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	<title>Useful Little Things &#187; Off Topic</title>
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	<link>http://usefullittlethings.com</link>
	<description>Computers are supposed to make life easier</description>
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		<title>GoDaddy Fanboy?</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/i-am-not-a-godaddy-fanboy.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/i-am-not-a-godaddy-fanboy.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 May 2010 13:29:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=321</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A comment was posted on one of my older posts about leaving GoDaddy for WebFaction. &#8220;I have 100 domains on Godaddy and i can say that this company is very reputable.&#8217;~'&#8221; It seemed pretty innocuous, although the domain it pointed to had no content. I was about to approve it when I decided to run [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A comment was posted on one of my older posts about leaving GoDaddy for <a href="http://www.webfaction.com/?affiliate=usefulthings">WebFaction</a>.</p>
<p><em>&#8220;I have 100 domains on Godaddy and i can say that this company is very reputable.&#8217;~'&#8221;</em></p>
<p>It seemed pretty innocuous, although the domain it pointed to had no content. I was about to approve it when I decided to run a quick <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22I+have+100+domains+on+Godaddy+and+i+can+say+that+this+company+is+very+reputable.'~'%22&amp;hl=en&amp;filter=0">Google search</a>. The search showed that this exact quote was posted to various blogs over 300 hundred times and the commenter used a different name on each site.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not sure what the commenter was up to, but I can think of a few theories. First, it could be a naive person thinking they can get a little &#8220;Google goodwill&#8221; for their site with links from a bunch of comments. Not likely, since their site is missing content. Of course, maybe their going to throw up some questionable content later after the comments get approved. Second, it could be a GoDaddy fanboy, who just <em>loves </em>GoDaddy so much that he/she must refute our tales of woe. But, I doubt it.  Rabid fans are usually more wordy.</p>
<p>Needless to say, I marked it as spam and tossed it in the trash.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The E-Book War (or How to Lose Customers)</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/the-e-book-war-or-how-to-lose-customers.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/the-e-book-war-or-how-to-lose-customers.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=247</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the war between publishers and retailers over control of the e-book channel, the customer is losing.  My letter to Harper-Collins and my email to Amazon explain it all.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In the war between <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/">publishers</a> and <a href="http://amazon.com">retailers</a> over control of the e-book channel, the customer is losing.  My <a href="http://usefullittlethings.com/an-open-letter-to-harper-collins">letter to Harper-Collins</a> and my <a href="http://usefullittlethings.com/an-open-letter-to-amazon-com">email to Amazon</a> explain it all.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Amazing Grace</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/amazing-grace.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/amazing-grace.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:42:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazing Grace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[faith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mp3]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=220</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My mother-in-law, Ruth, passed away this week.  My brother&#8217;s wife, Carla, was generous enough to sing at Ruth&#8217;s funeral.  She was amazing.  I heard angels.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My mother-in-law, Ruth, passed away this week.  My brother&#8217;s wife, Carla, was generous enough to <a title="Amazing Grace Audio File (mp3)" href="http://usefullittlethings.com/static/Amazing%20Grace.mp3">sing</a> at Ruth&#8217;s funeral.  She was amazing.  I heard angels.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="http://usefullittlethings.com/static/Amazing%20Grace.mp3" length="2591873" type="audio/mpeg" />
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		<item>
		<title>Gmail, Bills, and Labels</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/gmail-bills-and-labels.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/gmail-bills-and-labels.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:50:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=195</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A while back I set up rules in Gmail to apply the label Bill to any email notifying me I have a bill due.  I try to do most everything paperless, so I don&#8217;t usually get a bill in the regular mail.  The Bill label helped reminder me not to archive it and forget to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A while back I set up rules in Gmail to apply the label <em>Bill</em> to any email notifying me I have a bill due.  I try to do most everything paperless, so I don&#8217;t usually get a bill in the regular mail.  The <em>Bill</em> label helped reminder me not to archive it and forget to pay.</p>
<p>I prefer not to pay something the moment it comes in, since it might not be due for another two or three weeks.  In fact, I prefer to maximize the interest my money can earn and paying a bill way early goes against that.  Recently, however, I&#8217;ve found myself repeatedly logging into my online accounts to see when something is due.  I may prefer to keep my money as long as possible, but I also prefer not to pay late fees.</p>
<p>This morning, I hit upon a way to &#8220;store&#8221; the due date of a bill right in Gmail using labels.  I simply create a new label with the month and day the bill is due and assign it to the email.  Google makes this really simple and it requires only a few clicks.  If you&#8217;ve never done this before, I&#8217;ve given you instructions just below this screenshot.</p>
<p><a href="http://usefullittlethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/GmailBills.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-212" title="Label bills with due date in Gmail" src="http://usefullittlethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/GmailBills.png" alt="Label bills with due date in Gmail" width="483" height="105" /></a></p>
<p>To create a label in Gmail:<br />
1) Open the email message in Gmail.<br />
2) Click the<em> Labels</em> button to open the Labels drop-down list.<br />
3) Click <em>Create New</em> at the bottom of the list.<br />
4) Enter the due date for the bill (i.e. &#8211; <em>Mar 31</em>) and click <em>Ok</em>.</p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Researcher Translation</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/researcher-translation.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/researcher-translation.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:15:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[xkcd]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=162</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I graduate in three years, I&#8217;ll let you know if this is accurate or not&#8230;]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When I graduate in three years, I&#8217;ll let you know if this is accurate or not&#8230;</p>
<p><a href="http://xkcd.com/678/"><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/researcher_translation.png" alt="" width="507" height="431" /></a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>HH Gregg is Awesome</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/hh-gregg-is-awesome.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/hh-gregg-is-awesome.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:32:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=134</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Let me tell you why I think HH Gregg is awesome. A couple of months ago we purchased a 52&#8243; LCD flat panel television from HH Gregg.  It was very nice (notice the past tense).  Two weeks ago, some dirtbags broke into our house and stole it.  The police have a few leads, but I&#8217;m [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let me tell you why I think <a title="HH Gregg - the most awesome store ever" href="http://www.hhgregg.com/">HH Gregg</a> is awesome.</p>
<p>A couple of months ago we purchased a 52&#8243; LCD flat panel television from HH Gregg.  It was very nice (notice the past tense).  Two weeks ago, some dirtbags broke into our house and stole it.  The police have a few leads, but I&#8217;m not holding my breath.</p>
<p>Since we liked the TV so much &#8212; and since <a title="State Farm - the most awesome insurance company ever" href="http://www.statefarm.com/">State Farm</a> is paying for a new one &#8212; we went back to HH Gregg.  I told the manager what happened and said I wanted the exact same TV we had before.  He checked the computer and let us know that they didn&#8217;t have the exact same model, but they had the slightly newer version.  I asked him if it was more expensive.  He said, <em>No, it&#8217;s about the same price, but I&#8217;ll be giving it to you <strong>at cost</strong> </em><em>since I refuse to profit off of other&#8217;s misfortune.</em></p>
<p>How friggin cool is that!  Needless to say, we will be going back there again.</p>
<p><em>Note to Dirtbags: We now have an alarm system and video surveillance, so don&#8217;t bother coming around to try and steal the new one.  You&#8217;ll just get caught.  And, oh yeah, you suck!</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>First Week of School</title>
		<link>http://usefullittlethings.com/first-week-of-school.html</link>
		<comments>http://usefullittlethings.com/first-week-of-school.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:46:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Russell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off Topic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Auburn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[school]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usefullittlethings.com/?p=122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So the first week of school at Auburn as a PhD student has left me with a few new accomplishments under my belt. Six minutes into my first (ever) PhD class, I derailed the professor&#8217;s train of thought with my cell phone ringing.  Oh yeah, he&#8217;s also the Department Head. I started learning a new [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So the first week of school at Auburn as a PhD student has left me with a few new accomplishments under my belt.</p>
<ol>
<li>Six minutes into my first (ever) PhD class, I derailed the professor&#8217;s train of thought with my cell phone ringing.  Oh yeah, he&#8217;s also the Department Head.</li>
<li>I started learning a new programming language: <a title="Python Programming Language" href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a>.</li>
<li>I got the <a title="CDC Swine Flu Q&amp;A" href="http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm">swine flu</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>All in all, I&#8217;d say things are starting off with a bang!</p>
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