Author: Dan

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Spam and instant messenging

I recently decided I’d had enough spam when the spam outnumbered the real email by 10 to 1. I guess that proves that I’ve had my email addresses too long and they’ve ended up on everybody’s lists. Even with it’s flaws I still use Outlook Express. I’ve used OE since 2000, before that on the Windows side I used Eudora, Pegasus Mail and Netmanage Chameleon. (anybody remember that one?) I considered using Mozilla Thunderbird because of its spam filtering, but it’s still at version 0.4 and doesn’t look quite ready yet.

And then I found Spam Bully, a spam filter add-in for Outlook and Outlook Express. It took about a day to train but after that all my spam is out of my inbox and safely diverted to a spam folder. So far I’m pleased and will probably buy the program after the evaluation period is up.

One piece of software that I did buy is Trillian Pro. I’ve used the free Trillian off and on for instant messenging , as well as GAIM and the standard clients. (AOL, ICQ, MSN, etc.) The free version of Trillian crashed on me some, as did GAIM, and I went back to using the standard clients. But after hearing good things about Trillian Pro I took the plunge and paid $25. The result? I got a rock solid multi-service IM client that does everything I need.

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Computer interface for the brain

I have always been a slow typer, due mainly to the fact the I have cerebral palsy, albeit a mild case. Unfortunately as a result of my car accident, I’m now a quadriplegic. I have some use of my legs, good arm movement and some hand movement, but I can only use my thumbs and left index finger for typing.

So I was very interested when I saw the Wired article “Transforming Thoughts Into Deeds.” The story is mainly about a company called Cyberkinetics and their brain-computer interface called Braingate, which has already allowed monkeys to move a cursor with their thoughts. Clinical trials should begin sometime this year and a product might be on the market by 2007.

Other companies and researchers are working in the same field, but only Cyberkinetics appears to be close to a commercial product. While it seems likely that I will walk again to a degree and that more hand function will return with time, it’s nice to know people are working on these things.

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Once again cooking with gas!

I am once again in the land of high speed Internet access! My DSL line from Sprint is finally active and working so getting online is no longer an ordeal. But I’m still one finger typing. Can’t have it all I guess.

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I’m back

On October 26, 2003 I was in a serious car wreck. I suffered a broken neck which has left me partially paralyzed. I am currently only typing with one finger, which makes blogging a challenge, but I am back.

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Amazon’s “Search Inside the Book”

I initially thought that Amazon’s “Search Inside the Book” was going to be full-text searchable. Well, not exactly. You can search for words but the results are displayed as images of the page the text is on. This is mainly for copyright reasons and I guess it makes sense. If they were making a research tool actual text would be good but they’re not really doing that.

I think what Amazon is trying to do is recreate the library browsing experience where you search for a subject in the library catalog and then head to the stacks to flip through books and see if they’re what you really want. This makes finding random interesting books on Amazon a lot more likely. I think it will definately make me buy more books from Amazon, like I don’t buy enough already.

Wired has more on this new feature of Amazon.

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Comment spam and MT Blacklist

Well I had my first experience with comment spam yesterday so I did what any good Movable Type user would do, I installed MT Blacklist. I haven’t had any new comments yet, so I don’t know how well it works yet. If you want to install it, I’d wait until Monday when the new version comes out.

I also donated to Movable Type this week. I probably wouldn’t have except the MT site says, “Each donation for Movable Type will be credited to the purchase of Movable Type Pro when that product is released.” And I get a little extra publicity for the site since it will now show up on the MT site as “Recently Updated” when I post.

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Digital Cuneiform and things not to do at your library

UCLA has a Cuneiform Digital Library online. I’ve only seen a few cuneiform tablets, safely behind glass of course. Digital libraries like this are great because it allows access to things people probably wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. But the tablets will definitely last longer than this incarnation of the digital library will. Cuneiform lasts thousands of years in its original state, but this web site will be lucky to last 5 years without something new coming along. Such is the pace of information technology.

On a lighter note, I am on the public relations committee for the Tennessee Library Association and we are currently working on a statewide theme for 2004. Here are some themes that probably wouldn’t work.

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Blogrolling

Well I finally got Blogrolling set up here. Doesn’t look any different from what I had before, but that’s by design. I decided to get Blogrolling Gold, both to support a cool service and for the ability to have multiple rolls.

Given time and desire I could have gotten most of the functionality for free but why reinvent the wheel? That’s the same reasoning behind why I’m no longer running my own server and moved to LISHost . Someone else can do it better than I can and it leaves me time for other things, like actual blogging and the never ending Ph. D. studies. And as an aside thanks to everyone that is visiting my site from librarian.net.

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High School and Personality Tests

I’ve been thinking about personality tests and high school lately so imagine my surprise when Julie Miyamoto posts a comment to my blog. I went to high school with Julie and had some classes with her at ETSU during my time in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences there. She has an online comic as well as a blog.

Anyway she took an online Myers Briggs test and remembered that she and I had the same personality type the first time she took one, INFJ. Dr. Countermine, the chair of the ETSU CS dept, was also INFJ. We were both borderline and she is now INTP while I appear to be INTJ.

INTJ – “Scientist”. Most self-confident and pragmatic of all the types. Decisions come very easily. A builder of systems and the applier of theoretical models. 2.1% of total population.

Not sure I buy it, but these kind of tests are interesting. BTW, Julie I’m only physically-impaired after drinking too much scotch. 🙂 I prefer “roguishly handsome guy with odd limp” 🙂

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iTunes for Windows and anti USA PATRIOT Act bumper sticker

Yesterday was my birthday. In case you are wondering I am now one score and five. Just thought I would lead off with that. And I have a recording of a certain clown singing…. On a related musical note I just installed iTunes for Windows. Nice software. The reason I installed it was so I could more easily share the my library between the iMac where I have all my music and the Windows box. Works flawlessly and I am quite happy.

In other news I am the proud owner of an anti-PATRIOT Act bumper sticker offered on eBay by Jessamyn of librarian.net fame. Am I going to put it on my car? Probably not. I do most of my traveling by foot anyway. The auction just seemed like a good excuse to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and show my disdain for the infamous PATRIOT Act. I may frame the sticker and put it on my wall.

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