[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/31/03]

If you need to record a RealAudio webcast or other audio off your PC, Total Recorder is great.

[lawrence's notebook] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/29/03]
Customizing Windows. For those who like to customize the look and feel of Windows, here's a very detailed article: Customizing the Windows desktop: A primer. Note the disclaimer by the author: I work for Stardock which makes desktop enhancements. It is because of my job that I'm familiar with desktop environments enough to write on them. But it also means that I am not necessarily an objective source. This primer is as objective as I can make it, but my background is important so that you, the reader, can determine...[MORE] [The J-Walk Blog] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/27/03]
Retro Americana. Just a bunch of good old-fashioned black-and-white pictures of American life as it used to be. Here are a few examples: (via Exclamation Mark) Permalink Created Tue, 26 Aug 2003 ### [The J-Walk Blog] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/26/03]
Who uses Free MIT?. Two years ago, MIT "open sourced" its course-catalog, putting online the kind of course that most universities charge big bucks for as part of a "distance ed" program. Wired'd got a great piece on who uses MIT-free and why:

Lam Vi Quoc negotiates his scooter through Ho Chi Minh City's relentless stream of pedal traffic and hangs a right down a crowded alley. He climbs the steep wooden stairs of the tiny house he shares with nine family members, passing by his mother, who is stooped on the floor of the second level preparing lunch. He ascends another set of even steeper steps to the third level and settles on a stool at a small desk, pushing aside the rolled-up mat he sleeps on with one of his brothers. To the smell of a chicken roasting on a grill in the alley and the clang of the next-door neighbor's metalworking operation, Lam turns on his Pentium 4 PC, and soon the screen displays Lecture 2 of Laboratory in Software Engineering, a course taught each semester on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Here," he says, pointing at the screen. "This is where I got the idea to use decoupling as a way of integrating two programs."

Link Discuss [Boing Boing Blog] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/21/03]
Playing With WinMorph. This morning I discovered that I had WinMorph installed on my system. I'd forgotten all about this cool program. Just load in two images, and the program will "morph" them together. I made an example that morphs a monkey with a human. Click here for the 200K MPG file. Permalink Created Thu, 21 Aug 2003 ### [The J-Walk Blog] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/21/03]
Pro Cartoonists. I think I mentioned Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonist Index before, but it's worth another look. The site is packed with daily editorial cartoons, arranged by topic. For example, here's one (by Clay Bennett) from the Do not CALL category. Permalink Created Thu, 21 Aug 2003 ### [The J-Walk Blog] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/19/03]
Doonesbury. Tapestry :: RSS Delivery of Web Comics [NewsIsFree: Recent Additions] 

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[Back-dated from 10/7/03 to 8/13]
Future-proofing your URLs.

Brainstorms and Raves gathers a number of resources to help you generate Friendly, Lasting URLs.

[Radio Free Blogistan] 

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[Back-dated from 10/7/03 to 8/12]
Common Errors in English. At the Common Errors in English site, you can earn how to talk more gooder by using the correct words. Here we're concerned only with deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers. The aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak. For example, if you're one of thos...[MORE] [The J-Walk Blog] 

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[Back-dated from 10/7/03 to 8/12]
Let the Computer Decide. by Jim Sterne Jim advocates the “Try It, Measure It, Tweak It” method of Web site design. The idea is simple and can have a profound impact on the success of your site. [Current Articles from MarketingProfs.com] 

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[Back-dated from 10/7/03 to 8/11]
Gary Price summarizes a Business 2.0 article about an open source search engine that aims to dethrone Google. [Scripting News] 

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[Back-dated from 10/7/03 to 8/11]
The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture. In the 1980s, an IBM researcher named John Zachman wrote a paper entitled "A Framework for Information Systems Architecture" and gave birth to the ideas around Enterprise Architecture. Zachman's framework is a table with columns that relate to the what (data), how (function), where (network), who (people), when (time or schedule) and why (motivation or strategy) aspects of the architecture and rows that walk down the scope continuum: Context (partners), Business Model (owners), System Model (designer), Technology Model (builder) and Detailed Representations (subcontractor). [Windley's Enterprise Computing Weblog] 

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[back-dated from 10/5/03]
PCWorld.com: Most Popular Downloads of the Week. Most popular downloads of the week from PCWorld.com [NewsIsFree: Recent Additions] 

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[back-dated from 10/5/03]
Re-Installing Windows XP. I sympathize with Mark Pilgrim, who is reinstalling Windows XP (caution: Adult Language).  Robert Scoble, who works at Microsoft as an product evangelist for the next generation operating system (code named Longhorn) also sympathizes:

"Yeah I know what you mean Mark.  I need to reinstall this machine too. Not looking forward to it."

I'm not going to say anything about Apple OS X, because it can obviously create mischief too (see Dan Gillmor's recent problems). 

There are three things I want from an operating system.  (1) stability (2) quick access, and (3) smart Wi-Fi operation.

In my book, OS X is more stable than Windows.  I'm sure that others will disagree, and perhaps my success with one particular powerbook can't be compared to my overall experience with Windows 2000 and Windows XP (over the past 3 years).

Apple's OS X definitely gives me quicker access to my computer than Windows, because I don't have to power down.  The sleep function on my Apple actually works so my laptop is ready in less than 5 seconds from the moment I open the case. 

Does anyone out there have a Windows machine that they put to sleep and wake up, say, 10 times a day over a month long period without having any system hangs?  If so, you are blessed.   The best I could get out of any of my four windows laptops was two or three days at best.

And Apple has got Wi-Fi down.  Apple computers are very smart about finding and connecting to Wi-Fi access points.  Windows XP is pretty good too.  I'm sure that the next version will be comparable to Apple or maybe even better

But will the next version of Windows address the stability and quick access issues?  And it is not like this is a cutting edge concept.  I imagine a lot of people would like to have quick access to their computers.  But it doesn't seem like that happens in the Windows world.  Why not? 

[Ernie the Attorney] 

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[back-dated from 10/5/03]
How to install Windows XP in 5 hours or less. "This driver is not digitally signed." OK. "This driver may cause your computer to become unstable." OK. "This driver may anally rape your mother while pouring sugar down your gas tank." OK. (1433 words) [dive into mark] 

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[back-dated from 10/5/03]
Windows users: I don't know if you've checked out what Stardock has been doing lately, but they are pushing Windows XP to do things I never expected. I'm gonna play with them more after I get moved, but their stuff is wild. I hear their developers are planning on being at the PDC. I can't wait to meet them. [The Scobleizer Weblog] 

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[back-dated from 10/5/03]
Daily Photos. Beginning in 1998, Jonathan has taken a photo of himself daily -- and they are all available at his web site. Good ideas are always imitated. Now we have Jason doing the same thing. But, as you can see, Jason's photos are a bit more creative than Jonathan's. Permalink Created Fri, 01 Aug 2003 ### [The J-Walk Blog] 

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[back-dated from 10/5/03]
Jesse Ross: Cloning a computer with free software. [Scripting News] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/1/03]
Non Sequitur. Tapestry :: RSS Delivery of Web Comics [NewsIsFree: Recent Additions] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/1/03]
Garfield. Tapestry :: RSS Delivery of Web Comics [NewsIsFree: Recent Additions] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/1/03]
Calvin and Hobbes. Tapestry :: RSS Delivery of Web Comics [NewsIsFree: Recent Additions] 

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[Back-dated from 2/2/04 to 8/1/03]
Dilbert. Tapestry :: RSS Delivery of Web Comics [NewsIsFree: Recent Additions] 

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