2007
Of course my UPnP media server failed right before leaving. Fixing it so there is music in the house before leaving. Reboot and pray!
Wondering how many connections the most connected person on LinkedIn has.
Just watched Fever Pitch. Maybe baseball is cool. 🙂
Making Tab Work "Right" in OS X
I’ve found myself continually frustrated with the behavior of Tab in OS X when filling out forms on web pages. I fill out my name, press tab, fill out something else, and then press tab to select a checkbox but OS X by default won’t let you tab into a checkbox.
I decided I had enough of this and did a little research. I’m happy to report this can be fixed! Go to System Preferences and select your Keyboard & Mouse settings. Switch to the last tab, Keyboard Shortcuts. On the bottom you can switch tab behavior to honor All Controls. Yeah!
Everyone Votes on Wii
Can I just take a moment to say that I’m hugely impressed with what Nintendo is doing with the Wii. I fired up my Wii tonight just to play for a bit and decided to do a system update. I wasn’t expecting one, but found 2.0U was available. I then stumbled into the Shopping Channel and found a new free download in Wii Ware called Everyone Votes. Today was the first day it was available, and I hadn’t heard anything about this.
There is nothing amazing about this new game, but I think it flexes the muscle of the Wii so well. The premise is simple, you answer either/or questions and then predict what everyone else will answer. You play with your Mii. Questions are bounded in regions (states for the US). There are also international questions and you can even suggest questions.
I answered the launch questions and suggested another question. I just love that Nintendo is really thinking “outside the box” as it were with the Wii. No other game manufacturer would think of something like Everyone Votes.
Links to more about Everyone Votes: Wii Nation, Wii Nintendo, Go Nintendo.
Note, you have to do a system update to 2.0U in order to install this. Make sure to do an update before going to the shopping channel.
PackRat - Taking Backpack on the Road
I
mentioned earlier that I’ve become a huge
fan of
Backpack. It is my home page in all of my
browsers. I’ve been able to consolidate so many other random things into
it. The reminder feature is incredibly useful. I’m still learning new
ways to use it (mobile integration is the current item). I just can’t
say enough. However, the only issue with Backpack is if you happen to
not be online, you are stuck.
Here comes PackRat to the rescue. PackRat is a great Mac OS X application that connects to Backpack and gives you an offline version. You give it your Backpack username and API key, it connects and within seconds downloads all of your content to your laptop. You can then make changes offline and reconnect and magically it’s all back on your Backpack site. It even allows you to manage reminders.
The spiffy thing about PackRat is that since it isn’t running in a browser, there is some stuff that it does nicer than Backpack, like tag navigation. I’m finding myself using PackRat a decent amount even when I am online as it has a nearly identical user experience to Backpack and is a bit faster without the HTTP reloads in the middle.
If you are an avid Backpack user, and a Mac user, this is a great program to add. I just wish there was also a Windows version.
50th and France WiFi
I’m happy to report that if you find yourself in the 50th and France area of Minneapolis with a laptop and some time on your hands – you will not have any problems finding an open WiFi access point to hop on the net.
Watching the Freedom Writers.
Blackberry Break
I just got back home after a business trip. This trip entailed an offsite training event. At any event like this you have a couple of breaks in the morning and afternoon. These used to just be a “Break”. A decade ago when cell phones really became prevalent these turned into “Communication Breaks”. Everyone would dash out of the room and dial up their mobiles.
The vernacular has changed! It is now “Blackberry Breaks”. I believe this now makes the ‘crackberry’ a brand like Kleenex. Even the couple of people with non-Blackberry Blackberry’s like Treos and Windows Mobile devices were enjoying their “Blackberry Break”.
I wonder if we’ll be takin “iPhone Breaks”, or just an “iBreak”.