Webthoughts

I've decided to go ahead and use TypeKey to manage comment posting. This will, hopefully, greatly cut down on the amount of comment spam this weblog gets on a daily basis if I allow open posting.

However, I am experiencing a problem that I, for the life of me, can't seem to figure out. I've entered my TypeKey Token in my Comments Preferences in the MovableType configuration page. I've set MovableType to only accept comments from registered TypeKey users. However, with things set this way, I'm running into a situation where, when a user tries to post a comment, they are given the opportunity to enter their comment, but when they click the "Post" button, they are told they need to use a valid registration to post a comment. The user is NEVER given the opportunity to enter their TypeKey registration.

If anyone has any ideas on this, I'd really appreciate hearing them. I'm sure I'm missing something obviously simple, but I just can't seem to figure it out. If you would like, e-mail me at "s dash crick at cox dot net" (I'm sure you can figure out the real e-mail address).

Am I the only one who had a problem with the stylized, triangular "flag" they used during the National Anthem before the Orange Bowl this evening? Just seems somewhat disrespectful to me somehow...

So, were the sound problems during the half-time show limited to ABC's broadcast or were they in the stadium itself? Judging by the reactions of the performers, I'd have to think the problem was in the stadium's sound-system itself. At least we know there probably wasn't any lip-syncing going on here...heh.

Although I know it's nothing compared to what some of you out in Ohio and surrounding areas have had to deal with so far this season, the first major snow storm of the season moved through the area last night. We received about six inches of snow and are expected to get another six to eight inches by midnight tonight.

Of course, I got a new snow-blower last fall, so it got its first workout this morning. Handled things fairly well, it did. Much faster than shoveling. My wife told me that I looked "happy" going up and down the sidewalks with the snow-blower. Actually, I'd much rather have been in bed. But, whatever.

Okay...so I was in the kitchen during Ashlee Simpson's portion of the Orange Bowl half-time show last night and didn't really listen to her performance. But, upon seeing a replay of it this morning, I have to say, I was glad I hadn't. Ugh. That was beyond terrible. Is she actually making a career out of that crap?

I remember when I was much younger looking forward to my parents letting me stay up to watch the Orange Bowl half-time show. I was enthralled with those shows. Maybe my tastes have gotten much more specific than they once were as I've grown, or maybe these shows quality have just gone strait down hill. Probably a mixture of both.

Oh, and remember that "at least they're not lip-synching" comment I made last night? Uh...never mind. It sure looked like Simpson was lip-synching to me, at least in the replay I saw.

"Jake smith" [sic] was ever so kind to let me know about a great refinancing deal (in an e-mail message with the subject "December water bill" no less)! I thought I would pass on this incredible deal to all the rest of you! Here is the e-mail that "Jake" sent to me, in its entirety:

Re-finance now, even with bad-credit!

*Best Re-finance Rate for credit challenged.
*Best Customer Service
*Lowest Interest-Rates in Years
*SAVE $100-$400 per month

Our easy application only takes 1 minute.

What a great deal! What an amazing bargin! Jump on the band wagon now! NOW NOW NOW! Go! Click on the link and start saving! Click on it! Wait...uh...what link? Where's the URL for this amazing deal?

Huh.

Okay. Never mind.

From Mac Net Journal: What Mac software have you purchased this year?

So far, the only software I've purchased is NetNewsWire and MarsEdit (both from Ranchero Software). NetNewsWire is probably the best RSS newsreader out there and the Version 2.0 betas are looking amazing. MarsEdit is a very capable weblog editor that has plenty of potential going forward as well.

There are other software I'm planning on purchasing soon, but not quite yet.

My wife and I made a visit to CompUSA this morning to try to take advantage of a pretty good deal on a Maxtor hard drive that was advertised earlier in the week (160GB, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache, ATA-133). The drive was on sale for $69.99 (normally $139.99).

When we got there, however, we found that they were completely sold out of the drive. Bummer.

My wife and I purchased a TiVo earlier this month. I had found that, because of the work schedules we have been keeping, we had been having trouble keeping up with the few shows that we follow, frequently missing episodes because we just weren't around and forgot to set a tape.

I have to say, in the week or so we've had it, it's been helpful already. For instance, I had misunderstood what time the season premiere of "24" was on last night. When I realized that I had already missed the first 45 minutes of the show, I remembered that I had set TiVo to record the entire season. So, even though the show was still on and the TiVo was still recording, I was able to watch the show from the beginning.

Now, I've heard many say that TiVo has changed the way they watch TV. Will that happen for me? Not really--at least, not yet. I don't use the Live TV feature that much, instead watching TV directly from cable rather than through the TiVo. For one thing, the picture quality definitely takes a hit when watching through the TiVo. There is a little fuzziness and some noise that appears from time to time, especially in solidly-colored areas. This is because you aren't actually watching the live feed, instead you are watching the encoded video that is stored on the hard drive with a slight delay. This is what gives TiVo the ability to "pause" live TV. So, when I want to watch live TV, I just watch live TV.

But the TiVo's recording abilities are second-to-none. The Program Guide is very useful (for those of us that don't have satellite or digital-cable, this works very similar to those systems). The TiVo service, allowing the TiVo to record your show no matter what time it's on, even if it's moved to a different day or time, is very nice as well.

I haven't yet tried using the TiVo's ability to connect to the Mac's iPhoto and iTunes libraries (as that isn't really an important feature for me), but will give a try sometime. I also haven't "hacked" the system to unlock some of the "hidden" features and am unsure if I am going to do so.

But, although it hasn't yet "changed the way I watch TV", I think it's been a good investment so far.

From NSLog();: How much did the MWSF Keynote cost you?

Absolutely nothing, other than a slight bit of missing productivity today as I attempted to follow the "Live Updates" at MacInTouch. But, that's mostly because my credit-card would explode if I actually tried to buy something at the moment.

However, all else being equal, $499+tax. Although in all reality I have no real need for a Mac Mini, it's really quite a neat idea, and one that I think will cause Mac sales to go through the roof. I'd love to be in on that. Yes, it's a stupid reason to want to spend $500, but that's why my credit-card is staying firmly in my pocket for the moment.

I will be purchasing iLife '05 (which, incidentally is bundled with the Mac Mini and every other new Mac going forward). The improvements to iPhoto and Garageband are impressive (and iMovie being able to do HD—that's impressive too!) and well worth the $79 in my book (although, I am disappointed to see the price increase).

iWork is a "eh" in my book. I already have Office 2004, so this isn't really needed either. Therefore, no purchase here for me. However, I like some of the new features in Keynote. I do want to play around with Pages as well. I'll reserve judgment until I've had an opportunity to see these apps in person. I do wonder, however, how long it will be before this is included on all new Macs.

The iPod Shuffle is kind of a question for me. I've wanted a cheap iPod for quite a while, and this squarely in the correct price-range. But I'm a little confused as to what Apple was thinking with this one. An MP3 that you can't actually see or control the order the songs are played in seems a little off to me. And even though Apple is marketing that as a plus (as pointed out at CreativeBits), I have to wonder what the reaction to this is going to be. But, what do I know. The thing will probably be a madhouse seller in no time.

After looking at a few tidbits of information regarding the MacMini that have made their way to the web so far, I have to ask the question: Is there any part to the MacMini that is user-upgradable?

Ted Landau has posted an excellent article about how advertising is becoming more and more pervasive in our current society, especially in entertainment. This is something which I have noticed more and more, and actually rather scares me.

I'd comment on this more, but haven't really collected my thoughts about it. Right now, I'll just direct you to the article.

According to Henry Norr over at MacInTouch, an Apple booth staffer told him that although Apple does not recommend a the user upgrade the RAM, doing so will not void the warranty, as long as the user doesn't cause any damage. Supposedly, the hardest part of the procedure is getting the case open. If this is the case, then good.

However, wireless is definitely not a user-added option, although it can be added after the fact by an Apple Authorized service provider. According to Henry, you can add Airport Extreme and/or Bluetooth at purchase, but after purchase you can only add both together (as they come to the service provider as a combined kit).

After about four days of sub-10° weather (with lows in the -10-0° range), things are starting to look up. Highs in the mid-30s by Tuesday. A veritable heat-wave!

I read a column in the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly about advertising that is shown before movies at theaters. The article made some good points about how polls have shown that people have noticed the advertising, but are disgruntled that they have to sit through it after paying to see the movie. How will this affect the industry?

Print Window 3.1 is now available for your file-listing enjoyment. Yes, this release took much longer than it probably should have, but it's out now and I think it's a good revision.

The major new feature in this release is the ability to include sizes for folders as well as files. Previous versions could only print sizes of files. This was probably the number-one feature request I had since the release of 3.0.

This release also fixes several nagging bugs, improves file-listing generation speed and a few other minor changes.

This release is a free upgrade for all currently registered Print Window Advanced users. As always, Print Window Standard is free of charge.

Thanks to all the alpha and beta testers that helped out with this release!

There will be more coming down the road! I've got some great ideas for the next version, some of which I will discuss here as we get into its development.

Print Window 3.1 was released yesterday, and initial reactions have been pretty good. The software seems to have generated a lot of interest, judging by the hit counts on my server in the hours after it first went out. I've also heard from many people about the software, most of them very happy to have it available to them.

However, as always, I've gotten feedback from some people asking "Why?" They want to know why Print Window exists in the first place, when Mac OS X can print file listings. In fact, if you look at the VersionTracker listing for Print Window, you can find some of those comments.

Of course, you know it had to happen. Despite all my testing, two major bugs have reared their ugly heads in the two weeks since the release of Print Window 3.1.

I saw my first iMac mini in person today on display at the local Nebraska Furniture Mart. Oh my goodness is it small! The pictures I've seen really don't do it justice. Very cool!