bookmark_borderOpenOffice Virus

Just saw this in an email from ZDNet News:

Stardust virus lands on OpenOffice

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab have spotted what they believe is the first virus for OpenOffice, the open-source rival to Microsoft’s Office productivity suite.

The virus, dubbed Stardust, is capable of infecting OpenOffice and StarOffice, which is sold by Sun Microsystems, a Kaspersky Lab researcher wrote on the Russian company’s Viruslist Web site on Tuesday.

“Stardust is a macro virus written for StarOffice, the first one I’ve seen,” the researcher wrote. “Macro viruses usually infect MS Office applications.”

full article

I use OpenOffice.org and love it. It is a wonderful program. I can save and open MSWord documents, PDF files, Excel and Powerpoint documents. I think it is a good thing that someone wrote a virus for it. Kinda like when Mac had their first.

bookmark_borderNew Project

I started a new project yesterday: The Mother Tree. Kinda cool so far. I wrote 1740 words just straight out. I have no clue where it is going. But that’s what I like about most of my writing.

2% of 90K
Mother Tree

bookmark_borderI Can’t Get No Motivation

Sing along with me:

    I can’t get no motivation
    I can’t get no plot reaction
    So I try
    and I try
    and I try
    and I try
    I get get no (du duh duh du du) motivation

Okay, so, well, apologies to the Stones.

I do write a little every day. On average only about 300 words. The other day I word warred with Sophia and managed to get just under 700. I think what I need is a totally new idea. Not related at all to one of my other projects. Maybe I should get serious about my perpetually researched SF. Or think of another Fantasy I could do.

I’m considering getting a tattoo (shhh! don’t tell Mom!). I have been running ideas about it through my head. The image I will get, not the process, I mean.

Two versions of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. It is also known as The World Tree. The Maori say it is guarded by Tane. The version on the right is popular with jewelry and is considered Celtic. Trees have played an important part in human history and folklore.

I’ll most likely get the one on the right since it is simpler. I would love the one on the left but with out the colored parts between the trees. At any rate, I’ve got some things running through my head about it.

In my fantasy project, the chestnut tree is an important part of the story. Yggdrasil is an ash tree and we have three ash in our front yard, one of which we call The Old Man. Piers Anthony wrote a book called The Shade of the Tree and is well worth reading. Allen Dean Foster wrote an excellent scene in one of the Catalyst (?) books about a tree.

Okay, the brain is kicking into the right gear. Later!

bookmark_borderNew Resource

I got an email today asking me to link to a writer’s resource. I checked it out and liked it so I will.

Online Utility is, in their words, “a collection of various web tools”.

On this site you can find some extraordinary good tools and utilities for :

* Analyze words, sentences and structure of any texts
* Understand English texts
* Write easily readable English texts
* Perform mathematic calculation (even very powerful!)
* Convert various measurement units
* Webmasters can get keyword suggestions for English language sites
* Convert images from one format to another
* And much more!

It is their text tools that are writer related. There’s the Analyzer (finds the most frequent phrases and frequency of words from text page), Frequent Words (finds words by frequency from text or web site.), and the Misspellizer (Autoamticyl create spellnig mistakes). Have fun and let me know what you think.

bookmark_borderIn a BIG Nutshell…

Okay, here goes. (some of this I mentioned yesterday)

Barbara Bauer promotes herself as an agent. She is also listed on the 20 Worst Agents List. Writer Beware (part of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association) compiled the list based on the number of complaints received but is presented in alphabetical order. Absolute Write (a writer resource/forum) posted the list as well. So did Miss Snark, so did I, so did countless other writers/bloggers.

I receive an email from Barbara Bauer, telling me I must take down the list.

Making Light hears of other Barbara Bauer moves, including my post of her email, and a discussion begins there (if one did not already exist).

Barbara Bauer allegedly called Absolute Write’s site host and manages to get the host to shut down their site. This shut down has resulted in an internet explosion of the 20 Worst Agent List as well as Barbara Bauer’s actions. Making Light has posted about the site’s shut down and is mentally (and perhaps other ways) supporting Absolute Write until they can get their site back up.

Okay, there. I think that is it. There is a crap load more but I wanted to keep this to a nutshell.

Absolute Write believes it has everything, including the database, and will re-open the site soon. Meanwhile, lawyers have gotten involved which, in this case, is a good thing. For more details including a kind of soap opera like series of events, go to the Making Light post: Absolute Write is gone

Links:

Miss Snark:

Sophia’s post
Rambling Prose’s post

Writer Beware
20 Worst Agents List

bookmark_border20 Worst Agents Revisited

Okay. As Rambling Prose said, Barbara Bauer could have just sat back and let folks forget about the list. Newbie writers are a dime a dozen and many of them don’t know bad agents are out there. But no, she just keeps opening her mouth and proving them right.

For a background, I have two prior posts about this:
Bad Agent, No Cookie
Silly Agent

Basically the first post was about the Top 20 Worst Agents. The second post is about Barbara Bauer sending me an email, demanding I delete the other post. Ha.

I’ve just learned that Bauer somehow managed to kinda sorta shut down Absolute Write, a writer resource site with a huge forum.

I surfed over to Miss Snark’s blog where of course she has posted about Bauer. I did what Miss Snark did. I even followed a few links. I found some folk who actually lists Bauer as her agent, but, you guessed it, nothing sold.

If Bauer’s goal was to get some attention, she’s got it. Will it get her any business? In a word? Hell no.

bookmark_borderLetter to the “Pets”

Dear Pets:

When I say to move, it means to go someplace else, not switch positions with each other so there are still two of you in the way.

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The hallway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn’t help, because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king size bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort.

Look at videos of dogs and cats sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing but sarcasm.

My compact discs are not miniature Frisbees.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, try to turn the knob, or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. When I exit this room, I will come out the same door I entered. In addition, I have been using bathrooms for years. Canine/Feline attendance has never been necessary.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other animal or your butt. I cannot stress this enough. It would be such a simple change for you.

In return for your following these simple rules, I have posted the following message on our front door:

Our Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit and Like
to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don’t.

2. If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.

3. I like my pet a lot better than I like most people.

4. To you, it’s an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn’t speak clearly.

5. Dogs and cats are better than kids. They eat less, don’t ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don’t hang out with drug-using friends, don’t smoke or drink, don’t worry about buying the latest fashions, don’t wear your clothes, don’t need a gazillion dollars for college, and if they get pregnant, you can sell the results.

plagiarized stolen borrowed from mad_spinster over at WheelchairJunkie.com

bookmark_borderCyborg is now?

From Wired News:

Brain Waves Make Robot Move

TOKYO — Japanese automaker Honda has developed technology that uses brain signals to control a robot’s moves, hoping to someday link a person’s thoughts with machines in everyday life.

In the future, the technology that Honda Motor researched with ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories may substitute for a keyboard or cell phone or help people with spinal injuries move their limbs, researchers said Wednesday.

In a video demonstration in Tokyo, patterns of the changes in the brain taken by an MRI machine, like those used in hospitals, were relayed to a robotic hand.

A person in the MRI machine made a fist, spread his fingers and then made a V sign. Several seconds later, the robotic hand made the same movements. Further research would be needed to decode more complex movements.

The machine for reading the brain patterns would also have to become smaller and lighter — like a cap that people can wear as they move about, said ATR researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani.

full article

bookmark_borderImages

I’ve solved several problems at once.

  1. I’ve made the images more accessible. (current image section)
  2. I’ve found a way to clean up my database.
  3. I’ve found a way to organize images.

I’ve installed the Gallery 2” program. It allows me to put images in albums. So far, its a bitch to set up but once it is done, it will be done! Oh, and you can put images in your “cart” to download as a zip file or to print via Shutterfly.

Image Gallery

I invite any advice or opinions on this endeavor.