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Monthly Archive for January, 2006

Microsoft Live Betas

“[!< http://static.flickr.com/32/93713609_cb935249fc_m.jpg (Live Mail)!](Live Mail)”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedward/93713609/ I was just sorting through the 500 spam messages in my _Hotmail_ inbox, and noticed that I received both a “Mail Beta”:http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=5d21c51a-b161-4314-9b0e-4911fb2b2e6d and a “Messenger Beta”:http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=0eccd94b-eb48-497c-8e60-c6313f7ebb73 invitation.

Mail looks nice and simple, and the drag-and-drop functionality is showy. But, it only works in IE6/PC, and it’s sluggish as hell. I wasn’t able to select & delete more than 10-15 spam messages at a time without it timing-out. “SIGN UP HERE”:http://www1.imagine-msn.com/minisites/mail/Default.aspx?locale=en-us

“[!< http://static.flickr.com/19/93713613_4d5c47f9b6_t.jpg (Live Messenger)!](Live Messenger)”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedward/93713613/ Messenger got a face lift, and they added some VOIP functionality. The “Shared Folder” feature sounds interesting, but I don’t know anybody else with the Beta, so I haven’t tested it. “SIGN UP HERE”:http://www1.imagine-msn.com/minisites/messenger/default.aspx?locale=en-us


January 31, 2006
in tech
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FeedLounge

“[!

They seem to promise you “the world”:http://feedlounge.com/features/, but I’ve found _FL_ delivers what it promises - a hosted, Ajaxed-up RSS reader, complete with [_Google Reader_]-esque keyboard shortcuts.

Incidentally, I’m a “big fan”:http://nedward.org/archives/002977.php of _Google Reader_, because it facilitates speedy consumption of a lot information… learn a couple of keyboard shortcuts, and you can quickly read through your favorite websites on your lunch-hour. However, it’s nearly impossible to manage subscriptions once you’ve imported that OPML.

_Feedlounge_ rectifies this by using a [“Rojo”:http://rojo.com]-like tagging function, to organize feeds into categories, without the pain of having to actually create and set categories, like “Bloglines”:http://bloglines.com. All you need to do is add or remove tags from any given post, and the subscription structure will automatically adjust. Cool.

One gripe I have is the three-column layout - I know it is a cool selling-point, but I found it to be a bit of a pain… kind of buggy, especially when navigating via keyboard. Plus, I don’t really want to read my feeds by tag (category) - I’d much rather just read the latest posts, in what they call the “river of news” view. Nice that they provide users with a _choice_.

Bottom-line, if you’re still using a desktop client to read RSS/Atom feeds because you think all of the online services suck, give _Feedlounge_ a try, m’kay?

January 26, 2006
in tech
» tags: » 0 Comments

Waitin’ Tables

Can’t help but pass along this “Remainder”:http://www.kottke.org/remainder/06/01/10298.html from Jason Kottke - NY Times food critic Frank Bruni spends a week “undercover” as a waiter at a [Cambridge] restaurant. In the end, he realizes the hell that is being a waiter:

bq. trying to be fluent in the menu and the food, calm in the face of chaos, patient in the presence of rudeness, available when diners want that, invisible when they don’t. It’s a lot, and I should remember that.

Does this realization dampen his dining expectations? Nope:

bq. I’d still like frequent water refills. And a martini from hell. Straight up.

It reminds me of the polite little arguments Presley & I have on whether or not to leave 20%, even when receiving shitty service. Though I _never_ advocate leaving less than 15%, I also think that the _bonus tip_ should be reserved for competent, polite servers. What’s wrong with that?

January 26, 2006
in food and media
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9 years

cardThe years are just flying by, I can’t believe it… on monday, the girl and I celebrated 9 years together, in the best way we know how: sharing a tasty meal.

And what better place to have a nice dinner, than a 4-star restaurant in a converted Burger King? Seriously.

Rendezvous just opened up in Central Square, in the old Burger King, and it is really really good. The Phoenix loves it. So does the Globe. And we do, too.

January 25, 2006
in food and personal
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Birthdays

A couple of January birthdays help continue my trend of posting to Flickr only photos of my friends drinking…

toast

Stef’s 31st Birthday (Set)

birthday girl

Nobuko’s 33rd Birthday (Set)

January 23, 2006
in photos
» tags: , , , , » 0 Comments

links for 2006-01-20

January 20, 2006
in links
» tags: » 0 Comments

Pre-mature Upgrades

Damn… I’ve got a bunch of photos of “somebody’s”:http://flickr.com/photos/mystera/ birthday celebration, but no way of exporting them easily to “Flickr”:http://flickr.com/photos/nedward/. I upgraded to “iPhoto 6″:http://flickr.com/photos/nedward/86988055/, before I realized that Frasier Spiers hasn’t yet made his indispensible “Flickr Export”:http://connectedflow.com/flickrexport/ plugin compatible with the new version. Oops.

So, I just made a small donation to Frasier… You should too, if you rely on this plugin as much as I do.

January 16, 2006
in Apple
» tags: » 0 Comments

Music for a Cold Sunday Afternoon

  • Depeche Mode’s Precious –  The perfect track – I want this played at my wedding, should that day ever come.
  • The Sundays’ Wild Horses –  I like this better than the Rolling Stones’ original… Harriet’s voice is haunting… As a kid growing up in Buffalo, I used to sit in my basement and teach myself to play guitar. I had a Beatles song book, some records to play along to, and printed-out tablature.
  • Matisyahu’s King Without A Crown –  The only hasidic reggae star I know of… incredible live performance.
  • La Laque’s La Sirène dort –  I’m still waiting for a properly-recorded LP, but their live show is awesome. These girls (and guys) are on to something here.
January 15, 2006
in music
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links for 2006-01-15

January 15, 2006
in links
» tags: » 0 Comments

links for 2006-01-13

January 13, 2006
in links
» tags: » 0 Comments

‘Eff Sirius

Still “waiting”:http://nedward.org/archives/003020.php… Thank god for “Bittorrent”:http://ts.searching.com/search.asp?h=C4D5132D06CF4AEC89B9E5CB589B0A7A&query=howard+stern&submit.x=0&submit.y=0, or I’d be bored out of my mind at work.

In fact, I think a lot of people at work are listening to my shared iTunes library - I hear my boss laughing every once in a while.

January 11, 2006
in radio
» tags: » 0 Comments

Saabs Don’t Age Well

One of the smartest things I’ve ever done, was to pay a little extra for Certified Pre-Owned status on my used 9-3, which more or less just extends the warranty. For an extra $1500 or so, I’ve received more than double that amount in parts and labor over the past 2 years.

So, on thursday, I dropped the 9-3 off in Framingham so they could replace the Water Pump, which was going bad. Look at the piece of crap they gave me as a loaner:

chevy aveo

Later that afternoon, I received a call from the service department, saying that I also had a blown head gasket… great. That’s not good. So, they keep it overnight, and I don’t hear anything all day friday… so, I call them up, and they ask to keep it until monday, because they hadn’t finished up the job. All the while, I’m riding around in a tin-can american car, with no power-windows, no Fast-Lane, and it’s bright-cherry-fucking-red.

So, today (monday), I call them up, and they tell me that they can’t get good oil pressure. WTF? And they want to replace the engine’s short block… which is a huge job. I can’t figure out what the hell happened, but I’m getting to the point where I can’t wait until the day when I don’t have to rely on a car every day of my life.

Mr. Yovanoff sold his 9-3 on eBay this week… but, he now gets to walk to work.

January 9, 2006
in cars and personal
» tags: , » 0 Comments

links for 2006-01-09

January 9, 2006
in links
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Airfoil 2

Airfoil 2Rogue Amoeba released version 2.0 of Airfoil, one of my absolute essential mac applications. If you own an Airport Express, and are less than impressed by iTunes’ transmitting capabilities, plunk down $25 now.

The first version of Airfoil let you transmit audio from any application, but this new version has some great new features:

  • Support For Multiple AirPort Express Units – Send audio to multiple units
  • Audio Effects – New effects built into Airfoil allow for enhancing audio with a 10 band equalizer, volume adjustment including volume overdrive and balance controls
  • Full Applescriptability – Control Airfoil with AppleScripts

And, to top it off, the UI has been much simplified. Nice job!

UPDATE: Version 3.2 was released in May 2008. See Rogue Amoeba’s website for more information.

January 7, 2006
in tech
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Letterman’s Politics

I still love Dave… he stood up to Bill O’Reilly on his program this week, (”video here”:http://tinyurl.com/7qhuj). There were two main points of contention… first, O’Reilly’s imagined “War on Christmas”, and then his calous attacks on Cindy Sheehan. Dave wasn’t as thoughtful or inteligent-sounding as he can be on political topics, but I love the way he sums up O’Reilly:

bq. *Letterman*: “I’m not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about _60 percent of what you say is crap_.” (emphasis added)

Indeed. Oh, and get your “Tshirts”:http://www.cafepress.com/exclaimwear/1104011.

January 5, 2006
in politics and tv
» tags: , » 0 Comments