TECH SERVICE: WORDPRESSDOTCOM offers better draft blogging

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

FROM WORDPRESSDOTCOM SUPPORT

*** begin quote ***

Got Drafts? Filter.

Some of us bloggers have a few hundred drafts sitting in our WordPress accounts waiting for the right words or the right time. Hundreds you say? Yup. We’re not naming any names, but you know who you are.

We used to just list all your drafts in your blog’s Manage -> Posts screen. For some of us, that got really hairy really fast.

Now, your drafts can be displayed in a nice table by going to Manage -> Posts and selecting “Draft” from the “Post Type…” dropdown. If you have lots, they’ll be spread over several pages.

*** end quote ***

You mean people actually think about what they post. They just don’t “spit, spray, and pray”? What an odd behavior. Here I thought blogging was just scratching one’s own itch. Or other more disgusting metaphors. Well, if it’s a new feature, I’ll have to try it. Imagine delaying one’s own gratification. What would Walter Winchell say? Not Paul Winchell the fellow behind Jerry Mahoney. Always thought that Mahoney could replace most politicians. But that’s another topic. Off to draft something. I thought you drafted race cars. Or cannon fodder. Oh well.

Note: This was a draft to play with the new capability. I like BLOGDESK for my client software, not the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom web interface. But one has to try everything.

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AFTER FURTHER REVIEW, THE post STANDS AS written, THE BLOGGERS WILL BE CHARGED WITH A TIME OUT!

Well I let it sit for some time and it didn’t magically improve. In fact, I think I like BLOGDESK and pre-post release time date. Like a magazines embargo. I don’t see much value for me of drafts, I’m spray ‘n’ pray, kvetch ‘n’ post kinda blogger. Hear those finger nails on the chalk board?That’s my kinda sytle. Delaying the screech doesn’t change anything.

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TECH SERVICE: JIBBERJOBBER supports the troops with a lot more than words

Monday, May 28, 2007

http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/645

Revisiting Free Premium JibberJobber Features For Deployed Servicemen
May 28th, 2007

***Begin Quote***

year I sent out a press release announcing free premium features for those returning from deployment. This is a timeless offer, which means that it has not, and will, not expire. Since today is Memorial Day in the U.S. I figured I would revisit this offer.

What does this mean?

If you are deployed, you can click here to set up your JibberJobber account. You get at least one year of premium features on your account (the 12 months starts from the time you return).

Normally we give you 30 months, assuming that you will be deployed for 18 months and back home for 12 months (we don’t want to know any confidential details about your deployment). You can use this while deployed (if you have time, and access to the Internet) … and your loved ones (spouse, significant other, kids, parents, etc.) can use it for you while you are deployed.

Think about this. Let’s say you get deployed for 18 months. During this time you are learning and growing, even to the point of out-growing the job that you left. Or, you are unsure that the job you left will even be there when you get back (of course it’s supposed to be, but you still wonder, and there is no guarantee).

Your parents (or loved ones) at home know that when you get back you’ll be in a job search. They can login to your JibberJobber account and put in prospective employers, information about specific jobs that might be available, even key people that you will need to network with when you get back.

Instead of coming home and starting at square one, you can come home and have a rich database of leads. This can be huge.

During the first 12 months that you are home you continue to use JibberJobber with the free premium features to track your transition – whether you are getting a new job or not, there are a lot of network contacts that you should put into your network, and work on nurturing those relationships. And if you are looking for a new job you probably won’t find a better, easier and more effective tool to track the job search.

After the free period expires you can choose to upgrade, if you want. If you don’t want to upgrade you will NOT lose any of your data, just some bells-and-whistles.

Why are we doing this?

This is not a political statement, rather it’s an effort to show support to troops. There are lots of ways to support the troops, including sending cookies, care packages, letters, cards and more. This is a way that we (the JibberJobber team) can show our support for people that are willing to sacrifice their life to serve their country.

How do people take advantage of it?

The process is rather simple – all you need to do is click on this special link (so we can track the number of people that take advantage of this) and sign up for your free account. Then, send us an e-mail (Jason [at] JibberJobber [dot] com) and let us know that you are, have been, or will be, deployed. Finally, have ONE MORE person send an e-mail confirming that. It doesn’t matter who that person is – but it’s just a second measure. That’s it – mostly based on the honor system. So far there hasn’t been abuses, as far as we know.

How can you help?

There are three ways that you can support this program:

1. Spread the word: First, let everyone know about this offer. Servicemen, moms and dads of those that are serving, spouses, career experts, etc. Also, if you have any media contacts let them know about this.

2. Sponsorships: We are accepting sponsorships from companies or individuals who want to support this program. If you know someone at a military friendly company such as Home Depot, Halliburton, Guardsmark or some other company that says they support the troops, please let them know about this. We have special, extra information for major sponsors. We are not a non-profit and therefore don’t allow you any tax savings, but if you want to support this program you can contribute here.

3. Support JibberJobber in general: If you don’t have your own JibberJobber account then you should get one. It’s not just for job seekers – it’s for anyone that wants a tool to help manage relationships. Whether you are a grandma who sends out Christmas cards and birthday cards or a business owner keeping track of customers, prospects and vendors, JibberJobber can prove to be a valuable tool for you. You get lots of benefits for free, and the extra features you get for the optional $10/month upgrade are worth it.

If you have any questions, comments, thoughts or anything else please let me know (you can use the Contact Us page, or send an e-mail directly to Jason [at] JibberJobber [dot] com). This offer is not limited to any particular branch or country.

***End Quote***

Support Our Troops?

You’ll hear a lot of politicians talk about patriotism, Jason Alba of JibberJobber makes them all look like the empty suits they are. He SUPPORTS the troops with something that is useful and comes right out of his pocketbook.

My hat’s off to him.

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ADMINSITRIVIA JQUOTE not category

Monday, May 28, 2007

JQuote

William Pitt the Elder once expressed a British freedom ideal:

The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter, but the King of England cannot enter; all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!


TECHNOLOGY: Skype on a free blog

Friday, May 25, 2007

*** begin quote ***

Would like to know how you set up the Skype thing?

*** end quote ***

Sure, no problem. It’s straight forward one you get the concept.

By way of background, I like tinyurl, and others like it. It makes ANY stuff, like your email address, into a url. Spammers can NOT harvest your email, because it’s an URL and doesn’t look like an email.

Neat concept.

Skype is another neat concept. Free phone calls. Verizon’s worst nightmare. So, I wanted the kool balloons on my blog. The fact that I’d be the first to get them made it kooler.

With the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom in addition to not having javascript, it prunes a lot of stuff out of the things you can put on there. When it would NOT go on, I asked about Skype. And they put it on their queue. (I’d like to have some visibility into THAT queue!) Hey for free, I wouldn’t listen to any whines.

I just kept poking around with Skype, and the errors that I could cause the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom, and eventually made the connection. The free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom says “http good; all else bad”. So I wondered how to make Skype into http.

First, I went to the Skype site for a url that I could use. They had nothing but those kool balloons I wanted.

Second, I gave up in disgust.

Then, when I was putting an email into an url for display on the blog, it hit me. Transform the Skype command into a url.

Sure enough, I was able to use tiny url to turn the skype commands, that are unacceptable to the free wordpressdotcom, into valid urls. I put those URLs in a blogroll called skype. Played with the labels to make the display pretty. Had some people test it. It works. If you have skype installed. If you don’t you get an ugly error.

Neat. Not as kool as the balloons. But still better than naught. I told the nice support fellow from the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom about my trick and he was impressed. That made an ITSJ’s day complete.

FWIW

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TECH SERVICE: SKYPE conference call feature

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Last night, for the first time, I participated in a Skype conference call. (Hey, I told you I was an ITSJ and didn’t like people!)

It was sweet.

It was the Big Turkey, the Big Canary, and Big Red. (Yeah, I know too many bigs. That’s why it was a call. All those egos couldn’t fit in the same room together!) Any way, this post is about the technical details of the conference call.

It was a snap to setup. I initiated it at 8PM promptly. (WOF just ended and I got the final puzzle with no extra letters. n33t!) I just taped conference call, and the two names were online, a few clicks and it was up and running.

The local client software has nice mic icon that I could click on as a “cough button”. Also, the client would highlight who was speaking, neat feature.

(For enterprise use, for “secret” info, I’m not sure that eavesdropping is impossible. Maybe NSA is analyzing the hidden messages in why two of the three have given up golf. A terrorist could just order a bread delivery. Spy craft is a well-know art. Changing a web page’s theme could be a signal.)

We chatted for thirty minutes, and I thought I heard one network hiccup.

For free!

We connected Chicago, Long Island, and Kendall Park for 30 minutes at no cost.

I didn’t try any of the other features. Mostly, cause I don’t know what they are.

I am definitely a raving fan. And give this a BIG thumbs up. (yeah, I know too many bigs.)

My best moment was when Frau, who was subjected to my half of the conversation, rolling her eyes most of the time, actually smiled and chuckled at my “Put lipstick on that pig, and pucker up” line. (I think “Big Pig” is available as a moniker. Pigs are pretty smart. And closely related to humans. Some humans are described as pigs.) I’m elevating that to the level of the Mass Mutual ad jingle: “Never kissed a frog. Didn’t have too!”.

Now I need Skype Video!

FWIW YMMV FAIWWYPFI


TECH SERVICE: Skype me … … on wordpressdotcom

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Now I have a way to get Skype on the blog.

(Tested by Ace beta test Vince C! Thanks. Best injineers came from Jasper Land in 68!)

By shoving the Skype command into tinyurl, I have a URL that can be put on the blog.

IF YOU HAVE SKYPE INSTALLED, this works. If not, why not http://www.skype.com for the free download. PC2PC phone is free. Everything else is so cheap, might as well be free.

Here’s the list of Skype stuff:

Skype me!
skype:reinkefj?call
http://tinyurl.com/38xkfk

Add to Skype contacts
skype:reinkefj?add
http://tinyurl.com/2k63kf

Add my SkypeIn number to SkypeOut contacts
skype:+17329174816?add
http://tinyurl.com/22akez

Add Yahoo Dial In number to SkypeOut contacts
skype:+16094895893?add
http://tinyurl.com/2poros

Add home office number to SkypeOut contacts
skype:+17328215850?add
http://tinyurl.com/2jev7p

Start a text chat
skype:reinkefj?chat
http://tinyurl.com/2duj7r

View my profile
skype:reinkefj?userinfo
http://tinyurl.com/2p4pph

Send a file
skype:reinkefj?sendfile
http://tinyurl.com/3bqwrv

I love doing the impossible. Especially when it was easy!

Update 2007-05-22 @ 2050 edst, beta test by GLaneC reportds that IE doesn’t work. Further testing maybe necessary. So one FF tester says works and one IE tester says it didn’t. Like Edison says, paraphrasing, “progress is knowing what doesn’t work”.


TECH SERVICE: Skype me … … not on wordpressdotcom

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

No way to get skype on the blog.

skype:reinkefj?call

skype call blue white 124x52

skype:reinkefj?call

http://tinyurl.com/38xkfk


TECH SERVICE: NetworkWorld Community

Monday, May 21, 2007

http://www.networkworld.com/community/

Network World Daily News: PM, 05/21/07
Breaking news

***Begin Quote***

We’ve just added a new feature to NetworkWorld.com Community: Groups. Our groups are similar to Google and Yahoo groups (only way networkier, of course). They’re a way to bring together folks with a particular common interest. You can let anybody with a Network World Community account join your group or limit members to specific people. Member posts appear both in a Web archive and are sent out via e-mail.

***End Quote***

More groups? How valuable? Maybe a niche?

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TECH SERVICE: 2IDI silently changed it’s offering

Saturday, May 19, 2007

http://2idi.com

Intelligent Identity Information

***Begin Quote***

Just as a url is an address for a website, an i-name is an Internet address for YOU! It is a simple, secure way to authenticate your identity and to share personal data, with the assurance that it will remain private and up-to-date. Further, your identity cannot be “harvested” by spammers or other marketers without your express permission.

Contact Service

Your Contact Service is a way for you to put a link on your web pages or on your business card that allows people to contact you, without exposing your email address to spammers.

Use the menu at the left to view the messages you have received, and to inspect and/or edit your Contact Service settings.

The address for other people to reach your Contact Page is http://2idi.com/contact/=reinkefj.

***End Quote***

I signed up with this a while ago. So long ago, I don’t remember when. I bought it because I could put the link on any website and it would send me a non-spam email. (Neat! Still haven’t seen such elsewhere.) The identity claims I haven’t seen any great benefit for, but, I did get a good service.

It always worked flawlessly from http://public.2idi.com/=reinkefj

BUT

yesterday, a contact tried to use it and via different channel told me it wasn’t working. Upon testing, I found he was right. (Thanks!) SO I pinged every where I could find, and got the response, “where did that url come from”. Huh? From youse guys. Did you think I could make that up on my own.

From this I learn that the inet, even when you pay for something, ain’t set it and forget it.

I need a process where I check components to ensure they are working. Especially when I paid for a service.

NOW, I have to find all the places I put it and update them. Thanks a good trick. Maybe Google?

Argh!

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TECHNOLOGY: the Laws of Identity

Thursday, May 17, 2007

http://www.identityblog.com/stories/2004/12/09/thelaws.html

Kim Cameron
Identity and Access Architect
Microsoft Corporation
May 2005

***Begin Quote***

Understand the dynamics causing digital identity systems to succeed or fail in various contexts, expressed as the Laws of Identity. Together these laws define a unifying identity metasystem that can offer the Internet the identity layer it needs.

***AND***

1. User Control and Consent:

Digital identity systems must only reveal information identifying a user with the user’s consent.

2. Limited Disclosure for Limited Use

The solution which discloses the least identifying information and best limits its use is the most stable, long-term solution.

3. The Law of Fewest Parties

Digital identity systems must limit disclosure of identifying information to parties having a necessary and justifiable place in a given identity relationship.

4. Directed Identity

A universal identity metasystem must support both “omnidirectional” identifiers for use by public entities and “unidirectional” identifiers for private entities, thus facilitating discovery while preventing unnecessary release of correlation handles.

5. Pluralism of Operators and Technologies:

A universal identity metasystem must channel and enable the interworking of multiple identity technologies run by multiple identity providers.

6. Human Integration:

A unifying identity metasystem must define the human user as a component integrated through protected and unambiguous human-machine communications.

7. Consistent Experience Across Contexts:

A unifying identity metasystem must provide a simple consistent experience while enabling separation of contexts through multiple operators and technologies.

***End Quote***

In looking at LinkedIn and my “who’s been looking at my profile” kvetch, here’s Cameron’s ground-breaking laws of identity. I think the new LinkedIn “feature” is bending Laws #1 and #3.

Comments?

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