Wednesday, October 11, 2006

When Google announced that they had purchased the web-based MS Word competitor Writely a while back, I thought only good things could follow. Case in point, Google Analytics. I continued to use Writely for projects that I wanted to work on at home as well as at the office and everything was going smoothly, until I logged into my account this morning.

Writely has now been merged with Google’s spreadsheet application and is part of the dynamic duo of “Google Docs & Spreadsheets”. I was hoping that this would be the only change, however I noticed, quite quickly too, that the interface for Docs had a newer, more spartan, Google-influenced look to it. I’m still deciding whether the change was a good one or not, at least in my opinion. I must say that I spent more time than usual staring at my Docs workspace muttering to myself, “Where do I change the font size?”.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

I didn’t know “Digital” Bill Douthett personally, but I did listen to and anxiously await his new offerings of the Update Wizard podcast. Today I learned that Bill passed away and I am saddened that this man’s voice has been silenced. His podcasts were full of tech news and sprinkled with humor. I can only conclude by saying he will be missed, by family, friends, and his fans. Godspeed Bill.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

One thing that I love to do to unwind from the normal day-to-day grind is to watch the “good-ol-boys” of NASCAR.  I started watching this sport 10 years ago, and have had highs and lows along the way.  I have seen great drivers accomplish great things, and I have also seen great drivers lose their lives doing what they love.  As a fan, this year, I need CPR or at the very least a season-long supply of Jolt.

Last year was a year of firsts for NASCAR, new title sponsor, new points scheme to determine the champion, and new levels of (ahem) questionable thinking from the governing body. 

This year, if you’re a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr., as I am, you want to cry, swear, or pray that one of these weekends, the 8 team won’t suck.  Sorry to put it so bluntly, but something has got to be fixed within the DEI organization as a whole.  For a company trying to solidify plans for next season, by attempting to sign Martin Truex Jr. and decide whether to keep Michael Waltrip around for another year, this is not the way to do it.  (I won’t go into the crew changes, the crew-chief changes, and the other things that have gone on.)

There have been multiple posts on multiple message boards saying how far off base DEI is as a whole.  As a fan of that organization, and the man for whom it’s named, I must agree..  Is the problem with the people that run the organization?  Possibly.  Do the cars need to be better-prepared at the shop before their loaded up on the haulers?  Definitely.  Is the season a total wash?  Not yet.

Monday, August 30, 2004

Well, my trusty iBook G3 is no longer a part of me.  It now has a new home with one of my friends, to replace his ailing G3 Powerbook (the old-school, black kind).  He’s happy with his purchase.  The old G3 just wasn’t cutting it in terms of “power” for my liking.  So I went shopping.  With his help, and some suprising encouragement from my wife, I am the happy owner of a new 15-inch G4 PB, among a few other toys.  (My wallet now qualifies for aid-relief with this purchase.  Poor wallet…)

Add to the new PB a Wacom 4X6 tablet, an Airport Express and a new HP 1550 printer, I dropped more cash at once than…well than I normally do.

All-in-all, I’m a happy camper…until my c.c. bill shows up.

Sunday, June 13, 2004

I found out about Apple’s latest toy, Airport Express with AirTunes, last week and am chomping at the bit to get my hands on one (or three) of these things.  Airport Express is a very small, very versatile wireless access point.  If you haven’t heard about (or seen) this great little device, here is the scoop.  It is the size of Apple’s square AC adapter or an Ipod wall adapter.  After plugging it into the wall, you can plug the following into it, a USB printer, a stereo and a computer and have an instant printer server, streaming music hub or a internet access point (which seems a bit mundane compared to the other great things that this gadget does.).

Read up on AirTunes here.