Weekend Relaxers
This weekend flew by and made me wish that someone would pay me to be a full time wife and mother. There, I said it. Alas, we’ll have to be content with weekends. This Sunday, we took the boy out to breakfast and then for a little play while we picked out a present for our expectant friends. We’re secretly hoping that they’ll start a baby blog … but, we’ll see. We came home for a long nap (myself included) before heading over to Suz and Mike’s for the baby shower. D had plenty of kids to play with and a good time was had by all.
Coincidentally, it was also my birthday. I don’t mind the birthday, but really was feeling a little low key. The husband surprised me with a lovely necklace from Lucca (my favorite boutique!) and The Gormenghast Novels. There are few things that truly delight me more than a surprise book that I’ve never heard of, but has all kinds of excellent reviews. Seriously, it’s the best thing EVER!
And today, at work, my fantastic co-workers (they really are) surprised me with an ice cream cake, a random singing of Happy Birthday (it was an email generated sing-a-long) and … get this … an iPod Nano! There is no way the people you work with are this awesome. I didn’t even mind when I registered it and realized that I’d moved into a new demographic category (yep, I had to select the 35+ from the drop down). That’s technology’s way of saying … hey, you’re getting older. It was such a sweet gift and a total surprise.
It can be my Apple fix for now to keep me for wanting to run out and buy a new Macbook Pro. I actually might have made an “O” face. After perusing the pics, I uttered a “That’s hot.” which made my husband laugh in a way that said “That’s NERDY.” It cracks him up that I can be so in love with technology. I like to think he finds it endearing. Sigh.
Working On Stuff
How’s that for a title? Besides changing up the theme to something a bit more basic (I’m a big fan of Chris Pearson’s themes). Tomorrow (hopefully, best laid plans and all) I’ll update the theme with some images of my own. I’ve been totally inspired by some of the simple, straightforward recommendations he makes on the use of categories, commenting and SEO within Wordpress. If only it wasn’t so difficult to find a reliable pocket of time. When faced with the prospect of messing around with code vs. playing with the boy … there’s no contest.
The husband and I have also been working on a little project together. It’s a secret for now, but we’ll let you in on it in the next week or so. Sssshhhh …
In Which Our Heroine Is Scattered (again)
Look, I even categorized things in case you want to skip over things you might find boring. Can you guess what I do for a living? That’s right, craft emails. Okay, no, not really, but sometimes it seems like it. It seems like I’m striving to communicate to people who don’t speak the same language … except we do. For instance, I might say “Can you please take care of this today as it is critical for our work?” and by the time Outlook has done it’s voodoo and shoved it through Exchange Server (which I’m convinced turns even the brightest, clearest, most inspiring emails into tripe) you read “Don’t bother worrying about this email. Because if I need this done badly enough, I’ll remember to remind you later about it.” But, I digress.
The Dad Who Chose To Take Care Of His Son
Poking around Network Solutions looking for domain names to launch a new blog that the husband doesn’t know he’s going to own yet. I’m going to be all “Surprise! See what I bought you?” And he’s going to be all “Were they out of hamburgers?” It’s just that we talk alot about his experience (so far) as a Stay-At-Home-Dad (including a better label than that) because it’s been a really interesting experience so far for all. The biggest issue we’ve discovered is that sadly, there are still many stereotypes around fathers who decide to stay home to take care of their children. He has gotten alot of “Oh, you’re Mr. Mom” and just the other day, we were at the doctor’s office for what shall be known from here on out as THE EYE INCIDENT when I overheard the nurse say “Babysitting today?”. I literally saw the question mark appear over the husband’s head as he tried to understand what that meant. His response was simply “That’s my wife and son.” We’ve had mixed responses from our families and not necessarily negative but also not overwhelmingly positive either. I won’t go on and on about that any more than I already have. But, suffice to say that I think it’s incredible that the husband takes care of the boy full time. Often it’s the mom who stays home (which is of course, awesome) but I think that one day the boy will look back and see how special having his dad with him everyday really was/is. I’ve gotten to carry the boy in the belly and I’ve spent countless hours peering into his little face while nursing him. This is the husband’s turn to have those special moments all to himself.
Looking For Inspiration
Aren’t I always? Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve done a little sewing and have been brewing lots of little ideas in my head. For most of my life, I’ve taken those ideas for granted and have now realized I need to give them the proper caring for they deserve. We are halfway through converting the dude room (or man cave, if you prefer) into a shared space for both of our creative endeavors. In planning this space, I’m already looking for ways to make it easy to capture thoughts, ideas and flights of fantasy. This is a long overdue project that hopefully, will contribute to more time spent being creative and less time thinking about it. Note to self: re-read Recollections of My Life As a Woman from Diane DiPrima.
The smallest bite ever
This is the smallest bite ever. You can tell by it’s proportion to my stress bitten fingernail.
Husband Attacked By Killer Plant And Survives
The husband was attacked by a killer plant that squirted poison in his eye. It immediately swelled up and during the night he grew green tentacles and tried to eat my brains. In the morning, we went to the doctor who gave him antibiotics which cleared it all up. Everything in that story is true except the tentacles and brain eating. Oh and then he was bitten by a spider three times. And then the dog tore his dew claw off and had to go to the vet and spend $150 of his allowance on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicines. Let’s just say it was a banner week at the Nest.
My Technology Avarice Will Not Die
I admit it. I have a problem. I love new technology and I hate new technology at the same time. As you may see, this causes problems. All of that conflict aside, I need (and that means want) a new machine setup. If money was no object, that there left image is what I’d be hitting check out on right now. Oh boy, it qualifies for free shipping. Really? I hope it comes with a house boy that delivers it to my door as well considering it’s almost 3K.
The Powerbook G4 I’m typing on at this very moment has certainly served me well. It’s made one trip back to Apple for service and has performed superbly … that is, until now. Small little things are starting to happen (like the clock sometimes changing itself to 1964) and they are increasingly annoying (like the downloaded files that pretend to only partially download). There comes a time in every tech girls life when you just don’t want to fix things and just want the computer equivalent of a pair of brand new Manolo Blahnik patent leather Mary Janes.
For now, I’ll just deal with the weirdness and hope that the laptop fairy might bestow a new machine on me. Or I win the lotto (or as Fishizzle says, the tax for people who can’t do math). Or I convince myself that spending 3K is a good idea and necessary for my mental health. Or I get a new job that pays lots and lots of money. Stay tuned.
Flipping Out
There is no good excuse for that title, other than sometimes I just can’t help myself. And really, I owe myself a little indulgence into crap every now and then don’t I? I like to think so. And anyway, today was SO bad that I really thought I might have to hide in my closet to fend off the craziness. So a little poor taste seems mild.
Thanks to the husband, instead of hiding in my closet, I’ve been lured out with a big, bright new piece of tech candy. Behold, flip video, which officially makes it the fastest trip from wish list to home ever (I literally added that to my wish list a couple days ago). It literally took me about 5 minutes to pop this baby out of the box, record some random video of the husband sheepishly explaining why he purchased it for me (for Mother’s Day and because he loves me <insert aww here />). because he’s just that kind of guy. I’d post the video here, but that would really be pushing the dork envelope don’t you think? I’m looking forward to having free reign to record the boy anywhere and everywhere, starting tomorrow. For tonight, I’m going to enjoy a little alone time with a cup of tea and Betty Blue.
:: update :: Remember when I said my love was/is fickle? I was all excited about random videos until I discovered that I was not able to upload aforementioned videos. The flip is not being recognized by my machine, which is pretty frustrating. And yes, it supports Intel Macs, it’s plugged directly into the a port rather than through a peripheral and yes, those ports work because they’ve been tested with other devices (including other cameras). Grr. Apparently, this a somewhat consistent problem (if it wasn’t, would it already be a static support item on their website?). Sigh. I emailed support only to receive instructions for Windows XP. And if that isn’t a big ol’ smack in the face, I don’t know what is.
Wordpress 2.5 Love
I finished installing the latest version of Wordpress and so far it’s truly fantastic! The interface overhaul makes perfect sense (which I think is the best complement you can give a site experience). It certainly paid to bring in the well respected Happy Cog team. The navigation has been reorganized to feature the four activities most users spend doing: writing, managing posts/pages, designing and managing comments. There have been significant updates to each of the tabs and I am really enjoying working with it.
That’s the good news. The bad news? I haven’t been able to import my database info back in (I didn’t upgrade, I had reinstalled due to consistently strange site behavior) which means years of posts are waiting in the wings. I have an idea of what the issue is, but no more patience/time today to finish it up. So, for the time being this blog looks brand spanking new. And truly, I don’t even care because I’m too busy enjoying the super cute theme from Scribble Scratch. To me, the best thing about the web is still those people who take time to share their creativity with the world
Dagnabbit
Okay, I give. I officially need to perform a fresh install of Wordpress to attempt to eliminate all of the issues the site is currently experiencing. It’s frustrating because I don’t really want to do it … but I suppose it will also be a little bit fun.
In other news, what the hell is going on with Nick Cave? He’s officially off the list. It’s just so weird (and I typically likeweird) that I can’t watch it all the way through. For the first time in his career, I’m starting to worry if he’s reaching a little too far. Love is fickle. I’ll reserve real judgement post purchase of the album.
It’s about time Portishead released a new album. Titled Third it will be released on April 28th. After having previewed the released track “Machine Gun”, I’m really excited.
Holy shite!! Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is playing The Intersection in Grand Rapids, MI. For those of you on the west side of the mitten, you MUST see this show. At first, I was all bent at the idea of seeing them in such a small club … but now I realize it’s um, a?Ǭ†little bigger and in a totally different spot than when I was in college. Damn. Go see this show. Really. To add insult to injury, there isn’t a Seattle show booked AND a couple of the west coast dates are being opened by Black Angels.That is one hell of a lineup … in fact, it’s a dream lineup. I feel so deprived.
I suppose I’ll just be content listening to both bands while re-installing Wordpress. Sigh.
Technical Difficulties
Okay, there is clearly something wrong with this site. Every now and then it defaults back to the Kubrick theme (regardless of which theme I am using) with errors thrown from the database. I’m certain I could figure out what is happening if I had the time … then again, if I had the time I’d build my own dang template. Oh well. If you’re wondering why this site looks like a coding disaster, that’s why. Someday soon I’ll clean everything up. In the spring other people wash their curtains, clean their windows and air out their houses. Me? I clean out my server and wipe out the little cobwebs lurking in the tiny, infinite corners of cyberspace.
Insomnia
Why is it an unwritten law that when you lose a post, the rewritten version will never be as good as the first? And what happens if you’ve actually lost the post twice (having realized one of the links you were adding crashed the browser)? Does that mean the rewritten post will be twice as crappy? Methinks so. I can tell … already!
Well, might as well get on with it then. Sigh. My new favorite past time when unable to sleep and/or I’m trying my best to avoid doing something I should be (like cleaning … or work) is to organize and weed through my del.icio.us tags. It’s like cleaning your closet or going through old photographs. You end up finding sites you may have forgotten about and find yourself rediscovering things at a much faster rate than you’re actually organizing. I spent time reading through La Coquette and then even more time loving the Colette site and dreaming about sipping un caf?ɬ© while perusing floors of design goodness. I poked around aoineko to check for their latest music offerings for download (good for working to!) and admired the combination of innovation and awareness in the delivery of the USHMM’s site on the genocide in the Congo. This lead me to a lighter break over at the very stylish blog for Handmade Detroit before admiring the lovely little work-y type items at See Jane Work where they share my belief that a lovely workspace is important!
So I did just a teensy bit of reorganizing. There’s always next time.
The Social Revolution And Other Bits
One of my favorite products of the social hotness has to be LastFM. If you spend most of your day listening music and you given it a try, you really should. How does it work? Register on the site, download the app, enter some of your favorite artists and voila! a radio station is generated with similar artists based on your and thousands of other peoples preferences. It’s pretty damn accurate. For example: I entered in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Cocteau Twins. Check out what was played for me:
Joy Division - A Means
PJ Harvey - You Come
Cocteau Twins - Evangeline
The Durutti Column - No More Hurt
Lush - Untogether
Low - The Plan
Love Spirals Downward - Rain, Drops, Sea
Bauhaus - St. Vitus
Slowdive - Celia’s Dream
Fantastic so far.
Other bits?
:: I’m quite excited that Writely has been acquired. I work in interactive advertising and although it would seem that our paper pushing is minimal, we do have a challenge in converting the process through which copywriters distribute their decks for review online. We tried Writeboard, which worked well, but besides being far too basic for our needs, there were bugs we couldn’t get around. I had beta tested Writely briefly before, but it was not stable enough to use. Now that Google will most likely put some money behind it, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for improvements and a release date.
:: Itching to make stuff? Try Instructables, where not only do people show off what they can make, they show you how to make it too. Everyone is invited to collaborate in sharing their trials and tribulations in building projects.
:: Do you know who Matthew Haughey is? I bet you do. His name is attached to Blogger, Creative Commons and Metafilter. His site, Whole Lotta Nothing continually manages to deliver interesting tech content. For instance, this link to an article on the development by Google and Volkswagen of a new navigational system.
:: USHMM put together a standout site on the genocide in the eastern Congo. Put aside any feelings you have for Angelina Jolie and enjoy the fact that the information is poignant but delivered in an interesting way (seemingly inspired by a page from Peter Beard’s notebook).
Goodnight.
Hacking life to pieces
I love paper. moleskines, Fabriano Artist’s Journals, Kate’s Paperie, Russell + Hazel; I love them all. Despite the ocean between those sworn to a paperless existence and those bound (no pun intended) to bits of notes everywhere, it seems I fall somewhere in the middle. So the whole idea of PocketMod, though seemingly simple, is quite appealing. Pretty much anywhere I go, I carry a notebook and an extra fine Sharpie just in case the moment strikes me. It can be anything from a pint of cream for a recipe to a burst of thought that needs immediate attention. PocketMod seems like a nice little guideline for helping to organize those on the fly and for free! Free is so good. You just click and drag to design the pages based on your needs, print, fold and voila! the smallest, cheapest organizer you’ve ever had.
I love betas. Aren’t betas exciting? So much promise, potential and that new app smell. Currently, I’m trying out Listal. With social networks hitting their stride now, this was inevitable. Listal essentially does what people have been using Amazon wish lists for, for years. It allows you to organize all that your heart desires in books, DVDs, movies, games and music all while socializing with other people who are doing the same. You can also track what you already own, see how many other people own or are interested in that item. As with all social interaction, it takes people to use it and you know when only 90 people show as owning Radiohead’s Ok Computer … it clearly hasn’t caught on yet. It also (again, as with most other sites) there is a certain amount of setup time. Even a longer setup process up front can be a breeze if it seems fun to you (i.e. answering questions about yourself. Let’s face it, people LOVE that stuff. And when I say people, I mean me sometimes too). In this case, it’s a bit clunky. Par example, at first I thought it would be easy. I selected DVD and entered Amelie. A list appeared with checkboxes, marked the right one and hit add. No problem. Now hears where it falls flat (and on the core task it asks users to perform over and over again … a search). I selected music and entered Radiohead. The results contained only releases that contained the word ‘radiohead’ in the actual title. You’d assume that it would pull any releases recorded by the band right? Wrong. Same thing with books. Enter an author’s name and you’ll only end up with a list of books that are written about the author. Listal better wise up or fade into oblivion.
Maybe you should just try lib.rario.us instead. And if free isn’t an option, then Delicious Library.
Should I end with something nice? How about the potential to discover new music?
This Just In
Still sick. Really, it’s a shame. However, it has allowed me time for:
- Reading about the CSS shadow technique.
- Enjoying the elegant work of Mark Wyner.
- Perusing the Chicago Manual of Style.
- Thinking of reasons to buy more Moleskines.
Join The Flock
Yes, that IS a lame title.
I am having far too much fun playing with Flock. If things keep moving in this direction, I might just have to boot Safari and Firefox for this Swiss Army knife of browsers. Things I really, really like. No, really.The interface. It’s simple, clean and pretty dang (oh Gary Larson, thank you for eliminating the need to curse) intuitive. The buttons are sharp and guess what? They’re pretty easy to associate with their functions. Amazing!
- Integration with del.icio.us to manage your bookmarks without logging here, logging in there. Thank you. I may now actually be able to adopt to it completely. I know there are extensions for Firefox, but sometimes it takes a small thing to give me the nudge I need.
- Integrated blogging. Lovely! I had been using Ecto (which incidentally I still love) for quite awhile but when I switched over to Wordpress, things went awry. They hate each other and although I’ve tried to have them kiss and make up, I’ve finally given up. Now I can click on a sweet little quill pen button and voila! Incidentally, don’t you just love icons that use archaic images that somehow click in our minds better than their technologically advanced counterparts? I do. Seriously.
- A serious history search. Using an open source Clucene search, Flock indexes all the content on a page to allow you some quick and accurate searching.
- Most frequently visited sites. Yes! I don’t know about you, but I have committment issues. My favorites are fatter than George Costanza’s wallet so I like to hit a site a few times before I add it on.
Before you run out and install, be forewarned that this is a preview version and therefore is a bit buggy. No one is responsible if your computer’s head spins around and spews pea soup!
Shocktober Is Coming
Since, Shocktober is almost here …
What? It is! Weren’t you just saying “I can’t believe it’s already September”. And it’s already September 8th!
But, I digress. On a whim (and against my better judgement) I picked up Fatal Frame II for Xbox. As if there aren’t already enough ways I find to terrify myself, there’s a video game that can do it for me. I tried it out last night thinking “Okay, probably creepy, but cool creepy.” Let me be the one to tell you, there’s nothing cool about it. In fact, the game is so dang frightening that I honestly don’t see myself playing it alone … at night … in the dark. I’ve always said that I could never be a horror movie because it would last about 15 minutes. I’m not curious about what’s in the basement, I don’t wonder what is making that squeaky, grinding noise in the attic (when I already checked earlier and there was nothing up there). Hell, I don’t even care to know what’s in the closet or under the bed!
For those of you who aren’t familiar, the game opens with your twin sister disappearing in to a long abandoned Japanese house. My first instinct (even though it’s a game) was to turn right around and try to leave. At this point in the game, I turned to Mark and said “You know I love you right? I have to tell you, if we’re ever in a horror-type situation and you disappear … I’m not going to be able to come looking for you.” His response “I see”. Needless to say, I highly recommend it.
On a completely different note, isn’t anyone willing to go see The Exorcism of Emily Rose with me? It seems everyone I’ve asked has declined with a polite, but unyielding ‘No thanks’.
Since the Halloween festivities have been cancelled, it seems as though the new plan may be to fly down to Orlando to hook up with our displaced friends and go to Halloween Horror Night. 13 different haunted houses! While I have never been a huge fan of Florida … this sounds like a whole lot of fun.
{Halloween Horror Nights | Universal Studios Orlando}
{Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - The Director’s Cut}
{Casket Furniture Coffin-table any one?}
Post #343 or Working the Categories
Just call me Jack of all trades (we’ll just skip the second part of that phrase).
Sonica: Last weeks KCRW Music Exchange played a bit from a band called Test Icicles, described by their engineer as “the Arcade Fire meets Slayer”. S’right, that’s what I said. Due to release a neon green 7″ titled Boa vs Python on August 1st on Domino Records, the song Boa vs Python is well … give it a listen yourself. The full song is available for play from their site. Although the comparison seems a strange one, I can see why the Arcade Fire came up as a description. The pitch of the music has a vehement fervor that seems genuine and is paired with a sort of controlled insanity.
Visual Delights: In movie news, there are about a million alternates to the ’summer blockbuster’ out there. 9 Songs tops the list of movies I will definitely be seeing. Garnering controversy because of a real sex scene (bravo!), the film opens here in Seattle on August 19th and in major cities elsewhere throughout the summer. Check out their site for more information. Or, if you’re one of those must-read-the-review first types, Salon has a formidable one. It’s got to be better than The Island. Word is that movie is bad, even for Michael Bay.
Techcentric: The official name (or re-name, if you prefer) of Longhorn is now Vista. Excuse me while I’m slightly nauseated. Do you think these people are happy? Or what about these people? Is it true? Well, Engadget says so. But just so you know, if they jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge … I wouldn’t. Well, not right away. Baa.
Sushi for the Mind: If you haven’t yet read The Historian from Elizabeth Kostova, please do. The historical novel was 10 years in the making and crafted from a single memory of her father reading stories of Dracula to her as a child. How do I know? She told me so at a reading she gave on Monday at my favorite bookstore, Elliott Bay Book Co.. It’s hard to conceive of a work of fiction based on Vlad Tsepesh and the mythos surrounding him without falling into the horror see also: vampires category. But, believe me when I say, this book is about the relationship between a father and a daughter, rich landscapes and a love of researching history.
On the heels of this book, I burned through the latest Harry Potter. All I can say is, wow. And now, on to Legends from Robert Littell. I don’t normally go for spy/espionage type novels, but it was picked through a book club and I’m always willing to give new books a try. The opening chapter was a bit horrifying, but that has certainly never stopped me before (see: Exquisite Corpse from Poppy Z. Brite).
And that’s that.
So Many Choices
The Nintendo Revolution was unveiled yesterday, on the heels of Xbox 360 and PS3. And now, the time honored debate over whether to buy the new Nintendo console for what amounts to a single game: Zelda: Twilight Princess?
I have a Gamecube that gets dusted off now and … well, never (it was permanently retired after realizing how annoying all of the sailing in the last game was … not to mention the cel animation). I’ve never been a Playstation person. I don’t have anything against it and I know they a million games. An additional con for PS3 is the rumoured price point for PS3 at $465!! So far, Xbox and PS3 are promising more POWER POWER POWER. Did you get that boys? PS3 - a processor 35 times more powerful than PS2, Xbox with 3 core IBM power processors at a whizzing 3.2Ghz. Nintendo is sheepishly promising 2-3 times more powerful than the Gamecube. “It’s not all about having ‘turbo power,’ ” Nintendo’s Perrin Kaplan says. “It’s about what you do with it.” Mmm-hmm. It’s not the size of your pencil, it’s how you sign your name.
So many choices!
- Nintendo = Zelda, oh and a promise of their free Internet service to access ALL of Nintendo’s game archive to download (there hasn’t been a cost set to this yet). They also say that this is going to be the easiest of all their consoles to develop for which is key. More games would be nice.
- Playstation = Choices of lots and lots of games, of course that doesn’t matter if most of them are crap and you really only play a few
- Xbox = Less games, good stuff. I really like my Xbox and it has been totally dedicated to Fable, Halo2 and more recently playing Return of the King again (I’d originally played it on the Gamecube).
I suppose I don’t play enough of all three systems to tell any differences beyond the amount of games available for them (and/or proprietary games). Oh wait, strike that, I did notice that the character reaction and movements were slightly better in the Gamecube specifically for ROTK.
I’ll have to pick one. I can’t justify blowing money on a couple gaming systems that, as much as I play, I definitely go through phases. It might just have to be the Revolution purely because I feel an obligation to play this new Zelda game! I’ve played all of the others, I’ve got a committment here, damnit. And the little Gameboy Micros look pretty darn cool as well … ideal for those long plane rides. Sensibility requires that I buy just one (says the girl with a Gamecube and Xbox).
What to do, what to do. I could go read a book. Oh wait, I DO read lots of books.
But that Xbox promise of processor power is so appealing, no more waiting around between scenes … oh, and I haven’t ever played a Playstation before. Shouldn’t I know what I’ve been missing?
And you wonder why I don’t get anything done? Anyone want to buy a Gamecube?
Another Tiger Post
Although I don’t generally think of myself as a geek, I did have to grab Tiger as soon as it came out (in fact, I pre-ordered … wait, I AM a geek). I was pretty certain the new version was going to fix some small, yet horribly annoying things about Panther.
My new number one favorite thing about Panther is not Dashboard or Spotlight (and definitely not the latest version of Mail). It’s the automatic connection to my wireless network! Clicking to connect to my wi-fi network seemed reasonable, re-connecting to it each time my PB went to sleep seemed utterly annoying. Running a close second in the fantastic department would be Spotlight. It’s so damn handy to be able to run real time searches for anything on your machine (not just the title, the contents too). I just need to spend a little more time with the little seach formats (beyond the find: …). I’m already finding myself annoyed by the search capabilities in XP. And although Longhorn is rumoured to contain the mother of all search capabilities, who knows when it will be out?
And then there’s Dashboard. Dashboard operates a little bit differently than I had thought. For some reason, I had the impression that the widgets would be similar to Konfabulator and remain on your desktop for all eternity. If you haven’t seen them yet, Dashboard is a separate application that requires a (configurable) keystroke or click on to the dock icon to activate and bring them forward. It makes sense now that I’ve gotten used to it. There aren’t a ton of widgets available for download (yet) but I expect that to change very quickly. Apple boasts that if you know HTML, you have all the skills you need to write a widget. Apparently, you don’t need computer hacking skills, nunchuk skills, etc.
Now on to the not so hot. Mail 2.0. I broke up with Mail 1.0 shortly after its release for several reasons: the way the mailboxes were arranged, the fact that I could never quite get the rules to work the way I needed them to and mostly because overall I thought the interface was clunky. That said, I’m giving Mail another chance. It’s promising things will be better this time. I really want to believe it. So, I waved goodbye to Entourage (but left all my mail accounts there just in case) and imported all of my mail into Mail 2.0. I was able to pull all of my mail in, but there seemed to be no way to import my actual accounts (of which there are many). No matter, I was not going to be judgemental … yet. All of my mail came in fine and true to the original folder structure I had been using. Now here’s the part where I am on the verge of breaking up with Mail again and running back to Entourage. I tried the whole Smart Mailbox/Smart Folder thing. Very handy. Except I’m not sure how that’s different than just creating a rule to move things to specified folders but with the annoying twist that these are actually virtual mailboxes. I typically have rules created to automatically move specific mail from my Inbox to folders. Smart mailbox will collect just what I need by my specified criteria, but the mail still just hangs out in my Inbox until I move it … and then if I want to move it, I need to create a folder for it since the Smart Folders are only virtual. Do you get what I’m saying here? I need to read more of Mail’s documentation because it’s a very real possibility that I’m just misunderstanding the intent for use. Um, hello, usability.
That’s really my only gripe. Overall Tiger is much faster, which I really like. The widgets are graphically stunning. Safari’s RSS reader is okay (but I’m still not being wooed from my handy Mozilla extension Feedview. FYI you can get Feedview within Mozilla from Tools > Extensions > Get more extensions > select News Readers from the category on the left). I played a bit with Inkwell, but am not really an adopter to the idea of writing stuff on your computer with a pen. The fancy thing about Inkwell is that you can write and it will automatically ‘read’ it and convert it to typed text. This assumes that you have a Wacom tablet and are handy with the pen (which takes some getting used to). Overall, I just don’t see the point.
Oh and I almost forgot, I can automatically accept/receive meeting invitations generated from Outlook in iCal. I don’t think this was available before, but I could just have missed it (I broke up with iCal as well in favor of the Microsoft approach of all-in-one calendar, contacts and mail). So much for fact checking.
Now go grab some coffee and get back to work!
Ubiquitous Sunday Post
One of many efforts I am dedicating myself to is more frequent updating to the site now that I’m all settled in and comfortable. Don’t you just love that new website smell? There are reasons that I haven’t been updating as often as I’d like. One of those reasons is a need for introspection. I won’t bore you here with all of the details (since I’d much prefer to bore you with other kinds of things), but suffice to say I needed to dedicate some serious time to figuring out what it is I really want to do. I have recently realized that I never put in nearly the kind of energy into moving my personal creative goals forward, as I do my career goals. I shudder to even use the words ‘career goals’ because it doesn’t feel like the proper term. I don’t consider what I do to be a career, but then I have always had a problem with committment. I have loads of ambition when it comes to organizing and moving things forward within my work life and somehow I haven’t figured out how to take care of myself in the same way. So, I decided to sit down and figure out how to change that. And so that’s that. Oh wait, I guess I did just bore you with the details. So sorry … or am I?
This fine Sunday, I am testing out my newly claimed spot in the guest bedroom after a day of tidying up the yard and organizing. I have a piercing headache and a head full of pollen, dust and grass but even so it was well worth it. We cleaned up the yard (i.e. picked up dog deposits, weeded, other exciting tasks, etc.) and mowed. I have to say it does look quite nice regardless of the weeds I still need to get to on the left side. We even managed to squeeze in some chat time with our neighbors, who are really nice people.
Afterward, I headed indoors to organize all of my art supplies into my newly acquired flat file. I do love a good Craigs List find. If you aren’t familiar with Craigs List, it’s sort of an online garage sale and if you live in a metropolitan area chances are there is one for your city. If you visit Craigslist.org you can view the cities available on the right side of the page. My latest find is a $15 flat file which houses all of my art supplies beautifully. I also managed to get through many boxes of junk I’ve ignored since we moved in (yes, that was one year ago). Despite a concerted effort to resist, I still manage to collect lots of stuff. Sentimentality and creativity are sometimes a disasterous combination (when paired with procrasination). The result? Lots of pictures, notebooks, paints, paper, cards, etc. sitting around waiting to be put away. Somehow I managed. Life is such a trial, isn’t it? Kidding.
I’m feeling very accomplished and miraculously still motivated. So, I’d better get back to it.
Next up, my spyware rant.
Playtime Is Not Over
every now and then i go though phases of spending countless hours perusing what’s new and cool to feed the belly of the Powerbook. the PB is loyal to its favorite apps, but it likes to shake things up from time to time. we like to try out software that is supposed to help ’save time’ or make us more organized when secretly we know it will take more time to adopt them than it would have just to do things the old fashioned way. the PB pretends not to turn her nose up to the fact that in addition to all of her fanciness, i also employ a version of The Hipster PDA (though i have to say it’s far from hip).
not everything sticks so we like to keep trying … for example: i removed a couple RSS readers as soon as i’d installed them. and although the chat app Adium got rave reviews, i hadn’t really been able to get comfortable with it. instead, i prefer Proteus (it’s free for the beta but has a nag screen and $15 to buy it). and although there are a few things i wish it could do a bit better, i like it enough to stick with it through at least a version or more so. honestly, if they made a version of Trillian for Macs, i’d most likely use it. i love it on my PC. i think i had also mentioned in the distant past that i loved this little app from Yellow Mug called SnapNDrag which does one simple thing, capture screenshots in a quick and easy way. the best thing about it? it’s FREE!
so on to the newer stuff. i had been searching for a project management tool as an alternate to my most hated program of all time, Microsoft Project. spending a day working in Project (and believe me, it’s easy to do even if you aren’t a project manager) is like living in a land with no color. can you imagine? instead i stumbled across a product called ConceptDraw from a company called Computer Systems Odessa which wasn’t what i was looking for. it’s similar to Visio and honestly it has a similar interface and much of the same functionality. it also works for both PC and Mac and now i’m thinking about buying a copy for work/home. it’s a bit cheaper than Visio at $149 for the standard and $299 for the Professional and the person i spoke with told me i could do two mixed platform installs (one on PC and one on my Mac without paying extra).
boring, i know.
i’ve also been trying out Budget from Snowmint Creative. i’ve been looking for a tool to help me do just that and the whole ‘envelope’ concept Budget uses caught my eye. it’s much like the way i look at things, with envelopes for each of my bills spread out in front of me. as far as i can tell, the only thing missing from the trial is the planning functionality (and the annoying nag screen). i think i will probably buy it … it’s only $29.95 for the download. the last program i’ve been using is Ulysses from The Blue Technologies Group. the marketing promises that it is the perfect tool for writers and is organized in a way a writer thinks vs using a word processing program. i write alot and it was easy to keep different thoughts organized. although, i haven’t the need for organization for a novel or anything like that so i’m not sure if it delivers on everything it promises. the downside is it’s 100Euros (around $130USD?). i’m not sure if i’m ready to shell out that kind of cash to get organized.
and procrastinating continues as i look at Bloxsom and Movable Type as a means to support the transition from LJ and Typepad over to my new home. any thoughts, experiences are appreciated. have any of you tried Quicksilver? yes, i know it’s not a blogging tool, but i sometimes i’m too damned lazy for segues.
whew. now that i’ve bored you to death posing as a lo-fi Walt Mossberg, i’ll tiptoe away so as not to wake you.
Busbloggy
Tony Pierce’s Busblog is not one i read everyday, mostly because there is a hell of alot of stuff on it. it’s one of the few places in the online world that has constant + quality updates. so i stay away to save up posts so i can grab a cup of coffee and ignore everything for a bit to catch up on everything i missed. just like a good magazine. and did i mention it’s f*$%ing funny?