Another Mac Model

Over at Apple Matters James R. Stoup makes a convincing argument on why Apple needs to come up with a new model. I agree with him completely and if Apple ever makes this a reality they can count me in for buying one.

Does the Mac Need a New Model?

Upgraded to Tiger

Well I finally upgraded my PowerBook to Tiger. I did and clean install and things went incredibly smooth. Just for fun I ran the install off of my iPod to see what that was like. It wasn't that big of a deal but I've got two more iMacs to install Tiger on so I think installing off the iPod will save me some time there.
There is one thing that I didn't enjoy. All the software updates I had to install. At the time I also installed iLife '05 and Microsoft Office 2004. They both had their own software updates as well. This would have been fine if I didn't have dial-up, and a slow dial-up at that. It took me a full 24 hours just to get everything up and running.

My AirPort is Extreme

This weekend I set up my Macs to an Apple AirPort network. It took me about 15 minutes to set up and I'm very pleased with it's performance so far. For anyone looking at doing this I recommend it.

Apple AirPort Extreme

Why We Keep On Truckin'

Slate has a good article on why we keep driving even with high gas prices.

The Grip of Gas

Trek 2006 2100

Here's the bike I'm currently looking at getting. Now the question is while I actually get it?

Pig Personality Test

Draw a big and have a personality test performed at the same time. A fun time waster in my humble opinion.

Draw a pig personality test

Children's Books Online

Cool collection of children's books for your reading pleasure.

The Rosetta Project

Good new for green tea drinkers.

I prefer black teas by far but I'll have an occasional green tea or two. Perhaps I should start drinking more.

Chemical in green tea may fight AlzheimerÂ’s

What the media didn't tell you about the recent sex survey.

Ass Backwards: The media's silence about rampant anal sex

1935 Etiquette

Man, back then they had a coat or suit for every event.

1935 Etiquette Manual

Old West slang and phrases

Go to this site and you'll have a hog-killin' time.

Old West slang and phrases

.Mac Storage Increase

Finally! Apple raised it's storage limit for .Mac.

Apple's .Mac

Steve Jobs discusses music labels, iPods and Intel Macs

Macworld did a nice write up of Apple's media chat at the Apple Expo Paris.

Lots of good stuff.

Jobs and Co.

Cold Mountain the movie

I watched Cold Mountain on DVD over the weekend. I didn't really know what to expect and I assumed going into it that it was a chic flick set in the Civil War era. Boy was a wrong. It is an interesting film that I think I'll have to watch again to fully absorb. Some of the dialog came off a little odd to me and casting Jude Law was a mistake that distracts from the overall believability of the film. It is worth a rental at least and it does make me interested in reading the book that it is based on.

Bottled Water? I think I'll pass.

Here's another reason why my family doesn't drink bottled water. Cavities increase.

Bottled Water Cited as Contributing to Cavity Comeback

Another bike

Okay now I'm looking into Trek's 2100 road bike. I gave it a test ride the other day and I left very impressed. Trek's website shows the 2005 model and I rode the new 2006 model. So far the only difference I've noticed is a different (and more boring) paint job for 2006.

Nintendo's Revolution Controller revealed

The new controller looks... Interesting. At first I was turned off by it but the more I think about it the more interested I am in trying it out. I will say that this will either be a huge success for Nintendo or a colossal failure and it will be the software makers who will decide that one.

Nintendo's Revolution Controller

Pizza Driver Complaints

The most aggravating things about being a driver: What we endure 29 points.

Example: Sexual harassment from the customer.

This is a problem that female drivers experience. You get multiple invitations to come back after work, eyed up and down, and a lot of stupid flirtatious comments. At times a female driver might get better tips, but you don't want to be tipped after feeling like a piece of meat or bearing the brunt of sexist jokes.

People in their own homes are far more bold than if they were in a public scene like a restaurant. You are alone on their turf. It can be a scary situation, not knowing what could come next. You're usually outnumbered. It will be your word against theirs. Unfortunately, sexual harassment from the customer seems to happen from the drunk and the sober alike.

Sometimes a customer won't tip unless you comply. On other occasions, a customer lodges a fake complaint to send you back to the house with the intent of asking you for a date. You lose out on other deliveries by wasting your time and risk losing your job with the bogus complaint.

Not only does a customer sometimes harass the driver, bystanders make sexual remarks. You get out of your car and walk toward the house and a group of guys surround you and make vulgar and suggestive comments. It makes your skin crawl the way some men stare at you like a wolf about to make a kill.

A male driver is far less likely to experience this kind of harassment. It can happen and more often than one cares to admit.

Back in the day when I worked at McDonald's it always amazed me the amount of scum bags who would harass the women working in drive through. At least they have a wall between them and the slim balls along with their co-workers nearby.

(via J-Walk Blog)

I like my bike trailers Burley

We purchased a Burley bike trailer. The Encore model to be exact.

I took the kids for a spin in it yesterday and boy do I wish we would have bought it a lot sooner than we did. You can hardly tell that you're pulling anything it rolls so smooth. The kids loved it and afterwards it folds up rather small and it takes about 3 minutes to take down or put together.

Highly recommended!

The Historian Initial Thoughts

Well I've started reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I'm about a third of the way through it and I'm a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story and it moves a long at a decent clip but I keep getting the sense that this was a book written by committee. As if there is a formula that was followed in it's writing. I've also noticed that the dialog doesn't sound very natural or distinctive between the characters. These are all minor things yet I find they distract me from the story more than they should. Perhaps my opinion will change once I've finished it. I'll post I follow up once I've done that.

Looking at Trek Road Bikes

Well the wife and I are looking into road bikes. We're looking at Trek's alpha aluminum frames so either the 1000, 1200, or 1500. Tough choices. We stopped by a bike shop on Monday to check them out but we didn't take any for a test drive. I think we'll also be looking into what Specialized is offering as well.

Water crisis from melting glaciers

This is a tough one. If they melt they cause problems, if they were growing it would cause problems, and if they did nothing people would still be alarmed.

Water crisis looms as Himalayan glaciers melt

First look: iPod nano

Over at www.playlistmag.com they've got a first look at the iPod nano. I'd like to see one in person.

iPod nano first look

iTunes 5

Well I downloaded iTunes 5 onto one of my Macs last night. I like the new look. One thing I noticed is that the corners of the application are a little more squared then they used to be. Not that this information matters to anyone but I notice stupid things like this.

Stephen King's On Writing

I just finished reading my first Stephen King book On Writing, obviously this is nothing like his other works, however, I did find that I enjoyed it despite the fact that I'm not a writer or anything of the sort.

Anyway the book is, in a nut shell, Stephen King's take on writing but it also goes into his life as a writer. I'm not a fan of horror at all but I think I'll look into seeing if I can get a copy of The Green Mile since I enjoyed that movie.

iPod nano

Another cool iPod from Apple. iPod nano The question I have is do you prefer the white or black model?

Twinings Tea

You know I've heard a lot of good things about Twinings tea. I think this weekend I'll have to pick some up and see how it compares to my favorite tea company, The Republic of Tea.

LibraryThing

Ran across this today (LibraryThing). Looks like you can catalog your books online (for free even). Currently I've been using Books for Mac OS X but I may just have to try this out. Anyone out there already use it?

Katrina - Predicted 4 Years Ago

Wow, they pretty much knew it would be like this. How terrible.

Drowning New Orleans

Gmail Notifier for OS X

Looks like Google has made a Gmail notifier for Mac OS X. I'll probably try and download it in the next couple of day and give it a spin. Any body who has used it have an opinion on it yet?

Gmail Notifier for Mac OS X

Mighty Mouse Dissection

Over at Apple Matters they've dissected Apple's new Mighty Mouse.

Mighty Mouse Dissection