Gold streets, milk, honey, and cheap chicken
Jeff Harrell, on his recent move to the DC area:
They have Chick-fil-a here, which is good. But the sandwiches are like three bucks each or something equally absurd. I mean, I knew Texas was the land of milk and honey where the streets are paved with gold. I didn’t realize that it was also the land of cheap chicken sandwiches. Apparently it’s both.
Niceness
I have this theory that there is an ineffable quality to certain attractive consumer products, and I can only term it niceness. It's the MSG of consumerism - you don't know what it tastes like by itself but you know when it's present and you know when it's not.
[...]
It's somewhere in the confluence of size, shape, materials, texture and that pleasant weightiness that lesser products don't have. I said it was the MSG of consumerism. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't more like consumerism's crack cocaine. Jonathan Ive is my dealer.
Note to self re: Command- and Option- commands
Command-Tab switches between applications.
Command-tick (`) switches between windows within an application.
Option-Tab, via Witch, switches between windows and applications.
Clocky go crashy
Welch wants one, but I think if that thing was in my house, it would end up in pieces once I hunted it down.
SpamSieve 2.4.2
My favorite spam-killing application has been updated, and now kills spam better than ever. Michael has been rocking on SpamSieve's efficiency with each update; I see very, very few false negatives, and no false positives with the app. One updated feature which should be noted is the improved phish detection. That's phish, not phisch, got it? We phisch are more sneaky...
Leap-A tutorials
Rob Griffiths has an excellent piece on Macworld regarding the Leap-A malware which could infect your Tiger-based Mac, if, well, if you're either not paying attention or are just stupid. Mark Allan has what should be the obvious, common-sense approach to not getting infected:
- Are somehow sent (via email, iChat, etc.) or download the "latestpics.tgz" file
- Double-click on the file to decompress it
- Double-click on the resulting file to "open" it
...and even then, most users must also enter their Admin password.
You cannot simply "catch" the virus. Even if someone does send you the "latestpics.tgz" file, you cannot be infected unless you decompress the file, and then open it.
Developers needed for Intel updates
Mark Allan is seeking a Mac developer with an Intel Mac to help with an update to ClamXav so it will run on the the new Intel-based Macintosh systems. The one utility it seems I cannot live without on my new iMac Core Duo is James Walker's AutoPairs. A preference pane, AutoPairs will not run on an Intel Mac. I contacted James, and he doesn't have access to an Intel Mac to do further development and testing. I've offered my services as a tester, but if any developers with Intel Macs would like to give James a hand, please contact him. (From a totally selfish standpoint, if anyone knows of a replacement for AutoPairs that works on Intel Macs, drop me a note.)
The Return of Lemonade Stand
When I was in seventh grade, I began computer programming classes. First it was BASIC, on Radio Shack TRS-80 systems (affectionately known as "Trash-80s"). Then it was more BASIC and Turbo Pascal on Apple II computers. Lemonade Stand was a game, along with Oregon Trail, we spent our free time at the end of class goofing around with. When my parents bought a used Apple IIe from one of my high school teachers, Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail came with it, and much joy was had playing them again, as well as in seeing my younger sister happily plugging along on them. Now, Lemonade Stand is back, and ported to Mac OS X. [Via Erik.]
Mr. Franklin, if you only knew
One of things you have to love about Benjamin Franklin was his optimism with regard to those who hold public office.
They are of the People, and return again to mix with the People, having no more durable preeminence than the different Grains of Sand in an Hourglass. Such an Assembly cannot easily become dangerous to Liberty. They are the Servants of the People, sent together to do the People's Business, and promote the public Welfare; their Powers must be sufficient, or their Duties cannot be performed. They have no profitable Appointments, but a mere Payment of daily Wages, such as are scarcely equivalent to their Expences; so that, having no Chance for great Places, and enormous Salaries or Pensions, as in some Countries, there is no triguing or bribing for Elections. --letter to George Whatley, 23 May 1785 Reference: Franklin Collected Works, Lemay, ed., 1108. [Via the Patriot Post.]
It's Official
Camino, which is fast becoming my favorite browser, has finally been officially released. The RSS auto-detect feature, a la Safari, is what is keeping me from completely switching from Apple's browser. [Via Chris.]
I love the International Date Line
I received an e-mail notification from the Apple Store just after midnight this morning. It told me they had transmitted the shipping info to FedEx for the pickup of the iMac Core Duo I had ordered. At 1:53 PM local time, the iMac was picked up in Shanghai. Thanks to the beauty of the International Date Line, it arrived in Anchorage (that's Alaska, for the geographically ignorant) at 11:54 AM local time, the same day. It has subsequently departed Anchorage as of 1:13 PM local time, and should arrive here on Friday. Yay!
Open Source Mac
I was actually kind of surprised by the number of applications listed at Open Source Mac I use. I suppose on some level, they are elegant enough that I don't think of them any differently than the commercial software I use.
My first deviantART
"Khaos" has released a derivative piece of art, titled "Forsaken Soul", based on a landscape photo I took on the Big Island of an old lava flow.
Should I be worried?
A conversation I had with my two year-old son, on our way down the stairs yesterday afternoon, post-nap. (His, not mine.) I'm the one asking the questions.
"Are you poopy?"
"No."
"Are you peepee?"
"No."
"Do I need to change your diaper?"
"No."
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
[Silence.]
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
Presidents' Day, this year on February 20th, has taken on an even more special meaning for me lately. Not only does it serve as the official holiday commemorating both the birthdays of George Washington (February 22d) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12th), but I've personally added another great American president to that illustrious list, Ronald Reagan. He would have been 95 today. Mark Alexander:
Today marks the fifty-sixth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's 39th birthday, as he would note it. Recently, the Gallup Poll asked Americans "Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?" and "Ronald Reagan" topped the list. This man of simple origins, a giant of a president, always and unfalteringly did what was right for America. He brought trust, dignity, and humility to the presidency. He was, as William Bennett once observed, "A man in possession of his own soul," and he restored the nation's values, its character, its soul. He was a gentleman and a Patriot. We, in turn, will always be indebted to Ronald Reagan, a mentor to our key staff, for his unselfish and devoted service to our country.
Super Bowl pre-game thoughts
Three and a half hours of pre-game coverage wasn't enough time to get through all of the crap leading up to this game that you had to waste the first ten minutes of the "official" start of game coverage with the introduction of the MVPs from the previous thirty-nine Super Bowls? Regarding the National Anthem: why do great singers feel compelled to remind us they're great singers when they get up to sing "The Star Spangled Banner"? (I'm looking at you, Mr. Neville.) Just sing the song and show it some respect. (Side note to ABC and the NFL: you're having a big enough spectacle at half time. There's no need to make our National Anthem one, too.) Did the Seattle Seahawks pick "Bittersweet Symphony" as the song to play when they were introduced? Dudes. Bad song to pick for a football game for the name alone. Bad song to pick for a football game for the music. (And I like the song.) Then again, at least I recognized "Bittersweet Symphony". The same cannot be said for the song which played when the Steelers were introduced. Though the Steelers are the "road" team, they certainly appear to be the fans-in-the-stands favorite. Not surprising, given Detroit homeboy Jerome Bettis leading Pittsburgh on to the field.
Does no one like the middle?
Something struck me a few minutes ago: does anyone live in the middle of Missouri? The two most populous cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, are on the eastern and western edges of the state, respectively. You never hear about any other place in the Show Me State, except for Springfield.
"We don't anticipate any management mistakes."
Given my personal experience working for Verizon, and continuously hearing stories from my friends who are still employed there, this rings so true.