From ABC News:
Saint Louis Zoo Euthanizes Elder Orangutan
Dr. Zaius had been ill for over 10 years
From ABC News:
Apple Computer mounts defense in Beatles lawsuit
Yoko blamed
From CNN:
Dutch asked to host Taylor trial
Out of work cartoonists get jobs as security guards
From CNN:
Cyclone Glenda hits Australia
Australia threatens to tell mom if Glenda doesn’t stop hitting her
From WESH:
Man punished for soda prank
Coca-Cola company denies test-marketing Mello Yello II
From CNN:
30 years for Bush assassination plot
Judge told defendent to aim better next time
From ABC News:
Philly Plumbers Upset by Waterless Urinals
Says trees belong outdoors
From ABC News:
Man Crashes Car After Snake Attacks Him
Drive-thru country church franchise suffers setback
From ABC News:
Police Chase Ends at the Drive-Thru
Won’t be only whopper he’ll be eating this week
From AJC:
McKinney faces arrest over security incident
Bush blamed
Picnic 2006-03-31
Posted March 31, 2006 at 7:00 am by basilToday’s picnic basket of items from my blogroll.
- Riehl World View says the U.S. should follow Canada’s lead
- Infidel-A-Tees introduces clothes for infidels (and it’s not April 1st!)
- Louisiana Conservative offers thoughts on immigration
- Euphoric Reality finds some lawmakers taking a stand
- Tammi’s World is turning to smut
- Ogre looks at the North Carolina Conservative Agenda
- Oddybobo (Bobo Blogger) knows one when she sees one
- Quality Weenie looks at nicknames
- Martin (MVRWC) says Iran isn’t scared of the UN
- Richmond (One For The Road) hates spiders, too
- Spacemonkey hasn’t yet gone blind from doodling … but apparently needs glasses
- That 1 Guy (Drunken Wisdom) visits hell
- One Happy Dog Speaks to God *
- Contagion (Miasmatic Review) calls “Shotgun!”
- Rachel (Tinkerty Tonk) finds the recipe for stupid
Cynthia McKinney
Posted March 31, 2006 at 1:12 am by basilIt’s been a couple of years since the Wife and I went to Stone Mountain. The first time she ever went was with me. I took her to see Merle Haggard on Labor Day Weekend in 2003.
Her whole life, she lived closer to Stone Mountain than I did, since I lived in southeast Georgia most of my life. But, she finally went there and enjoyed it. So, we’ve been back a few times since then. And, she’s taken the grandchildren over there when she had days off during the week.
But the last time she and I went there, we took I-285 around Atlanta on the south side. That’s when I saw a sign that said “Cynthia McKinney Highway.”
Now, this was during the time she was out of Congress, I believe. She may have just made it back in, I’m not certain.
Regardless, those idiots that name roads in Atlanta names a stretch of road for Cynthia McKinney? Yep, that’s what they did. Officially, it’s Memorial Drive, but you know how they’ll name a stretch of road after someone? They named a stretch of Memorial Drive after Cynthia McKinney.
No, I’m not making this up. Rockman at LGF testifies to the truth of my statement.
Anyway, when I took that exit (because it’s GA-10, which goes to Stone Mountain), I looked over at the wife, unable to speak. That’s when I noticed a sign: “Free At Last Bail Bonds”
No, I’m not making that up, either. See?
Why am I bringing this up?
From ABC News:
Brokeback Mountain is tops at gay media awards
Edged “Good Night and Good Luck” as gayest film of year
From CNN:
A pope’s pen pal: Exchanging letters with John Paul II
Doesn’t understand why pope hasn’t written back in the past year
From WTAE:
Pitt prof to Russia’s Putin: You’re a plagiarist
Putin loses job as Washington Post blogger
From WPLG:
Cops: Eagles star refused to stop boogying
Joe Walsh arrested
From CNN:
Scientists recreate the 1906 San Francisco quake
San Francisco residents not pleased
From CNN:
Naked sculpture of Spears going on view
Will allow both men that haven’t seen Britney Spears naked to join rest of world
From ABC News:
New Orleans Recovery May Take 25 Years
Effects of the Ricky Williams trade long-lasting
From ABC News:
Sharon Stone: ‘Sex Is the Weapon’
Was cleaning it when it went off
From ABC News:
School Sends Boy With Spiked Hair Home
Spike Lee sues over haircut description
From ABC News:
Iran Gets 30 Days to Clear Nuke Suspicions
Syria agrees to store weapons next to Saddam’s
Picnic 2006-03-30
Posted March 30, 2006 at 7:00 am by basilToday’s picnic basket of items from my blogroll.
- The Jawa Report has full coverage of Jill Carroll being freed
- Emily explains what’s been occupying her time
- Steve the Pirate is amused by the Cynthia McKinney story
- Outside the Beltway says “Caption This!”
- Jeff (Beautiful Atrocities) finds what’s really important in San Francisco
- Steven Donohue (A Republic, Madam, …) says something’s amiss in the Duke story
- Tanker (Ace of Spades HQ) says Airbus missed the bus
- Woman Honor Thyself looks at America’s place in the world
- Merri Musings finds the news just gets worse and worse
- Jo’s Cafe has a history of the ACLU
- Contagion (Miasmatic Review) gets a new toy
- Rachel (Tinkerty Tonk) is pissed (so to speak) about a new ONDCP plan
Alternatives to Blogger: MSN Spaces
Posted March 30, 2006 at 5:19 am by basilOver at the Alliance HQ, we’ve been covering a series of blogging platforms as alternatives to Blogger. While Blogger is a popular program for beginners and experienced bloggers alike, some people don’t like the platform and either avoid it altogether, or move from it to another service or platform.
Today, we’re looking at another free alternative: MSN Spaces.
Like Blogger, MSN Spaces is owned by a huge company; Blogger is owned by Google while MSN Spaces is owned by Microsoft. So, if Blogger’s big owner turns you off, you’ll likely be turned off by MSN Spaces. Conversely, if you’re not bothered by the big company owner of Blogger, you likely won’t be bothered by the big company owner of MSN Spaces.
Enough Of That, How Does It Stack Up?
MSN Spaces overcomes some of the real or perceived shortcomings of Google.
- You don’t have to republish the entire blog for small edits. Even large changes to appearance are handled by .NET server technology. That is, much of the formatting information appears to be stored in ASP variables, so changes are written to the database and don’t need to be written to one or more files.
- MSN Spaces supporting categories. In addition to the default categories provided, you can add your own, up to 25.
- TrackBack support is built-in. While Blogger’s Backlinks leverage Google’s search to automatically (thought not immediately) display sites that link to your Blogger blog, MSN Spaces doesn’t do any such thing. Rather, the traditional, more widely-supported TrackBack technology of SixApart is used. And preferred by many.
- The ability to scroll through lists of posts overcomes the 300-post limit on the edit page that Google/Blogger has
- Beginners don’t have the same difficulty in editing the Templates. It’s fairly easy to make changes, but not as many changes can be make. In Blogger, you can literally make lots of changes, limited only by your HTML/CSS knowledge.
- Service disruptions aren’t perceived to be an issue with MSN Spaces. Whether or not that’s an accurate perception, MSN Spaces doesn’t have the reputation for being down nearly as often as Blogger.
- There is a window-esque, drop-and-drag interface to use when creating a blog. After all, it’s a Microsoft product, as is Windows.
Although those Blogger issues are addressed with MSN Spaces, other issues remain:
- Not offering extended entry functionality (”More…” or “Click to continue…”)
- Lack of variety in Templates or Template selection is limited. In fact, more so than Blogger.
- Unhappy with the general appearance of Templates. In MSN Spaces, they do have a professional look, but it’s a cookie-cutter professional look.
- Fixed width Templates are the norm for MSN Spaces.
- No ability to moderate (as opposed to delete) comments. And once you delete a comments, it’s gone.
- Inability to schedule posts for future publishing.
- “Second class blog” stigma / must have a “spaces.msn.com” URL, similar to Blogger’s “blogspot.com” URL
Problems or Limitations of MSN Spaces
There are some things about MSN Spaces that you’ll encounter that you don’t encounter with Blogger.
For example, anyone can access your Blogger blog. However, Microsoft requires people sign in to Passport to view your site. Because of that, it’s more of a “community” than a public blogging platform.
The upside is that if someone trolls your blog, at least you’ve forced them to log in and can attempt to use that information when reporting such activity to Microsoft.
Finally, the biggie: I can’t find a way to add Alliance information to your site. Which means that, despite its overcoming of many of Blogger’s real or perceived limitations, you can’t meet all the requirements for joining the Alliance. And, without that, there’s no way I can recommend MSN Spaces.
From ABC News:
Britney Birth Statue Sparks Abortion Controversy
Most agree: Her mother have aborted her
From ABC News:
Law Professor Bans Laptops in Class
Glenn Reynolds: “No one blogs but me!”
From ABC News:
College Student in Wal-Mart for 41 Hours
Couldn’t get anyone to help her
From ABC News:
‘Severed Hand’ Carried by Dog Was a Paw
Dog was lookin’ for man that shot his paw
From ABC News:
Buffet Sets World Record With 510 Dishes
Michael Moore finally satisfied
From ABC News:
Three Kids in Family Have Same Birthday
Scientists call children “triplets”
From ABC News:
Judge Blames ADHD for Wrongful Arrests
Attorney: “Such actions are unacceptable and will not be … oooh! Look! A penny!”
From ABC News:
Taylor in custody to face war crimes trial
Fife to run Mayberry Sherrif’s office while Andy awaits trial
From ABC News:
Palestinian president swears in Hamas government
Israel president swears at Hamas government
From ABC News:
Robolobsters and Mind-Controlled Sharks
Bush complete White House staff shakeups
Picnic 2006-03-29
Posted March 29, 2006 at 7:00 am by basilToday’s picnic basket of items from my blogroll.
- Wild Thing (PC Free Zone) looks at NYU’s cave-in
- Neptunus Lex muses about who really wants the truth
- Rachy (Lesless in Perpetuum) looks forward to April 1
- BlackFive looks at the brick thrown at the recruiting office
- The Gunn Nutt has an update Gavin, son of Cindy-True-Supporter
- Grandma’s House notes the passing of Dan Curtis (”Dark Shadows”)
- Miss Beth says TypePad Bad
- Feisty Republican Whore says Morgan Spurlock’s 15 minutes are up
- Agent Bedhead wants you to photoshop a LLama
- Wil Wheaton hopes it’s like shooting phish in a barrel
- Ipso Facto offers advice. Site note: Gosh, I miss the 3-panel vertical. Oh, well.
- Cox & Forkum look at who wants to handle the immigration issue … but mention nothing about paying the bill
- Dry Bones says elections do not a democracy make
- Contagion (Miasmatic Review) unloads on a gun seller
- Rachel (Tinkerty Tonk) isn’t so sure about those “meal assembly centers.”
Am I White Trash?
Posted March 29, 2006 at 1:00 am by basil
The white trash in my blood will not keep me from becoming a doctor or a lawyer, but it will keep me from a good haircut and any sort of fashion sense.
From Rachel (Tinkerty Tonk).
It seems I’m more White Trash than I realized.
Perhaps I should take over the Wednesday duties from Cousin Red…
From ABC News:
Malaysia Opens Drive-In Massage Parlor
Large prostitutes available when customers ask to “Super Size” it
From ABC News:
Europeans Giving Blood Money to Iraq Insurgents
Bush blamed
From ABC News:
Big Brother Watching: Nude Photos Up for Sale?
Jeb Bush put in his place
From ABC News:
France Braces for Nationwide Strike
Service levels expected to drop 5-7%
From ABC News:
Bear Wrestler, Owner Criticized by PETA
Bear challenges PETA to a Texas Cage Death Match
From ABC News:
‘Pillcam’ Shows Esophagus Damage
Damage blamed on swallowing camera
From ABC News:
Boy, 3, Gets Trapped Inside Toy Machine
Took parents 733 quarters to get him out
From ABC News:
Man Is Charged $4,300 for Four Burgers
Hardee’s ups price of Six-Dollar Burger
From ABC News:
Man Accidentally Divorces Wife in Sleep
First peacful sleep he’s had in years
From ABC News:
Dakota Sioux Language Saved by Scrabble
Still can’t properly spell, or pronounce, ‘Sioux’
