With all this talk about Windows Vista, it made me want to reach out and try something different and new.
So a few days ago, on a total whim - I downloaded and burned a live CD for Ubuntu. This Linux flavor seems to be all the rage these days so I wanted to see what all the fuss was really about.
Now I haven’t ever used linux for long periods of time. I did have a phase where I was playing with Fedora, but I never had a reason to use it - so I never did. With my good old reliable and easy Windows PC in the corner there was no need or urge felt to learn how to do things. That is my fault.
Back to Ubuntu though, it is nice. It might not be Vista candy-coated-shell nice, but it does look like something I could use from a day to day basis. The only problem I have is finding the time to switch over and learn how to do the simple stuff all over again.
I don’t use Windows because I love it, I use it because it is convenient. I grew up on Windows and everything I know thus far (as far as computers are concerned) is based around Windows.
Maybe one of these days though, if I can take a week off to dedicate myself to switch - I would. Overall I would say it was nice, but I don’t know if I am totally ready to switch over for my day to day activities just yet.
If anybody has an good suggestions for articles or books on making the transition a little easier I might give it a shot. Could always keep Windows on my notebook and Ubuntu on my poor old PC that would probably kick the bucket if I even whispered the word “Vista” in its ear.
I have been a fan of Red Dwarf for I don’t even know how many years. I remember before I was introduced to the wonders of satellite television watching it on my local PBS channel really late at night.
Well just the other day I completed my DVD collection of the entire British series. I finally broke down and bought the last three seasons last week - and that is pretty much all I have been doing during my free time. Catching up watching episodes I haven’t seen in years.
I never really got into your Star Wars or Star Trek or anything else traditional with “star” in the title. So why get into a series about a group of guys traveling through space? It was one of the most brilliantly written television shows I have ever seen - thats why.
Even though it has been some time since their original airing - they are still good. You could watch it for your first time today, and not have that feeling that you watching a TV show that was on ten or more years ago. Can you say the same thing about the Fresh Prince of Bel Air? I don’t think so.
So if your wanting something new to watch or you want to find out more information - I would suggest checking out the official Red Dwarf Web site. Here are some more links to help you learn more about the series as well:
Nobody likes it when they get their stuff stolen. No matter if it is personal goods or virtual goods, the end result is the same. You feel a little cheated. Well, this weekend I decided to fight back against some folks that were stealing content from one of my Web sites.
I ran across a Web site that was reposting content word for word from Firefox Facts.
Now I have seen maybe a post here or there taken from one of my blogs - that I can live with. Even if they are spam blogs - I can’t go around and fight every single one of them. This one though just made me mad. So what did I do?
Well first I contacted the Web site owner after doing a whois search on the domain name in question. That didn’t end up being too fruitful. After that I contacted his Web host and his Web host’s data center. Did that work? Yep.
As of right now the stolen content is off the Web and I feel good about getting these folks shut down. Now yes, they could go to another Web host and start all over again - that is the bad thing about these types of setups. I’ll be keeping an eye on them though. The lessoned to be learned here is do not steal my content! This guy picked the wrong geek to mess with.
If you want to read more about how you can protect your content, I would suggest checking this post out from Lorelle on Wordpress:
Updated - Well it wasn’t The Planet that took them down. Apparently The Planet is happy to have them. Here is the response I got from their abuse team:
To Whom It May Concern:
Please note that below-referenced copyright infringement notice does not substantially comply with the required notification elements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (”DMCA”). Please note that we have not passed on the substantive merits of your claim.
So The Planet won’t take down a splogger or could it be since they were already taken down they can’t really do anything about it?
Now it is not that often that I get strangers saying nice things about me. While doing some “ego surfing” yesterday - I did run across this entry that I had never seen before.
How do I find out about so many different freewares? I surf all over and one of the places I visit hosts blog articles from Mitch Keeler. I like Mitch because he writes about free stuff most of the time. Drop on by to visit Mitch sometime. I rarely write about the same stuff he does, so you’ll be seeing a few items you’ve never seen before.
There is only one thing I don’t like about Mitch and I ain’t afraid to say it. Lose the hat Mitch, it looks tacky and you’re getting too old to pull it off.
Oh it gets better too. I want to thank ClifNotes for the nice (and not so nice) things he had to say about me. Here is a reader’s comment about his post on me…
Tacky? That hat is asinine. I have no interest in putting any of my trust in someone who displays that sort of total lack of taste.
Come on, my backwards baseball cap ain’t that tacky is it? Give me your thoughts - should I ditch the hat or not? Maybe I could replace that photo with this one?
Yes, I want to talk to you - the question is do you want to talk to me?
One thing that I have not done in a while is an interview with somebody. In fact, I think it has possibly been a year or longer since I posted one on any of my Web sites I run.
Well, that is all about to change - but I need your help. I want to write and post up a few interviews (maybe weekly, every two weeks, monthly) right here on Mitchelaneous.com.
So I have the drive, the inspiration and the willingness to get this done. What am I missing? I need somebody to talk to. You see that is where you come into the picture.
I don’t care if you are Bob Parsons from Go Daddy or Jimmy down the street with his new Web project. As long as you have something to say and it is somewhat related to the Web development and Web hosting world I would like to talk with you.
Just drop me an E-mail and let me know what you do and your ideas and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Well I made the leap and upgraded all my Web sites to WordPress 2.1 last night. I figured I might as well bite the bullet now instead of putting it off again and again.
Now it isn’t that the process is hard, it is just updating it on six or seven different Web sites can really become a boring and tedious task. I have to say I am really impressed with the final result. All of my Web sites seem to be zipping along a lot faster now.
Time hasn’t been on my side to check out all the neat new features, but so far I like what I see.
Before you get started upgrading your own Web sites, you might want to check out the plugin compatibility page over at the WordPress.org Web site. (thanks Kyle for the heads up on that) Luck was on my side, because I only had one plugin that didn’t work. After upgrading it - post upgrading WordPress, everything was back to normal.
Update - Well I might have spoken too soon, now it seems like I have a problem with disappearing tags. I have updated the version of Jerome’s Keywords plugin (and got rid of the tags in the head plugin) I was using and that might have fixed it. Give me a heads up if you notice any tags doing wonky stuff.
Update 2 - No such luck - just happened again on Firefox Facts when I approved a comment. Grrr…
Last Update - Well I upgraded all my Web sites to Ultimate Tag Warrior and things seem to be smooth again. Hope it lasts!
Now it is not that often that I get strangers saying nice things about me. While doing some “ego surfing” yesterday - I did run across this entry that I 
