Archive for May 2004

Blogging tools can be used for more than just blogging or keeping an online journal / diary. People use them to manage their sites because they’re less complex than the full-fledged Content Management Systems (CMS). Plus, they’re cheaper and the people using these tools are using them for their personal or small business sites.

Movable Type (MT) is a blogging tool that I’ve been using on my site for several years. This is not a review of which software is the best, but on the book’s usefulness in getting a person up to speed on MT. On that note, the authors do a first-rate job of helping the reader learn how to use MT.

As a person who is experienced in using MT, it provides me with a few tips and tricks I hadn’t considered. Since I’m self-taught, I missed a few steps. Besides, there are many things you can do with MT especially when adding plug-ins.

For the person who has never touched a blog or MT in particular, the authors start at the beginning and keep things simple. Realistically, how do you write a book that meets the needs of the experienced while introducing the new users to the software? Experienced users will probably skip the first few chapters where it covers installation and setting up a blog. But the rest covering templates, plug-ins, managing archives, and adding features will more than provide enough to keep anyone busy.

Not only do the authors show how to use MT, but also they offer information on how to write and promote content. The book focuses on v2.x of MT. As I understand it, MT v3.0 doesn’t have major changes and much (if not all) of the book is still valuable. You could wait around for a v3.x book, but by the time it comes out the software will have upgraded. Blogging tools upgrade very frequently and I use seldom use the word “very.”

The MT online doc is one of the better blogging software documentation I’ve seen. The book offers accompanying pictures and additional information not found in the help doc. If you like getting all of your information in one place accompanied with visual aids, this is sure to please.

VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Teach Yourself Movable Type in 24 Hours
AUTHOR: Molly Holzschlag and Porter Glendinning
PUBLISHER: Sams
PUBLICATION DATE: May 2004
ISBN: 067232590X
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 448
PRICE: US$29.99

http://www.redstroke.com/errorcodes/404.html

http://alice.port5.com/404.html

http://www.jensantarelli.com/error.html

http://www.westerfield.net/index.html?keyword=404Error

http://www.gpf-comics.com/notHere.htm

http://www.librarian.net/notHere.html

Plagiarist to sue university is pitiful. Though the Internet can open doors for students, it also opens doors for plagiarism as I’ve witnessed as a teacher’s assistant at a major university. It’s unbelievable. [ Link Nico ]

I wish Christine and Mike all the best on their special wedding weekend. Here’s to many, many years of happiness and memories.

breakout 404 page [ Thanks, Rudy ]

Continuing on with our apostrophe lesson (it’s a learning experience for me, too). Individual and joint possession is another point of confusion. Let’s say my parents invite my family for dinner. Yes, my mom is sweet that way. Do we say, “We’re going to dinner at Mom and Dad’s house?” or do we say, “We’re going to dinner at Mom’s and Dad’s house?” It’d be easier to chuck the Mom and Dad deal for “parents,” but we must learn the hard way because not all situations are possible to shrink into one word.

Because Mom and Dad own the house together, the apostrophe need only appear once and on the last word. So, “We’re going to dinner at Mom and Dad’s house” is the correct way.

If the item is individually owned, then each owner earns his own apostrophe. When both of my older kids got in trouble, we took away each of their Gameboys. In other words, each one had one. There are two Gameboys in this picture. Thus, “I have my daughter’s and son’s Gameboys.” If they shared one Gameboy, then you would drop the ‘s off daughter. But that would never happen because they’d fight over sharing one and we’d take it away forever.

We only have one Gameboy because someone got too mad and slammed it. The screen broke. Actually, we have two because Mom has one, but no sharing. I forgot what I learned in kindergarten about sharing the minute I became a mom <grin>

Vicky Kirby of Austin College writes, “I just read your review of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, which I quite enjoyed. I can be quite a grammar and punctuation stickler myself. However, I have a question for you. In the book, there is much ado about the need for an apostrophe in Two Weeks’ Notice. I disagree.

“There is no possession implied and it would be correct to have a title of One Week Notice with no punctuation. This has gone around in my head since I read that portion of the book. Am I missing something? I believe the movie title Two Weeks Notice is correct with no additional punctuation.”

Vicky is right in that this is a tough one to figure out. Even I have a hard time trying to understand it like a logical math problem. For many grammar rules, I’m able to translate it from a foreign language into English… but not this one. One week’s vacation, two week’s pay, and three days’ work are correct and sound wonderful after working 12-hour days for the past four days.

The AP Stylebook says these are quasi possessives, but it would be better to use a hyphenated for: a one-week vacation, two-week pay, and three-day work.

To make it more difficult, we don’t use an apostrophe in descriptive phrases when a word is used in a descriptive sense: citizens band radio, a Texas Rangers pitcher, a writers guide. ?!?!

The stylebook provides a memory aid. It says:

The apostrophe is not used if for or by rather than of would be appropriate in the longer form: a radio band for citizens, a pticher for Texas Rangers, a guide for writers.

That’s not all…

An ‘s is required when a term involves a plural word that doesn’t end in s: a children’s hospital, a women’s organization.

This is too much thinking after four long shifts.

Tidewater Community College has a decent explanation:

Use the possesive form for the owner or possessor, not for the thing possessed. Note that a possessive noun functions as an adjective.

Grammar Goddess says:

It is idiomatic to use the possessive form with periods of time and statements of worth-three weeks’ notice, three dollars’ worth.

The final word, Lynne Truss is right. The movie title should be Two Weeks’ Notice or Two-Week Notice.

Literature for Children

Smash it and let it out of your system when you arrive at yet another Cannot Find Server page.

Spyware List provides a list of programs with spyware embedded into their files along with the version number, supplier, spyware info, and Web site.