Santa Claus has always been on the cutting edge and it’s no different in the age of the internet. Gone are the days of mailing letters and schlepping to the mall. Amy-Mae Elliott has posted 5 Ways to Connect With Santa on the Web at Mashable.

Today’s kids have a wealth of online options for hooking up with the Claus.

We’ve scoured the ‘Net for the five best ways to connect with Father Christmas, from the iPhone version of a letter to Santa, to some sleigh-tracking GPS tools.

If you have kids (or are just a big kid yourself), we think you’ll enjoy sharing these holiday web treats.

My favorite is the NORAD Santa tracker, although the email from Santa was a big hit.

Have a great Christmas Eve.

I posted about the move to 10pm right before bRight@Night was supposed to start last night. Then I clicked over to my host switchboard to start the show. It was then that I found out that Blog Talk Radio had switched from the old click to talk (for premium subscribers) to using Skype. Now, I have nothing against Skype, and I have nothing but good things to say about Blog Talk Radio.

On the other hand, I sure wish they had given some warning about the switch. I was told that it was a “soft launch” and that additional details would be available soon. But 10-15 minutes before show time isn’t sufficient to download the software, get all the settings right, create an account, and still log into your show.

I finally got things set up around 10:40 — 10 minutes after the show was scheduled to end. I quickly scheduled a 15 minute segment for 11:00, but it really threw me off my game.

I wanted to talk about the elections today in NY, VA, NJ, and elsewhere. I guess I’ll just have to talk about the results on tomorrow night’s show. I can do that.

Or maybe I’ll have to schedule a show for tonight, after results start coming in. I’ll have to see about that.

A few weeks ago I shared the news that I had lost everything on my hard drive (making me the poster boy for those who don’t do backups like they should). I’m still a bit sick about all the pictures I’ve lost (although I have recovered all those I lost that I had posted here on the site), but my biggest concern, moving forward, was how to replace the programs I lost.

Fortunately, for nearly every program out there, an open source equivalent exists. Many, if not most, of them are very robust and every bit as usable as their commercial counterparts.

Web Page Design — Amaya

Amaya is an open source editor from W3Schools.com

Amaya is a Web editor, i.e. a tool used to create and update documents directly on the Web. Browsing features are seamlessly integrated with the editing and remote access features in a uniform environment. This follows the original vision of the Web as a space for collaboration and not just a one-way publishing medium.

Productivity Tools — Open Office

A complete suite of tools that compete well with the products that cost serious money. Here’s what you get:

• Writer — A very full featured Word Processor/Desktop Publisher.
• Calc — I’m a numbers geek. Can’t help it. Calc is a spreadsheet program that does everything I need it to do.
• Impress — This is a program for creating multimedia presentations. It’s not one I use a lot, but it’s nice to have it in the tool bag if I need it.
• Draw — It’s a drawing program. I need to use it a bit more before I can say anything about it.
• Base — A database program. Again, I haven’t given this a good test drive.

Suite!

Graphics — Gimp

An open source graphic manipulation tool. The learning curve is just a little bit steeper than I would like, but I’m learning. I’ve been using PaintShop Pro for years, and this is going to take a while to get used to, but I do like it so far.

On a side note, the www.gimp.org site appears to be down right now, but I’m sure it’s only temporary.

I’ve also tried Inkscape, but didn’t like it very well.

Well, that’s how things stand today. Do you use any open source programs? What are your thoughts? Any suggestions?

The internet turns 40 today.

At 2100, on 29 October 1969, engineers 400 miles apart at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) prepared to send data between the first nodes of what was then known as Arpanet.

It got the name because it was commissioned by the US Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (Arpa).

The fledgling network was to be tested by Charley Kline attempting to remotely log in to a Scientific Data Systems computer that resided at SRI.

Kline typed an “L” and then asked his colleague Bill Duvall at SRI via a telephone headset if the letter had arrived.

It had.

Kline typed an “O”. Duvall said that arrived too.

Kline typed a “G”. Duvall could only report that the system had crashed.

I haven’t researched it, but I think that sometime in the few days following this event a message went out inviting readers to “add fuel to your love-rocket.”

I’ve been writing about the difficulties we’ve been having with our computer here at home since July (here, here, here, here). When things were running OK at home, or when I could at work, I would research possible causes. I thought it could be a memory issue since I had installed a new stick some time ago. In fact, when I removed one of the two memory sticks things appeared to get better, just no right.

But the problem hadn’t gone away. The stupid thing would still restart on it’s own. Last week it got even worse. Sometimes it would restart before I could even get on the internet.

And then it happened. Late last week, while I was at work, the folks at home tried to get on the computer. It threw an error and the dreaded blue screen of death. When I was called I suggested they leave it alone until I could take a look when I got home. My advice wasn’t followed.

The link that said “restore” was just too tempting. So they clicked it.

Everything gone. Five or more years of files and pictures (several purchased from a graphics service) and programs gone. Gone forever. ‘-(

XP reloaded, and I was able to download Firefox and Tweetdeck, but the restarting problem was, if anything, worse. The things I can’t replace (other than a bunch of files and pictures) without spending some cash I don’t have, are Paint Shop Pro and MS Office. I can make do with Open Office, but I need to get a graphics program. And I still needed to make the computer stop restarting!

Yesterday I thought I might have found a solution. Maybe it was the CPU overheating. I went out and bought some thermal grease thinking that the old layer had degraded and should be replaced after I had removed the heat sync to clean it. Good idea, but not the answer, so I did some more research.

Could it be the video card I had installed nearly a year ago? Not much left to do but to remove it and go back to the built in video.

And it worked. After taking out the video card, and some minor tweaks, it’s been stable. It hasn’t restarted on it’s own once. I have even re-installed the memory I thought was the problem. I can’t play Pirates Online until I get a new, upgraded video card, but I can do everything else!

I’m sickened by the loss of all the files, but thrilled to be able to get on and not have to worry about a restart while I’m in the middle of something important, like cooking something on Cafe World, checking out the babe of the day at SYLG, or reading comments at AoSHQ.

Things could be better, but compared to how they were, I am thrilled!

Six time since 5:30 this morning. That’s how many times the computer has, on it’s own, just restarted. It makes it very challenging to read, and especially write, anything.

I tried using the computer we bought at a church yard sale. It has about 10% of the memory and ran at about 10% the speed of this one that still wants to restart on it’s own. The trade off is substantial. Until I can replace this one, or figure out why it wants to restart at random, I’ll just have to do what I can.

Thank you for visiting in spite of the lack of posts. That will change starting now.

What a great morning. One that started last night.

I got a call when I was on my way home last night. Our one shared computer (two adults, three kids) had a blue screen pop up. Yes, the infamous blue screen of death. I got home and managed to get that to go away, but was faced with a system that would start and randomly restart on it’s own. Frequently.

I ran what diagnostics I could (while it was up) and could not find any identifiable problem. So, I went to plan “B”.

Almost a year ago I bought a computer at a yard sale for $25.00. The plan was to give that computer to the kids when I could get an extra $50 for a wireless card. Before that happened the monitor that came with it went belly up. You would think that plan B would be simply switching out the problem box with the other one. And that’s what I did, but of course there were a few issues. Issue number one is that the old (new) system came with — get ready for it — Windows ME. Yes, ME, the operating system Microsoft would rather the world forget. (On a side note, for the most part the world has pretty much complied with that wish. Still, I think MS may have entered into their deal with Yahoo to flush any remaining record down the memory hole.)

ME also means that I can choose between Firefox 1.0.6 and IE 6.0 for my browser.

There are a few other issues, like an iffy connection on the keyboard (you shouldn’t have to jiggle it so much or so often) and having so much information on my other hard drive. I did try adding the hard drive to the new system, but ME won’t recognize the NFTS portion of the drive.

So, unless someone(s) hit(s) the donation button pretty hard (it’s over there in the sidebar), or has a “real” computer they would like to send to a Florida retirement, posting will be even more iffy than it has been for the past few weeks. I didn’t think that was possible.

I’m opposed to the whole bailout, non-stimulus stimulus thing, but if there’s a cash for clunkers plan for computers I may have a few candidates.

If you tried to tune in to last night’s bRight @ Night show you would have heard, well, nothing. The problem was not with Blog Talk Radio, but was caused by some technical difficulties here. Every 5-15 minutes the computer would restart, which really had me worried. Turned out that their was a loose connection with the power cord. Of course I didn’t discover that until after midnight. By then I was too tired to even right a paragraph like this one.

The next show will air tomorrow night. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will still be plenty to talk about.

Just so you know, I haven’t been a total slacker since hitting 200,000 visits.

Spent most of the weekend working on a new web site: Spot-Trot.com and on Spot’s Blog. If you happen to need a dog walking service in the Central Florida area between Tampa and Orlando, check them out.

I also spent some time under the hood at other sites I help out with. Web sites are like your lawn, there’s always something that needs to be done. And there are getting to be quite a few of them.

• FloridImagine.com — This is the site I am using for web design and hosting. The only visible part right now, because I need to do a lot more work behind the scenes, is the blog. If you are ready to make the move from blogger, or some other free service to your own site, or need some blog tweaking, I’m your guy. Just ask Wyatt or Dana.
• Blogs.4Bauer.com — The best 24 fan site on the web is like the women in Jack’s life (other than Red Hot) – needing constant attention. Be sure to be there for tonight’s Liveblog.
• Reclaim Conservatism — A site I really want to spend more time on is being kept active by Stix. Thank you! If you would like to be a contributor there, we are looking for people who would like to post on (or near) the topic of, what else, reclaiming conservatism. Register, and shoot me an email [lakelandjim at gmail dot com] so I can make you an author. [TMH/Pomalom I'm talking to you, too.]
• Blog News Co-op — Yes it needs lots of attention, and it’s nowhere near where I’d like it to be by now, but I’m convinced that it’s a good idea. Check it out an give me your thoughts. Please.

All of these site could use your link love. I can’t give them all the attention.

What could be better on a Wednesday night than a double dose of Coltrane.

The first “Coltrane” is the latest release of WordPress — 2.7

The first thing you’ll notice about 2.7 is its new interface. From the top down, we’ve listened to your feedback and thought deeply about the design and the result is a WordPress that’s just plain faster. Nearly every task you do on your blog will take fewer clicks and be faster in 2.7 than it did in a previous version. (Download it now, or read on for more.)

Next you’ll begin to notice the new features subtly sprinkled through the new interface: the new dashboard that you can arrange with drag and drop to put the things most important to you on top, QuickPress, comment threading, paging, and the ability to reply to comments from your dashboard, the ability to install any plugin directly from WordPress.org with a single click, and sticky posts.

Digging in further you might notice that every screen is customizable. Let’s say you never care about author on your post listings — just click “Screen Options” and uncheck it and it’s instantly gone from the page. The same for any module on the dashboard or write screen. If your screen is narrow and the menu is taking up too much horizontal room, click the arrow to minimize it to be icon-only, and then go to the write page and drag and drop everything from the right column into the main one, so your posting area is full-screen.

The post also includes a video showing off many of the new features. Of course one of the most anticipated features is the automatic upgrade.

We heard how tired you were of doing upgrades for yourself and your friends, so now WordPress includes a built-in upgrade that will automatically notify you of new releases, and when you’re ready it will download them, install them, and upgrade your blog with a single click.

You can download WordPress 2.7 here.

Our second helping of Coltrane is John Coltrane playing My Favorite Things in 1961 in Baden-Baden Germany. Along with Coltrane are Eric Dolphy – flute, alto sax, McCoy Tyner – piano, Reggie Workman – bass, and Elvin Jones – drums.

Enjoy.

Most of you reading here only know that I write at bRight & Early. That’s great, and I appreciate every regular and occasional reader. What you might not know is that I own or contribute to a few other sites as well. Here is a little guide to those sites, just in case you’re interested in visiting, linking, or adding them to your blog roll.

Blogs.4Bauer.com — Quite a few of you may know about this site. It is the best 24 site out there, Jack says so. It is a fan site, but to simply call it a fan site would ignore the irreverence and the occasional love/hate relationship we have with the show. Case in point: 24: Redemption Live Blog. B4B is a group effort with a great cadre of writers: Amy V, Lawhawk, RFTR, The Jack Sack, The Man, Tyler D., V the K, and Wyatt Earp. In addition to the blog there is also Forums.4Bauer.com and Wiki.4Bauer.com The forums are occasionally active, and the wiki is very much a much neglected work in progress.

Reclaim Conservatism is another group effort. I started this site in an effort to promote the ideas and ideals of conservatism. It really is a site that you should blogroll and add to your feed readers. Currently Director Blue, GM Roper, Stix, and I are the contributing writers, but we are looking for others who are interested in posting articles about conservatism, conservative values, and particularly ideas about moving conservatism forward.

FloridImagine.com is a mostly non-political blog for talking about things of interest to the I-4 Corridor area of central Florida. If you think that I have been negligent writing here, that’s nothing in comparison to how I’ve been a slacker there. That has to change. There is so much happening in this area of Florida that could be written about that there’s no excuse. Several months ago I lost a good portion of the older posts, which makes it look even worse. I would love for any writers from this area who would like to contribute to contact me. Suggestions are also welcome.

Blog News Co-op — This is a site I created, mostly in response to the News Source That Must Not Be Quoted going after bloggers who dared cite their words. The thought occurred to me that bloggers could do more than just comment on the news, they could write their own original stories. In my original post there I wrote:

Bloggers should be a natural resource. Why?

• There are thousands of us. We are in every part of the country and many parts of the world.
• We have a wide spectrum of backgrounds, interests, and areas of expertise.
• While nearly all bloggers work at something other than blogging for their 9-5, not all 9-5’s take place from 9-5, if you know what I mean.
• One thing that most bloggers have in common is that they like to write. That doesn’t make us all good writers, but it’s a start.
• If all goes according to plan (once there is more of a plan than what exists now) we will be able to cover a wide range of topics, stories, geographic areas, and more.

I would really like to grow Blog News Co-op as we move into 2009. One thing I should mention is that I am not just looking for political articles, but anything that is news: Local interest, entertainment, science, religion, people and personalities, book, music, and movie reviews, humor, food, just about anything of interest. The key is that it will be original reporting.

To make BNC work will take more than just writers. A few of the things I mentioned in the linked article are editors, researchers, fact-checkers, photographers, and illustrators. There is also a need for someone to design a better banner for the blog. OK, that’s not the highest thing on the list, but it is on the list. One more thing would be anyone who is good at coding. I would like to create, and I am working on, a system for submitting, making available for editing, displaying, and distributing the articles that are written. I am a fair coder, but I know my limitations.

Well, that’s it. Have you visited those sites, blogrolled them, added them to your reader? Thanks, I would love to hear your thoughts.