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A few things
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By Jeff Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Thu Aug 14, 2008 at 01:55:35 AM PDT
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First of all, if you've emailed me and I haven't gotten back to you, please be patient. I have received over 3,000 emails in the last 3 or so weeks, so it may take me a while to get to yours.
Secondly, while I am exploring several ideas on how I would like the Gripelog to be formated going forward, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't have to be a one man show anymore. If I just wrote about what was most interesting to me a lot of what is important about the Gripelog would be lost. I'm more technical then my dad was(I've been the technical consultant for my dad's writings for 10+ years), but I don't have the understanding of business and legal issues that he had. Basically, I need help.
So, if you want to write for the Gripelog, send me an email . Include a writing sample or a link to one, and tell me about yourself and what you would like to write about. These, for the time being, would be unpaid positions.
Also, Keep sending me those gripes. it is hard for me to access the old gripe address, so, for the time being, please send them to jeffmfoster@gmail.com
I'd really like to have something to write next week :)
Lastly, thank you again for your support. The emails I've received have been amazing. It means a lot to know that my dad's writing meant something to so many people. I can't express that enough.
(1 comment) Comments >>
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Thank you
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By Jeff Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Aug 11, 2008 at 01:40:50 AM PDT
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I apologize for the length of time since my last post. The first week after a loved one dies is an extremely hectic one(who knew?). We had to plan the memorial service, find a venue, meet and visit relatives and so on. As for the second week, well, I couldn't do much of anything. I mostly sat around and watched Tv, read books, moved some furniture, and watched some tv(did I mention that?). I'm definitely not over it. it's the first thing I think about in the morning, and the last thing I think about before I go to bed. It occupies my thoughts throughout the middle of the day as well. I'm not sure I'll ever stop thinking in this way. I'm also not sure whether I want to.
What I wanted to tell everyone was that the outpouring of support through comments and emails was amazing. There was no better testament to my dad's work then those comments. They made a lot of people who knew him feel just a tiny bit better. 20 or so of my family's favorites where read aloud at the memorial service. We could all wish such a sendoff when it's our turn to go.
In the end, what I wanted to say, was thank you. Thank you for showing me that my father meant something to so many people. Thank you for showing me that this thing he started has to go on, and thank you for giving me the courage not to give up on it.
I will have a post up later today dealing with what I think needs to happen to let the gripelog continue. I'm going to need help. So please, drop me a line at Jeffmfoster@gmail.com with your ideas, or comment in the story below.
-Jeff Foster
(13 comments) Comments >>
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Ed Foster: 1949-2008
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By Jeff Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 04:59:24 PM PDT
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I'm sorry to inform you all that my dad, Ed Foster, Died on Saturday of an apparent heart attack. He was 59. He was very proud of the work he had done and the community he had built here. He was very engaged in what you all had to say, and we had many running instant message conversations about comments or emails people had sent. He was an extremely smart man, and he loved to be mentally stimulated, whether it was a good book, an interesting conversation, or one of the many comments you posted that made him look at something in a slightly different way. As you can probably tell, I'm not half the writer my dad was, and it's very difficult for me to think of the words to say what I feel(It doesn't help that when I get stuck on a word or phrase, I think "I know, I'll ask my dad!") , but I just want everybody to know that this site and the people on it meant a lot to him. I'm going to miss him. More then words could express, even if he was here to help me think of them.
Services are going to be held on Saturday. For more information, Please email me jeffmfoster@gmail.com.
(73 comments) Comments >>
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Yahoo plays defunct DRM tune
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By Ed Foster, Section Columns
Posted on Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 05:38:34 PM PDT
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It's getting to be an old song. This week the Yahoo Music Store sent a message to customers saying they will turn off their DRM servers after September, thus joining MSN Music, Sony's Connect music store and other online music services in eventually cutting off customers who purchased DRM-wrapped tunes. And readers have no doubt it's a song the movie, e-book, and software publishers are also going to be singing in the future.
(4 comments, 565 words in story) Full Story
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Dell notebook turns into a Bad Buy
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 12:16:11 AM PDT
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The reputation of Dell's support has certainly had its ups and downs over the years. But the experience of one reader who recently bought a Dell notebook at Best Buy makes me wonder if company executives just don't care anymore what people think of Dell support.
(6 comments, 912 words in story) Full Story
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Of Apple, Psystar users, and copyright
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 08:33:41 AM PDT
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I don't know whether or not Psystar is guilty of the many charges Apple makes in the lawsuit it recently filed against the Mac clone maker. But in looking over Apple's filing, there is one particularly dubious argument that I think should concern us all. According to Apple, Psystar users who obtained legal copies of Mac OS X are themselves guilty of copyright infringement, and Apple wants them deprived not only of the software but the computer system as well.
(8 comments, 401 words in story) Full Story
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The suspicious death of XP support
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 12:31:00 AM PDT
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As Microsoft slowly kills off Windows XP itself -- over the protest of many users -- it's still unclear exactly when Redmond will formally cut off all support for its old OS. But one reader's experience in dealing with a series of update fiascos over the last few months suggests that XP support may actually have expired already, and under suspicious circumstances.
(29 comments, 955 words in story) Full Story
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Is the Do-Not-Call list not working?
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Fri Jul 11, 2008 at 12:21:17 AM PDT
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Readers increasingly fear that the Do-Not-Call Registry is losing its effectiveness as telemarketers come up with more and more tricks to avoid being penalized. A reader's recent experience left a trail back to one culprit -- his cable company, Charter Communications.
(45 comments, 447 words in story) Full Story
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Threads of copyright abuse
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By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 11:58:46 PM PDT
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How far will copyright "protection" organizations go in threatening end users with highly-questionable infringement claims? Far enough to claim that victims of counterfeiters are infringers themselves, as the continuing practices of the Embroidery Software Protection Coalition (ESPC) demonstrate.
(20 comments, 913 words in story) Full Story
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