Noise Between Stations

Internet

  • Spam-Proof?

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    1 min read

    We have email spam and IM spam. Today I received a spam text message on my mobile phone (either Sprint sold my number or the spammers haven’t even bothered to harvest numbers, simply sending them out in numerical order because it’s so inexpensive). Oh joy. Next I predict – and I probably shouldn’t say this…

  • Comment Engines

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    1 min read

    Just an implementation note…I recently spent several hours researching and trying out comment engines. The various hosted systems like YACCS can be quite nice, but when their servers slow down it slowed my site down. There are some nice PHP systems, but that was a learning curve I wanted to avoid. I ended using SnorComments2,…

  • .htaccess – it slices, it dices

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    1 min read

    This .htaccess tutorial reveals that this one little file is more than you ever imagined! Password-protect files, redirect files or whole directories, specify error pages, prevent directory listings and hotlinking to images, and more! Apache web server not included.

  • Philip Greenspun’s Future

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    1 min read

    Philip Greenspun’s Research page reveals several interesting ideas. He’s known for explaining how to build robust database-backed websites when most people were still hand coding everything. That was a process of making everything modular and separated from the presentation, and in many ways the next generation of the web is a continuation of that. He…

  • Comment Survey

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    2 min read

    Because the Noisy One values your opinion he asks, should Noise Between Stations offer you, my dear visitor, the ability to add comments to each post? Your answer here. (Survey closed.) Update: The survey revealed 75% in favor. Comments included: …you might find them annoying after awhile, and after awhile you might find that you…

  • Instantaneous Posting

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    1 min read

    There’s a sidebar on your blog and it too is a blog. But it’s simply a list of links. And the list is powered by your visitors. They stop by and, like a coin in the metal box at the cathedral, leave you a link. The metal box in this case is a text box…

  • Ward on IAWiki

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    1 min read

    Wow, Ward Cunningham stopped by the IAWiki. That’s like Warren Buffett stopping by your local investment group to see what’s up.

  • MacOS X Email Client?

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    2 min read

    So I recently upgraded to MacOS X and for the most part I’m loving it. But I haven’t found an email client that sings. So far I hear the MacOS X Mail program is kinda lameI’ve used Eudora in the past, and I’m willing to again. The interface is embarrasingly bad at times, but I’ve…

  • Small Pieces

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    1 min read

    Seems like all the cool kids are reading Small Pieces Loosely Joined. I’m already in the middle of three or four books so I won’t get to this anytime soon, but there’s a couple of chapters available online.

  • Get Me Some dot com

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    1 min read

    Over lunch L. and I invented a new web service, soon to become part of the LazyWeb. You insert a metatag into your page that indicates whether you have a partner or not. Our service aggregates this info, along with similar info of people, say, on your subway line, in your social network, your blogspace,…

  • Mozilla Help to the Rescue

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    1 min read

    Clicking a Link Most web pages contain links you can click to move to other pages. 1. Move the pointer until it changes to a pointing finger. This happens whenever the pointer is over a link. Most links are underlined text, but buttons and pictures can also be links. 2. Click the link once. While…

  • Attention Amazon Shoppers…

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    1 min read

    oh my, Amazon is trying their version of Blue Light Specials (communicating artificial exclusivity to generate demand). But just as with Kmart’s merchandise, it’s all crap. A George Foreman Rotisserie? Ugh.

  • Hoopla.com

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    1 min read

    It’s odd that the week I decide to link to the wonderful writing of Hoopla.com is the week the domain is stolen. I tried writing a polite letter to NetSol notifying them I’d switch any domains I’d registered there to another registrar, but despite their feedback policy I didn’t receive a reply. Bastards.

  • Is this mike on?

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    1 min read

    Testing, testing…great, this seems to work. As threatened, I’ve moved my blog from Blogger to Tinderbox. As a first step I’ve simply replicated all the current functionality, so you shouldn’t notice much difference. Links should open in new windows these days. Gradually I’ll be using all the goodies of Tinderbox to do fun new stuff…