August 2005

  • Perception and Reality

    I can't claim to be a software developer. I've built some plugins and an extension, and a few other little things here and there. But I still don't feel like I am a developer. Perhaps I never will. Nonetheless, I feel I have at least a bit of…

  • Movable Type v3.2

    The long-awaited Movable Type upgrade to version 3.2 is now available. Get to upgrading, already!…

  • Windows XP Keyboard Errors

    We ran into an issue where the (PS2) keyboard and mouse stopped working altogether. In the Device Manager, it showed them as having errors, and the message was "A driver (service) for this device has been disabled. An alternate driver may be providing this functionality (Code 32)."…

  • Phishing Phools

    So I get a phishing email the other day, as is all-too-common, and this one actually looks pretty good – enough so that I had to double-check it, even though I knew it wasn't real. So as I'm reading through the copy, I see that I can also…

  • Not Responsible for Anything

    As I'm driving to the doctor this morning, I spy a dump truck with one of those stickers on it that reads "Not Responsible for Broken Windshields". Now I understand the desire of the company to not get a bill from everyone and their brother, claiming that the…

  • Flash Popups in Firefox

    Those of you who have used Firefox for a while have undoubtedly encountered a problem with certain types of popups getting past the generally outstanding popup blocker in the software. It is puported that these may be caused by Flash – and this tip alleges to fix the…

  • Lynn Wheeler is Running Again

    So it would appear that Lynn Wheeler is once again ready to run for City Council. Has she learned her lesson? I don't know. The message she posted would indicate that she has done so, but there's only one way to find out. I'm not sure I'm ready…

  • Your Shades or Your Life

    It's really pathetic that our world has come to this. Some teenagers are roughhousing – like that's unusual – and in the process, one breaks the other's glasses. The breakee demands payment, but the breaker only has half the money, so friends of the "victim" beat up the…

  • Update Your Config File

    Especially with the file actually changing names, I cannot recommend strongly enough that when you update Movable Type, you also update your configuration file. Almost every release introduces new configuration directives. If you don't update your file, you're going to be missing something – and you may actually…

  • Data Validation, People!

    There are so many times where I try and enter my ZIP+4 – not just the ZIP code, but those extra little digits to be helpful. And at times, I am stymied by a field that only accepts a strange number of characters – like 7. I think…