I just had a perfect example of Open Source goodness. I needed to tweak how the date was displaying in a web application I downloaded and installed on a different web site I’m helping set up. A couple minutes grepping the source code and I found the command to display the date. Three keystrokes later, the site was tweaked. Perfect.

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I am a webmaster. I create (occasionally) and maintain (frequently) web sites for a living and for a hobby. So I have and use lots of different web browsers. After all, what webmaster hasn’t been hit by a browser rendering a page differently than other browsers? This means I have to sometimes look at the source code of the page I’m looking at. So instead of going to the View menu and looking for Source (which is always in a different location), I hit the keystroke. The problem is the keystrokes are different in each browser.

• Safari 2.0 (Tiger): Option-Apple-U
• Safari 1.x (Panther): Option-Apple-V (I think)
• Firefox 1.06: Apple-U
• Mozilla 1.7.8: Apple-U
• Netscape 7.2: Apple-U
• Camino 0.8.4: Option-Apple-V
• OmniWeb 5.1.1: Shift-Apple-V
• Opera 8: Apple-F3
• Opera 7.54: Apple-F3
• MS IE 5.23: Apple-E

Some consistency would be very useful.

I am experimenting with a very nice blog system, WordPress. I am using it to manage a project of my wife’s, ShowBizRadio.net. Right now I’m learning all about how the template system works. Somewhere it seems like I have dropped a [/div] tag, so subpages are badly broken.

Email very very similar to the AppleLot.com spam I reported on August 7th has been arriving today from BixBlox.com, LakeTreeBlue.com and PakPack.com. Their IP addresses were 38.117.23.122, 38.117.23.125 and 38.117.23.126. But they’ve wised up a bit, they did not set up reverse DNS for their IP addresses. So for now, I’ve blocked all addresses from 38.117.23.120 through 38.117.23.129. Hopefully that will not hit any innocent bystanders. Reports have been filed with the owner of the IP addresses, Performance Systems International Inc.

Also, the email contains an opt-out mail to debtsolutionsfoundation.com, at 64.89.31.198.

Is your computer really your computer? Can you do what you want with it? Can your PC that came with MS Windows be changed to run Linux? That book on your shelf, can you give it to a friend? Can you look inside your car’s engine and fix a problem? Can you use non-Honda parts in your Honda car? Read this essay: The Right to Read. All of the things in that essay are slowly happening.

This is the coolest piece of software. WebDevAdditions for Safari. It allows you to more easily see how your html code is rendering. Table cells, paragraphs, divisions, each can have a box outlining that area of the page. Very cool.

Email from the spammers at AppleLot.com has been blocked. They also use BallSong.com. IP addresses of their mail servers include: 65.19.166.102 65.19.166.103 65.19.166.101 65.19.166.104 65.19.166.99 . Gee, notice a pattern? Try visting one of those IP addresses in your web browser. Or visit applelot.com, or ballsong.com. The page is the same, except for the few places where the server puts the name of the site you’re trying to visit. Total illegal spam. Also note IP addresses outside of the ones I’ve actually received mail from:

65.19.166.100 applelot.com
65.19.166.101 applelot.com
65.19.166.102 applelot.com
65.19.166.103 applelot.com
65.19.166.104 applelot.com
65.19.166.105 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.106 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.107 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.108 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.109 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.110 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.111 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.112 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.113 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.114 matlit.com
65.19.166.115 matlit.com
65.19.166.116 matlit.com
65.19.166.117 matlit.com
65.19.166.118 matlit.com
65.19.166.119 matlit.com
65.19.166.120 matlit.com
65.19.166.121 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.122 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.123 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.124 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.125 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.126 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.80 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.81 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.82 dealcon.com
65.19.166.83 dealcon.com
65.19.166.84 dealcon.com
65.19.166.85 dealcon.com
65.19.166.86 dealcon.com
65.19.166.87 dealcon.com
65.19.166.88 dealcon.com
65.19.166.89 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.90 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.91 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.92 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.93 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.94 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.95 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.96 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.97 palmtreedaily.com
65.19.166.98 applelot.com
65.19.166.99 applelot.com

Also note their physical mailing address: 295 Greenwich St. #393; New York, NY 10007. Someone needs to start up a blacklist based on where the spammer’s offices are.

I’ve reported these losers to their host, or at least to the owner of the IP
block: Hurricane Electric.