Here are the steps to install the Democracy plugin:

1. Download the newest version from Wordpress.
2. Move the Democracy subfolder into your Wordpress’s wp-content/plugins folder (not the extracted folder but the folder inside it).
3. Activate the plugin and setup new polls. 

To insert a poll into a post.  Write {democracy: POLL_ID} on your post.  Replace POLL_ID with the id number of your poll.

Getting the widget plugin to work drove me bonkers.   In the Democracy zip package, there is a widget_democracy.php.  Put this file into the plugins folder.  Activate the plugin, then drop the new widget into your sidebar and BAM!… It works!… Maybe. For me, it worked, but the polls didn’t display correctly with my theme.

Here’s how it looked on my sidebar.

I got the widget to work with my theme by modifying the Democracy plugin code.  If you have encountered this problem, download my modified version and reinstall the plugin.

Here is how it looked with the modified version:

Another great poll that I’ve found is WP-Poll by Lester Chan, but unfortunately for me, I can’t get it to work.  Maybe other people will have better luck with it.

All of Apple’s OS’s have the taskbar at the top the desktop. This got me thinking: why does Apple position their taskbar at the top?  After using Leopard for a short time, I was convinced that the most efficient position for the taskbar is not at the bottom but at the top.

The position of the taskbar can affect how efficient you are with Windows and the strain on your eyes.  Lets consider a scenario where you have the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, and you are browsing the Internet using a few instances of IE.  Every time you want to switch IE windows (I’m aware that there’re tabs in IE7–and they are at the top!), you would have to move the mouse cursor all the way down to change windows.   Your eyes will also have to follow the mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen and then back to the first word on the webpage – very inefficient.

Having the taskbar at the top will solve both of these issues by reducing eye and mouse movements.

The best ergonomic position for your monitor is where your eyes are leveled with the top of the monitor, so it makes sense to have the taskbar at eye-level.

There is one problem I’ve found with having the the taskbar on top: sometimes Windows will position a program so the top border is hidden behind the taskbar.  This makes it difficult to move the program window.  But there’s  a great utility called AltMove by DeskEx that lets you move any window by holding Alt and dragging the window, similar to how it’s done on Linux.

What about the left and right sides you ask?  Well, the right side is not a good place for the taskbar and has the same disadvantages as the bottom.  The left side on the other hand is a good alternative from the top, but  there’s an annoying problem: the name of the programs gets cutoff on the taskbar buttons (Microsoft, please make it so the buttons automatically resize based on how many are being displayed). If you can live with this, then having the taskbar on the left side is good, especially if you have a widescreen monitor–this will make good use of the extra screen estate.

Useful Tips:

• Taskbar Shuffle from Jay at Nerd Cave lets you drag a taskbar program button to any position and also lets you close a program by middle clicking the program on the taskbar.
• To move the Windows taskbar, click and hold  the left mouse button on an empty taskbar spot and then drag it to  a new position on your desktop.

The first thing that will catch people’s eyes is the new Vista or Windows XP Firefox theme.  The Vista version works with Vista’s native theme correctly (this wasn’t so with the earlier betas).

The bookmark and search engine has been completely re-haul making searching in the Bookmarks or Address Bar (see figure 1) much easier.

But what caught my attention the most is the performance improvements over Firefox 2.  The memory footprint is greatly improved and everything just feels much more snappier.

And of course, the great add-ons by the Firefox community is still the best reason to use Firefox over the other browsers.

Mozilla will try to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours when Firefox 3 is released.  See Firefox Download Day 2008 for more info.

Update: Firefox 3 will be released Tuesday, June 17.

Make your add-ons work with Firefox 3: How to Disable Add-on Compatibility Checking.

1. Type about:config in the address bar.

2. Click on an empty spot and select new, then boolean.

3. Enter extensions.checkCompatibility as the preference name and select false as the value.

4. Now go install your favorite add-ons!

Figure 1.

On Monday, June 9, 2008, Steve Job announced that the new iPhone 3G will be available in stores July 11, 2008.  Some of the major features include: longer battery life, assisted GPS, higher audio quality and an Apple Store interface to provide third party developed programs.

The slow Edge network turned me away from the first iPhone, but with 3G and GPS capabilities on the iPhone 3G, I will be one of the many trying to buy an iPhone on July 11th.

Major Features and Pricing:

• 3G Speed (renders web pages up to 2x faster than Edge)
• GPS  (live tracking, turn-by-turn directions, API for third party software).
• Flush Headphone Jack.
• Charcoal Back (white is available on the higher memory model).
• Battery Life Times: 
  10 Hours 2G Talk Time.
  5 Hours 3G Talk Time.
  5-6 Hours of High-Speed Browsing.
  24 Hours of Audio Playback.
• $199 (8GB model) or $299 (16GB model) With a 2-Year Contract.

For more information, visit Apple.com.

There’s a great iPhone 3G faq over at Gizmodo.

I must point out that I’m not a Indiana Jones fanboy, because I’ve been told that a lot of bad reviews are coming from the Indy fans. Even though I had never really watched any of the previous Indiana Jones movies, I was very excited about this movie for a few reasons: I was a big fan of Steven Spielberg (I loved "Catch Me if You Can", "Saving Private Ryan", "Minority Report"…), I liked Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones character (who doesn’t want to be a Archaeology professor/treasure hunter), and although I wasn’t a big fan of George Lucas, his movies would always have big special effects. But I have to say, I left the movie theater disappointed.

This movie follows the Indiana Jones’s timeline and is set 19 years after his last adventure. Jones gets himself in trouble early on and is forced to leave the university where he teaches. Jones is then approached by a boy, named Mutt (Shia Labeouf), and they both set out to find Mutt’s mother and the Crystal Skull.

The problem with the movie is after a great opening, the movie goes downhill. I blame this on the poor script. Jones and Mutt spend a lot time on screen, but their relationship never gets interesting. The only likeable person is Jones, who puts on a good performance. The other major complaint is the action scenes. They are really nice to look at but are so corny at times that they become laughable. Halfway through the movie, some of the characters figure they are invincible and start doing crazy stunts without thinking twice. But to be fair, the movie never takes itself seriously. Although I wish it did.

I think part of the reason why I had high expectation was because it got a good score at Rottten Tomatoes. I am a frequent visitor of Rotten Tomatoes, and usually agree with their scores but they are a tad off with this movie. It is currently at 78% on the tomatometer. This is too high. It should be 65% on the tomatometer.

Even though I’m disappointed with this movie (I had really high expectations), I do recommend the movie because it does have some great visual and action. Just don’t expect too much, like I did.