Okay, this is seriously ill... I it

The lolcode language (wiki) is one of those new silly esoteric languages... and now somebody is writing a dotNET compiler for it!

Including debugging support and everything - now is this twisted or what?

Prism, which is based on (or used to be called?) WebRunner is basically a tool for making a simplified standalone program which is basically a web browser (FireFox) locked to a specific website or service, with a simplified user interface.

It has some interesting possibilities from a developer's standpoint.  Coders have actually been able to build applications out of the mozilla framework, including the browser component, for a long time.. But this seems to be on a course to streamline that process.

My only real concern is the huge memory footprint of firefox and startup time, etc.

Mozilla Labs is launching a series of experiments to bridge the divide in the user experience between web applications and desktop apps and to explore new usability models as the line between traditional desktop and new web applications continues to blur.

Unlike Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight, we’re not building a proprietary platform to replace the web. We think the web is a powerful and open platform for this sort of innovation, so our goal is to identify and facilitate the development of enhancements that bring the advantages of desktop apps to the web platform.

The first of these experiments is based on Webrunner, which we’ve moved into the Mozilla Labs code repository and renamed to Prism.

http://labs.mozilla.com/2007/10/prism/

Martin over at ghacks has a blog post up today about a tool that can scan (spider) a website and look for any pages that might be displaying your email address.

This can be useful to help you figure out if a forum is somehow showing your email when you post, etc.

But it got me thinking..

People always wonder if a site like DC, which tries hard to encourage people to sign up at our forum and newsletter, is actually doing this in order to collect emails to sell to spammers, etc.  I can say (and do on various pages on the site) unequivocally that this is something we don't do, will never do, and take very seriously.  We don't share the emails of our members with anyone, ever, for any reason.

But how do you know? And what about other sites?

What would be good is a website whose only purpose was to register at other websites, using a UNIQUE email address given ONLY to that website, and then monitored and reported if that email was ever used in any email(spam) from someone OTHER than the original website.

So for example the website would have a chart that looked like this:

Original Website Where Email Address was Submitted	This Email Subsequently Received Spam From	Date of First/Last Foreign Spam
MyFaceSpace dot com	SellYourHomeForFiveDollars dot com, civigrathemagicmedecine dot com	Jan 2004 / Dec 2009

This would be a site that people could visit to check to see whether a website was selling email addresses of its users and could be really helpful.

Tom Colvin, who is a member at DC and runs his own great blog has made a post recommending this blog on self-publishing.

Quoting Tom:

I’ve been following her blog, dipping in several times a week. Yes, she’s definitely opinionated. She also really knows what she’s talking about. For example, look at her post Top 6 PODS Author Solutions Should Acquire Next . The blogger provides details about the publishers on her list that are not easy to come by — and they provide unusual insight into the business.While most blogs about writing drift from topic to topic, this one is sharply focussed on a topic that any writer who wants to have a book published should follow. It’s one of a small handful of writer’s blog that I consider a MUST-READ.

From the site itself:

I am very opinionated about print-on-demand and self-publishing, and since every opinionated person I know has a blog, I figured I had better start one, too. No use wasting my opinions just on myself, right? That’s like making a delicious, six-course meal just for me and my cat.

 I should also mention that I have had personal dealings with nearly every publisher I am going to discuss, including (in no particular order): Author House, iUniverse, Lulu, Cafe Press, Outskirts Press, Xlibris, Create Space, Tate, Publish America, etc.  So let my experience be your guide… or, you know, whatever.

http://poddymouth.wordpress.com/

I keep waiting for the LCD picture frames to come down in price and go up in functionality, to the point where i'll want one in every room.

I'm still going to wait until we have a nice open source API that will let us display arbitrary stuff on these things and touch screen support.  Then we can use them as music visualizers, remote controls, remote movie watching, etc.

But we're starting to get closer now that they are supporting wi-fi and the ability to show additional information and grab pictures from sites like flickr, etc.  If you are a flickr fiend or otherwise love sharing pictures with friends, it may finally be time to invest in one of these guys.

The eStarling 2.0 Wi-Fi Photo Frame takes this concept to the next level by connecting to your local Wi-Fi network and allowing you to send photos to it via e-mail or RSS photo feed.

With full web-based access you can control exactly the photos you want on your eStarling frame at any time from anywhere in the word. E-mail photos as .jpg attachments and they appear on your frame. Choose a Flickr photo feed with the keyword "cool japanese robots" and soon your frame will be scrolling through nifty shots of highly desirable bots you will never get your hands on. New Photobucket integration allows you to add photos into rotation on your eStarling frame directly from the Photobucket website. You can of course send photos while on the go from your mobile phone, while your pets watch your exciting antics remotely on the eStarling. Hand the eStarling Photo Frame over to a non-technical relative (Who has Wi-Fi in their house of course. What... they don't? You're a geek. Set it up!) and rule with an iron-fist over exactly what photos your Grannie views.

http://www.thinkgeek...ronics/cameras/94a5/

This would actually be useful if they had a driver that would send a customizable signal to the pc that you could program to actually DO something when triggered.. But still it seems like this would be fun at the office..

The secret to the USB Doomsday Device is very simple - it has three levels of failsafe protection. In order to arm the Device, you first need to activate switch one. Then, you need to activate switch two. Then (and stay with us here, because this is where it gets a little crazy), you need to activate switch three. Switch three is a key switch, and only authorized personnel should have a copy of the key. Once all three switches are turned on (in order) the Main light will glow red. This means the Device is armed and very dangerous.

All that is left to do is flip back the plastic shield and press the red button for an explosive sound effect. But what really happens when you press the button? We're not sure. Perhaps 15 kittens explode; perhaps your bank account lowers by a fraction of a cent; perhaps you start an interplanetary war trillions of parsecs away by blowing up the caravan of Queen Knorb'l. But one thing is clear - before pushing the button, you must ask yourself, "Do I feel lucky, punk? Well...do I?" Because, who knows, the explosion you hear from the USB Doomsday Device might just be the sound of your brain vaporizing.

http://www.thinkgeek...ng/accessories/9116/