Current Version: 1.2

How it works:
Users are issued cookies which are used to track last visit. If this is their first visit, all comments are unread. The plugin generates a list of unread comments. It keeps track of the user’s read posts for the session, removing them from the list as the user goes. Each page load updates the last unread timestamp cookie. Users can also mark all comments as read.

Installation:
Either:

• RECOMMENDED: Install WordPress Plugin Manager then use the One Click Install for Smart Unread Comments. This will also make it easier to install other plugins and upgrade them in the future.
• OR: Download Smart Unread Comments, extract and upload wbft-smart-unread-comments.php to your wp-content/plugins directory. Log-in to your WP admin panel, go to the Plugins tab and activate the Smart Unread Comments plugin.

Implementation:
In your template, add this code.

<ul><?php echo get_smart_unread_comments(); ?></ul>

get_smart_unread_comments() also takes options:

• $limit
  Default: 10.
  Maximum posts with unread comments to display.
• $output_when_no_unread_comments
  Default: TRUE
  If true, when there are no unread comments, it will output a <li class=”wbftSUC_NoComments” > item containing $no_unread_comments_text
• $output_when_more_unread_comments_than_limit
  Default: FALSE
  If true, when there are more than $limit unread comments, it will output a <li class=”wbftSUC_MoreComments” > item containing $more_unread_comments_text
• $mark_comments_as_read_text
  Default: “Mark all comments as read”
  String used in link Mark all Comments as Read link.
• $no_unread_comments_text
  Default: “There are no unread comments”
  String used when there no unread comments and $output_when_no_unread_comments is TRUE
• $more_unread_comments_text
  Default: “There are %d more unread comments…”
  String used when there are more than $limit unread comments and $output_when_more_unread_comments_than_limit is TRUE
  %d will be replaced with a count of how many more comments there are to view.
  

Documentation:
You’re looking at it!

CSS Classes output:
Remember, CSS classes are CASE SENSITIVE.

• class=’wbftSUC_MarkAsRead’
  Used on the Mark Comments as Unread link
• class=’wbftSUC_Recent’
  Used on comments less than 6 hours old
• class=’wbftSUC_MoreComments’
  Used on More Unread Comments list item
• class=’wbftSUC_NoComments’
  Used on No Unread Comments list item

Version History:
1.2: Fixed major bug with post title links.
1.11: Tables are now pulled from WP variables.
1.1: Initial Public Release.

Known Issues:
Comment links in the list don’t use your permalink structure.

Credit:
Chris Beaven (aka SmileyChris) for writing the original code seen on Webfroot.
Dan aka Mufasa and Tom for isolating the code from Chris’s Webfroot code magic and encouraging Me to write it.
Brett Taylor (Me! aka Glutnix) for turning it into a WP plugin and making the number of unread comments on each post link to the oldest unread comment rather than the newest unread comment.

Bugs and Suggestions
Any bugs or suggestions, please email me – email link in the sidebar (RSS readers: drop by the site ).

The Red Panda Encounter at Wellington Zoo cost us NZD$60 each, and was worth every cent We spent what seemed like ages in the enclosure with the red pandas, along with the really helpful keeper who was telling us nearly everything there is to know about these cute critters. They’re an endangered species, and there is an international breeding program going on. What was really interesting was that the breeding program is administrated, and the decisions for which animals get to breed together is influenced heavily by DNA sampling and trying to keep genetic variance in the population… wow…

It was quite strange, as the first red panda that came up to us would come and eat some food, then climb back into the tree and then climb back down and eat some more. And it was eating the food right out of our hands!

Wellington Zoo has (I believe) five Red Pandas, all of which are extremely cute and cuddly. That said, we didn’t get to cuddle them Actually, towards the end, Matthew asked if we could pet them, and the keeper said sure, if they’ll let you. I tried, but they kinda shy away a little. They are quite timid and secretive creatures. Apparently they don’t have much of a personality, when compared to other mammals like cats, dogs or chimps.

Anyway, a stackload of photos were taken. Check them out, and feel free to leave comments

Thanks Vic!

Update: Vic sent this certificate in…

Hey Adam,

I heard on the show you were looking to learn how to type better. I used to be just like you, always looking at the keyboard, somewhere between hunt and peck and touchtyping.

A few years ago I had a whole lot of spare time on my hand, and I looked into the Dvorak keyboard layout. It’s a completely different keyboard layout, but it’s got some advantages over the standard QWERTY layout. All the vowels and most common constants are on the ‘home keys’, and more common letters are nearer the home row.

  ` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 [ ] BACKSPACE
     ' , . p y f g c r l / =
     a o e u i d h t n s - ENTER
      ; q j k x b m w v z

You don’t need a new keyboard to learn Dvorak, because Windows, Linux and MacOSX have the ability to switch to Dvorak in software (instructions later).

Learning Dvorak appealed to me because I could learn keyboarding afresh — my bad habits that I had learned using the QWERTY layout would be useless.

It took me about 6 weeks of typing before I was able to ditch the Qwerty layout. But during that time, if I had something important to do, I would switch back to Qwerty, and when I was done switched back to Dvorak.

However, it has been said that you can learn the Dvorak layout in about a month…

About 2 months after starting the learning process, my friend started learning Dvorak too. We’re both computer programmers working in the Web industry, so typing is an integral part of our day. I now no longer look at the keys, and am touch typing. I average about 45wpm when typing from copy.

Biggest con with the Dvorak layout:
Ctrl-Z : Undo
Ctrl-X : Cut
Ctrl-C : Copy
Ctrl-V : Paste

Those editing key shortcuts are grouped together on the Qwerty keyboard, and are close to the Ctrl key — On Dvorak keyboards they are all over the place. And the worst one is when editing a blog post in a web browser, and on Dvorak you go to press Ctrl-V but by accident you press Ctrl-W, which is the shortcut for Close Window… that’s something that really got me angry when learning.

But four years on, I’m still a Dvorak advocate.

If you do want to learn keyboarding (Q or D) here’s a tip:
Don’t EVER look at the keyboard while learning.
If you’re learning Dvorak for one, your keyboard will have the wrong key labels on them. Instead of buying a new keyboard or putting labels on your keys, print out a copy of the layout and attach it to your monitor somehow. Typing tutor programs display the keyboard on the screen for a reason

A veritable treasure trove of Dvorak information is available at http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/ including a picture of the layout and how get your OS to remap your standard QWERTY keyboard to a Dvorak layout

A really good typing tutor program is Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor, and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac!

Anyway, love the show, keep it real!

Glutnix: back
vic: Welcome.
Glutnix: heh yday in the work kitchen i totally 0wn3d some anonymous person…
Glutnix: for a few weeks now we’ve had this note stuck above the light switch telling us not to turn off the fluroscent lights because turning them on uses too much electricity.
Glutnix: and finally i thought — how many minutes of normal lighting juice does it take to turn the thing on?
vic: Wouldn’t it use less juice to stay off all night?
Glutnix: cos i’m thinking its like 1 minute max, but they make out it’s something like 3 hours or something
Glutnix: (we turned it off at night — it’s just the on and off and on and off of the day they’re concerned about)
vic: That’s ridiculous.
vic: Oh, I see. Maybe they should get one of those key switches.
Glutnix: which it turned out to be — turning on a fluro uses the same power as about 5 seconds of normal lighting
Glutnix: Should I Turn Off Fluorescent Lighting When Leaving A Room?
Short Answer: Turn them off if you will be gone for more than about 15-20 minutes (for details keep reading).
Glutnix: so we found a web page that basically blew that myth out of the water, turned it into a fact sheet and put it above the switch instead
vic: Your writing an article about it?
Glutnix: Article at LightingDesignLab.com
Glutnix: 0wn4g3!
vic: Lol! That’s hillarious. You should blog some of this stuff.

So I did…

And remember: always, always fact-check!

• GodCast.org — Creative Commons licenced podcasts with christian content, especially The Living Word and Rev Tim’s Podcast
• Flickr — Finding cool photos that get your creative juices flowing has never been so easy, and never so fun!
• Picasa — Makes performing simple photo improvements fast and easy… if only it would integrate with Flickr…
• Walking around Wellington — especially to places I’ve never walked, such as the Interisland Ferry Terminal. I’m doing the 10,000 step program, so reaching 10,000 steps before I go to bed is a real motivator… and taking the new camera makes it fun too … walking to the ferry terminal that day got me up above 20,000 steps for the first time!
• Getting Things Done — or more specifically the methodology outlined in the book Getting Things Done (slashdot review)… being organised and completing tasks is a motivator!

Camera cost me NZD$449, and the metal mini-tripod was NZD$21.95, both from Photo Warehouse in Wakefield St., and they threw in a free carry case I had the manager, so he was real nice and cool. The benefit of buying from a store is you can do a little barteration: put them up against their competitors, get them to throw things in for free.

So hopefully you’ll see more photos in my flickr photostream, and not crappy 128x128 pics from my Alcatel 735 (more like alca-smell!)

Andrew Kepple is dropping by this evening — I think we’re gonna do some collaboranimutation… more on that next post!

Here’s that timelapse (715kb 640x480 QuickTime file)

Current Version: 1.1

How It Works:
If you are logged into your WordPress admin panel, and you make a comment, the plugin will see that you are an official WP user of your blog and mark the comment with your WP User ID.
When the page is rendered, that User ID is called up by the plugin functions, which you can use to change text, change CSS class, add images, whatever your imagination desires.

Installation
Either:

• RECOMMENDED: Install WordPress Plugin Manager then use the One Click Install for Official Comments. This will also make it easier to install other plugins and upgrade them in the future.
• OR: Download Official Comments, extract and upload official-comments.php to your wp-content/plugins directory. Log-in to your WP admin panel, go to the Plugins tab and activate the Official Comments plugin.

How to implement:
Simply add this somewhere within the Comments loop in wp-comments.php and/or wp-comments-popup.php:

<?php if(is_wpuser_comment() != 0) {echo "Official ";} ?>

Or get tricky and add a CSS Class to the LI:

<li class="comment <?php echo (is_wpuser_comment() ? ' commentOfficialUser' : ''); ?>" id="comment-&lt?php comment_ID() ?>">

and this very basic css example:

.commentOfficialUser { border: 1px solid black; background-color: #999999 }

Documentation
View Official Comments Readme.txt

Examples
There is a very basic example on this post, but more exciting examples available at Webfroot.

Known Issues
It only works with official comments made after the point of installation, as WordPress doesn’t automatically add the WP user ids to the comments field it already has.

Bugs and Suggestions
Any bugs or suggestions, please email me — email link in the sidebar (RSS readers: drop by the site ).

I present to you:

Ninja vs Pirate: Milk Menace!

Yeah, this actually took me more than 24 minutes to complete. So what, sue me! I don’t get analog very often, so pencil work doesn’t come naturally. After completing the pencil work, I showed the comic to my flatmates who liked it, and to my cartoonist friend Matix who said I should ink it. So I did. Then I scanned it and put it here for your benefit. Enjoy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Glutnix: wow i got me a 20Q and I was guessing CD and it guessed DVD ROM
TmsT: o.o layman’s terms?
TmsT: is this on Trademe?
Glutnix: no
Glutnix: 20Q is a toy that plays “20 questions” with you
Glutnix: you press buttons on it
TmsT: aha
TmsT: so it guesses stuff and you teach it new things?
Glutnix: i don’t think the handheld learns
Glutnix: but it has a pretty big database of stuff
Glutnix: it got CD-ROM after 5 more questions
Glutnix: it askes 20 questions, you say yes, no, sometimes or unknown
TmsT: oh yep
Glutnix: after 20 it guesses, if it’s not right, it askes 5 more
TmsT: and if it hits a blank you enter the name of the thing?
Glutnix: no, it’s only got 6 buttons
TmsT: try “Colin Mochrie”
Glutnix: LOL

Read the rest — warning, hilarity about adult related subjects ensues.

Glutnix: it’s only good for generic items
Glutnix: so far it knows:
TmsT: ah. so you can’t add to its database?
Glutnix: tank
Glutnix: not to the toy’s db
TmsT: arg
Glutnix: but it’s based on the most popular items on the 20q.net website
Glutnix: http://20q.net/pocket.html is what i got
TmsT: oh yep
Glutnix: wow - quarter million synaptic connections
Glutnix: 20q knew “elf” and “paper” and “tank” and “pie”
TmsT: try ‘ninja’
Glutnix: ok
Glutnix: ninjas are animals, right?
Glutnix:
Glutnix: not small
Glutnix: not dangerous
Glutnix: oops, yes dangerous
Glutnix: doesn’t have short fur
TmsT: heh
Glutnix: doesn’t have 4 legs
TmsT: is “not animal” automatically not human as well?
Glutnix: doesn’t live water
Glutnix: *in
Glutnix: doesn’t lay eggs
TmsT: lol
Glutnix: does it bring joy?
TmsT: never
Glutnix: ok
Glutnix: LOL
Glutnix: is it a mammal!
TmsT: it destroys joy
TmsT: heheh yes
TmsT: but it could be a dentist, so far…
Glutnix: does it live in groups?
TmsT: ninjas are loners
TmsT: except when fighting mobs of pirates
Glutnix: so sometimes?
TmsT: soemtimes
Glutnix: stands on two legs
Glutnix: it’s a predator
Glutnix: doesn’t have claws
TmsT: hehe
Glutnix: does it help accomplish tasks?
Glutnix: yes…
Glutnix: not comforting
TmsT: haha
TmsT: nope
TmsT: i mean yes
Glutnix: many different sorts? no
Glutnix: multicoloured? no
TmsT: only mutant turtle ones
Glutnix: worth a lot of money?
Glutnix: i say unknown
Glutnix: would you use it in the dark — totally
TmsT: proably worth a bit
TmsT: yes,,,,
Glutnix: is it smooth?
Glutnix: hell yes
Glutnix: IT GOT IT RIGHT!
TmsT: aaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha
Glutnix: “it’s a ninja”
Glutnix: posting that to my blog
TmsT: does it have “R-18″ words in its vocab? like “porn star”?
TmsT: haha not even Ninjas can escape the mighty 20Q
Glutnix: i don’t think so
TmsT: try “dildo”.
Glutnix: lol ok
Glutnix: animal, vegetable, mineral, other, or unknown?
TmsT: other
Glutnix: not flat
TmsT: it’s more of a… household object isnt it
Glutnix: use it daily?
Glutnix: … no
TmsT: haha YES
TmsT: ok no
Glutnix: use it in your home?
Glutnix: YES
Glutnix: found in a classroom? NO
TmsT: lol
TmsT: except if you look hard enough
Glutnix: usually colourful?
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: can be used more than once? YES
Glutnix: LOL can it bend without breaking? YES
TmsT: ahaha
Glutnix: comforting? YES
TmsT: lol
Glutnix: LOL does it get wet?
Glutnix: YES
TmsT: XD
Glutnix: do you hold it when you use it? YES
TmsT: oh noes
TmsT: it’s gonna get the answer
Glutnix: can it affect you? YES
TmsT: haha
Glutnix: can you smell it? ~ no
Glutnix: do you clean it regularly? YES
Glutnix: would you use it in the dark? YES
TmsT: HAHAHAHA
Glutnix: do most ppl use this daily NO
Glutnix: LMAO is it hard? YES
TmsT: XDDDD
Glutnix: lol it randomly taunts you — “i can’t believe you are thinking of that”
Glutnix: does it make sound?
Glutnix: i don’t know
TmsT: hmm
TmsT: ideally, no
TmsT: but yes it does
TmsT: just enough sound for grandpa to hear
Glutnix: sometimes then?
TmsT: yeah why not
Glutnix: smaller than a loaf of bread? YES
TmsT: depends on how big the oven is
Glutnix: is it straight?
TmsT: usually….
Glutnix: ok it’s guessing
TmsT: hehe
Glutnix: it guesses ‘ a toy ‘
TmsT: ….:D
Glutnix: LMAO
Glutnix: lets try for 25q
TmsT: hahahaaaa i don’t know if the makers were being subtle or if it has no idea
Glutnix: would you give it as a gift
TmsT: set it on max
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: sometimes
Glutnix: does it come in a box?
Glutnix: LOL
TmsT: ahhhhhahaha
Glutnix: ROFL
TmsT: brilliant!
Glutnix: ‘come’ in a ‘box’
TmsT: it’s making puns! the true sign of intelligence!!!
TmsT: yed
TmsT: yes*
Glutnix: can it be painted?
Glutnix: no
Glutnix: does it break if dropped? no
Glutnix: last q
Glutnix: does it have writing on it? no
Glutnix: thinking
TmsT: >_>
TmsT: <_ <
Glutnix: LMAO “It’s a fetish?”
TmsT: oh come ON
TmsT: close enough.
Glutnix: ROFLMAO
TmsT: see if it gets condom.
Glutnix: oh gee
TmsT: if it does, then it’s a sexist bastard
Glutnix: /wipes forehead
TmsT: lol
TmsT: hours of fun…
Glutnix: flat?
Glutnix: yet
Glutnix: yes
Glutnix: use it at work? no
TmsT: haha depends where ya work
Glutnix: heavier than a pound of butter? no
Glutnix: is it straight?
TmsT: “does it come in a box” teeheheheee
Glutnix: LMAO
Glutnix: no, not straight
Glutnix: used over 100 years ago?
TmsT: maybe
Glutnix: no
TmsT: ok
Glutnix: make sound? no
TmsT: heheh
Glutnix: do you hold it when you use it? yes
Glutnix: used more than once? no
Glutnix: usually colorful? yes
Glutnix: ?
Glutnix: i say yes
Glutnix: soft? yes
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: fit in an envelope? LOL yes
TmsT: (i’m watching Lurchy’s new flash)
TmsT: heheh
Glutnix: smell it?
Glutnix: yeah i guess
Glutnix: flexible? yes
Glutnix: burn? i guess
Glutnix: carry in your pocket? yes
Glutnix: found in classroom?
TmsT: heheh
Glutnix: i say sometimes
TmsT: ok
Glutnix: smaller than golf ball? yes
Glutnix: come in a box? LMAO
Glutnix: yes
TmsT: oh dear
Glutnix: found in an office? no
TmsT: orifice?
Glutnix: LOL LOL LOL is it a gummy bear?
TmsT: hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahha
TmsT: close, but no banana
Glutnix: q21: round?
Glutnix: no
Glutnix: or yes
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: i don’t know
Glutnix: yes ok
TmsT: maybe
Glutnix: use it daily? …
Glutnix: … i say no…
TmsT: did they ask “can you re use it”?
Glutnix: yeah early as
Glutnix: come from something larger?
Glutnix: unknown
TmsT: nope
Glutnix: give as a gift?
TmsT: the gift that keeps on giving, baby!
Glutnix: …probably not
Glutnix: last q
TmsT: o.o
Glutnix: LOL does it get really hot?
TmsT: hopefully.
Glutnix: yes
Glutnix: thinking
TmsT: …
Glutnix: pizza
TmsT: *drumroll*
TmsT: PIZZA?
Glutnix: i know
Glutnix: wtf
TmsT: Gummy bear was closer…
Glutnix: lol gummy bear
TmsT: note to self: electronic toys need to study sex ed.
Glutnix: lol
Glutnix: totally putting this log up
TmsT: “Hey guys! Who wants pizza?” *holds up a condom*
TmsT: I’ll draw a cartoon for that
TmsT: gimme a minute or 3

Thanks to Andrew for the cartoon visible to your left right

I’m especially proud of the CSS work on “The Code” on the index page — it looks like a table, but it’s not! — it’s a <dl> with nested <ul>s! Mmm… semantic goodness

I used Fireworks, Dreamweaver, TopStyle and the content editors all used Contribute.

Zach,

Just saw Garden State — It only recently came out in New Zealand.
Dude, Garden State is my number one favorite movie of all time. My
previous #1 was The Matrix.

I found Garden State so timely for my life. The journey that Large
takes in the movie was so beautifully random, yet with a sense of
structure and purpose.

I’m a recovering addict and I feel like my journey is similar to
Large’s journey. I won’t say what addiction I’m recovering from here;
if you really want to know, visit my site — /

Let me elaborate a little:

Large seems like he hasn’t really had any feelings since he was put
on the prescription-cocktail by his father. As an addict, I feed my
addiction to dull the pain that lies underneath. Large decides to go
off the prescription and discovers that feeling the pain that we keep
hidden is the only way to really solve the situations and problems that
hurt us.

Unfortunately for many addicts, kicking the habit is much harder than leaving the pills in another state.

Zach, I love your show and I love your movie. Thanks for making it.
Also thanks for being a crazy nut-case of a guy: I find it encouraging.
I don’t quite know how I find it encouraging. Maybe it’s your
down-to-earth attitude and being personal and honest on your blog.

Maybe it’s because you make us laugh and cry on the inside. But I
wanna thank you for being you. I know we’ve never met, and maybe we’ll
never meet, but somehow, at some strange and difficult to describe way,
I’ve connected with who you are, and learnt something about myself in
the process. For that, I commend you on.

Your thankful fan,
Brett

I hope he reads it. Deep down I hope he writes back — I heard he sometimes does. But I won’t be crushed if he doesn’t.

If you dropped by Zach, email me. If you’re ever in New Zealand, let me buy you a beer or something

Anyway, doing a fresh install inevitebly wipes something you kick yourself about, but this is the territory.

I lost my iTunes database (which in retrospect I could probably have rescued from my iPod), and thus lost my star-ratings, playcounts, copy-to-iPod checkbox settings and smart playlists. The up side of this is my playlists page on my iPod aren’t so cluttered anymore, and my iPod tracks have rotated slightly, so my iPod feels fresh and clean clean on the inside

I also lost my OPML of my RSS subscriptions for FeedDemon. This isn’t so bad, cos I’ve shared it with a few people recently, and hopefully they still have it… ^_^; If you’ve got my OPML, please give it back to me

Also, I’m taking a whole lot of leave for the christmas break… I’m planning on blowing a few days solely on Shoutbox…

Maybe I’ll get me a laptop or something so I can work on stuff while I’m in the Hawke’s Bay with my mum. Mmm… maybe I’ll get get a iBook or Powerbook or something… wanting to learn MacOS for a while

Or notice crashed ATMs, crazy licence plates, logic in madness, patterns, the things between the lines.

Cos I do. What weird things do you notice that you think others wouldn’t?

CPU Type: AMD Athlon XP, 1250 MHz (6.25 x 200)
Motherboard Name: Asus A7V333 (5 PCI, 1 AGP Pro, 3 DIMM)
Motherboard Chipset: VIA VT8367 Apollo KT333
System Memory: 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)
Video Adapter: nVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 (Leadtek WinFast A250 LE) (64 MB) (DirectX 8.1)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
Game: Half-Life 2 Retail Collectors Edition

So the game suggested:
800x600
Model Detail: Medium
Texture Detail: Medium
Water: Simple Reflection
Shadow Detail: High
AA: None
Filtering: Trilinear
Shader Detail: High
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled

This game kicks serious ass. This is one game you will have to play! Kick ass! I know my setup isn’t the best around, but it’s extremely playable at recommended settings And it’s mightily more playable than Doom 3 I’ll try and run a benchmark sometime and see how I get on.

The story is great The character animation is phenomenal! The gameplay so far has been exciting! And Headshots with the pistol! Headcrabs! Airboats! And so much more!

Yay!

You gotta focus on the positive sides of things. My Podcast on Webfroot is going really well. You should tune in, listen to it, and send me your feedback! If you send in a recording of your comments on the show, I’ll play it on the next episode! If you’ve got content and/or music that you think I should play, send that in to me too! Come party together on the show It’s all about having fun!

Oh, and don’t forget the Wellington Firefox Party!

States and their average IQ and who they voted for.

The IQ numbers were originally attributed to the book “IQ and the Wealth of Nations”, though they do not appear in the current edition. The tests and data were administered via the Raven’s APT, and the The Test Agency, one of the UK’s leading publishers and distributors of psychometric tests. This data has been published in the Economist and the St. Petersburg Times

(name removed) wrote:

This is so funny and indeed REAL

While indeed funny and a somewhat uplifting prospect, I wanted to be sure…

I couldn’t find any validating proof on www.economist.com or www.sptimes.com for this years election.

However, I did find a similar study done in May 2004 for the 2000 election, here:
http://tinyurl.com/3kreq

After that, I googled for ‘IQ election‘ (sans quotes) and found the original source of the email you posted.

http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

It turns out the reason I couldn’t find anything on economist.com is because they retracted the article on the basis of it was ‘unable to be verified and possibly a hoax’.

==

In the future, I ask that if anyone want to send stuff they percieve as true, that they *provide links to trustworthy sources that back it up*.

Linking to the page that provided the article is also a smart idea, because it could be updated with newer, more enlightening information…

This is so funny and indeed REAL

…Especially before claiming it’s REAL. Proof makes it real Do your part to keep it real Be responsible. Thank you

Cheers

People can listen to the MP3 by downloading it themselves, or automatically. An RSS feed is then made available, and using enclosures, special RSS feedreaders can download the MP3 over http or BitTorrent. The feed reader then inserts the MP3 into your iTunes and when you update your iPod in the morning, you have radio to listen to!

But after listening to some podcasts, it seems people are concerned about podcasters talking about podcasting on their podcasts, claiming “it’s all they ever talk about”. David Slusher says “fuck off, too bad, it’s only been around for about 6 weeks!” on his Evil Genius Chronicles audioblog/podcast.

Which brings me to my point (and I’m borrowing some of this from Slusher): People judge new mediums like blogging and podcasting by the content. “Blogs suck because they’re either geeks talking tech or goths whining about their life”. “Podcasts suck because they’re unprofessional and it’s just geeks in their basements”. I could say back at the birth of TV “Television sucks — it mostly has test-patterns on it”.

While yes, the majority of blogs are by geeks and people whining about their life, and the current majority of podcasts have podcasters raving about the new medium, this doesn’t mean that the medium sucks! It’s just you think the people podcasting suck! Which is fine, it’s your opinion — Judge the content, not the medium. These people who have picked up the podcasting stick and are running with it are pushing the medium.

Yes, current podcast content appeals to geeks, but that’s because it’s a new medium invented by geeks! Who invented the TV? Who invented the Internet? Damn right… it was geeks. But just like there are now more non-geek sites on the internet, and there are more non-geek blogs springing up, there will be more non-geek podcasts in the near future.

So yeah, I waited at Gate 13 for him holding my sign:

C. MOCHRIE
A. KEPPLE
N. CICIEREGA

I hope to see more of this elusive guy around meatspace in the future… as Strong Bad would say “Man — so cool!” but without the creepy-combover.

Update: Oh, so after meeting TmsT, I took a walk and took some more pictures. My faves are on my Flickr, but all of them are in the gallery.

I’m learning it so I can produce and consume RSS for project at my job. It’s quite fun.

Also, check out Making RSS Pretty for some good examples on how to allow browsers like IE6.0 and Mozilla to make your feeds look more human-consumable.

Now to learn how to use the DOM to construct XML in PHP… I think I’ll steer clear of DTDs for just a while longer… they’re still scary

Oh, and by the way, Ctrl-W is the worst key combo ever for a Dvorak typist… That’s what happened last night, and what happened just now… Gah!

If you have any questions about any of what I wrote about and lost, please ask me and I’ll gladly alliterate about anything I mentioned

I’ve got glutnix.webfroot.co.nz permenently redirecting to here. If you find any problems with the redirections, please let me know. Also, if you got any kind of feedback or comments or suggestions or whatever, please give it!

But that’s all about to change. I’m gonna do my best to get to work on time, set and achieve SMART goals, focus on work, and stop being slack. I asked my boss to keep me accountable about this stuff. I gotta stop surfing, stop chatting (hence the previous post), and just get on with what I’m there to do.

I guess working in a cybercafe for over 18 months — where you do nothing but surf all day, and help the occasional customer — will really affect you. I know it’s a problem I have to work with.

The new flat is cool. I really like being here, centre of town and all. I kinda feel a bit alone, because everyone usually keeps to themselves. I guess I want to make friends and hang out with some of them. It could be the age difference, as they are a few years older than me. I hope they open up.

I’m off to Christchurch on Wednesday — Chris’s wedding. I hope it’s a good time.

But, I discovered that CubaLAN was looking for flatties. I came, I saw, I took a room… not cheap mind you. I’m paying NZD$145 a week just for the room. It’s a huge room. I’ve got a double bed sans matress and a single bed in here right now, with room to spare. And I’m just 30 seconds walk away from Manners Mall, which is an awesome location — smack bang in the middle of Wellington City — you can’t get much better than this

Not only is it an excellent location in meatspace, but it’s also an excellent location in cyberspace: CubaLAN has a 10Mbit Citylink connection… De-cent! It costs me NZD$30/month for to share in the fibre-optic love, but I love it already

Tonight I helped one of my fellow flatties with the MAME Cabinet in the lounge — we got screenshots appearing on the game menu OK, maybe I didn’t help that much, but I did suggest the idea and supply the already-downloaded screen snaps.

I’m probably gonna have to set up the webcam back at the flat. Unfortunately, I don’t have a street-facing window, but I’ll sort something out.

Peace,
Brett

Looking for 3 Professional flatmates age 20~26. Geeks and IT-minded individuals preferred. 2x $115/wk upstairs rooms, 1x $125/wk room (suitable for couple), plus $25pp/wk expenses (ex food). No combined cooking, cook for yourself.

15min walk to The Terrace, 10min to Railway Station, 5min from Thorndon New World.

Cable TV and Internet (2Mbit Paradise), toll bar. LAN infrastructure to share internet access already in place. Excellent Shower, Bath. Rooms are un-furnished. On-street residents parking (req. council sticker).

Rooms become available 21st August.

I scored much less swag. I got t-shirts: “Joystick Junkie”, “Esc”, and “You are Dumb 2.0″. So good!

Photos on [ webfroot gallery | flickr ]