Hey Internets: Which Mac and Windows Text Editor Should I Try for Web Dev?
May 13, 2012 in Tech
So about six months ago I tried switching to Vim. At first I loved it: all the customizations I could do! Then I hated it: all the customizations I needed… Read on…
Trying Out Vim; or, When the Geek Says "Get Off My Lawn, You Noisy Kids!"
Nov 1, 2011 in Tech
There seems to be an age that people reach at which getting a new computer stops inspiring us to paroxysms of joy and starts making us cranky that things aren’t… Read on…
Five Days with Lion
Jul 25, 2011 in Tech
I’m a notorious late upgrader, but Mac OS X Lion caught my fancy back on Thursday; my new job doesn’t start ‘til the 28th, so it looked like either update… Read on…
Welcome Home
Oct 20, 2010 in Tech
Back in 1995 I was looking for a summer internship when somehow my job qualification “good with computers” somehow got translated into “can design a Web site.” Which was a… Read on…
France, Day 2: Paris - Swampville!
Jul 3, 2010 in Tech
One of the most stylish parts of Paris is the Marais neighborhood. Marais means swamp — just like La Cienega, for those of you who live in LA — and… Read on…
All I know is, that iPhone had better snap-to with the hanging up, if it knows what’s good
Apr 11, 2010 in Tech
All I know is, that iPhone had better snap-to with the hanging up, if it knows what’s good for it!… Read on…
Things I Thought Would Be Simple By Now Include Personal Finance Programs
Apr 10, 2010 in Tech
I need a personal finance program. You know, to track money on hand and budgets and stuff. I figured it’d be pretty easy, what with it being a major product… Read on…
Official 2009 Holiday Computer Program Buyer's Guide
Dec 19, 2009 in Tech
It’s coming down to crunch time if you’re celebrating Christmas. Nothing’s better for last-minute gifts than software — you can just download it, burn the installer to a CD, and slip that in the ol’ stocking. You don’t even need to leave the house and brave the parking garage (unless you need to go to Best Buy to grab some blank CDs, that is!). But the question is: what do you get the geek who has everything? Or, worse, what do you get the ordinary person who doesn’t care what they run on their computer? Well, everything below is cool in the way that getting things you do everyday done easier and quicker is cool. Read on…
How to Get Your WiFi Network to Cover Your Whole House
Nov 19, 2009 in Tech
I live in a cool house. It’s not large, except apparently by the standards of WiFi networking. For an urban elitist liberal like me, being separated from my Gmail or Photobomb1 for as much as a few hours would be… disastrous. Plus, I work out of the garage, so I have to get e-mail2 there. Thus, my quest: cover the property with WiFi. Read on…
Beholden to The International Printing Conspiracy
Nov 18, 2009 in Tech
I have this dream, a very, very hopeless dream. My dream is that someday I will be able to print greeting cards on my very own color printer, featuring the photos that I took my own self. OK, so I have small dreams. The point is, I’d pay to live this particular dream. And that worked for parasailing, so I don’t know why greeting cards would be more difficult. Read on…
How to Assign a Drive Letter to an Airport Disk on Windows XP
Nov 2, 2009 in Tech
I’ve been using a Time Capsule to back up my Mac for some time now, and have been very satisfied. I was wishing that I could run some kind of over-the-air backup for my wife’s laptop, which runs Windows XP, too. So I attached a USB hard drive to the Time Capsule, and tried to mount that on the Windows XP laptop. First I did it the wrong way, and there was much sadness. Then I did it the right way, and life was easy. I couldn’t find a description of how to do it right in a quick Google search, so here’s my story. It’s probably true for an Airport Extreme Base Station too, since that and the Time Capsule are similar.
Read on…
Boy, They Sure Could Make 'Em Back In The Day
Aug 16, 2009 in Tech
OK, love letters to technology are fun, but the downside of any new thing is that it’s not entirely identical to old things. Here are four things that I’ve had on past cell phones that I really miss — or at least haven’t found — for my iPhone. Read on…
Nothing Makes Life Better Like a New Gadget
Aug 14, 2009 in Tech
Perhaps I didn’t blog because I didn’t have anything to talk about! If that’s the case, then apparently getting a new iPhone is going to give me something to talk about. Because I love my iPhone. It really is a clever device. In fact, it reminds me of my last truly clever phone: the Nokia 3620. Read on…
Hulu; or, My Finest Hour
Jun 3, 2009 in Tech
I got home from a recent week-long trip to find no cable. Worse, it had gone out just after I left, so I got home from a recent week-long trip to find a Tivo full of nothing but “Just a Moment, this Channel Will Be Available Shortly.” Time Warner took two whole days to come out and fix it. I could almost hear the babies crying, such was this tragedy. My poor, empty Tivo! Read on…
Give Me Your Tried, Your Ports, Your Mac Apps
Dec 7, 2007 in Mac, Switch, Tech
OK, I’ve been fooling around on my new PowerBook — I mean, MacBook — now for a couple weeks, and I’ve achieved a moderate level of productivity. But what are the great apps out there that I’m missing? What small developer should get my $30 for the magic they’ll put in my Applications folder? Tell me your favorites so that I can try them out! Read on…
Warning: Source of this Blog May Burst Into Flames
Aug 15, 2006 in Tech
I write this blog on a two-year-old Dell Latitude D600 laptop, a laptop which, I am now informed may vent with flames — or, if you’re not a technology marketer, the battery can explode and catch on fire. Given my previous level of satisfaction with Dell products, you can believe that I’m super-excited and happy about this development. Read on…
VersaMail Sucks (and How to Uninstall it)
May 27, 2006 in Tech
Like many people who got a Treo, I was at least somewhat excited that I could sync my e-mail with Outlook using the built-in VersaMail program. While I’m far too cheap to pay for the unlimited data transmission plan that would allow me to send and receive mail over the cell network, I definitely wanted to sync mail I wanted to keep around for reference with my Treo. Unfortunately, VersaMail failed miserably, sucked completely, and, virus-like, was virturally impossible to uninstall.
Read on…
What's All the Ruckus About? (A Review of the Ruckus Music Service)
Mar 12, 2006 in Tech
USC offers one of those subscription-based music services, Ruckus, for just $10/semester to its students. I’m a cheap-ass motherfucker and $10 hits that cheap-ass spot just right, so I signed up. Heck, it’s a standard Microsoft-based music rental service, so I also thought it would be a fun idea to check and see if I would like renting, rather than buying my music (at least I’d get to write a review!). The conclusion? The rental model demands an incredibly high level of execution — a level that’s absent — and is uncompelling at the moment. Read on…
*Phew*
Mar 2, 2006 in Tech
I barely made it through the day today. For the past couple of weeks, my laptop had been occasionally resistant to starting up, and today it finally showed it was serious, refusing to start all morning long. Anybody who has spent time with me knows I’m practically surgically attached to my computer. Well, midterms start Monday and I have little higher brain function without my laptop, so emergency surgery was required. Read on…
Treo Quest: Success; Or, How To Switch From A Cingular Region To A National Plan, And Upgrade Your Phone (While Outside Your Region)
Jun 8, 2005 in Tech
Somehow, despite Cingular’s best efforts, I have a Treo 650. It amazes me that it wasn’t easy for me to give them my money, but my plan was from the wrong region (PAC - California) and the Arizona salespeople couldn’t access my account to either give me an upgrade or switch me to a national, roaming-free plan. So, once you’re in a Cingular store, how do you switch your region, switch your plan, and walk out with a new phone, at the two year contract discount price? Well, that’s what this blog entry is for. Read on…
The Great Treo Quest
Jun 7, 2005 in Tech
I want a Treo 650. I covet a Treo 650. Remarkably, I even need a Treo 650. Yet, somehow, there doesn’t seem to be a Treo 650 in the Greater Phoenix area. Truly, I am an oppressed victim of the system. Read on…
Carly, Carly, I Used To Love You So
Aug 13, 2003 in Tech
I used to have this incredible crush on Carly Fiorina , the CEO of HP. I was so jazzed, there was a hot, erudite woman in charge of a major… Read on…
Do Blogs Belong In Google?
Jul 22, 2003 in Tech
Matt Haughey has recently added his name to the row being raised by The Register suggesting that blogs be removed from search results at Google. Now, when an A-list blogger… Read on…