2005

February 1

Begging the Question

Blogs are rife with misuse of the phrase “begs the question” to the detriment of its conventional meaning. I’ve been tempted to post comments to offending entries but have resisted for fear of being offensively pedantic. Perhaps some of us can promote recognition of the error as a restorative meme.

posted @ 09:14 AM EST

February 3

Confessions of a Link Spammer

The Register has an interview with a link spammer (one who puts irrelevant links on websites that permit visitor supplied comments in order to boost the PageRank of client sites) in which the self-styled (and notably anonymous) “search engine optimiser” evaluates the effect of the new “nofollow link” on his business:

I don’t think it’ll have much effect in the short, medium or long term. It won’t work because most blogs and forms are set up with the best intentions, but when people find hard graft has to go into it they’re left to rot. To use this, they’ll all have to be updated. The majority won’t be.

He knows of what he speaks as it’s also lack of effort or competence that enables link spammers to operate anonymously by taking advantage of open proxy servers.

posted @ 07:29 AM EST

Updated to PhpGedView 3.2.2a

The Dolben Family software has been updated to version 3.2.2a of PhpGedView. The new version is mainly for bug fixes.

posted @ 08:07 PM EST

February 7

Just win, baby

Super Bowl XXXIX Winner
Reuters Photo

Notes:

  • Adam Vinatieri: yet again, though not as dramatic as the first two, the Super Bowl winning field goal
  • Tom Brady: 23 pass completions in 33 attempts, 70%, for 236 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions; one of his best games of the season
  • Deion Branch: 11 pass receptions, tying the Super Bowl record, for 133 yards
  • Turnovers: Patriots 1, Eagles 4
  • Interceptions: Rodney Harrison 2, Tedy Bruschi 1
  • Score at the end of quarters: 0-0, 7-7, 14-14, 24-21
  • Yay, Pats!

posted @ 07:57 AM EST

February 10

Xcode Class Diagrams

XcodeXcode 2.0, the version of the software development tool that will come with Mac OS X Tiger (10.4), has class diagrams that can be generated from source; a great feature for those who consider visualization of the model an essential part of object oriented design.

posted @ 01:30 PM EST

February 12

Name those Archimedean Solids

Check it out.

posted @ 04:58 PM EST

February 16

Lance Armstrong in the 2005 Tour de France

Surprising, to me at least, is Lance Armstrong’s announcement that he will ride in the Tour de France this year. His comments following last year’s record breaking sixth win led me to believe that he would concentrate on other races, leaving the Tour to others. It seems that he finds competing against all of the best on cycling’s biggest stage irresistible.

posted @ 07:44 AM EST

February 17

Bump Ahead

I’m in the process of moving dolben.org to a different hosting service. “Why?” you ask. “Why not?” If you can’t find it sometime in the next few days, please try again another day.

posted @ 01:30 PM EST

Firefox 1.0 Breaks 25 Million

silver coin On February 15th, exactly 99 days after it was released, Firefox 1.0 smashed through the 25 million download milestone.

posted @ 02:04 PM EST

February 23

Over the Bump

The transfer of dolben.org has taken place, the domain name registration having moved yesterday and the nameserver change having propagated at least as far as my corner of the Internet. When you can read this entry it’s made it to yours, too.

posted @ 07:39 AM EST