Toluu

WinExtra

aka Steve Hodson - a cranky old fart wandering the internet causing mayhem as he goes

Someone Please Put These Idiots Out Of Their MiseryOctober 7

It never fails.

The government needs a new source of income to fund the warm and fuzzy projects it like to hold up to the crowd to show that yes we really care about culture. Nothing gets the artsy fartsy liberal crowd so wet in the pants as thinking they will be getting money for increasing the cultural quotient of the pleebs of society.

I don’t know how it is done down in the States but up here in Canada our government loves nothing better than instituting levies on what they consider non-essentials in order to fund pet projects. This has been done in the past to protect our cultural heritage on television because we all know how bad it would be to have all our airwaves taken over by the Americans.

Well it appears that in our current election climate up here - yes we’re having one of those things as well - cultural funding has become a hot ticket item on the campaign trail. With the recent cut of $50 million for cultural affairs in the federal budget there is talks of how to make up that loss. Well according to Michael Geist the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is going to be holding heari

So You Want To Be A Rich And Famous Blogger EhOctober 5

Before any real serious discussion about being a rich and (or) famous blogger takes place it has to be made clear that unlike any other media before it there are many different types of bloggers and blogs. For the largest majority of people who write on their blogs fame or fortune doesn’t even come into the equation. They are more than happy if the only people who read their writings are family and friends. This post isn’t about them and if you are one of those types of bloggers then the best bet is to carry on with your reading elsewhere because this won’t be of any interest.

Now, in between this first level and the next is a curious bunch of bloggers. They aren’t really in it for any money that could be earned from their blog since they don’t carry any advertising. In fact it will be this segment who are most adamant that advertising doesn’t really belong on blogs in the first place. For them any potential income comes from sources outside of their blogs. It maybe through speaking engagements or consulting jobs because of the knowledge they have gained by writing their blogs. Probably the best known of these types of bloggers would have to be

Without Links The Web Would Be BankruptOctober 4

There is a re-occurring discussion that rears its head every so often about how links are the economy of the Internet. Usually when these discussions start it revolves around the idea that this base part which is the glue that holds the world wide web together is breaking down because people are linking more and more to stuff within their own sites. Such was the case with a post yesterday by Mathew Ingram; a fellow blogger, journalist and (hopefully) a friend, where he suggest that when this happens these sites become no different than the mainstream media.

This post was followed up with one from Alexander van Elsas who feels that Mathew nailed the problem but also points out that even people who supposedly believe in the Open Web aren’t immune from the MSM disease. He points to Tim O’Reilly where he says

I have a lot of respect for Tim too, but it’s a bit ironic that the O’Reilly blog tends to link in

I So Want To Kick Explorer Right In The AssOctober 3

Of all the software I use on my computer I would have to say that when I’m not using Chrome or VLC chances are that I have Explorer open on the desktop doing something. The only problem is that the version of Explorer in Vista is a piece of crap. It never seems to remember its screen position of window size between restarts of the program. It doesn’t matter what you do it never remember the view setting for different folders even though I have set specific folders I always use to a specific view type more times than I care to count.

It never fails that every time I open up Explorer I am having to reselect the view I was for a folder, I am having to move it from the default start up position on the desktop and I’m having to re-size the window. I’m not kidding in the least when I say I almost dread having to use the damn piece of crap. I honestly can’t believe that they let this irritating piece of crap program go gold.

Now it’s not that previous versions of Explorer were all the great either but at least those versions were able to remember their settings - at least for the most part. The idea that an integral program to the operating system can’t even keep some of the simplest settings between uses is just plain ridiculous. So I think the time has come to give Explore

Google Accused Of Techmeme Killing - Found Not GuiltyOctober 2

I wasn’t originally going to write about the made over Blogsearch from Google because quite frankly it’s as boring as hell. Yada yada yada Google blah blah Blogsearch snore - is about as much enthusiasm I could find for the updated offering from Google. Some folks in typical tech blogosphere fashion had declared it as the big Technorati killer when it first showed up on the scene and we can see how well that plan worked out. Then yesterday Marshall Kirkpatrick from ReadWriteWeb came out with the totally expected post of how this revised version of Google’s Blogsearch was now the newest Techmeme killer.

If that is the case then it’s going to be a slow death by air rifle because that is going to be the only thing next to a post like Marshall’s with enough hot air to do the job. The idea that something like this revamped Blogsearch is going to be any threat to Techmeme is ridiculous for the principal reason that they are directed at two different markets. For as much as Gabe might be wanting to expand the horizon of Techmeme the fact is that it is the playground of the tech blogosphere whereas Blogsearch in typical Google fashion is aim