Isn't this kinda hypnotic?! (see it full size.)
(Click for big pic.)
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Drobo (updated)
Thanks to upgrades, I have two big hard disks I'm not really using for much. So I've gotten quite interested in Drobo (the most basic video is the one at the bottom, oddly). It's a box holding several hard disks, and "spreads around" the data on them for safety, but looks like just one volume to your computer. (It's platform-agnostic.)
It's like RAID, except much simpler, for example you can use any ol' disks you have lying around, they don't all have to be identical.
It's a once a solution to capacity and worry about disk failure. If one of the disks fail, you just pop in a new one, there are no data lost.
[Update: Some of the comments to this post paints a less rosy picture.]
An off-site backup, in case of theft, flood, or fire, is still a good idea, of course.
TidBITS recommends it. And not that that's important, but it's a very pretty box also, methinks. It comes in various flavors and sizes, but I think the basic four-slot model (named Drobo simply) is fine for most people.
Update: Ooh, one of the videos even has an MTV-like-perky cute girl presenting. Like really cute. She must be an actress/presenter rather than an employee. (Stay for the outtakes at the end.) ... Aha, she's called Cali Lewis. A missing link of cuteness and geekiness. (Funny thing, she seems totally different in the second video.)
Cali hosts an interesting vid podcast, Geekbrief. This is the HD version.
It's like RAID, except much simpler, for example you can use any ol' disks you have lying around, they don't all have to be identical.
It's a once a solution to capacity and worry about disk failure. If one of the disks fail, you just pop in a new one, there are no data lost.
[Update: Some of the comments to this post paints a less rosy picture.]
TidBITS recommends it. And not that that's important, but it's a very pretty box also, methinks. It comes in various flavors and sizes, but I think the basic four-slot model (named Drobo simply) is fine for most people.
Update: Ooh, one of the videos even has an MTV-like-perky cute girl presenting. Like really cute. She must be an actress/presenter rather than an employee. (Stay for the outtakes at the end.) ... Aha, she's called Cali Lewis. A missing link of cuteness and geekiness. (Funny thing, she seems totally different in the second video.)
Cali hosts an interesting vid podcast, Geekbrief. This is the HD version.
Sprint Evo 4G review
Here's a humorous video review of the new Evo 4G phone. Maybe it won't replace my iPhone 4 after all.
Treadmill Desk
[Thanks to Joe Dick]
A combined treadmill and computer desk?? This looks like a joke at first, but on closer examination I'm getting kinda interested. I wonder if I have the space for one in my small office.
... I'm also wondering if I would actually like to walk or stand all the time I'm at my computer. I am rather lazy.
There's some talk on the page about cobbling on together yourself from parts, but the pretty one pictured above (called WalkStation) is from a company named Steelcase. It's not exactly cheap, four grand! Ouch. Plus shipping that thing to the UK in my case.
They do actually make a combo walk-sit station. But it's just a wider desk with space for a chair next to the strip. And it's a full grand more.
iPhone 4 Has More RAM Than iPad
iPhone 4 Has More RAM Than iPad, article.
What with the more memory, the two cameras, and the super-high-rez screen, I'd say iPhone 4 has set a high bar for next year's iPad 2.
Can't wait to see what they come up with. I hope it'll be lighter too. Or at least there'll be a light-weight variation.
The current one is best with a book-holder. (Product page.) It's so durn practical.
What with the more memory, the two cameras, and the super-high-rez screen, I'd say iPhone 4 has set a high bar for next year's iPad 2.
Can't wait to see what they come up with. I hope it'll be lighter too. Or at least there'll be a light-weight variation.
The current one is best with a book-holder. (Product page.) It's so durn practical.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Body emotions
So how come most people (it seems) will readily exchange all kinds of bodily fluids in sexual activity with a member of their preferred gender which they judge at bit attractive but have just met, but the same people will freak out at the thought of using another person's toothbrush under any circumstances?
Zamzar conversions
The MacObserver podcast mentioned an interesting site, Zamzar, which does conversion of all kinds of files. With video, it would take a while all told. I tried with a word processing file somebody sent me today which I couldn't open. Using a free account, it took half an hour before I got it back in .txt format (which I'd selected), but now I could read it (though it took a bit of formatting cleaning up).
E-mail issues
If you have emailed my at an stobblehouse.com address in the past couple of days (seems mainly to be service@), I probably didn't get it. They haven't found the issue yet.
Please re-send to my Gmail.com address, which is eolake at.
Please re-send to my Gmail.com address, which is eolake at.
Another kind of animation
[Thanks to Tommy.]
These are highly cool mechanical animations.
They are labelled Optical Illusions, but they are not, really, they are animations. You actually do see what you see, because the slots hide different things at different times.
These are highly cool mechanical animations.
They are labelled Optical Illusions, but they are not, really, they are animations. You actually do see what you see, because the slots hide different things at different times.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
MacJury on Safari Reader
A lot of people think that Apple Reader and other text-cleaning/readability tools are basically enabling people who want to "steal" content.
I think that if a site makes a reader want to reformat so badly that he does something active about it, you have driven the reader to it with over-advertising or other reading-hostile practices.
Also the reader who actively does this, is surely not one who buys anything from ads anyway. (I don't think I have done so even once in the fifteen years I have used the weeb.) And if he never does that, the ad impression is wasted, and a false statistic if it earns money.
If you have a very readable page, and if the ads do not push themselves "on top of" the content and irritate the reader, he does not even get the impulse to reformat to a more readable format.
Also, just... how many ads do you need?! If a reader doesn't click on one or two ads, why would he click on seventeen? Many sites are like Times Square now. It's unbearable to try to read them if you don't at least have ad-suppression software.
And part of the issue, I guess, is that many ads pay for impression, not for through-clicks.
I think that if a site makes a reader want to reformat so badly that he does something active about it, you have driven the reader to it with over-advertising or other reading-hostile practices.
Also the reader who actively does this, is surely not one who buys anything from ads anyway. (I don't think I have done so even once in the fifteen years I have used the weeb.) And if he never does that, the ad impression is wasted, and a false statistic if it earns money.
If you have a very readable page, and if the ads do not push themselves "on top of" the content and irritate the reader, he does not even get the impulse to reformat to a more readable format.
Also, just... how many ads do you need?! If a reader doesn't click on one or two ads, why would he click on seventeen? Many sites are like Times Square now. It's unbearable to try to read them if you don't at least have ad-suppression software.
And part of the issue, I guess, is that many ads pay for impression, not for through-clicks.
The writing workshop is going on
My online writing workshop has six idea-sets and four stories now. Some of them are really good.
You're invited to participate.
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BTW, I realized that just because it's wireless, compact, and beautiful, I don't *have* to use Apple's keyboard with the iPad, when I'm more comfortable with a larger one with a more distinct key travel, a clickier one, as it were. At least at home, I can just use a normal big USB keyboard.
I very much like writing on the Pad with My Writing Nook.
And I tried my old Matias TactilePro 2.0 keyboard. And it really is a shame that the 2.0 version has had various problems for some people, because I actually really like it still. It's a bit softer than the IBM type, but still very distinct. I may actually even like it better than the Unicomp in some ways, not sure. And who knows, maybe they have conquered the teething problems in the couple of years that have passed. Update: Well, at the very least it has been replaced by the TactilePro3.
Update: hmmm, their folding keyboard looks promising. Though I think it does not have the mechanical "Alps" switches which makes the Tactile Pro special.
You're invited to participate.
-----
BTW, I realized that just because it's wireless, compact, and beautiful, I don't *have* to use Apple's keyboard with the iPad, when I'm more comfortable with a larger one with a more distinct key travel, a clickier one, as it were. At least at home, I can just use a normal big USB keyboard.
I very much like writing on the Pad with My Writing Nook.
And I tried my old Matias TactilePro 2.0 keyboard. And it really is a shame that the 2.0 version has had various problems for some people, because I actually really like it still. It's a bit softer than the IBM type, but still very distinct. I may actually even like it better than the Unicomp in some ways, not sure. And who knows, maybe they have conquered the teething problems in the couple of years that have passed. Update: Well, at the very least it has been replaced by the TactilePro3.
Update: hmmm, their folding keyboard looks promising. Though I think it does not have the mechanical "Alps" switches which makes the Tactile Pro special.
Shipping included?
Update: It seems shipping is somehow not included, it just was not mentioned in the bill I got. Forget I said anything!! E
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I just ordered another backup keyboard from Unicomp. (Read here about their unique keyboards.)
(Ooh: a friend just told me that the Unicomp keyboard is the first on he's had which lets him write long without pain! (He's writing a novel now.) I guess the certainty of the key press makes him less tense when writing.)
I just got the Unicomp bill, and I find out that shipping and handling is included in the price, even if international. I think this is crazy. I mean, what's crazy is that they don't point this out. At least not clearly. They should. Most people think their keyboards are expensive, because you can buy a bamboo keyboard for $0.58 or whatever. But if Unicomp sold theirs for "$49 plus $20 for S/H", instead of "$69, S/H cost unknown", it would seem a lot more reasonable.
In my case they took nothing for handling and included over fifty dollars worth of shipping for free! I mean, it's kind of them, but it's no way to do business. They don't have to turn into Donald Trump, but a profit is good for business, you know.
Update:
Let me compare to the Matias keyboards. I love those two, but not only are they twice the price ($150!), but they charge $95 for international shipping!! What a difference.
Update: OK, I had overlooked one thing: Matias is in Canada, and it seems shipping is way more expensive from there. Sorry. Also their service is great, so it seems unlikely that their prices are any kind of rip-off.
--------
I just ordered another backup keyboard from Unicomp. (Read here about their unique keyboards.)
(Ooh: a friend just told me that the Unicomp keyboard is the first on he's had which lets him write long without pain! (He's writing a novel now.) I guess the certainty of the key press makes him less tense when writing.)
I just got the Unicomp bill, and I find out that shipping and handling is included in the price, even if international. I think this is crazy. I mean, what's crazy is that they don't point this out. At least not clearly. They should. Most people think their keyboards are expensive, because you can buy a bamboo keyboard for $0.58 or whatever. But if Unicomp sold theirs for "$49 plus $20 for S/H", instead of "$69, S/H cost unknown", it would seem a lot more reasonable.
In my case they took nothing for handling and included over fifty dollars worth of shipping for free! I mean, it's kind of them, but it's no way to do business. They don't have to turn into Donald Trump, but a profit is good for business, you know.
Update:
Let me compare to the Matias keyboards. I love those two, but not only are they twice the price ($150!), but they charge $95 for international shipping!! What a difference.
Update: OK, I had overlooked one thing: Matias is in Canada, and it seems shipping is way more expensive from there. Sorry. Also their service is great, so it seems unlikely that their prices are any kind of rip-off.
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