K3B - The CD Kreator

I was having problems making ISO CD's the other day. After trying Brasero and XFBurn, I researched why I kept on making error CD's.

I hate making "frisbees" as much as the next person. (For those of you that don't know, the term "frisbee" is used to denote a CD or DVD that is useless because of damage or some other error.)

When I saw on the forum to use K3B, I hesitated because I have had problems in the past with KDE apps not running decent in a non KDE environment. (I use XFCE.)

I have to say though that I found K3B to be the ticket. It turns out that my ISO files where damaged, and Brasero and XFBurn had failed to warn me of this.

K3B though immediately pointed out that the MD5 Hash values where off. This means that while the file was reporting to be 733 megabytes, in fact it was only 712 megabytes, meaning the download had failed, and the file was damaged and unusable.

I re-downloaded the file, and K3B handled the burning smoothly and quickly.

I am now a K3B user, and burn all my ISO files to disc with it.

If you give it a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at it's functionality and professional design.

You can get K3B on Ubuntu by using the "Ubuntu Software Center" or by typing "sudo apt-get install K3B" in a terminal window.

For more information and other download/installation options, see http://www.k3b.org/

*KDE and XFCE are both desktop environments available for use in Linux.

Watchtower Library text is all squares with Wine

If you are a Linux user like myself, and you use Wine to run the Watchtower Library, then you may get boxes instead of text.

This can be easily solved, and since I get this question a lot, I thought I would post my solution here.

Start the Watchtower Library, and look for an option to the top left that says "Library". Click Library, and then choose "Properties" as shown in the picture below:

(You can click on the picture to make it larger) 

Once you choose Properties, you will get a box that looks like this:

                                      (You can click on this picture as well to make it larger)

Change the text option under "Item" to another type of text. Then hit the OK button on the bottom of the properties box.

If the squares went away, you have successfully solved this problem.

If not, you will have to repeat these steps and make another text choice in the "Item" section.

Thank you Trumpet Winsock

In the days of my 386, running windows 3.11 for workgroups, I was an avid BBS'er and internet dial up fan.

One of the unsung heroes of the day, and a piece of software I had long since forgotten about was Trumpet Winsock.

Most machines back then didn't have the software installed to properly run a connection to the internet.

Trumpet Winsock solved this.

With Windows 3.11 for Workgroups, the Netscape browser (a prettied up version of Mozilla) and Trumpet Winsock, I was in business.

Man, it feels strange waxing poetic about the internet. In so many ways the internet still feels brand new. The truth is if it was a person, it would be about 34 (possibly older)...

*For more info on the "World Wide Web" or the Internet, as we call it today, check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web

The unsung hero of Trumpet Winsock is Peter Tattam. He created Trumpet Winsock. Trumpet Winsock was meant to be a shareware software title that would be purchased by the user if he/she found it useful.

But, like myself, most people gave him nothing. The truth is without his Trumpet Winsock, the internet would most likely not be in existence today. If nothing else, it can be argued that the internet would not be as widely used or as developed as it is today without Trumpet Winsock.

"What you probably didn't know is that the author of Trumpet Winsock — Peter Tattam from Tasmania, Australia — didn't see much money for his efforts. Millions of copies were distributed by ISPs and on magazine covers, but only a fraction of those copies were ever paid for.

Peter’s little program enabled millions of people to get online for the first time ever, right when the web was in its infancy. It made ISPs possible for the vast majority of users running Windows. In short, Peter is an unsung hero of the web revolution." -from http://thanksfortrumpetwinsock.com/

If you would like to thank Peter for his program, you can express your thanks and/or donate money to him here: http://thanksfortrumpetwinsock.com/

Thinking back, there was a lot of shareware software I used and never payed for. as the author of http://thanksfortrumpetwinsock.com/, Jacques Chester, wrote "At the time I didn't have two 50c coins to rub together."

So I want to take the time to say to all of you who wrote wonderful, useful, and far to often not paid for donation-ware and shareware, Thank you.

Back then I also did not have two 50 cent pieces to rub together. If money would have been no problem, I would have paid my share.

I have been much much better about this since then, and I would hope that this is true of everyone else who was in the financial situation I was in back then.

Die.net, a collection of projects

When I first found this site, it was researching what the word tabernacle meant. I now know it means "a temporary lodging" thanks to Die.net.

I then saw that Die.net houses a lot of Linux information, which is also very useful.

Die.net's header reads: "Online since 1996, die.net hosts the collective 'net projects of a few dozen friends in the U.S."

But what strikes me is Die.net's purpose. To collect friends' Internet projects together in one place. Whose friends? I wonder...

The only information I could dig up was from a whois search of Die.net.
I found out that some person named Aaron Hopkins, from Los Angeles CA owns the .net.

I wish I had more backstory, that's half the fun of finding quirky little websites on the net.

Besides the interesting mystery though, there are a lot of interesting and useful tools on this website.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a plethora of useful Linux info on here.

I also found a guide to Python, A trace hop utility and a moon phase program, just to name a few of the quirky things hosted on this website. (Like a yarn store...)

I love finding these quirky little web pages that are tucked into the corner of the web. I suggest you give Die.net a look over.

Windows Really Good Edition

While rummaging through the internet, I found this quirky website: http://www.deanliou.com/WinRG/WinRG2.htm

If you miss the days of Win 95, 98, ME or 2000 then you should give this a try.

If you do not miss how buggy these versions of windows were, then don't.

I got a chuckle from it myself.

Here are a few sneak peeks into the madness of Windows RG:

Click to enlarge

Personally the second image here is my favorite. I couldn't stand that paperclip. So buggy and intrusive.

Sorry this is such a short stub of a an article, but digging up information on the creators or any other info about it has been unfruitful.

-Denny

Wolfram Alpha

While mucking about on the Internet I stumbled upon a unique way to find information. The reason why I am not calling it a search engine is because it isn't.

At least not in the sense that Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo is a search engine.

Here is the explanation straight from the horses mouth at http://www.wolframalpha.com/about.html

"Wolfram|Alpha introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers—not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods."

 It's a very unique idea on information gathering. In a sense the information has already been gathered. Wolfram Alpha then helps you by putting this information into context, or calculating it for you.

This is not just a math nerds tool though (Not that there is anything wrong with that). Yes it will give you the sum of pi, and give you the square root of a number (if one exists.)

But it will also run calculations on the Beetles, apple seeds, and car transmissions and show you information that you probably have never seen before. (Just to name a few)

Wolfram|Alpha’s knowledge base covers an immense range of areas including:

Mathematics »
Elementary Math · Numbers · Plotting · Algebra · Matrices · Calculus · Geometry · Trigonometry · Discrete Math · Number Theory · Applied Math · Logic · Functions · Definitions · ...

Statistics & Data Analysis »
Descriptive Statistics · Statistical Inference · Regression · Statistical Distributions · Random Variables · Probability · ...

Physics »
Mechanics · Statistical Physics · Thermodynamics · Electricity & Magnetism · Optics · Relativity · Nuclear Physics · Quantum Physics · Particle Physics · Astrophysics · Physical Constants · Physical Principles · ...

Chemistry »
Elements · Compounds · Ions · Quantities · Solutions · Reactions · Chemical Thermodynamics · Protecting Groups · ...

Materials »
Alloys · Minerals · Crystallography · Plastics · Woods · Bulk Materials · Material Hardness · ...

Engineering »
Acoustics · Audio Waveforms · Aeronautics · Control Systems · Electrical Engineering · Fluid Mechanics · Mechanical Engineering · Steam Tables · Psychrometrics · Refrigeration · Structures · ...

Astronomy »
Star Charts · Astronomical Events · Planets · Moons · Minor Planets · Comets · Space Weather · Stars · Pulsars · Galaxies · Star Clusters · Nebulae · Astrophysics · ...

Earth Sciences »
Geology · Geochronology · Geodesy · Earthquakes · Tide Data · Atmosphere · Climate · ...
Life Sciences »
Animals & Plants · Dinosaurs · DNA Sequence Lookup · Human Genome · SNPs · Proteins · Mouse Genome · Fruit Fly Genome · Metabolic Pathways · ...

Computational Sciences »
Cellular Automata · Substitution Systems · Turing Machines · Computational Complexity · Algebraic Codes · Fractals · Mathematica · Image Processing · ...

Units & Measures »
Conversions · Calculations · Comparisons · Dimensional Analysis · Industrial & Construction · Batteries · Bulk Materials · Paint · Display Formats · Ring Sizes · Shoe Sizes · ...

Dates & Times »
Date Computations · Time Zones · Calendars · Holidays · Geological Time · Birthstones · Birth Flowers · Wedding Anniversaries · ...
   
Weather »
Current & Historical Weather · Forecasts · Wind Chill · Hurricanes · Clouds · Climate · ...

Places & Geography »
Political Geography · Physical Geography · Places · Cartography · Geodesy & Navigation · Countries · Administrative Divisions · Cities · Mountains · Islands · Oceans · Lakes · Buildings · Points of Interest · ...

People & History »
People · Genealogy · Names · Occupations · Political Leaders · Historical Events · Historical Periods · Historical Countries · Historical Numerals · Historical Money · ...

Culture & Media »
Personal Analytics · Notable Texts · Periodicals · Writing · Movies · Television Programs · Television Networks · Video Games · Songs · Fictional Characters · Mythology · Awards · ...

Music »
Music Acts · Music Albums · Songs · Music Theory · Audio Waveforms · Musical Instruments · ...

Words & Linguistics »
Word Properties · Dictionary Lookup · Word Puzzles · Anagrams · Languages · Document Length · Morse Code · Soundex · Number Names · Character Encodings · ...

Sports & Games »
Sports · Games of Chance · Football · Baseball · Olympics · Stadiums · Lotteries · Roulette · Gambling · Card Games · ...

Colors »
Colors · Color Systems · Color Arithmetic · Related Colors · Colors of Light · Sets of Colors · Color Conversions · Paint Colors · Temperatures · ...

Shopping »
Consumer Products · Electronics · Office Products · Fitness Equipment · Appliances · Musical Instruments · Movie Tickets · Retail Locations · ...

Money & Finance »
Stock Data · Indices · Mutual Funds · Futures · Mortgages · Present Value · Currency Conversion · Tips · Bonds · Derivatives Valuation · Wages · Sales Tax ·

Socioeconomic Data »
Demographics · Countries · US States · US Counties · Cities · Economics · Agriculture · Energy · Salaries · Unemployment · Cost of Living · Health Care · Housing · Social Statistics · Crime · Military · Religion · ...

Health & Medicine »
Body Measurements · Growth Charts · Exercise · Diseases · Mortality Data · Medical Test Data · Teeth · Vision · Drugs & Prescriptions · Hospitals · ...

*Examples from http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/

There are some very unique visual examples here:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/gallery.html

There is also a tour here:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/tour1.html

I personally think the best way to try Wolfram Alpha is just to go to WolframAlpha.com.

8bit Mush, The ANSI art game

If you want to trip the light fandango, if you want that nostalgic feeling.

If you loved MUDs, MUCKs, MOOs or MUSHs, then try 8bit.

If you miss the ANSI graphics of your old dial-up BBSes, then try 8bit.

Or if you where not around during the late 70's to mid 90's and want to see what the older computer users did for fun on their machines of the day, try out 8bit.

8bit is unique because it has the black background and white keystrokes that MUD players are used too, but they have also made an extensive help and map and street system (among many others including stores and shops) with ANSI.

8bit is a high-bread.

I also suggest that if you liked playing the old nes games, you try 8bit because you will feel at home with the ANSI graphics.

Here is a sample of some of the ANSI artwork:

This is what the 8bit team has to say about 8bit:

"8BitMUSH is a collaborative virtual world, based upon text-based artwork (16-color ANSI Art, 256-color FANSI Art, and colorless ASCII Art.) Every player is encouraged to extend the world with their own creations, and explore the creations of others. The community is very social, with a unique culture and over 10 years of history.

The virtual world is based around a colorful megatropolis called ANSI City, with a surrounding suburbia and various other landscapes to explore and build upon. The virtual economy allows for players to run their own companies, invest in a stock market, and buy and sell products from various shops and vendors. Many projects and games have been coded on 8Bit using MUSHCode, the in-game programming language, including arcade games, toys, board games, interactive-fiction puzzles, a space system and much more. There are also tools to create content without writing any code, and a vibrant social community. "

If you are interested in knowing a little more about 8bit, go here:
http://ansiart.com/

If you would like to jump right into the game play, then go here:
http://ansiart.com/Play/ 

(P.S. New created characters have to go through their child hood from infancy. This goes very quickly, and is designed to teach you how to use 8bit. So be patient.)