Mac

  • "...the rev mechanism is very powerful and very tricky, because while it doesn’t change the semantics of a link relation, it does change the relationships between the parties, with many consequences that aren’t obvious." Good arguments against using rev-canonical for short URLs. (pssst, Flickr!) [via delfuego]
  • An XMPP Interface for Desktop Notifications. Like Growl for web apps using an open standard. (Does Growl do this?)
  • Nice little Mac menubar app that gives you more control over your computer fans.
  • "Nike has discovered that there's a magic number for a Nike+ user: five. If someone uploads only a couple of runs to the site, they might just be trying it out. But once they hit five runs, they're massively more likely to keep running and uploading data. At five runs, they've gotten hooked on what their data tells them about themselves." [via blackbeltjones]
  • this app "...makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day." This looks great, but I'd like the app to remind me not to do any photo color-adjustments at night if I open Photoshop.
  • "This system of 50 symbol signs was designed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events. Produced through a collaboration between the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are an example of how public-minded designers can address a universal communication need." [via migurski]
  • People share and vote for their favorite command-line snippets at this site, and these are the most popular. Didn't know about "sudo !!"—that's worth the price of admission right there.
  • The Ignite theme is coming to my town November 13th. I wonder what I'd present about for five minutes.
  • "Apple's current practice of rejecting certain applications at the final hurdle - submission to the App Store - is disastrous for investor confidence." We're already running into problems with the centrally-controled application distribution system for the iPhone. [via waxy]

Contractual Obligation Post

It's been over a month since my last post. If I don't post soon, January will be postless. Due to limitations in my home-brewed blogging software, a postless month can't happen. (It's like the Y2K bug but instead of planes falling out the sky there would be a 404 page somewhere.) To appease my application, I offer these updates...

Sometime in December we got an iMac, and it was the first computer I've set up that felt like an appliance. It was like setting up a TV. I plugged it in and it worked. At the time I felt it should also be a TV, and I was disappointed that I couldn't simply plug the cable into the back and start watching. Well last week I ordered an Elgato EyeTV and got my wish. It's a slick, tiny little USB device that I plug my cable into and presto, TV on my iMac. Setup was a matter of plugging it in and running through a 10 minute wizard. The best part is that it tunes QAM Channels in HDTV. Those are the channels that cable companies are required to send unencrypted over the wire. I don't watch much TV, and I don't want to spring for some HDTV package, but having the four networks and public broadcasting in HD is a nice option. The Tivo-like software that comes with it is pretty good, and there's free program schedule data. (But not for QAM channels in my area, unfortunately. I have to schedule those recordings manually.) The EyeTV software also exports recorded programs to iTunes for the Apple family of products. I feel like the EyeTV is good enough to be baked into iMacs directly. Being able to rip, mix, and burn TV seems like a natural fit.

King Corn is a fun documentary. The premise: a couple guys from Chicago the East Coast Boston buy an acre of land in Iowa and raise corn. Along the way they talk about how corn has become the dominant crop in America, and how pervasive corn is in the food we eat. (Think high fructose corn syrup in soda and everything else.) It's not too preachy or condescending, which is kind of amazing for this type of documentary. Many scenes reminded me of small town life in Nebraska where I grew up, which added another layer to the film for me. Anyway, highly recommended. (The film must be based on Omnivore's Dilemma which goes into this topic in depth. So if you see and like King Corn, you can get the gory corn details in Michael Pollan's book.)

Eddie is doing great. He's well over tripled his weight since he was born last September, and he's growing before our eyes. Here are a few photos:

Eddie

Eddie

Eddie

The photos are in order from roughly three months, four months, and the last one now close to five months. And as you can probably tell I have plenty of photos to document his progress.

And with that, another 404 is stopped in its tracks. If I ever fix that particular bug there will be nothing stopping me from not posting. But what fun is that?
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