Free books are always nice. Yay iPad…
Two days ago we told you that Project Gutenberg's ebooks should be compatible with the iPad, and we even showed you some ways to get around any possible restrictions Apple could have imposed on the vast catalog of free ebooks. Well, it looks like those workarounds won't be necessary, because according to appadvice, the entire Project Gutenberg catalog will be offered for free from the iBookstore.
Project Gutenberg has a library of over 30,000 books online, with classic titles from all walks of literature. Apple's not only supporting access to this vast library of works, they're officially offering it from within their own store, for free. This is a pretty classy move from Apple, and one that makes the iPad a very attractive purchase for anyone interested in reading the classics without shelling out a whole lot of money for them.
via Project Gutenberg ebooks will be included in the iBookstore for free.
As always, this is pre- REAL release information, but it would certainly be nice if a large number of books were available for free at launch.
Yast2 Terror
I have been living with PHP 5.0.4 on a SuSE 10.0 webservers I manage because of an installation of ISPConfig 2.2.1 with multiple sites that scares me to try an upgrade for fear of goobering any of the sites, or worse yet the main site manager. Well I have tried many CMS's looking for one that doesn't require an upgrade to PHP, and if you want any of the new Image rotaing goodness that is out there you have to have 5.1 or better. So back to the desperation, I found a reference to a guy that says he flawlessly upgrade his PHP by using the YAST2 (Yet Another Software Tool 2) and simply changing the install source to a 10.1 and selecting that module alone. Well after several failed manual upgrade attempts I finally followed suit, now all I can say is please work, or at least back out gracefully if bad things were going to occur due to some conflict. It's 67% through what clearly is more than the single module I selected being installed, there were dependencies I allowed it to install to get it to say yeah it should work, so I hope it does...
UPDATE: It now says I have PHP 5.1.2 in the installed versions area of yast, yet my server seems to think I still have 5.0.4, something in the config files is still goobered, or I just need to restart the process to read the new config files... either way I'm going to bed while things are still working.
A reoccurring plague – Automatic updates grayed out in XP
Grayed out Automatic updates on a windows XP box answer
I manage an SBS 2003 server at my church, I currently do not host a WSUS service on it, this means all the machines on the network should get their updates from the Microsoft mothership.
Unfortunately the default group policy usually disables the users ability to edit or allow for the updates and I always have to turn to the web to relocate the correct registry entries to turn off that will allow the user to modify the settings for automatic updates to enable getting updates from Microsoft not the local server. I know, change the policy on the 2003 SBS, I have but the default user template I use has the wrong settings and I don't add machines frequently enough to remember to change it.
So after another multisite, not quite my situation, the internet is impressive in it's breadth of opinions even wrong ones search I finally found this page at the Technet site (I think, I closed the window prematurely after the screen shot, sorry if it was yours and not Bill's answer) and decided to snag it for myself and possibly you if you are here after a search.
Click on the image to see it full size and be able to read it.
Dune like "water from air" device now a reality
I always thought this seemed like an idea you could potentially see someday, I found it interesting and wanted to share the link for those that don't stumble upon tech articles very frequently.
ScienceDaily (June 8, 2009) — Not a plant to be seen, the desert ground is too dry. But the air contains water, and research scientists have found a way of obtaining drinking water from air humidity. The system is based completely on renewable energy and is therefore autonomous. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605091856.htm
Mighty Little Laptop, Eee Pc 1000H
Eee PC 1000H
I get asked quite frequently what machine would I suggest someone get for themselves or often a loved one. I am always torn because if they had the cash i would always recommend a mac. they are easy to learn to use and do almost anything a Windows box can do. Everything if you're willing to run windows on your mac inside vmware or parralells.
But what do I tell them if they don't have $1000 burning a hole in their pocket? in the past i just kind of hem hawed and said I don't know if you don't want a Mac. But what about using their existing PC if it is less than 5 years old with a copy of Ubuntu Linux. Or if they want a small light weight laptop they could get what I just got for around $325, an ASUS Eee PC 1000H.
So I got it on Saturday of last week, and it did take me a bit of effort to get Ubuntu on it just the way I wanted and some of you may say, "Your a computer guy I could never do that" and perhaps your right. the unit does come with XP home edition if you just can't stand the idea of a little research, or asking a friend. But in my case I found that if you have access to a windows pc that can get to the web, a 1 GB USB thumb drive, and a little patience you can have a Netbook just like mine. I'll post helpfull links at the bottom shortly.
A really good article on e-books and their history
If you know me, your aware of my fascination with electronic books and my foray into that world with my Kindle experience. I really liked the device but saw a financial opportunity to sell it for what I paid for it and took it. I have been patiently waiting ever since for a way to read my kindle books on my mac or a newer kindle. Who wants to buy the same one again, then I might as well not have sold it. Plus I was and still am stymied by the hole battery life issue, it needs to not die when i want to read it, only when I am done... In any event if your at all interested John Siracusa over at Ars Technica has a great article on the history of the e-book industry ad his thoughts on where it may be going.
~ John
The once and future e-book: on reading in the digital age - Ars Technica
Whew… 2.7 upgrade broke my site…
If you upgrade your site from 2.6.x and you get a white screen on every page you attempt to go to on your site including the admin page, you are where I was recently. The fix ended up being to simply logout, the instructions I used from the Wordpress forums is below.
1. logout or logout with http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-login.php?action=logout
2. login with http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-login.phpIf WordPress is installed in something other than the root folder please take that into account for the above url examples
I have again decided to try and move to a single blog, so I settled on this one. I have been enjoying some photography recently and I will being placing shots I find interesting here as well as sites or thoughts relating to my hobbies. I think all these things add together to improve your walk and hopefully make my blog a better blog by sharing my journey to improving my self and draw closer to God.
First blush at the iPhone/Touch BibleXpress
This is it, BibleXpress, my new favorite iPod Touch Application.
So far, this is by far the best portable Bible app I have used. I used to use a version for the Palm, then for the Windows CE device (several), I thought had found the perfect device in the Kindle but it was a huge disappointment in the implementation of the electronic Bible. It wasn't the Kindles fault as much as it was the fact that none of the Bible publishers knew how to implement a good index that allowed you to get to a book and chapter quickly.
Well the iPhone/Touch app of BibleXpress has that part nailed down. Just touch the top bar and up pops a rotating dial that allows you to quickly scroll to whatever book, chapter or version you want to get to. How do you think you get to the next chapter? In version 1.1 it is as simple as swiping your finger just as you might after licking it to turn a page.
Another thing that was disappointing about the other Bible apps I had tried was their dependence on connectivity, it might be great on your iPhone to be able to hop over and read a multitude of translations but what about when there is no connectivity. BibleXpress has an actual copy of the translations on the device, ready to be read anywhere.
In a note from the developer (see below) he mentions his intent to include a number of additional translations. Since the app store doesn't currently offer a method of paying for upgrades you the buyer are having to trust the developer remains true to his word and includes more translations as he rolls out improvements and bugfixes. But so far, even if he didn't get a single additional translation I would still say his app is NOT overpriced. I can't wait to see what all improvements he makes, a simple reading plan would be awesome.
Check out the developers site for a youtube video of how it works and more information. If your like me and have been looking for a Bible that would potentially be with you always, this is a great place to start. I don't know if it will replace my trusty Cambridge, but I will certainly enjoy the ease and speed in which i can pop around and get to verses. Did I mention it also has a powerful search capability...
A note from the developer at BibleXpress
The iPhone /iPod Touch software will be updated with more Bible translations over the coming months until at least 80% of the net price is being paid as royalties. We’re currently negotiating with 3 popular translations. Check back in a few weeks for updated information.
Why the OS wars continue…
Microsoft Watch - Marketing - Why the 'Mojave Experiment' Fails
The "Mojave Experiment" is conceptually a fresh marketing effort—at least for such a lame marketer as Microsoft. But after looking more closely at Mojave and reviewing Microsoft Watch reader comments, I have to call the experiment perhaps the worst kind of marketing.
In response to the author and those commenting on his article on why I think Mojave is not the preferred way of selling your product to your users is that it assumes the fact that "lots" of people don't like vista because they haven't seen it. I watched the video online and initially was impressed that they found that many people with such a strong opinion of the OS that weren't in IT. That says a lot about the failure to relay what the benefits of the OS are to the user base. This happens I believe because for the last 15 years Microsoft did not have to relay what the benefits were to users, there was no choice, you bought a machine you need a new OS. Linux and Mac OSX are only gaining a little traction now because they have fought to tell the story of why their OS is preferred. Mac OSX more than linux of course, but I think linux has come a long way in the past 3 years, and the mac has sold viewers "it just works". What does? no one really knows but "it" just works. For an established champ like windows that should be it's mantra, instead we get the blue screen of death, or security / virus comments, anything but it has more software than any other OS and runs on more manufacturers. Though that strength has played into a weakness in a failure to have partners deliver rock solid integration. We're back to a positive slant in apple commercials again, we build it all and it just works... but enough of that. Mojave is bad advertising, if your the one duped. If you had no opinion then it might work to sway you toward looking at it. If you had a strong opinion then your angry that they did that to other Vista bashers, and if you love vista, then you'll like mojave. But which of those classes of viewer/users were they really after?
