Gmail challenges

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I have been using GMail since 2005 (along with other products for email). Yesterday, I deleted 3000 messages from my “All mail” folder. Bringing my message count down to 21,000 messages. I know there is still a lot of Junk left in there. So I want to target the non-personal messages by sender and make a choice as to if I delete them or not. So I need some stats… Searching for Stats packages for GMail… Finding Google system blog. And Mail Trends via lifehacker. We’ll see how it goes.

The only other problem I have had with GMail has been that somehow in 2008 a message got corrupted and I could not download any mail from Gmail. So I got rid of my .mbox and tried to re download my email, about 4GB worth. Whenever OSX hit the corrupted message the POP3 download would fail. – grrr. But, I still have no way of knowing for sure what the message was, which was corrupted. (And navigating to a specific date in GMail is all but impossible.) So I have a gap in my email records on my computer corresponding to 2005 through 2008. I have not found a way to fix this. Additionally, Gmail, via POP3 does not distinguish between sent messages and inbound messages. Though I suppose through some rules magic one could sort the messages after import. My question has been, How do I download the entire 4GB of Emails in a usable format?
I have looked at solutions like http://www.gmail-backup.com but have not yet implemented anything.

Too many terms of service

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You might have heard about the recent change in the Google terms of service. I have, several times. I use several Google services. Logistically, this makes a lot of sense. They sent out an email quoted below saying that they were consolidating over 60 terms of service agreements. I have had two thoughts about this

  1. Why is there no blowback or negative PR for Google like there was for FaceBook? [1]Eric Eldon. 11 May 2010. Analysis: Some Facebook Privacy Issues Are Real, Some Are Not. http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/05/11/analysis-some-facebook-privacy-issues-are-real-some-are-not [Link] … Continue reading
  2. This is the sort of scenario I have been warning one of the companies I am working for about creating. We have 3-4 separate online communities currently with separate terms of service with two other major communities about to launch. This is part of the User Experience which should not be over looked.

BTW: I am grateful for the centralization at Google.

Google Terms of service

Google Terms of service

Dear Google Apps administrator for _________,

We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience for your users across Google products.

As always, Google will maintain your data in strict compliance with the confidentiality and security obligations provided to your domain.

If you permit your users to access optional additional Google services for your domain, your users may separately receive notifications communicating the new Privacy Policy. You can visit your Google Apps control panel at any time if you’d like to review the additional services accessible to your users.

We’re excited about the improvements we are making across our products and appreciate your support. You can view the new privacy policy at http://www.google.com/policies. These changes will take effect on March 1, 2012.

Please do not reply to this email. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. Also, never enter your Google Account password after following a link in an email or chat to an untrusted site. Instead, go directly to the site, such as mail.google.com or www.google.com/accounts. Google will never email you to ask for your password or other sensitive information.

References

References
↑1 Eric Eldon. 11 May 2010. Analysis: Some Facebook Privacy Issues Are Real, Some Are Not. http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/05/11/analysis-some-facebook-privacy-issues-are-real-some-are-not [Link] [Accessed: 10 February 2012]

On using craigslist – rude or not

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Craigslist is is like the classifieds in the news papper, but for free.

Becky and I have been looking for a car for a few weeks, we have been to a dealer and we have been looking online.

We want something with:

  • comfortable seats
  • cruise control
  • better than 30 mpg
  • a roof rack
  • a place for a hitch
  • a little bit on the heavy side so that it has some good handling

We are thinking that something like a Cross-over or a smaller SUV might work… We would have enjoyed the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, but the head rests were a pain.

I sold my car (Black Honda Accord) a few months back.

Hugh's Honda Front

Hugh's Honda Front

When I did, I took the car to a shop and the purchaser paid for an inspection on the car. I let them take it out for a test drive; made the VIN number available to the potential purchasers. (And the final purchaser was not first inquirer. I went through the process with one other person before them.) I would expect someone who is selling their car to show me the same courtesy. I as a buyer do not know how many hits have been on that particular listing.

Following some good sound financial management principles one should not spend before they know what they are getting. And the purchaser should not have to pay for the car before they test drive it.

If one is selling a car, as a buyer I expect to be able to test drive the car, research the car on CarFax, and take it to a shop and get a second opinion on the condition of the car. Additionally, when I buy a car, private party, I expect that any maintenance records would be turned over at the time of purchase as well.

With craigslist there must be a lot of very impolite people who try and take advantage of sellers. 2/3rds of the interactions I have had with people on the north side of Dallas, the sellers have been very distrusting of the buyers. This could be a result of the difference in economic zones between North and South Dallas, this could also just be some rude people selling items in North Dallas.

As Becky and I were looking on craigslist we found this listing: http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/2702863575.html So, I contacted the guy at Becky’s request. The following conversation ensued.Special thanks to Nicolas Gallagher [1] Nicolas Gallagher. 5 MARCH 2010. Pure CSS speech bubbles http://nicolasgallagher.com/pure-css-speech-bubbles/. [Accessed: 29 January 2011] [Link] for the CSS for the speech bubbles. And to DiskAid for the ability to pull text messages off the iPhone. [2]Hugh Paterson III. 10 December 2011. Pulling text messages off of iPhones. TheJourneyler.org. https://hugh.thejourneyler.org/2011/pulling-text-messages-off-of-iphones/ [Accessed: 29 January 2012] … Continue reading

Mazda3 listing on craigslist

I called him and talked to him a bit about the car and asked for him to text me the vin number. (My texts are shown in blue and his in orange.)

Received on 11/15/2011 20:05:00

Jm1bk1436411655841

Thanks

2 things: 1.Can you double check the vin you sent me. I think there is an error in it. 2. When might be a good time to look at the car?

I dont save outgoing txts whats issue? i will meet when u are ready to buy netime (must bring money if u wanna drive though) too many tire kickers :)

The vin you sent was 18 digits and vins are, from what I can tell supposed to be 17. Here is what you sent me Jm1bk1436411655841

65841

—– Next Day
Received on 11/16/2011 13:31:06

U decide if you want the mazda

I did not decide if want the Mazda. I did decide that I want to look at it and sit I the seats and test drive it. If I still want it at that point, and the value to cost ratio is still in my favor. I would choose to do business with you. You sound like you know cars. I don’t buy things to see if I like them. I know I like them. Then I buy them. I also sleep on financial decisions. I don’t rush. Still interested in selling me your car?

In ur favor?

If I am still convinced, that the price fits the goods. Remember I have not even seen the car yet.

Hah i know what the rest are going for mines hands down best buy on the market and i know none drive like this one…. ive had four of these

I am interested in touching the car. I believe you. Do you do your own work or have someone else do it?

I had a shop do it and i can show it but seems like id be wasting my time showing a car to someone who says flat out im not buying it but want to see it

I did not say I am not buying it. If I have to drive. 30 min. One way. Your time is not the only one waisted.

No no no just saying like 2 out of 100 ppl look at a car and come back later to buy it nobody thinks about a purchase while they sleep..thats just an excuse of w [sic]

If u like a car pull the trigger …. tell ya what ill show it any time but i hate when ppl say they want to thnk abou it that really mns no.

So if u like it think about what its worth before coming so u can make a decision then and there and wont have to say “thnk bout it” u can just say yes or no :)

Whats ur email ill send u ton of pics so u can see it

Ok. That request makes sense. Hugh[at]thejourneyler.org

Needless to say, we did not buy the car.

References

References
↑1 Nicolas Gallagher. 5 MARCH 2010. Pure CSS speech bubbles http://nicolasgallagher.com/pure-css-speech-bubbles/. [Accessed: 29 January 2011] [Link]
↑2 Hugh Paterson III. 10 December 2011. Pulling text messages off of iPhones. TheJourneyler.org. https://hugh.thejourneyler.org/2011/pulling-text-messages-off-of-iphones/ [Accessed: 29 January 2012] [Link]

Handicapped: What does it mean?

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This past Christmas Becky and I visited her cousin, who has, as of about a year ago been diagnosed with ALS. We were able to talk a bit about what it means for him (experientially) to be handicapped. We talked about laws, systems, and attitudes in our society with regard to services for handicapped people. – Much the User Experience kinds of stuff, just not with the web.

It was the first time I had heard someone discuss critically the pros and cons of the implications of the ADA. We talked a bit about how handicapped people are affected by the laws and their implementations.

One example our cousin gave was walking from the handicapped parking to a restaurant. At one establishment the handicap spot was on the same side of the driving road but the spot was further to walk than the closest parking spots. Not all handicapped cases are the same. For some it would be better to cross the street to walk the shorter distance than to walk the “safer” but longer distance.

Resturant Parking

Resturant Parking

We also talked about some experiences he had with Disney and with Southwest Airlines.

Without taking credit for our cousin’s stories or wanting to bash on either of these companies, let me relay the flowing experiences and some reflections on them. It was interesting that his interpretation was that socially in Disney being handicapped, when it came to waiting in lines, meant that you got preferential treatment. This was because there was a separate and often shorter line for Handicapped persons. He remarked that this is not exactly fair to non-handicapped persons. And that the purpose of the laws for persons with handicaps is to make things equal, not preferred.

However, his experience with Southwest was of a different nature. Being a faithful customer of Southwest since the early 2000’s I have often enjoyed my “plane crackers”. He remarked that it was really difficult for someone with muscular challenges to navigate between the rows of seats. (Someone else with several kids, was using a kid to reserve the front seat for other people who were boarding later.) It was also difficult to get seats which were together for his family. I found this a little hard to believe until I was flying Southwest this past January. Having heard my cousin’s story, I took note with new eyes on people boarded the aircraft and how the elderly, families and handicapped people were assisted.

On my way to Oregon, there was a man next to me who had lived in the U.S. for a number of years but was originally from Columbia. He was in his 80s and wore hearing aids. He never heard the cabin bell saying that it was alright to get up and go to the bathroom. This would normally be alright but the light for buckling the seats never went off. When the stewardess asked for his drink he could not hear her ask if he wanted cream and sugar with his coffee. Luckily, I was there to “yell” in his ear and he got cream and sugar.

On the way back from Oregon an elderly lady with an oxygen/nebulizer kind of machine with her was disembarking from the plane. She was slow moving and felt really bad for keeping others waiting who were going to disembark. After most of the passengers had disembarked I asked the steward on duty how he would have handled this kind of passenger in the case of emergency. He said that they hope to never have an emergency, but in the case of one, it would be challenging. They would probably have to do some kind of two person carry to get the passenger out of the plane.

I am not sure that I have a strong closing paragraph for readers. But it is eye opening for me to think of systems (lines at amusement parks or customer service and boarding systems) in terms of User Experience and Usability with disabilities in mind.

Evergreen Aerospace Museum

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A friend of mine and I went to the Evergreen Aerospace Museum today. There was a lot to see the spruce goose, a B-17, P-40, P-38, and lots of other beautiful planes. There were a whole host of small planes which I wish I could just fly once. Talk about boys and their hot rods, these planes were just amazing. Someday I would like to fly the P-38… someday. To of the most beautiful planes there were the Ryan PT-22 and the Fairchild PT-19A. The paint on these planes was brilliant!

PT-22 Recruit

Beautiful yellow and blue on a PT-19

Photo of PT-22 Recruit

PT-22 Recruit With brilliant red, yellow, and polished steel.

View along the fuselage from aft to fore of the B-17

View along the fuselage from aft to fore of the B-17

Photo of Fairchild PT-19

Fairchild PT-19

P-40

P-40

Digitization Services

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Over the last several months I have been looking for and comparing digitization services for audio, film, and for images (slides and more). I have been doing this as part of the ongoing work at the Language and Culture Archive to preserve the linguistic and cultural heritage of the people groups SIL International has encountered and served. I have not come to any hard and fast conclusions on “what is the best service provider”. This is partially because we are still looking at various out sourcing options and looking at multiple mediums is time consuming. Then there is also the issue of looking for archival standards and the creation of corporate policy for the digitization of these materials. I am presenting several names here as the results of several searches for digitization services providers.

Last month I was passed a short film on the BBC highlighting one of these providers. The short is well worth the watch because it highlights the reason and madness behind some of the work of digitization.

Profesional Services

Several of the companies which have come to the top of the list.

Doing it on our own

Another option the Archive has been looking at is to determine if the the quantity of the work is cost prohibitive to have professional done. Meaning that, we would be better served by buying the equipment and doing the work in house. So in the process I have also been looking at people’s experience with various kinds of equipment and technology used in scanning.

I have been reading a lot of user stories like Dave Dyer’s reflection on Slide Transfer and MacIntouch Reader Reports from 26 April 2006 on Slide Digitization.

Drupal – The conversion….

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I have been a WordPress fan since 2005. I have run several sites using WordPress simultaneously since then. Running WordPress is dead easy. I can wrap my head around it. This past January, a colleague was ecstatic about the release of Drupal 7. I was a bit less ecstatic. (More the I'm glad you are excited, kind of guy.) Then I saw the new admin interface and my interest piqued. So I downloaded a few modules and bam! I saw the power. Amazing. Totally a reckless learning curve but still something beautiful.
Drupal Learning Curve Text
My story was much the same as Kevin Dees. [1] Kevin Dees. 9 November 2011. Is WordPress an Anti-Pattern?. http://kevindees.cc/2011/11/is-wordpress-an-anti-pattern . [Accessed: 27 November 2011] [Link] This fall I went to Drupal Camp Austin and was able to wrap my head around a few more things. (Mostly things which showed me there was still a lot to learn.) So from time to time you will see that I will post some things I am learning about Drupal.

Drush for WordPress

While I was at Austin I kept hearing about Drush. Then when I got back home I resized that I needed to download a lot of modules to work on a particular web site. I could do this several times or I could learn to use Drush with Drush Make. Drush is a command line shell and scripting interface for Drupal. Once I found the power of it I started looking for something similar in WordPress. I don't think there is anything exactly like Drush but there are two projects [2] Leo Nelson. 24 October 2011. Drush for WordPress. http://www.leonelson.com/2011/10/24/drush-for-wordpress . [Accessed: 27 November 2011] [Link] worth checking out check out:

  1. WP-CLI or WordPress Command Line
  2. WPshell

However it does not seem that there is a Drush Make for WordPress. Although there has been some thought about how to make Drush Make "cross-platform" and work with other CMSes like WordPress. Wouldn't it be nice if WordPress developers got handed a tool from the Drupal community....

References

References
↑1 Kevin Dees. 9 November 2011. Is WordPress an Anti-Pattern?. http://kevindees.cc/2011/11/is-wordpress-an-anti-pattern . [Accessed: 27 November 2011] [Link]
↑2 Leo Nelson. 24 October 2011. Drush for WordPress. http://www.leonelson.com/2011/10/24/drush-for-wordpress . [Accessed: 27 November 2011] [Link]

Family for Christmas

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This Christmas Becky and I spent some time with family. All of my brothers and sisters were there and so were my mother's two daughter-in-laws.

We had lots of fun together. We went and saw Sherlock Holmes 2 together.

After watching Sherlock 2

All the Patersons After watching Sherlock 2

The Five Boys

The Five Boys

After which we went out to eat.

Jed stroking his Chin

Jon Stroking his Chin

It was good to see my brothers and sisters talking, laughing and smiling.

Jeremiah Smiling

Moriah and her Scarf

Moriah and her Scarf

We did a lot of game playing...

Playing Mario Cart.

One of the interesting stories about this Christmas was that my bother Joe, sold his Xbox to buy our sister Monica a Wii. Monica really wanted a Wii. Jed, didn't know that Joe sold his Xbox and bought Joe some Games for the Xbox. It reminded me of the story of "The Gift of the Magi". [1] William Sydney Porter (O. Henry). The Gift Of The Magi http://www.online-literature.com/donne/1014/ [Link]

Playing Mario Cart

Hugh and Jed Playing Axis and Allies

Hugh and Jed Playing Axis and Allies

Playing Munchkins

Playing Munchkins

Playing Carcassonne

Playing Carcassonne

There were a lot of interesting interactions over our time together.
We learned that all of us like to play the game but we each play it differently. Some:

  • Play the game to win.
  • Play the game for fun.
  • Play the game to keep certain others from winning.
  • Play the game for the game's sake.

There was lots of silliness.

Over Lip

Over Lip

Jed Modeling his new hat and gloves.

Jed Modeling his new hat and gloves.

Hugh and Becky

Hugh and Becky

And we saw Jeremiah smile.

Jeremiah actually did smile

Jeremiah actually did smile

Sleeping...

Sleeping... There seem to be a lot of pictures of Jeremiah doing this...

References

References
↑1 William Sydney Porter (O. Henry). The Gift Of The Magi http://www.online-literature.com/donne/1014/ [Link]

Importing Facebook Status

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I have a thing for wanting to know what I have said all in one place… But I would like to be able to see it by location of the comment. So I have thought about bringing my FaceBook comments into my WordPress install. The problem has been that if I bring them in as a post I have to not send them back to FaceBook (Like I do with all my other posts). So I now import them as a custom post type. But my current theme does not support custom post types out of the box. Too bad for K2 (It seems that as a theme K2 is not keeping up with WordPress.). To do this I looked FeedWordPress as recommended here.

hResume for Academics

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For a couple of months I have been looking into options for presenting academics' CVs on the web in semantic xHtml. Of the options out there hResume rises to the surface. There are several reasons for this:
  1. Popularity of hResume in presenting CV's and Resumes.
  2. Microformats are about the interoperability of data through semantic markup - Academics generally want people to cite them, and resume publishers usually hope to have resume users and readers.
  3. Semantic markup of content allows for the semantic styling of content.
The largest challenge in implementing academic CVs in hResueme versus business resumes in hResume format is citations from publications and presentations along with that is the semantic markup of citations with standards like COinS (though COinS might not be true Semantic Markup). However, there are other challenges too. For instance how to categorize the sections of a CV. I work mostly with linguists and with the CV sections that linguists use. Therefore, I may be missing some crucial section of a CV as used by another academic discipline.CVs like resumes are unique to each individual so these categories are an abstraction and not all sections will be in every CV. These abstractions are included the following chart along with a mapping of how these sections are (in my opinion) best expressed in the hResume microformat. hResume builds on other microformats, like hCalendar and hCard. So I have also mapped the elements of an hResume back to the building block microformat (per this list on microformat's website). These dependency formats are also presented. In the last column I have presented some remarks specific to that section.
Sections of a Linguist's CVSections in hResumeinclusion in hResumeBuilding blockMicroformat statusOutstanding issue or question
Contact infoContact infoObligatorymust use hCard; should use <address> + hCardhCard is a Recommendationhow does the adr and the geo relate to the contact info or hCard?
Personal Info
Not designatedWhat would fit into this section which would not fit into the Contact info section? (married status) But that might be able to be expressed through XFN, unless the spouse is unnamed.
Photo
Not designatedShould hmedia be used for this photo?
SummarySummaryOptionalNone - No building block indicated.None
EducationEducationOptionalOne or more hcalendar events with the class name 'education', with an embedded hCard indicating the name of school, address of school etc.hCalendar is a Recommendation
Education Abroad (Could be considered a sub-category of "Education")Education One or more hcalendar events with the class name 'education', with an embedded hCard indicating the name of school, address of school etc.hCalendar is a Recommendation
Research interests
Not designated.One could argue that this might be related to "skills", or marked with the rel-tag format.
Positions Held
ExperienceOptionalOne or more hcalendar events with the class name 'experience', with an embedded hCard indicating the job title, name of company, address of company etc.hCalendar and hCardThe [hResume] draft should describe a way to handle a series of assignments at various employers within the context of one job working for a contracting, consulting, or temporary firm/agency. per mfreeman (2009)
Field Work
ExperienceOptionalOne or more hcalendar events with the class name 'experience', with an embedded hCard indicating the job title, name of company, address of company etc.hCalendar and hCard, (my recommendation is to also consider using hGeo)Field Work often has a Geo-Location and a language involved so I am not sure if it shouldn't also be marked up with hGeo and some rel-tag to the language.
Language Proficiency
SkillsOptionalrel-tagrel-tag is a Recommendation Often skills have an indication of the level of attainment - hResume does not have this. per ntoll (2007)
Computer Skills
SkillsOptionalrel-tagrel-tag is a Recommendation
Teaching Experience
ExperienceOptionalhCalendar and hCardEmbedding hCard for job title leads to ambiguities. per TobyInk (2010)
Awards & Honors
Not DesignatedSupport for Awards and for Service sections are not currently implemented. per jeffmcneill (2007)
Grants Received
Not DesignatedThis might be considered simular to Awards and Honors. But in most CVs I have seen it is given its own section level.
Publications
publicationsOptionalA lot of work has gone into description or a hCite type of format. But nothing has evolved yet. To this end I have resolved myself to using CoinS. Although the official recomendation is to use the <cite> tag.
Peer Reviewed
publicationsOptional
Articles (PR)
publicationsOptional
Chapters (PR)
publicationsOptional
Books (PR)
publicationsOptional
Monographs (PR)
publicationsOptional
Edited Volumes (PR)publicationsOptional
Not Peer ReviewedpublicationsOptional
Articles (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Chapters (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Books (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Papers (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Presentations
Not DesignatedGenerally these are cited like a publication but put in their own section.
Invited Talks
Not DesignatedGenerally these are cited like a publication but put in their own section.
Dissertations and Thesis supervised.Not designated (but possibly like publications)Generally these should be treated like publications.
Professional Associations
AffiliationsOptionalThe class name affiliation along with an hcard of the organization. hCard is a Recommendation
Professional ContactsNot DesignatedhCard and XFN should be used.hCard is a Recommendation
XFN is a Recommendation		I am not clear on how XFN can be used in this context. But it seems that this is the sort of thing that XFN was created for. There is also still the same objection as mentioned by TobyInk (2010) because there is no way to tell who the primary hCard on the page referes to.
[table-info field “abbreviations_used” not found in table “11” /]