Did you know that its possible to track over 600 websites for new information by simply signing up for a free google account with google
reader.google.com? If you already have a google account such as mail.google.com or any other google service you are ready to go as one google signup is all you need for all google services.

http://www.google.com/reader/view/

Google Reader is by far the biggest and fastest growing RSS subscription service.

If you have broadband, here is a link to a site that has a video of Robert Scoble using google reader to monitor over 600 web sites for new information and the video will help you understand what its all about.

Link: http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2007/06/04/scoble-video-tracking-rss-feeds/

Did you know that the Frederick County Govt website has an RSS subscription service?

Did you know the News Post has RSS for their forums and for all their news stories?

Did you know you can read the FNP before it hits your doorstep by using RSS feeds (subscriptions) on their site? And its free and without advertisements!

Did you know that you can make your own RSS subscription by using Google news and search for a word or phrase that you are interested in.

For example you could put the words “kai hagen” or “Jan gardner” in google news ( just an example Kai
Go to http://news.google.com/ and type the words kai hagen,
click “search news” and then right click on “RSS” on the lower left side of the page and choose “copy link” and add (paste) that resulting link to google reader subscription box. Click on the word “add”. Every new hit on the phrase “kai hagen” or “jan gardner” would be delivered to you automatically in reader without going to google to search.

Below is the resulting “kai hagen” RSS feed to subscribe to in google reader: On the google reader page, just click “add subscription” and then copy and paste the link below in the subscription box, click on “add” and you have your first subscription!!

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=kai+hagen&ie=UTF-8&output=rss

I use the words Thurmont, Emmitsburg, Taneytown, Gettysburg, Brunswick, Frederick city, Frederick county, as news terms in Google News and copy and paste the resulting RSS link into google reader subscription box and I get a “river of news” about all mentions of those towns anywhere in the world!

The best use of google reader personally is using the RSS feeds of blogs (weB logs) to monitor for new posts (articles) on that blog without having to go to that blog site each time I want to check. The blog is checked automatically for me.
Here is an example of a blog to monitor

http://frederickmarylandonline.com/

Google Reader just try it! Its easy.

For more information my email contactify account is:

http://contactify.com/10012

I just downloaded itunes 7.2 which will allow purchase of individual tracks of music for $1.29 which will as Playlist says:
“Apple is calling the new music “iTunes Plus,” and plans to offer it alongside the FairPlay-encrypted AAC files it has offered for some time through the iTunes Store. “iTunes Plus” files cost a bit more — $1.29 per track, versus the $0.99 per track for protected files — but have been encoded at a higher bit rate, 256Kbps AAC, instead of 128Kbps AAC, which should yield better audio fidelity.”
I owned one of the first ipods with a 10Gb hard drive. It was about the size of a pack of cigarettes. When I first got it when I would show it to friends and others I would amaze them with the comment’s like “this little box holds 1700 songs” Or ” it contains radio programs”. They would look startled and amazed. It wasn’t until 3 or 4 years later that folks began to “get” it and the ipod took off.
Read the rest of the Playlist article

Here is a link to a site that discusses the use of MacBook Pro MBP for security issues at work in mixed and mono culture computer environments. One telling commentator said paraphrasing , its not the computer thats the secturity issue its the user.

Read it for an eye opening take on MBP and security.

Here is a new article on a County Commissioner Blog
from North Carolina, just caught by my google.com/reader.
Link:to site
Perhaps Frederick County Commissioners could have their own personal blogs using wordpress.com? The blog would be easy to maintain by simply copying and pasting their comments that they place on the Kai Hagen site to their blog. One possible commissioner blog name would be as an example; www.khagen.wordpress.com.
Commissioners posting to a personal blog might interest more folks to sign up for access to kaihagen.com/caucus.html to read the give and take and the debates on hot button issues.

The RSS online application www.google.com/reader is really getting much better. It enables monitoring web sites for new info without using bookmarks or obsessively refreshing to check for the latest news on that web site. (even Frederick county govt and FNP forums have RSS) The news info just flows via google reader aggregating it for me.
If you are not using google reader(online) or another RSS application(desktop) such as Netnewswire lite (its free) or my favorite which costs $18 is Newsfire. (For mac only.)
But since google.com/reader has improved so much I find I use Newsfire less and less. I was able to export all my subscriptions in Newsfire to google reader with no problems.

How to use RSS. Tutorial with video links:
http://emmitsburg.wordpress.com/2007/04/08/you-must-use-rss/
http://emmitsburg.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/you-must-use-rss-part-2/

Perhaps I am preaching to the choir here but I had to try out this new feature just added to google reader, which makes it so easy to email an interesting “catch” that my reader just caught, to friends who might be interested in that article.

If you want more info or help with either setting up a wordpress blog or using google.com/reader email me at
www.contactify.com/10012

Apple Computer partnership was formed April 1, 1976 and was incorporated in January 1977 after having sold 200 handbuilt Apple I’s.
The Apple I’s were “some assembly required” so the beginning of a true all in one, ready to use computer was the Apple II which was introduced April 16, 1977. To mark these milestones the Frederick Apple Core is having at their regular meeting April 14th, 2007 an expo of vintage Apple products, some rather rare, for the public to view. Everyone is welcome to attend. Link to site directions and other information. Pictures of meetings.

Bob and other readers of the PC Mac forum on Kaihagen.com/forums.html
Great advice and yes so many stories of PC (windows) users switching and are very happy they did.
Of course now if they want to they can use Parallels on the Mac to switch back to XP or now even Vista but as I read yesterday someone said “but why would they want to do that?” Maybe to play a game. “If you have work to do get a Mac, if you want to play get a PC”

I have opened an Apple store account and have used it to buy my 2 macs since OS X became standard. Yes they charge “list” but the “mother ship” has great service.
Macally.com and OWC.com are two apple sites to check out also.

Yes email the other members listed on the info page of frederickapple.com. They have great ideas and help.

If you come early to the FAC meeting April 14th you can get help and advice. Also the meeting is a “celebration” of the 30th Anniversary of Apple Computer incorporation (April 1, 1977) with vintage apple products on display. Fun!! I wish I had kept my Apple 2C and my Apple IIe and my Mac Plus and my Mac SE and my SE 30 …… oh well my wife said “clean up” and I am glad I did except for occasions like this meeting.

You may email me at oj dot martin at yahoo dot com for answers to your questions or if I can’t email some other FAC members.

Yahoo is my newest web email address and my first use of Yahoo email and I would am trying it out as Yahoo is trying some new uses for email account holders and developers.

This just in: mac360.com has a great article on various browsers for the Mac.

Various tidbits:

1. Blogging Mayor Bill Gentes bgentes@eroundlake.com of Roundlake sent me this power point slide show (link below) about blogging and public officials.

2. Yahoo just announced free unlimited email storage coming soon.

3. The best photo site IMO is flickr.com which requires a yahoo account. See flickr.com/photos/tags/emmitsburg and click on the word “map” to see the geo location of the photos.

You can post photos for free up to a limit and then buy a pro account if you need more storage.

4. Open Office is a free Microsoft Office replacement. Open Office Files are interchangeable with Microsoft Office.

5. NeoOffice is Macintosh optimized Open Office and free and a new version is out and files are compatible, interchangeable files with Microsoft Office.

6. If you want to see an impassioned discussions, all related to Frederick County issues go to kaihagen.com/caucus.html

to sign up using your real name. See what Mayor Burns of Thurmont is writing.

Originally I was very excited to use Firefox. I would tell every Internet Explorer user to change immediately as firefox was so much better. Clean simple and it had tabs which IE only added recently after a 5 year development upgrade from IE 6 to IE 7.

Safari has spell check in the menu bar select (click) “edit” drop down to “spelling” and then choose from the three options. I like ‘check spelling as you type’ which underlines in red the word mispeled

For just starting to get acquainted with a mac I suggest trying out the mac just as it came out of the box.

Here are two hints for using a scroll mouse. 1. Right click on some word that is misspelled and up pops possible spellings. I now am so spoiled by right clicking on almost anything for spelling that my brain spelling is getting rusty! Right clicking also brings up all kinds of commands that provide shortcuts to useful actions. When in doubt right click on it.

2. If you have “older eyes” try this: hold down the ‘control’ key and operate the scroll wheel on the mouse forward and back. Enjoy!

Bonus: You want the definition of a word. Hover the mouse cursor over the word; then hold down the ‘control’ key and the cmd key AT THE SAME TIME keeping them both pressed down then press and let go the ‘D’ key and up will pop the definition!!

Bounus number 2: This is neat; keeping the cmd and control key down and moving the cursor over the words in what you are reading and each definition will pop up as you move the mouse cursor over each word.