The Sex Bible Review

Unless you don't mind getting dirty looks and getting called a "pervert" or "cochon", it's not a good idea to read a book entitled The Sex Bible in public areas. The large graphic sexual content on the front and back covers are surprisingly not well appreciated by random Montrealers.

Debugging Unicorns and Rainbows

This is a favorite topic of mine. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like all the other rubyists out there get to work on fresh code bases that are well tested using all the latest tools. Well, sadly, that's not my situation.

Learning the Art of Donating

In 1998 I moved to Minneapolis with what fit in my mom's backseat and trunk. It wasn't a whole lot of stuff, but it was enough for me to live off of. Fast forward to 2010 and I have a home, a wife, baby girl and two cats. Not to mention a house full of stuff.

Why You Should Defragment Your Hard Drive

For those of you still using Windows XP or any earlier version of Windows, you need to manually defragment your hard drive. Windows Vista and later versions do it automatically, unless you disable the option to auto-defragment on a set schedule. Defragmenting your hard drive will make a noticeable difference in your computer's speed.

My Top 5 Favorite Free Software Programs

Happy Software Freedom day! In celebration of it, I'll list the top 5 free software programs I use. GNU Emacs Very powerful text editor. I do most of my tasks in it, specially using and developing Identica-mode. I recommend it a lot for other tasks other than programming in any language, like organizing your todos and schedule in org-mode.

A Peace Movement Victory Against Drone Warfare

In his weekly online column for the National Catholic Reporter, Fr. John Dear has a wonderful piece about what transpired in court last week when he and 13 others stood trial for protesting the use of drones last year at Creech Air Force Base, outside of Las Vegas.

Ranking Corporations for Open Source Support

Adam Williamson has a good series of "controversial crap" over on his blog, mainly discussing things related to the recent Red Hat/Canonical kerfuffle (but there are some other interesting bits as well). In his clarification post, this bit caught my attention: The reason I don't complain much about Microsoft or Apple or Google is that I pretty much consider them lost causes.

Google Updates Image Search, Angers Webmasters

Recently Google announced an update to its Google Image Search product to improve its UI and make it more useful. However, the UI seems to have been greeted with mixed reviews. In addition to some noting the similarities between the new search and Bing's offering, the response to it has been split with some users hating it and others loving it. Webmasters, however, have also been chiming in and their opinion seems much more negative.

Beyond Affiliates -- Building Channel Sales

As a business owner, I can't tell you how often I get approached with the opportunity to make an extra buck or two on affiliate revenue. If I will just use my clout to hock their wares, they'll pay me money. And, after all, as long as someone pays me money I'm motivated to do it ... right? Wrong.

How to Find the Best Online Colleges

Recently my younger brother got his bachelors degree from an online college. Because he was working a full-time job and married with three children, an online institution gave him the perfect solution to furthering his education within his time-crunched life.