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• Keep it legal: stay away from trade secrets, insider stock information or anything that might possibly be covered by an NDA.
• Keep it positive: open and honest is good, but companies do worry about their PR. Even if you don't care about this job, keep mind: potential future employers may also read what you write, and you may not want to scare them off.
• Consider the culture where you work. Are you in an environment where open communication is encouraged? If not, you place yourself at risk blogging about work.

For my own part, I prefer to keep my work separate from my blog, but I can see where others might take a different view. Here's one fairly reasonable viewpoint on the subject, from someone who has more blogging experience than I do :)

Falling rocks falling rocks
helpless is as helpless cocks
i cock helpless so dost thou
ond we gebiddon eower hrothgar

Falling rocks falling rocks
ibsen try to capture spock
spock cocks helpless klingons rock
star trek is as star wars mocks

lubben blubben blibben bleb
huggle fuggle higgel keH
miggle muggle bigger BEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
erage earl of sandwich und der vrel

More at http://flap-jack.blogspot.com

Falling rocks falling rocks
helpless is as helpless cocks
i cock helpless so dost thou
ond we gebiddon eower hrothgar

Falling rocks falling rocks
ibsen try to capture spock
spock cocks helpless klingons rock
star trek is as star wars mocks

lubben blubben blibben bleb
huggle fuggle higgel keH
miggle muggle bigger BEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
erage earl of sandwich und der vrel

More at http://flap-jack.blogspot.com

Falling rocks falling rocks
helpless is as helpless cocks
i cock helpless so dost thou
ond we gebiddon eower hrothgar

Falling rocks falling rocks
ibsen try to capture spock
spock cocks helpless klingons rock
star trek is as star wars mocks

lubben blubben blibben bleb
huggle fuggle higgel keH
miggle muggle bigger BEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
erage earl of sandwich und der vrel

More at http://flap-jack.blogspot.com

They call me Flapjack cuz my dick is floppy.
Cuz'n I fuck like an old jalopy.
"Cousin" is my name when I fuck your sister.
When I fuck your mama she has to call me "Mister".

They call me Flapjack when my dick is flaccid.
Slappin' on the water on the shores of Lake Placid.
Slappin' just like a god damn beaver.
Slap your mama's booty like she was June Cleaver.

They call me Flapjack cuz' I like the butter.
Sticky maple syrup all over your mother.
Sticky flicky dicky till I get me a woody.
Wiki wiki wiki in your girlfriend's booty.

More at flap-jack.blogspot.com

They call me Flapjack cuz my dick is floppy.
Cuz'n I fuck like an old jalopy.
"Cousin" is my name when I fuck your sister.
When I fuck your mama she has to call me "Mister".

They call me Flapjack when my dick is flaccid.
Slappin' on the water on the shores of Lake Placid.
Slappin' just like a god damn beaver.
Slap your mama's booty she was June Cleaver.

They call me Flapjack cuz' I like the butter.
Sticky maple syrup all over your mother.
Sticky flicky dicky till I get me a woody.
Wiki wiki wiki in your girlfriend's booty.

More at flap-jack.blogspot.com

To illustrate my point, the second post that has a to blogspot for a gaming blog that does what I like. The author, in the second post, references someone else's blog, and then takes a direct quote from it to explain what he is talking about.

Actually, only half wrong. But I thought I'd take the opportunity to use my favourite "subject" heading.

Lets talk British crime rates. Yeah, baby!

Violent crime has fallen by over a third since 1995. So, since they tightened gun laws violent crime in the UK has *fallen*. (Not risen, fallen.)

Source: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hosb1004.p df

Now, I know there are people who don't like the British Crime Survey. But their methodology is simple. Every year they ask 30,000 people "have you or a close friend/relation been the victim of a crime, if so what was it and how many times did it happen?" Essentially, the survey strips out the absurdities of police crime reporting changes. (See http://thelawwestofealingbroadway.blogspot.com/200 5/04/crime-figures.html for details.)

Now, I'm not claiming that guns cause crime. But the evidence is certainly more mixed people (on either side of the debate) believe. And the main argument, I believe, against letting the populace bear arms is the risk of accidents. (See http://www.kidsandguns.org/study/states_deaths.asp ?National)

Anyway, just my thoughts,

Cheers,

Robert

Since he was linked to by Instapundit, it's only fair to include a view from the Right.

I own an NVIDIA graphics card and I use it to play games amoung other things. I have Linux installed on my machine. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited Nvidia website and found that they have excellent support for the linux platform. After downloading and instaling the drivers, I was able to play such classic games like ChromiumBSU and Doom.

Nvidia has gained a permanent supporter in me. I think more and more hardware vendors need to emulate what Nvidia has done and release drivers for multiple OS platforms and not just stick to windows.
You can read all about my experiences in using NVIDIA graphics card at
http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2005/05/configuring- linux-to-use-nvidia.html
--

I don't think it was Network World that he was talking about. I assume he was referring to 'The Security Awareness Company' There are links to it from his blog.

RTFA and RTFB and you'll see that what pushed him over the top really is central to WinTel. It's the separation in responsibility between hardware and software vendor. His Sony laptop was on the fritz but his hardware vendor (Sony) blamed it on the software.

That cost him three months of constant annoyance before they'd admit it was a hardware problem.

"3 months into this, Sony says, "OK, it must be the HW."

The sheer amount of time I wasted was extraaordinary - to get a WinTel vendor to cop to the fact that HW does break, and all I needed was a HW fix - NOT reinstall XP Pro.

That was me. I like to think my time is valuable. So, if I spent 100 hours (conservatively) on this, how much is that worth? To me - I would have bought ANYTHING to make WinTel go away."

Apple isn't as likely to do this, so his switch is entirely rational.

Most people don't value their own time rationally - if they did WinTel would be in far bigger trouble. (Free software isn't time efficient either, unless you care about the "free" part - which is rational for at least some folks to care about)

In his blog, he seems mainly mad about things that are the hardware vendor's fault. I know at my school, we have to fight very hard to standardize on good quality stable desktops (Dell Optiplex 208s currently) that we know inside and out and don't change every two days. I constantly have people bringing ads for $299 'specials' asking why we can't buy 2-3 of these instead of one of my standard machines @ $875. Because we'd spend more in support than we saved by 3-4 fold! I wish people would realize, to a large degree, you get what you pay for - cheap HDs and RAM will crash!

If Yoda is a "bald Ewok", I am sure he is pissed about http://darthside.blogspot.com/2005/05/ewok-cook-ou t.html

I blog about my company, not "for" my company. (Important distinction) Because I work for a small company in a small industry, it'd be too obvious to blog with real names. Some of what I blog about is technical and some is inter-personal. I've told a few coworkers about it, and they read it regularly, but other people just don't know.

Whether it stays that way or not, I don't know. But I and my readers are assured that the blog isn't motivated by the fear or greed of my company.

No problem, the guy is not the best writer. Here's a usefull summary.

After 22 years in computer security and 7 advising normal users, "ma, pa and the corporate clueless," on Windows, Winn Schwartau has decided that Windows does not work. He was unable to secure it himself and realized that his clients are less able than himself. Because his Windows experience is so bad, he's unfairly blamed PC hardware and decided to leave all of it behind for the Mac world. The Mac world has been more pleasant than he, as a Windows user, could have imagined and he's started a blog to tell everyone about it. He admits to being "obstinate" and "a PC bigot" and that this contributed to his long suffering under Windoze.

While I'm glad the scales have fallen out of his eyes, it would be nice if he had given free software a chance to do something useful with his hardware. It is too bad that he did not pick up and try something like Knoppix or Mepis and realize there was nothing wrong with his BIOS, memory, motherboard or even the complexity he blames along with Microsoft for poor security. Still, it's not too late. He could easily set up his old computers for file storage and other useful services. It's good to hear yet another person escaping the Microsoft Mindwash.

Welcome back to reality, Mr. Schwartau. The recovery process takes a surprisingly long time. Fits of anger and other well earned emotional release up may occur at inappropriate times. You may even have nightmares years later. Things you have said and done under the influence my come back to haunt you. It's OK, we understand. There's no need to overcompensate now. In time, you will realize that the people who misslead and lied to you are also working hard to make avoiding their "products" impossible. This too will make you very angry, but you won't need to be. Evil things are best combated with the clear vision of a level head.

The Indian movies in this list are:

The Apu Trilogy - which is actually three individual movies made from one book - it is the life of Apu from childhood to adulthood. Made by Satyajit Ray, the first one, Pather Panchali, followed by Aparajito and Apur Sansar, are absolute classics. I have seen a few of his movies, and being Indian, have always had a pervertedly negative image of the director (Why? Because, in my childhood innocence, I thought that the director was USING the poverty of India and capitalizing on it, only to make fame and money for himself). It is only recently that I saw these three movies, on DVD, and found them to be riveting! I haven't seen a trilogy that has been as well made - including the Star Wars 4-6 trilogy.

Nayakan: This is a true story of a gang lord who lived in Bombay, India - it is about how he escaped from Madras, spoke mostly Tamil, and how he settled in Bombay and became the underworld king, all the while being adored by the poor from the slums. A most fascinating depiction of Vardaraj Mudaliar (the original ganglord) by Kamalahasan (the redoubtable Tamil actor who has essayed roles that would make ANYONE wonder - how'd he dare to do that)?

Pyaasa: The great Guru Dutt directed and acted in this masterpiece about a poet and his struggles. I would have thought that his Kagaz Ke Phool deserved to be recognized as his best creation - but this is equally good.

At the very least, Time has proved that it is not a purely US centric publication - having dragged the whole world into this controversial list :-)

A mini plug for my blog - to ask people to please come visit!

I guess someone named Hulkster might be able to do that as a "Big Green Monster" ... but even The HULK can get a hangover and not feel so good the next morning ... ;-)

He's upset at the lack of support that comes with having entirely different vendors supporting the hardware as opposed to the operating system.

From his blog:

"But, really, in the last few months, my frustration went over the top because I openly admit I am tough on laptops. I schlepp two of 'em everywhere 'round the world and I see no reason a $2000 box should not be able to take $2000 worth of airport abuse.

So, my beautiful new Sony 17" VAIO with 1920X1200 res (Freaking gorgeous) began to have mechanical problems. I can recognize a HW versus SW prob and this was hardware but the Sony folks, in an effort to save having to send a guy to me, tried to convince me "Reinstall Windows." NO! That is wrong! This is a HW problem."

While some might prefer to build, write, administer, and hold absolute control over their computer systems, most people just want to use them. They also want support on their computers to be as painless as possible.

That's one of the bigger advantages to a Mac over Windows or Linux: It's easy to find who to call when it breaks.

Okay, I'll reply once, but only as semantic clarification, not to try to further fan any flames...

That's why I put quotes around the word "supposed." It's the parent post's word that I borrowed. My point was that there is no amount of money that a worker is "supposed" to get paid, and that executives and the corporations they work for in general drive the amount as low as possible. Because they have to eat, workers have no counteracting power to force the amount up, except what is provided to them by means of liberal legislation and unions. (Oh, and to quit, of course, which was discussed in my original post.)

That's one of the failings of the free market in this country. As it exists, it is geared to benefit the rich and powerful. It's not really a free market when executives engage in deceptive practices, when corporations own the government, when laws and regulations supress consumers' rights, and so on. Where I work, there are--

Ack, I almost got going again. I must hit the Submit button quickly to resist further temptation! Maybe I'll take more thoughts offline and post them to my blog.

This Intellectual Property grab is to make sure that those at the top can continue to siphon assets out of the U.S., convincing the public that it's all just part of a larger "war on crime" or "war on terrorism".

People spend inordinate amounts of money on entertainment IP. The force of the state being used to enforce IP, indicates that the market isn't acting freely. Otherwise prices would fall.

I'm at the point now where I'm not going to expend energy fighting, but I'm saving it for survival later.

I've already grabbed all the non-fiction IP I wanted (1/2 terabyte or so), so even if the internet were to shut down tomorrow, I would have enough to go on for the immediate aftermath of the collapse (the Long Emergency, as James Howard Kunstler puts it).

I don't risk P2P anymore because of the fascist regime in power in the U.S. I share files with close friends but not through the internet which can be monitored. Even postal mail, I've thought about encrypting. (DVDs sent by Priority Mail can have more bandwidth than a bittorrent.)

Join Sunni and others in the RealID Rebellion.

THAT BLOG NOT HULK BLOG, http://incrediblehulk.blogspot.com/THIS BLOG IS HULK BLOG

Well.. this won't mean much but if you're looking for a non-celebrity blog and you're an avid golfer like myself (or just like the sport) check out The Jam-Boy blog.. he's a rookie Caddy working at an undisclosed but very exclusive golf course in Northern Virginia iirc. He's the perfect non-celebrity that carries bags for the rich & conceited... tells some great stories about the assholes he has to deal. It's good light hearted stuff with an inside perspective.

*shrug* I've gotta pimp this one since it's one of my favourites and didn't make that goofy celebrity list :)

Hey, there's wisdom out there if you're looking for it. Myself I'm a fan of the Rude Pundit who says things that, though in a way your parents most probably wouldn't find "digestive", are more than more often than not right on the ball.

Failed "Blogebrity" buzzword trial aside, this guy's worth a read.

That said, I'd suggest "Blig" as a term for something Blog and cool.

At least Wikipedia isn't being defaced/spammed as it was in one of those earlier SEO contests. It would be pretty funny if after all this publicity, they went ahead and DID publish a magazine. Read more of their thoughts in their blog.

BTW, I noticed that Hulk's Blog isn't listed.
Hulk might have to SMASH 'em! ;-)

Registrant:
The Gawp Network
513 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 300
Santa Monica, California 90401
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com
Domain Name: BLOGEBRITY.COM
Created on: 08-May-05
Expires on: 08-May-06
Last Updated on: 08-May-05

Administrative Contact:
Hermann, Robert
Pivot Plane Inc
810 S Flower st #308
Los Angeles, California 90017
United States
3107654924 Fax --
Technical Contact: SAME

Darth Vader didn't make the A-list. or the B-list. or even the C-List.

Or this guy with his 'i hate linux' blog.

I would really like one of these keyboards, It'd keep the unworthy off my computer. How much do these things cost anyway? Is it so much, I might just as well break out with the sandpaper?

I use a Dell Axim x50v and a Bluetooth keyboard. See the details.

Here is a walk through kind of thing

This was one of many announcements.

Most of the news sites that reported it, couldn't confirm it. It was big in japan, but no where else really considering that it isn't just a click and play kind of thing and you already had to have a license to remove the encryption. It's easier to just record your video out and take the minor loss that might be made if you use a cheap cable. But still... programs do exist to pull the drm key out of memory while the video is playing and then another tool exists to remove the DRM using said key. Its a pain in the ass but doable. The exe is no longer on websites (none that I know of)but you might find it on p2p networks. Rumor has it that Micorosft handled the situation quickly and silently with lawyers. Regardless, in the middle of February or so, Microsoft released an update that apparently makes this tool useless and allows content providers to make sure that you have the update installed. Treacherous computing at its best.
Regards,
Steve

Tell that to their families.

I think Vader's words regarding Admiral Ozzel would be appropriate.

Here are some links to get you started:

• Mapping Google
• Google Suggest Dissected
• Gmail Agent API

He's kind of a right-wing guy, but the idea ain't bad: Put normal gamer girls out there, and don't dress them up like Barbie.

1. I recently had a slightly difficult time getting the webmaster of a popular Country artist site to understand that linking a MP3 to a website doesn't make that MP3 a podcast. He was initially insulted by my suggestion he include an RSS feed to make the file a true podcast. Fortunately, there were plenty of links at http://www.ipodder.org/ to share with him that showed him how RSS is the magic ingredient. It wasn't that he couldn't roll RSS code; he was a competent coder. He, like most of the public out there, was simply misinformed. Let's face it, RSS is wicked geeky and trying to explain it to somebody is often an exercize in futility (See the end of Josh's vlog on the subject - lesson #4). After all, isn't Really Simple Syndication such an obvious sort of technology that you wonder why somebody had to invent it in the first place? ;)

   But if you want to see how completely the public misunderstands just what the heck a podcast is check out Bill Gate's first podcast as an example. The MEDC site refers to it as a "Video Podcast", but on film they just call it a podcast, so if you are new to podcasting then this is what you are going to think a podcast is: a video broadcast via WMV. Obviously there's a slight problem here in that podcasts are audio enclosures via RSS and vlogs are video enclosures via RSS. One could argue that this is a simply an exercize in semantics, or one could argure that Bill & Co. are once again trying to embrace and extend a technology/term for their own purposes. But the main result is that the common guy isn't going to have a clue about any of this. He only knows what he is told.

   So, IMO, iTunes adding podcast support is a really good thing. This will help solidify the meaning of the word "podcast" before more confusion sets in. (Of course, if Steve & Co. are also embracing and extending...)

2. As for podcasts being "Wayne's World for radio", sometimes that is the case. If I have to download another walk to the (backyard shed, park, bigwig meeting, etc) soundseeing tour on Daily Source Code I will scream, or just not subscribe anymore. Vlogs can be just as bad. I've seen some kid animate her Barbies in a sordid romance, a guy video tape his trip home from work, and somebody wash their dirty sink to music. Not winning content by any means. However, like anything out there, there is crap and there is gold. And then there's the whole realm inbetween. YMMV, but podcasts are turning out to be an alternative form of entertainment. Don't write them off before trying out some of the more interesting ones. I wouldn't recommend sampling them at random if you don't have the time or patience to filter out the dross.
   
   I know that tech podcasts get covered here a lot. Maybe some of you might enjoy these music podcasts:
   • http://carmenrasmusen.com/audio/idolupdate.xml - Carmen Rasmusen of American Idol fame gives the inside dope on what happens after the cameras shut off.
   • http://feeds.feedburner.com/BitzOfBrin - a thirteen year old girl talks about getting into the music biz and tracks her progress. She's not bad at all.
   • http://composerplanet.com/speechless/index.xml - Speechless covers instrumental music from rock to electronica. Very fascinating stuff.
   • http://www.coverville.com/index.xml - Coverville is a popular podcast featuring covers of well known music done by obscure and well

As ever, Mr. Jobs is right on the money. But look at what he's doing rather than what he's saying. By providing RSS downloads into iTunes he massively raises the profile of what was previously a geek only market. If this feature is used, no doubt they'll introduce a market place on iTunes for people share and talk about the podcasts they like.

1. Provide RSS feeds in iTunes
2. Provide market for podcasts
3. ???
4. Profit!!!

Podcasts are a mess right now. Even if you find a really good podcast there is no way to promote them short of word of mouth. This presents another problem, podcasts are too complicated. You can't email your buddy and mine, Joe Sixpack, a link to an RSS feed and expect them to know what to do with it. People struggle to wrap their heads around web pages, never mind RSS feeds and MP3 files.

Apple getting behind podcasts with iTunes offers this interesting technology its best hope of becoming useful - like the BBC looking at this as a way of dropping Real, infavour of freeplay

I have mod points, how do I mod TFA down?

For now, here's a direct link without the ad-crappiness.

Honestly, how many people out there actually use the internet to listen to people's podcasts?

Podcasts are a special case of timeshifted radio: the special bit is that they were never broadcast in the first place. And timeshifted audio has a huge market: commuters who drive or go by train and have MP3 players.

Potential targets would include sports commentary, book club discussions, book readings, tech rants (I imagine Cringely'd be popular). Now, some of this may be available on radio as well -- that's irrelevant because the target market for podcasts are the people who can't, or couldn't, tune in. And why yes, there could be people whose individual podcasts become incredibly popular (how many'd have thought Belle de Jour's weblog would have taken off enough to earn her a book deal?)

I can understand the average /.-er's reaction to hype, but there's a fine line between hype and potential: podcasting's potential is that it can remove the chokehold of a few corps (made possible by a spectrum shortage that podcasting routes around) on radio and make timeshifted 'broadcasting' a reality. And that, my friend, is big.

Read the following link

http://georgemiller.blogspot.com/2004/06/how-to-in sult-your-friends-and.html

See this entry in the Google Weblog by Google employee Wei-Hwa Huang. It mentions that the best performers in the US Puzzle Championship go on to form part of the US team in the World Puzzle Championships; Wei-Hwa has been part of the US team for each of the past 12 years and won the whole World Championships in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999. It's fair to say that the conduit between impressive competitors in the championships and Google is pretty well-defined, to both parties' benefit - though, like you, I don't know of any Google employees who joined as a result of their participation.

If you're interested in the World Puzzle Championships, I blogged live from their finals day last year.

Chris Dickson (82nd out of 90, 2004 World Puzzle Championships)

In the end, alas, the Jedi do seem too "narrow" and "dogmatic," not the great sages Lucas presumably wanted them to be. Perhaps the "prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force" was misinterpreted after all: Perhaps the prophecy was really fulfilled not by Anakin destroying the Sith order, but by Luke humanizing the Jedi ethic.

Precisely! One thing that Ep. III touches on (and the DarthSide blog, one of the greatest SW fanfics ever, expands on) is that the Light and Dark side of the Force is NOT "good" and "bad". It's "life exists, let it be" vs "life exists, if you can take it by the horns you can make it a better place". The Jedi had long ago rejected the Dark Side completely on "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" grounds. The Sith, a specific small order of Dark Jedi, fully embraced the "control and order" aspect of the Force but were corrupted by it.

Luke, in the final battle with the Emperor and Vader in Ep. VI, is able to use his anger (dark side thing) to defeat Vader, but has the strength of will to pull back and not be tempted and corrupted by the power. (Parallel to Anakin vs. Tyranus, with the same person cheer-leading in both cases.) Why? Because he sees the growing parallel between himself and his father when he cuts off Vader's hand, and he realizes where that path leads. Sidious is about to kill him for it, when Vader (that prophesy dude) realizes what he has become and sacrifices himself to kill Sidious and end the Sith line. He sees that in his son is the true balance in the Force, and ensures that it is not destroyed prematurely.

The Force is already unbalanced with the Jedi, since they eschew the other branch of the Force completely. By bringing it back into balance, the light and dark sides are both recognized and accepted. Not something Mace Windu and Yoda would really have wanted, but but the end, Yoda's ghost seems to have come to terms with it.

My issue with Star Wars is that the overarching story concept (the above, at least as I see it), is AMAZINGLY GOOD! The actual execution is at best spotty, and at worst talks about sand. Still, stuff like the DarthSide blog, the fan stuff, really redeems a lot of it. Lucas has great ideas, but should leave the execution to someone else.

...without David Brin's latest review.

... an interesting quote from the author of Darthside:

When we were kids we used to "play Star Wars", which is a kind of no-fee intellectual property union we entered unto with Lucasfilm whereby our imaginations were ignited in exchange for our fealty as future consumers.

... an interesting quote from the author of Darthside:

When we were kids we used to "play Star Wars", which is a kind of no-fee intellectual property union we entered unto with Lucasfilm whereby our imaginations were ignited in exchange for our fealty as future consumers.

You mean this crap isn't spam? And this and this? Those and many, many more fill the first page of results in the search I did just now after reading your post. Technorati's results change by the minute, but they are still full of thousands of spam posts like these.

This reminds me of the famous Herring Sandwich experiments conducted millennia ago at MISPWOSO (The MaxiMegalon Institute of Slowly and Painfully Working Out the Surprisingly Obvious).

http://balloffish.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_balloffi sh_archive.html (March 29 entry)

The only other thing which makes blogs interesting is if the writer is good. Example: The Darth Side

Good writing, good discussion, what else is there?

I second that opinion. I started blogging about 6 months back and I am already hooked. It feels nice to know what other people think about what you write and share information with others. And blogging is a cheap and effective medium for that.
--
http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/

I'm talking about government censorship in China and you start ripping the intelligence of the average American. That's an interesting diversion, but I won't go for it.

How about:
Tianennmen Square
Or this example

Do you think the PRC government will allow free and open expression in blogs?

Are there really that many people using library computers to break the law?

The article cites a couple of reasons for the scanners, like keeping kids from borrowing a friends card to get around a parental ban on adult sites, but that hardly seems to justify this sort of drastic solution.

It looks pretty interesting. I would probably buy it too, if it turns out to be as cool as it looks. Except for one thing. It's being put out by EA Games. Remember them?

I do.