BlogAid

From Andy Budd’s BlogAid:

You can help the victims of this terrible natural disaster by pledging the proceeds of any advertising or affiliate schemes you have on your site for the month of January to your country’s Tsunami Earthquake appeal.

What a great idea. This is a no-brainer for me and I’m pretty sure most webloggers feel the same; this project has the potential to raise a lot of money. Good luck Andy.

Top five (individual) weblogs

I’m occassionaly asked whose sites I read and which I most enjoy. My response usually involves a pointer back to my links page and/or my OPML file, which contains the addresses for all of the feeds I read each day. For those that don’t want to work your way though my admittedly long and somewhat eclectic list, I present to you my top five personal websites:

John Gruber

If you have a Mac and a single nerd bone in your body then there is a good chance you’ve read this site. John has a wonderful way with words and consistently writes interesting and compelling articles pertaining to “Mac nerdery.” His writing sometimes walks a fine line between flowery description and superfluous overkill, but he always seems to pull it around and make clear his point.

Jason Kottke

Let’s face it, when it comes to weblogging, Jason is the man. He’s been doing this for a very long time and is constantly bringing something new to his site and the medium. What is more is that I’m not sure I’ve ever felt someone was as “like” me as Jason seems to be — it’s absolutely uncanny how his posts sometimes read how I think.

Russell Beattie

Russ is me, squared — he takes my gadget passion to a whole new level (at least as far as mobile phones go; just wait until I have money Russ  :P). I think what I like most about him is the fact that he absolutely holds no punches — he’s going to tell you exactly how he feels whether he’s talking about the latest Symbian OS or the dingbat we currently call president.

Rui Carmo

There is no question that Rui is the most prolific writer of the bunch and I sometimes wonder how he has time work on his “day job.” One needs to look no further than his index to feel compelled to write about something, anything. He has a great grasp of “tech,” and like Russ above, has no problem telling you exactly what’s on his mind.

Dunstan Orchard

As I’ve said to many people (and probably even to Dunstan at some point), this is one of the best looking sites I’ve ever seen — his attention to detail is truly inspiring. Beyond the dynamic cartoon weather headers, the site is rich with content, not the least of which are his gorgeous photos (which he seems to be posting more frequently).

Soliciting comments on the Belkin TuneBase FM

I recently got an iPod mini for the strict purpose of using it in my car (and on flights) to sample new music. I’m looking very seriously at the Belkin TuneBase FM for iPod mini and am pretty sure that quite a few readers of this site already have one. I’d appreciate any information you guys could give me. I played around with an iTrip on my 2G iPod a couple of years ago and was very disappointed — hopefully Belkin has made some progress in this space.

Dear busy

We’ve had a good run and it pains me to say this, but I’m afraid you just don’t do it for me anymore. I need a new word; something that better describes the way I feel; something more accurate; a word that, when used to rebut friendly fire, provokes understanding and acceptance.

But, until I find that perfect word, it’s you and me baby.

IOGEAR Bluetooth Mini Mouse

A couple of weeks ago I purchased IOGEAR’s Bluetooth Mini Mouse and have been rather pleased with it so far. This is my third Bluetooth mouse and while the first (Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer) was just horrible, the second (Logitech MX900) wasn’t that bad, thus the obvious question of why I got another mouse. Beyond my usual urge to get the newest [insert gadget here], the only real impetus behind me getting the third one was size (and resolution).

Admittedly, the “Mini” part of the name is not a misnomer — this thing is tiny, but despite its stature the mouse is packed with features, a lot of which its much larger competition is missing. The feature that initially drew me to the mouse was the fact that you can charge it while using it. A USB 2.0 cable plugs into the front of the mouse and charges the rechargeable batteries while you work (or don’t). The fact that there’s no cradle makes it very portable and eviscerates the need to worry about whether the batteries are going to go dead; simply pop the cable into your bag and you’re set. It also has an on/off switch so that you aren’t wasting the batteries when not using it. While this might seem like an obvious feature, my first two Bluetooth mice were without it.

I should also mention that the mouse has 800 dpi resolution and can reach up to 66ft (instead of the usual ~30); why one would need the extra distance is beyond me, but you never know.

Road Tools PodiumPad

A few months ago I ‘reviewed’ the iLap and pointed out some problems I was having with it. I recently bought something similar, a Road Tools PodiumPad, and while it doesn’t work very well as a “lap rest” (not that it was designed for that), it is perfect for raising the height of your notebook to a more comfortable reading/typing level. It’s incredibly sturdy and there’s no noticeable movement as you pound away at the keyboard.

The same rubber is used throughout (both on the bottom of the pad and on the parts that touch the bottom of your notebook) and it’s very sticky — your notebook is not going to slide off. I mention this because the iLap would, depending on temperature, allow the PowerBook to slide right off the front of it; as the weather got colder the rubber feet on the bottom of the PowerBook became less apt to ’stick’ to the aluminum iLap.

One very useful feature of the PodiumPad is that it can swivel 360°, which allows you to easily show others what you’re looking at and to move the notebook slightly to the left or right as you change seating positions.

As odd as this may seem, I really have nothing negative to say about it. It would be nice if there was an attachment that you could use for your lap, but, outside of that, I’m pretty pleased.

One more week

I feel like I’ve been neglecting this site some lately. My time is being stretched incredibly thin between a certain someone and law school finals. As soon as exams are over, I should be back to my normal posting routine and will start replying to the growing mountain of ‘non-pressing’ e-mail.

As you were.

Sharing TiVo data

There should be a way for me to share my TiVo “schedule” with other users. For instance, I’m headed back to Florida pretty soon for xmas break and I’d like my dad’s TiVo to record all the shows that my TiVo will be grabbing while I’m away (so I can watch them at his house and not have to wait until I return to California).

Here’s how I think the process should work:

1. X makes a request, through TiVo.com, of Y’s schedule
2. TiVo sends Y an e-mail asking for authorization to share the schedule
3. Y authorizes (or doesn’t)
4. TiVo alerts X that Y’s schedule is now available
5. TiVo automagically puts Y’s schedule on X’s TiVo
6. TiVo adds all of Y’s shows (that don’t conflict with X’s) to the “to-do” list
7. TiVo walks X through the conflicts and lets him configure accordingly
8. TiVo allows X, at any time, to remove all shows added from Y’s schedule

Simple, right? Right. In fact, the initial request should allow X to specify whether the schedule should be mirrored or if the shows should be recorded only on Y’s TiVo until X decides to have his TiVo start recording them again.

Forgive my ignorance if this can already be done, but I’m pretty sure it can’t (at least not through a method as simple as the one outlined above).

I’ve got reservations

How can I convince you it’s me I don’t like
And not be so indifferent to the look in your eyes
When I’ve always been distant
And I’ve always told lies for love

I’m bound by these choices so hard to make
I’m bound by the feeling so easy to fake
None of this is real enough to take me from you

Oh I’ve got reservations
About so many things
But not about you

I know this isn’t what you were wanting me to say
How can I get closer and be further away
From the truth that proves it’s beautiful to lie

I’ve got reservations
About so many things
But not about you
I’ve reservations
About so many things
But not about you
Not about you
Not about you
Not about you
Not about you

From Wilco’s Reservations