Facebook and OpenID caching
When I first read that Facebook was going to allow OpenID logins, I was happy. OpenID means less usernames and passwords to remember. So I merrily went to setup mine, just to find out that their support was exclusively for OpenID version 2.0, and my implementation was 1.1. No graceful fall back, Facebook demands OpenID 2.0. So I decided it was time for me to upgrade my implementation for one capable to handle 1.1 and 2.0.
Of course, the first one I tried I did not like it … ⌘ Read more
Hello world, again!
I am starting over. I might “port” back some entries from the old weblog, but that’s pretty much it. Right now everything is in state of flux, running on a vanilla WordPress installation with a couple of plugins on. Work will progress as time permits.
There isn’t one single reason why I am starting over, but a few. Basically, the old weblog database was “dirty” with entries and rows, and tables from plugins… and god knows what other things (I ran quite a few experiments on that one) … ⌘ Read more
Aion, the WoW killer
Aion isn’t out yet for North America or Europe, but has already caused long time WoW players to quit. That is what my household has done, ending the life of two, four years old, accounts.
Beta 4 is coming up, July 17th and we can hardly wait. Preorder will give you access to the beta, so go ahead! Simply Google Aion and follow the appropiated link.
While we wait, it feels good to be out of WoW. Really liberating! ⌘ Read more
gOS is coming our way
Yes, it is coming!
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear – computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to wo … ⌘ Read more
Hillary speaks like Bush
Obama accuses Clinton of using the language of Bush on Iran
In the sharpest attack, Obama said that Clinton’s threat to “totally obliterate” Iran should it attempt a nuclear attack on Israel was inappropriate. “It’s not the language we need right now. It’s language that’s reflective of George Bush,” he said.
Obama said it was time to get away from a foreign policy of “bluster an … ⌘ Read more
Russia warned over Georgia move
Russia warned over Georgia move
Nato has warned Russia that its recent troop build-up in Georgia’s two breakaway regions undermines its neighbour’s territorial integrity.
Would everyone chill out, please? This time Russians, specially. I think a “Back off, and chill” behavior is mandatory. ⌘ Read more
Chinese products are cheap
Not anymore.
The era of cheap Chinese consumer goods may finally be ending, thanks to irrepressible inflation. Now when the Chinese present their lists, some American importers are conceding higher prices, meaning that American shoppers, for the first time in years, are starting to pick up the tab for rising costs in China. Some Chinese factories are now asking their American customers for price increases of as much as 20 p … ⌘ Read more
That 3:00AM call
Comment posted on Larry David: On the Red Phone
“It’s 3AM and your children are sleeping. But the phone is ringing. It’s your mortgage lender, calling to let you know that you are 180 days late on your payment for that crazy mortgage you agreed to. It doesn’t matter, because your phone was disconnected a long time ago. But no worries, Hillary Clinton is working late, at some desk somewhere, doing a Sudoku puzzle … ⌘ Read more
Bush endorses McCain
Bush endorses McCain in US race
US President George W Bush has endorsed John McCain’s White House bid after the Vietnam veteran sealed the Republican nomination on Tuesday.
Mr Bush said his one-time rival would be a president with the “determination to defeat an enemy and a heart big enough to love those who hurt”.
Now you know who not to vote for. Clear, right? Any questions? ⌘ Read more
Christmas is gone, or is it?
The long whole year wait, for many, comes to an end quite fast. It seems it takes a long time until Christmas arrives, but when it does, it goes away very quickly. “It’s not fair”, Kim says. Well, I am that type of crazy individual that sings Christmas Carols, listen to Christmas music and lives the “Christmas spirit” pretty much all year round. I have my ups and downs like everyone else, but I refuse to let Christmas be a one day celebration. Give it a try! ⌘ Read more
Santa gets the extra love
KM believes in Santa. It is that childish fantasy we do not want to spoil quite yet. But the fat guy, with red cheeks, who pilots a sleigh pulled by reindeers, gets all the extra love –and credits– for the job we, as parents, do during Christmas time. I challenge Santa to come up with a Wii! ⌘ Read more
I had to have them
I found this weblog, via
Kottke, and in it, this post
I like: So long\
Flight of the Conchords. And I loved it. I had to have the list of
videos on that log here1, to show wife, to play them at a later time.
Simply awesome. And here they come (links go to Youtube):
- The most\ beautiful girl in the room - “you could be a par … ⌘ Read more
Another Dell
Almost four years ago I bought our first Dell machine. And almost four year after, that machine died. Not a really long life.
Since we need a computer, we acquired another Dell… again. This time it is a refurbished Precision 390. For the first time ever, I haven’t rebuilt that machine yet. I am using Dell’s factory install, … ⌘ Read more
I hate school
When your, almost seven years old, son tells you he hates going to school you worry. It is not the first time that KM tells me he doesn’t like going to school. He goes to a private, Christian school, and his main complain has always being that he doesn’t like to memorize the weekly versicle. I have noticed that this “disliking” normally comes after a weekend, holiday, or similar ‘time off school’ occasion.
I have talked to him, trying to find out if there are other reasons, but haven’t … ⌘ Read more
What a load of crock!
If it weren’t enough that you have to go through airport hell every time you must take an airplane, some people is trying to cash in, and they are using terrorism to their advantage. Enter Clear card.
From their CEO (read while playing patriotic music on the background, waving an American flag) :
“I started Verified Identity Pass with a simple idea: In the post 9-11 era we have to take new measures to protect ourselves yet not destroy our way of life by strangling the free f … ⌘ Read more
First day at school
Today is Kent’s first day at school, after the long –although it did not seemed that long– summer vacation. It is his first grade, on a new school and I have “the jitters.” I worry for my son, all the time. I enjoyed this summer with him more than anything in the world. You can’t stop them from growing up, you can’t be with them all the time. But it is so hard not to…
It is an adaptation that will take time. ⌘ Read more
Ebay feedback blackmail
If you do business on Ebay, whether you are power seller with your own store there or simply a John Doe such as myself, please follow the following etiquette:
- If you are selling, and the item(s) you sold get paid (right away or in a timely manner), leave your feedback right away. No need to wait till the buyer leaves his. Doing so is bad, really bad.
- If you are buying, wait till the item arrives and then leave a feedback accordingly. Consider communication with the seller, q … ⌘ Read more
We now have KDE running on
NixOS ( obligatory\
screenshot). Just kdebase for now (Martin
Bravenboer already added kdelibs a long time ago so
that we could run the wonderful KCachegrind),
but it contains all the important stuff (Konqueror, KDesktop,
Kicker, Konsole, Control Center, … ⌘ Read more
Thought of the day
If your weblog or site –in general– advertising is slowing down the load of pages to an almost complete halt, it is time to re-think and take a different marketing approach. Your writings and your advertising are been missing. You may as well cancel your hosting and print what you want to say, along with the advertisings. ⌘ Read more
More changes coming
For the first time I am working on creating a complete theme here. The last time I had a decent one was back when WordPress 1.5 was around, for which themes weren’t implemented as they are now.
No much have been happening in life. I don’t have much to tell right now, other that those minor breadcrumbs of life. Actually, I have a few things I want to write, if anything to keep record online of what happened. Those few things involve GoDaddy and Media Temple. But it will be a future top … ⌘ Read more
It’s time to say goodbye
It’s almost time to say goodbye to 2006 and welcome 2007. This will be – I think – my last entry of the year. A few has happened to the Collantes’ family in 2006, but the most important thing is that we have kept together, and that we have being blessed in many ways. Kent Martin has brought joy to our lives, so much joy we did not know existed. He is the main reason I love life. He and my wife, Kim.
To all – those who might read and those passing by (including bots and al … ⌘ Read more
Three years ago
In light of everything happening in Asia, specifically on the Korean peninsula, I remembered what I wrote three years ago, more or less. It took them three years to develop something that can be tested (a bomb), or were they working already on it for a long time and our intelligence was ‘asleep’? If it was the first, they could already have a way to deliver it overseas, and if it is the secon … ⌘ Read more
We, the forgetful
I am often intrigued, saddened, worried, by the human “natural” forgetful nature. Since the beginning of time, we haven’t kept memories of lost, gone ones. Did any of you remember –or even knew of– your great-grandparents? How many generations do you have knowledge of? When you are gone, how many years will you be remembered? Why do we forget? Why? What can we do to change that? Going through a life of accomplishments –or lack of, it doesn’t matter– and ending up in the void. Isn’ … ⌘ Read more
You can’t do that!
Technology, Technology news, Times Online
“I can’t believe that your company would allow people to make money from something that you allow people to have free access to. Is this really the case?” she asked.
“If Mozilla permit the sale of copied versions of its software, it makes it virtually impossible for us, from a practical point of view, to enforce UK anti-piracy legislation, as it is difficult for us … ⌘ Read more
Confussed
I have not written for a long time. I am in a state of confussion and change. I feel the urge to redefine life and things around me, I just don’t know how and when to start. And that urge to redefine does not relates to this weblog, even though the weblog falls into the category of “things around me.”
I am around, I am not dead (Kim and Kent need me). I am trying to find my way. ⌘ Read more
Microsoft Security Bulletins
This is the second time that I receive a Microsoft Security Bulletin and, since Microsoft uses PGP to sign their bulletins, I have decided to check their signature validity. I don’t know if this has been a flaw in the past as well, since I delete those bulletins without even reading them most of the time, but in the two occassions I have checked them, they had failed to verify, since the signature is bad.
[-- Begin GPG Output (Wed Jul 13 08:30:48 2005) --]
Sign ... ⌘ [Read more](https://collantes.us/2005/07/13/microsoft-security-bulletins/)Downing Street Memo
I have known about this since it was released to the News media, but I haven’t comment about it here. I am providing a link to the contents of the Memo (pretty small read, I assure you) as they showed on the Times Online on May 1st, 2005. Draw your conclusions. I just want to quote a few parts of it. … ⌘ Read more
Terri’s autopsy: What does it means?
The results of Terri Schiavo’s autopsy were released today. BBC News reported:
Examiner John Throgmartin said there was no evidence of trauma or strangulation prior to Schiavo’s collapse. The autopsy also could not prove that she was suffering from an eating disorder at the time – her diminished potassium levels at the time could have been affected by emer … ⌘ Read more
Chosen by God?
I have heard in several occasions, and read quite a few times, that President George W. Bush believes he was chosen (appointed) by God to be our President. God, supposedly, wants nothing but well being for us all, right? Then I would like to know what Mr. Bush is doing to end the killing, abuse and hunger (among other things) from places like Central, South America and Caribbean, Africa and great parts of Asia.
Some say God acts in mysterious ways. Boy, I am about to believe it! ⌘ Read more
I am still here
It has been a while since I came to talk. I am afraid this time I will not talk much either. Between work, family, a game (I used not to play any game at all. Now the whole family has been playing Toon Town for almost 5 months. Give it a try, it is addictive! :-) ) and a few personal projects I had had little time to come here and chatter. But I am still here, I will come back. I want to upgrade to the latest Wordpress, I want to change a few things around. Davi … ⌘ Read more
Taking a break
For the very first time I feel like taking a complete break from the weblogging world. I have gone away in the past, but it was never as permanent as I said it would be. Today, for once, I feel I can really do it. That is, break away for a longer time than the previous. Reasons? Just tired, just need more time with my growing kid and family in general.
Whatever reason is, I am taking a break. Will I be gone long? Will I come back tomorrow? Hard to tell. I am not that interesting of a read to start … ⌘ Read more
Quiet time
It has been a quiet time here. But quiet here does not means it has been so everywhere else. It has been stressful, it has been painful. It hasn’t been easy. Whoever once said –or wrote– that life isn’t easy wasn’t lying. But as uneasy as it might get, it is worth living it.
It is the Marketers fault!
While reading my daily doses of irrelevant information on Slashdot today, I saw that “ _…The UK Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints that Microsoft misled consumers by running advertisements claiming Linux is 10 times more expensive than Windows…_” While they did not lied, they forgot to mention that the … ⌘ Read more
More on Lingo
A while ago I wrote about my plans of dropping BellSouth for a VoIP provider called Lingo. At that time I also wrote that I would come back and write a review about it. Well, this is not a real review –I really do not know how to write one– but it contains my experiences with Lingo voice over IP (VoIP) service, so far.
When something works fine there is very little to tell. The … ⌘ Read more
I am a virus, open me!
The history repeats itself. No matter how many viruses get to their inboxes, no matter how many times you tell them not to open those attachments, when all logic and common sense are just yelling “delete!”, they will open it.
Virus and trojan makers/scripters will always succeed. Antivirus companies will always be behind (even for a few hours/minutes) and make tons of money. As long as my type of user exists there will be a future of revenues on that field and a headache for the r … ⌘ Read more
Small catching up
Last week was a busy week. The Exchange server went into ¾ full production and, yes, it crashed. For the first time I had to recover the PRIV and PUB databases and the server wasn’t been on production not even a week! Oh boy…
I got the Lingo gateway (VoIP gateway, that is) and the quality is excellent, while reaching their technical support is close to impossible. When I finall … ⌘ Read more
First day
I must admit, before I continue, that I did not exercise last night. At least, not as I had intended. It is my fault, I became lazy and even though Kim pushed me well, it did not worked out. But… I am proud the say that I just walked three miles this morning and, boy, it felt good. I know it is not a sensational “news”, but I wanted to mark the day of my come back. I will be fit in no time. I have to. I must. Next, I will buy a pedometer. Thanks to my friend [Martin](http://www.edulon.co.uk/ “Renaissance Ed … ⌘ Read more
It happened again
Last Friday family got together in our house and some photos were taken. Well, it happened again, just this time there was no other family around, but the three of us. We were making time to go over the airport to pick Khanh (brother-in-law) and girlfriend up, so I snapped a few photos, from which I have choosen five. It is mainly about KM, but Kim is in one of them, for the first time!
Something bad about the night … ⌘ Read more
In God we trust
It is interesting to find out, at times when some minority wants to have removed “…under God…” from the Pledge of Allegiance, about this —it refers to the Great Seal of the United States of America motto:
The federal courts have held that the motto symbolizes the historical role of religion in our society, Lynch, 465 U.S. at 676, formalizes our medium of exchange, see O’Hair v. Blumenthal, 462 F. Supp. 19, 20 (W.D. Tex.), aff’d sub nom. O’Hair v. Murray, 588 F.2d 1144 (5th Cir. … ⌘ Read more
Friday night photos
As I previously mentioned, last night some family members got together in our home to eat and drink. Oh, and to say good bye to some other family that was visiting from California. As it is normal when family gets together, everything started quite early –5:30PM– and finished around 9:30PM. That simply means that food and beer was no longer available at that time ;-) .
Normally I am the one taking the photos around, taking care of this kids and later on posting things here. Last night … ⌘ Read more
Screw SPEWS
Recently I found out that my existing server IP—the server I am moving away from—is banned on SPEWS (I am not linking them, Google it and you shall know), because it is assigned to UUnet, which is blamed of harbouring spammers. Following the recommendation of the bounced email I posted on Usenet, asking to be removed, without knowing at that time that it was something out of my h … ⌘ Read more
Short and sweet
Just a quick post, short and sweet, while my wife and kid still sleep and I patiently wait for the ServerBeach people to fix the mess on my server (the other server). Can you believe that I lost connection last night, went to sleep and this morning I found that my IP goes to a Windows 2003 server? Boy, talk about some big time screw up!
I have 15 (fifteen, that is) invitations for Gmail that I am giving out for free. If anyone wants one, go ahead and [email … ⌘ Read more
WordPress and how I did it
This might as well be my last entry completely related or dedicated to WP. I am sure I will mention it here and there in the future, but it would have to be something very important for me to talk about it exclusively in one entry.
As the few of you know, I used to run Movable Type (MT) and I was happy with it. The only thing that always bothered me was the rebuild times, which were getting bigger and bigger and the fact the every comment posted would take from 2 to 5 minute … ⌘ Read more
Just about there
I know I have been writting a lot (well, not a lot, since I am holding down on writting until everything works as I want) about WP and how great it is and how happy I am to have moved away from MT, etc. I have been testing things, getting everything around to look and feel as they did a while back, when MT was still the one in command.
Now, finally, after a few weeks of trying, using the little time I have at home to work on this, I have managed to get the site to look very close to what I want … ⌘ Read more
Brainstorming
Some of you might have noticed that I changed things around a little bit. I am still not decided what to have in here, but the actual interface will do for now, even though at time you might see the “blue” one that I had for quite a while before.
I have eliminated the categories, even though I still use them when writing entries. Tomorrow –or the day after tomorrow– I will be upgrading to 1.3-prealpha, which contains some code to allow clean URI’s across the whole site (with the exception o … ⌘ Read more
Changing servers
As if weren’t enough my move to WordPress and my internal debacle on what to do with the site design, now I am getting ready to move all domains and files –physically– to another hosting company, on a real colocated server (not VS anymore).
The virtual server I have used until now (and that I still use now, for the time being) served me well, but it is getting o … ⌘ Read more
Do you want to try it?
A demo of Office 2004 for Mac is available for Mac users to try. From Microsoft MacTopia Office 2004 page:
“…There’s time for fun and time to focus. When you’re ready to get down to business, Microsoft’s Office 2004 for Mac provi … ⌘ Read more
Drawing a blank
I am drawing a blank trying to decided the new layout of this site. I have no problems with the previous one, but as I am running a new engine here I would like the layout to be new as well. I spent a significant amount of time yesterday trying to come up with something and all went to waste.
Perhaps I am procastinating until I see Wordpress 1.2 out, and have all links to be cruft free. Right now the paging, whether on c … ⌘ Read more
Old permalinks broken
If you had links to specific entries here you are finding out they broke. Let me start by apologizing, I did not know some people had links pointing to here.
You see, I could’ve created permalinks on WordPress that matched the old ones, but I was tired on having such large URI’s. That’s the reason I have changed them when I switched. The one’s in use now will last for a very long time, I have choosen them to be around for a whi … ⌘ Read more
I am not alone
Looks like I am not the only one making the move. Judging by the length of the trackback list on “Mena’s Corner”, a whole lot of people is moving away from Movable Type. Since the news has bee Slashdotted, the WP server is overloaded by, not only switchers, but /. visitors. I am sure they will survive. Now ready for the weekend!
Note
Even [Mark Pilgrim](http://diveintomar … ⌘ Read more