Easy Blogger blog Backup Tip

Lifehacker posted a wonderful tip on how to back up your (new) Blogger blog posts.

Normally, I fire up HTTrack Website Copier (freeware) and in a while, eventually have a copy of my blog tucked away on my hard-drive, ready for off-loading to a CD-R disk. Only thing is that if I forget to set the link depth correctly, I end up scraping a copy of each linked page along with it. While interesting to see which ones have gone MIA, it can take a bit of time.

The Lifehacker gang found the following tip over at Google Operating System blog's post: How to Backup a Blogger Blog

The Backup

So, if you have a (new) Blogger blog, or have converted your old Blogger blog over to the (new) Blogger blog, just use one of these, replacing the "blogname" with your blog's name:

To display in a single page view the last N posts from your blog, use the following URL:
http://blogname.blogspot.com/search?max-results=N

Example: If your blog has less than 1000 posts, you can save this page:
http://blogname.blogspot.com/search?max-results=1000

Once you have the page loaded up, just save it to your drive.

For Firefox, just select "File", "Save Page As...." and give it a name (I use a name-date combo) and a place to save. Done!

For IE7, same thing, "File", "Save Page As..." and give it a name.

Both Firefox and IE7 offer several formats to save it in. I just chose the "complete" format method.

Google Operating System suggests using the Firefox Add-on DownThemAll to grab photos uploaded to your blog as well.

Don't forget to back up your Template as well

Now would also probably be a good time to download a copy of your Blogger template file as well.

Go to the Template tab from your Google Dashboard. Then select the "Edit HTML" sub-tab link.

Then use the "Download Full Template" link under the Backup/Restore Template and save it locally as well.

The Restoration

Restoring a saved template file is easy. Just go to the same place in Blogger you saved your template from and use the upload file feature to put it back.

Unfortunately, there isn't any explanation given on how to restore your blog posts with your saved file.

Here are some suggestions:

Open the local file in Firefox, select the post you want and copy the source-code, then paste it in your post-editor (HTML-mode) and repost. The date would be off, however.

Open the local file in a brawny notepad-editor program--like NOTEPAD++ Dig into the code and find your post. Then, again, copy and paste the selected code into your post-editor (HTML-mode) and repost. Again the dates would be off.

Reality Check

This really isn't a great technique if you are really trying to capture a mirror image of your blog to then restore--with perfect date returns.

I would gather this would be more for someone who is afraid that a bored night-watchman at Google decides to press that small green button on his security desk that doesn't have a label. You know, the one that mysteriously deletes GMail archives?

This would allow you to quickly and easily save the "meat and potatoes" of your blog post content and formatting. In the event of data loss, you would still have something to work with in a relatively easy HTML code-preserving format.

Google also has their "Official" Blogger blog backup plan solution, although it doesn't seem quite as easy, nor does it provide "restoration" support either.

I like this single-page blog post generation trick. It is quick and easy enough to do with a minimum of fuss.

Bonus tip:

Once you've created your "custom" Blogger 1000 post page generator URL, save it as a bookmark!

Just one click on that bookmark to generate the page, and a few more to save it. Pretty Easy!

Happy Blogger Backups!

--Claus

Beware False Positives - Real Threat Assessment

Boston got caught by a wicked "false-positive."

Austin didn't: Cartoon Network Stunt Didn’t Cause Problems In Austin.

Apparently Texans are either too savvy to panic at a finger-flashing LED display or too busy to notice.

As most of us are not highly trained law-enforcement personal like Jack Bauer, it can be difficult to really assess if a object, person, or action is a real hostile threat going about our daily lives.

Honest mistakes can happen....

Recent Schneier on Security Highlights

• Non-Terrorist Embarrassment in Boston - Security guru Bruce Schneier takes a hard look at the Mooninite invasion.

• The Psychology of Security - Essay in Progress by Bruce on how our brains work and fail at assessing security threats and "...why our feeling of security so often diverges from reality."

• Dave Barry on Superbowl Security: Super security: Bad guys don't stand a chance - Very funny

New (to me) Security Blogs

I've mentioned before that I try to do a daily review of RSS feeds on computer security topics and websites. This helps to get me focused on the right frame of mind as I begin my workday. From time to time I will be able to identify either a growing threat and/or solution and share it with the "powers that be."

Two new computer security blogs I've added to my RSS feed list recent are Mark Curphey's SecurityBuddha.com and .:Computer Defense:. Both bloggers have a really down-to-earth style of writing that avoids the try techno-speak.

Thanks to Computer Defense, I was led to a newly-birthed blog, A Random View of an Insecure World. It looks to be off to a interesting start.

Network and Computer Threat Portals

So there, I learned about rpoppa's views on global computer and threat trend pages (he has some points) and particularly the Arbor Atlas - Global Summary Dashboard threat portal.

Overall, it is a well designed threat-page. It provides a global map of active threats, summaries of current threats, a vulnerability risk index, top scanned services, and top threat sources.

Not a bad place to check in at periodically.

That got me looking and reviewing for more:

• SANS Internet Storm Center - Still my number one place to check daily for network and computer related security tips, techniques and threat information.

• ATLAS Dashboard: Global Summary - mentioned above.

• Postini: Stat Track - Resource center with information about Directory Harvest Attacks (DHAs), spam activity levels, virus frequency, and they have maps too!

• McAfee Threat Center - Good information about breaking threats, current malware, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), spam activity, Top Phish scams, and vulnerabilities. Yep, maps here as well.

• Vulnerability and Virus Information - Secunia - I like this site a lot. Security highlights, advisories, information and statistics. No maps.

• FrSIRT - Security Research and Cyber Threats Monitoring 24/7 - Security highlights, advisories, and malware alerts. Color coded to stress you out.

• Welcome to CERT! - Security Alerts, current activity lists, and vulnerability resources at a glace.

• Virus Bulletin : Independent Malware Advice - provides quite a lot of virus, malware, and spam-related information, reviews and analyses. Free registration is required to access their informative archives and content.

New Anti-Malware Products

Released: Sunbelt Software's CounterSpy v2. A well updated program that has a long and solid history of helping home user's keep their pc's clean. More details on the enhancements at the SunbeltBlog. Free 15-day full-version trial. Low consumer-friendly price.

In development: Lavasoft is working on its latest version of the popular anti-spyware product Ad-Aware SE Personal. According to a February 5th post on the Lavasoft Blog, the new version will be named Ad-Aware 2007 and come in both Free, Plus, and Pro versions. Currently they are looking for folks willing to become a registered Lavasoft beta tester. So if you can't wait for the spring targeted release, and are willing to put up with beta software, this might be a good opportunity.

Did you know that Lavasoft offers some extensions, tools, and themes that can plug-into Ad-Aware?

• FileSpecs - for Ad=Aware Pro only - gives additional data on files located during the scan.

• HexDump - view information on files - such as cookies - like who the originator was.

• LSP Explorer - view active Layered Service Providers (LSP's) on your system.

• Messenger-Control - disable the Windows Messenger Service.

• OE/W Messenger-Control - disables the Windows Messenger Service from running if you use Outlook Express.

• Tweak SE - Tweak items and features of Ad-Aware. Handy tool to customize the program.

• Skins (free) - Yellow Sky, Greyscale, Medium Blue, and the Default

Keep safe,

--Claus

Windows XP/2000 Command Line Tips

Every now and then I have to get wiggy with the command-line.

Its actually kinda fun now with the highly-modifiable, tab supported Console (freeware) utility.

I remember pouring over an old DOS 6.22 booklet that came packaged with one of our agency's x486 systems many, many years ago to prep for an IT technician's job. I didn't get the job then but it ended up coming in handy down the road.

While I wouldn't consider myself an expert-level command-line guy, I've got the handful or two most used command-line commands down pretty well.

Being proficient in command-line environment is a real plus. Yes, most everything you need to do can be done with a GUI-based application or utility. But sometimes you can be even more efficient by using the son-of-DOS.

Here are some more useful command-line resources, for the curious to the masters.

XP/2000 Command Line Tip List

• 14 Windows Command Line Tricks - well documented list of some not-so familiar commands that can be quite useful in a pinch. -via Daily Cup of Tech

• Windows XP Commands - nice, plain and A-Z formatted list of commands. Good when you know what you want to do, but can't remember the exact command name.

• Windows XP/2000 Commands and Tools - a number of commands particularly focused on network administration tasks. -via NetworkClue.com

• The Windows XP Command Line, Batch Files, and Scripting- Using the Command Shell - good primer material on command-line issues, topics and techniques.

• Microsoft Windows XP - Command-line reference A-Z - Where better to get the details on all these commands, the command syntaxes, and the power of their switch parameters than from Microsoft itself?

• Windows 2000/XP Command Prompt - Cheat Sheet [[PRINTABLE]] - print it out and keep a copy in your bag.

• Beginners Guides: WindowsXP Command Prompt - PCSTATS.com - user-friendly intro into understanding what the command-line is and some basic commands to become familiar with.

• Learning DOS - Really, really basic commands. For those who want to stay in the kiddie pool. -via NetworkClue.com

Making Batch Files

Once you have progressed into feeling comfortable with the power of the command-line, you can leverage that power by creating batch-files. These files are constructed of a series of logical steps, loops and commands. I use a simple batch-file I wrote in Lavie's XP laptop's startup folder to release and renew her IP address to make sure she gets a good IP connection.

• Batch File Help - Quite possibly my favorite guide for making batch files.

• Beginners Guides: Understanding and Creating Batch Files - PCSTATS.com - A well written multi-page introduction to batch-file concepts.

• Creating DOS Batch Files - Fast text page with highlights to illustrate the structure and methods that batch files work under.

• DOS Batch Programming - Eric Phelps provides some good tips and techniques on batch file writing.

• Microsoft Windows XP - Batch files - Again, nice detailed information about batch file operations and structure.

Windows PowerShell - The Next Generation

I'd love to have the time to learn how to really use the power of the new Windows PowerShell.

It's like the command-prompt on steroids.

• Windows PowerShell - Microsoft

• An Introduction to Windows Power Shell (Monad) - The Code Project ... nice, approachable introduction into PowerShell fundamentals.

• Windows PowerShell Team Blog - Get the latest news from the team that created it!

• Scripting with Windows PowerShell - Scripts, tips, virtual labs, books, and articles. Wow!

• Windows PowerShell Getting Started Guide - MSDN Library resource.

• PowerShell Managed Reference - MSDN Library resource.

Bonus Prize - FrontMotion Login

Not command-line related--and very cool!

Seems that with some tweaking with the tools at FrontMotion Login, you can have a custom Flash-animated XP log-on screen. (More in the forums.)

Who knew?

Animated XP logins with FrontMotion Login - via Download Squad

Enjoy.

--Claus

Firefox Fun

Lots going on for the Mozilla Firefox fans.

Firefox Beta Builds Progressing

Mozilla has just released Gran Paradiso Alpha 2. Gran Paradiso Alpha 2 Start Page

If you are interested, get this pre-beta release here.

Looking through the notes, the rendering engine (Cairo) has been improved and now it clearly passes the Acid 2 Web Standards Test. On the downside, Windows 95/98/ME and OS X 10.2 are not supported. The much anticipated "Places" bookmarking upgrade is nowhere to be seen. Finally, there is also a really bad memory leak that is known. A fix is coming in Gran Paradiso Alpha 3.

I've played with these Gran Paradiso builds for a while now and while I can't recommend switch from Firefox 2.0 they are fun to use. For casual surfing they seem to work fine on my XP systems and image rendering is fast and even appears sharper--though that may be just my subjective opinion.

In fact, I'm actually using the nightly Minefield builds for my "casual" surfing. I wouldn't do any "secure website" browsing actions with either of these builds, but they seem to work fine.

Major Mozilla Update Release this Month?

Firefox Extension Guru notes there may be An Update on Major Update

His review of recent Mozilla meeting notes indicates that a likely release date for the 2.0.0.2 build might come as early as around Feb. 15.

This release is needed to fix some major bugs.

Since Thunderbird 2.0 is now out at Beta2, can we hope for a Thunderbird 2.0 Final release in March? I sure am! The Tb2.0 beta 2 version is running Jim-dandy on Lavie's laptop and hasn't had any issues yet.

Mozilla Add-On Site Re-launch Changes

Some time back Mozilla updated the look of their Add-ons Site. It got a fresh, clean look.

Now comes phase two. The webmasters will be ripping out and discarding the list of Add-ons to just a few hundred. Mozilla’s Trimming the Fat from the Add-ons Site - CyberNet News

Most likely to miss the cut, Add-ons that are no longer being maintained and supported by their developers, possibly Add-ons that are not Firefox 2.0 compatible, and hopefully lots of the "junk/ad" based toolbar'ish Add-ons.

I hope I don't loose any of my favorites in the cleanup process. As I understand it, pulled (and new?) extensions will have to earn their place back on the pages--voting style. Not sure how it will all work, but I'm open. It can be a task sorting through them all. And a Google search usually helps me turn up the developer's site for my favorite ones anyway.

More details: ComputerWorld - Want your Firefox add-ons? Better get them now

Firefox Themes and Extensions of Note

Since we are on the subject--here are some nice themes and extensions I have tripped over this week...

myFireFox Theme - This theme gives a very close approximation to Internet Explorer 7. The buttons are very nice and the overall theme is pleasant. It even does that two-tab thing like IE7. Two things I don't enjoy with it; first, the back/forward buttons don't have the drooped arrows to quick-forward/back through previous page view history. Also the icon spacing, especially with the bookmark/link bar, seem to be a bit wide for my tastes. However, it is a fresh, fun theme. Worth checking out.

Opaque + ClearTabs Theme - This theme tweaks the original Firefox theme. It brightens up the default icon colors and removes the opacity changes when the cursor hovers on them. Tabs are also made clearer for better visibility. Small package but big change!

Smart Bookmarks Bar - This Add-on takes the text off your bookmarks, leaving just the icon behind. However, if you hover over the icon, it will expand it to show the name information. For the handful of my top-fav bookmarks, I just tend to edit the properties and remove the name, leaving just the icon behind. That's easy enough for me. But this might be a less-severe fix. It does have some reported issues with a few themes.

Favicon Picker 2 - This Firefox 2.0 compatible Add-on allows you to select a custom icon for your bookmarks from your own private store! So if you don't like the favicon that the site is giving you (if it is) and you have an icon locally you like better, you can select it instead! Nice and fun way to customize that bookmark tool bar!

Bonus Stuff

Not Firefox related, but fun stuff anyway...

Googleshare Translations - this is a very interesting examination on how Google could optimize their language translation results. I'm not entirely sure how these on-line web-translation services really work, but Google Blogoscoped takes the basic theory and expands it with a fascinating twist...what if Google used it's vast web page crawl data to maximize the translation algorithm results? By running it's translation results against Google page-ranks (higher is better) it could provide a translation closer to "real-life" usage of phases and meanings. Go read both linked posts to get the details....

@icon sushi - (freeware) Image to icon editor supporting xp/vista icon, png and more. Newly released to version 1.21. This tool along with LionTech's IconShop (freeware) and X2 Studio's LiquidIcon XP (freeware) are my favorite icon editing utilities.

--Claus

Why I sweat the small things....

While I am not quite a "Monk", I do tend to pay attention closely to the small things; in life, with technology and systems, with operations and logistics.

It's one of the things that makes me very good at my job, and drives Lavie crazy.

While she can remember just about everyone she went to school with since kindergarten, I can remember just about six or seven folks. I'm terrible with names, and not much better with faces. But ask me to recall a registry key setting, or where every Exxon gas station is in town, or where Alvis last tossed a particular belt in the house, and I can probably tell you. It's a blessing and a curse.

At work this pays off well in writing documentation and technical process descriptions. Contingency plan development is another area that I am strong in. Where the Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared," for some reason my motto seems to be "Be Prepared, with a supportable answer."

Paying attention to the details when working with technology systems and computers is very important. If the integrity of a network or computer has been compromised, the damage to self and others (not to mention the data represented) can carry a terrible cost.

That's one reason why I spend so much time focusing on trying to provide reliable home-user security tips to others. It's not so much that I think I'm some expert or anything, there are others who know tons more that I do regarding network and system security, it's just that for many pc users, it can be very difficult getting good information out of those experts and figuring out how easily apply it to their systems.

Give me a system, and with the tools I use, I can usually tell pretty well if something "malicious" is going on. In many cases I can restore its integrity. Sometimes I cannot and to do so, will recommend (or require) a restoration of the operating system from scratch. That just may be one of those things needed to bring back trust to a system.

In "real-life" this attention to detail can have benefits as well.

Catastrophic Failure Denied...

For instance, over the last four days or so I began to notice a very tiny "shimmy" in my steering. It seemed to get a bit more pronounced over 30mph. But it was only noticeable when I drove with one hand on the steering wheel.

For the first two days I thought that it was just because I had a bit too much air in the tires and I was getting more road-feedback than usual.

On day three I decided I was going crazy and "Monking out" again, it was so slight I was kidding myself.

Yesterday on the way to and from work I decided that the "shimmy" must really be happening and that I likely tossed a wheel balancing weight, causing the slight wobble in the steering.

I checked out the tires and rims and thought I saw where it looked like the adhesive remained from a flat "stick-on" counter-balance weight remained on one of the rims.

So I took it into my tire-shop for a re-spin and balance.

Imagine my surprise when they told me that it wasn't a balance issue at all.

One of my front tires had began to have the outer tread-belt separate from the core; in multiple places! Yowsers!

I asked to take a look and on the inside edge of the affected tire, the failure was quite visible...and frightening. It would have been very hard to spot while the tire was mounted on the axle...obviously I didn't see it earlier. The tire shop manager said it was a defective tire. Sounds good to me based on what I observed.

I shudder to think what the consequences of ignoring that very slight "wobble" might have been while speeding down one of our freeways at 70mph had the tire picked that moment to catastrophically fail.

They other tire had sufficient tread-life on it, but I decided to replace it anyway as well. I got the same brand/model (again). So I now have the two almost-new tires on the rear that I had purchased about 6-months ago, and the two brand-new ones on the front. (Being a detail freak, I hate the thought of having a mismatched set of tires on my car.)

I will be going with a different make/model tire when these four are worn down. I had bought a set of Yokohama's for Lavie's car over a year ago and I positively love them. They feel and handle beautifully...unfortunately when I got hers, they didn't come in a size that would have fit the stock rims on my Saturn and I didn't want to get new rims. Maybe I'll get lucky next time.

So, because I pay close attention to how my car feels, drives, sounds and performs, I was able to pick up a slight "odd" feeling that just seemed out of place. I (eventually) went with my hunch and investigated it further. That probably saved my life and others sharing the road with me.

Taking care of your computer is not much different. If something starts acting funny, sluggish, or just seems off, stop and take a look at what is going on. Run some tests and try to pinpoint the issue. Trust your hunches...no matter how small. If something doesn't look right, don't keep on blindly clicking on!

If you can't figure it out but still have that same feeling, go ask an expert.

Who knows what catastrophe you might avert?

Do me a favor...

And while we're on it, please do me a favor and check all the tires on your vehicles this weekend. Make sure they are inflated properly according to your car owner's manual or the tire inflation sticker on the frame/glovebox/wherever.

Don't be shy, carefully crawl around them and feel the edges, especially the inside and make sure they are wearing evenly and feel normal. Turn the steering wheel all the way to the left and visually inspect the inside edges, then turn it full-stop to the right and check them again. If something looks or feels off, take it in to be looked at. Most tire places will inspect them for free. All tires have wear-bars built into them. If the tread surface has reached the wear-bar, replace them.

• Checking Tire Footprint with a Chalkline - neat tip.
• Safercar.gov - tire FAQ's
• The Penny Test - Car Care - Motor Trend

A periodic tire inspection shouldn't take more than a few minutes to do, and it just might save our lives.

Thank you kindly.

This public service message reminder has been brought to you by Claus.

Late Night (Early Morning?) Linkfest

I've been crunching numbers for work and am done with it.

Here's some stuff I've seen today but am just too darn tired to deal with much more:

Google Webmaster Linking Stats Reports!

I've been using Google Analytics to get a good picture of how many visitors have been dropping in. However, while it has some strengths, finding out where folks have made links to my pages here is a bit of a challenge. On Tuesday, Google released a great companion tool to Google Analytics to dig that information out. Me Likey! It is easy to set up. Free. And provides the stats in a very easy to obtain manner! Wow!

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Discover your links

Official Google Blog: Who links to your site?

Google's webmaster tools and also at Webmaster Tools

Ignoring Enhanced Online Banking Security Features: Technology or User Weakness?

So my bank was one of these that recently changed the online login process for authentication. Besides all kinds of complex passwords, I also had to pick an image (from a limited set) to recall. When I log in, I should be presented with the image. Basically, if I don't see my image, then I should bail out as the site might be a phishing attack and not really my bank. OK. Fine. Whatever.

Well, a recent study found that a set of participants kept on clicking, even when HTTPS indicators were removed from the browser (indicating a secure session was active) or when they failed to see their authentication image, or when security certificate warnings were presented. Yikes!

The researchers are reported to have concluded that image-authentication security methods in use by banks is ineffective.

I was going to write a long fuss about this...not so much the study as I think it is pretty well on the mark, but how the real issue isn't with the technology, but how users fail to follow safe computing/surfing rules... It doesn't seem to be a technology issue, but (again) a user compliance and understanding issue.

But then, HTZRegz over at .:Computer Defense:. did a much better job putting it into words.

The study however isn’t my concern… my concern is with the NYT article… It’s misleading to readers… There’s no flaw in the websites of major banks… and if I were these banks I’d be rather upset at the NYT for the equivalent of slander right now… As I said in the title this article could have been called “Common Knowledge: Users Regularly Click-Thru”… This is where the problem lies. Users will common click next.. Call Tech support, what do they say, “Click next until you’re done” (This is negligence on the tech support companies part)… Instructions on websites will commonly say, click next until you’re done… Users have come to accept, “Click next until you’re done” as the standard… in an effort to make computers easier for the average user… we’ve made them more vulnerable… we’ve been complacent in our duties to keep the end user informed…. to pass along knowledge… Basically, we’ve failed them.

The problem now is how do we re-educate them… The NYT should be addressing and answering that question… addressing the issue of users that “Click-Thru”… This study is alarming but not for the reasons that the NYT addresses… it’s alarming because so few users know how to act and respond… They want the ease of use…

Quoted from .:Computer Defense:. » “Study Finds Security Flaws on Web Sites of Major Banks” or “Common Knowledge: Users Regularly Click-Thru”

Study: Users ignore bank security features - Network World

Yeah, what he said.

About that Vista Firewall...

I haven't had the time to really play much with my RC1 Vista build. I haven't and probably won't load it on any of my XP systems here at home until at least near the end of the summer. So I can't speak with any amount of authority on the Vista firewall, just yet.... But until then, here is some stuff to chew on. Sounds like Microsoft is trying to make some progress, but....well...you decide.

» Screen Gallery: When is a firewall not a firewall? When it’s Vista’s built-in firewall | Berlind’s Testbed | ZDNet.com

Vista’s Windows Firewall with Advanced Security - via Dozling.com

And while we are on the subject....

Microsoft OneCare fails virus test - vnunet.com

Bummer. Although once I got to reading the article, OneCare (and some others) actually seemed to have failed on malware detections...which isn't (to me) quite the same thing as viruses. On the other hand, it did seem get 99.91 percent of the threats...so that must be one high-bar test to jump over to pass. And if I am reading it all correctly, the test consisted of 37 malicious programs. Hmmm. I'm confused now...I think I will just click on through, and click on through, and click....

Windows Live Writer Group..it's almost like a backstage pass!

I'm waiting for the next release version of Windows Live Writer. I love the current version, but there are a number of features I want to see!

According to discussions at the Windows Live Writer Group the next release is still a while in coming, but to gain some insights into the development process for WLW, go read the posts. --via CyberNet News

PCLinuxOS 2007-- Looking Wicked Cool!

I've tried the Beta1 version out and love it. Really love it. It has been completely redesigned and seems faster, cooler, and more polished than ever before. Once it goes "final" I'll be loading it on Alvis's pc as soon as the burned ISO file cools.

In the meantime, check out this review over at tuxmachines.org: PCLinuxOS 2007 Beta 2 (Test 1)

More to drool over...

Screenshots - PCLinuxOS 2007

PCLinuxOS: News

Make it BIGGER! You know you want to!

Yeah, I know that sounds like a bad-spam subject line...

God bless Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - How to change the width of the text insertion cursor

I never realized that one could make the blinking insertion point cursor wider. I just needed to tweak mine one notch, but it makes a world of difference when editing documents.

Who knew it could be that easy?

Texas, Oh Texas....Home of wide open....software documents?

Slashdot | Texas Bill For Open Documents

I just spotted this over on Slashdot. I work for the State of Texas. I'd like to consider myself a proponent of open-source software and all the benefits that go with it. However, as an technology insider...I'm not sure how I feel.

So for now I will just quote Yossarian from Joseph Heller's Catch-22:

"I suppose I have an ambivalent attitude toward it."

Yep. That describes my feelings about it pretty well for now.

Better than Web 2.0...Create a Useless Account!

Feeling left out? Didn't get on the wagon in time for the latest Web 2.whatever?

Don't fret!

Go right now and create your very own Useless Account.

Heck, create as many Useless Accounts as you want!

Then leave them behind and never go back to them again.

It's guiltless fun!

No web-developers will be upset for once at the inflated sign-up numbers, but brought crashing back to earth when only a handful of users end up sticking around, long-term.

-via Download Squad

Yawn...Is it time for breakfast yet?

--Claus

Daughter Growing

To be honest, I had never planned on being a father.

I really didn't want to be one.

It wasn't because I was selfish and wanted to spend all my money and time on pursuing my own interests...that's not really me. I just didn't think I would do a good enough job with all the responsibility that entails.

After Lavie and I got married, she worked hard to help convince me she believed in me enough to want to try.

Then after all that soul searching and personal growth, it looked like we wouldn't be able to have children at all.

Amazing.

So we gave up on the idea, kind-of. Lavie asked me what I wanted for my upcoming birthday and I told her I would be happy with either a baby or a dog.

We settled on the breed. A Schipperke.

We had a breeder picked out and a puppy waiting. We kept its picture taped on our bedroom mirror.

As my birthday neared we were all set to make the trip up past Tyler to get it.

Then one afternoon, Lavie came home and gave me a present.

Turns out I wasn't going to be getting a dog for my birthday, after all.

I wasn't going to be a doggie-daddy.

We were going to have a baby. I was going to be a baby-daddy. Our baby. The baby who would become Alvis. A mysterious thing known as a daughter, which brings delight and pride and confusion to fathers everywhere.

Our home is filled with her artwork and pictures and love. She is our joy.

I'm not a perfect father, but she and Lavie say I'm doing a good job so I guess that's something.

John "flagrantdisregard" Watson posted his musings on being a dad: Where’d my baby go? and particularly how quickly children grow up.

For me, two recent facts have oddly forced me to realize I have a daughter, growing.

First, her blouses and shirts and coats no longer will fit on her children's sized hangers. No matter how hard I try or what techniques I use, they keep sliding off. And I am going to have to deal with it and go buy her full-size hangers.

Secondly, I got the honor of taking her out to buy some new pairs of jeans this weekend. We had a great time and actually succeeded in finding some.

Only, we had to get them from the junior's department and they were size 1's. She isn't even a teenager yet and we are shopping in the junior's department...because she is so tall.

Geesh.

And I remember when we could put stuff on the kitchen counter to keep her out of it.

Gone are the days.....

On the other hand, while we were burning time together, we checked out the latest mice and keyboards in the office supply store. Alvis showed quite a bit of her geek discussing her opinions on the finer points of ergonomic mouse and keyboard feel with me.

Maybe I'm doing something OK after all.

--Claus