Just returned from a long weekend in Door County, Wisconsin, with Ahu, parents, and Randy and Tiffany. More soon… Pictures are available here: http://flickr.com/photos/forkbender/sets/1018566/

I think I have finally worked out the comments functionality in the Narrative CMS. As originally posted here, I have, in past months, had a lot of problems with comment spam. Unscrupulous marketers send out spambots which crawl my website, leaving advertisement comments on every page that accepts comments. To end this, I implemented a captcha system which defeats spambots by requiring a security code before submitting comments. The security code is displayed as an image on the page and all the user has to do to submit a comment is to type in the code in the image.

I finally found something coffee-ish I like to drink at Starbuck’s. As some know, I don’t drink any type of coffee. Have always hated it. The only foods I like which are coffee-flavored are the Jamocha Shake at Arby’s and Jamocha ice cream from Baskin-Robbins. I had always avoided Starbucks because I always avoid coffee. This weekend, though, my wife suggested I try a frappuccino and to much delight, I found it’s just a Jamocha Shake.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I commute to the Chicago Loop now from West Dundee and that gives me almost 3 hours on the Metra Milwaukee District West Line train 5 days a week. That’s 15 hours on the train every week, folks - a longer commute than anyone should ever have. To make this lovely ride more bearable, I have started bringing Ahu’s laptop with me to work and spend at least 45 minutes of each ride writing articles for my various blogs.

Apparently, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, I also have the same birthday as the following people: Gwen Stefani. Of No Doubt. Neve Campbell. Of Scream fame.. Tommy Lee. Of, well, you know, fame. Excellent!

Unbelievably, Stifler and I have the same birthday.

I’ve read some articles on various blogs about how people are using GMail to maintain certain lists. GMail allows the “+” syntax on email addresses. For example, the two email addresses “potsie+Incubate@gmail.com” and “potsie+Goals@gmail.com” both get the email to “potsie@gmail.com”. However, the “+Incubate” and “+Goals” part of the address allows you to set up rules in GMail which automatically apply labels to incoming messages. So, continuing the above example, Potsie could create Incubate and Goals labels in his GMail account.

I started a new blog called The Weekly Edge which can be found at http://www.weeklyedge.com. I will be blogging the best of technology news once a week on Fridays. Consider it a summary of the most important technology news of the week.

If there is one thing every American has known for a long time it is that we should be driving more fuel-efficient cars. Everyone knows it. In science class growing up we get lessons on pollution, history classes on the oil shortages of the 1970s, and regular reminders as America goes off to war to stabilize a region we depend on for oil. Unfortunately, fuel efficiency is like weight loss in the United States - something everyone knows is good for them but something few are successful in achieving.

The unfolding events in New Orleans this week are truly a tragedy. The months following Hurricane Katrina will be a living nightmare for many. It is, quite possibly, the end of New Orleans as we have known it - the birthplace of jazz and home to some of the best food in the world - and this in tandem with other significant destruction and loss of life in Louisiana and Mississippi.