A History of Amiga - Part 5

Here is the next part in the series:

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/amiga-history-part-5.ars/1

... and the light at the end of the tunnel gets dimmer :-)

Free Linux eBooks

Learn more about Linux with these (free) e-books:

Free Linux eBooks

Some are short, some are huge, all well worth of your time, if you want to learn more.

A history of the Amiga, part 4: Enter Commodore

Continuation of the history of one of the best personal computers of all time (so far, at least):

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/amiga-history-4-commodore-years.ars

Elections in Poland.

This post is not about IT this time around...
This coming Sunday, there will be Parliamentary Elections in Poland, and more that I can remember, it is very important to vote!!! I can't, because I'm too far, but all that can, should.

I would also like to point to five great articles by Adam Michnik:

http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,82049,4593239.html

http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,82709,4592963.html

http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,75515,4589169.html

http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,82049,4592853.html

http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,82049,4589105.html

Enjoy... contemplate and choose!!!

12 Tips for KDE Users

If you are heave Linux and KDE user, the article below will give you some useful tips on how to maximize your productivity:

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/entdev/article.php/11070_3704311_1

Browser Tests, Services and Compatibility Test Suites | Developer's Toolbox

Testing web sites, especially dynamic ones, is a daunting task. Add various browser incompatibilities to the mix, and your are facing the impossible.
The article below, lists some good testing tools, that might make your life easier:

Browser Tests, Services and Compatibility Test Suites | Developer's Toolbox

polishlinux.org » Windows vs Linux: Architecture, part II

Part two of the rather advanced, architectural overview of the differences between Windows and Linux:

polishlinux.org » Windows vs Linux: Architecture, part II

10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks - The List Universe

Not a usual topic here, but giving some math hints to your (anti-math) teenager can be priceless:

10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks - The List Universe

55 Reasons to Design in XHTML-CSS

A few reasons for a good Web design. Still hard to do in my humble opinion, given the state of the browsers and their support for CSS today. However, it's worth giving a try:

55 Reasons to Design in XHTML-CSS

Live Slick: Top 10 Freeware Software Nobody Knows About - But Should

Live Slick: Top 10 Freeware Software Nobody Knows About - But Should

Enough said...

Diluting the scientific method: Ars looks at homeopathy: Page 1

Ars Technica has a great article on homeopathy, taken as an example of pseudoscience gone wrong.

Diluting the scientific method: Ars looks at homeopathy: Page 1

Just one example of our society accepting pure nonsense as science, and nobody is doing anything about it.

polishlinux.org » Windows vs Linux: Architecture, part I

Part one of the rather advanced, architectural overview of the differences between Windows and Linux:

polishlinux.org » Windows vs Linux: Architecture, part I

Conversion Central: 101 Tools to Convert Video, Music, Images, PDF and More : Codswallop

You should be able to convert from-anything-to-anything (well... let's be reasonable here :-) ) using some of the tools found on the site below:

Conversion Central: 101 Tools to Convert Video, Music, Images, PDF and More : Codswallop

The Associated Press: Scientology Faces Criminal Charges

The Associated Press: Scientology Faces Criminal Charges

Europeans do it again!!! When will we see this kind of brain processes in the USA, where any idiot can start a church, call it a "religion", save on taxes, and brainwash people openly.
I live close to Clearwater, Florida, where Scientologists own half of the downtown, and NOBODY cares that a cult runs its operations down here.

Linux Foundation: Just say "no" to OOXML

Linux Foundation: Just say "no" to OOXML

The article above presents some of the issues with the new OOXML format from Microsoft. Like a lot of the technologies from "the giant", this one is being pushed for political/marketing, and not technical, reasons. JUST SAY NO!!!

A history of the Amiga, part 3: The first prototype: Page 1

Read the third installment of the story behind one of the greatest personal computers to date:

A history of the Amiga, part 3: The first prototype: Page 1

NoOOXML: NO to the Microsoft Office format as an ISO standard

Vote and say no to a new office document "standard" from Microsoft...

NoOOXML: NO to the Microsoft Office format as an ISO standard

A history of the Amiga, part 2: The birth of Amiga: Page 1

Keep on reading about the history of Amiga:

A history of the Amiga, part 2: The birth of Amiga: Page 1

Florida Wildlife

We live not far from the city (Tampa), but it's deep enough in the woods to see some nice wildlife around.

I started uploading photos I take to my Picasa gallery.

Apollo Photographic Support Data

No matter the original reasons behind the Apollo program, it was the highest achievement of human ingenuity and engineering of the late 20th century, still to be matched. Johnson Space Center and Arizona State University are making all the photographic data from the program available on the Web. The scanning will take some time, but the idea is GREAT!!!

Apollo Photographic Support Data

A history of the Amiga, part 1: Genesis: Page 1

For all the Amiga fans out there, here is a great article (Part One) on the history of the greatest computer to date:

A history of the Amiga, part 1: Genesis: Page 1

My machines (three of them) have been collecting dust in the last few years, but one day, they'll be back with full force (together with a collection of C64s and C128 and one lonely Plus 4). Wasn't Commodore just GREAT!!!

Joomla! - Joomla! 1.0.13 Released

Important for those who run a Joomla-powered site. The incremental release of the 1.0 set: 1.0.13 is out, but since there are some core security improvements, unless you run a "pure" Joomla site (no major components or bridges), you should take extreme care before the upgrade.

Joomla! - Joomla! 1.0.13 Released

Gallery - Grand Canyon Trip

Here is the slideshow of our last Grand Canyon hiking trip.

We started off slowly, doing some day hikes in the Sedona area, and then moved on to the Grand Canyon National Park. We did a four-day loop hike via Boucher Trail, Tonto Trail and Hermit Trail, which comes with some nice boulder scrambling, steep descents and amazing views all along the route. Our next step was a backpack trip to the famous Havasu and Mooney Falls.



If you need more information about the trail we took, let me know.

AstralSin’s Blog - Not-so Daily blog from The Astral Sin

Get you fix of some of the best Linux applications available. I have been in the Linux camp for more than 13 years (that's before version 1.0), and I'm not looking back.

AstralSin’s Blog - Not-so Daily blog from The Astral Sin

Top 10 GMail tweaks : TrendPlex

If you use GMail (and why wouldn't you???), the tweaks below will make your experience even more rewarding. Now, e-mail can't be fun, but it can be easier to handle... :-)

Top 10 GMail tweaks : TrendPlex

ONLINE MEDIA GOD: 400+ Tools for Photographers, Videobloggers, Podcasters & Musicians

Multimedia content is exploding on the Net and the tools below can help to utilize it to the fullest:

ONLINE MEDIA GOD: 400+ Tools for Photographers, Videobloggers, Podcasters & Musicians

DesignVitality » Blog Archive » The Open Source Web Design Toolbox: 100 Tools, Resources, and Template Sources

If you are a Web designer, you might find the following resource very useful. As the issue for consultants is usually the delicate balance between their technical and artistic skills (and who has both?), the resources like that are life savers for all of us who can dissect the code left and right, but can't see the difference between color: #1c1c1c and color: #2c2c2c (!)

DesignVitality » Blog Archive » The Open Source Web Design Toolbox: 100 Tools, Resources, and Template Sources

How to Make a Folder Icon | Web Layout

Yet another great graphics tutorial:

How to Make a Folder Icon | Web Layout

GIMP - Creating Icons

If you ever need to create custom icons for your desktop, or a special project, think GIMP. The tutorial below will teach you how:

GIMP - Creating Icons

Europeans embrace Firefox in record numbers

Now, some of us have been in the "know", here in the US for a few years, but it seems that it's the Europeans who really get it!!!

Europeans embrace Firefox in record numbers

10 Articles All Bloggers Should Read (at least once) | Performancing.com

If you blog, the link below will be a great resource. Make you blog a great one with the free advice:
10 Articles All Bloggers Should Read (at least once) | Performancing.com

Gallery migrated to PicasaWeb

Finally, I managed to migrate most of our travel photos from my own album solution (Gallery/PhpNuke), which was good, but the space was running short, to PicasaWeb.

The albums can be found here:
Pete's Wicked Gallery

Samples:


A trip to Mexico in 2003


Hiking in Grand Canyon National Park


As always, I promise I'll be adding more photos as I have free time.

Enjoy!

Micahville » Blog Archive » 69 Tech Blogs That Don’t Suck

Get you daily fix of blogging reads from the list below:

Micahville » Blog Archive » 69 Tech Blogs That Don’t Suck

Some of these blogs are really good and worth reading. I read many of them daily and get my share of news and commentaries.

The mainframe lives! | NetworkWorld.com Community

In case anyone thinks the Mainframe is dead:

The mainframe lives! | NetworkWorld.com Community

Die Hard again...

It's out there again!!!

Not sure how good it is... haven't seen it yet, but I do enjoy this video/song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyw6cq86kY

The Ultimate RSS Toolbox - 120+ RSS Resources

RSS can simplify your on-line life tremendously. The site below presents all the resources you can possibly dream about for all your RSS needs:

The Ultimate RSS Toolbox - 120+ RSS Resources

Rails Envy: Ruby on Rails Rake Tutorial (aka. How rake turned me into an alchoholic)

If you use Ruby on Rails, you'll appreciate this Rake tutorial:

Rails Envy: Ruby on Rails Rake Tutorial (aka. How rake turned me into an alcoholic)

Funny AND informative... rare mix.

Freebies Round-Up: Icons, Buttons and Templates | Smashing Magazine

Need some great graphics? Check out the free, or almost-free sets here:

Freebies Round-Up: Icons, Buttons and Templates | Smashing Magazine

Cool Things You Can Do With Google - lifehack.org

How to make your life easier with Google (of course):

Cool Things You Can Do With Google - lifehack.org

Top 15 free SQL Injection Scanners - Security-Hacks.com

If you are running an interactive web site, that allows for user input, and stores data in any kind of relational database on the back-end, read on...

Top 15 free SQL Injection Scanners - Security-Hacks.com

phpBB • View topic - phpBB3 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) released

Great news: phpBB V3 is getting closer and closer!!!
One of the best open source bulletin board system just released the first RC of the next version. I wouldn't put it on a production system yet, but we are almost there...

phpBB • View topic - phpBB3 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) released

Climate change: A guide for the perplexed - earth - 16 May 2007 - New Scientist Environment

If you still have doubts, read on...

Climate change: A guide for the perplexed - earth - 16 May 2007 - New Scientist Environment

14 rules for fast web pages (Skrentablog)

Make your web pages fly... check out this presentation and tips from the pros:

14 rules for fast web pages (Skrentablog)

Linux.com | Extending OpenOffice.org: Turning OpenOffice.org into a document conversion tool

Another clever use of OpenOffice: turn it into a conversion engine for your documents. Imagine all the uses of this for a company, running OpenOffice of a server, enabling users to convert their document, without even starting (or having) their local copy:

Linux.com | Extending OpenOffice.org: Turning OpenOffice.org into a document conversion tool

Things I can do in Linux that I can't do on Windows. | dmartin.org

If you still wondering whether to switch to Linux and abandon Windows, and the recent decision by Dell to start selling Linux (Ubuntu) preloaded on their machines did not make up your mind, read the blog below to get a few more reasons to make the JUMP:

Things I can do in Linux that I can't do on Windows. | dmartin.org

How to make sexy buttons with CSS

CSS just gets better and better (well, it's been like that for a while, but browsers turned it into hell). Read on to see how you can make some nice buttons for your page:

How to make sexy buttons with CSS

SEOmoz | 17 New Rules for Successful E-Commerce Websites

Thinking about starting an e-commerce site? Great idea and server software are not all that will take you to the next level. Read the guide below, to see what can give you a winning edge:

SEOmoz | 17 New Rules for Successful E-Commerce Websites

Blog Law » 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

Here is an interesting article about blogging, and how it's changing from the "wild frontier" to more "regulated" entity:

Blog Law » 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

» 25 Code Snippets for Web Designers (Part1, 2 and 3)

Great resource for Web designers. I bet some of the CSS code you have never thought about:

» 25 Code Snippets for Web Designers (Part1)

» 25 Code Snippets for Web Designers (Part2)

» 25 Code Snippets for Web Designers (Part3)

The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe

The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe is a great, weekly podcast from the New England Skeptical Society (http://www.theness.com/). Check out their web site here:
http://www.theskepticsguide.org
and make sure to subscribe the the podcast on iTunes.

I've been listening to the show for almost a year now, and I think it is great! Not only you can find out news from the skeptical world, but more importantly, you can find out where pseudo-science is creeping in. Two of the things I find particularly annoying are: Scientology and psychic readers. Scientology is crap beyond any criticism, and psychic readers, like Sylvia Browne are just pests, using unsuspecting for their own gain. Make sure to visit stopsylviabrowne.com to find out more abut this special case.

People banned from SNL - Infamous moments in Saturday Night Live history - Zimbio

Don't you just love SNL??? The bits below are the ones I wish I could see (again?). Where do you find them?

People banned from SNL - Infamous moments in Saturday Night Live history - Zimbio

The 14 Point Web Design Checklist » Net Business Blog

Now, that's an easy way to come up with a price for your services... ha! I'm waiting for my next client, it'll be fun :-)

The 14 Point Web Design Checklist » Net Business Blog

Programming Designs Forums / Ten Tell-Tale Signs of a Lazy Webmaster/Designer

Interesting article about current state of web design... or what many consider web design :-)

Read it, and make sure you don't do it:

Programming Designs Forums / Ten Tell-Tale Signs of a Lazy Webmaster/Designer