Myspace lag

If you have used myspace as either a reader or author you have probably noticed that it feels slow on even the fastest of computers. The Forbes article below talks about one of the reasons being DNS lookups. Because there are so many elements on the typical myspace page, drawn from a wide variety of sources, not just myspace.com, your web browser can easily have to run 20 to 30 dns lookups on each and every page, plus download individual page elements from each of those servers.

When creating your myspace pages, you can help your users experience faster load times by hosting any extra elements on your own webserver, rather than direct linking to multiple sources. I do this with my myspace profile, and it works fairly well. Just be advised that you should take precautions to keep others from direct linking to your content, since you could find your own webserver overloaded quite easily if you host content that would fit well on other pages. See this primer on how to protect your content using apache for some tips. Also some webhosts offer hotlink protection via the Cpanel webhost control panel, this is mentioned in the primer mentioned above.

When browsing the pages of others using Mozilla Firefox the simple step of preventing flash from loading automatically can significantly boost your viewing speed. The boxes surrounding flash content are replaced with a one click button that will only activate flash elements when you want them to run. You will be surprised how much of the slowdown when viewing busy pages is caused by massive flash elements being displayed on the page. Use the extension FlashBlock to accomplish this.

To avoid those irritating flashing banners on the top of every myspace page, add the AdBlock Plus extension.

Here is the article that sparked my interest in myspace viewing speeds:
Forbes Article on MySpace Lag

Turning to your congressman for help

If you've submitted a passport application, and you have not received it during the maximum time indicated by the US Passport Office, I highly recommend contacting your Congressman.

I found myself without a passport twelve weeks after submitting my paperwork at the local county clerk of courts office. I had though that expedited service would be unneccessary since I had prepared so far in advance of my need for a passport, but I was wrong, very wrong.

A fax to my congressman's office, and a few information exchanges via e-mail later, and I had my brand new passport in my hands less than a week after initial contact. As you can see from the Washington Times article below, other people have had to go the same route:

I was fortunate enough to have the help of my congressman Ric Keller, District 8, Florida. His staff has truly embraced the information age, as my queries were handled efficiently via fax/voice/e-mail. This is in stark contrast to the passport office, where after being on hold for a representative, I got a message indicating that "because of massive call volume, no one could help me." No option to wait, just told, in pleasant terms that I was out of luck.

Passport seekers inundate office - Washington Post

Microsoft ReadyState toolkit

I probably wont have time to learn how to use it, but there is supposedly a really neet tool out there for managing, rolling back, and setting configuration on machines that are likely to be messed with. Systems like kiosks, school computers, etc.

Feel free to read the Friends in Tech synopsis ofMicrosoft SteadyState, if the subject interests you.

Create a letterhead using OpenOffice.org Writer

I have not tried this article myself yet, but I was working on a letterhead using the Google Documents system, and came across this in my Google searches for letterhead samples.

Might be useful if you need to use OpenOffice for business or personal correspondence.

Creating a Letterhead in OpenOffice.org