Microsoft…You Suck
I’m waiting until October to make the switch to Linux for good, but until then, I guess I will enjoy what time I have left on a Windows machine.
It always cheers me up when I get errors like this…
So you’re telling me that I got an error….when I was reporting an error???
Pidgin Bug – Won’t Open After It’s Closed to the Sys Tray (Windows)
Well, I’ve now experienced my first bug in Pidgin. I don’t think however that it is actually a problem with Pidgin itself because I didn’t notice any trouble until I enabled the “Windows Pidgin Options” Plugin.
Basically, I have it setup so when I ‘x’ out of the program, it goes to my sys tray and keeps running in the background. Today I closed it out and then was trying to get it back open, but it just sat there.
Once I forced quit, it seemed to work for a couple times, but then died again. I’ve since restarted and it now seems to be working fine.
Anyone else having this problem?
/**********update**********/
It just happened again. I disabled the Windows Pidgin Option plugin and restarted Pidgin. I’ll keep ya posted if that was the issue or not.
/**********update2**********/
Adding Popup Notifications In Pidgin
/**********update**********/
After using this plugin for a few days, Pidgin kept locking up and I was able to track it down to Guifications…follow this tutorial at your own risk:)
/**********/
So I’ve been using Pidgin for not quite a week now and it really made me feel stupid for staying with MSN Messenger for so long.
This thing is more powerful, more flexible, utilizes plugins, much more lightweight, supports every kind of IM protocol…I could go on all day.
But, for everything that it does, there are a few things I do miss. As small and minute this inconvenience was, I really, really missed the little popup window in the lower right hand of the screen that showed me when someone signed in.
Paypal Security Key and Multifactor Authentication
After listening to an episode of Steve Gibson’s Security Now podcast about the new PayPal Security Key, I promptly ordered one.
If you’re not sure what the Security Key is, it’s a small dongle that is linked to your PayPal and eBay accounts. It has a small screen that shows you a six digit number when you press the button. Why is this important?
Well, I’m glad you asked. This brings security to a whole new level that’s referred to as ‘multifactor authentication’.
Single Factor Authentication
To understand how the key works, you need to understand how the current system works. When you login to your PayPal (or eBay, last time I’m going to say that, promise), you will type your username and password and you’re logged in. This makes it very easy for hackers to get into your account either by compromising PayPal’s servers or with some type of keylogger. This method is called single factor authentication. It’s simply “something you know” (or something a hacker knows:).
IE6 Adding Extra Space Between Navigation Lists
So I’m working on a new template for Wordpress and thought I was done…until I checked it in Internet Explorer 6.
I was using an unordered list to do my navigation, which means my CSS code looked something like this
#sidebar ul {
list-style: none;
margin: 0 0 20px 0;
padding: 0;
}
#sidebar ul li {
display: block;
margin:0;
padding:0
}
#sidebar li{
list-style: none;
}
#sidebar ul li a {
color: #046380;
display: block;
text-decoration: none !important;
margin-left: 0px;
padding: 5px;
}
#sidebar ul li a:hover {
color: #efefef !important;
background-color: #046380;
}
And my HTML like this:
<ul><?php wp_get_archives(‘type=monthly’); ?></ul>
Nothing special here, just a regular ul displayed as block and with a different colored background on hover used to display my WP archives.
The problem was that in IE6 some of the lists were displayed correctly and some were getting extra space added for no reason (below).
Encrypting IM With Pidgin On Windows
So I’m slowly moving away from all proprietary software that I currently use. Next on the list, Windows Live Messenger.
The major thing holding me back was I needed a client that supported RSA encryption since I tend to do a bit of IM’ing at work and I don’t want people viewing my messages over the tubes. MSN Messenger and SimpLite worked perfectly together and if it’s not broke…
Well, I’m making the switch to Linux soon and I don’t want to be bound by any software. The only issues I currently see are Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Other than that, game on.
- Download Pidgin (formerly GAIM)
- Download Pidgin-encryption (direct link – Win32 self-extracting binary)
- Install Pidgin and then install Pidgin-encryption (in that order)
- Open Pidgin and add all of your IM accounts
- Go to ‘Tools’ –> ‘Plugins’
- Look for Pidgin-Encryption and check the box next to it and hit close
- That’s it:)
If Operating Systems Were Houses
What if Unix, Windows, Linux and OSX were houses?
UNIX is the old Victorian Mansion that was the first of it’s kind and set the standard for all things to come.
It is still considered one of the most solid and stable houses ever built since it was build by compliant construction practices.
It’s incredibly solid foundation allows it to be expanded upon and added to. This foundation has led to many other houses being built the same way and with the same compliance and care.
Windows is the government housing.
The houses are built quickly, cheaply and go up anywhere and everywhere.
Unfortunately since they were all built so cheaply, you end up spending twice as much later to keep the place standing.
The foundation is shaky at best and anytime you hang a picture, you worry about knocking the entire house down.
Easily the Coolest Grandma EVER
I was listening to Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy #378 and a lady named Karen called in. Karen is a Linux using grandma who was fed up with Micro$oft’s bs and took matters into her own hands.
Linux grandma FTW
http://rapidshare.com/files/49250971/linuxGrandma.mp3.html
I cut out just the segment she was talking so you don’t have to listen to the whole 2 hour show.
