All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin
My weekend
I’m sure one or two of you would like to know how my weekend went, so here’s a quick rundown. (FYI: This post is 783 words.)
Stumble onto me?
Checking through my Technorati linkage this morning, my ego was boosted a tad to see another blog link to mine. It’s a cool thing. Also, how did this “Luke ” stumble onto my “reason behind Gmail invites” post? (Here’s some traffic for ya.) Oh well, it’d be interesting to see if he’s bookmarked me. 
TheOpenCD 2.0
Daniel pointed out TheOpenCD in my forums yesterday. I’ve never heard of it before, and frankly, I wish I would’ve seen it before. The people at TheOpenCD compile the best and most stable OSS (Open Source Software) on a single ISO image, which you can freely burn onto CD and install from a few simple menus. I’ve been using Firefox, Filezilla, 7-Zip, Gimp, and Gaim. It’s there to show people new to this that although the software is Open Source, they’re created with the same care as the more popular programs that cost money.
I’ve been using Firefox since it was Phoenix 0.5, and we know how it’s doing now - it’s awesome. Filezilla has been doing its job fantastically as a simple FTP client (it can be a server, too). 7-Zip lets me compress & decompress ZIP and RAR archives with ease, without having to fork money for WinZip or WinRAR. Gimp is interesting, but I’m starting to like it. At least I don’t have to buy Photoshop if I get used to it. And I’ve been using Gaim for a couple years on and off, and I’ve just decided to use it as my primary IM client, dumping AIM and the others.
Blogging ethics
My friends Bill Ritter and Chris Coulter set themselves up with a blog from Blogger. (Sorry you guys, I hope you’re not mad for me linking to you!) In a way, I’m glad someone else I know (locally) has one - maybe they can see the coolness factor of blogging? The satisfaction, perhaps?
I must’ve been mentioning this to a couple other friends while we were working, and the leader in charge of us said that blogs are stupid. To him, blogs are just bad political propaganda and dumb diaries. (I can’t remember clearly if that’s exactly what he said, but I believe that’s the gist of it.)
Personally, I find it a very convenient way to post about interesting articles, facts, truths, and spreading websites I’ve found very useful. However, in the wrong hands, it can spread a bad reputation to those new to blogs.
National Do Not Call Registry
Update: The cell phone number being given out to telemarketers is bogus. Thanks to Vinnie Garcia for pointing it out to me. I usually cross-check suspicious emails - I must be losing it. 
My buddy Chris Lin brings up an email sent to him from a Sprint rep, stating that cell phone numbers will be given to telemarketers on January 1st, 2005. You have until December 15, 2004 to register any and all phone numbers you want protected at the National Do Not Call Registry. Please read through the whole site - understand that not all telemarketing calls will be restricted (e.g. surveys).
IBeBloggin looks fantastic
Update: Due to issues with IE6, Vinnie’s starting over again. You can see what it did look like before, though. Nice job, Internet Explorer.
I think Vinnie Garcia did a great job with his other site IBeBloggin. Swing by his site and give him some of your thoughts. I think it’s pretty stunning how much it doesn’t look at all like a standard blog, and yet it’s still running WordPress as a backend. Wow!
Which comment spam solution?
I just read two posts regarding WordPress comment spam - one from Matt Read and another from Fernando. (Warning: Matt Read uses some vulgarity in his post.) I’m basically confused what solution to use, especially since I haven’t seen the reasoning behind the selection Fernando just made. I’m hoping this trackback will bring about some response. 
I’m currently using Spam Karma. The features look better than the others, and it seems to be working fine on my system. However, I haven’t gotten spammed at all. Ever. Knock on wood, I know! I needed to have a defense system setup, so after reading through the myriad of options available, Spam Karma seemed like the best bet. Regardless on whether or not your WordPress blog has been spammed yet, set up something before you find out the hard way.
By the way, Spam Karma just got updated to version 1.10.
Edit: I updated my older post indicating that the Spam Karma page has changed.
Selective Colorization using The GIMP
I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to be able to edit the Kubrick template using Gimp. I haven’t accomplished that. However, I can say I have the knowledge to take a photo, convert it to black and white, then restore color to selective areas.
A few days ago, I walked out of my apartment to head somewhere, and I noticed the rose garden had a single rose that looked pretty good - while all the others were withered away from the cold. I just started carrying my camera around again, so I felt compelled to take a shot. I took a few far away, and a few closeup. I didn’t think too much of it, and filed the picture away on my computer.
Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 Quietly Released
I haven’t heard much hype for Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0, but it’s officially out. I don’t know of any reviews from big names, so maybe Google will be your friend. At least here’s one reason why you should use Mozilla Thunderbird.
I have a Gmail account, where all my other accounts are being forwarded to it. I’m drawn to new software like a moth to a flame, so I might give it a shot for one of my email accounts.
Changing some site stuff
I finally removed the section in the sidebar for the most recent posts. It was redundant - they’re all on the frontpage anyway. Instead, I’ve replaced it with nine of the most recently updated blogs in my links list. I think I also need to reduce how much stuff I have in my sidebar.
Anthony thought that my “portal” was run by a plugin, but it isn’t. (See WordPress Wiki - get_links)
I need to learn how to use Gimp to edit the Kubrick template. I don’t own Photoshop or Fireworks. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction? I have no grasp on graphics editing, that’s for sure.
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