Category: Technology

Testing MarsEdit 1.0

Technology

So the Mac blogs are abuzz about a new application for Mac bloggers called MarsEdit. I was intrigued enough to download it and give its trial run a spin, and so this is my first test post using it. I’ll update, edit and otherwise mess with this posting to see how well MarsEdit works with my MT based blogs, and I’ll report my findings to you here. Is it good enough to buy? Stay tuned…

So, that post went up, but I didn’t see the opportunity to put it in a category. These later edits are being done via MT as usual. But I’ll press on and save reading any manuals for later 🙂

Aha… so when I click the ‘Refresh’ button on MarsEdit, it grabbed the 10 most recent posts to my blog, along with their categories. So this edit, is again being done in MarsEdit rather than MT. The research continues…

UPDATE: How cool is that? A comment from the programmer! Thanks for the help Brent. So here’s another test… if I edit an existing post using MarsEdit, will the comments survive the update? Here we go to find out… yup, they sure do. Good to know 🙂

UPDATE: OK, so when my demo period ended, MarsEdit passed the ultimate software test. I just missed it too much not to buy it, so I did. Great stuff Brent, keep it up!

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Fighting Back Against Spam

News, Technology

Last November, Lycos Europe launched a web service called ‘Make Love, Not Spam‘ which allowed visitors to download a unique screen saver. The goal was to serve a little payback in unwanted traffic to the web sites promoted in spam email messages. The screen saver happily sent endless requests to these servers, slowing their ability to churn out their unwanted messages. Criticized for using tactics of the sort more often employed by hackers and others who might launch such a denial of service attack, Lycos shut down the service.

I’m glad to see that creative efforts to fight back aggressively agains spam are being explored and implemented. Even if this particular approach has crossed the line somewhere (where was the ‘Make Love’ part of this, on the screen saver?), I applaud Lyco Europe for trying to do something, and hope they’ll keep at it. Fighting spammers in court, as was successfully done recently in Virginia, is great, but it’s only one weapon in the fight against spam. And global fight that it is, won’t always be an available option.

The real problem will never be solved. Spam only works because people are stupid, and it only takes a few boneheads who think that cheap VIAKAGARA is only a click away to force those of us who know better to pay the price for their ignorance in the spam we receive as a result. Idiots.

Anti-spam screensaver scrapped
BBC, 12/6/04

UPDATE: Slashdot reports that a trojan horse virus is being distributed under the false promise that it is the installer of the Lycos Anti-Spam screensaver. Jeesh… you really just can’t win for trying can you.

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Fun With Photomosaics

Diversions, Photos, Technology

We’ve all seen a Photomosaic before, an image that is produced by combining many other smaller images. They’re really cool. I recently discovered a cool Mac program called MacOSaiX that makes them, and it’s really cool too.

Here’s an example…

(click for larger version)

The program allws you to identify source photos from a local drive, a Google image search, or by using random glyphs from your font collection. In this image I used my local iPhoto library and the program used 4,411 photos to produce this mosaic which is measures as 84.1% in ‘Mosaic Quality’. And check out the detail; the trim on the shed in the background, the dogs furry tail, the shadowy patches of snow. Way cool.

It takes a bit of time, and I’m still on the quest for producing a really high-quality photomosaic. But just playing with it is fascinating… the program I mean. Give it a try.

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A Friend in the News

News, Politics, Technology
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OK, maybe it’s not ALWAYS self-promotion here. The July 5th edition of the New York Times included a very interesting article titled “Knowing Their Politics by the Software They Use“. In the article, my friend and colleague David Brunton (shown in a dashing pose at right) and others discussed the appearance and background of the seeming preference for use of open source software by Democrats and progressive organizations, and of Republicans and the right for proprietary options. It’s well worth a read. Later, we’ll discuss the politics of Macs vs. PCs 🙂

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In Need of a New Gadget

Technology

Lately, my technology has been failing me. It’s like a fatal flu season has swept through much of the tech around me. It started with a simple boom box, nothing special, radio/tape/cd. But suddenly, the CD player stopped working. What’s up with that?

The next to go was my Palm Pilot. This is my second Palm to die an early death, and so I’m not particularly eager to throw any more money these ways. But as I consider alternatives, I need to sort through so many options.

I’ve always found it to be stupid that I need to look up someone’s phone number, when the place I really need their number is ON MY PHONE! But I’m not sure I’ve found the phone I want yet either.

Being a Mac guy, it would be cool if my new gadget worked with iSync. I’m currently with Verizon Wireless, and so if I didn’t have to switch away from them, that would be a plus, although now that I can take my number with me, that may be less of an issue.

I dunno. If I can find a way to converge my cell phone and my pda into a single, Mac-friendly device, I guess that’s what I’m looking for. Any suggestions anyone?

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Chris’ Top Ten Milestones for Congress on the Internet

Politics, Technology

or… Highlights and Lowlights for the Hill on the Net

  1. Senator Robb accepts e-mail (late ’93)
    Hill staffers still haven’t forgiven him

     

  2. Senator Kennedy launches web site (May ’94)
    How’s this for an easy to remember URL?
    http://www.ai.mit.edu/iiip/projects/kennedy/homepage.html

     

  3. House Republicans restrict access to Committee Minority sites (6/96)
    Hill web becomes a political weapon

     

  4. Animations abound (early 97)
    Waving flags, flying letters, & Rep. Traficant ‘Bangin’ Away’

     

  5. Write-Your-Rep & Web Forms (early 97)
    Attempting to stem the e-mail flow with zip lookups and web forms

     

  6. Daschle Tree Cam (11/97)
    It’s not just about politics, and a tradition is born.

     

  7. Starr Report goes Online (9/98)
    Hill servers grind to a halt under the weight of the demand

     

  8. Senate get hacked, twice (5/99, 6/99)
    Senate staff access restricted as a result

     

  9. 100 Senators Online (3/00)
    Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgeral makes it unanimous

     

  10. Senator Clinton’s Day One Web Launch (1/01)
    Sen. Clinton launches site on day one, fastest yet.

Disagree? Don’t sit there stewing about it, tell me! You’ll feel better…chris@casey.com.
Then go write your own list 🙂

© 2001 by Chris Casey
Delivered at American University’s Forum on Congress and the Internet, 5/4/01. (see the video)

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CaseyDorin Internet Productions wins Golden Dot award for Innovation

casey.com, Politics, Technology

Golden Dot Award CaseyDorin Internet Productions was awarded the Golden Dot award for Innovation at the seventh annual PoliticsOnline conference held today in Washington, DC for their work developing the mobile edition of algore.com. The Innovation award is given to the nominee who has “developed and utilized the best new ways for conducting election campaigns which, if emulated, would enhance American democracy”. As campaigns further develop their use of the Internet, it is a certainty that they will continue to seek to find new ways to deliver their content and communicate with voters. The algore.com mobile edition reached more than 10,000 subscribers, delivering updated news and information directly onto their handheld computers as quickly as it was available on the algore.com web site.

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