The World of Stuff .com

That’s me!

While I’ve been on vacation, it’s an all-Ask Jordon post coming your way.

Person! ^.^: What is the air speed velocity of an un-laiden swallow?

What do you mean, an African or a European swallow?

billybob jo: what are some other names for tornados

Cyclones. Tornadoes (with an “e”). Whirlwinds. Waterspouts, if they’re over water. And… gosh. Oh, twisters, like another movie that I never saw. That’s all I can think of without having to cheat and look up answers somewhere else. (And if “cyclone” is debatable, blame it on my old school, whose sports teams were called the Cyclones and whose actual mascot resembled a tornado.)

Peter: Question 1/2: How do you track visitors/hits nowadays?

AWStats, a log file analyzer. My web host provides it readily, so there was no complicated setup. It has its advantages and disadvantages compared to eXTReMe Tracking, which I used to use. The main difference is that the former tracks statistics related to your whole site, while the latter keeps tabs on individual pages. In any case, it’s nice to see your log files broken down and explained meaningfully.

Peter: Question 2/2: What do you think of lernu (en.lernu.net)

I never used lernu! much for learning Esperanto, but I still have it in the Esperanto folder of my bookmarks. I’m not really sure how good it is, although I believe it has a number of texts you can read, and you can get a definition of any word just by clicking on it. If I recall, it even breaks down words into their roots and affixes, which is quite awesome. I’ve heard some good things about the site in general, but I can’t say much about it myself.

Peter: Question 3/2: What do you believe are the major benefits of Ubuntu over Mac OSX or Windows XP?

Now that I’ve been using Ubuntu for over a month, I’ve been able to see some advantages and disadvantages when comparing it to Windows XP. (I can’t really compare OS X to anything because I have little experience with it.) Of course, it can be frustrating when you’re getting to learn a new operating system that does things a bit differently from what you’re used to.

But to answer your question, I’d say that the major benefit is the software updates that come frequently. Unlike some operating systems I could mention, you don’t wait five years for the next version, which doesn’t even turn out to be much better than the last. A new version comes every six months, and besides that, the various packages or components of the operating system and its programs are being updated all the time for stability, security, and of course, killer features. As long as you use the software that’s in the repositories, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have the latest, greatest versions available… as long as you install the updates, that is.

But with Ubuntu, you don’t have to be afraid to install updates, like with a certain other OS I could mention. That’s because Ubuntu is freely distributable and free of charge, so there is no licensing key to share illegally. As a result, Ubuntu doesn’t use its update mechanism to hound you about using unauthorized (unpaid-for) copies of its software. And as far as I can tell, Ubuntu doesn’t bludgeon you over the head by automatically installing the updates you’re trying to put off because they serve only to rat you out for copying someone’s licensing key.

In other words, I like Ubuntu because it is free (as in speech and also as in beer) and because it has an active developer base that’s constantly coming out with better versions of software (usually free also) that are made easily available for you.

Have a look at the stories behind lots of famous logos.

This is a fascinating read: A Brief History of the Calendar.