Webthoughts

Now that you've had a chance to play with Panther's Finder sidebar, what do you think?

I think it's one of the best additions to the Finder's interface in a long, long time. I've always like the idea of "favorites" and aliases and shortcuts and whatnot, but I don't think anything along these lines was implemented correctly until the sidebar in the Mac OS X 10.3.x Finder.

I would actually say that this is a better interface innovation (at least for the Mac) than is Exposé. I'm sure not everyone agrees with that statement, but to me, it is solidly true.

From NSLog();: What do you listen to in the car?

Mostly KOZN 1620 AM (The Zone), Omaha's ESPN Radio affiliate. Yes, it's talk radio; and yes, it's usually mindless sports talk. But it's usually lighter fare than much of the rest of the talk radio spectrum.

Omaha's music radio scene is actually pretty sad. Although there isn't really a dedicated "Top 40" station here, pretty much every station just plays the same forty or fifty songs from their respective genres over and over again. Even the local Classic Rock station (and I'm a pretty big Classic Rock buff) plays the same fifty songs over and over. It gets old.

ESPN Radio allows me to here different things each day, and none of it is really all that important. It works for me.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your own blog.

Are you taking Friday off from work?

Oh Yeah! Four day weekend! Friday I will be putting up Christmas lights on the house and a Christmas tree in the house. Great fun!

From NSLog();: Pen or Pencil?

Pens, all the way. But, with qualifications, of course.

It's actually kind of strange. I would probably use pencils a lot more if I just thought about it. But using a pencil really never occurs to me.

However, when it comes to pens, some of my obsessive-compulsive-eque behavior comes to the forefront. I prefer to use pens, but only certain types of pens. I mostly can only stand using the simple, cheap white-with-black-caps Bic pens you can get in multi-packs just about anywhere. Pretty much anything else (including much nicer, better quality, more expensive pens) actually physically disgusts me. I can't bring myself to use them without feeling a shudder of disgust. I really can't stand signing a credit-card receipt at stores or restaurants, because the pens actually make me feel revolted.

All because I can't ever remember to try using a pencil.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

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.

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.

From around pretty much everywhere: Are you a closer, minimizer or hider?

In the old Mac OS 9 days, I was a hider. I'd constantly be heading up the application menu in the upper-right corner of the screen to hide the application I was in if I needed to access the desktop or another application.

However, in Mac OS X, things aren't so clear-cut. I minimize and hide both. If I had to absolutely pick one, I'd have to say I'm a hider. Command-H is used often, but I find that more often than not, the application I want to switch to rarely comes forward when I hide the current application. I can't get used to the Command-Option-Click shortcut in the dock to hide all but the current app because I rarely use the dock (it stays hidden most of the time).

I wish I could get used to Exposé, but I haven't been able to get in the habit. I keep forgetting it's there. Maybe I'll use it more in Tiger if I get used to the Dashboard being around. Or maybe that last sentence is complete nonsense.

Will Mark Prior be able to go the distance this season?

Okay, yes, I know it's a somewhat narrow focus for this question, but with Mark Prior making his season opening start today for the Cubs, I thought I'd throw it out there.

Although I would love for the answer to be yes, I have severe doubts. The types of injuries he's had tend to be nagging and have a chance to affect his performance all season this year, even if he does last all year long.

I guess we'll see how it all plays out.

Your pocket change: save it or spend it?

I save my pocket change. I have a old tub that originally held Gobstoppers about 15 years ago that I use to hold that change. When it's full, I cash it in at the bank.

I ask the question because every day at work I see people that insist of getting rid of the change in their pockets. They'll pay $5+ in change, just to get rid of it. This philosophy makes absolutely no sense to me. Why not keep it in a closet somewhere until you cash it in? It's a free, mini-savings plan!