It's a really nice gesture. The idea is that unemployed / underemployed developers can pitch an idea to MS for an app that they will write for non-profits. Then MS will give them all the tools they need to do it, gratis.

Hat Tip: Matt Hartley

As almost all newspapers are today, the Gazette Telegraph is crappy. Their slanted "reporting" and condescending editorials are just plain offensive; all while their subscription rates continuously increase. So, about two years ago I canceled our subscription and I haven't looked back. Today I got the following email from them...

This is my reply...

$6 for only the Sunday edition for three months? You people are pathetic. Your paper isn't worth even that anymore.

I will however, offer to pay you $5 per month for all editions. That's seven days a week of newspaper service for $5 per month. Not a limited trial price, or introductory price, but $5 per month for all editions, for as long as I care to receive them.

I still think that's too much, but my dog, Tank is trained to bring in the paper each morning and he LOVES it. I'll pay $3 per month so that he can have his job back. Another benefit that I can think of is that I'll have paper to use for starting fires and that's worth about $2 per month. When I canceled your stupid paper, I didn't realize how valuable having a steady supply of fire-starter was.

So, for $5 per month I'll allow you to deliver your "news" paper to my house every morning. You can boast to your advertisers about a new, paid subscriber; I'll have my fire-starter and my dog will be happy to bring it in to me every day. It's a win-win for everyone!

I'll send you $60 for the year and I look forward to delivery resuming soon.

With Warmest Regards,
Phillip H. Blanton

Update: The Gazette replied and offered me seven days of newspaper deliver for $69 per year. I accepted, so Tank will be fetching them again soon. By the way, here is a video of Tank fetching the paper.

I own a Kindle. When I first bought it I was lured with the promise of getting elctronic versions of my books at a substantial discount. It makes sense. The production of an electronic version of a book is completed in one step. That electronic book can then be copied an infinite number of times at a very very tiny cost; much less than one cent per copy. Conversely, paper books must be created in production runs that require people to set up the presses, run the presses, maintain the presses, continually feed raw material - ink and paper - into the presses, etc... Not to mention the cost of storage, transportation, handling. The cost of producing a paper book is orders of magnitude greater than producing a copy of an electronic book. Additionally, the normal rules of supply and demand don't work with electronic books since there is no real limit on supply. 

The retail price of the electronic book should reflect these actualities, but it doesn't. I expected pricing on electronic books to shake out over time, and settle in at something in the $4 to $7 range. When I see this on the Amazon website...

I realize that the Kindle and iPad and Sony book readers will NEVER be as popular as they can be. At least not until the ebook sellers get the pricing in order. At comparable prices to the paper book, I will always buy paper before the electronic version.

I love the Chinese. I buy lots of things from them over the Interwebs, but I saw the funniest EBay ad recently. This one...

http://bit.ly/d8xRV8

It said in the description of the ad...

*100% Brand new
*Seal packing
*Very cute and fashionable strap chain lovely condom
*You can use it, you can think it is a jewelry or toys
*It is also a safty condom from the Adults

Very funny description considering it is for an iPad dock, eh?

Since I expect the ad to die someday but I want this blog entry to live longer than that, I have made a full screenshot of the ad and posted it here...

http://phillipblanton.com/snagit1.png

By the way, I bought one. It's sitting on my desk at work and I use it to charge my iPhone, iPod and iPad.

If you get an error something like this...

"Exception Details: System.Security.SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed."

when you set up a fresh installation of BlogEngine.net on IIS7, the fix is to set "Load User Profile" in the website's IIS Advanced Settings pane to True.

The full error is...

Server Error in '/' Application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Security Exception
Description: The application attempted to perform an operation not allowed by the security policy.  To grant this application the required permission please contact your system administrator or change the application's trust level in the configuration file.

Exception Details: System.Security.SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. 

Stack Trace:

[SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed.]
   System.RuntimeTypeHandle._GetTypeByName(String name, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase, Boolean reflectionOnly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean loadTypeFromPartialName) +0
   System.RuntimeTypeHandle.GetTypeByName(String name, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase, Boolean reflectionOnly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark) +62
   System.RuntimeType.PrivateGetType(String typeName, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase, Boolean reflectionOnly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark) +42
   System.Type.GetType(String typeName, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase) +77
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetType(String typeName, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase) +105
   System.Web.Configuration.ConfigUtil.GetType(String typeName, String propertyName, ConfigurationElement configElement, XmlNode node, Boolean checkAptcaBit, Boolean ignoreCase) +64

 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.4927; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.4927

Update:
I was wrong. I bought this headset on March 18, and here it is March 26, and the microphone has quit. A $50 headset with a microphone that lasts somewhat less than eight days. Why can't I buy a good headset? My HP headset still works, but it is so painfully uncomfortable that it is useless. I'm not cheap. I am willing to spend good money for a good headset. WHY CAN'T I FIND ONE???

I am a software developer and I work with geographically distributed teams. I use Skype and other VOIP systems on a daily basis, so a good headset is mandatory. Until today the best headset i had was a cheapo, behind-the-neck headset my wife bought me at the Loveland Wal-Mart when we were visiting there and I forgot to bring my expensive Plantronics headset. I have used the cheapo headset for going on three years now and it is flawless. Comfortable, clear, Works consistently. Unfortunately I guess Wal-Mart quit carrying it because I have been unable to replace it.

Today, while killing time at the local Best Buy I found a nice behind-the-neck headset from Logitech that I thought might do the trick. Unfortunately it was $50, so I balked a bit. I eventually ended up buying it and giving it a try. I am so glad I did. Though it was a little expensive, it is awesome. It's super comfortable and has great sound. You can tell by the foam on the earpads that is is a high-quality headset. It is a Logitech G330 "Gaming" headset. Normally the "gaming" label would have put me off, but I think they are just using that word to justify the high price tag.

I will now be selling two headsets on EBay. They are both Microsoft branded headsets (all Microsoft branded headsets suck). I have also used a number of Plantronics behind-the-neck headsets, and while they are fine headsets with good sound, they don't last long. I have been through three high-priced Plantronics sets that each crapped out after about eight months. Since I am not renting headsets, I expect them to last longer than that.

Hers's hoping that the new Logitech G330 outlasts the Plantronics junk. 

http://bit.ly/cJkWvf

I just upgraded to Thunderbird 3.0 and am loving this email client. I have replaced the mail client on both of my macs and my desktop PC with Thunderbird 3.0. I highly recommend it! Go Mozilla!

I posted this once before, but lost it when I moved the blog contents here from Radwarrior.com, so I am re-creating the post.

Have you ever wanted to email an ebay link to someone but hated copying and pasting the mile-long link?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Flightcom-4DLX-Classic-Headsets-Set-of-2_W0QQitemZ270530825553QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Aviation_Parts_Gear?hash=item3efce4cd51

I don't know why EBay has to have such ugly, long links. There is a way to shorterize them yourself, without using a service like http://bit.ly, or http://tinyurl.com. All you have to do is hand craft the link on http://gci.ebay.com?viewitem&item= <item number>. Here's the same item with the short link...

http://cgi.ebay.com?ViewItem&item=270530825553

There's also a way to make a nice, short link to your ebay seller's page.

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/pblanton

And it is the finest Linux distribution I have ever used. I used to use SUSE back in the 2001-2004 time, before Novell bought it. I liked buying the boxed version at Best Buy or CompUSA. After Novell bought it, they jacked up the price and it went away from the retailers. I'd heard good things about this upstart Ubuntu distro and that is what I started using. When OpenSUSE came out, I stuck with Ubuntu, because I liked it. Recently though I was wanting to try out a new distribution on a Windows machine I was upgrading to Linux, and the OpenSUSE with the latest KDE blew me away.

After getting my new Core i7, 27" iMac, I was thinking about setting up the Boot Camp partition with Windows 7, but thought I'd try OpenSUSE on Boot Camp. I downloaded the freshly released 11.2 in 64-bit and was hooked. I can run Windows 7 in a Fusion Virtual Machine without any trouble, so my newly carved out Boot Camp partition goes OpenSUSE. My machine is *nix to the metal. It's a good feeling.

If you are a Windows developer and are looking for a nice, clean operating system for a change (Yeah, I know Windows 7 is the bomb. I don't care), I heartily recommend upgrading to a Mac, and Boot Camping, 64-bit style with OpenSUSE Linux.