at Solutions Linux 2009

Last week was Solutions Linux, one of the big free software events in France each year. And of course I went to there (thanks Novell for letting me go there on work days!). While still in Paris, it moved from CNIT La Défense to Porte de Versailles, which was a good thing: it felt really better there. We did have some good web access, but as usual, it was nearly impossible to read mails, do IRC and generally communicate to the outside world. A good excuse to breathe a bit, if you ask me! The GNOME booth was great. We were face-to-face with our KDE friends, and we had some good time with them. On the booth itself, we had t-shirts and stickers (like for FOSDEM), and the Events Box that made it in time, although we asked for it a bit late. Since we had quite some stickers left at the end, we put a good bunch of them in the box. A good bunch as in around 2500. That should be enough for a few events! Feel free to send a postcard to GNOME-FR to thank us if you get some of those stickers... Of course, I also went from time to time to the Novell stand: there were SUSE Studio kiosks for people to try, which were more or less always in use by people. This wasn't really surprising since SUSE Studio is quite cool. There were also some Batman-spotlight-like Novell pen -- I first said I don't need another pen, even if it has a light, and then discovered that it was a spotlight. And fell in love with the concept :-) The french gang was there: Frédéric (not the other Frédéric who couldn't make it, but I was lucky to see him when I went spying in the Mandriva offices), Christophe (who was kind enough to host me for a few days, thanks!), Michael Scherer (I hope it's the right blog ;-)), Pascal, Luis (the French one, or French-Portugese, or just Portugese ;-)), Dodji, Daniel, etc. This was obviously some great times with all those cool people! During the event, I gave two talks: one about the GNOME history and philosophy and one about freedesktop.org. Both went well, although I couldn't stop talking for the first one, while the second one could probably have done with more examples in a demo. I'm also still wondering if they were really suited for the audience: since it's more a commercial event than a community event; it's not really easy to know if all the audience enjoyed the community-related talks... Last week was also when we started the serious planning for GNOME 3.0. It was actually weird to be isolated from the rest of the world at this time: it was first a challenge to coordinate with the rest of the release team for all this, and then I missed the initial feedback. Which might actually be a good thing ;-) I still plan to read articles and comments, but after taking a quick look at the beginning of this week, it was quite interesting to see some people saying that the planning announced nothing really big for the users (it's a developer release), while some other people were worried that the end user changes might have a bad impact, and then another group was praising the revolution that is planned. Not sure if there's any conclusion to draw there ;-)

like beaches?

During summer in the Philippines, people would go crazy trying to go to the beaches and just cool down to the clear cold waters of the many beaces there.Just this summer i went twice to Guimaras island where there is a public resort called Villa Igang with fine white sand and clear clean waters.Getting sun-kissed skin and just having fun while on the cool waters... Now, do tell me, do you like beaches?

Resistance is useless

Evolutionary theory may help to fight a fatal diseaseLIKE many other activities, global health has fashions. For the past couple of decades AIDS has captured both the imagination and the research dollars. Recently, though, the focus has shifted towards malaria, which kills a million people a year, most of them children, and debilitates hundreds of millions more. Insecticide-impregnated bednets designed to stop people being bitten by infected mosquitoes are being scattered throughout Africa. New drugs based on a Chinese herb called Artemisia have been introduced. And researchers are vying with one another to be the first to devise an effective vaccine. But the traditional first line of attack on malaria, killing the mosquitoes themselves, has yet to have a serious makeover.One reason is that time and again chemical insecticides have produced the same dreary pattern. They prove wonderfully effective at first, only to dwindle into uselessness. This is because evolution quickly throws up resistant strains. Indeed, spraying campaigns, which generally aim to kill mosquitoes before they can breed, might have been devised as textbook examples of how to provoke an evolutionary response. With their competitors all dead, the progeny of a mosquito carrying a mutation that can neutralise the insecticide in question have the world to themselves. ...

Tekenen als Hobby

HobbyTekenen.nl, Tekenen als Hobby HobbyTekenen.nl - Tekenen als Hobby - Leren Tekenen - Peter Kort - Over Over HobbyTekenen.nl : "Tekenen kan een zeer goedkope hobby zijn die veel voldoening en waardering kan geven.Veel mensen denken dat er speciale aanleg voor deze hobby nodig is maar iedereen kan leren tekenen.Tekenen is meestal een kwestie van op de juiste manier leren kijken en natuurlijk veel oefening. Maar net zoals bij vele andere vaardigheden geldt dat je bepaalde basisbeginselen en technieken moet leren...Deze pagina is bedoeld voor iedereen die het leuk vind om te tekenen en iets meer van deze hobby wil weten."(HobbyTekenen.nl)Leer online stap voor stap tekenen. Naast de basisbeginselen worden instructies gegeven hoe je o.a. stillevens, landschappen, mensen, dieren moet tekenen. Beertjes Weblog by Peter Franken

So what colour is your blood?

Not literally. But I have noticed, especially amongst my North American friends, that some of them don't appear to be US or Canadian. They are: Irish/Scottish/Cherokee/Peruvian/Italian/Greek/Spanish/Sioux/Armenian/Russian/Polish/Kenyan/Polynesian etc. For the last three hundred years at least my family has been relentlessly English. Single nationality, only one blood. How exotic is your background?

We're watching you

The British Government has just taken another step in their constant endeavour to turn the UK into a Police State. As of today, EVERY E mail and Internet phone call (Skype, IM etc) that is sent or received in the UK will be kept by the hosting ISP for 12 months. Allegedly this is another step in "protecting" British citizens in the ceaseless war against terror.

The recipe for cherry cake that I sent to my Mum earlier today will now be liable for a deep forensic investigation to see if I am really passing on subversive messages. Fun living in the 21st Century isn't it?

You're Not Fat, Just Bloated

Diet and Weight Loss Turns out you might not be fat, just bloated. And since getting rid of the bloat could be a whole lot easier than shedding pounds, the four tips that follow might be all you need to feel slim and trim.Bloating is usually caused by either a buildup of gas or fluid retention, say the "Body Talk" folks at Ladies Home Journal. Both can make your belly feel heavy and distended, and we all know that zipping jeans over a poochy tummy is a real downer. Help is here -- LHJ offers these ideas for blasting the bloat. Fiber. If you have a bowel movement less than three times per week, your digestion might be on the sluggish side, and your gut may be growing as a result. A high-fiber diet can help -- get 25 grams per day if you're under 50 and 21 grams after that. Increase your fiber by three to five grams per week (one apple, one cup of oatmeal) -- any faster and you might make the bloating worse. Gassy Foods. Fried and fatty foods, and some high-fiber goods, like beans, broccoli and cabbage, can boost your bloat. Try avoiding some of these items for a few days and see if your mid-section melts away. You don't want to eliminate veggies, though, so just cut back and try to find some options that don't bother you. You can also try Beano drops or tablets before eating your favorite foods. Anti-gas medications can help too. Gulping Air. When you chew gum, drink through a straw, down sodas and smoke, you swallow air, and this can put carbon dioxide into your digestive tract. You don't want that, so stop smoking, cut back on the gum and straws and eat and drink slowly to reduce air intake. Hormones. Progesterone surges prior to your periods, and water retention and slower digestion follow. Avoid salty foods and alcohol consumption prior to your period, and up your exercise to stimulate your system.

Beach Vacation

Thanks to our lovely neighbors, we were able to take our three day weekend to the beach. The best part was getting to take our dog on his first trip to the ocean. He loved it, and he wasnt in the least scared of the waves (unlike beer bottles, golf club bags, vacuum cleaners, and heights among others). The only issue was his perseverance in the search for potable ocean water. We paid twenty-five dollars for his beach license, and the beach is only open from 5am to 10am for dogs, but at least there is long stretch of beach for off lead doggie freedom. He romped in the sand and the waves, chasing his girlfriend the entire time. He didnt try to eat any jelly fish, and he didnt chase any birds; oh how he loved the massive expanse of water, though. I cant wait to take him when the water is warm enough for me to brave it so hopefully he will swim a bit more and learn to body surf. We really didnt do much touristy stuff other than eat out and take the dogs to the beach. My husband played golf, and I shopped a bit with one of our hosts in the Market and grabbed my first hot stone massage in downtown Charleston. We assumed everything would be more walkable, but everything is sprawled out. While there is a skinny little bike lane to Sullivans Island, it terminates at the draw bridge. The raised concrete on the side of the bridge is too narrow for me to feel comfortable walking the dog or walking it myself anything less than one hundred percent sober. On the next trip we plan on researching CARTA or renting bicycles; we checked into getting a cab to Folly Beach, but it was going to run about forty dollars without tip one way. Its about eleven miles from Charleston to Mt Pleasant so that probably would have been a forty dollar round trip in a cab, too. The vibe was much like Key West, but Key West is definitely better for walking or riding a bike. We ate at a bunch of bars and tourist traps, and I have mixed feelings about the food scene. Although I hear Charleston has a great food scene, I had a difficult time finding it. Has Asheville spoiled me and raised my expectations higher than reasonable? Maybe I discounted the food because I was annoyed at being served all my drinks in plastic cups (not to mention it seemed impossible to get Malibu . . . no coconut rum at the beach . . . WTF). The pernicious plastic cup followed us from bar to bar, and even at the one spot were the food was good, I drink my $14 sparkling wine out of a plastic (albeit much nicer and thicker plastic) flute. I wrote reviews for almost all of my experiences on Urban Spoon, but then I decided I wanted them here too so I have added the big spoonbacks. However, one restaurant was so memorable that I couldnt refrain from hoping on the soapbox. Poes Tavern in Sullivans Island serves some of the best hamburgers anywhere according to my partners in dine (including my foodie/chef husband); I did not partake because alas I dont care if the meat is ground on site, I am not eating ground beef. I was also told that the fish tacos were to die for, and they looked much more sizable that I would have anticipated. I do eat fish; I really cannot refrain, but keeping in mind the best way to reduce your impact on the environment is to go veg, I try to save it for special occasions, like beach vacations or celebrations. I was so pissed and tired of the most uncaring service I have received in recent memory that I was determined not to spend anymore money than absolutely necessary. Our party of four arrived around six, which on our part probably wasnt the best idea. The situation is seat yourself, and the floor plan is an old house maybe twelve hundred square feet or so, with some of that occupied by the door way and bar areas. Trying to wrangle a seat was cut throat, and honestly without some liquor in me, I am pretty meek and mild. I sat down at a table as it was being bussed only to be told my a single woman that her party of six would be arriving shortly and she had beaten me to the table. I am not certain if she did indeed beat me to the table, but her party took about thirty minutes to arrive. On our second table, the departing party checked an overzealous group of five from snatching it by backing us up on how long we had been staking it out. While the staff had no problem with a single woman taking up an entire ten top table, they were right on top of us to be sure that our party of four crammed into a two top so the party of five could have the larger ten top table. Of course it was the reasonable move on the part of the staff, but I was pissed that the solitary woman with her absent party couldnt have been asked to move. In such a busy place I was shocked to see seat yourself service. My husband explained that it made sense for the restaurant to save on the labor cost of a host because of the difficulty of wrangling parties in such a cramped space, and with the volume the servers were going to make money regardless. However, a manager or someone needed to supervise. The night we stopped in it didnt appear that there were any bussers either, and it also appeared that the servers had sections so there wasnt any team effort. While the poor service can be partially chalked up to the mind numbing volume of tables, it still sucked to watch the five top and the two top beside us have two rounds of drinks before we even received our first. To add to the insult, thirty or so minutes after placing our order for our first round of drinks, one of our party walked to the bar and got it herself; when she returned with our order, our server, Abby, decided to arrive and blame the tardiness of our drinks on the bar. In a normal circumstance that could have been a reasonable excuse, but she never made up for it by stopping back by more frequently. I described the volume as mind numbingly busy, because our server seemed to give up on us. Even in the cramped quarters, she would avoid eye contact while dropping off food or drinks at our neighbors tables. Unfortunately for my husband and me, our partners in dine were determined to make the best of it so we didnt leave for another spot. The hand cut fries were okay, but Laughing Seed Cafe in Asheville puts them to utter shame. After two long hours, we paid our bill of almost $100 before tip (I only drank water, we had one order of fries between the table, one fish taco, four burgers, and I lost count of how many rounds my companions drank), and I was none to happy that my husband gave her a much too generous fifteen percent for the abominable service we received. Maybe half the staff was out sick so there wasnt a host, busser, manager, or food runner to help the overwhelmed servers out, but really an apology would have been nice. We will try it again so my honey can enjoy another burger, but we will be sure to do it in the off season.

How to Make Money With Internet Marketing - A Beginners' Guide

Many people are really intrigued by the idea of make many from the internet. Especially during the current economy slowdown, most blue collar workers are keen to explore alternative income stream. To make money from the internet, first you have to choose a business model. The most popular online venture model for beginners is the Affiliate Marketing route.

The affiliate marketing business strategy is quite simple. It works from the understanding between a merchant with its web partners. Before you begin, it is imperative that you do some market research. You have to find a product or service with a substantial demand. If there is no buyer, you will not make any money from the web.

When you have located a suitable product or service to promote, the next step is to find the top merchants in the market. Visit their corporate websites for more information. If they have an affiliate program, you will find a link to the sign up page. Register yourself and submit your application. When your request is approved, you will be given an affiliate ID number. The ID will be used to track your sales turnover and commission pay out.

To start making money from affiliate marketing, you must learn how to generate traffic to your site.

hoohn

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