AnyClient: FTP Straight From Your Browser

"If you don't transfer files often, or if you use a computer on which you don't have administrative rights, you might find yourself in a situation where you need to FTP a file to a server or download files from an FTP site--and you don't have an FTP client installed. Plenty of FTP applications are fast and free, but if you don't want to download and install anything, you can try AnyClient, a free Java-based FTP client that runs directly in your browser."

http://www.appscout.com/2008/03/anyclient_ftp_straight_from_yo.php

The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!)

"Ever wonder about that mysterious Content-Type tag? You know, the one you're supposed to put in HTML and you never quite know what it should be?"

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Unicode.html

A Visual Guide to Version Control

"You’ve probably cooked up your own version control system without realizing it had such a geeky name. Got any files like this? (Not these exact ones I hope).

* KalidAzadResumeOct2006.doc
* KalidAzadResumeMar2007.doc
* instacalc-logo3.png
* instacalc-logo4.png
* logo-old.png

It’s why we use “Save As”. You want the new file without obliterating the old one. It’s a common problem, and solutions are usually like this:

* Make a single backup copy (Document.old.txt).
* If we’re clever, we add a version number or date: Document_V1.txt, DocumentMarch2007.txt
* We may even use a shared folder so other people can see and edit files without sending them over email. Hopefully they relabel the file after they save it."

http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-visual-guide-to-version-control/

Tiny USB Office

"The only thing tiny about Tiny USB Office is its file size: only about 2.5MB. The suite of applications is huge in the number of apps it contains and the number of functions each app covers. The basics are covered; there's a text editor, a spreadsheet application, a fully-featured e-mail application, and more. Additionally, if you're the type who carries all of your files and data on a USB drive, you'll find Tiny USB Office invaluable if you want to stay productive without carrying a laptop around with you."

http://www.appscout.com/2008/04/tiny_usb_office_keeps_you_prod_1.php

Pencil

"Pencil is an animation/drawing software for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. It lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil is free and open source."

http://www.les-stooges.org/pascal/pencil/

System Selection

"A brief scan of any of the special interest group mailing lists reveals that at any one time a sizeable percentage of the UK's colleges and universities are somewhere in the process of selecting a new system for one or more of their core processes, whether this is to support business, learning, teaching or research functions. Analysis of the market also shows that there is a considerable range of software and software bundles in use.

System change is often prompted by seemingly insoluble problems with existing hardware and software and is often unwelcome both to those who have to cope with it and those who have to fund it. One of the themes running through many of the JISC infoNet infoKits is the opportunity afforded by system change to add value to the business of teaching, learning and research. This depends, of course, on selecting the right system in the first place.

This infoKit offers a model approach to choosing a new software system. The model is a generic one applicable to any type of application and any scale of implementation. We identify components which are key to the approach and others which are optional and generally suitable only in very large scale or costly projects. The model was adapted by JISC infoNet from commercial selection models and has been used successfully by a number of institutions. "

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/InfoKits/system-selection/index_html

Portable Software Applications that run from a USB device

"This site is a resource for the review of portable Freeware and Open Source Portable Software Applications that can be run directly from a USB device."

http://www.pendriveapps.com/

Beanstalk - Hosted Subversion

"Beanstalk is a hosted Subversion system, making it easy to setup, browse, and track Subversion. Beanstalk has built-in integration with your favorite tools such as Basecamp, FogBugz, Campfire and more"

http://www.beanstalkapp.com/

PortaBase 1.9

"PortaBase is a small database program for creating, browsing, and editing custom tables of data. Typical uses are media inventories, reference charts, TODO lists, shopping lists, etc"

http://portabase.sourceforge.net/portabase.html

Cushy CMS

"Finally, a free and truly simple CMS"

http://www.cushycms.com/

Using a USB external hard disk for backups with Linux

"In this article, I show how I set up a recently purchased USB external hard disk drive as a backup drive for my Linux desktop PC. I'll delete the default FAT32 partition, create a new partition, make a reiserfs filesystem, and show how to use rsync to backup your important data."

http://www.basicallytech.com/blog/index.php?/archives/73-Using-a-USB-external-hard-disk-for-backups-with-Linux.html

Cory Doctorow: Think Like a Dandelion

"Dandelions and artists have a lot in common in the age of the Internet. This is, of course, the age of unlimited, zero-marginal-cost copying. If you blow your works into the net like a dandelion clock on the breeze, the net itself will take care of the copying costs. Your fans will paste-bomb your works into their mailing list, making 60,000 copies so fast and so cheaply that figuring out how much it cost in aggregate to make all those copies would be orders of magnitude more expensive than the copies themselves.

What's more, the winds of the Internet will toss your works to every corner of the globe, seeking out every fertile home that they may have — given enough time and the right work, your stuff could someday find its way over the transom of every reader who would find it good and pleasing. After all, the majority of links between blogs have been made to or from blogs with four or fewer inbound links in total — that means that the Internet has figured out a cost-effective means of helping audiences of three people discover the writers they should be reading. "

http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2008/05/cory-doctorow-think-like-dandelion.html

Quentin Crisp on Manners

I'm afraid manners are not morality. Presumably a moralist may never tell a lie. Someone interested in manners tries to tell as few lies as possible because on the way back he might have to say the opposite. But it's very noticeable that the word "truth" is usually accompanied by words like "the awful truth," "the grim truth." Lies are never considered grim. It's never appropriate to tell the truth unless it's already very bland, very favorable. The main difficulty is, of course, the word "no." You have to avoid at all costs saying no. So when people say, "Will you marry me?" you say, "I don't feel I am worthy." It means "No.

- Quentin Crisp"

http://www.crisperanto.org/writings/OnManners.html

“Blank is Like Blank”

"Shopping at Ikea is like returning to therapy:

It feels like the right thing to to do, but then you get there and realize you aren’t adequately emotionally prepared."

and more ...

http://blankislikeblank.com/

How to Find Lost Objects

"In this practical yet entertaining work, the Professor shows how to track down anything that’s been misplaced. Keys, cash, documents, jewelry, household items—all can be located with ease, using his method."

http://www.professorsolomon.com/lobookpage.html

Possum Living - How to live well without a job

"Do you want to get out of the rat race but not drop out? Do you want to live a life of leisure without worry or guilt? If your answer is yes, Dolly Freed will show you how to live well without a job and without working very hard."

http://www.f4.ca/text/possumliving.htm

CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police

"Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/06/ukcrime1

Job Satisfaction - Two Factor Theory

"According to Herzberg, man is not content with the satisfaction of lower-order needs at work, for example, those associated with minimum salary levels or safe and pleasant working conditions. Rather, he looks for the gratification of higher-level psychological needs having to do with achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and the nature of the work itself. So far, this appears to parallel Maslow's theory of a need hierarchy. However, Herzberg added a new dimension to this theory by proposing a two-factor model of motivation, based on the notion that the presence of one set of job characteristics or incentives lead to worker satisfaction at work, while another and separate set of job characteristics lead to dissatisfaction at work. Thus, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not on a continuum with one increasing as the other diminishes, but are independent phenomena. This theory suggests that to improve job attitudes and productivity, administrators must recognize and attend to both sets of characteristics and not assume that an increase in satisfaction leads to a commensurate decrease in dissatisfaction."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_factor_theory

Forth Bridge painters to down brushes in 2012

"Painting on the Forth Rail Bridge is scheduled to end in 2012, concluding over 100 years of relentless brushwork which inspired the phrase "like painting the Forth Bridge", the BBC reports.

Network Rail is set to end the century of endless slog by stumping £74m for a three-coat paint job similar to that used on oil rigs and which will last for up to 40 years."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/18/forth_bridge/

What it takes to be great

"Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work"

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/

Is Our Happiness Preordained?

"In one study, researchers at the University of Edinburgh suggest that genes account for about 50% of the variation in people's levels of happiness — the underlying determinant being genetically determined personality traits, like "being sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious," says co-author Timothy Bates. What's more, says Bates, these happiness traits generally come as a package, so that if you have one you're likely to have them all."

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1721954,00.html