Gutenberg: A classic novel hits the free list:

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

SmartBiz 07/25/2007 11:52 PM 5,186 Earn more money than your spouse can spend
I doubt that.

Lipton PureLeaf Tea 07/25/2007 08:06 PM 13,784 Enjoy an all-natural bottle. Get the next one on us.
An all-natural bottle…is that like a flask made from a sheep’s stomach or something? Yuck.

Anti fraudulent department 07/24/2007 10:11 PM 5,943 Attention:InView ACH Customers!!!
It’s anti-fraud, not anti-fraudulent. Yeah, I’m going to entrust fraud detection to someone who can’t even detect a grammatical error.

Postmaster 07/24/2007 05:56 PM 2,747 We Help You Find Almost Anyone’s Email Address In Minutes
Somehow, I believe that claim.

OEM Discounts 07/24/2007 12:27 PM 2,695 some software u need!@#
Software I need…hmmm…a better spam filter?

REV. DR. EMMANUEL MORGAN 07/22/2007 09:01 PM 5,100 OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF OPERATION INTERNATIONAL CREDIT SETTLEMENT CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
Bank of Nigeria…riiiight. I’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 5 years….

Shawn C. 07/22/2007 10:35 AM 3,210 I can’t believe I’m just giving this all away
I wish you’d stop.

Delores 07/20/2007 10:54 AM 8,776 The primrose path is hereabout with Cial!s!
(That just made me giggle. “The primrose path” + Cialis”.  Somehow I doubt that will appeal to the intended audience. ie men who wish to appear virile.)

Johnny B. Stewart 07/16/2007 06:28 PM 3,826 300,000 satisfied men
Johnny’s a busy B.

UNION BANK NIG. PLC 07/16/2007 01:08 PM 5,083 ATTENTION:YOUR INHERINTANCE FUNDS!!!Now we’ve got spelling error AND Bank of Nigeria…

Mcginnis P. Archie 07/16/2007 10:22 AM 7,844 A suitcase with fewer items is easier to carry, and clothing stays fresher.
Ummm…if you’re packing fewer items, you’re probably going to end up wearing them more than once, so how is that fresher?

Opal Page 07/16/2007 05:22 AM 3,137 chancy cauliflower crackle
cumbersome cucumber crumble
risky radiccio rattle
tricky tomato tumble

Jessica H. 07/15/2007 09:57 AM 4,408 Adorable Yorkie for Adoption.
And so spam hops on the “everyone loves a puppy” bandwagon.

Caryn Little 07/14/2007 11:46 AM 20,430 I almost forgot it is u turn
My turn? Cool. For MY turn, we WON’T send everyone an email they don’t want.

Ken Blanchard 07/13/2007 12:54 PM 4,158 A dumb idea that sold 12 million copies
Windows ME !

I just finished testing this tool on our development server & a test client, and I am impressed. I won’t go into all the details of how to set it up - the help documentation can cover that. But I will say it is very cool that when a client crashes (any client crash - not just a custom script to error log thing), we can gather information on the crash.

 Using the help documentation, I set up the fault reports database and enabled fault reports & analysis on the test server . I set dagnositc collection to be mandatory, and to prompt for information from user on restart. I configured fault reports in the diagnostics for the */org policy. Got a script from David which is known to crash the client, and copied it to where I could use it with my test client. I ran the script, and got the red box error, crashing the client. It worked! when I restarted the Notes client, I was prompted to enter what I’d been doing at the time of the crash. (There’s no cancel button and the red X doesn’t work, so the worst I could do was not enter anything and hit OK.)  I (as the admin now) went to the server and was able to see that my test client had crashed with the following information:

User Comments: intentional crash test
Error message: PANIC: LookupHandle: handle not allocated
Process: nlnotes
Callstack: (removed for brevity)
Open Databases:
CN=testserver/O=org!!mail\testuser.nsf
CN=testserver/O=org!!testdb.nsf
C:\Documents and Settings\testuser\Local Settings\Application Data\Lotus\Notes\Data\log.nsf
C:\Documents and Settings\testuser\Local Settings\Application Data\Lotus\Notes\Data\desktop6.ndk
C:\Documents and Settings\testuser\Local Settings\Application Data\Lotus\Notes\Data\bookmark.nsf
C:\Documents and Settings\testuser\Local Settings\Application Data\Lotus\Notes\Data\Cache.NDK
C:\Documents and Settings\testuser\Local Settings\Application Data\Lotus\Notes\Data\names.nsf

I added an annotated screenshot collage of some of these features below. Which I’ll have to add when I get home because my employer has blocked access to signin to yahoo accounts, so I can’t post it in flickr. GRRR.

I definitely recommend this feature!

Over at http://www.thehappinessproject.com , Gretchen Rubin has a lot of good advice for how to create a happier life. One of her laws is “Be Gretchen”. This means (for her) to be herself and not try to be what she thinks she ought to be, or what anyone else thinks she ought to be. I’ve been thinking on that, and it’s quite true (and a little obvious). But I’d like to offer two Corrolaries (sp?):

1. Be the “now” self.
I USED to love to read Shakespeare. I USED to be able to wear short shorts. I used to not like country music at all. I often find myself caught up in trying to be someone I think I am, only to realize I’m no longer that person. I need to take a step back and say “You know what, I’ve changed and there’s nothing wrong with that.” It’s OK that I no longer have an interest in puzzling out classic literature, that I’m not built like an 18 yr old, and that country music sounds better the older you get. I should just recognize and accept those changes, not keep buying books I won’t read.

2. Let others be their true selves, too.
One of the great things about my grama was that she just loved everyone regardless. It didn’t even occur to her not to love someone because they were toothless, or tattoo’d, or filthy. She didn’t waste time telling them how they ought to be. Often, we’re must irritated with other people when they aren’t living up to what WE think they should be. We’d be a lot happier if we could just accept them for who/how they are.

Kudos to Weiser’s Market of Lititz, and to the Shurfine brand, for their new 99cent reusable grocery bag. Useful, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly. You don’t often find those 3 things together!

On my way home yesterday, my usually ad-free (or at least sparse) Christian radio station was peppered with ads for Vacation Bible Schools, Youth Conferences, and multi-band music events. I remember the excitement of the times we went to those things as kids. A lot of growth happens there…but it is often not at the times it is planned for. I recall that it was the times between the speakers, after lights out, and in the bus on the way home that we did the most thinking about what had been presented.

Some people think they have to entertain kids 24/7 (or at least while they’re awake). Every moment should be planned out so that the kids never get bored. Conferences should be filled to the brim so that people feel they’ve gotten their money’s worth. But kids need time to ruminate on what they’ve heard, and to internalize it. Kids and teens can dig deep, and can BE deep. They don’t always know how to express it, but they feel the spirit within them and they form beliefs and foundations, and they wrestle with engimas and contradictions. But, they need time away from the distraction of something new every moment in order to do these things.

I remember one youth group night when I was leading, that I gave everyone a set of 5 questions and told them to find a spot where they couldn’t see each other and answer them. No one would have to share their answers. Otherwise rought-and-tumble teenage boys can be awfully insightful, I learned!

 So, I encourage those of you planning these events to PLAN alone time. Structure it, if you have to. But include it. It could be the most meaningful part of your event.

I love Gutenberg FREE E-texts. But, you have to pick and choose. Some books are a bit dated for casual reading. (They’re OK if you just really like the author, or if you’re studying period books, or something like that.) Other books are foreign language. Some weren’t, IMHO, ever very good to begin with and I can’t honestly understand why someone bothered to retype and re-edit it at all. I’m not sure if the following fall into that last category, but they sound as if they’ve passed the first two tests.

Knitting is back in style, and I can’t imagine that the procedure has changed much over the years. So, if you’re interested in knitting, you might want to pick up this FREE Gutenberg book:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22029 Spool Knitting by Mary A. McCormack

Pirates are all the rage right now, and pirate lore ages well. Assuming this was originally written well (I haven’t read it yet), you might want to check out:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22033 Plotting in Pirate Seas by Francis Rolt-Wheeler

The Best Short Stories of 1920 by Various
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22091
I haven’t read them yet, but at least if they’re short stories you won’t waste much time finding out if they’re good or not. Additionally, my experience with short stories is that they generally stand the test of time well, because they must focus on the physical or psychological aspects of the plot, rather than spending a lot of time on the technical, social or political themes which are what tend to get dated.

The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) by Snorri Sturluson
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22093
Just in case you wanted to read something totally unpronouncable by an equally unpronouncable author.

The Task of Social Hygiene by Havelock Ellis
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22090
Lastly, here’s one for you to forward on to that guy in IT…you know the one. Maybe since it’s in digital format, he’ll actually read it.

When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
 - C. S. Lewis, essay “On Three Ways of Writing for Children”
***
Large corporations aim for economies of scale. Small businesses aim for efficiency.
- Giles Bowkett , http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-talk-to-your-boss-corporations.html

Interesting reads:

http://www.helpisnotafourletterword.com/

- Peggy, who seems like a very nice lady, explores why people do not ask for help.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-the-world-with-10-pounds-or-less-plus-how-to-negotiate-convertibles-and-luxury-treehouses/

How to travel the world with 10lbs or less. While some of the suggestions border on mooching, others are more universal.  You may also need to decide if your priority is to travel light/cheap/confidently. Your mileage may vary.

I was very disappointed to learn that a blog I had been reading is now displaying “This blog is open to invited readers only”. I figured this out after clicking through the RSS, which hadn’t been working for about a week. Nice of her to explain this prior to switching off, leaving anyone who was expressly invited in the dark. I’m not a personal friend - I found her blog through a link from another blog - so, I’m not personally hurt by the exclusion. But I did enjoy reading what she wrote, and was sorry to see her go…