All bootdisks, all day. http://www.bootdisk.com/

"SpellBound is a port of the spellchecker code and user interface from the Mozilla Suite's Composer that enables spell checking in web forms such as html textarea / input elements (html input password elements are not checked by SpellBound) and rich text form elements. This allows you to spell check forms (e.g. message board posts, blog entries, wysiwyg, etc.) before submitting them when using your Mozilla Firefox or Mozilla Suite browser."

After installing download an appropriate dictionary: http://dictionaries.mozdev.org/installation.html

To use: right-click on a text box or textarea in a form and select Check Spelling.

Since upgrading to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 for some projects at work I have become annoyed at the interface differences as compared to Windows 2000. Among the most annoying (and oddly enough hardest to resolve) was the missing lines between folders in the left-hand pane Folders view of Windows Explorer. To get them to show up again go to Windows Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View tab -> uncheck "Display simple folder view in Explorer's Folders list". Ahhhh.

http://www.overclockers.com/articles716/

Here's some simple steps to publish your calendar from Sunbird on a free WebDAV-enabled server:

1. Download Sunbird at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird.html, install it, and enter at least one event to seed the calendar.
2. Create an account at http://www.icalx.com/ noting your URLs for publishing, it will be used in step 3.
3. Open Sunbird and go to Tools -> Options... -> Publishing -> enter in a value like "http://icalx.com/public/spoonyfork/public.ics". This will be used as the default path to publish a calendar. The "public.ics" is arbitrary. Click Ok.
4. Still in Sunbird, select the Calendars tab view
5. Right-click on the calendar you wish to publish (e.g. "My Calendar") and select the option Publish Entire Calendar.
6. You will be prompted for your icalx.com username and password from step 2. Sunbird gives you the option to have this info saved which can be useful if not insecure.
7. This creates the ics calendar on icalx.com with the name you specified. Click Close.
8. Go to http://www.icalx.com, log in, and you should now see your public.ics in the Public section. Click the HTML view to see your calendar. This URL can now be given to others for HTML viewing or the .ics URL for remote calendar integration with Sunbird or other calendar software users.

HTML example: http://www.icalx.com/html/spoonyfork/month.php?cal=public
ICS example: http://www.icalx.com/public/spoonyfork/public.ics

No, this isn't automated yet but we're getting closer.

The reward I got for myself for completing this huge project (1.5 years) was a new iPod Mini (4GB, silver, US$187 w/education discount). A few minor setup issues aside, I am very impressed with the device. The size, interface, functionality, and price are all just right. I can see why it is so popular with the kids. I am almost equally impressed with iTunes. I'm exploring the Radio (streamed mp3?) functionality now. My next computer might be an Apple. These guys know what they're doing.

*LICK*

I watched my friend play Half-Life 2 a couple weeks ago and put off buying it until my huge project was finished. Awesome games can become a huge timesink for me. My huge project finished so I bought HL2. OMFG is this game sweet. It is my favorite game of all time right now. The aesthetics of the game blow me away. I'm in awe of the creators. If you haven't played it yet and like this kind of stuff.. run, do not walk, and buy it. w00t.

(From YAPH: Management Techniques)

Staffing

• Hire the best employees you can possibly afford then ignore their input, micro-manage them and second guess their decisions.
• Recognize employees who develop new or extend existing skills by putting others in charge of related projects.
• Keep staffing levels critically low.
• Hire consultants to "relieve" the workload. Temporary employees do not raise head count and rumors of exorbitant hourly rates will engage staff as their new co-workers "come up to speed".
• Criticism must be public to be effective.
• Reward successful and overachieving employees with increased workloads. reduce the milieu of other staff accordingly.
• Reward poor employees, beyond keeping them on the payroll, by offering them the same education and advancement opportunities as your stars.
• Choose your subordinate managers carefully. Skilled, savvy people with good interpersonal and organizational skills can threaten your position; never promote these employees and they will leave under their own accord.

Cooperation

• Lay claim to areas serviced by other divisions and departments.
• Never give up something no matter how badly you're doing ("If you've got it, hold it!").
• Build dysfunctional teams by forcing motivated, knowledgeable employees to work closely with underachievers and the inept.
• Cultivate an adversarial relationship to other departments and divisions.
• Insist upon skill-sharing and cross-training without allocating time or reducing workloads.
• Encourage "round-table" discussions then dominate them and dismiss disagreement.
• Break down social and personal barriers by intruding upon unproductive time such as trips to the restroom, meals, sleep and family visits.

Project Management

• Prioritize all tasks and projects equally.
• Delay action on major and minor projects then make snap decisions.
• Set arbitrary deadlines and stick to them.
• Keep "top level" information to yourself and deluge staffers with innumerable details.
• Publish standard operating procedures that are neither standard nor the procedure.
• Define "corporate goals" near mid-year.
• Use your investment portfolio as a handy guide for decision making.
• Involve subordinates in the decision making process by having them attend a merry-go-round of unrelated meetings.
• Establish a corporate Project Management Office then ignore it.

Corporate Culture

• Maintain an atmosphere of crisis.
• Recognize best practices by ignoring them, they'll go away.
• Define "opportunities" in terms of additional work.
• Require non-critical work to be performed after-hours, on weekends and over holidays.
• Stratify management and encourage bureaucracy.
• Create a "culture of meetings".
• Base critical decisions upon incomplete or inaccurate information.
• Encourage subcommitees.
• Embrace the status quo. Decay is preferable to change.
• Lavish praise on minor accomplishments.
• Buck the trend by curtailing perks.
• Silently live by the motto,"No policy is the best policy."
• Keep the rumor trade busy by not stating objectives.
• Publish costly, colorful, and content-free internal bulletins.

Star Wars 3 is going to blow chunks. It has to. Some guys did a humorous parody predicting (quite insightfully) how much chunk is going to be blown. Check it.

Portable Firefox (e.g. USB drive)
Weather forecast extension

Let me get some disclaimers out of the way. TVs suck. Best Buy sucks.

I did some research online and with Consumer Reports to buy a new TV (as a gift) for someone special. They had an old (1986) 19" craptacular RCA CRT that is really starting to show its age. Since they only watch slightly more TV than I do I decided to get them something to replace it without going nuts on a $3000 TV. I settled on the Sony 27" FD Trinitron WEGA KV-27FS320 CRT. Why no HD or LCD? The value doesn't match the increased cost. For me (and the gift recipient) there is a very lax minimum presentation quality level but a very high minimum content quality level. If the available content were to demand higher quality equipment then maybe. Until then, looks good and decent price trumps looks awesome at ridiculous price.

Avoiding Best Buy like the plague, I went to a nearby Circuit City whom I've long since forgiven for that whole Divx gaffe. None in stock. They offered to search other store inventories and I declined stating that I'll be passing one on the way home from work. Besides, I want to see if the display model quality was consistent (it isn't). At the next CC they had none in stock. They checked the inventory of 3 other nearby stores and they too didn't have any in stock. The blasé salesdude said something like "strike five". I thought something like "no sale" and went over to a nearby Sears of all places. They had it in stock and matched CC price plus 10% of the difference taken off as well. Before tax it was $395. w00t. Five minutes later I was on my way to deliver the unit to the recipient. The picture and sound quality of the Sony was not surprisingly far better than the old RCA. The PS2 could be directly connected instead of going through a stupid RF converter. DVDs played through the PS2 were much better as well. It was a happy birthday.

I'm curious about people's opinions regarding HD TV. I read that broadcasters will be mandated by the government to broadcast in HD in 2006 sometime. I also read that HD ready sets will need an add-on to display the HD signal. Non-HD sets will need an add-on to convert the HD signal back to analog and will be displayed as analog. What is everyone else doing?

I attended the Detroit Auto Show opening day as I've done for the last several years. I work in the auto industry so I have a little bit of interest. I'm no gear head but the local culture around here has everyone wrapped up in cars whether they love 'em or not. I tend to gravitate towards things that catch my interest. Those things are usually not what grabs everyone else's interest.

Best concept car

My friends and I noticed that this year there were not nearly as many concept cars as in years past. Also, what few were there all looked the same. The only one that stood out in my opinion was the Ford Shelby GR-1. It looks like 9 million horsepower of bling.

Worst concept car

The Ford SYNus is so lame, I can't believe it is from the same company with the awesome retro 2005 Mustang convertible. How did this sneak in? Try the Bronco concept again, please.

Best concept car that turned into a real car

The Mitsubishi Eclipse was my favorite concept car last year and this year it is the real deal. I love the lines. It looks like it is bulging with power, just bursting with energy. The paint job last year was better though.

Best car

The Detroit Auto Show can be somewhat predictable year to year but every once in a while something different comes out of no where. This year it is the introduction of the Smart vehicles to the USA. I've seen the Smart vehicles in Europe for a number of years and I am glad to see them branch out over to this side of the pond. The car that grabbed my attention was the Smart Roadster. I would like to link to pictures of the cars at the show but they haven't been reported on, which blows me away. I think the Smart Roadster is going to turn some heads on the road and become quite hot. I'm inclined to get one even though it is a DaimlerChrysler.

Best truck/SUV

The best truck/SUV of the show is also my vehicle of choice for purchase next year. It is the Ford Escape Hybrid. Curiously they had it hidden all the way in the back of the Ford exhibit. I like the addition of the 110 outlet in the dash console. Thanks for listening guys! Now when can I get broadband in my car?

Additional observations

One of the touchscreen kiosks had crashed with a Microsoft error message. It was almost too cliche. The presence of many (not a couple, but 20+?) bomb-sniffing dogs made some people nervous. As always the people watching alone was worth every penny of admission (US$9). No where else in Michigan can you see such a wide array of different races, socio-economic classes, and age groups of people all together in such a small area for a long period of time. I sat by the main entrance for an hour just to watch people come and go.

I've set up my SuSE 9.1 Personal workstation running KDE3 at home as clean and crisp as I can. The one thing I have not been able to clean up is the stupid dragon image in the logout screen. The Control Center has all kinds of nice toggles and tweaks for the widgets and themes but no such setting for where the stupid dragon is hiding.

Despair no more for I have found not only his name (Konqi) but his location. Behold!

/opt/kde3/share/apps/ksmserver/pics/shutdownkonq.png

Simply replace that image with one of an exactly similar name and you're money. Mind the /. extra space in the path. Want a suggestion on what to replace the dragon with? Try this one out. It's transparent, clean... down-right professional. Cheers!

(I've had five friends contact me in the last year for help with removing viruses, spyware, and adware from their Windows boxes. I've had to ramp up my knowledge in this subject. Here are known to be good notes and tools as of 7/15/05.

Spyware/Adware removal notes 1
Spyware/Adware removal notes 2

Removal Tools

• Ad-aware SE
• Spybot Search&Destroy
• Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (beta) (actually a decent offering)
• CWShredder
• McAfee AVERT Stinger
• Hijackthis

Lifestyle Changes

• You MUST STOP using Microsoft Internet Explorer and use Mozilla Firefox
• You MUST STOP using Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express and use Mozilla Thunderbird
• Install a firewall like Kerio Personal Firewall or Windows Xp's SP2 firewall (better than nothing)
• Buy some decent anti-virus software like McAfee
• Stop going to pr0n and online gambling sites.
• Do not install anything from the web without asking someone else about it first. Don't trust any web page or software, only trust your friendly neighborhood geek.
• Switch to Apple or SuSE Linux ;)

Opensecrets.org - guide to money in U.S. elections.