• Cool Tool: StrollAway on Cool Tools: "... Once we got this hook, rather than just parking our stroller in the kitchen or dining room, we created a set, out-of-the-way place to store it. And since it's off the floor, that gives us more space to fill up with more baby stuff. The hook is strong (we have a Quinny Buzz stroller, which weighs abouts 15 lbs.). It doesn't require drilling or mounting into anything, since it hangs over the top a door....." Great idea.
• SightSpeed Goes Mainstream with Dell Video Chat « on Web Worker Daily: "... The SightSpeed software installed easily on my Mac, and the video conversation with Mr. Csathy was crisp, smooth and effortless as compared to any I’ve tried with Skype. He had a fancy headset, but I was just using the MacBook Pro’s built-in speakers and microphone. For once, video conferencing felt approachable to me beyond Apple iChat...." This article has a good screen cap of the theme that Dell applied to SightSpeed's software. [ Found out about the Dell / SightSpeed deal from friend Andy Abramson ]
• Access And Share Files With Box.net on The Apple Phone Show: "I have tried several online file store and share solutions since getting my iPhone almost a year ago now. Box.net seems to be the one application that has endured time. I like using it to store and share my most important files and collaborate on work. I’m still getting used to moving my workflow entirely online. I am used to have files that I can access stored locally on all of my devices. But, times they are ‘a changing. The reason I think I have continued using this service and have let others fall by the wayside is because the interface is so simple...." I have to try this.
• iPhone as Pedometer on Inside iPhone: "A short while ago, I discovered that Wii Fit could be used to track my progress as I walked on a treadmill. Wii Fit has a game where you jog in place in front of your TV to travel through a virtual landscape. Instead of bouncing up and down on the floor, I put my wiimote in my pocket, hopped on the treadmill and had a much better virtual exercise experience. And of course this got me thinking: if the wii can track movement, why can't the iPhone do the same?" Cool idea. Interesting execution.

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• Linda Stone: Is it Time to Retire the Never-Ending List? on HuffingtonPost.com: "What did surgeons, artists, and CEO's have in common? Most of them reported that they managed both their time and their attention. In surgery, in the studio, and in the time carved out to think through strategies and issues, these professionals reported shutting down the devices and endless inputs (email, phone, interruptions), at scheduled times, and claiming those moments to focus. In almost every case, these professionals reported experiencing "flow" (a la Csikszentmihalyi) in their work." [ via 43folders ]

• Apple's MobileMe drops support for IE 6 on 37signals: "So it’s interesting that MobileMe is the first major web application (that I know of, at least) that’s dropped IE 6 support completely. It’s a gutsy move, since Apple’s billing it as a way to access your data from anywhere.

  And I’m hoping it’s the beginning of a trend. IE 6 is definitely the most painful browser for us to support – it’s seven years old and doesn’t even fully support the CSS 1.0 standard created in 1996."

  Let the cheerleading for the abandoment of IE6 begin, and let it continue with me.
• Blender Bottle on CoolTools: "The Blender Bottle is a shaker bottle with a free-floating surgical stainless steel wire ball inside. A total boon for anyone who mixes formulas, shakes, mixes or other powdered drinks... Previously I had normal shaker bottles that always, regardless of how much shaking I did, left clumps of mix, especially at the bottom of the shaker... The whisking ball is really ingenious, but this is also the first bottle I have ever owned that I can shake without holding onto the lid at the same time. The spout is that secure."

• The Tragedy of America's Disappearing Fathers on WSJ.com: "As we celebrate Father's Day tomorrow, we should reflect upon a sad fact: It is now common to meet young people in our big city schools, foster-care homes and juvenile centers who do not know their dads. Most of those children have come face-to-face with their father at some point; but most have little regular contact with the man, or have any faith that he loves or cares about them...

  This represents a dramatic shift in American life. In the early 1960s, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom. Having a dad, in short, is now a privilege, a ticket to middle-class status on par with getting into a good college."

• Remembering Russert: Bills had a special place in journalist's life on NFL.com: "Tim Russert truly loved the Buffalo Bills. Loved them because they were his hometown team. Loved them because they were an integral part of his earliest and fondest childhood memories. Loved them because of the bond they helped create between him and his father, the subject of his bestselling book, Big Russ & Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life. Loved them because of the direct and unbreakable link between his heart and their fortunes.

  When I heard the shocking news that his heart had suddenly stopped beating on Friday, I, like others who call Buffalo home, immediately thought about the connection between Russert and the Bills."

  What a shame that he died so young and so close to Father's Day.

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• Sixty-Six on Daring Fireball: "The idea that Apple now sells two-thirds of retail computers costing $1000 or more is simply stunning. I (along with many others) have long argued that a simplistic “overall PC market share” number has never been a good metric for gauging the Mac’s success because the “overall PC market” includes millions of commodity-level low-end machines that Apple neither tries nor wants to sell."
• Making Your Mark in a Web 2.0 World on Web Worker Daily: This article describes the building of a Social Media Resume, a personal website that includes links to your LinkedIn or Facebook profile page, as well as photos or video from websites like Flickr and Viddler. I relaunched DaveAiello.com about two weeks ago, but didn't realize that creating this kind of site is an emerging trend.
• Mac OS X Services (the menu you never go to) on Random Tech: "There's a whole hidden side of text modification that is stashed away, yet right at your fingertips. If you go to the Application menu (if you're in Safari, click the menu 'Safari') -> Services, a whole list pops down. You've probably disregarded this in the past (if you've ever seen it) because most of the options are grayed out, or unclickable. All you need to do is highlight some text. Go back to the menu and there are so many to choose from!"

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• How to Eat Healthily at Top Chain Restaurants on Lifehacker: "The food experts at Health magazine have scoured the menus at popular restaurant chains in search of the healthiest foods on the menu, rounding up several healthy menu options at otherwise unhealthy chains."

  They found reasonably healthy choices at Denny's, Ruby Tuesday, and P.F. Chang's, among others.
• AT&T Providing Free Wi-Fi Access to iPhone Users - Mac Rumors on MacRumors: "A couple of readers have reported that AT&T hotspots are now offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone users. Barnes and Noble, Starbucks and presumably AT&T's 71,000 other Wi-fi hotspot locations are now offering iPhone users a custom portal to access free Wi-Fi. A special iPhone formatted page asks for your mobile phone number. Once entered, you can access the Wi-Fi access for free."

• The "missing" iPhone ringtone on TUAW: "We've all seen the iPhone ads.... None are identical, but most have something in common. Namely, that peculiar ringtone. We call it peculiar because it isn't actually included with the iPhone. Luckily, most of us have it installed on our computers already."

  The article goes on to explain how to convert the Apple Loop that comes with GarageBand (part of iLife '08) into a ringtone for your iPhone.
• In search of a GTD solution on TUAW: Brett Terpstra's take on different ways you can integrate Mac apps and utilities into a Getting Things Done system. ".... This round of solution-searching began with a post by Dennis Best titled Getting things done (simply) in Leopard. It outlined a system where iCal calendars are your contexts (or areas of responsibility), To-dos are created in Mail, Mail Notes become projects, and Smart Mailboxes were used to interesting ends. It even had a tagging system, allowing for great flexibility. This was highly appealing to me given its close integration with my primary source of tasks and information: email...."
• Interactive GTD Software Comparison Table on Priacta.com: "102 Researched GTD Software Titles and Counting. Software listed here has been verified to support Getting Things Done and related systems...." Solutions on the web, Windows, Mac, handheld, Linux, and Python are documented. I'll have to look at why they breakout Python separately.

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• How to link Twitter to Facebook - A Twitter Tutorial on AJVayerchuck.com: A concise explanation of how to install the Twitter app within Facebook and allow it to update your Facebook status.
• Clutter War II: Attack of the Giant Baby on 43Folders: "...you might be able to guess where my head is right now. Yep. It’s on clutter, and on what I need to do to get my face back into Peter Walsh’s excellent de-cluttering book as a means for regaining domestic sanity and striding toward the possibility of a life without tripping, piling, or losing what’s left of my sleep-deprived mind."
• Hi-Res YouTube Hacks on O'Reilly Digital Media: A great little article that covers why YouTube rocks for casual video sharing and how to force YouTube playback to the highest resolution possible.
• LCD Scrub cleans those stubborn stains from your screen on TUAW: "While LCD screens aren't nearly as likely to run into image persistence issues as older CRTs, they aren't immune to damage, as developer Daniel Sandler... learned to his dismay a year ago. After his flat-panel got munged by green static overnight, he whipped up a pattern-shifting screensaver to repair the burned-in pixels (based on Apple's recommendation of leaving an all-white image over the affected areas). Whaddaya know, it worked.... "
• Mac 101: Zoom and pan images in Quick Look on TUAW: "Is your laptop not among those that can do Multi-touch? Don't feel badly, you can replicate those great features!" I didn't know you could do zooming and panning in Quick Look.
• Media Center: Roll a Mac Mini Media Center with Leopard on Lifehacker: "We've talked about building a Mac mini media center and other ways to pimp your mini in the past, but blogger Jon Hicks revisits the Mac mini media center with a focus on using it with Leopard and EyeTV (a Mac DVR solution). While Apple TV is doing its best to justify a place in your living room, it still doesn't time-shift television, and many Mac enthusiasts still find that the Mac mini still outdoes Apple's latest media center offering."

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• Ode To A Burrito -- Chipotle Mexican Grill on Fast Company: "Good food wrapped in a socially responsible message has created legions of Chipotle fans -- and a superhot business. Acquired by McDonald's in 1998 when there were only 14 Chipotles, the company went public in 2006 with 500 stores and watched its stock rise from $22 to $110 in 18 months. The now-independent outfit is enjoying an 80% revenue run-up over three years....

  "Chipotle has achieved these impressive stats by spurning fast-food orthodoxy. Workers make each burrito by hand, which leads to long lines of customers waiting far beyond the four-minute industry standard. Turns out, that's not a problem for many customers." There aren't many Chipotles in Pennsylvania, but one just opened in Warrington, in the same complex with one of our two closest Wegman's. Why can't we eat there more often? [ via 37signals SVN ]
• Forwarding voicemails? on 37signals SVN: "Visual Voicemail on the iPhone is a huge step forward for voicemail, but it still feels a bit last generation. It’s still about the static message that sits in your box. You can’t forward it along, you can’t email it to yourself, you can’t even play it to someone else who’s on the phone with you." Great points.
• 15 Features of the Perfect Work Space on LifeDev: "8. No clutter - Clutter is an aesthetic problem as well as a mental problem. Cluttered work spaces give create cluttered thinking. Your mind will never be as clear as it could be with a messy, unorganized environment. This also includes your desktop clutter as well." My only question about the article is: why is "no clutter" feature number 8 and not higher on the list?
• Household: De-Clutter with a Six-Month "Maybe Box" on Lifehacker: "I can vouch for the power of hidden non-necessities. My garage has served as a de facto "Maybe" space for most of this winter, leading my house toward a serious garage sale this spring."
• The Cost of Working In a Digital World on LifeDev: "A very important article has been written by The New York Times showing the hazards of being a web worker. Without boundaries and carefult attention to our Internet usage, we can quickly find our health declining. Prolific blogger Om Malik, who suffered some life-threatening health problems late last year, shares some insights his doctor gave as to why web workers have health problems."
• #1 Song on This Date in History from Josh Hosler: "What was the #1 song on ... the day you were born? the day you graduated from high school? the day you were married? the day your child was born? the approximate date you were conceived?" Awesome site. [ via Pogue's Posts and Alltop Gadgets ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• For the Phinney Family, a Dream and a Challenge on NYTimes.com: This story came out last week, right before Taylor Phinney raced in the Individual Pursuits at the Track Cycling World Championships. Taylor finished eighth. His father, Davis, is a legendary U.S. cycling champ who has struggled with Parkinson's Disease in recent years. This article summarizes their recent struggles and successes.
• ScreenFlow: The Killer Screencasting App on MacTips: "ScreenFlow is the application I've been waiting for on the Mac. I've been using it recently for the MacTips Videos and I love it! It's saves me so much time because I'm able to focus on creating valuable content rather than editing videos."
• Dash’s Car Navigator Gives Smart Directions, if Others Participate, Walt Mossberg on AllThingsD: "As smart as in-car navigation devices are, they could be smarter. They could talk to each other via the Internet and share information on how fast traffic is moving on the roads they have just traveled.... Starting this week, just such a smarter navigation box is hitting the market. Called the Dash Express, this $400 product looks a lot like units from better-known firms... But, unlike any other in-car navigation device I’ve seen, each Dash Express... becomes part of a network, connected to the company via the Internet. "
• Windows XP: Going, going ... gone? on Computerworld: "The approaching death of Windows XP may upset you, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. Microsoft Corp.'s product life-cycle guidelines have foretold the fate of XP since 2001. In fact, Microsoft has been killing off one version of a product as it is replaced with another for years now. But this time around, the approaching demise of XP is getting more attention than, say, the final passing of Windows 2000."
• Coming Soon to a Phone Near You on WSJ.com: This article summarizes forthcoming developments in mobile phone voice control, improved web browsers, enhanced storage, and video sharing. [ Subscription may be required to read this article. ]
• How To Use Nokia’s Sports Tracker as a Photo Tracker on The Gadgets Page: "Ms. Jen was part of Nokia’s Urbanista Diaries Relay, which means they sent her to India to promote the Nokia N82 in all its glory. While on the trip, she realized how well the Sports Tracker (a typically exercise related feature) could be used to track the geo-locations of your photos"
• Note to readers: Today would be my grandfather James M. Lynch, Jr.'s 95th birthday. He died in 1982. He is one of the inspirations for this site, since he bought and tried every important electronic gadget that existed in the 1970s. He owned the first digital watch, desktop calculator, and personal computers I ever saw.

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• Big hockey weekend: This weekend the USA Hockey Women's Nationals are taking place in West Chester, PA, the USA Hockey Tier III Junior Nationals are in Marlboro, MA, and the NCAA D-I Men's Hockey Regional Tournaments are on in four cities around the country. More hockey tournament info on rinkatlas.com/blog.
• Yes, Running Can Make You High - New York Times in The New York Times: "Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect." [ via Lifehacker ]
• New Jersey Apple Store ready to open on TUAW: "Doesn't 'Cherry Hill' sound lovely? It will sound even sweeter for Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Apple fans this weekend when a new Apple Store opens {at Cherry Hill Mall}, next to A|X Armani Exchange and M•A•C Cosmetics (that's right, a Mac store next to a MAC store). The doors will open at 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 29th." Cherry Hill will probably be lovely again, as soon as they finish building the Nordstrom's.
• Wi-Fi Networking News: Sebastopol, Calif., Looks Gift Wi-Fi in Mouth, Declares Harm on Wi-Fi Net News: "The northern peninsula town of Sebastopol gave up free Wi-Fi in favor of fear mongering...."
• Are CIOs Losing Influence? on The Wall Street Journal Biz Tech Blog: "...And in a sign that CIOs may know that fighting the influx of consumer technology into the workplace is futile, only 36% of CIOs say the computing environment they offer employees at work is better than the ones workers have at home." [ Thanks Martin O'Donnell ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Stuff We Like: The Dave Laptop Stand on Lifehacker: "The Dave (oh Ikea, you and your names!) features adjustable height and angle, and can double as a TV tray or simple end table when you're not computing. If you've been looking for a better way to surf the internet from the comfort of your couch, the $25 Dave might be just the ticket."
• Optimizing File Sharing on Your Home Wi-Fi Network on Web Worker Daily: "A lot of people who have successfully put in a Wi-Fi network neglect to optimize the way files are shared between computers in a home or workgroup. You can choose ways to organize shared files, and ensure that files are shared securely or not visible to other users on your Wi-Fi network very easily...." Good instructions on how to do this whether you have Windows or Macs
• StrechCordz Short Resistance Training Belt on Cool Tools: "The StrechCordz resistance training belt makes expensive, complex, "endless" pools obsolete. At one end of a 4-foot, black rubber tube is a nylon belt with a simple plastic snap-clip that slips around my waist. On the other end is a loop I attach to the deep-end ladder of our modest home pool. That's it... just tether up and start swimming. Swim as hard and fast as you like yet stay in place."
• Cycling Photography Tips: Shooting Head On on Spare Cycles: "Shooting head on is both difficult and easy: difficult in that the rider is moving at you very fast so your margin for error is very little, but easy in that you don't have to move your camera very much at all."
• Easter's early this year. Deal with it. on God Plays Dice: "...the cycle of Easter dates repeat themselves every 5,700,000 years. The cycle of epacts (which encode the date of the full moon) in the Julian calendar repeat every nineteen years. There are two corrections made to the epact, each of which depend only on the century; one repeats (modulo 30, which is what matters) every 120 centuries, the other every 375 centuries, so the air of them repeat every 300,000 years. The days of the week are on a 400-year cycle, which doesn't matter because that's a factor of 300,000. So the Easter cycle has length the least common multiple of 19 and 300,000, which is 5,700,000." [ via Slashdot ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Holy Saturday on Wikipedia: Lots of names exist for the day before Easter. I had no idea that so much thought had been put into this day over the years. Sorry if you consider this a sacrilege.
• Sk*rt: "Digg for Chicks" on How to Change the World (blog.GuyKawasaki.com): "I love Sk*rt. You can think of it as "Digg for chicks" (in the words of QueenofSpain), and it features the user-selected stories in topic such as Arts & Entertainment, Design & Crafts, Family & Parenting, and Food & Home."
• View higher quality videos on YouTube on MacOSXhints: "Many people are using a trick to view any YouTube video in high-quality -- simply append &fmt=18 to the end of the URL. This is a job for AppleScript! Here are two simple versions; the first, for for OmniWeb... and the second, for Safari...."
• Lemnis Pharox LED Bulb on CoolTools: "I have been dutifully buying the various LED bulbs being marketed as home incandescent replacements for a year or two. Up until now, all have had that weird, blue flickery LED light, and all have been expensive. The Lemnis Pharox is the first one that actually delivers as a home bulb replacement. It sips electricity pulling down a mere 4 watts, will last for 35 years, and replaces the light of a 40 watt incandescent."
• Adventures in Rechargeable Batteries on CodingHorror: "I've been a rechargeable battery user for years. It seems the frugal thing to do in the long run, and it's also healthier for the planet when we aren't discarding mountains of single-use batteries into landfills." Author Jeff Atwood provides a lot of tips on getting the most out of modern rechargeable batteries. [ via LifeHacker ]
• PimpMySafari.com, recommended by Merlin Mann on MacBreak Weekly. This is the reference site for all plugins and bookmarklets for the Safari web browser.
• First Look: Safari 3.1 adds speed and HTML 5 features on Computerworld: "With the 3.1 release, Safari has become the fastest browser you can use. If that isn't enough reason to make a switch, its strong adherence to Web standards and rapid adoption of new technologies might make you think again."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Mac Automation: listen to a text document on TUAW: "Don't have time to read that Word, Pages, or TextEdit document at your desk? Why not listen to it on your iPod instead? In this Automator how-to, I am going to show you how to create an audio file using text that you have in an open document, then sync that using iTunes to your iPod or iPhone." This is similar to a how-to published in Macworld last month.
• Reliance Digital to Open 60 iStores Across India on Tech2.com: "Reliance Digital... plans to open 150 digital stores and 60 iStores or Apple stores across {India}. While {typical Reliance Digital} stores offer a wide range of consumer durables, iStores are exclusively for Apple's products for professional and consumer segments."
• Time Machine Now Works with Airport Extreme USB Drives on MacRumors.com: "After the release of today's Time Machine and Airport update, several readers report that Time Machine now supports backups to USB drives connected to your Airport Extreme basestation. This configuration essentially reproduces the functionality of Apple's Time Capsule product."
• Shimano buys clothing company Pearl Izumi from Nautilus on VeloNews: "Bringing premium sports apparel and footwear to its offering of industry-leading cycling and fishing products, Shimano has completed its purchase of DashAmerica, Inc. (dba Pearl Izumi USA, Inc.) from Nautilus, Inc." This actually happened a month ago, but I just noticed it.
• The Feedzone with Monique Ryan: Protect your heart this season on VeloNews: This is a great article which focuses on eating the right kind of fats and other smart food choices as part of an athletic lifestyle.
• When to Stay With Windows in Mossberg's Mailbox on AllThingsD: Walt Mossberg talks about when it's OK to stay with Windows when upgrading home computers. A couple in their 70s asked if they should upgrade to a Mac although no family members have Macs, so family support wouldn't be available to them. He points out that it's OK to stay with Windows now, but the question will need to be re-evaluated sometime this sommer, when Microsoft stops selling Windows XP to OEMs for installation on new machines.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• An Enduring Measure of Fitness: The Simple Push-Up on NYTimes.com: "The push-up is the ultimate barometer of fitness. It tests the whole body, engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It requires the body to be taut like a plank with toes and palms on the floor. The act of lifting and lowering one’s entire weight is taxing even for the very fit." Doing push-ups is a habit I've been trying to get into. This article is a good reminder of why.
• Your Story: Throwing new tools at a communication problem? on 43Folders.com: "...The anecdotes I hear from worker bees often focus on the frustration they felt when a wiki, a new CMS, a mailing list, or some other tool was introduced into an ecosystem that was suffering from a more fundamental communication problem. A lot of people tell me that this makes matters much worse all around, often amplifying the complexity of the original problem, in addition to piling on burnt cycles that were committed on getting everyone up to speed on the new 'silver bullet....'" Oh the stories I could tell about a Wiki I once used....
• ExpanDrive on Daring Fireball: "ExpanDrive 1.01 is a new $29 file system extension for Mac OS X, based in part on MacFUSE, that lets you mount SFTP servers as volumes in the Finder. I’ve been using ExpanDrive for a week and it is extremely impressive. I’ve never seen anything like it for the Mac. Magnetk, the company behind ExpanDrive, has a similar product for Windows called SftpDrive that’s been around for a while."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Apple introduces Aperture 2.0 on MacNN: "Apple on Tuesday released Aperture 2.0, a major revision of the company's professional photo editing and management application. The upgrade brings in a new, sleeker user interface that allows users to flip between Browser and Viewer modes with a single key press and a heads-up display that makes the most of the screen area while still allowing quick access to editing or navigation controls." This was the only change that Apple made at the Apple On-line Store today.
• 8 Tips For Using Running As a Productivity Booster on LifeDev: "There is a certain type of activity that is my absolute favorite for clearing the mind for some really productive thinking. It has the ultimate blend of physical activity, low mental resource usage, and a change of atmosphere. A perfect storm for some good ‘ol fashioned subconscious problem solving. Nothing adds a shot of productive thinking to the day like a spirited run."
• Make iMovie '08 find movies on other drives on MacOS X Hints: Using a symbolic directory link allows iMovie '08 to utilize movie content from secondary or external drives.
• {Leopard Update} 10.5.2 makes your {World of Warcraft} go faster on TUAW: "After hearing that the patch made reader Jason's Mac play faster, WoW Insider's Adam Holisky saw his FPS jump from 30 to 50 on his first-gen Intel iMac (he also has 2gb of RAM, and installed the graphics update with 10.5.2)."
• 30 Benefits of Ebooks from Epublishers Weekly: "Read an Ebook Week is a yearly event, and this year (2008) it runs from March 2 to March 8. To encourage the celebration of this little-known happening, here is our list of 30 Benefits of Ebooks. We love pbooks (paper books), and hope that they are never replaced by their electronic grandchildren. Yet ebooks are a worthy companion to their paper elders." [ via Lifehacker ]
• Run Your Personal Wikipedia from a USB Stick on Lifehacker: "You don't have to lease server space or keep your home computer always on to access a personal web server—you can run a web, FTP, and database server straight from a USB drive. A slim web server package called XAMPP fits on a USB stick and can run database-driven webapps like the software that powers Wikipedia, MediaWiki. Almost two years ago you learned how to set up your "personal Wikipedia" on your home web server to capture ideas and track document revisions in a central knowledge repository. Today we'll set up MediaWiki on your flash drive for access on any Windows PC on the go." It's incredible that you can run MediaWiki on a thumb drive now.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Top 7 Web Applications for Sending Large Files on Geekpreneur: "If you’ve ever had to send a large file to someone, you know the hardships that arise. Email services keep strict limits on attachment sizes. What’s more is that it’s often hard to send more than one attachment at a time. This kind of disservice has made email quite unpopular for sharing files- and thus, we have entered the age of hybrid email. The premise is simple: cut out the bulk, and just give us an easy way to send files over the internet!"

• Torvalds: Leopard file system "utter crap" on MacNN: "Linux creator Linus Torvalds recently blasted Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard for having a file system that is 'complete and utter crap' at a Linux conference in Melbourne."

  The Leopard file system, technically known as HFS+, has been around in some form since the last time I was a Mac developer-- 1992. Of course Apple would like to move to something more robust. They've been building up to switch to ZFS, or some other sophisticated file system, for some time now.



• Turn Your Nokia Phone into a Wi-Fi Hotspot with JoikuSpot on Lifehacker: Who needs tethering when you can make your Series 60 phone into an ad hoc WiFi base station for your laptop? Wow.


• How to record a kickass podcast between two macs — and cheap! on A Whole Lotta Nothing: "A lot of people ask me how I do the MetaFilter Podcast.... I know they ... mean... 'what software and hardware does it take to make a decent sounding podcast?' After almost a year of regular podcasts and trying out different software and equipment, I’ve gotten the workflow down cold and I wanted to share the my way of making a good sounding podcast on the cheap. This works perfectly well for me being in Oregon and talking to my friend Jessamyn in Vermont over Skype, recording at both ends, then tossing it all into Garageband to complete the podcast." [ via 43Folders ]


• Nike SPARQ Parachute Makes You Run Faster, Eventually on Gizmodo: "The Nike SPARQ Parachute is designed to create drag 'to force athletes to push themselves harder to achieve speed' and look like a moron in Central Park." Can I use this thing on the ice sometime?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• RPI Plays Princeton tonight in the 31st Annual Big Red Freakout. RPI needs the win. In other news, the White beat the Red in the Alumni Game 9-8.
• Kipkay's Video Tips & Tricks on Instructables: "Here are 5 easy and cheap tricks for anyone who uses a camcorder. Total cost for all 5 is under $10!" [ via Lifehacker ]
• New Devices and Applications on the Wi-Fi Front on Web Worker Daily: "While many Mac-based users already have next-generation, draft 802.11n Wi-Fi technology in their homes (because they use Apple’s Airport Extreme routers) lots of other folks still use slower 802.11g Wi-Fi. This year is when official certification of 802.11n Wi-Fi is supposed to arrive, and the month of January brought some product announcements that point to what the widespread arrival of 802.11n technology might mean...."
• Review of the Nike Amp+ iPod Control Watch: "... the Amp+ isn't designed to be an all-around running or fitness watch. It's specifically designed for runners who already have the Nike + iPod kit. Similar to the Timex iControl we recently reviewed, the Nike Amp+ is a remote control for your iPod Nano, however unlike the Timex, the Nike Amp+ uses the existing Nike + iPod gadget that plugs into your iPod, so you're actually adding the iPod remote control to the Nike iPod system." [ via TUAW ]
• Crazy Apple Rumors on Hiatus on TUAW: CrazyAppleRumors.com is a site I just found out about recently. It's articles are what you might read in The Onion if they covered Apple more aggressively. Sorry to see it go dark.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• The Complete Guide to iPhone Car Integration on iLounge.com: A great article that covers nearly every accessory for using your iPhone in the car without violating the laws requiring hands-free use of mobile phones in many parts of the USA. [ via TUAW ]
• MacBook Air review round-up on TUAW: "Ah, it is that magical time after an Apple announcement: the big media reviews are starting to roll in. As you might be aware Apple loans out new hardware to technology journalists to put through their paces.... The first few reviews are up, and they all pretty much say the same thing: the MacBook Air is really thin, and a great machine so long as you don't need the ports it doesn't have." Read the reviews anyway, if you haven't already.
• Junction Networks Well Positioned In Philly Burbs from VoIP Watch: Andy Abramson pointed out this cool little VoIP company called Junction Networks right up the road from me that I had never heard of. They provide SIP Hosting, Hosted PBX, and PSTN Gateway services. The Hosted PBX stuff is the easiest thing for me to get my head around. But who knew that these guys were out here (other than Andy)?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Gmail IMAP Change in 1.13 - Apple Phone Show on Apple Phone Show Blog: "The 1.13 upgrade to the iPhone automatically changes POP configured Gmail to IMAP...." I saw the change in folder arrangement on my iPhone after I updated the firmware, but I didn't realize the implications of it until I read about the switch to IMAP online.
• The new Favicons: Making Webclip icons for iPhone on SixApart ProNet: The professional developer website for Movable Type and TypePad posted the first explanation of how to make a custom icon for a website that will appear on the home screen of an iPhone or an iPod Touch. I already made a Webclip icon for RinkAtlas, a site whose logo lends itself to doing so.

• Forty years since Masterton's death on the Globe on Hockey Blog: "Masterton, 29 at the time, was checked by Larry Cahan and Ron Harris of the Oakland Seals, and hit his head on the ice after falling backwards. The game took place Jan. 13, 1968, in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Masterton died in hospital two days later due to a brain injury."

  "His death led to the lobbying of more widespread use of helmets, and a mandatory helmet rule was passed in the summer of 1979." Anyone playing ice hockey should pause for a moment and remember Bill Masterton. His unfortunate death began a series of rule changes and other protective measures that have made our sport much safer.



• Mini-Review: Amazon Kindle vs. Sony Reader on 37signals Signal vs Noise: "There are plenty of comprehensive reviews of the Kindle floating around so I don’t think we need another one. Instead, I’ll focus on comparing it with the Sony Reader."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry in Wired: Awesome story about how the iPhone made it to market. Absolutely worth reading.
• The best notebook you can buy in Infoworld: "After six months of intensive, daily use of the machine, I can state now that today's MacBook Pro stands head and shoulders above Apple's prior flagship Intel notebooks, and sets a standard for performance, features, durability, eco-responsibility, and quality that any PC vendor will find difficult to approach for a similar price." [ This is the current MacBook Pro, not the one expected to be announced at Macworld in San Francisco next Tuesday. ]
• Apple wins Best Notebook Computer of the Year Award for MacBook Pro in InfoWorld: Related article to the one discussed above.

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• Apple Releases a New "Get a Mac" Ad Co-starring a Football Referee on Apple.com: Pretty good attention to detail. The referee is wearing a white hat and a uniform that is very close to that worn in many college football leagues. What I would add to this is the referee turning on his microphone and speaking over the public address system. [ Seen on TV over the weekend. ]

• Andrea Jung Joins Apple Board of Directors on MacRumors.com: "Apple has announced that Andrea Jung has been elected to Apple's board. Andrea also serves as Chairman and CEO of Avon Products, board member of General Electric, and member of the New York Presbyterian Hospital board of trustees and the Catalyst board of directors."

  Why the CEO of Avon and why now? Speculation is that her board seat at GE will make her helpful in brokering an agreement with NBC Universal to bring them back into the iTunes fold.



• Break a Soda Habit with Better Water on Lifehacker: "Have a serious soda habit? Part of the lure of the stuff is the convenience and fizzy texture, not just the sugar content you can get from lots of other places. How-to blog TipNut details one writer's cheap, simple fix—giving water more appeal." My habit is Caffeine Free Diet Coke, so I don't have the caffeine or the sugar but I still have the soda fix. I just drink way too much of it.


• Chalet Doll House on BabyGadget.com: "...this Chalet Doll House from Plan Toys is like a breath of fresh air with its openness and lack of minuscule plastic parts. With movable staircases and skylights, this doll house comes completely furnished - sans family...." Nice looking, substantial, and modern.


• Philips Blu-ray Player BDP7200 on Ubergizmo: "The BDP7200 is Philips’ first Full Profile 1 compliant BD player that features Dolby® TrueHD and DTS® HD High Resolution Audio, multi-channel audio decoding and digital audio optical outputs. The BDP7200 supports 1080p at native 24 frames per second...." On display at CES.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Isolator- Concentration Application For Mac OS X on LifeDev: "I don’t think I have to tell this blog’s readers how hard it can be to stay on task when working on the computer. That’s why “concentration applications” are great tools to have. If you’re a mac user, check out the elegant Isolator for blocking out all of those outside distractions associated with working with a tool that can do soooo many things...."
• Avoid needless delays in System Updates on MacOSXHints.com: "While installing the 10.4.11 Server and subsequent 10.4.11 security patch, I had to wait a very long time (over an hour) while the Installer was configuring the install. I peeked in on the Installer process..., and found that it was searching through every directory on all mounted drives on the machine for files to update...." [ Does this pertain to MacOS X workstations or just servers? If so, does it pertain to Leopard or just Tiger? ]
• Weekend project: Wire Your Home On-the-Cheap with DIY Network Cables on Lifehacker: "The video demonstration above from electronics retailer TigerDirect details the relatively simple process of cutting your own Ethernet cables so you don't end up spending more than you need wiring your home or office (you also won't end up with 10 feet too much or a foot too little like you often will when you buy pre-cut). Wireless home networks are convenient, but if you regularly transfer large files or stream HD-quality video, nothing beats a solid wired network....
• Test-Driving a Sno-Park Maserati in The Wall Street Journal: This article compares a $4.99 snow saucer from L.L. Bean to a $279 inflatable "body board for the snow" imported from Switzerland. Although the writer expected there to be little difference in the fun had on the two sledding devices, she actually found that the $279 was far more fun and less jarring than the basic model.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Speed demons will meet their match on the piste on TimesOnLine.co.uk: "Switzerland is introducing speed cameras on the slopes to try to reduce the increasing number of accidents.... The scheme is being introduced after figures revealed a drastic increase in serious ski-related accidents in Switzerland. The booming winter tourism trade has led to overcrowding at the most popular resorts and a sharp rise in accidents." [ via The Drudge Report ]

• PC Makers Take A Stylish Turn To Tackle Apple in The Wall Street Journal: "...Spurred in part by the success of Apple Inc.'s innovative products, as well as a consumer shift toward notebook computers, PC makers have begun a radical overhaul of their machines' appearance. They're racing to replace boring boxes with sexy silhouettes that will differentiate their products, entice new buyers and command higher prices...."

  I think that this will prove to be a classic misunderstanding of the market, akin to the mobile phone companies' efforts to find a touch screen handset to compete with the iPhone-- Apple doesn't depend on industrial design alone to sell its products.



• U.S. Album Sales Fell 9.5% in 2007 from The Associated Press in The New York Times: "Album sales in the United States plunged 9.5 percent last year from 2006, as the recording industry had another weak year despite a 45 percent surge in the sale of digital tracks...." [ via Techmeme ]


• Survey: Mac OS hit record 7.3% share in December; iPhone up 33% in Apple 2.0 Blog from Fortune Magazine: "The Mac hit a record 7.3% share, up from 6.8% last month. The iPhone also hit a new record, .12%, up from .09% in November. That suggests that better than 1 out of every 1,000 people on the Internet are browsing the Web using an iPhone." [ via Techmeme ]



• Washington Post Flubs Story On RIAA -- RIAA Still Not Going After Personal Copies (Yet) on Techdirt: "While we know that the RIAA is constantly pushing to extend both the meaning and scope of copyright law, in this case the details were pretty clear that they were not going after Howell for just ripping his CDs, but for putting those ripped files into a shared Kazaa folder. Now you can (and we do!) disagree that simply putting files into a shared folder are infringement, but that's different than just claiming that ripping the CDs is illegal or that he was being targeted just for ripping the CDs."

  This analysis contradicts the story we linked to early this week in our article RIAA Suing Individuals Over Ripping CDs for Personal Use. I don't know who's right on this issue.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Bills return to Buffalo by bus after loss in Cleveland, The Associated Press on ESPN.com: "Mother Nature sure had it in for the Buffalo Bills this weekend."

  "Bad enough that a blizzard contributed to Buffalo's loss at Cleveland on Sunday, ending the team's playoff chances. Then, following an unscheduled overnight stay because of bad weather, the Bills were forced to bus home Monday after their charter plane got stuck in mud off a runway in Cleveland...." [ Thanks Julie Howson ]



• Who's #1? on ESPN.com: ESPN Classic's "Who's Number One" show will be running down the most important technological advances in sports on ESPN Classic, 10:00pm ET, Dec. 19, 2007. This is definitely something I'll have to TiVo if I can't watch it live.


• Why Wireless Isn't Wide Open on BusinessWeek.com: "Even as the wireless industry chants a new gospel about opening mobile-phone networks to outside devices and applications, some of the biggest U.S. carriers are quietly blocking new services that would compete with their own...." [ via Andy Abramson on VoIP Watch ]


• Canadian surprised by $85,000 cell bill on SeattleTimes.NWsource.com: "Piotr Staniaszek normally pays $147 a month for his cell phone. So he was more than a little surprised to learn his November bill had ballooned to $59,000. And then it got worse. When he called to inquire about the high figure, he was told that his bill this month was $83,000." [ Thanks Martin O'Donnell ]



• Verizon FiOS with only a Apple Airport Extreme {sic} on Elecktronkind.org: Excellent article on the things you need to do to replace the ActionTec router that Verizon provides to most FiOS users with an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station. Something we hope to do in The Home Office in Newtown sometime after Christmas.

  One key fact to note from this article: You do need to keep the ActionTec router on the network if you have Verizon's digital cable service that's delivered over FiOS. Hopefully we can turn off the wireless capability of the ActionTec and put the AirPort Extreme Base Station behind it.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Amazon.com Sets Deadlines for Christmas Orders: Super Saver Shipping deadline is December 17. Standard Shipping is December 18. Amazon Prime December 20 by 6pm Eastern Standard Time.

  One date that I didn't see in this list that's probably important: HDTV sale deadline is December 16th.



• A Universe of Gadget Advice on NYTimes.com: "The bad news is there is no one-stop shop for consumer electronics. You will need to do your research on one site, your bargain hunting elsewhere and your self-reassurance at a third location. Unless you are already familiar with under-the-hood components, the big gadget blogs like Engadget.com and Gizmodo.com are not much help. Their insider’s advice is buried among posts like 'Displaytech FLCOS microdisplays to be used in embeddable pico-projectors.'" Too bad the author didn't mention Operation Gadget.


• That Giant Sucking Sound May Be Your New TV on WSJ.com: I had no idea how much power flat screen TVs consumed compared to CRT-based TVs. This Wall Street Journal article reports that a 60-inch plasma can consumer 4 times the power of a 28-inch CRT: $130 vs $30 per year assuming $0.12 per kwh and 5 hours running time per day. [ Thanks to Martin O'Donnell ]


• Apple's 'Podfather' Now Aims to Revive A Wilting Palm on WSJ.com: Could the turnaround at Palm have begun already? Jon Rubinstein, a former Apple executive who led the iPod division, joined Palm to shake up the struggling company. But with a long product-development cycle, it may take years for his impact to show up.


• The Picture Gets Fuzzy For TV Deals on WSJ.com: "Getting a good deal on a flat-panel television set during the holidays last year was a cinch. This year, not so much.... Overall, the average price of flat-panel LCD sets 32 inches and larger is expected to drop 17% in the U.S. to $1,018 this quarter from a year earlier, compared with an average 34% price plunge last holiday season..."


• Nokia Pushes to Regain U.S. Sales in Spite of Apple and Google on NYTimes.com: Nokia sees the entrance of Apple into the mobile phone market as a confirmation of its own strategy. I agree, so long as it can generate some awareness of what the Nokia lifestyle is. So far, they have failed to do that in the USA.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Gatorade Inventor Robert Cade Dies at 80 on BicycleRetailer.com: "You might not drink it as your hydration liquid of choice on your rides now, but there once was a time when Gatorade was all that existed when it came to replacing lost carbohydrates and electrolytes." Products like Gatorade and Pedialyte also save children's lives by preventing dehydration when they have bouts of diarrhea.
• Verizon Will Open Its Network on Wi-Fi Net News: "Verizon Wireless said today that it would allow devices, software, and services to be used on its network by the end of 2008 as a new 'choice'—read, 'new billing plan'—a remarkable turnabout from its position during the 700 MHz C Block auction filings process."
• Adventures in $40 eyeglasses on 43Folders: "Last year, I stumbled upon a blog post about buying prescription eyeglasses online. It sounded too good to be true: you could get any frames you wanted quickly and cheaply, and the comments were filled with optometrists freaking out...." Great article explaining what you need to know to source your own glasses that fit perfectly.
• Getting Great Battery Life on KenRockwell.com: "Modern Li-ion batteries love to be charged often. They don't like being fully discharged. This is completely opposite from older style batteries." I spend more time discussing battery technology with friends than I care to admit. Most people don't handle their batteries as well as they could, and this comes from knowing the shortcomings of NiMH batteries too well. [ via 37signals SVN ]
• Why Nokia Is Leaving Moto in the Dust on BusinessWeek: This is an article from July, but it's probably the biggest indication of why Ed Zander is stepping down as Motorola's CEO.
• The Site of the Day: IceBike.org on VeloNews: "Like every other interest on the planet, there's a website dedicated to those of us who actually enjoy riding on ice and snow.... {Check} out the folks at ICEBIKE.org, where they operate by the motto 'The hardest part is the first 100 yards. Mother Nature is not your Enemy!'"
• The iPod lecture circuit on LAtimes.com: "... 28 colleges and universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and Yale, now post select courses without charge at iTunes.... The universities want to promote themselves to parents and prospective students, as well as strengthen ties with alumni. Some also see their mission as sharing the ivory tower's intellectual riches with the rest of the world." [ via Apple.com/startpage/ ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Tech Report, with Lennard Zinn - The new Madone on Velonews: "Trek has invested an unprecedented amount of time and money into testing this frame and is confident that the frame will far outlast the bearings several times over. In fact, its tests showed that the steel of the bearing cartridges gets worn down and notched after enough time on the pedaling through water day and night at 85rpm, and the steel balls themselves crack."
• Riis record erased on Guardian Unlimited: "Bjarne Riis's name will be erased from the Tour's record books following his recent confession that he used drugs to take first place in the 1996 race, the organiser Christian Prudhomme told the Guardian yesterday. This is a first for the event, which has never before had a winner confess to doping."
• How do they create patterns in a baseball field? on HowStuffWorks.com: "Groundskeepers at baseball parks have traditionally created checkerboard, diamond and argyle patterns in the field. These patterns have become more elaborate in recent years.... These designs are not all that complicated and can be easily duplicated on your own lawn." [ via 37signals SvN ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Basso admits involvement in Puerto scandal on VeloNews.com: "Ivan Basso on Monday confessed to the anti-doping prosecutor of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) that he was involved in the Operacion Puerto blood doping scandal.... The 29-year-old Basso now faces a ban from cycling of up to two years and an additional two-year exclusion from riding on ProTour teams.... '... he wanted to lift a weight off his conscience,' said Basso's lawyer Massimo Martelli." [ via TDFblog ]
• Series 3 TiVo External Drive Upgrade FAQ on PVRblog: "Engadget and the TiVoCommunity recently broke news that it was possible to use the eSATA slot on Series 3 TiVos, letting you easily upgrade to more storage space."
• Nokia N75 Available only $49.99 with a new two-year contract at Amazon.com: This is a fantastic deal on a 3G N-series phone on the Cingular / AT&T network.
• Households Would Need New Bulbs To Meet Lighting-Efficiency Rule on WSJ.com: "Manufacturers and environmentalists are hammering out a nationwide energy-saving lighting standard that, if enacted by Congress, would effectively phase out the common household light bulb in about 10 years. That in turn could produce major cuts in the nation's electricity costs and greenhouse-gas emissions." [ Subscription required to read most articles in The Wall Street Journal. ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Mini Web Sites Target Users of Mobile Phones, free article on WSJ.com: "... new low-cost tools and services are making it easier to jump onto the mobile Web. Internet registrars such as GoDaddy.com Inc. and Network Solutions, who have helped millions of small businesses set up traditional dot-com sites, are now also beginning to roll out all-inclusive packages that help companies register and build mobile Web sites. And mobile-content specialists like the United Kingdom's Bango Ltd. have their own mobile kits that help companies get a basic Web presence on cellphones...." [ via Textually.org ]
• Hands-on with Helio's Amazing Ocean on MobileBurn: "Overall, the Helio Ocean just appears to be a fantastic device and is easily the highlight of this year's CTIA show for me. I fully expect the Ocean to garner Helio a massive amount of attention." The Ocean is an integrated communicator designed by one of the former designers of the Danger Sidekick. This article includes good photos of the handset.
• Top 10 phones of CTIA 2007 on InfoSync World: "The list of CTIA 2007's Top 10 phones is packed with high-quality handsets that'll dominate this year." Links are available from there to the best multimedia phones, best music phones, and best smartphones of the show.
• Apple Releases 8-core Mac Pro on MacRumors: "Apple has released the long-anticipated 8-core Mac Pro. The update keeps current configurations but adds a top of the line 8-core 3 GHz model for $1498 additional beyond the base 2.66 Quad-core model."
• Apple Discounts Cinema Displays on MacRumors: "Alongside the released of the 8-core Mac Pro today, Apple quietly discounted their Apple Cinema Displays." Now Cinema Displays start at $599 for the 20-inch model.
• AT&T steps in as major TdG sponsor on TdGblog: AT&T fills half of the 2007 Tour de Georgia funding deficit by kicking in $500,000. It's nice to see "The New AT&T" make this commitment to the heart of the former BellSouth region.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Twittering Your Home on MacDevCenter: "Interest in the messaging service Twitter is clearly on the rise... and while most people are figuring out how to use Twitter for its intended purpose–social networking–I’d like to share a few notes on my more prosaic experiment of using it as part of my home automation system.... Twitter has a simple HTTP-based interface for sending messages. Instead of having to script an email program, or an SMS utility, sending a tweet is as easy as having your home automation system open a URL." Seems like Twitter could be as flexible as del.icio.us for different applications.
• You're not on a f.*?ing plane (and if you are, it doesn't matter)! on 37signals SvN: "The idea of offline web applications is getting an undue amount of attention. Which is bizarre when you look at how availability of connectivity is ever increasing. EVDO cards, city-wide wifis, iPhones, Blackberry’s. There are so many ways to get online these days that the excitement for offline is truly puzzling. Until you consider the one place that is still largely an island of missing connectivity: The plane!" The article goes on to suggest that WiFi access on airplanes is overrated. Air travel time can be used to catch up on book reading or listening to podcasts. Some people have no other time to do this kind of stuff.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• NYT: New data on the problems of “multitasking” on 43 Folders: "Yesterday’s New York Times front page ran an article pulling together the results of several recent studies looking at how interruptions and attempts to multitask can affect the quality of work as well as the length of recovery time.... My own feelings on the myth of multi-tasking are well-documented, but it’s fascinating to see research interest focused in this area...."
• Nike, Trek end relationship, future consumer offerings "uncertain" on BikePortland.com: Jonathan Maus broke the story that Nike and Trek are ending their co-marketing arrangement at the end of 2007. The future of consumer-oriented Nike cycling products is yet to be resolved. This could be the end of an era, considering the integral part that Nike played in the LiveStrong wristband campaign.

• DirecTV Sat-Go Impressions (How Much is TV Anywhere Worth to You?) on Gizmodo: "Earl of DBStalk really loves TV. He (and people like him) is the reason why DirecTV invented this 26-pound satellite TV box that lets you get satellite television anywhere. If you're asking yourself who would actually lug this thing around when they go camping, vacationing, or traveling, you're obviously not in the target '8 hours of TV a day' audience."

  I guess there isn't a pro football tailgater or a pro cycling fan among Gizmodo's editors. Those groups could be the prime targets for DirecTV Sat-Go, in my opinion.



• Judge: Zamboni driver can't be charged with DWI, AP article on NJ.com: "Zamboni operator John Peragallo had been charged with drunken driving in 2005 after a fellow employee at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown told police the machine was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards.... Superior Court Judge Joseph Falcone on Monday overturned his license revocation and penalties."


• Shipments of Digital Cameras Rose 25% Last Year, IDC Says on WSJ.com: "Market researcher IDC reported that digital camera sales rose 15% last year to 105.7 million units worldwide. The growth was spurred by a 39% jump in sales of pricey digital SLR cameras to 5.3 million units.... In the digital SLR segment, where most cameras cost $600 or more, Canon, with a 46.7% share, and Nikon Corp., with a 33% share, dominated the market." [ Paid subscription required to read most articles in The Wall Street Journal ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Apple IPhone Has Wireless Industry Scrambling to Keep Up on Wired: "...the one million customer inquiries that AT&T Chief Operating Officer Randall Stephenson said his company has received regarding the iPhone are not a million pre-orders, and no one will know how much of a chunk Apple will eventually bite from the cellular market." Yea, but everybody else in the wireless industry would kill for a million inquiries about a single handset.
• AT&T to speed up HSDPA, add dozens of new markets on RCR Mobile News: "AT&T Inc.’s wireless division {formerly Cingular} is testing an upgrade to its HSDPA network {brand name is BroadbandConnect} that the carrier says will dramatically increase uplink speeds.... from current uplink peak speeds of 384 kilobits per second and averages of 150 to 200 kbps, the... upgrade will put uplink peak speeds in the range of 1.5 megabits per second." [ via Atmaspheric | Endeavors ]
• April Fool's Pranks For Nerds on Wired: "The best geek pranks involve making a gadget or a piece of software appear 'broken.' Since the tech savvy will quickly notice these pranks, they are best performed on the inept, the perpetually preoccupied and the woefully unaware."
• Ten of the best April Fool's Day hoaxes: US museum, AFP article on BreitBart: " Here are 10 of the top April Fool's Day pranks ever pulled off, as judged by the San Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes for their notoriety, absurdity, and number of people duped." Imagine the impact of Sid Finch on the Mets roster today.

Operation Gadget doesn't publish false stories on April Fools Day, but we don't mind pointing out good sources of April Fools Day information to keep the spirit of the day alive.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• The V Battle on VoIP Watch: "My view is that with VONAGE stock now at 3 dollars a share that there is panic in New Jersey despite the press release on Friday that was done to ally fears amongst investors. With the amount of money Vonage has in the bank, about half a billion, and with what they now owe Verizon, plus a mounting legal bill, the best move is a sale."
• Bass vs. Treble: Low-Pitched Cure for Tinnitus? on Medgadget: "...Researchers at UC-Irvine have found a means of temporary relief from tinnitus, that chronic, high-pitched ringing in the ears of rock musicians and their loved ones. The key? Looooooooooow, deep tones...."
• Stanley Tripod Flashlight on CoolTools: "I replaced my D battery Mag-Light with this small LED light that only needs AA batteries.... Stanley's tripod light - the first LED version - takes all the advantages of LED and combines it with the convenience of a fold up stand."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• "Make" Makes the Right Call on High Voltage on GlennLog: "{Make Magazine} killed an article because they worried the article might kill (or at least severely injure) readers. The editors published the emailed conversation that they had with their technical advisory board about a piece that would explain how to create an "anti-gravity" device that uses high-voltage, but relatively low-amperage power to produce a lifter. The problem is that the design requires exposed conductive parts, and that the combination of voltage and amperage could be fatal under a variety of circumstances--even if those circumstances were just a subset.

• More is Better: Cochlear Implants on Ivanhoe.com: "One cochlear implant can change the world for someone with significant hearing loss. Now, researchers say two cochlear implants, devices that transmit sound signals to the brain, can make an even bigger difference.

  "Children with two cochlear implants are better able to understand speech and locate the source of different sounds, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison." [ via Medgadget.com ]



• Sweater Stone on CoolTools: "... This small pumice stone works much better than the electric fiber shavers I've used in the past. It's also about 2x3 inches, so it works quicker than any lint comb for covering larger surface areas. Lightly brush the stone over any problem areas and the stone's rough edges trim off the excess pilling and lint." You can buy it now so you are ready in the Fall, I guess.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Birmingham Hip, or How to Sell Fresh Hips to Boomers on Medgadget: "In an effort to help their physically active baby-boomer patients, orthopedic surgeons are turning to a new but growing technique known as 'hip resurfacing'.... This bone-sparing procedure promises to last much longer than traditional hip replacements while allowing a great range of physical activity for the patient." This article cites a Forbes piecs that's behing the paywall at the moment.

  According to FloydLandis.com, Floyd Landis' received Birmingham Hip Resurfacing, so this is undoubtedly the best practice for athletes of any age.




• Punch Counting Software May Predict Boxing Fatality on Medgadget: "Drs. Miele and Bailes from the Virginia University School of Medicine looked at the ability of punch counting software, PunchStat, to objectively identify fatal bouts and determine which fights should be stopped. Their findings showed that amongst average boxers, the software had some predictive value that faded with more competitive fighters."

  According to HBO, Punchstat was created by CompuBox, Inc., a Long Island, NY-based company run by boxing expert Bob Canobbio




• Y'all come - 2007 Tour de Georgia gets green light on TdGblog: "This year's edition of the Tour de Georgia is a definite go, after organizers canvassed existing sponsors, teams, and some additional Georgia businesses to make up for the lack of a true title sponsor.

  "The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the race still faces a shortfall of around $200,000, and that organizers continue to seek “additional opportunities for fundraising.”




• Bucks getting 'sleeted to death' on PhillyBurbs.com: "...As of 2:30 p.m., a quarter of an inch of sleet has pounded {Southern Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia}. As much as three inches of sleet could mount by midnight."

  "You can just keep piling on several inches of sleet," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Bob Smerback.

  "If it was all snow you could end up with 10 inches of snow or a heavy rain storm if it was a little warmer. It looks like we’re going to get sleeted to death here with this one."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Winter, Round Two on philly.com: "Only the second major storm of the winter slid into the Philadelphia region last night, causing widespread accidents along with fear about the morning commute. But early risers found mostly wet or slushy roads, as temperatures above freezing rebuffed the overnight threat of ice."
• 'I never cheated,' says Ullrich as he announces retirement, an Agence France Presse article on Velonews.com: "Embattled German cycling star Jan Ullrich, a former winner and five-time runner-up of the Tour de France, announced his retirement from cycling on Monday." I was afraid that some major cycling star implicated in Operacion Puerto would retire in frustration with the investigations dragging on in Europe.
• Dominguez takes Stage 7, Leipheimer the overall at ToC on TDFblog: "Levi Leipheimer wraps a wire-to-wire overall win in front of the home crowd. It's going to be very interesting to see how his season develops; this could either be his payoff for working for Basso at the Grand Tours, or the beginning of the big season he's worked for."
• Leipheimer dominates Cali TT on TDFblog: "Levi Leipheimer stamped his seal on the Tour of California with a dominant performance in today's 14.6 mile/23.5 kilometer time trial. Leipheimer put another 18 seconds into Jens Voigt, who was 2nd-fastest on the day, and Discovery Channel teammate Jason McCartney was 3rd on the day, almost 25 seconds behind Leipheimer."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Tour of California Prologue: Levi Delivers Again on Spare Cycles: "Those of us who were there last year should have expected the finale to today's opener, but it still surprised the hell out of us. Virtually unknown Jason Donald set the fastest time as the seventh rider out. No one thought that their times would hold, but big rider after big rider came in much slower... So with Levi the only rider left to finish, ota asked me whether or not Levi stood a chance -- I said, 'no way, the course is too hard now.'" The article goes on to tell how Leipheimer pulled out the victory.
• {Tour of California} Stage 1: The Levi Rule on Spare Cycles: A crash took out race leader Levi Leipheimer about 6 miles from the end in the finishing circuit. He is awarded the same time as the race leaders due to the UCI rules designed to protect riders in the event of an accident during a sprint finish.
• Ringtone pioneers branch out to survive on Reuters.com: "Early ringtone aggregators like 9Squared, Dwango, Faith West (now Moderati), YourMobile (now InfoSpace), Zingy and others have spent the past 18 months scrambling for new ways to survive in a mobile music market that has changed dramatically since their heyday at the turn of the millennium."
• Sirius and XM Agree to Merge, Despite Hurdles on WSJ.com: Nobody knows if a merger of equals between Sirius and XM can be approved by the FCC, but the regulatory climate is deteriorating for mergers like this, so now is the time to try it. [ Subscription required to read most articles in The Wall Street Journal. ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Hidden Costs of a Windows Vista Upgrade on news.yahoo.com: This article from PCworld.com discusses the time investment as well as the costs associated with upgrading an existing PC to Microsoft Windows Vista.
• A Quirky Mountain Is Keeping Its Quirks in The New York Times: A really interesting article about Mad River Glen, the ski resort in Central Vermont that's governed by a shareholder group similar to a co-operative. They're investing over $1.5 million dollars to restore a unique single chair lift, rather than install a newer cheaper lift that could carry more skiers up the mountain. [ Free registration required to read most articles in The New York Times ]
• Popularity of U.S. bike racing at a crossroads from The Sacramento Bee: "Next Sunday, when the Amgen Tour of California launches its whirring caravan of multicolored Lycra and shaved legs on a 650-mile journey through the state -- including a stage finish two days later in Sacramento -- it may well provide a barometer of just how fit cycling is in America.... The first Tour of California, in 2006, took place at a pivotal juncture in the sport, six months after Armstrong rode off with his seventh and final Tour de France victory and six months before a doping scandal derailed the career of Floyd Landis, pegged as the next big thing in the sport." [ via TDFblog.com ]
• Paper reports Discovery to pull sponsorship plug on Velonews.com: "USA Today reported Friday that the Discovery Channel is expected to drop its title sponsorship of the cycling team that bears its name at the end of the 2007 season." This has more to do with a management shakeup at Discovery Communications than with the on-going doping issues in pro cycling. [ via Spare Cycles ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Early Spring, Associated Press story on MyWay.com: "Phil did not see his shadow on Friday, which, according to German folklore, means folks can expect an early spring instead of six more weeks of winter."

  "Since 1886, Phil has seen his shadow 96 times, hasn't seen it 15 times and there are no records for nine years, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The last time Phil failed to see his shadow was in 1999."

  Punxsutawney, PA is 301 miles NNW of Newtown, near Clearfield and Dubois.




• Landmark Legal Foundation Nominates Rush Limbaugh for 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on news.yahoo.com: "We are offering this nomination for Mr. Limbaugh's nearly two decades of tireless efforts to promote liberty, equality and opportunity for all mankind, regardless of race, creed, economic stratum or national origin. We fervently believe that these are the only real cornerstones of just and lasting peace throughout the world."

  The Left will have a field day with this one. [ via Drudge Report ]




• Episode 31: Homemade Zamboni, a podcast on Popular Science Blog: "Inventor Damian Renzello has been making portable skating rinks and related accessories for years, so it's not surprising that it's come to this: a homemade super zamboni that blows snow, shaves ice, and looks totally awesome."

  It's kind of a sacrilege that Popular Science calls this ice resurfacing machine a zamboni with a small "Z", but the editor apparently didn't know who Frank J. Zamboni was. [ via Make Blog ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• 7-Foot-9 Player Joins ABA Club, Associated Press Story on Breitbart.com: "The 'have size, will travel' basketball odyssey that's taken 7-foot-9, 370-pound Sun Ming Ming from China to California to Kansas to North Carolina made its latest stop Wednesday in the back room of a Chinese restaurant in {Chevy Chase, MD}."

• Inconspicuous Consumption: Hiding the Plasma TV on WSJ.com: "Big home-entertainment systems and flat-screen plasma television sets may remain status symbols for some, but as prices continue to drop -- and the devices become ubiquitous -- an increasing number of consumers are downplaying their living-room gadgetry."

  Highlights of this article include discussions of the VisionArt system of retractable artwork that can be used to hide flat panel TVs, PCs manufactured by Suissa Computers that have custom wood cabinetry, and Wood Contour computer peripherals. [ Paid subscription probably required to read this article. ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Wrestling suspended after herpes outbreak, Associated Press article on ESPN.com: "The Minnesota State High School League banned competitions and direct contact between wrestlers in practice until Feb. 6 after 24 cases of herpes gladiatorum were reported by 10 teams. The virus is spread by skin-to-skin contact, and symptoms include lesions on the face, head and neck."

  It seems like some herpes outbreaks like this have been missed by doctors who are looking for signs of MRSA outbreaks in athletics.



• Belting Out Beyonce's Part on Your iPod: A good review of iKaraoke from Griffin Technologies. "Though iKaraoke has a few kinks, this gadget is a good combination of simplicity and fun. And its $50 price is low enough to encourage regular people and karaoke lovers alike to give it a whirl."


• Casino Changes Tune; Retiree Gets Jackpot After All: The new slots parlor at Philadelphia Park Racetrack & Casino in Bensalem, PA decided to pay out a $102,000 jackpot to a retiree after reports that management claimed that the jackpot had been mistakenly announced as a result of a technical error. The Pennsylvania state gaming board is investigating.


• Mood Lighting on Four Wheels on WSJ.com: "While luxury models have used subtle decorative lighting for a few years, the decreasing cost of LEDs and the electronics used to control them have helped bring mood lighting to everyday vehicles. Honda Motor Co.'s Acura division began upgrading its lights with one overhead LED in the 2004 TSX sedan. Now its latest sedan, the RL, has 14 interior LED clusters." [ Subscription probably required to read this article. ]



• Runometer.com: "The run database that uses your Apple iPod™ with Nike+™ and matches it up with the routes you run."

  "Tired of long downloads and slow, proprietary sites to view and compare your runs recorded with a popular music/pedometer integration? Wish you could relate the workout data you collect to the routes you run? We provide a free, for-fun service that lets you combine maps of runs with the information you've recorded." [ via Hack A Day ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• FavoriteRun.com combines a repository of running route maps with a personal activity log. The site appears to be able to take uploaded data from Garmin Forerunners and similar devices. Favorite Run must be popular because I found over a dozen routes within 5 miles of my house already recorded by five different site users.

• Solvang Camp: DC Team Travel on ThePaceline.com: "Getting from Point A to Point B might sound like an easy proposition,a but what if you have almost 30 Point A's to begin with? Is it still as easy as A-B-C? Well, if you take the word of Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team logistics specialist Barbara Van Maeldergem it's literally all in a day's work. Barbara is an enthusiastic twenty-four year old from Brakel, Belgium, and she organizes the travel to and from the races for the riders and staff all year long. She's been working for DC since last April and connected up with the team through the service crews who live in her town. She studied Tourism, speaks perfect English (as well as four other languages), and has always had a love of sports."

  Team Discovery Channel's off-season cycling camp is getting underway in Solvang, CA. This article describes travel arrangements for a pro cycling team. [ Free registration required to read content from The Paceline. ]

January 24 is the first anniversary of my season-ending leg injury that was the end result of a high speed collision between me, working as an ice hockey official, and a player from the Red Bank Catholic boys' varsity ice hockey team during a game against St. Augustine Prep School in Vineland, NJ. Physically and mentally, I'm fully recovered.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• NHL uniforms get high-tech overhaul, new look on CTV.ca: "Reebok claims its 'edge uniform system' gives players greater movement, thanks to innovative fabrics that also boast more durability and greater ventilation."
• New NHL uniforms promise better play on USAToday.com: "The NHL and Reebok have been designing and testing the new uniforms for 30 months. That quiet period has spawned several myths, Jennings told USA TODAY. No, NHL players won't wear form-fitting garb like Olympic speedskaters. No, the new uniforms won't eliminate horizontal stripes, although some clubs will experiment with vertical striping next season."

• The skinny on the new NHL uniforms on ESPN.com: "It could've been worse. A lot worse."

  "That's Uni Watch's preliminary reaction to the NHL's new Reebok-designed, snug-fitting 'uniform system,' which will get a test drive in Wednesday night's All-Star Game and then be used league-wide next season. Uni Watch emphasizes the 'preliminary' qualifier there, because for now the NHL is only revealing the All-Star Game version of the new uni. It remains to be seen how the 30 NHL teams will fit their logos and other graphics into the new silhouette. We won't see those designs (several of which aren't even finalized yet) until this spring or summer.

It's a good thing that the NHL didn't bring back Cooperalls. Some of us are still getting over that mistake.

The NHL SuperSkills Competition airs on Tuesday night at 7:30 Eastern Time on Versus, and CBC and RDS in Canada. The All-Star Game will air at 8:00pm Eastern Time on Wednesday on the same networks.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• iPhone - the roach motel business model on Boing Boing: "Lock-in isn't good for you. Does anyone really believe that Apple will make better products if its customers aren't free to switch to a competitor? Or that Cingular's network and pricing will be improved by lock-in?" The article claims that iTunes digital rights management, a subscriber lock forcing you to keep using Cingular service indefinitely, and a prohibition on installing third-party software on the iPhone will all lead to a less than satisfying user experience.

  I doubt that third-party software will be totally prohibited, but wonder what it will take to get an application or a widget for the iPhone certified.



• Nike+iPod Dissection on Sparkfun.com: "The Nike+iPod is not RFID or any form of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) much to the chagrin of news reporters. While the foot pod does transmit a unique ID, it transmits this information actively in the 2.4GHz band. The foot pod transmits a 'hello world I am XYZ' in very short bursts (less than 0.0001 second per broadcast) on one of 80 available channels every time the user takes a step. This active signal can travel as far as 40-60ft (we don't really care to test the range). The publicly available RFID tags operate in the 125kHz or the 13MHz band and are often passive (requiring the tag to be within a few inches of a RFID 'reader'). The Nike+iPod technology is very different from true RFID systems." [ via Makezine.com/blog ]


• All Access: Comcast Center on Phillyist.com: Photos of the partially-completed Comcast Center, a 57-floor skyscraper that will supposedly be the tallest building between New York and Chicago when it's completed in late-2007.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• When It’s O.K. to Run Hurt on NYTimes.com: "It sounds almost like heresy. The usual advice in treating injuries is to rest until the pain goes away. But Dr. Weinstein and a number of leading sports medicine specialists say that is outdated and counterproductive. In fact, Dr. Weinstein says, when active people consult him, he usually tells them to keep exercising."

• Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos on NYTimes.com: "Whitney Point is one of 14 high schools in the Binghamton area that began sending cheerleaders to girls’ games in late November, after the mother of a female basketball player in Johnson City, N.Y., filed a discrimination complaint with the United States Department of Education. She said the lack of official sideline support made the girls seem like second-string, and violated Title IX’s promise of equal playing fields for both sexes."

  "But the ruling has left many people here and across the New York region booing, as dozens of schools have chosen to stop sending cheerleaders to away games, as part of an effort to squeeze all the home girls’ games into the cheerleading schedule."

  "... as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association warned in a letter to its 768 members in November, the education department determined that cheerleaders should be provided 'regardless of whether the girls’ basketball teams wanted and/or asked for' them."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Hockey-Coach Quota on WSJ.com: "The University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves hockey team is on a roll, and interim coach Dave Shyiak is a top candidate for coach of the year in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association."

  "But the team has a big problem. Mr. Shyiak was born in Canada and is working as a so-called temporary H1-B professional worker. His visa is expiring and U.S. immigration officials fret that this foreigner may be taking a job from an American citizen. So the university must comply with rules that require it to verify that there is no American worker who is 'able, willing, qualified, and available to accept the job at the prevailing wage for that occupation.' The university is taking out newspaper ads for the hockey team's head-coach position and hoping no one applies."

  Who would have thought that the H1-B visa program would impact NCAA Division I college hockey? [ Subscription probably required. ]




• Does VMware for Macs have a chance? on news.yahoo.com from Infoworld: "About 70,000 people registered for a free download of {VMware for Intel-based Macintosh computers} prior to the release of the beta version Dec. 21 and since then, about half of them have proceeded with the download, said Srinivas Krishnamurti, director of product management and market development for VMware."

  This software is probably going to make Parallels look a little weak before too long. VMware has some amazing virtualization technology in its arsenal.




• The North Face Endurus XCR Boa Trail Running Shoe on 37 Signals SVN: "I’m a sucker for novel inventions that solve real problems. Enter the Endurus XCR Boa by The North Face. It may not solve a problem that a whole lot of people face, but it’s a real innovation for long distance runners."

  "In The Perfect Human, Dean Karnazes — a man who ran 50 marathons in 50 days — shares his 12 secrets for success. Among them: Go laceless."

  The Endurus XCR Boa is not the first laceless running shoe, but it looks like a good design. My wife will probably want to buy a pair for me, since I often have to stop and retie my shoes when we go on walks around Newtown.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Mileage Calculator: A Google Maps mashup that you can use to calculate trip mileage for tax purposes. It even (optionally) reads events directly from Google Calendar. I just want to know what functions in Scriptaculous the developer used to retrieve the mileage from a Google Maps query without displaying the page. I could use that in RinkAtlas. [ via Lifehacker ]
• Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn on blog.GuyKawaski.com: "You can use LinkedIn to find the people that you’re meeting. Knowing that you went to the same school, plays hockey, or shares acquaintances is a lot better than an awkward silence after, 'I’m doing fine, thank you.'" I'm all for knowing whether people I'm meeting with play hockey. I need to look at Guy's profile and see how he represents that.
• Lifehacker Draws Visitors With Time-Saving Tech Tips on WSJ.com: "The popularity of Lifehacker, where some readers regularly submit their own tips and tricks, hasn't gone unnoticed. Microsoft Corp. and other companies have invited Ms. Trapani to their headquarters for product briefings and Yahoo Inc. asked her to be a judge at a recent programming competition. In the fall of 2005, as Lifehacker was gaining attention from computer users, a book agent approached Ms. Trapani about writing a collection of her best productivity tips. Last month, John Wiley & Sons published Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day." This article is a huge score for Gina Trapani. Congrats to her. [ Subscription probably required. ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Unequal speeds on Internet source of growing frustration, Associated Press story on seattletimes.nwsource.com: "The information superhighway isn't truly equal in both directions. Cable and phone companies typically sell asymmetrical Internet services to households, reserving the bulk of the lanes for downloading movies and other files and leaving the shoulders at most for people to share, or upload, files with others." [ From Martin O'Donnell ]
• AT&T Deal Approved, Cingular to take AT&T Name in Early 2007 on MobileBurn.com: Cingular will revert to the AT&T name soon. Seems like deja vu.
• Eat Like a Pro: New Cuisine At Training Tables on WSJ.com: "The team dining area at Giants stadium reminded me of a school cafeteria, with its white cinder-block walls and collapsible long tables. But the food was on a much higher, more dietetically sensible level than food at any school I ever attended." [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Bush: Ford represented best of America, an Associated Press story on WashingtonTimes.com: "The nation honored Gerald R. Ford today in a high-powered fanfare for the common man who was summoned to the presidency in the Watergate crisis. He was remembered for what he didn't have -- pretensions, a scheming agenda, a great golf game -- as much as for the small-town authenticity he brought to high office." Ford might have been the greatest athlete ever to serve as President, in spite of the jokes made about him later in life.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• 'Gross Clinic' to stay in city on Philly.com: "Capping as wild a fund-raising ride as this city has ever seen, Mayor Street gleefully announced yesterday that Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic had been purchased by local institutions and would remain in Philadelphia.... The object of all the attention is a dramatic 8-by-61/2-foot painting that depicts Dr. Samuel Gross, an acclaimed Jefferson surgeon, conducting an operation before students in the school's amphitheater. [ Free registration probably required, via Phillyist.com ]
• Word Wrapping Paper on Curbly.com: Somebody came up with the idea to use clip art that ships with Microsoft Word as a motif for DIY wrapping paper. Interesting idea, but we have plenty of the manufactured kind at The Home Office. [ via Lifehacker ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Casino decision a bitter pill for Lemieux on Post-Gazette.com: "In the months since hockey legend and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux put his team up for sale and worked to cement a slots licensing deal that would keep the team in a new arena in Pittsburgh, he has watched deal after deal fall apart. The most bitter defeat of all, however, likely came yesterday when the state Gaming Control Board rejected a slots license proposal from Isle of Capri, which had pledged $290 million toward construction of a new facility to replace the aging Mellon Arena. The decision left fans wondering about the team's future in Pittsburgh and buoyed the hopes of fans in other cities, such as Kansas City, which has an empty arena awaiting a team."
• A Research Report on iTunes Sales Becomes Shot Heard 'Round the Net on WSJ.com: "There is tremendous interest in tracking sales at iTunes, both as a measure of Apple's performance and as a gauge of interest in digital music -- a market Apple dominates. But the figures being circulated represent best guesses. Apple doesn't break out iTunes sales in its financial reports. A spokeswoman would tell me only that 'the conclusion that iTunes sales are slowing is simply incorrect.'" [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Men in Black (and White) on CollegeHockeyNews.com: "Now that the NCAA has allowed leagues to experiment with the two referee/two linemen system for college hockey, there is talk this could be implemented NCAA-wide in the not too distant future."
• Hefty Discounting Of Flat-Panel TVs Pinches Retailers on WSJ.com: Best Buy CEO: "If we're the same price as Wal-Mart, we lose," he says. "There are more shoppers in Wal-Mart every week, and we have to pull those shoppers out." [ From Martin O'Donnell; Subscription probably required. ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was on the road Monday, so this is my first opportunity to get some links up from the past few days.

• Legendary Animator Joseph Barbera Dead at 95 on LAist.com: Like nearly every other kid in the New York area during the 1970s and early 80s, I watched syndicated reruns of The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and other Hanna-Barbera classics on WNYW after school. Sorry to hear that the other half of a great animation team is gone.
• 'Rocky Balboa' makes its Philly debut on Philly.com: "The Philadelphia premiere of the sixth film in the Rocky canon, Rocky Balboa, drew stars as well as several hundred cheering fans lining Chestnut Street, where a red carpet was stretched outside the Prince Music Theater. The Rocky theme, "Gonna Fly Now," blared from speakers, and searchlights probed the sky around City Hall."
• Athletes' unbeatable foe on LAtimes.com: A two-part series of articles that were published earlier this month and probe the World Anti-Doping Agency and its effects on international sports. No comment on the allegations made in the article, but amateur athletes and sports fans will probably be very interested in what they report. [ via my friend Sammarye Lewis at Velogal.Blogspot.com ]
• Macbook Pro Batteries Are Inflating? on Gizmodo.com: "I own a 17inch Macbook pro (not core 2 duo) and I recently had one of the cells on my battery balloon to about twice the normal size. The cell forced the cover of the battery to pop off. I took the battery to the Apple store today to have it replaced and they seemed in a hurry to get it out of public view so as my "genius" went to get the replacement I took some photos...The Apple nerds said they had never seen anything like it." Apparently one of the classic signs of lithium ion battery failure, and there may be a risk of explosion in situations like this, so be careful.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• These Services Make Backing Up Your Files Safe and Inexpensive on ptech.wsj.com: This is a solid review of the Mozy and Carbonite on-line backup services, which cost less than $50 per year each.
• CBS Records Is Revived For TV-Music Venture on WSJ.com: "The new venture will sell its music to the public, but its primary purpose is to generate inexpensive music for use in the network's prime-time lineup.... CBS will at first sell its music through Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Store, but may on a case-by-case basis strike distribution deals for CDs with other labels, distributors or retailers." Probably the first company in the recording industry whose primary distribution channel will be iTunes. [ Subscription probably required. ]

• The true meaning of Hanukkah from CranburyPress.com: "Though not a major holiday on the Jewish calendar, local rabbis say Hanukkah's message of religious freedom and tolerance is an important one."

  "Hanukkah begins today (Friday) at sundown and ends sundown Dec. 23. The holiday commemorates the triumph of the Jews over the religious persecution of Greco-Syrians and the miracle thereafter by which one day's worth of oil burned for eight days."
  

Happy Hanukkah to all from Operation Gadget.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Why You Can't See the Game in HDTV on WSJ.com: "A warning to fans who plan to buy a TV before Christmas: Watching sports in HD is no slam dunk. Many nationally televised sports events are now available in HD, but most games are still beamed by regional cable sports networks or independent stations that don't yet broadcast in high definition."

  "The amount of HD coverage varies widely depending on the team and region, but many popular sports franchises remain tough to see in HD." [ Joint pick by Martin O'Donnell and Dave Aiello; Subscription probably required. ]



• Geek to Live: iTunes power tips on Lifehacker.com: Useful tips including managing separate music libraries, CD and DVD music library backup techniques, and duplicate track removal.
• How to Photograph Christmas Lights on strobist.blogspot.com: "The problem with 98% of the photos of Christmas lights is that most people wait until way too late to start shooting. After it gets completely dark, you can either have the lights or the surroundings properly exposed. But not both." There are some great example photos in this article.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• BlackBerry Orphans on WSJ.com: "As hand-held email devices proliferate, they are having an unexpected impact on family dynamics: Parents and their children are swapping roles. Like a bunch of teenagers, some parents are routinely lying to their kids, sneaking around the house to covertly check their emails and disobeying house rules established to minimize compulsive typing." [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Is Marathoning Too Much of a Good Thing for Your Heart? on NYTimes.com: "This has been an unusual season for the cardiac health of marathoners. After years in which almost no deaths were attributed to heart attacks at this country’s major marathons, at least six runners have died in 2006." [ Free subscription required. ]
• It's easier to give than to return from the Seattle P-I: "The way retailers are going about tracking returns, there's no differentiation between fraudulent buyers and consumers who legitimately need to return things. It's essentially a blacklist." [ From Martin O'Donnell ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Ribcap Knit Helmet on CoolTools: "D3o Labs has come up with a new foam that is soft in general use, but gets rigid when impacted. This material was used in Olympic slalom ski suits to take the sting out of the on-coming gates and to offer crash protection. A Swiss company, Ribcap, has licensed this material for a set of very nicely made knit caps. These hats have this smart foam sewn in to make them effectively a soft helmet." A must buy for skiers and snowboarders that won't wear hard shell helmets. I'd love to see hockey skate manufacturers try to include this stuff in boots.
• A Sea Change in Shopping on WSJ.com: Jason Fry talks about how his shopping habits have gradually migrated on-line since 1995. [ from Martin O'Donnell, Subscription probably required. ]
• Review: Nokia N93 Multimedia Marvel on MobileBurn.com: Excellent, very detailed review of the best digital video camera phone on the market today by Jin Khang Ong.
• Lance: I'm Not Patient About Cancer on ThePaceline.com: "It is time to hold our leaders accountable. It remains to be seen if the change in power on Capitol Hill will affect the fight against cancer.... In two years, we will elect a new president. We cannot predict the actions of any of our elected officials, but we can say for sure that when it comes to cancer, their silence is unacceptable." I missed this OpEd when it ran in the Austin American-Statesman in late November. [ Free registration required. ]

At the rink today for my first NJSIAA-sanctioned high school hockey game of the season. If you are at Mercer County Park in West Windsor, NJ at 4:00pm, I'll see you there.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• World AIDS Day marked with warnings, services, art actions on USAtoday.com: I'm in favor of having a World AIDS Day, I just wish it didn't fall on my birthday, every year.
• Running Vista on a Mac, Mossberg's Mailbox on WSJ.com: I didn't care as much about Walter Mossberg's answer to the question about whether it would be possible to run Microsoft Vista on a Macintosh as I did about his recommendation against immersive entertainment during cardiac rehab. Mossberg said, "... as a former heart-surgery patient who benefited immensely from cardiac rehab classes, let me suggest that isolating yourself with an iPod may not be the best way to go through the program. In my experience, the information provided by the professionals and the support from fellow patients was invaluable. To absorb those, I found, you have to be social and involved."
• Review: 3 smart phones target consumers AP analysis on news.yahoo.com: Brief comparison of Nokia E62, Samsung BlackJack, and Palm Treo 680.
• Apple patent could point to iPhone MacWorld report on news.yahoo.com: "A patent application filed by Apple has fueled speculation that the company is readying an iPhone device that would extend the life of the iPod and allow the company to branch off in a new direction.... Apple’s application describes a 'tube-like' device made using zirconia and alumina and that would be 'cost effective, smaller, lighter, stronger and aesthetically more pleasing than current' designs."
• Wii: first thoughts on Kottke.org: "It's fun. Really fun. Like 'baby laughing hysterically for no reason other than he's a baby and he's alive' fun.... Nintendo is betting the farm that just like megapixels don't matter as much nowadays when buying digital cameras as lens quality, camera features, etc., the number of polygons your console's processor spits out at what resolution matters less than how fun the games are."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• The Internet Allows Consumers to Trim Wasteful Purchases on WSJ.com: "Photo companies made customers pay for 24 shots in a roll of film to get a handful of good pictures. Music publishers made customers buy full CDs to get a single hit song. Encyclopedia publishers made parents spend thousands of dollars on multiple volumes when all they wanted was to help their kid do one homework paper." Of course now people can buy what they want using services like iTunes and Flickr's photo printing partners. [ Subscription probably required. ]
• In Praise of Third Place on newyorker.com: "Sony and Microsoft’s quest to 'control the living room' has locked them in a classic arms race; they have invested billions of dollars in an attempt to surpass each other technologically, building ever-bigger, ever-better, and ever-more-expensive machines. Nintendo has dropped out of this race. The Wii has few bells and whistles and much less processing power than its 'competitors'.... It’s really well suited for just one thing: playing games.... The Wii’s simplicity means that Nintendo can make money selling consoles, while Sony is reportedly losing more than two hundred and forty dollars on each PlayStation 3 it sells..." [ via 37signals SVN ]
• Battle of the Boxes: PlayStation 3 vs. Wii on ptech.wsj.com: "{We} found the more modest Wii to be the more exciting, fun and satisfying of the two new game machines. We and our four volunteer testers were impressed by the rich, realistic graphics and intricate game play in some of the half-dozen PS3 games we tried.... But the Wii won our hearts for one reason: It uses a wireless controller that can detect your arm and hand motions and transfer them to the screen, so that you can physically control the action. This opens up huge possibilities."
• With smart phones, it's all about the OS on news.com: "Palm is not only the most favored operating system for smart phones in the U.S., it's also the most favored device brand. About 76 percent of Palm owners said they would be 'very likely to recommend' their smart phone to others, compared to about 75 percent for Samsung, 69 percent for Sony Ericsson, 67 percent for RIM Blackberry, 54 percent for Motorola and 54 percent for Nokia, the study found."
• TeleNav GPS Navigator Now Available for Palm Treo 680 on Treocentral.com: "For just $9.99 per month, TeleNav GPS Navigator offers unlimited turn-by-turn voice and on-screen driving directions, pedestrian mode for use while walking, full-color moving maps, information and directions to more than 10 million business listings including frequently updated fuel prices."

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• Snow falls on Seattle home game for first time on NFL.com: "Steady snow began falling 20 minutes before kickoff, marking the first time a Seahawks home game has been played in the white stuff. The temperature at kickoff was 34 degrees, the coldest for a Seattle home game. The Seahawks played indoors in the Kingdome until 1999." Seattle beat Green Bay 31-24 in a game that was very competitive for three quarters. [ Photos ]
• Nightmare for drivers: Snow, commute and a Seahawks game on seattlepi.nwsource.com: "Trips {around the Seattle area} that would normally take a half-hour or less took up to four hours, some frustrated commuters reported." [ from Martin O'Donnell ]
• Cuban Rock Climbers Inspired by Foreigners Irk Castro Regime on WSJ.com: "...adventurous Cuban youths... {have turned Viñales, Cuba} into an extreme-sport mecca. Climbers test their mettle on dramatic crags, barely touched by man.... rock climbing has emerged as an improbable political battleground between the government and young Cubans eager to embrace the latest foreign fashions. In 2003, amid a broad crackdown on civil liberties and fraternizing between tourists and Cubans, the government announced that rock climbers henceforth would be required to obtain a special permit. But the government has never granted the required permit to the many climbers who have requested one. Many Cubans and foreigners have continued climbing." Who knew that extreme sports would be considered so threatening by the Cuban government? [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Gmail on Nokia N93 on lucafiligheddu.blogspot.com: Italian blogger Luca Filigheddu discusses how to install Gmail app for the Symbian OS on a Nokia N93 multimedia phone. [ via Nokia N93 Blogger Relations Program Blog ]

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• Which game console should you buy? from The Seattle Times: "The Wii doesn't play movies, and is not going to be the multimedia hub of your living room. But the machine is so small and unobtrusive that you could keep it in your living room pretty easily, and it's a good system for families with children.... [Microsoft] has made hundreds of updates to its Xbox Live online service, which is more advanced and exciting than what the PS3 or the Wii has." [ from Martin O'Donnell ]
• New all-in-one iPod systems are simple and space-saving, but they do have shortcomings from The Seattle Times: A good overview of the Apple iPod Hi-Fi, Bose SoundDock, Tivoli Audio iSongBook, iHome iH5, and Altec Lansing inMotion iM11. [ from Martin O'Donnell ]
• Electrilite Flashlight on CoolTools: "This is also the only hand crank flashlight/radio I am aware of that has a built-in adapter outlet to charge cell phones. Combine that with a really sleek looking design, and you have a great flashlight." We need this here in Newtown.
• Plasma loses ground to LCD TVs a Reuters story on CNN.com: "It is technologically difficult and often costly for plasma makers to give a full high-definition function to models with a screen size of less than 50 inches, while LCD TV makers are aggressively promoting full HD models in that segment although prices are generally higher." Look for LCD to reach price parity with plasma in the 42-inch range sometime after Christmas.

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• Toy for teens becomes tool for activists a Reuters story on CNN.com: "Once regarded as a toy for rich teens, the ubiquitous camera cell phone is becoming a powerful community tool in the debate about police conduct." Article focuses on community groups in Los Angeles and their on-going attempt to expose alleged excessive use of force by the LAPD.
• Japan's Sony Finds Defects In Some of Its Digital Cameras on WSJ.com: "Sony Corp. said Friday that it found defects in some of its popular Cyber-shot digital cameras, the latest quality problem to strike the Japanese company whose image was severely tarnished by a massive battery recall earlier this year.... Sony shipped a total of about one million units of the models in question in Japan, of which 0.4% had been reported to have been affected so far, a spokesman said." There are also digital camera quality problems in cameras sold in other markets, but Sony has no firm numbers on the problem at this time. [ Subscription probably required. ]
• The Biggest Mouth in Sports on ESPN.com: "Part John Madden, part Rush Limbaugh, hockey curmudgeon Don Cherry keeps an entire nation on edge."

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• Macy's Brands the Holidays on WSJ.com: "Macy's has replaced storied names on more than 400 regional department stores around the country in September and its parent company, Federated Department Stores Inc., has a lot on the line. The Cincinnati-based company, which acquired May Co. last year, faces the daunting challenge of promoting Macy's as a national department-store chain without alienating shoppers who relish the holiday traditions of their local department stores." The name change apparently matters more in Chicago than it does elsewhere, as long as the holiday traditions continue. [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Confusion over high-def TV dampens enthusiasm on USAToday.com: "Only 47% of people buying a high-definition TV set in the past year say they did so looking forward to watching TV shows in HD, according to a study out Wednesday by Frank N. Magid Associates. That's down from 63% two years ago." The first person Kathleen and I saw express this view was our friend Jen Colangelo. She wanted HD to play Xbox 360 games initially. Now she watches TV programs in HD, but it took a while for her to come around to it.
• Apolo Anton Ohno Limited Edition Skates from LandRoller at LandRoller.com: The design of these things is so out there, I'll have to do a full blown article on them next week. [ via OhnoZone.net ]
• The Desolate Wilderness and The Fair Land on CTDATA.com: My company's tribute to the editorials published by The Wall Street Journal each Thanksgiving. I always feel like these help me put this most American of all holidays in perspective.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from Operation Gadget.

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• Psychology of the Wii and PS3 on Kottke.org: "Nintendo is focused on play and fun: the Wii is the fun system...about people of all ages enjoying the process of playing games. The PS3 is more about competition, who wins, who loses, and who frags the most enemies in the most spectacular fashion; cutthroat survival of the fittest."
• Versus To Debut Rail Cam For Avalanche-Stars Game Monday on ColoradoAvalanche.com: "The Rail Cam, which was developed and supplied by the technology firm of Fletcher Chicago, runs on a small rail system situated just above the glass on one side of the arena." Like flying above the play as an official.
• Sport stacking picking up speed in schools on Philly.com: "About 12,000 U.S. schools and youth groups - and 1,500 more globally - take part in sport stacking, often in gym, says Speed Stacks Inc., which manufactures the gear. Many hold tournaments, such as the Philadelphia Department of Recreation's city stack-off today at the Bridesburg Recreation Center."
• AboutAirportParking.com: A mashup that combines parking lot locations, with FAA and TSA agency on delays at U.S. airports. So useful for this time of year. Why didn't I think of that?
• Hit List: Dan Zanes on WSJ.com: Celebrated children's music singer on his favorite albums for families. [ Subscription probably required. ]

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• Stuff the Turkey, Not Yourself on PezCycling.com: Tips on what to eat at Thanksgiving in order to minimize weight gain and still enjoy the day.
• A Better On-Line Bank on WSJ.com: Compares recent enhancements to on-line banking services at commercial banks around the USA. [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Warehouse Clubs Plan Holiday Specials on WSJ.com: BJ's and Sam's Club plan Black Friday deals for people who come in early. Costco is not playing this game. [ Subscription probably required. ]
• Nokia N93 Blog: A roundup of what bloggers in the Nokia N-Series Blogger Program are saying about the Nokia N93.
• Game console supply unlikely to meet demand on Seattle P-I: "The PlayStation 3 is the most advanced and most expensive gaming machine ever built -- or, looking at it the other way, it's the cheapest Blu-ray drive ever built...." [ via Martin O'Donnell ]
• TiVo Alert: Tony Bennett, An American Classic on NBC: A one hour program celebrating Tony Bennett's 80th birthday with guests who also participated in his Tony Bennett: Duets / An American Classic album. Tuesday, November 21 at 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central.

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• Analysis of Porsche corporate profitability on 37Signals SVN: Small number of product lines, stable designs, premium niche.
• Custom lettering available on the back of your Porsche on Popgadget: $450 gets you up to 5 custom letters applied in place of the model name. ($65 for each additional letter.) Is this an example of why Porsche is so profitable?
• Tour de Georgia Expanding to Seven Days on Daily Peloton: May not be the U.S. equivalent of the Tour de France, but is looking more like Paris-Nice in terms of length.
• Georgia city priced out of 2007 Tour de Georgia on TDGblog.com: "...organizers told him they would have to come up with $25,000 to $30,000 to keep the race in Dahlonega. 'That's gone up from 7-8 thousand the first year.'" In spite of that 12 to 18 cities want in for this year.
• CNN Hosts Poo Poo the Zune on Seattle P-I: Miles O'Brien says, "Why don't they get some decent design people to make things look better?" Short term indicator of Zune's success or lack thereof?
• ClearWire wireless broadband lights up Seattle with 1.5 Megabit service on Seattle P-I: $42 per month. Maybe a good alternative to cable and DSL if you live there.
• Study: aerobics fights brain shrinkage: A small study suggests that aerobic exercise can help reverse brain shrinkage that begins around age 40. Another good reason for me to keep riding my bike.

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• Sunspots on 37signals SVN: My model for this feature on Operation Gadget. Maybe someday I'll get around to intertwining two blogs a la Kottke's Remaindered Links, but I'm leaving too many good thoughts off of this site in the mean time.
• http://weather.gov/18940: Insert your zip code instead of mine. Quick and memorable.
• Olympic Credo: Do More But Spend Less: USOC gets real and tries to force the national governing bodies (individual sports) to do the same. [ Subscription to The Wall Street Journal required ]
• 8 Ways to Shoot Video Like a Pro: Good tips for shooting holiday videos.
• Rangers 3, Devils 2 at MSG: One of the few NHL games aired at my house [ on Versus ]. Both tuners of the TiVo were already spoken for. Bummer.
• How Videogames Manage To Turn Physics Into Fun: Great article discussing physics-oriented video games. You'll probably see a few of these games discussed here soon. [ Subscription to The Wall Street Journal required ]
• Zune launches iPod challenge: Seattle P-I coverage of the Zune launch on Monday.

It's amazing how much less cluttered my laptop screen is now.

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