A guy named Matt has an idea. He reads blogs, and realized that sometimes he'd like to have an analog version - like one on paper with a cover and bound on the left.

And so, he come up with bookthisblog.com

That's a cool idea, I think. There are a few blogs I'd really like to read on paper, one's that I'd hang onto for sure, such as:

• Neopoleon.com - because Rory's a great read
• Indoor Camping - because it would be at least as good as a book, if not better

I'm sure I'll think of others. Plus, I'd like to be able to "burn" my own blog as a book now and then, maybe once a year, just for keepsake purposes. My family would probably like it, too. And there are megabloggers who I am sure would find a use.

There *is* a lot to be said for something you can hold in your hands, something of physical substance. Cool idea, Matt - Make it happen!

Ok, more and more funny. Take one part Superfriends and one part Office Space, and you end up with the hilarious TPS (This Place Sucks). Very, verry funny to watch. I love the use of the Superfriends sound effects, that's great.

If you're a fan of Superfriends, or Office Space, or both - this is for you.

It comes from idiotwork - check them out as well. More funny content can be found there.

Found via UtterlyBoring: The Church Sign Generator

That explains a lot.

Got a PowerPoint presentation that just doesn't fulfill its "Power" requirements?

Cliff Atkinson, author of the book "Beyond Bullet Points," has written a post seeking volunteers who want to take their PowerPoint presentations from typical and run-of-the-mill variety to something truly effective and powerful:

"Are you ready to transform one of your presentations Beyond Bullet Points? If you have an existing PowerPoint file and you want to liberate the great story buried deep beneath all those lines of text, drop me a note and tell me about it.

"I'll review the applications and select a few presentations that represent a range of professions and purposes. If your presentation is selected, all you need is a copy of my book to guide you through the details of the process, along with your critical thinking and creative skills. The other resources we'll use are free, and we'll find graphics from free or low-cost sources, or we'll make them ourselves.

"The one condition is that you are fine with making all of your presentation materials freely available for other people to see through the course of the public makeover - we'll even ask blog readers for their comments and suggestions."

Cool idea! If you're interested, contact Cliff though his weblog - the post is here.

This is a test of a photo attachment weblog post sent to dasBlog via email from a Treo 650 smartphone. The Treo is kind of cool, but Cleo (the cat) is cooler. :)

Note: Unfortunately, due to a bug of some kind I had to intervene on the mail server and manually delete the email post for this entry, because it kept reposting to the blog every few minutes. Oh well - at least I know the posting from the treo works!

Photo_031105_005.jpg

Skype is now allowing its users to sign up for SkypeIn, a new service that allows you to get a phone number assigned to you your Skype account. So, for people who want to reach you by phone, they call that number from their plain-old telephone service line just like any other phone, and it rings your Skype on your computer. Numbers are available in France, Hong Kong S.A.R., China, the United Kingdom and the United States. I checked the US listings to see what area codes are available, and there are none in Oregon yet, but hopefully that will change soon.

For a while now Skype has offered SkypeOut, a service that lets Skype users make calls to the regular phone network using Skype on their computers.

This is really very cool. One of the beautiful things about skype is its ultimate portability. Put Skype on your laptop and take it with you wherever you go. Windows, Linux or Mac OS/X. Run Skype on a PocketPC with Windows Mobile and an Internet data connection, add SkypeIn and SkypeOut, and in theory you're making and receiving calls on the mobile network, but without using the mobile minutes. Hmmmm.

Of course, don't forget the high quality voice audio you get with Skype. And the ability to have your "phone" rind with one number in multiple places.

This whole VoIP, Skype, digital communication thing is getting more and more interesting...

Okay, this has to be one of the funniest damn things I have seen in a while on a weblog. Geek humor in the toilet. Literally.

Rory and Scott are in a video, a sort of a pre-TechEd thing. And it's freakin' great. Expect more in the future, too.

You have to go watch it.

Like, go watch it right now.

Microsoft has released a new prescriptive paper describing in step-by-step fashion how to deploy a secure wireless LAN using Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) and passwords:

The Securing Wireless LANs with PEAP and Passwords solution guide is designed to help small- and medium-sized organizations protect their wireless local access network (LANs). This prescriptive guidance will assist you in planning, deploying, testing, and managing a wireless LAN security infrastructure using Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Pocket PC 2003. The guide is a companion to the earlier solution guide Securing Wireless LANs – a Certificate Services Solution. However, this updated guide uses passwords to authenticate users and computers to the LAN instead of digital certificates.

The solution uses industry standards such as 802.1X to ensure broad interoperability. Windows XP Wireless Auto Configuration and the Microsoft Active Directory directory service help to minimize the complexity of installing and managing the solution—many of the more complex operations are automated in scripts that are provided with the guide. You can also install the solution entirely on existing servers in your environment to keep costs low.

Also useful in the context of these articles:

• Planning a Secure Wireless LAN using Windows Server 2003 Certificate Services: Designing Your PKI
• Securing Wireless LANs - A Windows Server 2003 Certificate Services Solution
• Windows Server 2003 W-Fi resources from microsoft.com
• Windows XP Resource Kit - Wireless networking for IT professionals
• Enterprise Deployment of Secure 802.11 Networks Using Microsoft Windows
• Newsgroup: microsoft.public.windows.networking.wireless

CG has sure come a long way since 1977. The new movie trailer for Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith just played for the fist time at the end of The OC on television. Looks interesting.

I can't say it got my blood pumping or made me jump up and down and cheer, but the saga concludes with this one, so it better be good!

Next on the agenda, CSI is coming on right now, and although I don't normally watch it, Wil Wheaton's got a role on the show. Just saw his name on the screen in the opening credits. Coolio - Gotta go watch.

Update: Hey Wil - you play crazy and homeless pretty darn well!! Well-done, congrats!

Google released their desktop search tool out of beta this week - so it's the full mean deal now. They've added support to search even more content (including Thunderbird email yay!) and for people who want even more, there are plugins available that will let the application index even more kinds of content so you can search almost anything you like. And if there's not a plugin available, well then write one!

Google Desktop Search: Get it here.

If you're a person who gets confused when looking at search results because the results from your desktop (local computer) search are listed on the page with your Google web search results (or if you just want to separate them), here you go:

The default behavior for Google's Desktop Search is: "Show Desktop Search results on Google Web Search result pages." But you can disable that if its confusing. Just right click on Google Desktop Search icon in the system notification area, then choose "More" then choose "Preferences." It's on that page, just scroll down and find the option and uncheck the box.

Microsoft has posted "What to do if you've responded to a phishing scam," a set of four steps (with some details about each) you should take if you think you may have mistakenly provided personal financial or identification information in response to a fraudulent email. They've also updated and posted a set of related articles dealing with phishing and email fraud (listed and linked below).

The steps they list in the article are:

• Step 1: Report the incident
• Step 2: Change the passwords on all your accounts
• Step 3: Routinely review your credit card and bank statements
• Step 4: Use up-to-date antivirus and anti-spyware software

And they have posted more articles with information about phishing and email fraud:

• What is a phishing scam? (updated)
• How can I tell if an e-mail message is fraudulent? (new)
• The do's and don'ts of dealing with suspicious e-mail (new)

But remember: Being prepared and on the watch before the fraud ever happens is the best way to not become a victim. The links above and other resources on the 'net can help you educate yourself and people you know about the things people should do to keep from becoming victims.

The Game Developer's Conference is always an interesting even with lots of cool news for game geeks to get all anticipatory over.

Microsoft's released some screen caps showing off the user interface for the next-generation XBOX Guide - an entertainment gateway for users. The also describe the future XBOX experience: "games, friends, music, and more."

The sample images and more info are available here.

You can also listen to the keynote address by Microsoft's J Allard, in which he speaks about the next-gen XBOX:

• J Allard Keynote video in WMV Format
• Keynote demonstration video in WMV Format
• J Allard Keynote In MP3 Format
• J Allard Keynote In WMA Format

(found via Engadget)

Note: I am posting this entry because readers of this weblog might be interested in the job openings mentioned here. This post is my own, and is not a communication by or for my employer. I am just trying to make people aware of some opportunities that I happen to know about.

Any talented software developers out there?

The company I work for, Corillian, is hiring right now. Among the jobs being recruited at the time of this posting are two for which I have some sort of responsibility: A software development engineer with ASP.NET experience in the Security department; and a developer with experience working with and programming on SharePoint 2003 to work in the corporate IT department.

Corillian's a cool company to work at, and both positions are good opportunities (I think) for people interested in either of these work areas.

So, if you know anyone who might fit the bill (talented SharePoint programmers or experienced development engineers wanting to work on building some really cool Internet security products), drop me a line right quick and I will make sure resumes and letters get routed appropriately. See the "Contact" section in the sidebar to reach me, or apply through the web site. Details about each position are available on the Corillian web site, as well.

By the way - There are even more cool jobs open at the company right now for QA people, sales execs, project managers, system administrators and technical account managers - So if you're in the Portland area and any of those catch your eye, you might want to check them out.

Looks like BitTorrent v4 has been released. New clients for Windows, Mac and Linux.

From the release notes:

2005-03-07: 4.0.0 is now available.
Changes since the last stable release:

• All new queue-based user interface
• Many options are now modifiable from the interface, including upload rate
• Lots of other interface improvements
• Extra stats are visible, for those who like it
• Remembers what it was doing across restarts
• New .torrent maker "btmaketorrentgui" replaces "btcompletedir"
• Better performance, as always
• License has changed to the BitTorrent Open Source License
• Torrent fields are correctly created and interpreted as utf8
• Too many little things to list

A few technical notes, for those interested:

• Single port: launchmany can seed and client can download many files from a single port and thread
• Interface now uses GTK instead of wxWidgets
• BitTorrent packets are marked as bulk data to make traffic shaping easier

I was driving home from work today, crossed over Cornelius Pass Road and onto Highway 30. As I drove down the road I caught a glimpse of Mt. St. Helens, with what looked to be a standard-fare steam plume, typical of what one sees popping over the crater these days, coming out of it. The mountain dropped out of view behind some trees as I drove, and when I rounded a corner and saw it again a few minutes later, I noticed the plume was growing. Within a couple of minutes the plume was thousands of feet in the air. Huge. Pretty amazing really.

Anyhow, for what it's worth, here is my not-so-scientific observation...

First of all, the white cloud looked to be mostly a whole lot of steam. Some darker material appeared to be dropping over to the east of the mountain from the cloud, but honestly it's hard to tell shadows from falling material. The National Weather Service issued an ash-fall warning for that area.

(Photos from KGW and USGS)

It looked like a bomb hit for a while, a big bulb of a cloud rising straight up from the crater. Then the wind started to push it to the east, and eventually it dropped and started to dissipate.

In my super-geek analysis, I can tell you that this was probably the new dome area involved, rather than the old dome. No surprise there. Why do I say that? Easy. It's a complete guesstimate...

Here is the new dome's seismograph, going offline first (click for large image):

...and here is the old dome's seismograph, knocked offline later than the new dome equipment:

Pretty amazing sight this evening. Unfortunately, I didn't have my good camera with me, but others have done plenty to photograph it.

UPDATE: USGS web site details and images on March 8 eruption.