4 would be a fine platform to do this.
2. I don't want to drop Linux because I still want to be able to run bash in an xterm, use perl, edit with vim, compile with gcc. MacOS X should be able to do all these things, but I haven't seen it myself yet.
3. The price is the biggest incentive. Should I buy a new PC alltogether, if all I really need is a motherboard ? But then, can I still get a baby-AT dual-CPU pentium motherboard from somewhere ? If not, the cost of a home-built reasonnable-spec PC is +/- 800€, considering that I would keep my existing 21" monitor. A Powerbook G4 of similar specs costs over 4500€. If I buy a Mac, it will be no less than a Powerbook G4 (I don't want a sissy iMac or iBook for video editing).
4. When I'll be rich(er) I could buy a cinema HD display, but only if I buy a Mac in the first place.
5. How about software: I can get all the software I want for PC, but I can't get Mac software easilly nor do I want to shell out 1000€'s to get some (if you know what I mean ;)
6. I would like to to salvage parts from my old PC if possible, should I buy a Mac. It would sadden me greatly to throw away the CPUs, memory, SCSI devices, because all I really need is a new motherboard. In fact, perhaps I should just buy a new MB and get on with it. But in the event that I replace completely the computer, can I still use some of these parts in a Mac ?

This isn't the only questions in my mind right now. Others are: in case it's a PC, single or dual CPU ? I must admit that I haven't had the need for a dual-cpu machine lately, even if it was cool to have one. I think I now prefer to have a single, faster processor which could be used for games for instance, whereas a dual-cpu configuration is wasted because of the general lack of support from the OS (win 9x) and the applications.

If you're a PC or MAc enthusiast and you would like to contribute your feedback, please do so. I have found Valmont's latest journal log to be an insightful read. I'd love to hear more opinions, since they will help me decide.

Found a quicker and more systematic way to make friends ! Because what you really want is to make _real_ friends, right, not just random user accounts that were created and never used, or user accounts of people that never post comments ?

Greetings to recursiv for various ideas and help in refining this excellent concept.

This post I wrote was rated (Score:3, Troll) for some time, before it eventually reached (Score:4, Informative). For the moment, it stays around (Score:1, Informative) after 3 users thought it was overrated.

There is a good balance in the Force today. It is also interesting to see the dynamics of moderation in action on such a post (kinda Troll, but not quite.. you tell me).

Another important piece of news rejected tonight:
* 2002-05-28 19:39:29 Russia Signs Historical NATO Treaty (articles,usa) (rejected)

These days, one never knows what will make the news or not. Some obscure graphics chipset that nobody cares for will make the front page, but a major treaty with Russa which dramatically re-shapes the power tables in Europe and in the Middle-East (and possibly more far-reaching) and that will change our lives for the next 50 years or more, is rejected.

So here is the coverage for you my fellow /. journal readers:

• Coverage from the BBC
• News from AP/Yahoo
• CNN Europe report
• The New York Times article

Just found this somewhat interesting Slashdot Karma HOWTO. The author misses a few important points, but still it's entertaining reading and could be kept for reference.

And, damn you whoever you are, who modded down my superb idea to (0, Redundant).

I recently purchased a Casio Satellite Navi wristwatch (PAT2GP-1V). Arguably not one of the most sophisticated GPS, however it's probably the smallest one in the world, and it's right here at my wrist all day long.

Sensitivity is bad. I mean, really bad. The antenna is approx. 1.5 x 3 cm in size and as such, reception is a problem. You have to be in the middle of very open & flat land for it to work the first time. It took me 2 days to realize this, before the device could successfully lock in to 3 satellites and perform its first measurement.. (If you must know, it was N5054'37.7" x E0428'13.6"). I had to hold the watch up in the air for ages (15 minutes or so) in the middle of a field, for it to acquire its first data.

Now that it knows where it is, following fixes are a lot quicker. I can even put it on the dashboard under the windscreen, and it still works ! This morning I drove to work (in urban area) with the watch on the dashboard, and it acquired its position within a few minutes.

The watch features and data sheet are impressive. Casio certainely have a point: everything fits into a very small form factor. But don't expect the same features and speed of acquisition like even the cheapest Garmin or Magellan hand-held units, which provide cartography functions. This toy will give you your position and that's it.

I have found numerous GPS resources on the web. Rather than sharing my bookmarks, I prefer to give the URL for the GPS Enthusiasts Webring which has most of the good links already.

The street price for the PAT2GP-1V is $499, but you can get it online for a lot cheaper. The item is listed on pricewatch. I got mine from partshelf.com for $319.95 plus shipping.

Things I like:

• It's not that big, and very comfortable to wear.
• It feels expensive (and it is :)
• Much improved since previous version: smaller, waterproof, slicker.
• Programming the watch using the menus isn't bad, except for entering text which is painfully slow.
• The battery is rechargeable.

Things I dislike:

• It's a watch which I will use for primarily reading the time from. But the clock ticker is very small to read: it's the 3rd line of display out of 5. I wish there was a full-screen option for the clock, but there isn't.
• The small antenna limits its gain and sensitivity. You can get your position while outdoor in an open area, but don't expect anything in urban areas or under foliage cover.
• The satellites acquisition is slow and often requires several attempts.
• The casing is made of plastic, and will scratch easilly.
• The software shipping with the watch is outdated, there are no integrated mapping capabilities. So you have to export coordinates into a csv file and import them into your mapping software. Duh.
• There are no Windows NMEA-0183 drivers, so you can't use this GPS receiver to link to your favourite navigation software.

Banned from Moderation and/or Meta-Moderating ? Are you sad about it ? Does it make you mad ? Do you believe it was well-deserved ?

Make sure you pay a visit to this discussion, Moderation: Time to Wipe the Slate Clean?.

Update 23/05/2002: the discussion was remove from Slashdot with no warning and no explanation, but I can guess the reason: it must have made them feel uncomfortable to let people complain. Just follow the above URL to get the idea :-(