@vicmatson001: I've been using OOo to print my Christmas card envelopes from a merged spreadsheet list of names/addresses for the last four years. Works fine.

@Apostropartheid: I suppose it depends on how you define "open." If it means: depends on other, non-open definitions (ie. "emulate behavior of Word '97"), then yes — OOXML is open.

@Krazy: Oh, so THAT's why they're named

@TheHacker: Uh oh. Did I read that last part about commenting on other tools a little too literally? And then, you gave a satirical response to make me feel like a chump? Hmm. Boy, is my face red!

I really like OpenDNS. The free service lets you set up all kinds of specific filters for DNS look-ups. Combine that with a custom firmware on your router (like Tomato), and you can force everyone connected on your network to use OpenDNS (by blocking all other outgoing requests on port 53). Very effective.

Private tracker + RSS feeds + torrent client = shows just automatically appear on my hard drive — sometimes a day early (Chuck).

@sean.mcbeth: Mozilla fixed this in, what, a day? Try getting such a response from Microsoft who, last I checked, are still debating whether to even fix the latest exploit in IE.

@dreadpirate15:

@Terry: I like Picasa. Also, I put a [keywords.txt] file in each of the folders (organized by date). In keywords.txt, I just put a bunch of words that pertain to the subject of the photos (ie. "birthday hiking nature" etc.)

What's the definition of a "start-up" company? I've worked for three start-ups — they were great jobs, but closed up shop (layoffs/site closure) two years later. I now work for a privately-owned, small (less than 15 employees) company, but I don't really think of it as a start-up. It's stable work, and I think I…

@TSMontana: Good one, Thurston. See you tomorrow at the tennis club?

Does XBMC now play Blu-Ray discs? I didn't think it could. It plays 1080p h.264 files beautifully, though.

@djnrempel: I haven't tried entering a specific time (ala 56:42), but if you have a remote with up/down/right/left, you can use that. UP skips forward 10 minutes and RIGHT skips forward 30 seconds. It's pretty easy to use these to get to where you want.

@jokono: Wow, STF II came out in 2007. I am REALLY behind, aren't I.

Hey, I didn't know there as a sequel to Steal This Film. I'll have to grab it.

@Kevster: Maybe he doesn't have tall dogs. Maybe he drives a Lamborghini.

The arguments in favor of EXT4 were originally reliability and performance. Now, performance difference is debatable/negligible. The reliability argument stands, though, and this is good enough reason for me to stay with EXT4. Plus hey, Google uses it.

So, Microsoft wants me to ditch the OS that came on my netbook that's less than a year old? Ok, no problem. Fedora 12 runs great on my NC10.

I guess I'll have to be labeled a dilettante, because I dip the entire bottom of each roll portion into wasabi-saturated sauce. I'm a barbarian, I know.

@DBeta: I didn't say it was better. I was at a loss at the time, holding Mickey by the tail. It was the third option that came to me (the fourth involved fire), and I took it. I can't say I'd do the same thing again today — maybe I'd release him in the nearest alfalfa field. I dunno — it's just what I did at the…