skulk: To lie or keep in hiding, as for some evil reason. To move or go in a mean, stealthy manner. |
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http://www.linux-hacker.net/iopener
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/tutorials/1612/1 The first link above describes a product called the i-opener
that you can buy from the web site, or perhaps in your local Circuit
City store: a $99 Internet appliance that contains a complete computer
including flat-panel color monitor, modem, keyboard and pointer,
operating system, web browser, email reader, and more for, again, only
$99. The second two sites explain how to add a couple of cables
and a hard drive to turn this into a complete Linux or Windows machine
for about $100 more, or a total of around $200. Why is the i-opener so cheap? It is clearly far
below cost, but they sell it to you so cheap because you are supposed to
subscribe to their dial-up Internet service for $21.95 per month and you
can't use it without this subscription -- or so they hoped. But a
hacker named Ken Segler figured out how to add a hard drive, speed up
the CPU, add a more normal keyboard, etc. to turn the i-opener into a
complete computer that can use any Internet service. The second
site above is his brief description on how to do it, and notice that he
sells the necessary cables and bracket for $35 if you don't want to
build them. Don't forget that you also need to add a hard
drive. These are really cheap nowadays, but if you want the hard
drive to fit entirely inside the i-opener, you need a 2.5 inch one and
they are more expensive. The third site above is an article that is more
skulker-friendly and explains in more detail how to do the modifications
and install an operating system. The authors recommend Linux
because they are fans of that system, but it is also possible to install
Windows.
"Auto Start Manager extends the functionality of the Windows StartUp folder by giving the ability to conditionally start programs at startup time. The program allows time and configuration dependent conditions to be tested before deciding which programs to start. Tests are provided for day of week, time of day, time elapsed since last run, logon user, start configuration, power mode (if APM installed), and network connection. Download
and install this shareware program and it will place itself in your
Startup group, but will not touch anything else. For programs
already in your Startup group that you want to run every boot, do
nothing. Just leave them in the Startup group. For
programs that need delays or conditional running, remove them from the
Startup group and define them to Auto Start Manager, and it will start
them if and when the conditions are appropriate.
Jr. skulkers who have been subscribing for a while have surely noticed the headline and email subject of each issue. If you are older, you will probably recognize most of these as parodies on old songs, proverbs, movie titles, etc. where the word "skulk", "skulker", or "skulking" is cleverly (we think) inserted. This is the one part of the newsletter that WebSkulker writes himself, because Ms. Cat doesn't know anything about old human songs and sayings. WebSkulker often has an idea for a headline, but doesn't remember the lyrics exactly, so he does web searches hoping to find them. Jr. Skulker Lynngent suggested this site that might help, because it is a place to get lyrics for thousands of popular songs. WebSkulker was disappointed by how few lyrics it actually has, at least for the albums he looked up, but they promise they will be adding more. The lyrics are presented in an annoying way to make it harder for you to print them or copy them to anything else. When you choose a song, the site will download an applet that displays part of the lyrics. Wait a while and it will switch to the next section, etc. You will not be able to copy any part of this to the clipboard using normal Windows facilities. The site also has a good database of published CD's and a lot of other music information. One interesting section is called "Licensing" which is appropriate because this site appears to be run by the Harry Fox Agency, which is one of the three international agencies that handle the licensing of most songs. Go to the Licensing link for a brief description of what you need to do to license a song in various situations from Harry Fox Agency, and also check out the links to the other two biggies in this field, ASCAP and BMI.
http://www.toiletmuseum.com/sounds.html http://www.toiletmuseum.com/animal.html The Toilet Museum isn't really a museum of toilets, but rather a museum of pictures and greeting cards about toilets. The author and his roommate started collecting these pictures to hang in their bathroom, and that became know as the Toilet Museum. Here is the virtual version, complete with sounds, web post cards, and a gift shop. The last link is of course Ms. Cat's favorite.
Microsoft vs. GM
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