In FLOSS circles, March 26 is celebrated as the Document Freedom Day.

Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for document liberation. It will be a day of grassroots effort to educate the public about the importance of Free Document Formats and Open Standards in general.

This is when I realized that people actually use the office packages daily. I almost never use it. According to me there are three options to store text data.

• Plain Text
• HTML
• Database

Plain Text

The simplest format there is. If there is something I should remember, I just put it in a text file and save it to the desktop. I used to use it a lot earlier - but I don’t use it much nowadays due to searchability issues. There are quite a few advantages in using the text format

HTML

If I need any formatting in the text, I create the document in HTML. It is easier for me to create the formatting using HTML code that using WYSIWYG Word Processors(like MS Word). I write all my blog posts in HTML - perhaps the only occasion where I need formatting.

Database

My favorite method to store text data is in a database. I am a web developer - so I always have a Web Server and Database server running on my system - so this system is perfect for me.

Interface

Remove that scared look on your face - I don’t use phpMyAdmin or any Database Administration tools as the interface to save/view the data. I use my own custom scripts or WordPress.

The best example of this is txt. Txt is my code snippets/commands repository. You can view the full story in the Saving Code Snippets post.

That’s an online example - I also have a personal wordpress blog running in my local server. I use it to record events, purchases, store receipts etc.

Advantages

Tagging

Tagging is heaven-sent to make information more findable - any del.icio.us user should know that. I used to install Ultimate Tag Warrior to get this feature - but WordPress now supports tags natively.

Searching

Searching for data within a database is much more easier, faster and provides more relevent results than searching for the data in a collection of file. Even if you are using a file indexing software like Google Desktop Search or Beagle/Recoll(for linux users), I find database searching more easier. Another advantage of using database to search is that you can create complex queries if you know SQL.

Disadvantages

Not for everyone

Let’s face it - installing and maintaining a web/database server is a tad in the geek zone. An average Joe will find it just a little bit out of their league.

Overhead

Running a web server and a database server is a bit demanding on the RAM.

Backing up a little more complicated - but easier

Backing up the data in a Database is not as straight forward as backing up files - but its actually easier if you know how.

Online

One extra method to store the data - online. This data is stored in a database - but you don’t have the disadvantages associated with using a database. More and more people are turning to this method now. I did not include it in the initial list because its not a data format - its more of a data storing method.

I am looking at some spam I received at LinDesk. These are not your average spam - they are real good. I even let one through before I understood they were spam.

• spartan300 | tcssey@aol.com | dolcemp3.com | IP: 64.12.116.138
  Hhmmm,, this sounds good. but I not yet into upgrading my Fedora7 to 8. i’m not that afraid of changes, but I might incur another error with my linux. I still have lot of work to do, maybe i’ll try this later next week. Thanks though for this blog.
  In article Sound Issue in Fedora 8
• 2cool2sexy | tcssey@aol.com | dolcemp3.com | IP: 64.12.116.138
  Have you checked on its system requirements? You should try checking of their site. http://banshee-project.org/
  I believe there are helpdesk there that can support you.
  In article Banshee - Music Management and Playback for GNOME
• audio-fanatic | tcssey@aol.com | dolcemp3.com | IP: 64.12.116.138
  another nice review here Lin. You really adore using Linux-based software? I think this mp3 software is the one fit for my notebook.
  In article Audacious Media Player

First of all, do you agree with me? Are these spam?

The reason why I think they are spam are the following…

• Same URL and Email - but different names.
• Zero content comments - they add no value to the post.
• My previous experience has taught me that comments with @aol.com email addresses are often spam.
• This guy has only commented on MP3 related posts - his URL leads to an MP3 site.

The reason why they may not be spam are just as valid.

• These comments are written by humans - not bots.
• The writer of the second comment(about banshee) has obviously read the post.
• The commenter has at least a passing knowledge of Linux and Linux softwares.

So, have you received any spam like this - comments that you are unsure about? These three comments are still in my moderation queue. I need advice on how to deal with them.

I could let them through - if no one looks closely, they will think these are actual comments. That will give the articles an appearance of popularity. It is a good thing for me. But I have a zero tolerance policy towards spam. If the comment is a spam, I will not allow it on my site. Its a matter of principle.

Article Templates wordpress plugin lets you create templates that can be used when writing a new post or page. This will be very useful if you are writing many post with the same structure.

Download Article Templates 1.00.A Beta

This is my first WordPress Plugin. It was easier to create than I expected.

My plugin used the principles used in Post Templates plugin. It is another plugin to do the same thing - create templates for the post.

My plugin have a few advantages over the other plugin…

• Easier to use
• The templates created by each user is accessable only to them

There are a few disadvantages too…

• Javascript must be enabled for my plugin to work
• Beta release - expect bugs

I have a new blog - LinDesk. LinDesk concentrates on the use of Linux on the Desktop. I am trying to keep it distro agnostic - but there is a slight leaning towards Fedora - as it is the distro I am using. Also, you might find a disproportionate amount of articles about KDE.

Actually this blog has been around for some time. The first article appeared on April 8. But I did not announce it so that there can be a build up of articles before it goes public.

Take a look at LinDesk - and if you are a fan of the Linux operating system, subscribe.

Some Popular Posts

• Konqueror - A Killer App for Linux
• Konqueror, The Browser
• Using Konqueror as an FTP Client
• Internet Connection Sharing using iptables
• How to Mount ISO/MDF Images in Linux
• Top 5 Video Players in Linux
• Wesnoth - The Battle for Productivity

So what do you guys think of the new blog? Is it a good move? Or am I moving towards an early burnout?

Welcome, one and all, to my new ..er.. old blog. Well, new location of the old blog. Liked the theme? All the WordPress themes were kinda beautiful. So I took the default wordpress theme(Kuberic, I think it was called) and, for the lack of a better term, desecrated it. You are viewing the results.

The Past

For those who are new to this blog, a bit of history - I have a blog at http://binnyva.blogspot.com/. I recently decided that I should move the blog to one of my own servers. I did not import the old posts to this site due to the issue of duplicate content.

The Future

From the next post onwards, the post will be duplicated here and in my Blogger site. At the end of this month, I will abandon the old blog and focus on this one.

Abandon does not mean that I will delete the blog or its contents - that will stay. I will stop posting there. I will still carry out some maintenance tasks like weeding out the spam, repling to comments etc. However, from next month, no more new content will appear there.

The Present

In short, Welcome All!