From http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42533 (paraphrased):
BackLinks enable you to keep track of other pages on the web that link to your posts, and, more importantly, allow a way for discussions (or dialogs) to occur across different websites (/blogs).
For instance, suppose Alice writes a blog entry that Bob finds interesting.
Bob then goes to his own blog, and writes a post of his own about it, linking back to Alice's original post.
Now Alice's post will automatically show that Bob has linked to it, and it will provide a short snippet of his text and a link to his post.
[This is intended to be] a way of expanding the comment feature
so that related discussions on other sites
can be included along with the regular comments on a blog-post.\
[Google Blogger's] default templates are already set up with the necessary code for BackLinks. However, if you have a custom template, you will need to add the code yourself. Instructions for that are [NOT] found here.
But you can actually find backlinks code here ...
December 15, 2009
What are Blog Backlinks?
November 21, 2009
Blogger Notification Settings
filed under [bookmarks], [tech support]; (2009-November)
---
The help page for Blogger Notification Settings:
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=156642
October 14, 2009
the Joke that is Corporate Web 2.0
I got a new "aren't we hip" corporate spam* email recently from Discover Credit Card.
In a typically overexcited tone, it states "You'll now find new forums to discuss rewards, online features and many other topics, through a number of new blogs and social media networks."
Oh boy! Web 2.0! Twitter! Blogs! I LOVE engaging in simulated social-networking where the company gets to control the conversation!
Of course, if you actually waste your time checking these out, you'll quickly discover that they
- only publish positive submissions (or they delete negative comments if any get though)
- all submissions become the property of the company
- there's no real 'member-to-member' (customer to customer) communication
(et cetera)
Q: What do you call a pseudo-conversation where a company publishes only positive reviews?
A: ADVERTISING
*"corporate spam" is a term I created for all of the emails from companies I have to use. These
emails take over your inbox, but you are hesitant to try to stop each company from sending you emails because you are worried you might
miss the REAL communications you actually want (e.g. changes to account details, alerts, etc.)
In the 'good old days' I used to just get corporate junk mail in my (physical) mailbox (i.e. mail from a company you use that
looks like it's actually regarding your account, but isn't) -- now I get junk _email_ from them too!
Feuding Firefox Extensions: Adblock Plus and NoScript Resolve Differences?
[note: the following was copied from [http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2009/05/feuding-firefox-extensions-adblock-plus.html]; if you like lots of page crap and advertisements, you can read it there instead.]
Post Title: "
Feuding Firefox Extensions: Adblock Plus and NoScript Resolve Differences (?)
"Post Date: 2009, May 5th
Claimed Author: "Technology Expert"
----
Adblock Plus does just what it sounds like it does: blocks ads. NoScript relies is designed to block browser scripting and plugins, adding security to the browser, and relies on ads and donations.
You can probably see where this is going.
In a (prior to this) unprecedented move, after some back-and-forth where the NoScript dev, Giorgio Maone, kept changing the structure of his site to work around Adblock Plus, he finally decided to modify NoScript so that it disabled Adblock Plus when it installed.
This caused what should be expected: a huge uproar.
It also grabbed the attention of the Mozilla Foundation, which I'm sure didn't really want to be mediating between two of its highest profile extensions. Their response: a proposal for a new extensions policy that would require the following:
Changes to default home page and search preferences, as well as settings of other installed add-ons, must be related to the core functionality of the add-on. If this relation can be established, you must adhere to the following requirements when making changes to these settings:It seemed that people came to their (common) senses after that. Maone basically apologized to the Mozilla community, removed the changes that blocked Adblock Plus, and said:These are minimum requirements and not a guarantee that your add-on will be approved.
- The add-on description must clearly state what changes the add-on makes.
- All changes must be 'opt-in', meaning the user must take non-default action to enact the change.
- Uninstalling the add-on restores the user's original settings if they were changed.
So I had this crazy idea of retaliating against EasyList "from the inside", and in my blindness I did not grasp that I was really retaliating against my own users and the Mozilla community at large. Even worse, my hacker attitude led me to dig directly in the low level Adblock Plus internals where filters are enforced.Let's be honest, all was "well" until for whatever reason Adblock Plus started to make changes to its filters that "fixed" the hole that NoScript was using to get around Adblock Plus, which started the back-and-forth that eventually led to Adblock Plus changes its filters to the point that users couldn't even download NoScript or FlashGot (another Maone extension). Of course, that in and of itself was already egregious.
But this last step eventually led to a final round of p****-waving, and here we are. It seems that if Mozilla implements its new policy, we'll be safe from such feuding again, but who knows?
Categories: [mailed-to-blog; tech]
September 25, 2009
First hand, second hand, third hand
First-hand versus second-hand vs. third-hand ; experience as a gauge for Truth.
- first-hand knowledge/information = information you have from directly experiencing the subject; knowledge from personal _experience_.
- second-hand knowledge/information = information from someone with first-hand experience; knowledge learnt from someone who _experienced_ the subject. For example, having an event related to you by someone who experienced it. Or, being taught a skill by someone with experience*.
- third-hand information = "story" ; information from people who did not experience the subject and who may not have learned that information from people with second-hand experience.
Because any number of intermediate steps (degrees of separation from first-hand experience) can exist in "third-hand information," such information should be assumed to be unreliable; even when presented as 'fact,' or with an 'air of authority', this type of indirect knowledge can be based on rumour or hearsay. Even with a source of information assumed to be reliable (e.g. a book), the information is often not even second-hand (from neither direct or indirect personal experience) and, furthermore, is modified (intentionally or unintentionally; by theory, opinion, rhetoric, similar experiences, et al.) by the third-hand source (e.g. the author).
= Why are these distinctions important? =
Thinking about how far away from direct experience (which could be called "knowledge") any information may be is supposed to be a way to remind yourself that what-you-think-you-know
may not be "truth," or may not be as reliable as it first seems.
One interesting and relevant example is Television News (broadcast journalism, as opposed to print journalism).
On news-shows, you will often see a "reporter" who has been sent to the location where an event took place. This is designed to give you the _impression_ that you are getting *first-hand* information about an event. But, in fact, you may not even be getting second-hand information, let alone first-hand.
The reporter almost always has arrived at the scene after the event has taken place. Furthermore, they usually don't have the time to find and talk to multiple people with first-hand experience. And do you actually know if information they are relating to you is from a first-hand source?
This is how the distinction of 'what degree of separation from experience?' can be a useful tool: you can better gauge what level of confidence you have about a "story" if you ask yourself if what you are hearing is first-hand, second-hand, or third-hand. For example, when the reporter says "We spoke to so-and-so at the scene, and he told us..." you could ask yourself "Does so-and-so have first-hand information?"
Or is 'so-and-so' someone like a Captain, or someone who's job it is to speak to the press?
If so, do you know if they experienced the event?
Do you know if the person questioned by the reporter received information from one, many, or no people with first-hand experience yet?
Because it could be the case that the person quoted is, in fact, another person without first-hand experience (direct knowledge) of what happened.
And thinking about whether the information is connected to direct experience, you may then realize that, even though it seems like you are getting reliable information--because the reporter is where the event occurred, or the person interviewed could be assumed to have gotten multiple first-hand reports--you don't actually know if you are getting second-hand or third-hand information. This can help you to realize you may not know the whole story, or may not know the true story.
= Further degrees of separation from experience (4th-hand, 5th-hand,...) ==
Theoretical examples of further "handedness": degrees of separation from first-hand experience/knowledge:
fourth-hand information : Learning from books (for subjects other than skills).
fifth-hand information : Information from someone who learned from books (including skills, unless that person also has first-hand experience [practice*]).
sixth-hand information : Information from sources like Wikipedia (where the authors do not have 1st- or 2nd-hand information, and have not even obtained 4th- or 5th- hand information; i.e. cases where neither the author nor the author's source have any connection to "experience").
= Footnotes =
* For skills/disciplines/studies of a subject, a good guideline for what constitutes "experience" is 'more than 300 hours of (first-hand) practice and/or study'.** It used to be that "a reporter at the scene" meant you could assume that the reporter experienced, or was experiencing, the events he/she was reporting on. Or, at the least, that the reporter had spent some amount of time speaking to as many people as possible to try to get multiple first-hand reports. Now, however, you can see that having "a reporter at the scene" is often merely an attempt to exploit this pre-established viewer assumption: multiple news vans arrive; if they can't be filmed at the scene they try to stand close to the scene; and the "reporters" just read "copy" that was written for them back at the studio. Or you see something like reporters sent to Iraq, where they are limited in who they can speak to; it makes for good television, because of scenes from the location, but does not necessarily mean you are getting a more reliable "story", because they are still separated from people with important first-hand experience...
= About (Meta) =
I wrote this blog article in reaction to hearing Tom Cruise say "There's first-hand data, second-hand data, and third-hand data.... and third-hand data is way out there." Maybe it can , in some small way, help prevent such an unclear statement on the subject from ever being spoken again ;-)
September 1, 2009
define PVP
"PVP" = polyvinyl pyrrolidone;
[ POLY VYnihl PYR ROH LIH DOHnn ] [root= (vinyl pyr ro li done)]
aka
.... polyvinylpyrrolidone
.... crospovidone [ KROS- POHV - eh - DOHN ] (per wikipedia...)
PVP is a petroleum-derived chemical
used in hairsprays, wavesets and other cosmetics.
It can be considered toxic, since particles may contribute to foreign
bodies in the lungs of sensitive persons.
[[ originally from (page no longer available):
www.ecoshoppe.com/glossary.html ]]
MATERIAL SAFETY SHEET:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/p5290.htm
NOTES:
(from google search, quote:)
"Use the SPI-Chem nonionic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to make any
surface more wetable."
December 2, 2008
Recreating MS Windows Help Popups
November 26th, 2008
Overlib [example] is nice enough, I guess, but I still think the ideal popup behaviour for definitions (seen on 'mouse-over') is the example set by the old microsoft-help model… (seen in 'mshtml').
******************************
HERE’S HOW MS HELP BEHAVES:
if you POINT at link, nothing happens. (changes to HAND icon).
if you PAUSE at link, a small TITLE box comes up : “View definition”
if you CLICK on the link, the overlaid window OVERLAPS THE WORD and STAYS THERE
until … you CLICK ANYWHERE !!!
(click on the popup, click on the main page, click outside the window…. anything.)
THE WINDOW CLOSES ON LEFT CLICK _AND_ RIGHT CLICK.
THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS “CLICK ANYWHERE” behaviour is if you click
on a link in the POPUP itself. In this case, it opens the new definition in the exact
same location.
Relevant Google Search ("dhtml popups")
---- eof ----
Official Gmail Blog: Syncing your Google Calendar
(bookmarked from the web to blog)
Official Gmail Blog: Syncing your Google Calendar
November 23, 2008
Warning about "Software Informer"?
ISSUES:
Software Informer is dangerous software hijacker, keylogger, and spyware. Another name is "System Informer".
2. Uninstallation : This application can't be deleted or uninstalled unless you do a direct manual deletion into registry: The Software Informer also causes high CPU utilization and makes overall computer performance dropped.
2. Hijacking google search: As part of this company's software strategy, the designers effectively hijack www.google.com seach functionality: if you try to find information regarding this sofware, the page will only show results from Software Informer pages.
Workaround: This ADVANCED SEARCH on Google is a specially-crafted string that excludes the hundreds of subdomains used by informer.com : > SEARCH
For information on deleting it, see Removing Software Informer hijaker (aroundsap blog)!
November 16, 2008
Today’s Japanese Lesson : “Taiko Report Card”
... I was playing MASTER of TAIKO #6 ( 太鼓の達人 ゴー! ゴー! 五代目 ) for the PlayStation 2 (PS2), and one menu item had me stumped ...
( “What's with the little lacquer boxes," I wondered… ”)
So, after some kanji-reverse-engineering, here's what I found:
太鼓の通信簿 = Taiko report card = TAIKO no TSUUSHIN BO
通信= TSUUSHIN = communication; correspondence; news, a report.
‐簿 = BO [ボ] 「ぼ」= list, book, record (an ending-compound kanji;
通信簿 = TSUUSHINBO 「つうしんぼ」｛ツウシンボ｝
= a report book, a report card
As for the banners, I think they say "ONSHOKU"…
音色 ＝ musical quality
おんしょく ＝ onshyoku : tone color
Oh, and there's also "Additional Element" and "Personal Record":
「追加要素」や「個人成績」を閲覧できる。
November 5, 2008
Red vs. Blue: We Are Not Enemies
"As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: 'we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.'
To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn: I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices.
I need your help. And I will be your president too.
To all those watching tonight from beyond our shores -- from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world : our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared. And a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you.
And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
That is the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations..."
"[But] it can't happen without You: without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism --of responsibility-- where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder, and [to] look after not only ourselves, but each other."
From Obama's Acceptance (Victory) Speech, November 5, 2008
full transcript: http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/530862
October 27, 2008
Rewrite for MS Word Visual Basic Error Message
My re-write of a dense error message to improve rapid comprehension.
= Original Message =
[file://C:\Documents and Settings\This error is usually due to insufficient memory or low disk space. It also occurs when the default Word template ('normal.dot') is corrupt, the 'VBE6.DLL' file is the wrong version, or permissions to the Temp folder on a server share do not allow access to the folder by the user.
Low memory or disk space can be solved by either closing unused applications, de-installing unused programs or files from the hard drive, or by adding RAM or a larger hard drive. In some cases, a memory leak may have been encountered and is consuming RAM without your knowledge. If you suspect a memory leak is the problem, shut down Word and VBA and restart the computer.
Rename the normal.dot file and restart Microsoft Office Word. When you exit Word, Word will rebuild a new normal.dot file. If you have a backup of the normal.dot, you can replace the defective one with the backup copy instead of having Word repair the file.
If the VBE6.DLL is not the correct version, replace it.
If the network permissions are inadequate for access to a TEMP folder on a server share, consult the administrator and determine if the permissions can be changed. Otherwise, redirect VB to use a local Temp folder.
[link:
http://watson.microsoft.com/dw/errormessages.asp?
ProductName=Office11&EventSource=OfficeErrorMessages&EventID=10094
&Language=1033&productBuild=11.0.5525.0]
------------------------------
= My Rewrite =
"The Visual Basic environment could not be initialized."
"This error is [often] due to insufficient [system] memory, or low disk space.
[The error can also occur] _when the default Word template (normal.dot) is corrupt_,
[or] _the 'VBE6.DLL' file is the wrong version_,
or [, if the "Temporary" folder used by MS Word resides on a shared server,] _permissions to the 'Temp' folder do not allow access [to the current user]_.
Remedies / Potential Fixes:
1)
Low memory or disk space can be solved by either closing unused applications, de-installing unused programs or files from the hard drive, or by adding RAM or a larger hard drive. In some cases, a memory leak may have been encountered and is consuming RAM without your knowledge. If you suspect a memory leak is the problem, shut down Word and VBA and restart the computer.
2a)
Rename the 'normal.dot' file and restart Microsoft Office Word. This file is located at "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates".
After you restart and exit Word, Word will rebuild a new 'normal.dot' file.
2b)
If you have a backup of the 'normal.dot' template file, [instead of having Word repair the file,] you can replace the current (defective) file with the backup copy.
3)
If the VBE6.DLL is not the correct version, replace it.[*]
4)
If the network permissions are inadequate for access to a TEMP folder on a server share, consult the administrator and determine if the permissions can be changed. Otherwise, redirect Visual Basic (VB) to use a _local_ Temp folder.**
Link: [More help fixing this error is available online]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* (I can't rewrite this point because there is no info offered on what constitutes "correct", how you would replace it, et cetera.)
** No idea how this would be done...
