Well it seems like the Blog is back online. My hosting company assures me the problem is corrected, again. Now this is the 4th time my server has had problems since signing up at 1 & 1 hosting in December of 2006 so I can’t exactly recommend them to anyone. But my wife also use’s them and never had a problem so who can tell.
Kevin.
Check out this site, looks to be a winner for finding info about our Government in action.. Kevin
OpenCongress brings together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind what’s happening in Congress. Small groups of political insiders and lobbyists know what’s really going on in Congress. Now, everyone can be an insider. OpenCongress is a free, open-source, non-profit, and non-partisan web resource with a mission to help make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement. OpenCongress is a joint project of the Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation.
OpenCongress brings together, for the first time in one place, all the best data on what’s really happening in Congress:
OpenCongress makes it easy for anyone to track a bill, Member of Congress, or issue area, and to follow the latest developments by subscribing to an RSS feed for each. Our Congress Gossip Blog highlights useful news and blog reporting every day from around the web, and solicits tips and link suggestions from political bloggers, citizen journalists, and the public. OpenCongress harnesses the valuable social wisdom available on the web, combined with features to track what’s hot in the news and what’s most buzzed-about on blogs, to give you a comprehensive snapshot of every bill and Member of Congress. Learn more About OpenCongress.
Adding Album art to any Music folder is easy.
2-25-07
Tip # 2
Add Album Art to any folder
This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time–you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder–and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There’s an excellent fix, however.
When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!
Also, In addition to the folder.jpg file mentioned above, you can also optionally create a smaller version of the image called albumartsmall.jpg, if desired. This is the image used to display album art in MPXP when its sized so that the display area is smaller than 200 x 200 pixels, and in the folder thumbnails for folders that contain album folders. If you don’t create albumartsmall.jpg, however, Windows XP will automatically scale folder.jpg in these cases.http://www.kevinscrate.com/blog/windows-tips-crate/
2-24-07
3 Simple Tips To Make Your Computer Run Faster
First of all, there are two ways to make your computer run faster: hardware and software. Hardware boosting involves upgrading and adding new components to the computer to increase its speed and performance. Typical upgrades include installing more memory, purchasing a better motherboard, or getting a better processor.
Software optimization, on the other hand, does not require purchasing anything; it only requires that you optimize and fine tune your software set up and installation to make your computer run faster. Here are a few ways to accomplish this type of optimization.
1. Uninstall unneeded applications: Over the course of your computer’s lifetime you may have installed a bevy of applications, many of which you do not need anymore. If this is the case, then now is the time to get rid of them. This will make your computer run faster, and more efficiently.
Start off by going through your uninstall menu and look for applications that you do not need anymore. These programs will usually have their own uninstall routines that will remove all files and services they may have installed.
Most applications install applications that eat up not only disk space, but valuable RAM. As you computer starts up, these programs start up too, eating precious processor time as well.
Some programs do not have their own uninstall routines. You may have to use custom uninstall applications to remove these files from your computer. Make sure these applications remove both the program and the supporting files it is packaged with. Also make sure that registry entries regarding this application are also removed.
2. Defrag at all costs: Run a defragmenter application regularly. Data in a hard disk is not necessarily stored in a contiguous manner. This means that when your hard disks read data, it has to jump from platter to platter, sector to sector just to get a file in its entirety.
If your data is located contiguously, then this problem could be avoided, saving your hard disk valuable read time. And as a result of this effort, your computer could experience faster disk reads and an improvement in computer speeds from 30% up to 100%.
3. Check for viruses and Spyware: Install a handy anti-virus and anti-spyware to help weed out those pesky codes that could seriously compromise your data’s security, integrity while slowing your computer at the same time. A well-infested computer will typically grind to halt as malicious code use and abuse precious computer resources.
There are many antiviral agents around, aside from installing such, avoid the spread of viruses by making sure you only use removable media that is from verified sources. Also, be careful of the sites you visit as they could contain online malicious code. Check the Programs Crate for Free anti-virus and anti-spyware apps.
This tip provided by Lockergnome
For Democrats
HOW TO BE A GOOD REPUBLICAN
1. You have to believe that the nation’s current 8-year prosperity was due to the work of
2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.
3. You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time.
4. You have to believe that AIDS victims deserve their disease, but smokers with lung cancer and overweight individuals with heart disease don’t deserve theirs.
5. You have to appreciate the power rush that comes with sporting a gun.
6. You have to believe everything Rush Limbaugh says.
7. You have to believe that the agricultural, restaurant, housing and hotel industries can survive without immigrant labor.
8. You have to believe God hates homosexuality, but loves the death penalty.
9. You have to believe society is color-blind and growing up black in
10. You have to believe that pollution is OK as long as it makes a profit.
11. You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don’t pray to Allah or Buddha.
12. You have to believe Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde were really faithful husbands.
13. You have to believe speaking a few Spanish phrases makes you instantly popular in the barrio.
14. You have to believe that only your own teenagers are still virgins.
15. You have to be against government interference in business, until your oil company, corporation or Savings and Loan is about to go broke and you beg for a government bail out.
16. You love Jesus and Jesus loves you and, by the way, Jesus shares your hatred for AIDS victims, homosexuals, and President Clinton.
17. You have to believe government has nothing to do with providing police protection, national defense, and building roads.
18. You have to believe a poor, minority student with a disciplinary history and failing grades will be admitted into an elite private school with a $1,000 voucher.
For Republicans
Agenda for the Democratic National Convention for 2008
7:15 P.M. Pledge of allegiance to U.N.
7:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
7:30 P.M. Nonreligious prayer and worship — Jessie Jackson & Al Sharpton
8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
8:05 P.M. Ceremonial tree hugging.
8:15 P.M. Gay Wedding– Barney Frank Presiding
8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
8:35 P.M. Free Saddam Rally –Cindy Sheehan & Susan Sarandon
9:00 P.M. Keynote speech: The proper etiquette for surrender–French
President Jacques Chirac
9:15 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
9:20 P.M. Collection to benefit Osama Bin Laden kidney transplant fund
9:30 P.M. Unveiling of plan to free freedom fighters from Guantanamo Bay –
Sean Penn
9:40 P.M. ?Why I hate the Military?; A short talk by William Jefferson
Clinton
9:45 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
9:50 P.M. Dan Rather presented Truth in Broadcasting award, presented by
Michael Moore
9:55 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
10:00 P.M. How George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld brought down the World Trade
Center Towers– Howard Dean
10:30 P.M. Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Mahmud Ahmadinejad
11:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
11:05 P.M. Al Gore reinvents Internet
11:15 P.M. Our Troops are War criminals — John Kerry
11:30 P.M. Coronation Of Mrs. Rodham
12:00 A.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
12:05 A.M. Bill asks Ted to drive Hillary home
This week we look at Stumbleupon for the Website Crate.
Links of the week 2-24-07
StumbleUpon http://www.stumbleupon.com/ Requires a free sign up.
StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click 
Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of 1,913,436 other websurfers with interests similar to you. Rating these sites you like automatically shares them with like-minded people – and helps you discover great sites your friends recommend.
StumbleUpon uses ratings to form collaborative opinions on website quality. When you stumble, you will only see pages which friends and like-minded stumblers have recommended. This helps you discover great content you probably wouldn’t find using a search engine.
Searching vs. Stumbling:
Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality web sites, StumbleUpon members are taken directly to web sites matching their personal interests and preferences.
People-Driven Technology:
Using a combination of human opinions and machine learning to immediately deliver relevant content, StumbleUpon presents only web sites which have been suggested by other like-minded Stumblers. Each time the ‘Stumble’ button is clicked, the user is presented with a high quality web site based on the collective opinions of other like-minded web surfers.
Easy to Use, Community-based surfing:
The StumbleUpon Toolbar is integrated with the user’s browser to allow for one-click access to quality web sites. A simple 2-level rating system gives users the opportunity to pass on or give their opinion on any webpage with a single click. These ratings also connect people sharing unique combinations of interests. Stumblers share their favorite web sites and interact with other users to further improve their web surfing experience.
A Personalized Browsing Tool:
StumbleUpon offers nearly 500 topics which users may choose to indicate their interests and preferences so each Stumble produces only the most relevant content. StumbleUpon delivers increasingly relevant content as the Toolbar learns what the user has liked in the past and continues to present quality web sites in the future.
Combats Information Overload:
Information on the Internet changes rapidly. StumbleUpon is a dynamic approach to keep on top of this ever-evolving pool of knowledge. StumbleUpon filters through the vast amount of information on the web to direct Stumblers to high quality web sites which are relevant to their personal interests. An obscure but interesting site can be immediately shared with other like-minded users. Old or low-quality sites can be removed if their ratings become too low. The participation of community members helps maintain a database of the most up-to-date and highest quality sites possible.
If you use Free Firefox here’s an extension for Stumbleupon. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/138/http://www.kevinscrate.com/blog/website-crate-2/
This week we look at Revision3 for the Podcast Crate.
Podcast of the Week.
2-24-07
Revision3 http://revision3.com/
Revision3 is the first media company that gets it, born from the Internet, on-demand generation. Unlike aggregators, mash-ups, clients and web sites, Revision3 is an actual TV network for the web, creating, producing its own original entertainment and content.
The content is designed for a new audience. This audience, like television, expects dependability and quality, but unlike television, wants a more gritty, edgy, highly-targeted and in-depth form of entertainment. With the proliferation of mobile video, iPods, Tivo and other Internet-connected set-top-boxes, video that is both on-demand and tailored to suit will be Revision3’s specialty. Revision3 delivers technology, comedy, music, cooking, and more, all with the familiar faces you all know with years of experience.
Finally, Revision3’s philosophy on content is neutral to how it is distributed. We will work with almost any distribution platform; iTunes, Odeo, Bittorrent, Palm, you name it…and using every video encoding format available, including flash, making our content accessible to the greatest possible audience.
Founded by Jay Adelson (Chairman, CEO of Digg, founder of Equinix), Kevin Rose (Founder and Chief Architect of Digg, TechTV, G4), David Prager (TechTV, G4), Dan Huard, and
You can watch the programs right on the website or download them to watch on your computer or subscribe to them using iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.http://www.kevinscrate.com/blog/podcast-crate/
Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/index.html
Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips.
Zoom from outer space to street level in seconds. View geographical imagery, 3D buildings, maps, and local business information. Whether your business depends on location-related information or you simply love to explore, Google Earth is for you.
From popular destinations like Maui and Paris to local restaurants and schools, Google Earth puts a wealth of Earth imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. See satellite images of your childhood home or read articles from Wikipedia. Google Earth is free for personal use. No registration is required.
It’s the planet inside your PC; an atlas, encyclopedia and flight simulator, all rolled into one. Just point and zoom to any place you want to explore. Cities, mountains, and valleys are depicted in high-resolution 3D, along with related information.
Search for local businesses, and get driving directions. Results are shown on-screen. You can easily layer multiple searches, save results to folders, and share placemarks with others.
Find rich multimedia information from the web community and popular sources like National Geographic. Explore the left sidebar and look for the Geographic Web and Featured Content layers as well as layers for 3D buildings, parks, schools, hospitals, airports, shops and more.
Placemark places you have visited, then share them with friends. Google Earth lets you add tons of information to placemarks, for example – photos, notes, restaurant reviews and more. View thousands of such data points created by other Google Earth users, using .KML, the Google Earth file format.http://www.kevinscrate.com/blog/program-crate/
I added a new Crate to the site. The Windows Tips Crate. Here you will find tips and tricks to make your Windows experience better. You can find it over with the other Crates in the My Crates section. or click below
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