TipMonkies » 2007

How Do You Pronouce Linux?

Submitted on July 26th, 2007 by admin
Filed under Linux
No. of comments (3)

Why do I wonder about this stuff?

Most people agree that several accepted pronunciations exist…

Lin-nicks
Line-icks
Lean-oocks

The author of linux Linus Torvalds prounounces it this way.

I have always said “lin-nicks” as I related it to “you-nicks” (unix).

How do you say it?

ILoveIM - Web Based IM Option

Submitted on July 25th, 2007 by admin
Filed under Reviews
No. of comments Comments Off

For my web-based IM needs, Meebo is still my favorite; however, tonight I decided to take a look at ILoveIM. Meebo is frequently blocked by network firewalls, but ILoveIM is small enough that it is often spared.

ILoveIM is truly web-based and does not require java or flash. It allows access to MSN, Yahoo, AOL, and gTalk. It is very stable on a broad selection of web browsers.

When communicating with a contact, a seperate, resizable window opens to mimic a traditional IM program. At the bottom of this window is a banner advertisement.

This service does not use a secure http connection so your username/password could be snagged by man-in-the-middle techniques.

If more secure services are blocked, then ILoveIM is a fine option. Consider using a temporary account or frequent password changes if you are worried that somebody might want to hijack your account.

Do you recommend any other web-based IM clients?

Quick Twitter to Cellular Tutorial

Submitted on July 15th, 2007 by admin
Filed under Social Networks
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Twitter is a web service that allows you to post super short messages. People typically use it to update their social circle about what they are actively doing. By integrating this with your mobile phone, you can always know what your friends are doing and they can always keep up with you.

After setting up an account, go to http://twitter.com/devices and setup your cell phone. Once you setup your number, you need to validate by sending the provided code to twitter’s number 40404. Sending an SMS to 40404 will be the way you communicate with twitter with your cell phone for now on.

View your friends’ accounts on twitter and add them as friends. To them, you will be listed as a follower. You will receive any of their updates via SMS to your cell phone. If they wish to receive your updates, they will need to add you as a friend as well.

Two common commands are use in chatting on twitter through SMS.

The “at” symbol or @ publicly directs a message to somebody else on twitter. Its format is the following: @ name message

For example, I responded to one of qmchenry’s updates with a laugh: @qmchenry LOL. Such a post would be shown publicly on my twitter page.

The “d” command sends a private message to one of your friends. Its format is familiar: d name message.

For example, if I wanted to send a private message to my buddy, I would do the following: d qmchenry This is a private message.

If you are getting overwhelmed with twitter messages, you can turn them off by texting “off” to 40404. You can turn them back on by texting “on” as well. You can also turn off twitter updates automatically through the notifications area of twitter.

Several twitter bots are starting to be released. Once you add them as friends, you can direct message these bots to receive information. For example…

Stocks -

d stocks stocksymbol
For example d stocks aapl would respond with information on apple’s stocks

Forecast -

d forecast city, state or d forecast zipcode
For example, d forecast 27713 provides weather forecast for Durham, NC

I can be found on twitter here: http://twitter.com/davak/

Tech-Recipes (hearts) TipMonkies (hearts) You.

Submitted on July 13th, 2007 by admin
Filed under Announcements
No. of comments (11)

I think I am safe in saying that TipMonkies is a great website that recently has been fading away. Looking at the stats, it appears that many of you, like me, have continued to visit on a daily basis and stay subscribed to the RSS feeds.

As one of the editors/founders of tech-recipes, I approached Martin and asked if we could take over the site to try to shock it back to life. Recently starting a new job and moving to NYC, Martin no longer has the energy to drive the site forward. Hopefully we can help. Martin wants to continue to contribute to this project, and we hope that he does so.

I have always enjoyed TipMonkies, and it pains me to see it failing to thrive.

Other than to develop content, what can I do to bring TipMonkies back to its original form and glory? I’ll get out free shirts to the best suggestions (be sure to leave a real email address in the email field).

At least on tech-recipes, we have continue to grow through user-submitted content. If you want to contribute to this project, please mention it in the comments. I would like to use all the ad money obtained from this project to reward users who submit content. I think that is only fair–especially during this time of rebuilding.

I look forward to your responses and appreciate your continued support of this project.

Davak

Why CSS Float is Sometimes Unpredictable

Submitted on July 12th, 2007 by admin
Filed under Browsers
No. of comments Comments Off

In tweaking things around here in TipMonkies land, I have been ironing out some odd css float issues.

One of the issues I never realized is that floating a div without a set width can have unpredictable results. Just setting a width will correct most of the float issues. Firefox, not surprisingly, renders css float more intutitively; however, setting the width will insure that your pages render correctly across all browser platforms.

Now many of you may call BS and say that you float things without widths all the time. This is because float without a set width will work correctly if you are floating an image–which is its most common usage. Browsers realize that an image has a width and renders as one expects. However, a div full of text (or js script output) can be rendered many different ways. Setting the width in this case will allow rendering to be uniform and predictable.

WP: KeyBoard Shortcuts

Submitted on July 1st, 2007 by admin
Filed under Blogging
No. of comments (50)

These are shortcuts you can use in the wordpress post editor.

Alt+SHIFT+b

Alt+SHIFT+i

Alt+SHIFT+a

Alt+SHIFT+q

Alt+SHIFT+c

Alt+SHIFT+t

Unordered List (ul): Alt+SHIFT+u
Ordered List (ol): Alt+SHIFT+o
List Item (li): Alt+SHIFT+l

At least in some browsers, the shortcuts may not work exactly like the menu buttons above the edit box. For example, the menu buttons will correctly wrap tags around a highlighted text selection. The shortcuts frequently do not.