Most Recent Stories & Articles for January 2005
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Photography
- Posted On: 1/31/2005
So, I started taking some "serious" photos last night. I wanted to get a nice close-up of the orchids in bloom. I'm unsure what kind of orchids they are, but am simply excited that they have bloomed here in Arizona. Care and love is all a plant sometimes needs.
Below are some of the shots I took. I have never had the pleasure of a professional photography course, or even an amateur one for that matter. So, please provide input if you have some! I attempted different lighting effects and backgrounds. I learned quite a bit last night and may make some additional attempts this evening.
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Surf Smarter Not Faster?
- Posted On: 1/28/2005
I don't know why I hadn't found GetNetWise.org before... It's a website wealthy with information to help you get to know the vulnerabilities of using your computer! Privacy, SPAM, Spyware, Kids Safety, Security, and more...
The best part about GetNetWise? It's not run by a single company!!!
Their Glossary of Terms rocks!
Every web site ought to link to it!
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Adding MSN Spaces to your personal website
- Posted On: 1/13/2005
The recent request for instruction on how to automatically add the content from your MSN Space to a website spurred me into writing a tutorial. Many "webmasters" do not yet utilize the power of RSS on their websites despite the incredible benefits. Would your website visitors benefit from seeing their local news headlines, sporting event results, popular blog entries, etc.?
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Beta Fish vs. Betta Fish
- Posted On: 1/13/2005
People often misspell the word "Betta Fish" with only one "t". I get about 200 visitors a day from search engine referrals of people looking for the term "Beta Fish".
The Betta Splendens, or Chinese Fighting fish, are both beautiful and fascinating. Because they seem to be so popular, I have created a couple of videos of my two bettas, Casper and Current. If you want more information about your betta fish, including how to care for your fish, how to breed them, how to decipher betta behaviours, etc.
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Flip It and Reverse It
- Posted On: 1/12/2005
I had to have extra fun with my 2nd sound byte, so I made a feeble attempt to record something backwards, so that when it was reversed it sounded correct (or close to correct). I really don't want to type much in the blog today, so... there you go.
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Sound Bytes
- Posted On: 1/11/2005
Here is my first sound byte to the world. Not much, but it's a start. I'll continue to play with this feature in the future. Try changing my voice, sing to the world, etc. We'll see what happens.
I'm using Macromedia Flash MX to compress the sound bytes. The original ".wav" file for this sound byte was 1.2Mb! But, Flash compressed it down to 107Kb. Not bad at all. I look forward to my next sound byte post! I'm too easily entertained...
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We are the People of 2004!
- Posted On: 1/10/2005
ABC News calls "bloggers" the people of 2004! Merrium-Webster calls "blog" the word of 2004 as well. Because of the popularity of this internet phenomenon, more and more valuable information can be gleamed from the volumes of information posted in blogs. Abbie's MSN Space introduced me to the idea of entire communities of related blogs, like law-related blogs.
The future is indeed exciting.
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The 2004 Tsunami
- Posted On: 1/7/2005
I must make mention of the terrible, world disaster almost 2 weeks ago. The 2004 December Tsunami was one of the greatest disaster's the world has seen for some time. Spending time re-iterating what has already been said so many times over the news would be a waste of time, so I'll keep it personal.
My heart goes out to all of the victims and the families and friends of those victims as well as their communities. So much work is left to be done and will remain weeks and months after this tradgedy. I especially hope that the children affected by the event receive all the care, attention, and love they need.
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Harper's Index for December 2004 (Harpers.org)
- Posted On: 1/7/2005
Quotes from Harper's Index for December 2004:
"Number of U.S. terrorism trials brought before a jury since September 11, 2001 : 1 [U.S. Department of Justice ]"
"Number of terrorism convictions resulting : 2 [U.S. Department of Justice ]"
"Number of them dismissed in June due to a "pattern of mistakes" by the prosecution : 2 [U.S. Department of Justice ]"
"Minutes of weightlessness that Virgin Galactic passengers will experience on suborbital space flights in 2007 : 5 [Virgin Group (London)]"
"Price of the bottle of champagne a New York club requires patrons to buy in order to use a diamond-encrusted table : $5,000 [Select (N.Y.C.)]"
Harper's index is great! Interesting news in bite-size chunks. I am consistently amazed at their selections for news. It has too be terribly difficult to select what is included in each month's edition.
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Anthem, AZ
- Posted On: 1/7/2005
This new MSN Space launched with news about Anthem, AZ and news about Arizona in general.
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Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
- Posted On: 1/6/2005
Microsoft released their beta AntiSpyware software today. Many rumors are floating about that they will start charging for this software in the near future. Check out their AntiSpyware FAQ and you'll see their answers hint that they will eventually charge you for the full release. (see questions "How much does Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) cost?" and "Do I need to register Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)?") Should you use it? Well, let's see...
Pros.
- Microsoft - They work hard at making their money, so their software is decent and sometimes great!
- It protects your computer more than if your not using any AntiMalware software
What is malware? - Spyware is a type of malware (bad software)
Cons.
- It's a beta... not fully "ready" yet.
- There are better alternatives currently
- SpyBot - Search & Destroy (GREAT SOFTWARE!)
- LavaSoft Ad-Aware
My vote? Not yet. Get more information on protecting your computer.
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Alcohol Stoves
- Posted On: 1/5/2005
My buddy is totally into building these miniature alcohol stoves for camping, hiking, etc. You can actually buy them on eBay or build one yourself. He recommends Zen Alcohol Stoves for the best information. Here's his latest find:
http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/penny.html
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In the Horse's rear-end
- Posted On: 1/3/2005
Today will mark the 7th day of administering penicillin via a rather large syringe to my horse's @$$. Left butt cheek one day, right the next and so on until the bottle is gone. Her horse, Finway, developed "Strangles", a highly contagious infection for horses.
Not having been around horses or any large animals in my life, hearing the news that Finway needed daily shots didn't affect me at all. Until I found out I'd be doing it!
So, giving a huge animal a shot in the rear-end can't be that bad, right? I was very confident until I had the needle in one hand and a butt cheek in the other. Phew! Confidence grew with each night until last night when I had to do it alone. Horses are particularly sensitive to a human's emotions. So, of course, my exuding confidence last night was no problem, right?! Hah! My hands were shaking so bad after everything was done.
I made it though... What an experience!
Photo courtesy of the EquineCenter in Australia.
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Digital Camera!
- Posted On: 1/3/2005
I ordered my Canon PowerShot A95 yesterday from BuyDig.com for my birthday. I decided on the camera after reading several reviews on DCViews.com and then searching Google's Froogle shopping search engine. HINT: If your birthday is on or around Christmas, or you celebrate Christmas with gifts, give people gift promises and buy after the holiday, taking advantage of the incredible discounts!!! Stick it to Corporate Christmas!!!FYI: ALWAYS check for better prices on accessories at the store you are buying from! That's where they make some of the biggest mark-ups in price.
Should be coming in the next week or so... So, maybe I can update my sucky photo album that is entirely too me-centric. Makes me look like an egotistical, selfish @$$!
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Behold... the power of the BLOG!
- Posted On: 1/3/2005
Okay... apparently my BLOG is generating some kind of interest. 1) By Eric Swanson's in the world, and 2) by Betta fish owners. If you are here for bettas, then read #2 below.
- Perhaps I am to blame for a Mr. "Eric T. Swanson" appearing out of seemingly nowhere as 2nd in Google's results page for the term "Eric Swanson". Perhaps not... All I know is that I have moved up to 4th place. Yippee! I must concede first place to the photographer. And, I must follow 3rd place, the network consultant.
- I have been analyzing where my BLOG visitors come from and surprisingly I am getting regular searches from Google based on the term "betta fish care"! I suppose this validates my search engine experiment to see if I could get indexed for the term, and for those looking, you want to visit http://www.bettatalk.com/. After successfully running my experiment, I've renamed my BLOG from "Betta fish (read about my experiment)" back to "Eric Swanson's Blog". Thanks to you who endure the struggle of betta fish care only to find me.
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A Year of Success
- Posted On: 1/3/2005
Happy New Year!
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." --William James
I am very excited about this year. It has started off right and more importantly, I have started it with the right frame of mind. Renewed and refreshed. I look forward to the complete rebirth of Spring and continue to enjoy the relaxing "dormancy" of the winter. It's important to attempt to merge your life cycles each year with the seasons. It helps you feel a part of this world and gives you a healthy perspective.
The gym in my community has re-opened... FINALLY! After 2 weeks of no working out (my excuse, 'cause you don't need a gym to workout in. But, it helps in the winter), I am looking forward to getting in there and pumping some iron.
The quote above is referenced in a book I am reading, "Making a Habit of Success" by Mack R. Douglas, a specialist in purpose-driven, motivational consultation. The first few chapters have been an inspiring read. I encourage anyone reading this to go out and buy Og Mandino's "The Greatest Salesman in the World", even if you are not a "salesman".
