There is another tool for posting to weblogs available for Mac OS X - Radio Poster. It works with Radio Userland, Blogger and (my favorite) MovableType.

I have no idea what just happened, but my webserver just lost all my virtual servers (important thing) and ... well, it was quite disturbing to find all my sites "gone" even though they were still physically there. Yikes. I think it is all working properly again. Backup, backup, backup!

According to Adam (about 8 years old), I was recently featured on an episode of The Simpsons as a web geek who was helping Bart put his comic book online. I did not see the episode, but his mom said it was true and that if I were to actually be on The Simpsons, I would look like that character. It was the episode with Stan Lee, by the way. It sounds completely like something I would do, too. I'm glad he didn't think I looked like Principal Skinner or Mr. Burns. Anybody got a screenshot?

Apple has been busy and have (almost) surpassed rumorific desires by releasing new machines, including the 800 Mhz G4 PowerBook and the education version eMac. Their site is getting hit by tons of curious Mac-heads and is lagging a bit behind its usual speedy self. Hmmm... how to get one... think... think...

I have been taking pictures almost every day since I got my digital camera (Sony DSC-P71) and have shot about 300 photos in the last 4 weeks (10/day average) so I think it was a definite worthwhile investment. If you don't have one yet and you think you want one, get one. Just do it. You will have a ton of fun if you find a camera that fits your needs/desires (like the Sony DSC-P71). No, I don't work for Sony, I just really am having fun and great results with this camera. I am slowly adding pictures to the right-side column on the main page here. Take a look!

Fans flock to Krispy Kreme
At daybreak, the line of would-be doughnut buyers numbered more than 200 people and 60 to 75 cars in the drive-through lane. Prospective customers were lined up out the door of the store and down the sidewalk for at least 50 yards. Many had been waiting since before 5:00 a.m.
Until I actually try one for myself, it is just a fried lump of sweet bread.

Do you ever get that not-so-fresh feeling? No, like you are just wilted and worn out and the mere thought of going in and doing work just makes you wanna get in your car and drive the opposite direction for a really really long time? That feeling like maybe you want to ignore computers and demanding people for several weeks or maybe longer? Perhaps doing something like being a forest ranger for a few years? Trees are nice and quiet and great to interact with...

I'd write about how crappy this late-April snow is, but I kinda like it -- it means I now have time-release (ie: it will slowly melt) watering built into my lawn which was just re-seeded on Saturday! Less work for me. A good thing. Besides, we weren't truly ready for that 90+ degree weather we had last week, were we?

Last night was a very good night. My brother came up to visit, we ate out at Pasqual's (always a good experience), went down to First Avenue and saw Billy Bragg (for free!) and then went to Pizza Luce afterwards. It was a great time.
Thanks to Dan and Michael, who are First Ave members, we got to see the Billy Bragg And The Blokes show completely gratis. They are all fine musicians and the songs covered a nice range of old and new, including some of the Mermaid Avenue songs (Woody Guthrie) and even some children's tunes that everybody really responded well to (perhaps a little too much for a song about not wetting the bed). Bragg is very up-to-date on current events and politics in all parts of the world and he spoke his mind about a few topics -- including the US Democracy and foreign affairs and third parties and British royalty and Stupid White Men and Jesse -- to which the crowd also responded well. One of the songs I liked (a new one, I think) contained the line: "Take down the Union Jack / It clashes with the sunset." And also the one about "No representation without accountability." How true. How necessary.
I saw Anita and Rick standing outside before we entered the parking ramp. Where'd you kids go?

A Minnesota boy, 7-years-old, recieved a patent on swinging from side-to-side on a swing. Um, excuse me for saying this, but can somebody get a fucking clue? The attorney/father and the USPTO should engage their brain before proceeding, no? I've seen tons of kids do this, including myself, so prior art exists and this patent is null and void. The patent office is out of control -- Amazon's One-click? Hyperlinking? come on, people! THINK!

Derrick just called -- he and Tommi had a baby girl, Aiden, on April 16th! Congrats! Everyone is doing fine after the 18-hour labor and are now at home resting and getting to know one another. This is so cool.

The sad news today: Thor Heyerdahl passes away. Heyerdahl was a visionary who put his money and life where his ideas were -- he built a balsa raft and sailed from Peru to Polynesia in 1947 to prove his theory and even then others in academia scoffed. But they came around to his view eventually. If you have never read his book "Kon-Tiki" you are missing out on one of the great adventure stories. Go get it right now. The story is right up there with Shackleton's and a favorite of mine.

An entry worthy of my weblog's name: Squirrel Fishing! This is something I have got to try.
Thanks to jamiedoris.com for the link.

Today I got a backboard and basketball hoop to put up on the garage from my friend Steve. I figure $25 is a small price to pay so that I can kick my neighbor's butt in a game. I mean, I have to beat him -- he's only 9 years old. It wouldn't look good if he whomped me.
I also bought a new rake and some grass seed today so I can patch up the backyard. The seed I planted last spring didn't hold after that intense stretch of hot dry weather so I get to start over. The yard is also still patchy from all that dog crap the prior owners left behind.
Speaking of heat -- Wowzer. Over 90 degrees today and a pretty great past weekend, too. Three weeks ago we had a whole lot of snow. Today we have sultry sun. Crazy. I guess I can put away my snowboard until next winter, eh? But I rode around a whole bunch this weekend on my two-wheeled wonder and it just made me pretty happy so I don't mind.

Photoshop 7 is now shipping for Mac OS X! Rock on. Finally. This is one of the major things that has been "holding me back" from really proficient use of X. I just don't like to run Classic, but I have to if I want Photoshop. Man, I can't think of anything else I'd need Classic for in my day-to-day computing once Photoshop arrives. Super!

Last weekend's trip to Chicago was a bit of a whirlwind of driving, driving, shopping, driving, construction, driving. I'm not complaining -- it certainly beats the pants off the drive from here to the Black Hills (billboards for Wall Drug for 300+ miles, ack!) -- but there wasn't a lot of time to actually see Chicago, so I'm going to have to go back soon. To be truthful, the only reason I went was to go to IKEA to buy stuff for my house (Billy bookcases, lights, etc). Oh, I looked around, yes I did, trying to find equivalent items at affordable prices locally, but just had no luck at all. And I intended to actually see the city, but that didn't happen. I saw part of northern Chicago, but none of the sights the city is known for. Lame, huh? At least I got my bookcases and can now organize my media collections in a better fashion.
It also rained all day Sunday. Rained and rained and rained. All the way back to the border of Minnesota. I had some jumbo plastic tarp thingies, though, so the stuff in the trailer only got a bit damp. With the wet conditions, the already-in-swing road construction kinda sucked.
By the way, the Chicago IKEA is really flippin' big. Huge. And busy as all get out on the weekends. Plan accordingly.

I got a hold of a Sony DSC-P71 camera last week (Good Friday) and have been using it every day since then. Wow. I really like this little camera for its features, quality and price. Color and clarity are very good. I doubt you can find more bang for your buck and I've done some testing of my own to try to substantiate that claim.

I put the P71 up against the Sony F707, the Minolta DiMage 7 and just for kicks the low-end (but still useful) HP-318. My testing methods are less than scientific (we all stood in the same places and took pictures of the same things at the same time with our respective cameras in automatic mode) but the results really are evident in the output. We took an outdoor shot (parking lot, blue sky, some clouds), an indoor shot (a juice bottle machine in a lunchroom with fluorescent lights) and a low-light shot (where I work it is kept fairly dark so we can do more accurate color-corrections). We took the resulting images, placed them all on a page at about 4"x5" and then proofed them on a high-end digital proofer (Kodak Approval) at high linescreen on a smooth glossy stock. We did not tweak, crop or convert the images but let the digital proofer convert the RGB files to CMYK on the fly.

The results: The 3.2 megapixel Sony DSC-P71 at $400 more than holds its own up against the $1,000 5.2 megapixel cameras. In fact, sometimes the P71 was better in the print test than the others (the outdoor shot)! Amazing. I had anticipated it would be good and decent quality, but it really does take very excellent pictures. Now, to be fair, if you needed shots with tons of detail so you could crop to extreme portions, the F707 would take the lead with its higher resolution. The Minolta wasn't quite set up properly in my opinion so perhaps I should reserve final judgment on that camera but I would expect more from it. The HP did a serviceable job and for $200 this is a nice camera for online/web usage.

If you really want/need a camera with FULL manual controls, the P71 is not it. It also does not have a threaded mount for lenses or filters (this is a bummer). If you can live with those things missing (and I think most people could), then this camera will delight you. The only thing missing from the package is at least a cheap case -- it comes with everything else (memory stick, rechargeable batteries, a two-battery charger, video cable, USB cable, software, strap, very nice and concise manual). The batteries last a decent amount of time but you'll want at least one more set of rechargeable batteries. Do yourself a favor and just get the 128 megabyte MemoryStick as well -- you'll be glad you did.

The low-light shots this camera takes (in the SCN mode) are really fabulous and far exceed my expectations. It sucks in light like a sponge. You really should use a tripod for this situation, though! The camera turns on fast and operates fast and I only feel like I am waiting for it when it first charges the flash, otherwise everything (taking pictures, using the menus, etc) is very speedy. All menus are logical and easy to use. Playback is easy and zooming in and panning around the image after you take it is really slick and it also works when you view pictures via the video-out port. All doors and covers feel quite sturdy. The camera is very light weight and feels good in your hand. The viewfinder works well if you want to conserve battery life by turning off the LCD screen.

I feel like an evangelist for Sony, but really, this camera is an amazing package for the money. Everybody who has seen it or has seen the prints is utterly impressed and curious about where I got it and at what price. I think I may have even sold a couple this week! For the money, this is one excellent camera and highly recommended. Take a look at a sample shot showing the detail the camera can capture.

I'm sure I'll be posting more pictures over in the column on the right side of the main page!