Last night I got an awesome Kingston keyboard and I plugged it into my PC. Vista ate it and spit it out. Now No keyboard and no mouse I plug into the computer are acknowledged. During bios if their is a recovery cd in, I can get the keyboard and mouse to work. Vista SUX bad. Beware. Everyone run, and at the same time somebody help me. I don’t have a computer. I’m crying in the corner of my room and don’t know what to do…

But honestly, I want to reinstall Windows XP…check out www.WindowsVistaBlogger.com for the scoop on how I downgrade my computer…

[skip straight to Quotes about Cats] While surfing the web earlier today I was intrigued by a little link button that I found. It said “Top 100 Cat”…I thought, another categories list, let’s see what sites they suggest. But no…the cat did not stand for category as suspected, instead I was frightfully surprised to find a list of the Top 100 Cat Sites (as in Cat the animal).

Now let’s get this straight, I’ve only liked one cat in my life, the rest are snobby, malevolent and arrogant. Some of the sites in the list were quite impressive, I mean I really appreciate the fact that these websites are started. For years people have needed a way to relish their cats, they have needed a creative outlet to express their love for cats in an artistic and modest way. They have needed fellowship so that they can join their cat-lovin brethren (EG: the Cat Forum I found with 19,978 posts). To the webmasters of cat sites all across the web I applaud you and your ongoing efforts.

I found an incredible site that had an eye catching background. It was truly entwined with professionalism:

What magical creatures cats are. How fitting to display them to the world with an light purple haze that reinforces their majesty.

Pictures can say a thousand words but let us revisit those words so that we’re on the same track. Here are some of the cat quotes and comments being published on the web today:

1. “In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, He gave him the cat.”

2. “There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.” (…forget the family, I want me some cat)

3. “One reason we admire cats is for their proficiency in one-upmanship. They always seem to come out on top, no matter what they are doing, or pretend they do.” (…this one is a huge under statement)

4. “Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!”

….so…I guess I’ll just stop there then.

I’ve been inspired to start posting my favorite humorous and funny videos that I come across online. Here it goes in no particular order…

1. Charlie the Unicorn

2. Planet Unicorn Episode 2

3. Home Movies - Swords (Wizard’s Baker) Clip

So I own a Swissbit Swiss Army Flash Drive Knife…I’m a nerd, I know this. But the knife is the knife to have for a nerd, it’s ideal and wasn’t incredibly expensive. So I was pleased with my purchase; it included a knife, scissors, light, pen, file/screw driver, and of course a 512MB detachable flash drive.

That’s my knife to the right (and up)…yea I like it too. So this purchase was made about three years ago and at the time 512MB seemed like more than enough space, but with today’s demanding video, graphics and applications, it seemed like I ought to get a larger sized flash drive.

I began my search as most are started, Google, and I quickly found that replacement flash drives weren’t available. So I took the next step and said, well if I need a new knife then that’s fine, I’ll just do that. And my search came up with 2GB swissbit flash drive knives. I thought, that’s alot of space and would do me some good…but in my search their was something else that caught my eye…the Swissbit s.beat…a new MP3 player in the form of a knife, and of course it serves as a flash drive as well. I was taken aback. This was my new desire.

I started looking at prices and as I was searching for prices another gadget caught my eye. It was a 2GB watch! Now I just lost my watch 2 days ago and I need to get a new one anyways, so I was thinking, 2 birds 1 stone…

What has the world come to where our watches can hold up to 2GB worth of data? I think that’s incredible and am very impressed with the rate at which things are going…especially when we’re talking about consumer products here. That’s a big deal!

Following the tradition of my tale I began searching for the best price of this 2GB DiskGo watch…and I came across an MP3 Spy Watch. This watch is a spy watch because it’s got an audio recorder, a line in recorder, a line out for headphones and a built in MP3 player! I didn’t think things could get this good.

Of course it doesn’t even offer flash drive capabilities…and I’ve already got a great MP3 Player/Recorder…and I didn’t want to spend that much money. All of this aside I came to the realization that I don’t use my flash drive that much as it is and that upgrading would be a waste of money.

On one of these random geek gadget sites I saw what is called a Bullet Proof Flash Drive…I was dumbfounded at how somebody could think they would need that. And then looking back on the story that had just unfolded before my own eyes in my own search I realized that I was being just as ridiculous trying to rationalize my needing a new gadget when I wouldn’t even use it… The bullet proof flash drive was the kicker though, it was the one that made me say, hey…this seems like something people need to hear about…this seems like a job for a blog…so here you are, and you’ve read my story, I hope you enjoyed it.

Firefox extensions make the world a much easier place to live in. They offer a ton of flexability to what the browser can do. These little javascriptlets are what make Firefox stand out from the crowd and, they are in my opinion, the reason that Firefox is gaining ground in the browser battle.

One thing is that alot of users don’t know about all of the extensions offered. Sometimes they don’t want to sift through the thousands offered to find ones they might use…thus I have taken it upon myself to create a list of the Top Mozilla Firefox Extensions out there. It includes the name of the extension, a link and a short description. Here goes…

Extensions for General Users

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer - If you use Firefox on more than one computer, you’ll want Foxmarks. Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized. As a bonus, log in to my.foxmarks.com from any computer anywhere to access your bookmarks.

Download Statusbar - View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar - without the download window getting in the way of your web browsing.

IE Tab - an extension that features Embedding Internet Explorer in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox. Use it for IE specific scripted pages.

Image Zoom - Easily zoom in, zoom out, fit image to screen or set custom zoom on individual images within a web page. All this can be done by using the context menu or a combination of mouse buttons and scroll wheel. Handy to see the finer details of smaller pics or to make very large pics fit within your screen

Gmail Notifier - allows users with gmail accounts (or multiple gmail accounts) to log in to their email account whenever using Firefox. Automatically checks for new emails and notifies user upon reception of a new email.

iMacros - The Web browser is probably the most frequently used software today, and many tasks are highly repetitious. iMacros for Firefox relieves the repetition of checking on the same sites every day, remembering passwords and filling out web forms. Web professionals can use the software for functional testing and regression web testing of web applications. Another use is to automate web scraping, for example online stock quotes or web store prices.

Extensions for Webmasters

Firebug - Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

FireFTP - FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers. Along with transferring your files quickly and efficiently, FireFTP also includes more advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SSL encryption, search/filtering, integrity checks, remote editing, drag & drop, file hashing, and much more!

Web Developer - Adds a menu and a toolbar with various web developer tools. Many ‘general’ web development add-ons that ease the procedure of website development and testing.

Javascript Debugger - debugs javascript on the page. Venkman is the code name for Mozilla’s JavaScript Debugger. Venkman aims to provide a powerful JavaScript debugging environment for Mozilla based browsers.

ColorZilla - adds a color picker to the statusbar, allows you to click on anything in a webpage and it records the color, allows you to see the color in a color wheel and color chart, documents HEX and RGB values. Advanced Eyedropper, ColorPicker, Page Zoomer and other colorful goodies…

Measure It - draw a ruler across any webpage to check the width, height, or alignment of page elements in pixels. Acts as an overlaying ruler.

Extensions Developer - The Web Developer extension adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with various web developer tools: Real-time HTML Editor, Javascript Shell, Javascript Development Environment, Real-time Javascript RegExp Evaluator, XUL Editor, Interactive XPath Tester, Chrome Reloader, Extension Builder.

The list is not nearly complete, I’m very interested in what everyone else thinks. Feel free to post up you own extensions that I’ve missed or don’t know about.

In case you haven’t noticed on ArtisticGenesis.com’s homepage it has the latest blog entry posted up. When searching for a free script to do this we couldn’t find any…so we decided to write our own. Rightly so we called it ArtGen WP Fetch.

Key Points:
Install and use from any directory on your site, even outside of the WordPress directory.
Easy to configure, install and implement.
Very customizable.

What exactly does it do?

It gets the latest entry from a WordPress blog and puts its post, url and title in friendly and easy to use php variables. The best aspect of it is that it can be installed and used from any directory on your site, it does not have to be in the WordPress directory. It is easy to configure and install, just see the readme.txt file.

Let me know of any bugs or additions that you find for it…any and all feedback is welcome.

Download: ArtGen WP Fetch v1.1

Being that Blazedent likes to offer a community-like feel to the online viewers, we are compelled to offer plenty of options for the public when it comes to posting what they have to say. The first way of doing this was using phpBB so that we could offer our Message Boards system. The second was offering a Resource Directory where viewers could submit websites. The next step was to offer a much needed commenting system where users could post their thoughts onto any page of the site. Here is the tutorial for how we accomplished what we did. See an example of the ArtisticGenesis.com phpBB Comment Engine mod here. (go to the bottom of the page) .

1. Install phpBB and ensure that it is running correctly. (phpBBinstallation instructions/guide)

2. Install the phpBB Fetch All mod into your phpBB/mods section and ensure that it is running correctly. (phpBB Fetch All installation instructions/guide)

3. In ‘phpBBpath/mods/phhpbb_fetch_all/posts.php’…

EDIT:

$CFG[’posts_limit’] =

TO:

$CFG[’posts_limit’] = 0; // 0 = unlimited or all posts

4a. Create a custom phpBB Fetch All page for your site to include. The mod includes example pages in the ‘phpBB/mods/phpbb_fetch_all/examples’ folder. The easiest way to make your own is to copy the code out of that page and edit it. I believe a good template to use is phpBB Fetch All’s include example.php page.

4b. In your customized phpBB Fetch All page…

BEFORE:

//
// disconnect from the database
//

ADD:

// ArtisticGenesis.com Comment Mod

// note that in $PageCommentID != ” the ‘ and ‘ are two separate apostrophes that are placed together

if ( $PageCommentID != ” ) {

$topic = phpbb_fetch_thread($PageCommentID);
}

4c. Include your customized phpBB Fetch All page into the pages on your site that you want comments on. The best way to integrate phpBB Fetch All into your website is to include it using the php include method “include(’To Root/phpBB/mods/phpbb_fetch_all/Custom phpBB Fetch All Page.php‘);”. Be sure that the include path to the phpBB Fetch All file is a relative path (ie. ‘../../’ not ‘http://www.yoursite.com/path/’).

5. Include a comment form either in your customized phpBB Fetch All page, or using some other method by inserting the following into the pages you want people to be able to leave comments on.

<!–// ArtisticGenesis.com phpBB Comment Mod //–>

<form action=”relativeroot/phpBBpath/posting.php” method=”post” name=”post”>

<table width=”100%”><tr><td width=”150″>
Enter your comment:
</td><td>
<textarea name=”message” rows=”2″ cols=”35″ wrap=”virtual” style=”width:100%” tabindex=”3″ class=”post”></textarea>
</td></tr><tr><td>
<input type=”hidden” name=”t” value=”<?php echo $PageCommentID; ?>” />
<input type=”hidden” name=”mode” value=”reply” />
<input type=”hidden” name=”blaz” value=”<?php echo $PageSource; ?>” />
</td></tr></table><center>
<input type=”submit” accesskey=”s” tabindex=”6″ name=”post” class=”mainoption” value=”Post Comment” <?php if ($userdata[’session_logged_in’]) { echo ”; } else { ?>onClick=”return validateForm()”<?php } ?>/>
(logged in as <i><?php if ($userdata) { ?>
<?php if ($userdata[’session_logged_in’]) { ?><?php echo $userdata[’username’]; ?><?php } else { ?>
<?php echo $lang[’Guest’]; ?><?php } ?><?php } ?></i>)</center>
</form>

6. Lastly, at the beginning of the pages you want to include comments on you need to add edit and add 2 important variables.

// ArtisticGenesis.com phpBB Comment Mod

// in $PageSource = ‘..’ the .. represents that relative path to the root of your website. (ie. http://www.artisticgenesis.com/ resourcedirectory/home/ index.php would be ‘../../..’ . Be sure not to include a trailing slash)

$PageSource = ‘..’.$_SERVER[’PHP_SELF’];

// $PageCommentID is equal to the topic number in your phpBB forum. To make a comments page you must first make a thread in your forum for every unique comment section you want. After creating a thread, go to your forum’s index, navigate to the thread, in the address bar you will see t=SOME#, the number that t equals is the topic number for that thread and the same number that you want to use as your $PageCommentID number.

$PageCommentID = ‘551′;

That’s all that you need to do. I admit that I should make an official guide to doing this and probably include some downloadable example files…but this is what I’m starting off with. If anyone wants more information or has questions, feel free to post them. See an example of the ArtisticGenesis.com phpBB Comment Engine mod here. (go to the bottom of the page) .

Here is a blog I came across at Wordpress.org when I was looking up some Wordpress configurations…I found it amusing…

1. dalecom
   

   Hello if you look here - http://www.allpokerworld.com/
   The categories list has the numebr of posts below the cat name. This is because the number of posts (1) etc is outside the li tag.
   What file do I have to edit to correct this ?

   Thanks a lot

2. moshu
   

   style.css

3. dalecom
   

   No its not that - the number of posts : (1) bit of html is outside the li tags - I need to know which file this is located in so I can move it inside them.

   Thanks.

4. moshu
   

   Well, if you know better, don’t ask.
   It has been asked 100 times, I always give the same answer. It worked for others… but you can try whatever you want.

5. dalecom
   

   Im not using a default template, my css is from scratch so I know for a fact its not in style.css.
   This is an html problem which is why I asked which php file I need to edit to bring it inside the li tags.

   Anyone else have any ideas ?

6. moshu
   

   I know for a fact its not in style.css.

   You know nothing. I’ll not argue, and I won’t even tell you how to correct it… Be happy with your knowledge

7. dalecom
   

   No need to be like that is there, I’d expect better from a moderator.
   If you do a view source on my code you will see the problem is with the html, not css.

8. moshu
   

   The moderator gave you an answer in 14 minutes after you posted your question. Actually, the correct answer.
   If you didn’t know what to edit in the stylesheet, you should have asked.
   You chose to argue… The moderator doesn’t like people who argue without trying the solution they were offered.

   The moderator can see not only your source code but also, using the Dev Toolbar, is able to change/edit your stylesheet on the fly to check that the solution offered works. It works.

   Change the display: block to display: inline.

   And next time don’t be lazy, do a search before posting, your question has been answered many times.

9. deanhatescoffee
   

   This thread makes me giggle a little.

10. dalecom
    

    Yes I know that way would put the number of posts on the same line, it also mucks up the 1px border I have under each li by making them uneven lengths - ie the same length as the text rather than a set width, which is why I want to edit the html to put them within the li tag.

11. moshu
    

    You cannot edit the html, and you should know that if you know everything better. That list is generated, it is not hardcoded.

12. dalecom
    

    sigh

    Yes and I am asking in which php file the html is generated

13. dalecom
    

    Its ok, have found it.
    If anyone else has this problem and doesnt want to deal with these useless moderators,
    You need to edit wp-includes/template-functions-category.php

Alright, this blog needs more direction. While it has been stated that this is a blog, I would much rather have readers consider it an editorial or a (somewhat) weekly column. Now with that out of the way, (section probably needs to be changed from Blog but its cool), we can get down to business…

Primarily I want to discuss some of the “nerdities” of Blazedent, and apart from that I want to discuss why they are cool and should be accepted. This is the article that will serve as the hand that grabs your attention, pulls it in, and keeps it here on an occasional occurence. That’s right, this is the jedi mind trick that will be used to keep you coming back for more. And why wouldn’t you want to? Even just recently I was referred to as the master (see message boards), but it wasn’t just that; how many people out there have been referred to as the master in leet? (/\/\@$+3r) That’s right, doesnt it mean so much
more?

Cue the random finding of the week. I thought it was very funny, more then that I felt my stomache grumbling as I pondered on where such a cereal might be sold.

Now as l33t has been a very interesting creation, actually more of an evolution of slang and shorthand, it has grown much attention. While the common IM slang such as lol, asl, ttyl, brb, etc. have began taking the world by storm, it really doesn’t take me by surprise that l33t exists. I mean, nerds are nerds for a reason, they want their own niche that no one else can understand. They are the ultimate rebel that follows no others.

Cue the linux junkies, the klingon fans….more then that, cue those of you that can speak fluent Klingon.

Now that I have began this new style of the Blazedent blog I must attest that I will have to post more pictures that are found throughout the web. (if image links are eventually broken please let me know) This picture kind of surprised me though, an attractive girl wearing a shirt saying that if you can read it you need to get laid. The odd thing about it is that she is obviously a l33t user herself. I just always begin to question what exactly it is about humorous situations…I think it’s a funny picture but I don’t know if it’s the whole leet thing that’s funny or if it’s more of the fact that the girl is making fun of people like herself and she really doesn’t think about it…or is it funny that everyone (including me) who thinks this picture is funny is making fun of people just like themselves because of the fact that we understand it….

Of course it really doesn’t matter one way or the other, but such questions are that which inspire a new perspective of thinking and creative juices flowing.

Either way, this post has gone too far with just a few simple thoughts posted about l33t and being a nerd. But just the same I must admit that I have been in quite a Star Trek: The Next Generation mood lately. Growing up was one thing, but when you find yourself TIVOing all of the episodes played on every channel (for me about 5 a day are recorded) and then watching them all when you get home every night…I don’t know what to do. Part of me wants to curse the Tivo while the other part of me wants to throw Riker into a glass control panel of blinking lights and take Counselor Troy for myself.

Or has this already been done? WHRG Where Has Riker Gone, has anyone seen him play a part recently? Let me know if you know if you find anything about this. As one of my final thoughts, I would like to leave you all with a very important question. If you were on the Starship Enterprise, what character would you be?

Till next time, you stay classy San Diego.

I have recently been drawn toward the thought of RSS and other web news syndications. The fact of the matter is that any and everbody seems to feel that RSS is the new standard for website development. From Wired Magazine to head gurus at large computer and news related companies. I stand amazed at the fact that everyone seems to hold RSS to such a high standard, thinking that it is to HTML as DVDs were to VHSs.

If nothing else than to get some feedback and learn more of the inspiration for such conclusions on the topic of news syndication, I can’t help but talk of something that so many people have overlooked.

Here’s the breakdown as I see it. As with most things in life, website scripts also have a give and take. If you choose one language over another, there are most likely benefits as well as detriments to each choice.

A real good example of comparing RSS to HTML (as well as other website scripting languages such as XML, PHP, etc) is the thought of wireless versus physically linked connections from a computer to another. While wireless seems like it would completely replace physical connections, one must remember that is has been and always will be a slower bandwidth compared to a cabling. Yes, wireless technology will get faster and faster, but at the same time physical connections will gain speed as well. It could easily be misinterpreted that wireless, being more conveniant and less of a wiring nightmare, would take over the networking of computers…of course this would be a wrong assumption.

RSS was made for, and will never really surpass, the duty of quickly sending out updates and stripped down (mostly text, no pictures) messages. This, while serving a great purpose for mobile connections such as a phone, ticker, email, etc., was never developed for the purpose of creating media rich websites that the industry standard has evolved to on the internet.

It also seems to me that people have been hailing RSS and the like to a point of spending as much time creating news syndications and other feeds than what they spend on the actual website that the feeds are based off of.

There have been many that speculate on the future talking of how creative and useful RSS is; while it does have its purpose, it will never replace the current languages used to create traditional websites.

I primarily ask the general public not to jump to far onto the bandwagon, while RSS can help publicize a site as well as promote its updates etc., it shouldn’t be the primary focus of a webmaster.