ZylBlog

Linux Distributions: Fedora 15

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

(Gnome Logo) (Image via Wikipedia)

I’ve been a fan of Ubuntu for a very long time, but lately I had been questioning the direction they were heading in — especially regarding Unity. Unity is the latest desktop interface shipped with Ubuntu 11.04. It is based off Gnome 3, but has many differences.
I tried Unity for about two weeks, and then I tried Gnome 3 for two weeks — Gnome 3 beat Unity to the ground. My search of a distribution that supported Gnome 3 began, and yesterday I took the final steps towards this process.

Fedora 15: A trustworthy and well known distribution of Linux that supports Gnome 3. Over the next few weeks, I expect to make more posts relating to my change to this operating system. This article encapsulates my first impressions of Fedora 15, as I have been using it for two days now. Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Stuff, Programs and Software | Tagged 3, features, Fedora, GNOME, linux, Linux distribution, Operating system, review, Ubuntu | Leave a comment

Zemanta: A Blogging Multi-tool

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

Description: Zamanta is one of the more interesting WordPress plugins that I have run across. (Though, I want to mention up front that it works for various other platforms, and can also work as a browser plugin..) Zamanta is a blogging tool that provides a few wonderful features when creating new posts. To start, let me tell you what I am seeing right now:

In my right-hand pane, I see a Content Recommendations box. Inside, I have a media gallery (where Zemanta recommends images that may be appropriate for the article being written). The image gallery is neat, and it helps you avoid copyright issues by telling you what the copyright for the images are when you hover over them.

Below that, I have “Related Articles” which pulls articles on websites all over the Internet that have similar content, so I can link to other pages on the web if I would like. Here are a few example articles, based on what I have written so far:
Related articles

Zemanta @ BlogWorld NY 2011: (Re)Introducing Zemanta (zemanta.com)
Using Zemanta with Blogger (peterbijkerk.blogspot.com)
Zemanta For Blogger ?! (sedatkurtulus.blogspot.com)

In my Content Recommendations box, I can choose to only view my own sources — which it then only shows images that I have uploaded on my website and related articles that only exist on my own websites (I can specify which websites I want it to include, even outside my domain). Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Stuff, Web Services, Application, and Design | Tagged article, blog, Blogger, plugin, Publishers, suggestions, tools, wordpress, writing, Zemanta | Leave a comment

Ad: MyCube

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

The following is a paid advertisement.
We are not responsible for the content of the actual website.

MyCube private beta is a new social networking service that allows for more control over privacy, and gives you more ability to find and communicate with other people who have similar interests. MyCube also has a virtual currency that can use to buy and sell content. MyCube is currently in private beta, visit the link above and sign up for it now!

Special Number: 1119

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged control, cube, lady gaga, linux, my, mycube, network, networking, privacy, social | Leave a comment

Speeding up your Computer

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

Republished. Previous date March 2010.

Much as we like to purchase new computers because the one purchased last week is already running slow, things can be done to (honestly) speed things up quite a bit.

Besides having a good, updated, and of course free antivirus program installed on your computer, a few basic things can be done to keep your computer running almost like new. Today, I am going to talk about three main ways I keep my Windows computer up-to-speed and introduce a free program that I tend to use to assist with this.

Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Stuff, Programs and Software | Tagged 7, ccleaner, cleanup, computer, defragmenter, faster, pc, registry, scan, space, speed, spring, virus, Windows, xp | 2 Comments

A Reminder to Users: Make Your Backup CDs

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

One interesting thing that has changed with buying a computer in the last five years is the lack of a recovery CD. A lack of a recovery disc with a computer leaving the manufacturer has led to many problems for … Continue reading →

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Ad: Crystal Singing Bowls

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

The following is a paid advertisement.
We are not responsible for the content of the actual website.

SilverSky Imports offers some of the finest crystal singing bowls made from pure quarts crystal. Each bowl provides a therapeutic sound. On their website, each bowl has a sound file for listening. Bowls come in various sizes and materials. Silver Sky Imports specializes in the largest variety of Tibetan Singing bowls available online.

Other unique items include Himalayan Salt Lamps, Tibetan Herbal Incense, Tingsha Meditation Chimes, brass and bronze statues, and yoga supplies. Next-day shipping is available anywhere in the world and Silver Sky Imports holds a 100% no-hassle satisfaction guarantee. Be sure to check out their fine selection of products.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bowls, crystal, imports, pure, quartz, silver, singing, sky, tibetan | Leave a comment

Garfield Minus Garfield

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

On the lighter side of the Internet:

A friend of mine showed me a very funny website that featured Garfield comics, with Garfield removed from them.

It is much like a cartoon about a schizophrenic crazy person. Though kind of sad, it is very amusing. Check it out:

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cartoon, cat, garfield, minus, website | Leave a comment

June Site Updates

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

May 5: Upgraded WordPress to version 3.1.2
Also, the server was upgraded from Ubuntu 10.10 to 11.04 at around 6PM and remained offline until ~7:53pm.

Little to no outages other than that. A few router restarts occurred during the month, but these tool less than a minute downtime.

Stats:
Visits are up by 120.86% for the last 30 days.

Top Pages

Top Referrers

computerhope.com
www.acessa.me –
acessa.me
google.co.uk
j-dude.com

Google Lacks Memorial Day “Doodle”

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

This is a rant.

Outrage has spread across frequent U.S. Google Users regarding the absence of a “doodle” for Memorial Day on Google’s homepage.
Look closely, and you will see a doodle. Small, it is a flag and a ribbon.

Why is there no doodle? A press-release from 2008 offers an explanation:
(I found this here)

“Thank you for your note. We understand your interest in seeing a Memorial Day Google logo. If we were to commemorate this holiday, we’d want to express reverence; however, as Google’s special logos tend to be lighthearted in nature, this would be a particularly challenging design.

We wouldn’t want to create a graphic that could be interpreted as disrespectful in any way.

We have a long list of holidays that we’d like to celebrate in the future. We have to balance this rotating calendar with the need to maintain the consistency of the Google homepage. We really appreciate your feedback regarding the Google logo, and please be assured that we’re actively pursuing ways in which we can acknowledge Memorial Day and other such occasions in the future.”

So, people still willing to complain about this. Answer a few questions for me:

1) Without looking at Wikipedia or Googling it, can you tell me what Memorial Day is all about?
1.1: Can you tell me how you are supposed to “celebrate” memorial day?
2) Would you really rather Google intertwine their cooperate logo into Memorial Day? (Which, really, is more disrespectful than not having a doodle).
3) What are/were you doing for Memorial Day? — Ah, a vacation! Right, because Memorial Day is, after all, a three day weekend vacation holiday for that very purpose.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2011, day, doodle, Google, holiday, logo, memorial, no, press, why | 4 Comments

Folding at Home (F@H)

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Jesse Zylstra

On a side note before I start this article: The website usage has nearly doubled in the last two weeks for the overall monthly totals. (Interesting enough, so has the spam). Despite this, we get very few legitimate comments. Please comment and tell us what you think!

Folding at Home (F@H) is an interesting project at Stanford University that anyone can be a part of. F@H is a distributed computing project which helps find the answers to curing diseases that are caused by misfolded proteins, such as Mad Cow Disease, Parkinsons, cancers, and Alzheimers. Why distributed? A super computer is very expensive — so is renting time on one. A university such as Stanford simply can not afford to build or use one for the purpose of research. So, as an alternative, they’ve come up with a clever way to allow people all over the world to help.

From their website:
“Folding@home is a distributed computing project — people from throughout the world download and run software to band together to make one of the largest supercomputers in the world. Every computer takes the project closer to our goals. Folding@home uses novel computational methods coupled to distributed computing, to simulate problems millions of times more challenging than previously achieved.” Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Stuff, Programs and Software | Tagged at, f@h, folding, folding@home, home, information, program, project, review, safe, software | Leave a comment