BlogJet 2.0

BlogJet was always my favourite blog editor when I used Windows regularly. I was pretty annoyed when version 2 was released not long ago, as by then I had made the transition to Ubuntu. I’ve so far failed to find anything even remotely as good in Linux, and have been blogging using the inbuilt WordPress editor and the Performancing for Firefox plugin since.

I still have Windows available on a dual boot, and on popping in today I downloaded the trial of BlogJet 2, and it’s great. It retains the simplicity of the original, but packs in loads of new features. I like it a lot.

I’ve also always liked FeedDemon as an RSS aggregator. Google Reader is the best online newsreader, but I still prefer FeedDemon overall.

So, for the tools I use most on my PC, I prefer the Windows variants by quite some distance. The advantages of Ubuntu are that is has never crashed on me, and is lightening fast.

So what do I do? I could reinstall Windows and see if it makes any difference speed-wise… but would going back to XP be a retrograde step?

Lib Dems Love WordPress

A couple of weeks ago, I noted the new Lib Dem’s manifesto website, which pleased me as it ran on WordPress. Well, thanks to Guido I have come across two more WP powered sites maintained by the Liberal Democrats.

The first is Corruption is a Crime:

For far too long, it’s been acceptable to turn a blind eye to corruption when it comes to foreign contracts. The Liberal Democrats believe that corruption is a crime and should be stopped. Allegations of serious corruption must be fully investigated.

The second is Home Office Watch:

Welcome to the Home Office Watch blog, a single repository of all the shambolic errors and mistakes made by the British Home Office compiled from Parliamentary Questions, news reports, and tip-offs by the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs team.

Interesting to see that a political party has cottoned onto the fact that you don’t need expensive bespoke solutions to get a social media site up and running. WordPress is free and fast.

Conservapedia

The Guardian reports on ‘Conservapedia‘:

A website founded by US religious activists aims to counter what they claim is “liberal bias” on Wikipedia, the open encyclopedia which has become one of the most popular sites on the web. The founders of Conservapedia.com say their site offers a “much-needed alternative” to Wikipedia, which they say is “increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American”.

Although entries on Wikipedia are open for anyone to edit, conservative campaigners say they are unable to make changes to articles on the site because of inherent bias by its global team of volunteer editors. Instead they have chosen to build a clone which they hope will promote Christian values.

“I’ve tried editing Wikipedia, and found that the biased editors who dominate it censor or change facts to suit their views,” Andy Schlafly, the founder of Conservapedia, told the Guardian. “In one case my factual edits were removed within 60 seconds – so editing Wikipedia is no longer a viable approach.”

Of course, what one considers to be a fact depends on who you are, or rather, what you believe. Looking at the examples the Guardian provides, it also depends on whether or not you are a nut.

Dinosaurs

Wikipedia: “Vertebrate animals that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for over 160m years, first appearing approximately 230m years ago.”

Conservapedia: “They are mentioned in numerous places throughout the Good Book. For example, the behemoth in Job and the leviathan in Isaiah are almost certainly references to dinosaurs.”

US Democratic party

Wikipedia: “The party advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, fiscal responsibility, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention.”

Conservapedia: “The Democrat voting record reveals a true agenda of cowering to terrorism, treasonous anti-Americanism, and contempt for America’s founding principles.”

I can see myself becoming addicted to reading this site. It’ll be like picking a scab.

Wiki move

I’ve moved the LGNM Wiki to Wikispaces, having had a look round the Social Media wiki that David Wilcox runs. All the existing information has been copied across.

The system I had been using, MediaWiki, is excellent,a nd I haven’t had any problems with it. The only issue is one of resources: I’m trying to cut down on my web expenditure and the wiki used a whole database and a big wodge of filespace. By hosting the wiki elsewhere I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Also, wikispaces is a really good system, with a nice wysiwyg editor, so I think it’ll be better too for anyone who fancies helping out too. I know a few people registered on the old wiki, so apologies for any inconvenience.

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