the SoftWareRevue show

Most of you know I like to cook.

I’m often asked, “What kind of cook are you?”

It’s not a simple answer. I learned most of my cooking skills by watching my mom and grand mother. Read a few books. Watched a few shows. And did a mess of experimenting.

I’ve finally narrowed it down to, I’m a SIG cook.

Simple Is Good

I like to keep my recipes simple. Simple ingredients. Simple steps. Not-so-simple cleanups usually. SIG cooking is what I do. It’s always been what I do. But now I can say it’s what I do.

Like most things, cooking doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective. If you master the basics, they’ll take you far.

Simple Is Good chefs are sig cooking in kitchens everywhere. They just don’t know it yet.

As much as I hate snow, it can really be purty.

This is out the window at my desk.

The next day, I slipped and fell on the ice and got tore up good.

Later that day, Lois slipped and fell, and broke her arm.

Snow sucks.

I’m just linking to http://wht.myminicity.com/ to increase population there. :angel: < << What?!? No angel emoticon?!?

Just use these links once a day.

Increase population http://wht.myminicity.com

Increase industry http://wht.myminicity.com/ind

Improve the transport network http://wht.myminicity.com/tra

Windows Vista » Networking » No network - server execution failed

Vista is a worthy opponent of the technologically challenged.

For some unexplained reason, my network connection icon had a red x, and when I’d mouse over it, it showed the error, “Connection status: Unknown Server execution failed”.

I said, “Connection status: Unknown Server execution failed?” how can that be? I haven’t installed anything, and I’m connected to the internet.

Network and Sharing center wouldn’t open.

Of course, being Windows, I rebooted.

And rebooted.

And rebooted again.

Searched for available updates. Found one. Downloaded and installed. No change.

After much hair pulling and soul searching (Why or why did I purchase Windows Vista?), I came up with the following solution for when the Windows Vista network connection icon has a red x in it and states, “Connection status: Unknown Server execution failed” on mouse hover, and the Network and Sharing center won’t open.

1. Go to Start > Run > cmd

2. Copy/paste the following line and hit your Enter key:

Net localgroup Administrators localservice /add

3. Reboot your computer.

Wipe your brow. Sigh relief. Heck, maybe even go out dancing!

I’d upgrade to Windows XP, but Windows Vista is so … err … challenging.

I searched the web for how to change or update my host file, running Windows Vista.

The few sources I found, listed detailed 8-10 step instructions.

It ain’t that complicated!

Simply open Windows Explorer and copy/paste the following into the address bar.

notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS

Make your edit and Save.

It’s October again. And that means I’ll be going pink again.

In support of breast cancer awareness, we’re pink.

I just have some more tweaking to do on this new(er) pink theme.

Visit Pink for October and learn how you can get involved in spreading awareness of breast cancer by going pink.

Default vBulletin is to “Leave permanent redirect” when moving and merging threads. If you want something different as default, you’ll have to edit four templates.

The easiest way to get to these four templates is to open admincp > Styles & Templates > Search in Templates and search for:

leave_permanent_redirect

The following templates should be returned.

threadadmin_mergethread
threadadmin_mergethreads
threadadmin_movethread
threadadmin_movethreads

For this example, we are going to set default action to “Leave expiring redirect for 1 month.” You can edit these templates to anything your heart desires. Just read what each does and tweak accordingly.

For each template, do the following.

Find:

<label for=”rb_redirect_perm”><input type=”radio” name=”redirect” value=”perm” id=”rb_redirect_perm” checked=”checked” />$vbphrase[leave_permanent_redirect]</lable><br />

Replace with:

<label for=”rb_redirect_perm”><input type=”radio” name=”redirect” value=”perm” id=”rb_redirect_perm” />$vbphrase[leave_permanent_redirect]</label><br />

Find:

<label for=”rb_redirect_expires”><input type=”radio” name=”redirect” value=”expires” id=”rb_redirect_expires” />$vbphrase[leave_expiring_redirect]</label><br />

Replace with:

<label for=”rb_redirect_expires”><input type=”radio” name=”redirect” value=”expires” id=”rb_redirect_expires” checked=”checked” />$vbphrase[leave_expiring_redirect]</label><br />

Save.

*Note* If you wish to change the number 1 to anything else, simply add checked=”checked” to the number you choose.

As I mess with the backend of vBulletin on occasion, I’m going to start placing the notes I’ve created here.

As always, create a backup and save it to your local disk before making any edits.

How to remove the Hard Delete option from vBulletin.

1. Open Template:
editpost

8. Save.

I love ‘im!

Well, I like some of his scripts.

VicMan Software has some cool free stuff.

One of my favorites is Cartoonist. Cartoonist is an easy-to-use image manipulation program that lets you warp images and create funny caricatures.

My Pictures 3D Album is an awesome way to explore your pictures in a 3-D environment. You may never look at pictures in your conventional 2-D view again!

In fact, most of Vic’s stuff is centered around imaging. My photos look like they were taken by an artist when I use the Light Artist. With Light Artist, you can modify the light color, add multiple light sources, change the surface qualities of the image and add various ambient illumination effects.

Suffice it to say that, Vic has some cool stuff.

Have fun with Cartoonist!

I wasn’t quite done perfecting Chocolate Cobbler. But I lost my notes and had to start all over.

This time out, I can think of no enhancements. :blush:

If you like chocolate, you’ll love Chocolate Cobbler:

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter or margarine
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using self-rising flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using self-rising flour)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoon cocoa (divided)
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons boiling water

If you love chocolate, you’ll love chocolate cobbler. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it’s a hot fudge sundae with style!

Preheat oven to 350 F

Melt butter in bottom of 8×8 pan or 2 qt baking dish.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, 1 1/2 tblsp cocoa, white sugar, milk, and vanilla.

Spoon batter into baking dish. — Do not stir!

Start water to boil.

Mix brown sugar and 1/3 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over batter.

Pour boiling water over all — Do not stir!

Bake 25-30 minutes. (Cake will spring back from touch when done).

Serve warm. Top with your favorite ice-cream if desired.

This recipe is easily doubled for a crowd. Just double all ingredients and use a 9×13 pan.

Actually, I think “Top with your favorite ice cream” should be mandatory.

It’s like a hot fudge sundae, only better!

Well Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! that is.

It ain’t my kinda music. But it’s probably pretty good if it was.

Just had to give Andy props for doin’ something productive.

I’ve been toying with a link bid script that seems pretty promising. I haven’t had time to do much with it, but what I’ve seen seems great. You can see mine in action at http://global-warming-2007.com/friends/directory/ (it’s just a test setup), or you can get your own at phpLinkBid.

I’ll write more about it, after I know more about it.

But I have a good feeling about this phpLinkBid.

contest.

The SEO World Championship ended, with our entry ending in a moderate 14th place.

I can’t say I’m not disappointed. But I’m still excited and proud of our first outing into the world of SEO contests. When the journey began, I would have been happy with a top 50 finish. But, we were likely in the number one position more than any others throughout the contest and only overtaken in the last few days by means we’ve logged to our memory banks.

It was a fun, challenging, learning experience. And I can’t wait to give it another go next year!

One week left in the SEO World Championship. One week left to improve our entry’s position.

However it ends, I’m quite satisfied with our performance. From what I’ve seen, we probably held top spots longer than anyone. We were number one a short 10 days ago, after holding that position for two weeks. Prior to that, we’d been in one of those top three spots fairly regularly. Sure, we’ve had the occasional drop down to somewhere in the teens. But, out of a couple thousand entries, I don’t think we’ve ever been lower than 15.

We’re 12th today.

I think we were 14th a month ago. But, three weeks ago, we held 1st for two weeks. Maybe this is the dip before bouncing back up again.

All in all, it’s been a fun and learning experience. And I can’t wait to try it again.

Let me preface this by stating that I don’t condone or encourage speeding or breaking any highway laws. I’m just going to tell you what I do. :angel:

I have a couple different approaches I take if I want to drive over the posted speed limit on the highway.

1. The mirror.

Simply wait for someone to pass you and mirror his speed. Simple, effective, and he’s the one the cop’s gonna see first.

But, keep this in mind — My brother and two of his biker buddies were crammin’ on their Harleys at 3 a.m. on an empty stretch of highway. Empty, save for the police car that started to give chase.

My brother pulled over.

When he asked the officer why he didn’t give chase and ticket the others, the officer replied, “We only ticket whoever stops first.”

2. (and the one I generally use) The fox and the hound

Do your speeding in the right hand lane. When a policeman’s radar detector goes off, they instinctively look to the left hand lane to spot the speeder. Staying in the right hand lane as much as possible, greatly increases the chances that you’ll be overlooked. Further, it keeps you more aware of your surroundings as you need to look ahead and make plans.

Maybe I should have began this post with my “two second rule.”

Under all driving conditions, never look at anything longer than two seconds. Always be moving your eyes. From the rear-view mirror, to the front of the car, to the side-view mirror, to the front of the car, to the billboard, to down the road, to . . . well, you get the idea. But the two second rule can make you a much safer driver by keeping you more aware.

And, safe driving is all about awareness.

So stay alert, stay aware, and stay outa the fast lane.

I’m trying to get some clickable smilies for Anna’s blog. So I’m installing something here to get it right before I do it there.

I can’t seem to get rid of the durned image border though.

I need a day off from the GlobalWarming Awareness2007 stuff.

Heck. I may take two!

I’d blog.

Yep. If I had it to do over again, I’d enter a blog site into any seo contest.

Blogs seem to be doing well in the SEO World Championship. And they’ve done well in past contests.

The current “GlobalWarming Awareness2007” challenge still has a couple months to go. Although we’re hangin’ tough, I’m sure there’s going to be some competitor shananigans afoot soon enough.

We’ll see how it goes.

There must be a lot of entrants in the SEO World Championships. Or, at least, one very naughty one.

“Wikipedia has started to instruct search engines to ignore links to external websites.”

“The measure was taken in response to a search engine optimization content in which webmasters are challenged to gain the highest ranking with major search engines for the query ‘Globalwarming awareness2007′.”

Full Arcticle

The GlobalWarming Awareness2007 campaign is in full swing.

GlobalWarming Awareness2007 is an SEO contest to see who can get to the top of the three major seach engines (google, yahoo, and msn) for the search phrase “GlobalWarming Awareness2007.”

This is a great opportunity to learn more about SEO and globalwarming.

Forum University’s GlobalWarming Awareness2007 entry into the contest is located at http://global-warming-2007.com.

We’ve been as high as first place (out of over 1200 contestants) and as low as, well, not even on the leaderboard of the top 100.

We’ve settled into a number three (fluctuating within the top 6) position for the past few weeks. With some work, we should be able to sustain this.

It’ll be easier when everyone links to global-warming-2007.com