New MT Client Available

Well, it may not be new to others, but it’s definitely new to me.

After trying blogBuddy and w.Bloggar for Movable Type posting clients, I found both to be lacking in functionality and missing the robust features offered with the usual MT bookmarklet. Now, there’s a new Windows-based client that’s determined to fill that void — called Zempt.

I downloaded it and tried it on a posting and some entry updates. So far, I’m pleased with its ease of use and the availability of MT and HTML editing features at the local-client level.

If you’re looking for an MT posting client, Zempt is definitely worth trying.

Update: According to this discussion on Yuan-Chung Cheng’s blog, a Linux version of Zempt is also in the works.

Posting Advisory

You may notice that the AM postings are now shifting to PM postings, as I’m now on a temporary “early bird” schedule at work, which means that my day starts 2 hours earlier than usual.

I’ll have more later today after 1 pm or the new-found afternoon nap, whichever comes first.

Friday Five Pre-Empted

I only participate when the questions carry some degree of general interest. The recent offerings just haven’t been interesting to me.

Please Stand By

The cable modem took a dump last night, and I have to get the SUV serviced before I head out of town this weekend. Posting will resume later today.

Choppy Internet Ahead

Posting may be sporadic for a little while, being that I’m at the mercy of Cox Communications switching cable modem users in town from the ExpressNet service to the (hopefully more reliable) Cox.net backbone.

Thanks to those who suggested various home remedies. My immune system, at the hearing of some of those remedies, decided to get itself into gear. In short, I feel better again.

Ye Olde Athlon Update

It appears that the reason for the recent hangups with the computer was bad RAM.

Some tinkering and a trip to Fry’s later, and Ye Olde Athlon is spared by a reprieve for now.

Besides, I’m not ready to upgrade for a while with family reunion expenses just around the corner…

Side Note: Thanks to the kind person who made a monetary donation!

Down Time

Apologies for the lack of posting as of late; Ye Olde Athlon is acting up again. Hopefully I won’t have to take a sledgehammer to it any time soon…

I’m also doing some more housekeeping with the blog, and hammering out some house rules, as the trollage has been heavy as of late (mainly with previous posts older than 6 months). Stay tuned.

Blog Improvement

To those who have e-mailed me in response to the R-J article: Please bear with me, as I will be assembling a post with links on how to start a blog this weekend. Also, I intend to tweak the color scheme to make the blog more easy on the eyes.

Thanks to everyone for their patience!

Pardon the Dust

The blog needed a makeover. Please bear with me while I switch back to a 3-column design and tweak things to my liking.

Update: Well, I finished the hard parts. Being that all blogs are works in progress, expect the rest of the redesign to be completed over the weekend.

Status Report

Due to ISP problems, a weekend family visit, and a cut to my left hand, yours truly was knocked offline for a bit.

Things should be back to normal now.

My Blog, My Rules

The Long Version:

• The DC Thornton Weblog is NEITHER fair NOR balanced. The owner is obviously a bit right of center and clearly thinks the far left are off their collective rockers. This should be readily apparent to anyone who has read more than one post here.
• The DC Thornton Weblog is a PERSONAL web site. It is not representative of any media entity, therefore the words posted here are opinions, for the most part. The opinions expressed here on this site are either those of the site owner or the site’s designated contributors, and do not necessarily reflect those of his immediate family, his employers (past, present, or future), his associates, or his collaborators.
• The owner of this site is not beholden to any rules or ethics that demand fairness in reporting. Thus, you will see a lot of posts supporting the owner’s ideals and opinions, and not so many - probably none - supporting yours.
• The owner of this site is not a paid journalist and you are not his boss/editor. Therefore, he is under no obligation to write about the things you think he should be writing about. There are no editorial meetings held with his readers or imaginary “white puppet masters” (as alleged by the owner’s left-of-center African-American critics) every morning to go over the day’s stories. This site is not run by a democratic process; the stories that get covered are the stories the owner feels like writing about that day. This site is run on whim and personal preferences.
• However, should you feel that you have some sort of right to determine what should and shouldn’t be printed here, you can feel free to supply a monthly (bi-weekly works as well) cashier’s check made out to the owner of the site, making you his boss and securing an agreement that he will answer to you and allow you to make editorial decisions. The check would have to be a sufficient amount that would be worth the owner of this site giving up his personal freedom to post what he wants, when he wants (in other words, that would make the owner a sellout in the truest sense of the slur). In other words, keep your editorial comments to yourself.
• Better yet, keep your money as well. The owner isn’t selling out his ideals and opinions to appease you or anybody else.
• In closing, the owner of this site would like to reiterate that this site is totally, completely biased and makes no apologies for it, nor should he. He pays the pays for the bandwidth with his own hard-earned money. He pays for the hosting fees with his own hard-earned money. He does this all on his spare time for free. Yes, free.
• The owner of this site reserves the right to moderate and delete comments he deems to be off-topic, rude or condescending toward him or his readers. There is a difference between criticism and vilification; the latter will not be tolerated.

The Short Version:

• This personal website is an extension of my house. If you disrespect me or my guests in my house, I’ll throw you out. If you don’t like what you see here, please move along.

(based on a statement originally written by Michele Catalano)

Merry Christmas

To the readers and friends of dcthornton DOT blog:

Good tidings to you and yours this day and for the new year to come.

Meme, Myself, and I

Laurence Simon pointed out to me that the Blogchalking site is acting up, and that it’s the little graphic that has been causing the template a truckload of problems. The graphic properties were devoid of height and width dimensions, as well as being hosted on another website. Two web authoring no-nos that I had failed to notice when I jumped on the blogchalk bandwagon months ago.

It looks like the Blogchalking meme is no more, and therefore, the graphical glitches are no more; I removed them.

You gotta be careful with memes.

Yes, I know the template’s behaving badly…

Due to higher priorities (namely work and Thanksgiving preparations), repairs will come as soon as I find time.

dct.b Upgraded

The blog has been upgraded to Movable Type 2.5, with integrated search, and newer publishing features. If you’re running a MT-based blog, download yourself a copy of the upgrade.

BTW, MT is 1 year old today. Thanks to Ben and Mena for providing a quality, top-notch system. Congratulations!