Have Laptop Will Travel

Don’t Let Congress Ruin the Internet

Originally posted on March 10, 2007 @ 9:50 am

Right now Congress is being pushed to abandon the First Amendment of the Internet – a principle called “network neutrality” that preserves the free and open Internet.

Congress needs to hear from you today or they will hand over control of what you do online to companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

Together we won the first round in the battle for Net freedom. But the phone and cable giants are launching a counterattack.

We need to raise the alarm and send a clear message to our new Congress: Make Net Neutrality the Law in 2007!

Politicians are trading favors for campaign donations from these companies.

They’re being wooed by people like AT&T’s CEO, who says “the Internet can’t be free.”

Sign this petition to tell your elected representatives to protect Internet freedom now.

Check out Save the Internet for more information and to sign the petition.

WordPress 2.1.2 Released

Originally posted on March 2, 2007 @ 11:56 am

Heads up WordPress users, moments ago WordPress 2.1.2 was released.

It’s highly recommended for anyone running 2.1.1, or if you know someone who is, they should upgrade to 2.1.2 as soon as possible.

It’s now available for download on the official WordPress download page.

To find out why this is a very important release, check out the WordPress Development blog.

Do Scrapers Steal Your Content Too?

Originally posted on February 19, 2007 @ 7:45 pm

Editor’s note: Upon requests by MR. Elliott Back and out of a strong sense of propriety, we have edited this post to remove the strong accusations of scraping against Mr. Back. While the automatic RSS-pulling WordPress plugin was a creation of Mr. Back, the scraper sites are, in fact, not his own, but are run by unscrupulous individuals using what is considered an abuse of the aforementioned software. Phrases in brackets are edited.

While checking my moderated comments and Akismet section today, I noticed that [certain scraper sites are] using my content and earning money on [t]his site with Google Ad Sense. I think that’s called theft.

What gets me is on his own site footer in huge letters, it reads “Don’t steal”.

Another funny thing is he’s even copying my legal disclaimer which reads “If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement.”

Be sure to check his various blogs as he might be stealing from you too.

This is not the first time [content scrapers have] done this to me… but I am not going to just sit and watch anymore.

If this guy is doing the same to you, I’d like to hear about it. This crap needs to stop.

Girl Scouts Selling Cookies On MySpace

Originally posted on February 19, 2007 @ 9:36 am

Girl Scout Cookies are an icon of American culture.

They’re also the backbone of the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the leading entrepreneurial program for girls.

Girl Scouts of America

The Girl Scouts of America built a site on MySpace to sell cookies.

That’s all fine and dandy, just don’t let the scouts themselves anywhere near the site.

We need to keep some innocence in America don’t you think? Especially with the Girl Scouts.

I also prefer going to my local super market when the time comes to buy Girl Scout cookies… to help support the local troops in my area… again, this is part of American culture, wouldn’t you agree?

Google Valentine Logo Mystery Solved

Originally posted on February 14, 2007 @ 1:11 pm

Thanks to Jon over at the Wizard Is Hungry blog, the mystery behind the Google Valentine logo is now solved.

The logo is a reference to Debbie Googe from the band My Bloody Valentine.

According to the official Google blog:

When you look at the logo, you may worry that we forgot our name overnight, skipped a letter, or have decided that “Googe” has a better ring to it. None of the above. I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately. And if you’re feeling grouchy today, may I suggest eating a strawberry.

Now when I did my post last night at 10:23 PM and also this morning at 7:21 AM, the Google blog had not been updated with the hints to the mystery behind the logo.

Thanks Jon for the heads up.