A Memorable Fancy » software http://www.erikmarshall.net Erik Marshall's Blog Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:32:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Safari on PC http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/safari-on-pc/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/safari-on-pc/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:47:29 +0000 erik http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/?p=238 Safari is now available for the PC. How do I know this? Because I suddenly received a notification from Apple that my Safari needed updating to 3.1. I was really confuse for a sec, thinking I was on my iBook or something, but then I realized that they must be using the iTunes auto-update application . . . → Read More: Safari on PC]]> Safari is now available for the PC. How do I know this? Because I suddenly received a notification from Apple that my Safari needed updating to 3.1. I was really confuse for a sec, thinking I was on my iBook or something, but then I realized that they must be using the iTunes auto-update application to install Safari on my machine. How insidious! How brilliant! Of course, I won’t use it, as I love Firefox, but whatever.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/safari-on-pc/feed/ 0 Moving (back) to Linux, or, more procrastination http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/moving-back-to-linux-or-more-procrastination/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/moving-back-to-linux-or-more-procrastination/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:48:14 +0000 Ultimate Goal: Install Fedora 4 Suse 10.0 and move to a primarily linux-based environment. Current Setup: 1-40GB HD, two partitions, one NTFS with Windows install (C:), one linux with Mandrake 10.0. 1-160GB (D: and E:), two partitions 80/80, both NTFS, primarily for data. (D: was originally FAT32, but I apparently reformatted it at some point). . . . → Read More: Moving (back) to Linux, or, more procrastination]]> Ultimate Goal: Install Fedora 4 Suse 10.0 and move to a primarily linux-based environment. Current Setup: 1-40GB HD, two partitions, one NTFS with Windows install (C:), one linux with Mandrake 10.0. 1-160GB (D: and E:), two partitions 80/80, both NTFS, primarily for data. (D: was originally FAT32, but I apparently reformatted it at some point). Short term goals: 1. Back up everything on C, D and E. 2. Boot into Mandrake to save anything I need there. 3. Reformat 160GB to remove overlay program, repartition, 80GB NTFS, 80GB FAT. 4. Reinstall Windows (?) [Is this necessary, or can I do some heavy-duty uninstalling and registry cleaning?] 5. Install Fedora in partition currently holding Mandrake. Progress so far. D: completely backed up. E: completely backed up. C: backed up Update 1/2/06: Project stalled due to geographical dislocation 1/16/06 Windows reinstalled. Suse 10.0 Downloaded, but apparent error in DVD burn.

Update 1/30/06:  Suse Installed and set as default OS.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/moving-back-to-linux-or-more-procrastination/feed/ 0 Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1 http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/firefox-15-release-candidate-1/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/firefox-15-release-candidate-1/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2005 02:58:50 +0000 Firefox 1.5rc1 just came out. I am downloading it right now.

Julie’s been having browser problems, and so have I lately. Firefox has been hanging on occasion, which may be the result of an extension, or maybe it’s just buggy. I downloaded the flock beta (thanks Jill), but haven’t had time to test it . . . → Read More: Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1]]> Firefox 1.5rc1 just came out. I am downloading it right now.

Julie’s been having browser problems, and so have I lately. Firefox has been hanging on occasion, which may be the result of an extension, or maybe it’s just buggy. I downloaded the flock beta (thanks Jill), but haven’t had time to test it much. I like Opera a lot, becuase it is fully CSS compliant and fast as hell, and now that it’s ad-free it’ll be more bearable. My only problems with it are that it’s not open source and you can’t get all of the cool extensions and stuff you can with firefox. So, I’m trying rc1. More later.

Notice I didn’t mention Internet Explorer? Because it SUCKS. Stop using it. Now. It’s buggy, has few good features, and is a security risk.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/firefox-15-release-candidate-1/feed/ 0 ITunes Podcasting Integration http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/itunes-podcasting-integration/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/itunes-podcasting-integration/#comments Wed, 06 Jul 2005 20:53:47 +0000 I don’t have an IPod, but even for listening to podcasts on my desktop, a podcast mananger is indispensible. I have been using ipodder to automatically download the 10 or so podcasts I regularly listen to, but I have found it to be a little buggy and slow. I do like the ITunes integration, where . . . → Read More: ITunes Podcasting Integration]]> I don’t have an IPod, but even for listening to podcasts on my desktop, a podcast mananger is indispensible. I have been using ipodder to automatically download the 10 or so podcasts I regularly listen to, but I have found it to be a little buggy and slow. I do like the ITunes integration, where it puts each podcast into its own playlist, although I’ve always wished I could have a “podcast” folder with subfolders for individual podcasts, but subdirectories are not possible in ITunes. Now, the new version of ITunes has its own podcast thing. The new service puts them in a “Podcast” section, which lists each podcast with expandable lists showing each episode. The selection process is run through the ITunes Store section, and the “Get” button looks too much like the “Buy” button for me. I can’t tell yet whether I can manually add URLs, but if I can, I might switch over.

Note: I know I have previously stated a mission to move completely to open source, but I have slowly slipped into an all Microsoft/Apple habit, even using ITunes as my primary jukebox. Although I did lapse into an Outlook/Entourage phase for a little while, I am back to Mozilla Thunderbird. And, of course, Firefox.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/itunes-podcasting-integration/feed/ 1 Microsoft move update http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/microsoft-move-update/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/microsoft-move-update/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2004 02:39:26 +0000 Sung to the tune of “Mary had a little lamb”:

Mandrake 10.1 is out

One is out

One is out

Mandrake 10.1 is out

I think it’s really great.

Yes, it is more geeky software stuff. As you may remember from this post, I have been trying to slowly end my dependence on Microsoft products. . . . → Read More: Microsoft move update]]> Sung to the tune of “Mary had a little lamb”:

Mandrake 10.1 is out

One is out

One is out

Mandrake 10.1 is out

I think it’s really great.

Yes, it is more geeky software stuff. As you may remember from this post, I have been trying to slowly end my dependence on Microsoft products. Well, I’m getting closer. I finally got off Outlook, and onto Thunderbird in Windows. And now, with Mandrake 10.1, which I updated via urpmi (yea urpmi!), I think I am comfortable enough with linux that I have made it my default OS. So here’s my linux setup:

Mandrake 10.1 (hence the song)

email: evolution or thunderbird (jury is still out)

web browsing: firefox

text: Openoffice.org

music: amorak (i miss ITunes, though)

instant messaging: gaim

imaging: the Gimp

desktop: gnome

The only reason to boot into Windows now is for games, where Microsoft still rules. (I did have a pesky harddrive problem that I booted in Win to diagnose and rescue some stuff on my FAT partition, which was broke because of EZ-DRIVE, which Windows needs — oh nevermind).

I will keep you updated, whether you like it or not.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/microsoft-move-update/feed/ 1 Blackboard blues http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/blackboard-blues/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/blackboard-blues/#comments Thu, 09 Dec 2004 18:43:35 +0000 I’ve been using Blackboard for many years now, and every time I get fed up with it, they update it and make it a little more accessible or easy to use, or add a new feature, keeping me barely hooked. Well, I really am tired of it now. It is too clunky. You have to . . . → Read More: Blackboard blues]]> I’ve been using Blackboard for many years now, and every time I get fed up with it, they update it and make it a little more accessible or easy to use, or add a new feature, keeping me barely hooked. Well, I really am tired of it now. It is too clunky. You have to press too many buttons to get simple tasks done. I like that students are automatically signed up for the course at WSU, but otherwise I find it cumbersome. One of the things I do with it is have students use the discussion board to extend in-class discussion, usually by responding to a prompt. This works pretty well, as students come in having already thought about the film or reading, but I find it in some respects to be less a discussion than a quick answering of the prompt, without looking at other responses. Luckily, I have a lot of smart, engaging students, so their replies are worth reading, but the interation with each other isn’t as high as I might like. Some of this is me failing to set up that expectation, but some of it I think is blackboard setup. The discussion board is cumbersome and non-intuitive in many respects, and it is pure hell on a dial-up connection. I am thinking about using blogs next semester (I will post another entry on that), and/or moving to Moodle, which is open-source, but which I have never used. I need a discussion board, a gradebook, and maybe an integrated blog and/or wiki, depending on how daring I want to be, or how far out of my comfort zone I want to stray. Any thoughts?

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/blackboard-blues/feed/ 0 Thunderbird, Email and RSS http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/thunderbird-email-and-rss/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/thunderbird-email-and-rss/#comments Sat, 04 Dec 2004 01:26:47 +0000 Thunderbird Release Candidate 1 is out for testing. I like it so far. It has integrated RSS, which rocks. I think I have finally done away with Outlook, as of tonight. I’ve been using RSS Bandit and Sage for RSS stuff, but I want to share my RSS feeds so I can access them from . . . → Read More: Thunderbird, Email and RSS]]> Thunderbird Release Candidate 1 is out for testing. I like it so far. It has integrated RSS, which rocks. I think I have finally done away with Outlook, as of tonight. I’ve been using RSS Bandit and Sage for RSS stuff, but I want to share my RSS feeds so I can access them from multiple computers/OSes. I have been playing with Bloglines, which is not bad, but I really like the look of Thunderbird’s aggregator – it fits in right under your email folders.

Speaking of email folders, I have just recently discovered IMAP. As I consider myself a tech-savvy guy, I am a little embarassed to admit that I just discovered it. I always thought it was an Apple thing or something, so I always used POP. But it’s cool, and it lets you organize things on the server, and it makes it MUCH easier to share email between WinXp, Mandrake Linux, Webmail at the office and the new iBook. I can flag and reply to things, and it shows up everywhere. It also helps remind me to keep the mailbox clean.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/thunderbird-email-and-rss/feed/ 0 Browser wars continue http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/browser-wars-continue/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/browser-wars-continue/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2004 14:28:11 +0000 This article (free registration required) in the NYTimes offers some interesting information on the continuing browser wars, and the increasing popularity of non-IE browsers.

I almost never use IE now, preferring Mozilla Firefox, and, more and more, Opera. Firefox has many more features, and the addition of extensions greatly increases functionality (e.g. RSS reader, CSS editing, and many others). Firefox also has better CSS compatibility, but it pales greatly in comparison to Opera, which offers compliance with the latest CSS specs.

. . . → Read More: Browser wars continue]]> This article (free registration required) in the NYTimes offers some interesting information on the continuing browser wars, and the increasing popularity of non-IE browsers.

I almost never use IE now, preferring Mozilla Firefox, and, more and more, Opera. Firefox has many more features, and the addition of extensions greatly increases functionality (e.g. RSS reader, CSS editing, and many others). Firefox also has better CSS compatibility, but it pales greatly in comparison to Opera, which offers compliance with the latest CSS specs.

It’s a tough choice. I prefer to support open source projects, but Opera seems to be faster and sites that use CSS 2 and above look better. The creator of this blog software prefers Opera, as evidenced by the link to it in the sidebar, so I would suspect that this blog will look better in Opera, and maybe someday look correct only in Opera or a similar browser. The hard thing is, when 95% of the population still uses MSIE, how do you insist that your readers use something else, while trying to include as many as possible?

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/browser-wars-continue/feed/ 1 Weaning myself off Microsoft http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/weaning-myself-off-microsoft/ http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/weaning-myself-off-microsoft/#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2004 01:25:33 +0000 Like many people, I am trying to decrease slowly the amount of interaction I have with Microsoft products. I have a dual-boot system with WinXP Pro and Mandrake Linux 9.2, on which I use Windows probably 90% of the time (in Windows now, in fact). I have been happily using Mozilla Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox for some time, and use IE less and less, if at all (an article at Lockergnome gives good reasons to switch). I have downloaded OpenOffice.org, and will begin using it immediately. I still use Outlook, and that will be the hardest thing to get rid of, but I will try.

Why? Partly because I want to support open source, partly because of M'soft's business practices. Also, I like options, and I want to be sure that we always have them. I'll keep you updated on my babysteps away from M'Soft, and proprietary software in general.

. . . → Read More: Weaning myself off Microsoft]]> Like many people, I am trying to decrease slowly the amount of interaction I have with Microsoft products. I have a dual-boot system with WinXP Pro and Mandrake Linux 9.2, on which I use Windows probably 90% of the time (in Windows now, in fact). I have been happily using Mozilla Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox for some time, and use IE less and less, if at all (an article at Lockergnome gives good reasons to switch). I have downloaded OpenOffice.org, and will begin using it immediately. I still use Outlook, and that will be the hardest thing to get rid of, but I will try.

Why? Partly because I want to support open source, partly because of M’soft’s business practices. Also, I like options, and I want to be sure that we always have them. I’ll keep you updated on my babysteps away from M’Soft, and proprietary software in general.

]]> http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/weaning-myself-off-microsoft/feed/ 6