more dot mac

Funniest reactions to Apple's .Mac PR debacle:

In the meantime, I hope to start migrating you to my new (real) domain name starting tomorrow....

»plink« · July 31, 2002

happy birthday

To my sweetheart of over 17 years, here's to many more years together...

»plink« · July 30, 2002

dot mac

While some are working on Apple, hoping to get them to change their minds about charging for .Mac, I have decided to spend my money elsewhere. Yes, I have done what I should have done long ago, and purchased registered not one, but two domain names. Once I've moved my content over to them, I'll start pointing you there...

»plink« · July 29, 2002

take me out to the ball game

Each year our daughters participate in the Tucson Pima Public Library's summer reading program. For reading 24 hours or more the big prize is four tickets to a local AAA baseball game. So each year we attend one game, and this year it was a bit more fun, as our daughters are a bit older. They still aren't very interested in the game - but neither are we. It's just a good excuse to go out and have some fun with their Papa and whatever friends we happen to meet up with.

And it worked out to be one last hurrah with the girls before I go back to work in the morning...

»plink« · July 28, 2002

seattle

We've been back less than 24 hours and it already seems like a dream. Five days of glorious weather, great company, a talk that could not have gone any better, wonderful dinners with friends old and new, but especially the time I was able to spend with my beautiful bride. It seemed as though we'd been there forever, and yet it went by all too quickly...

»plink« · July 25, 2002

*sigh*

Well, it is true. Apple is asking iTools users to pony up $49 this year and $99 each year thereafter to use their email, iDisk, homepage, etc. This means I have a decision to make. If I were only using one iTools name, i'd probably go for it, but since I have mnewhouse, iblog, powerblog, ibook_keeper, homepages, accessibility, & realworldstyle, that would be $700 a year, and $350 this year.

So yeah, I've been mooching off Apple for the last 2.5 years, and it's people like me who are causing them to feel like they have to start charging us now. Just because I understand why doesn't mean I have to like it.

As I said before, if I am going to pay to do this, I'm going somewhere where the "extras" include real server logs, the ability to install cgis and scripts like Moveable Type, rather than lame virus software (like Macs need that - or is Apple sending subtle message about OS X security...), and additional disk space.

Now I have to choose a domain name. Maybe Grant can help me with that...

»plink« · July 17, 2002

dot mac?

If this is true then this site (and several others I have on iTools homepages as well) will be going away. Perhaps to it's own domain. If I'm going to pay for something, it had better be worth it...

»plink« · July 15, 2002

iCurve

Griffin Technologies has come up with a very nice product for iBook and TiBook owners. Especially if you are using your laptop as a desktop replacement. It's called the iCurve, and it sets your laptop up so that its screen is at about 16" - the recommended height for monitors. It also leaves ample room for a full size keyboard and mouse. And it looks great. And they have some product photography that rivals Apple's...

»plink« · July 15, 2002

more lists

Yesterday I worked out an idea for including a list as part of a paragraph, with commas separating the list items. In the example I use the :after pseudo-element to generate the commas and period. Since Internet Explorer for Mac and Windows does not support such generated content (yet), the commas don't show up in those browsers. View it in Opera or a Mozilla based browser to see the full effect.

Meanwhile, Simon Willison has worked up a numbered code listing experiment using ordered lists to emulate line numbers useful in tracking down bugs in your code.

»plink« · July 10, 2002

of lists and databases

I've been working on an article/tutorial about taming lists with CSS and took a short break to visit my daily blog reads. I was pleasantly surprised to see that today's tip from diveintomark for making your blog more accessible involves lists...

I really like iPhoto, Apple's visual database for all your digital photos. I have nearly 2,000 images now, after 4 months with my digital camera. So this article at Mac Dev Center, by Derrick Storey came at almost the right time. I say almost because I need to start a new iPhoto library, and I've gone over the limit of 650 MB that will fit on a CD for backup purposes. But now I know better...

More on iPhoto from Mac Dev Center.

»plink« · July 9, 2002

independence day weekend

Saturday I picked up a nice tripod from a thrift store for $5. It collapses small enough to fit on a table for macro photography, and expands big enough to work as a full size tripod. Saturday night I used it when my dad pulled out some light sticks at our annual Independence Day BBQ. Using a setting on my camera that holds the shutter open for a short time after the flash goes off produced some interesting effects.

»plink« · July 8, 2002

eggropa

Checking the eggs at Costco, I noticed this one had some interesting folds and surface structure to it. So I had to take picture. With this post, I've also included permalinks to the images on the archive page, so I can refer to older images that I like, such as carousel, ode to escher, and happy balloons. You'll have to view source to find the named anchor, though.

And, following Mark's recommendation, I've stopped opening new windows when you click on a link, starting this month. I'll be updating the main pages over the next couple of days (it's just a quick search and replace...).

»plink« · July 3, 2002

You appear to be using a browser that does not implement style sheets correctly, or you have turned style sheets off in your browser. If it's the latter, turning style sheets back on will greatly enhance your experience on this site, and many others on the web. If you are using an older browser (such as Netscape 4) you may wish to know that there are standards compliant browsers available for all platforms. See the Web Standards Project's Browser Upgrade Campaign if you would like to find one for your particular needs. Otherwise, rest assured that you are seeing all of the content that everyone else is - it just doesn't look as pretty...