Z.Monkey’s Blog

I’ve been able to play with some new stuff lately, and I thought I might share.

1. A Baby - She was ‘playful’ last night.  I don’t think she likes the heat.  We may need to move into the basement till Friday, or I guess we could turn on the central air. 1stDadDay.jpg
2. Wize.com -  A page that lets you compare products.  It’s kinda neat.  I only wish it had better ways compare things (i.e. TV screen size and resolution).
3. Google Reader - A pretty cool way to view RSS feeds.  You can even share what you find interesting (here’s mine, send me yours if you like).  Here’s a video on how to use it (or not… that’s just too many feeds).   Kinda wish it had a search… which is weird since this is a google thing.
4. AutoHotKey - Used this at work today to cut out hours of tedious data entry.  It can learn your keystroke and mouse clicks and turn that into a script (kinda like the macro builder in excel).  Going to try and see what else you can do with this but it looks pretty powerful.
5. GoodReads - Many of you probably got spamed from all the people joining this.  I haven’t given it a try but it looks like everyone else has.  I’ll add what I’m reading.  Got this from Dan.
6. Jeff’s old golf clubs - I went golfing for father’s day (my first my dad’s 27th).  It was fun, now I need to move the clubs into my trunk so I can occasionally hit the driving range.

On an interesting aside, I have found that I need beer.  This has nothing to do with the alcohol but everything to do with the empty calories.  When the scientist was pregnant I lost 5 pounds (like 3.7% of my normal body weight) just because I gave up (read limited) my intake of beer.  So if you see me without a beer please think of my health and give me one.

If you are interested in playing with something cool.  Check out the Photosynth demo.  You need to view it in IE, but it is worth it.  I recommend checking out the “Gyeongbokgung, South Korea” collection.  I’ve been there!

It seems that the US Attorney thing is all over the news now a days, but I just read through a blog article that outlines our NH Attorney record. This is mostly focused on the Phone Jamming scandal from back in ‘04 and it is an interesting read. I’m sure the source is biased but do you think there is something here? I am still to ignorant of NH politics… maybe it is time to start reading a local newspaper (blah!). Is there actually a good NH newspaper? The NH Gazette, while entertaining, just isn’t enough.

Also, anyone else get annoyed by the daylight savings time change? I’m personally think it is a waste of time and money to switch our clocks twice a year. How many man hours are wasted by exhausted employees every spring (i.e. like me right now)? Does it actually save any energy at all? How much money does the change over cost us in software updates, missed flights, missed calls and customer complaints? I assume that Bushie didn’t do any research before this was forced on us (knowing his view on science), so what was the decision based on? I think it was just a way to make Bush appear to be environmental while doing absolutely nothing. It is frustrating.

Now, I’ve never been a fan of smart phones, mostly because they look like a pain in the ass to use, but the new iPhone looks cool.  Below are some images from engadget.  The thing is small and looks really easy to use… just use your finger(s) (multi-point touchscreen).  Now if only it wasn’t a cingular exclusive.  I hate exclusive offers.  Maybe if I get a new job I can get them to get me this!

So, someone put together a site that shows you how much you make in relation to everyone else in the world.  Now if only someone would put together one where your income is compared with your cost of and standard of living, and then ranked.  I wonder how one could do that…

…but I think their new Reader is an interesting product. The thing lasts 7500 page turns and the E-Ink technology allows the thing to keep the page up with using any more power. But in typical Sony style they are charging $350 for the thing. What?! You still need to buy the books, which are priced about the same as a book you can buy in the store so you end up saving no money. This could only be useful if you travelled a lot when you don’t want to have to carry a ton of books on a flight or pay the premium for buy a book in an airport. Who would need to use this at home? On a side note, I am kind of surprised that the books at Sony’s ebook store are not outrageouosly expensive. The cost would probably make me read lots of classics while I was travelling.

I would like to play with one for a bit, though I bet there will be significantly cheaper ones coming out in the near future. I bet it doesn’t even come with a built in reading lamp.

I was working with someone here at work (shocking!) who told me that by doing the following you can make text much easier to read on LCD screens.

1. Right click on the desktop and select ‘Properties’
2. Click on the ‘Appearance’ Tab
3. Click on the ‘Effects…’ button
4. Change the second dropdown menu from ‘Standard’ to ‘ClearType’.

I think this really makes a difference, but maybe I’m weird.

Do you wonder if we all should have read this before starting to blog? One of the things this article tells you to do (so that you don’t start a blog) is read 5 random blogs for a month. I think this misses the point of the blog. You are supposed to read about stuff or people you are interested in! If I pick 5 random books to read I’d probably end up with some Romance, an Anne Rice book (boo…), and some crap targeted at toward young adults. Of course I’d be disappointed but that doesn’t mean the book medium is crap.

I need to comment on the DPL’s new book download program. The program is run by Overdrive and uses DRM handicapped WMA files. Now, I personally think that DRM is bad for business… and the Overdrive is a good example of why. Apple and Microsoft have competing DRM specification (both are proprietary) and neither is universially excepted. I doubt that Microsoft’s new portable media player will be able to play Apple DRMed media and I know that Apple iPod’s do not play DRM WMA files. Which basically means that we cannot use this new and potentially cool serve (unless we burn the audio files onto a CD then use those CD, or ripe the audio from those CDs and put them onto the iPod). It’s just annoying, especially when those things aren’t that cheap. (btw, the new iPod shuffle is very cool) On a funny aside, the DPL gave away a free iPod Nano this summer to some kid… I hope he doesn’t try to download any books! Maybe I get steal D14’s old non-apple MP3 player.

I’m tired.

I randomly came across a thing called WikiMapia this morning. It allows users to put add tags to maps (using the Google Maps API). It is a pretty neat thing and I thought I might point it out to everyone.

[Click here to get to the actual map]

If you click on the box to the left of the University of New Hampshire you will find a funny comment… er, at least if you went to UNH. “Nobody knows what it does, just that a bus runs there from campus.” Also, if you scroll down and to the right towards Portsmouth you can find the NH Liquor store. Now here is a place where you can find some real useful information.

The Scientist should look at Portland.

My appointment with the Comcast installation guy was to be between 9 and 11.  I have just got the internet setup (at a quarter to two).  I wasn’t planning on taking today off but what can you do.  Sigh.  As I’ve never actually had a cable appointment that happened when it was supposed is a sign that Comcast should hire more install techs.  They just seem over worked.

On a side note, I read the Communist Manefesto last yesterday (being Labor day and all).  Perhaps, I write something about it.  Perhaps not.
Anyway, I, and most likely the Scientist, will be posting more often now.