No, it’s sadly not a day for shopping. Today, some of the most visited websites are dark to raise awareness of two bills now naking their way through the U.S. Congress. The bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), pose such a great threat to all of us who use, enjoy, and make a living on the Internet that they have united a formidable front from the likes of internet giants such as Google and Wikipedia. Social sites like Reddit that would be devastated by this sort of legislation are getting in on the black out, as well as those who help build the software that powers the internet like WordPress.

Read more: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/black-wednesday

Steve Evatt, one of the technology gurus behind Chron.com, the high-traffic, high-profile Houston newspaper site, will join me to add to the conversation.

I hope to run into many of you at this and other conferences, and I hope you’ll take the time to register and vote for our session before voting ends at 11:59pm CDT on Friday, August 27. I’d love to share what I’ve learned in my years with Linux Journal, as well as highlight the open source tools in my web arsenal.

Linux Journal and The Houston Chronicle both depend on significant web presence to ensure the long-term success of their brands. Learn how we take advantage of web technologies to compliment our print publications. We’ll discuss our preferred platforms, such as Drupal and Ruby on Rails, information architecture strategies, and scaling challenges, while also highlighting some of our success stories and pitfalls. Additionally, we’ll offer perspectives on the different challenges of niche publications versus large, general audience publications. With the possibilities available via the web, we must focus on the content delivery and audience engagement solutions that are appropriate to our audiences. We’ll cover hits and misses we’ve experienced, and the technology behind them. We’ll also discuss how to handle the inevitable bouts of phenomenal success, while not crumbling under heavy traffic. The web counterpart to a print publication will inevitably develop a slightly different audience, as well as its own flavor. We will discuss ways in which these can and should diverge, and the areas where they should not. There is much discussion about the future of publishing, and we will give a practical peek behind the scenes at what’s working, what’s not, and what the future holds.

Questions Answered
How should print publications take advantage of web technologies to enhance or extend their content?

What are the preferred platforms, tools, and methodologies used by medium and large publishers in their online products?

Where have Linux Journal and Chron.com succeeded most in engaging their online audiences?

How can a web publisher handle periods of exceptionally high traffic due to a high-profile media event?

How does an online publication develop its own identity while still complementing its print counterpart? should it?

Please visit the panel picker and vote!

Also, Wil Wheaton and John Scalzi blogged about Shawn’s fire.  They have far greater reach than most of us, and I am so glad they also know how awesome Shawn is.

UPDATE: Here’s a status update from Shawn’s blog. http://www.brainofshawn.com/2010/01/17/an-update-on-our-house/

Today, Shawn Powers, one of the best people know, lost his house and pets to a fire.  My heart is broken for him, his wonderful wife Donna and their three daughters.  I can’t imagine how they feel right now, but can only hope that it will get better soon.

Shawn has brought a lot of joy to me and to everyone at Linux Journal as well as the tens of thousands of people enjoy his work.  To that end, his friends have created this chipin page to help his family in the near term.  We are all waiting for details, but we can assume it will take a while for insurance claims to be filed, necessities to be replaced, and for their life to be rebuilt.  At the very least this should make things a little easier over the next few days.

Read more here: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/urgent-help-shawn-powers-family

In case anyone needs to be reminded why we all love Shawn (though I have no idea why that would be the case):

I don’t normally get so excited about my own cooking (ok, except for the tenderloin, but I digress), but this chili was SO good I have to share.

I found the recipe on this random Texas Chili site, but made a couple modifications based on the ingredients I had.  So here goes:

Instead of a fresh jalapeno, I just added a couple of sliced jalapenos out of a can.  I used one 2lb+ package of chili meat and just under a pound of stew meat that I chopped up into smaller pieces (because that’s what was in the fridge), and oddly enough the presence of two different sizes/textures of meat was kind of serendipitous.  I skipped MSG because – who has that in their pantry anymore anyway?  Instead I added a couple generous dashes of  Worcestershire sauce (Umami and whatnot).  Since the recipe doesn’t specify, I added the tomato sauce can full of water, so about 8oz.  Note also that a bouillon cube= a teaspoon of granules.  I believe I also forgot the black pepper, but didn’t miss it.  The rest is as-is, and I garnished it with more sliced jalapenos, shredded cheese, chopped onions and tortilla chips (skipped the beans).  YUM!  BTW, this is total man food, so feed it to a dude and he’ll be all kinds of happy.

1984 Texas State Men’s Chili Cookoff Winner

sent by Richard Bull
6 Servings

Winner of the 1984 Texas State Men’s Chili Cookoff. Also won the 1988
Chocolate Bayou Chili Cookoff, York, PA. (Unfortunately, the CBCC has
gone the way of all great ideas that are not left alone.)

Ingredients:
3 pounds cubed beef
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons boullion, Beef granules
1 teaspoon boullion, Chicken granules
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons MSG
6 tablespoons chili powder
1 split jalapeno chili pepper

Briefly sear meat and then add chili pepper tied in cheese cloth sack, paprika,
onion powder, cayanne pepper, boullion granules, tomato sauce and water to
cover. Simmer, covered, for 1-1/2 hours or so. Add cumin, garlic powder, MSG,
black pepper, and chili powder. Cook for another 30 minutes or until meat is tender.
Remove cheese cloth sack with jalapeno pepper and serve.
Beans, ( I have found pintos to be best) prepared and served on the side to be
added after serving. Same with cheese, onions, or what have you.

From: http://www.g6csy.net/chile/recipes/1984%20Texas%20State%20Men%27s%20Chili%20Cookoff%20Winner.txt

The extra-funny thing is that I got this from a random British guy’s site that includes various coverage of Ham radios, fossils, guns and chili peppers.  Go figure, a Texan getting a Texas Chili recipe from a Brit. 

At some point in the near future I hope to sit down and compose a few semi-coherent sentences about my summer travels, BlogHer, OSCON, Linux World, and even a bit about the super-fun experience of Hurricane Ike.  I may even write a few posts about my awesome new toy (Acer Aspire One – yes I am nerdy enough to devote many posts to it).

So this is all.  A teaser if you will.  Someday, I may have something here.  One hopes.

Boob Mouse Pad

This is where I found it.

The really good news is that now Linux can finally take over the world, and most people won’t even notice!


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Posted by kdruckman on Natuba

Check this article out. It is incredibly useful if you are a Firefox user.

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