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ContentWatch Redesigns

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ContentWatch has redesigned its website. The design is similar to their last one with some nice graphical improvements. The real reason I’m writing this is to point out what’s under the hood. For the first time, ContentWatch’s website is running on strict XHTML using CSS for both design and layout.

At the time of this writing I see 5 unescaped ampersands keeping the page from validating, but everything else looks great. I should mention that some of the inside pages haven’t been updated to the new tableless design yet, but I’m assuming they’re working on that.

Nice work, ContentWatch. Way to go!

Sloth

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I know I haven’t posted much around here. It’s so much easier to simply post a link on my sidebar than to write a full post, and I’ve become a bit lazy of late.

I really like what my friend Jordan did over at Swirlee.org. He simply gave up on full posts and made his links the featured content. I’m thinking about doing that myself, but I’m not quite ready to give up on blogging. We’ll see how things go for the next month or so.

Mozilla Firefox 1.5 RC1

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Firefox 1.5 Beta 2 has come and gone without a word from me. To catch you up, all but two of my fifteen extensions are working now: ReloadEvery and Wikipedia. Someone on my earlier post mentioned they had a working copy of ReloadEvery, but I may just end up removing it from my extension list. I’ve survived without it for this long. Anyway, I didn’t start this post to talk about Beta 2.

I’m excited to announce that Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1 is available! If no glaring bugs are found in the release candidate, it should become the live release within a week or two.

I haven’t found anything really new in RC1. It’s pretty much just a cleaned up version of Betas 1 and 2. In case you didn’t read my last post, the new features include an improved options panel, faster back and forward navigation, a slick new auto-updater, shiny new error pages, a new “clear private data” dialog, and drag-n-drop browser tabs. I’m excited for this to be coming out of beta so I can recommend it to all my friends. It really is a marked improvement over the 1.0.x series.

Word of Wisdom Promises

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In Sunday School today I stumbled across a familiar phrase in an unexpected place. I recognized the wording from the LDS scripture passage D&C 89:18, but here I was reading it in Proverbs 3:8: “It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”

In both places, it is given as a blessing coupled with a commandment. This spurred me on to a wider study of the Word of Wisdom1 and the promises it offers for obedience to its principles. As it happens, each of the Word of Wisdom promises can be found in the Bible with no apparent connection to any health regulations.

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  1. If this is unfamiliar to you, see the LDS Church’s official information regarding the Word of Wisdom at Mormon.org. You may also wish to read all of D&C 89, where the principle can be found in LDS scripture. [↩]

Which Bible Translation?

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An LDS co-worker and good friend recently asked me which translation of the Bible I prefer. I explained that I don’t really favor one translation. I trust the NASB and the ESV if I’m studying a topic and want the most accurate information, but when I’m reading straight through I prefer a more readable translation like the NLT.

I have 11 translations of the Bible on my Palm handheld, including the three I just mentioned and The Message, the HCSB, and the hot-off-the-presses TNIV. I also trust and enjoy reading the KJV from time to time. I consider myself blessed that I was raised reading it and am able to comprehend its archaic yet beautiful prose.

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Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1

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It’s been long enough that I’ve forgotten how fun it is to upgrade my browser. Sure, we’ve had the security updates, but there’ve really been no new features for almost a year.

Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 changes all that with a slew of new bells and whistles, including a super-simple “Clear Private Data” dialog, better popup blocking, drag and drop re-orderable tabs, quicker back and forward navigation, and a shiny new automatic update system.

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Blue Like Jazz

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Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

My wife and I recently read a book called Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller. It certainly ranks among the strangest books I’ve ever read, but that didn’t stop it from becoming one of my favorites. This is the kind of paradoxical book you hate reading but you can’t put down.

I’m not sure I can do justice to this book by merely describing it, so let me give you a few excerpts.

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New Secret Weapon

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Partly on the recommendation from a friend, and partly because I already knew what I had done was pretty drastic, I’ve decided to re-open commenting by unregistered users.

Instead, I’ve installed a new-fangled WordPress plugin called Spam Karma 2. It’s an extremely complex, but hopefully effective, spam management solution. I’ve already seen it eat several dozen spams, so I know it works. One of the things that sold me is that the author claims the program throws virtually no false-positives. We’ll see about that. Let me know if your comment gets eaten.

Self-registration is still enabled if you’re interested, and I’d recommend it since apparently Spam Karma goes easier on registered users.

New Secret Weapon

Posted on

Partly on the recommendation from a friend, and partly because I already knew what I had done was pretty drastic, I’ve decided to re-open commenting by unregistered users.

Instead, I’ve installed a new-fangled WordPress plugin called Spam Karma 2. It’s an extremely complex, but hopefully effective, spam management solution. I’ve already seen it eat several dozen spams, so I know it works. One of the things that sold me is that the author claims the program throws virtually no false-positives. We’ll see about that. Let me know if your comment gets eaten.

Self-registration is still enabled if you’re interested, and I’d recommend it since apparently Spam Karma goes easier on registered users.