jason kenison ~ theWebGuy

Go See Avatar

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:01:09 PST

If you haven't already, go... right now... and see Avatar in the theaters. It's epic. I should go see it again.

We're Being Short-Changed with Blu-Ray

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 07:01:06 PST

A movie's aspect ratio coming from the movie studios is the main factor in reduced quality of what a Blu-Ray picture can really show. Remember the old days when we all had 4:3 TVs and got those black bars on the top and bottom of the picture when DVD came out? It's annoying to have a TV where a third or more isn't even being used... a waste of space in my opinion. A 16:9 widescreen picture definitely looks better than a mostly square-shaped 4:3 as far as viewing experience goes. When DVD came out and hardly any of us had widescreen TV sets, the studios gave us 4:3 versions of their movies so that it didn't look so crummy at home.

Same issue is happening again with Blu-Ray and DVD, except we've all upgraded our TVs for that magic 16:9 aspect ratio... but the movies are now coming out even WIDER (2.35:1) giving us those annoying "unused areas" on our widescreen sets.

The adoption rate of Blu-Ray seems to be slower than DVD (or at least I've heard/read from various sources online), and the general consensus seems to be the DVD is "good enough" for most people. I think that one of the big reasons for this is that our movies aren't filling our screen and therefore not showing us much more detail than we'd get with a DVD. A 2.35:1 OAR (original aspect ratio) picture with the black bars on the top and bottom shows us more information on the left and right of the picture, but also makes it shorter than it'd be if the 16:9 to 4:3 treatment was done to give us a 16:9 picture from a 2.35:1 source. The overall quality of a 1080p 2.35:1 picture is the equivalent of a 720p 16:9 picture, thus 2.35:1 movies are HALF the quality our 1080p sets want to give us. And with the black bars, in most cases it just seems like they're cropping off the top of people's heads or something else that not being there really adds to the viewing experience.

There are two sides to this debate, however: the movie geeks and the regular joe. I love movies and would like to see the whole picture, sure, but I'd trade that in a heartbeat, for the OPTION to view the same movie filling up my screen. I don't want this option as two separate options like some DVDs do with Widescreen or Fullscreen versions... that's just a rip. When DVD first came out, they used to put both versions in the same package. With Blu-Ray, it seems like a no-brainer since there's so much more space on a disc for this additional information. To be honest, I'd give up all those special features for a 16:9 version of my favorite movies.

For those few movies I've seen on Blu-Ray that do fill up a 16:9 display, they look amazing... no questioning the incredible picture quality and detail you get over DVD. A quality that's much less apparent when everything is shorter and surrounded by emptiness.

I refuse to get another new TV for 2.35:1, as I've seen mentioned a few places online. What's to stop the movie studios for coming out with an even shorter/wider aspect ratio requiring yet another new TV for the new format?

Movie theaters are overpriced and not at all the same experience as they used to be. It's busy. A glass of water cost 3 bucks. The guy sitting next to you eats like a cow and smells like cheese. Parents take their kids to totally age inappropriate films that make them cry. Teenagers talk throughout the whole film... And in my experience, the picture quality is sub-par compared to what I get at home w/o ANY of the the above annoyances.

Movie Studios: Consider the home user and give us a better home viewing experience of your movies that we love. If you do, we'll buy it.

Watchmen is Awesome

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:01:01 PST

I recently watched the Watchmen movie and wanted at least ONE place on the internet that says it was awesome... 'cause it is, despite the negative reviews.

New Business Cards

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:01:05 PST

Just got some new business cards... basically the same info but much snazzier, IMO. Thanks Andrea for the print help! Next step: Leave the house and start passing 'em out.

Happy Holidays

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:00:05 PST

Hope everyone has a chance to pause and have a relaxing holiday this year.

Google Chrome

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 09:00:08 PST

Google Chrome is a new web browser from Google. It's lean and lightweight, all the stuff we loved when Firefox first came out taking over the Mozilla suite. Initial reaction seems to be "why?". Of course, the first thought is Google's browser gives them the ability to log EVERYTHING we do for their stats and ads, but on the lighter side, they've given us a bit of a one-click way to access the Google Apps like we would any other app... less of the "web-browser" experience. It's a neat feature, sure it'll be useful for alot of people.

Google Chrome in Windows Vista:
(the look's not all "Fisher Price"/XP)

(click above for a larger view)

Google Chrome "Incognito" in Windows Vista:

Google Chrome is Windows only and doesn't really give me any reason to drop my current web browser. Though I'm happy some new innovations are being considered and I hope this triggers innovations elsewhere as new versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer are released.

Coda: Now with SVN Support

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:01:05 PST

Yesterday, Panic released a slick updated to their Coda app, which added subversion support, among others. It's becoming more and more the all-in-one IDE for coders, and I'm loving it. Yay!, now I don't have to wait for Versions.app to finally get ~~released~~ out of beta.

Things for GTD = Awesome

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:01:00 PST

I've been using Things from Cultured Code for quite a while, and like it alot. It's still in beta, and has had it's share of quirks. Lately it's been solid, and the folks at Cultured Code have recently released the iPhone counterpart to the Things app.

All I can say is "Wow". It's perfect.

GTD systems are great, but one of the shortcomings that hinder other apps and processes is taking that system with you. Your "to-do" list(s) should be able to follow you wherever you go. Otherwise, they loose most of their value (that is, unless you only plan on getting things done at your computer). Being able to take my lists with me makes me consider how to GTD outside of work. GTD to my car? GTD with housework? Etcetera.

The application itself lets you add to-dos to projects and set tags, due dates and notes to each item. The interface, which is very Mac-like, taking alot from the iTunes GUI, automatically groups things that you need to see in categories such as "Today", "Next", "Someday", etc. I could add a task to some project due in a couple months, but I'm not notified of it until it becomes relevant... all based on how I set it up.

The iPhone version is the same. Full featured as ever... just smaller. One of the neatest things about the iPhone version is it syncs with the desktop version over Wi-Fi. When you open Things on your iPhone (when connected to the same network as your Mac... and of course, your Mac is turned on), it quickly syncs and lets you know what it updated. This is great because during the course of a day, I'm most likely to need my Things updated more often than, say, sync of my iPhone galleries or a full iPhone backup. Makes updating my GTD lists quick and simple.

Try as I might I still can't seem to be able to buy Things for Mac, but I'm sure they'll release the final version very soon. You can, however, buy a copy of Things for your iPhone or iPod Touch through the App Store.

Every GTD system is a bit different and one that works great for one might not be ideal for someone else. Do your research first, of course, and give Things a try.

Fireworks CS4: Initial Review

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:01:06 PST

So, I installed the new Fireworks CS4 beta in Windows Vista (the two day trial) and on OS X 10.5 (extended beta). All I have to say is wow, it's a BIG change. Though, I'm happy that Adobe is putting some effort into the app. I'd hate to see Fireworks loose it's place to Photoshop.

I took some screen grabs from both the Vista and Mac install so you can get an idea of where it's at. Don't judge the app by the screenshots alone, though. The latest version is slick and quick.

	Install window looks slick! It's nice to see some of the ordinary things in software get the "sexy treatment".
	Install process was quick and easy Again, with consistent, sexy progress bars. The install process was identical on Vista and OS X 10.5.
	Same old initializing screen Starting up FIreworks at first, appears no different than CS3
	Welcome Screen Basic stuff, no big deal here.
	The New GUI Holy new GUI Batman! Both Windows and Mac share the same user interface! The app is now a single window, w/o the desktop showing through as with the previous versions on Mac. Hm, dunno how I feel about that yet.
	Most pallets are the same Here's Filters... not much difference.
	Fonts Panel Hm, aren't we supposed to get a revamped "Photoshop-esque" fonts listing? I hope Adobe addresses this prior to official release. But still, the font smoothing is pretty slick though, similar to how Flash does it. Not very useful when I'm trying to illustrate screen fonts, but still... nice stuff.
	Colors Panel The colors panel is completly revamped and has more ways to get that particular color you're looking for. Much nice, IMO, than the current version's integration of the OS color panel.

Well, that's all I have for now. As I use it more and more, I'm sure I'll get used to it and like what I find. Anyhow, if you've got a current license, give the new CS4 a try.

Adobe Not Round-Filing Fireworks

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:00:08 PST

When Adobe bought Macromedia, I became worried about the future of my favorite web design software. Fireworks is by far the best for designing for screen, in my opinion. It's quick, light and really good at what it does. Sure, it's missing features such as CMYK support, some filters, etc, but it's vector drawing tools, object selection and speed more than make up for that. It's an application that's rare in that it focuses on what it's designed for without all the bloat found in other major design applications like Photoshop.

I'm excited about the type engine updates as well as the updated user interface. Could take or leave the other updates, but I'll have an open mind until I have reason otherwise.

I guess it might be difficult to make an application that's for everyone. Not all web designers share the same workflow, though Adobe seems to strongly suggest one. Adobe is still including more into the Fireworks application than should be there, but that's so appease more people. My workflow is as follows: Design in Fireworks -> Export image elements -> hand-code the site in Coda. Of course, Adobe has no reason to support or expect people to use anything but Dreamweaver for the web development side of a project, but it might be nice to turn off some of the built in integration and buttons. Not a huge deal though.

I hope to give it a try before it's out. If you've given it a try, let me know what you think about the update. See more at labs.adobe.com.

Heroes 3 Hour Season Premier!

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:01:05 PST

3 hours!?! That's more than most feature length movies.
I can't wait, I just can't wait ;)

CupcakeKidsNYC.com Launched!

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 06:00:07 PST

I CMS'd a previously designed site for a New York based kids baking party company. Turned out well, the site looks and works great. Check it out!

Snow in Oregon... in Spring

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:00:08 PST

I don't know what's going on with the whole global warming thing, but weather here is crazy lately. We had hardly any snow during the winter, but now we're getting snow in spring. Very odd for Portland.

Haven't lived here long enough to know for sure, but weatherman: Where's my spring?

Mortgage Companies are crazy

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:01:03 PST

My mortgage company, formerly known as "CityMortgage" trades my account like kids trade Pokemon cards... it's insane. I always pay on time. Much to my chagrin, I saw a late charge and "Past Due Amount" on my last bill. Now, I've grown accustom to the whole changing of companies thing as it's happened so much in the past, but I didn't quite understand this last one until it was cleared up in a letter response to my inquiry as to why my paid bill was marked as late:

"The servicing of your loan was transferred from CityMortgage to Citymortgage, INC.. In order to avoid late fees and/or delinquent reporting, please send your mortgage payments directly to your new servicer, Citymortgage, INC..."

Sorry CiTymoTgage for missing that... or wait, was that cITYmortGage? What's going on here!?

ThinkHumanity.org

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:00:09 PST

Think Humanity was created to provide relief, support and hope for a promising future to refugees in Africa

Edgar Winter Top Listener at Last.fm!

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 05:01:06 PST

I'm a big fan of Edgar Winter (who?), though I've never met someone else who is. I was happy to see myself on his Last.fm page as a "Top Listener". Whoo hoo! I doubt I'll stay up there forever, but it's neat to be there even for a moment.

I've been using CoverSutra from Sophiestication which I got as part of the latest MacHeist bundle. CoverSutra has Last.fm built right in, so that while I play my iTunes it posts my music listening habits (despite how embarrassing they might be) to my Last.fm account. It's neat going back in to see who I've been playing the most. Don't have any Last.fm friends yet (I know, lame... and sad), but it's a cool service once I get some up there.

I love being a dad :)

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:01:01 PST

Like father, like son.

Upgrade to the New Cat

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 01:01:03 PST

Four days after all the fanboys picked up Leopard and a free t-shirt from their local Apple stores, I went humbly to the local "Mac Store" to get the update. Not wanting to be a guinea pig for Apple, I made sure to do my research on what is and isn't 100% in the new OS. The big news was in regards to Adobe's CS3 suite. The problems, however, didn't include Fireworks, Flash Illustrator or Photoshop (the only part of the suite I find useful in day-to-day work)... so no problems there. The Adobe apps do show some signs of visual effect issues when using Spaces, but it doesn't impair the work experience much. I expect updates will be coming for the suite very soon. Panic's excellent FTP app Transmit was also said to have some issues with Leopard, but quick updates to the app have fixed anything that might come up (thanks Panic). Adium and Missing Sync for Blackberry were also said to have some minor issues, but I haven't had any problems with either. I have good backups, so I wasn't too worried about anything less than hard drive failure.

Installation was fairly quick using the Archive & Install option, which is is highly recommended by numerous other bloggers. It took about an two hours total though the installer never said more than "1 hour 40 minutes remaining". It kinda hung for a while (freaked me out actually) in the last 5 seconds when it was transferring my application data. Those 5 seconds lasted for about 20 minutes but eventually finished up just fine. I guess noone can really ever say exactly how long something will *really* take. As long as it gets done, I'm fine with it.

One think I didn't know, however, was that the Archive & Install doesn't maintain any of your MySQL or PHP or Apache settings. Leopard comes with Apache 2 and PHP 5.2.4, but no MySQL. Setting it all up was simple enough, with a quick download from mysql.com and a quick edit to my http.conf file, but PHP power-users will want a more robust PHP setup than what Apple offers by default. Keep an eye on Marc Liyanage's site for an updated PHP installer that works with the folder structure changes in Leopard. Glad I have good backups though, I wasn't expecting my development environment to disappear with the OS upgrade.

In Tiger, I was using SuperDuper! to backup my root drive to an external FireWire (daily) and USB 2 (weekly) drive. I had it set to start first thin in the morning, but if I slept in (which is happening more now that it's so dark and wintery in the morning) the cron wouldn't run on time as I keep my box shut down at night. With Time Machine, it'll do backups while I'm working... all in the background. I don't even have to think about the daily backups anymore. When SuperDuper! is Leopard ready, which they've said should be soon, I'll get that weekly backup running again. I think it'll be a good setup for my needs. If you're interested, here's a diagram of my setup.

iChat is better, I don't need Chax for tabs and such anymore. However, the silliness with the background replacement and other effects are only somewhat usable. Here's how it works in my office, which isn't super bright and the wall behind me is covered with books and artwork:

I don't really have many buddies that are Mac users, so things like iChat, screen sharing, etc, aren't important. However, it'd be neat to try it out one day.

Overall, Leopard feels snappier. It might not actually be quicker but it feels that way. The upgrade went smoother than any other OS upgrade I've ever done, including Windows and Ubuntu. It's clean, crisp and much more consistent with itself than with previous versions. And yay!, the old 10.0 stripes are finally gone! I'll see if I can write up a review with screenshots for some of the things that aren't already blogged to death (like the Glass Dock, for example). What's your experience with it so far?

Update Nov 15th, 2007: Seems Time Machine is dog slow when using a USB drive as the destination. I'm having difficulties with my LaCie FireWire drive that are unresolved, so couldn't try that (other sources say FireWire is faster for TM). So, I stuck another 500GB drive into my Mac Pro and have Time Machine running 100% internally... and now, it's fast. Hardly noticeable when it's doing its thing. So the new backup setup is as follows: Time Machine to the internal drive, weekly backups to the USB drive via Carbon Copy Cloner (until SuperDuper! is Leopard ready). Think I've got my bases covered.

On that note, does anyone out there know of a good backup solution for Windows Vista?

100 Reasons You'll Be Fusterated

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 01:01:04 PST

100 Reasons You'll Be Speechless
Oh yeah? Not in my experience with Vista. Here's what I have to say about Microsoft's top 100 reasons why everyone's so speechless.

1. It makes using your PC a breeze
Not if you've grown accustom to things being obvious places. One example being the oh-so-XP-(and earlier)-esque Display Properties panel that Vista broke into multiple pieces and hid throughout the operating system. So much of the old OS sticks out like a sore thumb in the new OS.

5. It can find your stuff
Good, 'cause I sure can't. Where the heck did the "File Edit..." bar go? (yeah yeah, I know you can press alt to make it appear. Not very intuitive though).

15. Because your PC remembers to back up for you
That is, unless the backups fill up the drive they're saved on. Backup and Restore center should be smart enough to keep the latest version and scrap older backed up versions when the drive gets full. In my experience, Vista chooses to simply stop backing up instead. Smart move. The backups are also in a series of odd-named zip files. In my opinion, a decent backup solution should let me into my backup files w/o needing to extract them all out of zipped zip files.

17. It's like having your own personal anchorman
Thanks to the good folks at Konfabulator (now Yahoo). Widgets, Dashboard, Gadgets... it's all be done. Hardly something new to brag about, Microsoft.

20. Set up your home network in a flash
... If you've got everyone on the Vista train. Doesn't play will with Mac or Linux... not in "a flash", at least. Don't even get me started on Printer Sharing.

24. Because you don't want to worry about spyware
Worry? First thing we do with a new system is patch it and protect it with anti-spyware and anti-virus. Of course we worry about it. I trust Windows Defender just as much as I trusted Windows XP. Sorry. Problems and holes in Windows is primarily *why* we worry about spyware and such.

31. Because your PC lets you know if something's wrong - and helps you fix it
Errors I've gotten still say things like "Unexpected Failure - " then lists some hex code. That's helpful... if I was a Microsoft engineer. Other errors include "Internet Explorer has stopped working. Tell Microsoft about this problem". If I tell Microsoft, will they send someone over to fix the problem? If not, "... and helps you fix it" isn't completely true, is it.

45. Because you hate all those boxes and wires
Isn't this a hardware feature more than a software feature?

50. Get more out of the web
Tabbed Browsing in Windows Internet Explorer 7
Finally IE has caught up with the rest of the browsing world (not new news though). I give IE7 a bit of credit, it's not half bad. Still has a long way to go with CSS3 and better PNG support, to name a few.

63. Help is always available
Funny about the help. I had to fix my own OS setup so that the Help files used the correct CSS file. They looked totally out of place w/o the stylesheet. Not only that, they've got a "We'll walk you through it" feature that will open windows for you and show you each step of the way to where you want to go. It showed me like 7 steps to get to the Folder Options so I could "Show Hidden System Files".

I can't comment on all of the reasons, even the ones that are repeated as "fillers". Needless to say, I'm not as thrilled with Vista as I wanted to be. It has potential, but not as much as Microsoft is making it out to have. Pretty, but not a contender. If you're in the market, I suggest you wait for SP1 (and some reviews to ensure SP1 has cleaned it up a bit).

Update: I should probably list this somewhere else, but another annoyance I have with Visa is it's refusal to do what it's told. I can't say how many times I've confirmed and re-confirmed that my sleep setting is set to 20 minutes... and Vista seems to ignore that and won't *ever* sleep unless it's done by hand via the Start -> Shut Down menu. So frustrating and not very good for my energy bill.

Uninstall Office from your Mac

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:00:08 PST

You may have recently read my initial review of iWork'08. If you haven't go check it out. As I said in that post, I don't think iWork is yet full enough of an application to 100% replace Microsoft Office when you're more than a home user who creates more than just simple, standard Office tasks. Plus, in a world full of Windows users, we Mac folks still struggle with the occasional jarbled Word doc or spreadsheet that isn't even cross-compaitible between Microsoft products. True, it happens only rarely these days, but still shows up enough to warrant a complaint. So, the underlining theme seems to be that a) People don't seem to realize that ".doc" is NOT a file format designed for sharing (I'll speak more of this in a moment), and b) MS Office isn't always MS Office if it's not on Windows.

So if I need Office and iWork isn't quite enough, what's with the blog title? Well, I've been in the process of discovering Parallels. Parallels is OS virtualization software for Mac with really great OS integration features. With Parallels, I can run Windows XP Professional on my Mac and have it run just as quickly (for the tasks I use it for) as on my PC hardware. It really is quick, especially if you've been used to the old Virtual PC or have been RDC'ing to Windows. In Parallels, Windows applications run similar to how Classic apps run within the OS X environment on pre-G5 machines. Best part about Parallels is that it integrates with the doc and other Mac OS elements.

I have it set up to open Microsoft Word on Windows XP in Parallels when I double click on any .doc or .xls file on my Mac. It opens whether Parallels was open at the time or not... and Parallels startup is nearly as fast as Word for Mac opened. Not only do I not have to continue to pay for a second seat to run Office, but I've eliminated all of the OS incompatibilities that plague the Mac versions of Microsoft's apps.

I'm happy with it, though I wish iWork'08 could have done the same job. Since I'm only ever running web browsers and office applications in Windows, I hardly see any memory hit while running Windows. It really is as good as they all say.

PayPal thinks I'm a Terrorist

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 05:01:06 PST

I have this convenient method for clients to pay me using PayPal with or without a PayPal account. Unfortunately, if the payment is greater than a particular amount, PayPal refuses it based on the assumption that it is potentially a transaction to or from a terrorist. What did PayPal suggest as a fix? "Just wait 24 hours and try again", is what they said. What!?! Even the guy I spoke to at PayPal thought it was an odd rule/solution.

Never would have known if my client hadn't notified me they couldn't get through. Here's what they (my client) said:

I tried paying my bill via your PayPal interface, but I got this message: "The credit card you entered cannot be used for this payment. Please enter a different credit card number." I don't think it's a data-entry problem, cuz I re-entered it twice w/ the same result. Any ideas? Cuz I'd sure love to get my air miles for this payment!! ;-)

Naturally, I called PayPal right away and asked what's up. Glad I did, though. This isn't something I found in any of the poorly-documented documentation I was able to get my hands on when signing up for my business account. Well, all of that being said, I still highly recommend PayPal for most purposes and will continue to offer the "pay online" option to my clients.

Update:
So, after many calls to PayPal and talking to many different phone representatives, it's been concluded that PayPal's Business Premier account DOES have limits on the amout of per-request transactions for non-PayPal users (ie: plain credit card transactions).

PayPal's only suggestions were a) have the client sign up for a paypal account, or b) break the invoice into 6 or 7 transactions.... WHAT?!? Who wants to go through a checkout process 6 or 7 times for a single invoice? I'm not going to do that to my clients, there's no way. Unfortunate, though, that I can no longer recommend PayPal for anything but small transactions.

iWork '08: Finally an Alternative to Office?

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:00:07 PST

Yesterday, Apple released iWork '08 which included the much anticipated and rumored spreadsheet application dubbed "Numbers". That's the most exciting part of the release, in my opinion, and it's lack of inclusion with previous versions of iWork is a big reason Mac users haven't taken to it rather than Microsoft Office.

I've never been an iWork user, but have tried them out each release hoping for enough features and cross application consistency to make it worthy as my main office software. It hasn't, until yesterday's announcement about Numbers.

Numbers seems to put Excel table like functionality into a page layout application. It makes sense for those who have used Excel to create multi-table/chart/picture documents, which I don't do, or for the home user. It seems to do these very well, and has a sidebar (rather than Excel tabs) to access pages (or in xls terms, "sheets") and elements within each page. I like how tables start from nothing and grow from there rather than how Excel defaults to something like 5000 rows and hundreds of columns or something... you don't work with more than you want to.

First thing an Office user will ask, is how compatible is it with documents created in Word and Excel. I opened up a few of my .doc and .xls files and received error warnings on each, mostly having to do with fonts. The error dialog box is clever and actually helpful listing exactly what the problem is and, in my case the name(s) of the missing fonts, so that I know exactly what to fix if I feel it's necessary. Here's a picture of the same document, originally a Word document, side by side with iWork (on the left):

The documents are nearly identical. The only difference being a very slight difference in line-height. The pages' content didn't all end and start at the exact same place in Pages as it did in the original document. Slightly more complex documents with headers and footers, page breaks and embedded tables worked fine too. The only thing I haven't been able to test is what happens when Word or Excel has macros (which should be abolished, imo). I'm sure they don't work, but then again, they don't belong in a document or spreadsheet to begin with. Rant: It's just as bad as when Word is used to design and create a web page.

A super, and slick, addition to the iWork applications is a text formatting bar. The OS X text panel is great and it's nice that it's consistent across all Coca applications (consistency = good), but it's not quick and easy like the standard "BIU" bar. iWork has it now... hope it makes it into other similar applications as a standard. Here's a screenshot (chopped in half to fit it in this article):

All in all, iWork looks and works great. I don't think anyone who already has and uses Office for Mac should uninstall it and go 100% iWork until they try it out and are fully comfortable... it is quite different and will take some getting used to. However, it is exciting to see a reasonably priced Office suite that contains the features the average user wants, without the bloat of more. I'll be giving it a try in day-to-day work and see how it handles things. I think I'll be happy with the results... only time will tell.

Google Analytics Coolness

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:01:06 PST

Looking through my Google stats and conversions, I noticed that "Fat Superman" is one of my stronger site keywords. In fact, a Google Search brings me up at spot #1! Ha! Are people searching for this and finding me? Better question is what are people searching for fat Superman?

STP '07 Finisher!

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:00:09 PST

My Dad and I did the STP this year. It's a 202 mile bike ride from UW College in north Seattle to the eastside of Portland. We did it in two days so we could enjoy the scenery, people and the trip in general. There were abut 15% of the 9000 bikers who made it in a single day, amazing.

It was a fun ride... tough, but fun. First day was definitely a difficult day for me as my training wasn't near what it should have been... oh, and it was hot as hell. The bikers were at the starting line and had been leaving ever 20 or 30 minutes ever since 5:30 am, we left soon after 7 as it took a while to get our group together and all group pictures taken.

The beginning of the ride took us mostly through residential neighborhoods in Seattle... lots of little up and down hills, really nice ride. There were all kinds of bikes and all types of riders. Lots of tandem bikes, recumbents, even a unicycle! There were people who looked totally out of shape, and others who look like Lance Armstrong. Saw quite a few kids too, everyone cheered them on when they passed. Father of the year awards go out to all of the dads that were pulling their kids on a tandem or other type of two seater.

The real tough parts didn't really start until Puyallup, home of the Big Hill. It was a two part hill that seemed to go on forever. I didn't walk it, although my legs and arms were telling me I should. Great feeling topping it as it was the most difficult hill of the whole trip. There were many more nearly as tough, but this one toped them all.

When we hit Centralia, our center point at the 102 mile point, at around 5, it sure was nice to rest the feet and butt. Had some time to chat with some of the other bikers, take in some spaghetti and a few cold ones. It was a much needed break.

The next day was much of the same, but I was able to keep up with the rest of the group alot more than I did the first day. I knew where it was going to hurt and I think that helped me get past it and just ride. The "Entering Oregon" sign came faster than I had expected, day went quick compared to the previous day. However, once in Oregon, we were still about 50 miles west from our destination in east Portland. The ride down 30 in Portland was long and hard. There were many cars, the road wasn't very smooth for most of it, and we were so close, yet so far. Both my Dad and I were feeling the burn and ready for the finish line for sure. It didn't take us too long to finally get into Portland and once we did there was a short, super steep hill right in the beginning. STP map planners: that's just cruel ;) I made it up though... didn't walk a single hill the whole trip.

There was a decent crowd at the finish line when we arrived around 5:30pm Sunday evening. They were cheering and making noise as we made it into Hollady park near the Lloyd Center. I got my "Finisher" patch and finally got to see my kid and wife. I actually made it and could hardly believe I was done.

I had a great time, I'd recommend it to some, but not all, people for sure. I'll probably do it next year, but am not committing to anything until the pain goes away from this one. Congratulations to everyone else who made it.

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Seattle to Portland: STP Bike trip

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:01:05 PST

I've been training and getting ready for a couple months now riding my bike and running to basically get myself from totally out of shape to mostly in shape. I'm feeling good, I think... I'm no super-athlete or anything, but it's nice to get out of the office every once in a while.

For training, I've been riding from my house to the local Washington Square mall... roughly 15 miles or so. It's pretty hilly so I really feel the burn by the time I'm done... well, lately I've been feeling the burn from this outrageous weather we're having, too. What's with Oregon being 100 degrees!?! I've done a couple longer rides, but not many. In between bike rides, as I don't go every day... still have a family to be with... I run probably 3 miles, which is big for me.

So, hope I'm ready for it... we'll see. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it.

Technology Schmechnology

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:01:00 PST

What's the deal with DVD's, aren't they supposed to make life easier? When they came out, it was great not having to rewind like with our VHS. But after having a kid who watches a DVD every once in a while, I'm starting to miss the option of being able to fast-forward and rewind. Take his Thomas the Tank Engine DVD's for example. Picture a cranky kid who really wants to watch his shows and a parent who is itching for a good hour of peace and quiet. The DVD is put in and loads (10-20 seconds, no big deal). First we get to sit through almost a minute of FBI warnings and notices about copy protection that is already available on the box... we get it, don't copy your stuff... enough already. Then comes the "previews" which, while playing, have disabled the skip / menu buttons. With VHS we could simply fast forward through previews we don't want to see... minor inconvenience, but no big deal.

Thomas isn't as bad as Sesame Street. They've got a super-long introduction about how our purchase of their DVD helps "educate kids around the world"... blah blah blah. I don't care, my kid doesn't care, we just want to see Elmo and veg for an hour. Our cheap-o $30 DVD player seems to be able to FFWD through the Thomas previews while our higher-quality Pioneer player does not. Neither player can get through the annoying Sesame Street previews.

Weren't we supposed to see lower per-album prices when the lower-production-cost CDs first came out? I haven't seen it. And why, when the technology is there, does the new tech make our lives increasingly difficult and add more wait time.

Sorry for the rant... there's only so many times you can sit through some of these kid's shows until... well... you gotta say something ;)

For Sale: Emerilware Pots and Pans

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:01:05 PST

Not to use my website for shameless promotion of things I'm selling, but my wife and I have put up a top quality set of Emeril pots and pans on CraigsList. They're in excellent condition... shiny and *almost* new looking. They've been great, but we got a new set. Check out the posting on CraigsList.org (note: link will change every 7 days until sold).

Unpublicized OS X 10.4.10 update

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:00:07 PST

Apple Update (as well as many websites, RSS feeds, etc) notified me of the unfortunately named OS X 10.4.10 update yesterday. After downloading, things seemed just the same... didn't have problems with the old 10.4.9, so didn't expect anything awe-inspiring in the update. However, the next day (this morning) I open iCal as I do every morning and notice that I can now easily select a color for my calendars in the drawer. This is exciting to me because I've got many calendars and I like to keep the subscription calendars the same color as what I've got in Google Calendar and my wife's Google Calendar.

If you haven't seen the dropdown yet, check it out next time you're in iCal:

It isn't a ground-breaking update, but it's nice to be able to select from default iCal colors as well as any other color (I've got upwards of 20 calendars in my iCal, which makes for a lot of color sharing). I'm hoping I don't look like an idiot posting this if this feature has been in iCal previously and just missed it... if so, please do let me know ;)

Hope you find this tip useful.

Convert to JPG with Automator

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:00:08 PST

I used the built in CMD+Shift+3 (or 4) to create screenshots for many reasons, and I love that OS X saves these as .png by default. The quality is great and the file size is decent. However, if I sent a .png file to someone via email, they might not necessarily recognize the file extension and not know how to open it... I know, it's dirt simple IMO, but some are simply less savvy ;)

So, the solution I came up with is put a "Convert to JPG" action into my contextual menu so I don't have to do it all in Photoshop or Fireworks.

It was really simple to do with the built in Automator functions, and my "workflow" showed up in the contextual menu when I put it into my Workflows folder in ~/Users/[computer name]/Documents/Workflows.

Now, I can make a screenshot and use it uncompressed in graphics work as a .png, or I can quickly convert it into a jpg to send via email or whatever. If this sounds like a better solution than permanently changing your screenshot format (in the Terminal: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg) then download the workflow from the link below, or open Automator and try build it yourself.

» Download Convert_to_JPG.zip Automator Workflow

Safari 3... on Windows?

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:01:04 PST

At WWDC 2007, Steve Jobs announced Safari 3 beta for Windows is available for download. Safari on Windows? Yeah, it sounded odd to me too. The consensus on the blogisphere seems to be that it's for iPhone support, primarily. I guess that makes sense, however it'd be nice if some of these new devices would interface a bit better with the alternatives available and commonly used like IE and Firefox. I shouldn't complain, though, iTunes makes the iPod experience what it is, I'm sure Safari is going to play a big part of the iPhone experience.

So, how is the beta, you ask? I installed it in Windows Vista Business edition just to try it out... didn't try it on Mac though. It's surprisingly similar to the Mac version, even down to font smoothing. It's hand, I'm sure, for developers who are primarily PC users and need to test sites in Safari, but from an "OS integration" and consistency standpoint I'd prefer it to use the Windows "clear type" font smoothing, window shadows, etc that's part of the parent operating system. There are some rendering differences between Safari 2 on Mac and Safari 3 on Windows, but I'm sure those are being worked out to make the two fully consistent with each other (or I just noticed the differences in sites who write sloppy code).

For the most part, it's what Apple says it is: the Safari browser on Windows that's faster than IE and Firefox. I totally noticed the difference, even with my "speed tweaked" Firefox 2. Will I use it over Firefox? No, however I may reconsider if it does bookmark sync w/o a .mac account. Will it fully replace my need for the other browsers? No way. There are still many sites who "forget" to put Safari in the list of compatible browsers even though it technically works just fine.

I'm happy to see another decent browser in the pool. I'm sure that it'll at least hold it's #4 spot in the list of most common browsers, or at least hold a close #5. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

Why I love the Wii

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 01:00:07 PST

I've always been a big Zelda fan, so when I saw screenshots of "Twilight Princess", I knew it was time to get the Wii. It's an amazing gaming machine, I'm glad I went with Wii over Xbox360. Wii gameplay is great and really comfortable in my hands, much less "trigger finger" stress like I used to get with the Playstation.

Graphics are definitely sub-par compared to PS3 and 360. I'm running it through component cables on my 42in plasma tv, and the jaggies are quite noticeable more often than not. It's not a deal breaker for me though, I'm used to the jaggies. It's a small price to pay for the motion-sensor gameplay actions of swinging my sword and targeting by pointing the "wand".

Wii Sports is so fun. My favorite is tennis and golf. Haven't really mastered bowling or boxing yet and still getting the hang of baseball. I'm a pro level tennis player and golfer... quite proud of that ;). You never really know how out of shape you are until you get sweaty and tired playing Wii Sports. A couple rounds of boxing and I'm ready for some Gatorade and a break.

All of the Wii users in my generation are asking the same question: when can I be a Jedi in a Wii game? The console is *designed* for Star Wars, the controller is shaped just like a light saber. I've played many other non-Wii Star Wars games and they've all been cool, but being a Jedi has always been lacking. Pressing a series of buttons to swing a light saber just doesn't feel right. Lucas, Nintendo... you on this one?

The other great thing about Wii is I can finally play N64 games. I skipped that console (and the GameCube, actually), but have always really liked the N64 version of Mario Cart. With the Wii, I can get the game w/o the console which saves me some quid. I have a wide screen set and the 3D games like Mario 64 and Mario Cart don't get fuzzy when in WS mode. The actual vertices seem to stretch which is something I can handle... fuzzy distortion wouldn't be cool, but stretched, but still crisp and clear display was a pleasant suprise. The classic controller is nice and kinda wireless, which is nice since my console sits about 10 feet from my couch. "Kinda wireless" means the controller wire plugs into the wireless "wand" controller, so I'm wired up to that point, but can move the pair of controllers anywhere I want to play.

This is unique content by no means as everyone had a Wii before me, but the wait was well worth it.

It's Reba's Birthday Today

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:00:07 PST

For my wife's birthday, I made her a website to showcase her photography (which is awesome, btw). Go check out RebaKenison.com, and be sure to send her a birthday greeting :)

Year of McMenamins:First stop "Cornelius Pass Roadhouse"

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:01:03 PST

My wife and I are doing all McMenamins this year (or at least try), and blogging it each step of the way. Should be fun.

The first step in our journey was the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse & Imbrie Hall. The atmosphere there is better than most... it's an old barn all rustic and dark with a gear system of ceiling fans keeping the place aerated. It's a bit loud as it can get pretty packed, but since it's got a couple levels and a really high roof, it's not too loud to hear your own party. And it's loud enough we don't feel bad when our 2-year old is loud ;).

The food, as with all McMenamins, is average. I had a plate of tots because I was really there for the beer this particular night. I usually get the Garden Burger with a Boca patty (when available) as I don't eat meat. Options are sparse for vegan/vegetarians, but when there's at least one good thing on the menu, there isn't much to complain about.

I had 3 Wheat beers (my favorite), hold the lemon. Beer was really good here, I think they do some brewing at that facility, not totally sure. I know I've had the same at some of the smaller McMenamins that didn't taste as good, not sure why. Their Wheat is full of body with a good smooth finish. It's high in that "microbrew" taste where it looks and feels a little dirty, which is what the real beer-lovers are looking for anyhow. Cornelius Pass Roadhouse is my favorite non-hotel spot for a good McMena-brew so far.

Reba's Review:
Our first stop on the Kenison McMenami (plural for McMenamins!) Blog Tour was the infamous Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. The atmosphere alone is enough to make you return again and again. With the rustic octagonal barn and giant metal torch with winding out door paths, it's easy to get lost in the beauty and forget to eat altogether! But, that's not the only good thing about this historical pub nestled among the trees.

Being the thrifty hip parents that we are, we hit the pub scene for happy hour and what a happy hour it was. Although I can't say much for the selection of food, the prices can't be beat. The $4 "happy hummus" is always a hit with me. It's the same as the regular $7.25 hummus plate, minus the veggies, which is a bummer, but I'll take no veggies for $3 less any day! The happy wine is 50 cents off, which is better than nothing considering I would have ordered the pino noir blanc even if the hour was sad. Actually, the fruity aroma and smooth finish probably makes me forget that the food isn't quite up to Portland par. But, I still love being amongst the rugged and artistic decor and dim lighting. McMenamins never fails to make me feel right at home and our sever this time was prompt and friendly.

As for the kids meal, for a mere $2.90 River had a full PB&J with a full serving of McMenafries (you either love em or hate em. For me, it depends on the time of the month!) and pickles slices. He ate about half, which is saying a lot for a picky 2 year old, leaving this McMenamom very happy. (hour).

Conclusion:
Overall, Cornelius Pass Roadhouse is one of the best. It's welcoming with a friendly atmosphere and great staff. Summer is the best time to really experience this place as 70% of what's so great about the Roadhouse is the surrounding area, the barn, outdoor seating and pizza house.

Class of '97 High School Reunion

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Can't believe it's been 10 years already, but it's here. Fellow class-members of CFS/PCS, be sure to check out CFSClassof97.com for information and to RSVP.

Free Vista DVD Received from Powertogether.com

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

With the imminent Windows Vista release, I'm one of the lucky ones who'll be upgrading today. Thanks to PowerTogether.com and their "watch a few videos, get Vista for free" deal, I've got Vista Business in my hand... product key and everything.

The package I got was plain. No box or anything, just a slip-sleeve similar to a trial software package. Inside, however, contains the Vista DVD, covered with the trademark holograms and my very own Product ID. It'll be nice to drop my RC1 partition for something a bit more permanent.

This is exciting for me as I've been running XP Home on my Dell Dimension for a while now as it's been nothing but a headache trying to do anything with my XP Pro (pre-SP1) upgrade disc. I really miss being able to network/RDC/etc easily with Windows. I don't use Windows for anything other than seeing how my websites look in IE, and the occasional game or two. With Vista Business, I may do a bit more in Windows... we'll see how it goes.

I'll probably do a write up of my thoughts on the new OS within the week now that I'll be playing with the *final* version, rather than a release candidate. Stay tuned for that.

On a side note, I spent a good portion of the last couple days getting Ubuntu running on a third partition (if you're counting, that's XP, Vista RC1, Ubuntu). It's amazing how much faster Linux runs outside of a virtual console like VMWare or Q. I'm hoping to get a bit more time to play with Ubuntu and get acquainted with the OS as it comes highly recommended by a couple of my buddies.

Looking Forward to 2007 @ the Movies

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Buzz on the internet has gotten me really excited for the upcoming year with an amazing lineup of comicbook-related blockbusters. Have you seen the latest trailer for Transformers? I've been a fan since the old 80's cartoon... BIG fan. From what I can tell from the trailer, this one won't disappoint anyone other than the Transformer "purist" (movie Optimus vs. classic Optimus).

Fantastic Four movie of 2005 was really disappointing, I thought. Of course, F4 were always the lamest of the popular superhero teams. But then came the Silver Surfer. Check out the trailer, ignore the F4 team and marvel (pun intended) at how totally radical the Silver Surfer is, and how potentially-awesome Rise of the Silver Surfer could be. The surfer's always been one of my favorites, although in the comics his stories can get pretty weird.

I don't have to tell you about Spiderman 3. Last one left me speechless, 100% perfect comicbook-movie adapation... hey, they even made lame-ass "Doc Ock" a cool villian! I don't want that franchise to ever end.

Also looking forward to:

Ghost Rider
Frank Miller's 300
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(not comic-related, but kinda the same)

Then, it appears it just keeps coming in 2008 with more awesomeness such as Iron Man, Voltron, and the next Batman installment "The Dark Knight". I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself

... Now, if only I can find a babysitter for the kid ;)

Happy Thanksgiving

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

To everyone out there having a "Turkey Day", best to you. Me and mine will be enjoying a delicious, animal-free Tofurkey®, as we do every year. If you haven't yet tried, it's a great alternative to the classic. I look forward to it every year... can't wait until tomorrow, I can taste it now :)

IM Status AppleScript

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I've been searching all over the place for a simple way to set my instant messenger status without needing to change it in every chat client I've got running. I run iChat for AIM and Jabber (Google Talk) accounts, AdiumX for Yahoo!, ICQ and MSN, and Skype for VoIP. So, if I get up to pee, or something, I've got to set myself as "Away" in 3 apps before I go.

With OS X 10.4 Tiger, I assumed Automator would be full of useful tools to make this a simple task, but unfortunately Automator's options for iChat is limited and non-existent for Adium and Skype. I found an AppleScript that included some iChat reference of changing settings, and after some trial-and-error, was able to come out with this:

set myStatus to display dialog "Select your IM Status:" buttons {"Away", "Available"} default button 1

tell application "iChat"
  if the button returned of myStatus is "Away" then
    set status to away
  else
    set status to available
  end if
end tell

tell application "Adium"
  if the button returned of myStatus is "Away" then
    set my status type to away
  else
    set my status type to available
  end if
end tell

tell application "Skype"
  if the button returned of myStatus is "Away" then
    send command "SET USERSTATUS AWAY" script name "My Script"
  else
    send command "SET USERSTATUS ONLINE" script name "My Script"
  end if
end tell

Running this AppleScript will pop up a dialog box that gives you 2 options: "Away" and "Available". Clicking on either will update all 3 chat clients with a mere 3 clicks... 1 double-click to open the script + 1 click to set your status.

Seems to work well for my needs, although I'd love to figure out how to toggle the status and bypass the dialog box all together... anyone have any ideas?

• Download IM Status* (AppleScript and compiled app included)
(*Mac OS X and latest iChat, Adium and Skype required for script as-is)

Found this humorous...

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I glance at on of my RSS feed widgets on my desktop and what do I find? "First bald eagle hat...". I laughed out loud... made my day :)

Piracy and... Me?

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Don't quite know why they did it, but the folks at BlackZee.com have stolen one of my cartoons. I know it's a neat little drawing, but come on, it's not that good.

Screenshot from BlackZee.com:

My Drawing: Click Here to see it in my portfolio.

What, they can't read a copyright? Or come up with their own artwork? Looks like they stole a whole site, minus the graphic which they stole from me, from WebMenu.com. So, well, don't use BlackZee.com, they're pirates. Arrgh.

Internet Over Fiber

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Verizon's FiOS service is data over fiber optic cable. It's fast. Verizon offers 3 plans, 5mbps download/2mbps upload, 15 down/2 up and 30 down/5 up. I got the 5/2 plan since what I had with Comcast was 3/.25... on a good day. Comcast's speeds were inconsistent and the connection wasn't as stable as I had hoped. I kept having to "power cycle" my cable modem, which meant unplugging my modem from the wall and the internet, letting it sit for 30 seconds, and plugging it back in. I've got my whole house wired with Cat5, so I keep all of the cords and stuff in a box in my garage. I know I need the excercise, but seriously, I don't want to go downstairs that often to tinker with the hardware.

So, how was installation? It was fairly simple. V did have to dig a trench from my neighbor's front yard to my house to lay some fiber, but they did a decent job of making it look how they left it. There's a big box on the outside of my house as well as in my garage connected to my central wiring system.

There's no modem (that is, unless it's inside one of these boxes). Once that hardware was installed by the Verizon technician, all I had to do was plug and play. I also got a wireless D-Link router to replace my LinkSys wired router. I'm not actually doing anything wireless, but it was free with the service. D-Link router works way better than LinkSys, very happy with it.

Speed you ask? Well here's what I've been experiencing in my first week on fiber:

Verizon FiOS Price: $35/month

FROM		DOWN	UP  
Seattle: 	4946	1748
San Fransisco: 	4948	1746
Los Angeles: 	4951	1743
Dallas: 	4823	1172
Chicago: 	4855	1143
Atlanta: 	4956	1727
New York: 	4646	1720
Wa. DC: 	4451	1714
Avg: 		4.8mb	1.7mb

Here's the speed tests pre-FiOS:

Comcast Price: $50/month

Seattle: 	2720	287
San Fransisco: 	2178	348
Los Angeles: 	2765	355
Dallas: 	2082	349
Chicago: 	2631	254
Atlanta: 	2765	353
New York: 	2769	355
Wa. DC: 	2318	355
Avg: 		1.5-3mb	384mb

Speed Tests run from SpeakEasy

"The Fours"

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Seems to be going around in the blogging community, so here's my list of "top four's".

Four jobs I've had

Humongous Entertainment Lead Online Web Designer
Hulabee Entertainment Web Games Developer
Jack, Will & Rob Center Web Design Teacher
Montana Banana Senior Programmer

Four movies I love

Four places I've lived

San Diego, CA
Kent, WA (just south of Seattle)
Mill Creek, WA (way north of Seattle)
Portland, OR

Four TV shows I can't miss

Smallville
Scrubs
Arrested Development (can't believe it got cancelled)
Family Guy

Four places I've vacationed

Disneyland in CA
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Peurto Vallerta, Mexico
Mazatlan, Mexico

Four of my favorite dishes

Anne's No-Cheese Pizza
Shells and Chreese (yes, that's spelled correctly)
Baja Fresh Grilled Veggie Burrito
Boca Burger from McMenamins, with a plate of tots

Four sites I visit daily

Apple.com... always looking for something new
PHP.net
Google News (via RSS)
Macworld.com

Four places I'd rather be right now

Henry's Tavern
McMenamins' Cornelius Pass Roadhouse
On a Mexican Cruise
The Movies

New Toy: Palm Zire 72s

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Thanks to Overstock.com and their great prices, I picked myself up a shiny Palm Zire 72 Silver Special Edition. I know they were recently discontinued and replaced with the TX, Tungsten and LifeDrive kinds of handhelds, but the Zire 72 is a full-featured Palm with everything I need/want to organize my life. It's got a crisp, clear screen, 1.3 mega-pixel camera, Bluetooth and and SD card expansion slot. It's great. Syncs well with my Mac's iCal and Address Book with a little help from iSync. If I want to go mobile, I can WAP through Bluetooth on my phone. There are, however some well known inconsistencies with synced data, namely with categories, but that doesn't affect me much.

Many years ago, I aquired a Palm IV unit, but it was unusable as I couldn't quite get the whole Graffiti input letter shapes and such. Graffiti 2, which the Zire 72 uses, is way easier to use, I haven't had any troubles even without reading the Graffiti 2 instructions. Well done Palm.

Since I didn't like the Palm IV much, I tried PocketPC. Got an HP Jornada 548... big mistake. Cost me around $300 and I made this choice over the Compaq iPaq because the specs looked better. Then, like a week after I got it, they discontinued it and stopped supporting it. Then the iPaq became the PocketPC to have as I was reminded by the suckiness of my Jornada that HP should stick with printers. It was heavy, slow and needed frequent resets... and only synced with Microsoft's apps.

For the longest time I had my eyes on the Treo 650, but my mobile carrier, T-Mobile, recently stopped carrying these units. Don't really want the hassle of trying to unlock one to use with T-Mobile or buy a used one, and it's probably better in the long run as I hear the Treo is a great PDA but a sub-par phone... that's just what I've heard.

One my my goals this year is to get organized with everything and my Zire 72 is going to be a great tool for helping me do so.

What a sad day it is...

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

It's official. Macromedia is now gone, swallowed into the "Walmart of software companies": Adobe. Upon visiting Macromedia.com, I was welcomed with a new, albeit ugly new site design full of whites and grays. The layout is generally the same, but the colors, backgrounds and everything else have been stripped of all sexiness.

What does this mean for me? Well, firstly, it means that I'm now forced to either stick with my outdated Macromedia software, which will be fine for the next 6 months to a year I figure, or learn to do my web design the Adobe Way, using multiple high priced design programs for simple things that Fireworks did all on it's own.

Photoshop has kinda tightened up in the past, namely it's interface, panels and stuff. It is a tighter interface than any Macromedia program, although I much prefer the collapsable panels in Macromedia's apps. Photoshop's options bar at the top is much more user-friendly than Firework's and Flash's. But fancy layout or not, it's what the program does that makes it preferred to the designer.

Reason's why Fireworks beats Photoshop for us "Web Guy's":

Freehand/Illustrator-like vector drawing tools that work with the raster elements in the artboard.
Quicker program launch, by far.
Color Picker picks from ANYTHING... desktop, other apps, other open files, etc. VERY handy.
Import of vector data maintains it's editable vector state. Yeah, I know it's not really vector for print and stuff, but print-schmint, I'm only interested in web stuff here.
Non-destructive filters
Batch process are easier to do on the fly in Fireworks, no need to set up actions and stuff prior to the batch
Full PNG support
Web graphic "Export" can bypass Image Ready, or the giant "Save for Web" dialog box.
Non-destructive filters
Being able to use the Delete key to delete selected elements
Default keystrokes match standard default keystrokes
Lower Price... don't want to have to buy all of the extra stuff I'll never use that's built for Photographers and print designers.

I'm sure I can think of more reasons, but this is a good start of the big reasons. What I expect will happen with this whole "Big fish eats little fish" scenario is that the end user... me... is going to have to change how we do stuff to conform to how Adobe thinks we should work. Not happy about it, but then again, I'm not a shareholder, so I've got no say.

Farewell Macromedia. You will be missed.

New member to the Family

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I just picked up a new Dell Dimension 4700 with 17 inch LCD. It's stark black and sitting right next to my white G4 PowerMac... Ying and Yang. It's a P4 2.8ghz with Hyper Threading. I don't want to mention the ram or video ram as I'll be upgrading those as soon as possible, although for what I'm using it for so far, it purrs along just fine.

In fact, I never realized how loud my MDD Dual 1.25 G4 actually was (even with the standard Delta fan replaced with a quiet Panaflo fan). You can only hear the P4 when the hard drive is spinning.

On that note, I installed Apple's CHUD tools (3.5.2) for better processor management, so both processors don't run full blast when not needed. It brought my cpu temp down about 40°. Awesome!

Few things I noticed between the 2 comparably equipped desktops:

Bootup:
PowerMac takes 4 seconds longer. Now, I'm sure it's because of all the services I run at startup, including Apache web server. Or it's due to the large number of programs I've got installed or my huge Font collection. But the fresh XP box does load considerably faster. I'm sure it'll slow down as I use it more and install a few more apps.
Networking:
I was able to network my wife's computer (I gave her my old PIII 1.13ghz Sony Vaio Laptop) and my P4 with no troubles. I was able to share my PowerMac's documents with my P4 with no troubles. Sharing iTunes on all 3 systems was a snap. Viewing my P4's documents through my PowerMac hasn't bee 100% smooth though. I think it might be because my network isn't called "Workgroup", not sure yet. If you've got any suggestions, please post a comment below.
Screen fonts:
XP's screen font smoothing sucks. Text is crisp and smooth on my G4, it took alot of tweaking to get text smooth and readable on my P4.
Packaging:
Everything about unpacking my Mac was nothing less than exciting. The box was white and gray/sliver, all CD's and documents were packaged on top in a fancy little booklet. Getting my Dell was kinda boring. It came in a brown box with giant posters instructing me how to plug my computer into the wall... AND it came with an AOL CD (AOL is crap, for all of you who don't know). The experience was sub-par, but then again Apple is kinda the king when it comes to user experience.

Dashboard... no longer exciting

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Dashboard Widgets was one of the most prominent features of the new OS X operating system. Saw it all over the place in magazines, posters, websites... everyone was talking about all the cool stuff that's possible with this new tool (yes, I know the whole Konfabulator thing, story goes for them too). Being a web developer, I thought I'd make some useful widgets to at least make my day-to-day work life a bit easier. I did make a couple that worked great. First one I made was to track my project time and post my hours to a database. I've ended up reverting back to using the same tool/s in a web browser rather than in Dashboard. It's comes down to this: I already do this some other way, and how I'm doing it takes just as much time as doing it through Dashboard.

Looking at sites like DashboardWidgets.com or DashboardLineup.com it's obvious that, as a community, people we're anxious to find and/or make some usefull widgets. It's disappointing to see how many completely useless widgets people are spending their time making. Like search bars, for instance. What's the point of having search bars on your Dashboard that do nothing but open your browser to the search engine? This functionality is already built into the modern Mac browsers, why duplicate this functionality elsewhere? Same goes with RSS feeds... use Safari already! It's already there, how many RSS readers do we need?

There are a few Widgets that were unique and actually usefull. WikityWidget, Keychain Helper, and iClip Lite all gave me functionality that I didn't already have in some other program already installed on my Mac. I do have to say, however, that I find sidenote a more efficient tool for doing the things WikityWidget and some of what iClip does. This, of course, isn't saying anything negative about the widgets themselves, just my personal preference.

My dashboard is empty now, except for Apple's weather widget. I no longer have dozens of useless programs running in the background slowing down my internet connection and hogging system resources (which quite a few of them do). Sad to have no use for them, but I'm hoping it's not good-bye forever.

Comments Now Support Gravatars

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Globally Recognized Avatar (gravatar.com) now supported in all comments fields on jasonkenison.com. This means, if you have one and provide your email address, your gravatar will show up in my comments fields. It was easy and quick to set one up and I can now see my gravatar all over the web in other supported forums and blogs.

New, Free AOL Browser

Wed, 08 Dec 2004 02:00:09 PST

Because I'm a web developer, it's important that I preview my sites in as many different browsers and OSes possible. This is the *only* reason I downloaded and tried out the new AOL browser based on a version of IE6. Why AOL decided to use the outdated and in-compliant IE6 is beyond me... especially with all the great stuff coming from Mozilla.org (read: Firefox). Heck, even the latest Netscape browser (albeit bloated and hardly usable IMO) uses Firefox code as it's core.

Anyway, the new AOL browser was a unique experience from download to launch. First, the link to download only shows up randomly on aol.com. So to get to it, you've gotta refresh the page a couple times... or do a search. It downloads a downloader file which when run, downloads the installer file. I guess since AOL does cater to the lowest common denominator web user, who might be on a 56k or even a 28.8 connection, I can understand the choice to use the downloader... it should be an option though. When I ran the installer, I had no choices or options for anything. Guess AOL thinks that we trust them enough to install whatever they want w/o letting the user know what's going on. Luckily this is all happening on one of my virtual "machines", so if it sucks too much or craps all over the system, I can go back to a pre-AOL state pretty easily.

With the AOL browser freshly installed, I double-clicked on the odd-looking globe icon (what a unique choice for an icon... I'm being sarcastic) and was thrown into a full-screen browser experience. I've got tabs (one point), integrated RSS (two points) and my default homepage and Favorites auto-set to match my IE6 settings (three points... that is, assuming IE was my default browser). Wait, what's this? AOL wants to check my computer for Spyware... and there's no "No" button? I thought this was a web browser, what are system tools doing in AOL (minus 1 point)? The Spyware box opens up like every few minutes... it's like AOL thinks I'm some "internet clutz" downloading and installing unsigned software left and right. The search box attached to the browser window is AOL search only... not my preference, although search.aol.com is quite a bit slicker than it has been in the past, say 3+ years ago (minus 2 points).

Overall, AOL browser has nothing to add to the current lineup of web browsers. It's nothing more than a bloated interface on top of outdated browser software. If you want tabs, get Firefox or any of the numerous others. If you want a Desktop Search, look to your OS. If you want Spyware protection, look to the leaders in the field, not an internet company. But, if you're currently using AOL, have an @aol.com email address and *need* everything you use your computer for squeezed into a single package, there are worse choices than AOL browser. Just plan on upgrading again very soon, since it's just a bloated version if IE6, your browsing experience will be marred by Internet Explorer's shortcomings.

Related Links:

AOL.com

AOL Downloads: Download AOL Explorer

New: RSS Feed

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

Since Safari 2.0 has got such a slick RSS reader built into the browser, I thought I'd set one up. It was really simple. I did notice, however, that Safari was way more forgiving of XML's character and tag rigidness.

Safari 2.0

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I've been excited about, and have used Firefox as a secondary or, when it hit version 1.0, primary browser when it was called Firebird. It's been a great, secure and fast browser that works with the latest CSS and DHTML. Over the years, it's gained many useful features and extensions such as Web Developer and Sage (for RSS)... both of which I used(ed) very often. Features like these made it so that I can take my browser, and add in only the features I want.

After reading about Safari's hidden Debug Menu, I saw that many of the Firefox extensions that I use frequently are built into Safari. Features such as Javascript Console, Importing/Exporting bookmarks and Keyboard Shortcuts are readily accessible via the Debug Menu in Safari 2.0. They work well, too. And of course the new Safari 2.0 includes a pretty slick RSS reader built into the browser.

Safari's RSS Reader

RSS was the other thing that I started to really like in Firefox. It's the best way to read the new stuff on your favorite websites (that have RSS, naturally). Sage worked great adding that feature to Firefox. It's fast and easy to use. You can also use CSS to change how your feeds are displayed. Basically, Firefox can and does all the Safari does... the useful parts at least. The kicker is that Safari does it like 3 times as fast. Fast is good. Slowdowns and long wait-times are no good.

I'm a bit disappointed that Apple has kinda forced this on me... I mean, their new OS is what slowed Firefox down. But until some things can be fixed at Mozilla, the Apple way, for me at least, is the best way.

Upgraded to OS 10.4 "Tiger"

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I don't know why I was so excited for this, but last night I upgraded from OS 10.3.9 to 10.4 Tiger. I decided to do an "Archive and Install" due to suggestions I read online on various forums. The upgrade process was quite simple. I made a backup of files and Panther installation onto an external Firewire drive. The backup process (using CarbonCopyCloner) took about an hour as I have a lot of files to backup. I have one drive for my OS and a serial ATA Mirrored RAID for all my files, but was afraid that since my RAID setup isn't one that Apple set up, it may fail somehow. But at least I had a copy to begin with. After the backup, I disconnected the Firewire drive, then proceeded with the OS installation.

After putting the Tiger DVD install disc into my MDD G4 and double-clicking on the install file, the installer walked me through a couple of steps to help me decide how to install. The default ends up being just an Upgrade, but I knew what I was looking for and found the Archive and Install option (making sure to preserve users and network settings). Installation of everything but X11 (may install later if a program requires it) took less than 20 minutes. I had to verify my user settings when the new OS started up, but I was not asked for any long serial numbers or anything like that. I hate typing in 20+ characters, especially when these installers don't have an auto tab when you get to the end of each box. So there I was sitting in front of a fresh, clean OS X 10.4.

First impression was wow. The GUI is tightened up quite a bit. Lines and edges are crisp and clear and seems quite a bit snappier. And what is this I hear? GUI sound effects are back? Yay... *I think*. First thing I did make sure LittleSnitch was still functional. It was, but there's something about where it's located that needs updating, but it seems to work fine. I had no troubles with any installed programs as most are new and/or frequently updated apps from the big names. The second thing I checked was my local server sites and databases. Yikes! PHP4 (no, I haven't upgraded to 5 yet) wasn't enabled by default, and PHP wasn't being parsed in .html files. I had fix this in my httpd.conf file/s, no big deal. I couldn't find any reference to my previously installed MySQL database. Gee, I guess I should have backed this up, huh. Re-installing MySQL from mysql.com's installer files was no problem, and I was back up and running within minutes, but still, I did loose some database data. Luckily I do have a remote copy of everything... all the live data for the sites I've done... It'll just take some time to restore some of this to my local server.

Mail 2 is way fast... at least compared to the previous version. I read a lot of flack about its GUI, but I like it and hope Apple doesn't change it back. I had gigabytes of old mail from Panther's Mail.app that migrated flawlessly when I first opened Mail 2. Phew! Spotlight took about 15 minutes to first index my system, but after that it runs just as fast as I can use it.

One thing I'm kinda sad about is Core Imaging. I have a MDD G4, Dual 1.25Ghz system with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64 Mb DDR) video card (at least that's what I was lead to believe), which I think is the one that Core Image supports. System Profiler says that my card does not support Core Image. I don't get the ripple effect when moving Dashboard Widgets and probably any other of those useless effects, but It'd be nice to see them. Guess I'll have to upgrade my card when I have the funds.

I have yet to use Automator and have a custom Dashboard Widget in development. I'll post more on these if they end up being as useful as I think they'll be. Well done Apple, thanks for another great OS.

It's A Boy!

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

What a day it was. My wife, Reba, *thought* she might be in labor, but didn't want to bother the doctor since we had an appointment that afternoon. So, we just sat around until the appointment. The doctor said "Yep, you're in labor!". Awesome!.

We high-tailed it back home to get our stuff and headed to the hospital where it all happened.

→ Insert long story here

River came out healthy and happy. He weighed 8.6 lbs, was 19.5 inches long and sucked on everything in sight. We're all doing well and are very happy to have this wonderful addition to our family. I'll frequently post photos of the baby doing stuff in my photo galleries, here's the first one.

Verizon DSL Service

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I recently moved from an apartment near Hillsboro, Oregon, to a Beaverton house. It's a flawless 2002 in a quiet neighborhood near the Nike Headquarters. I had Verizon DSL and telephone service at the apartment, and figured the quickest and easiest thing to do would be to have the same service in my new home. High-speed internet is very important to me because I work from home doing web-related work... ok, it's more than important, it's manditory. I'm not sure who's in charge of Verizon support, but whomever it is, I'm extremely shocked at the unorganized level of service they were able to provide. Let me explain...

On September 22nd, I contacted Verizon to ask how long it would take them to set up phone and DSL in my new home. The Verizon representative told me that it'd take between 5 to 7 business days IF DSL is available. I wanted a solid answer, and since Verizon didn't know for sure if they'd even be able to provide DSL for me, I looked elsewhere. I called Qwest, AT&T, Sprint, and a couple others I don't remember. All said that there's nothing they could do as this is Verizon's territory.

So, knowing that to get DSL, I've gotta go with Verizon, I did some asking around to see if the previous tennants had DSL. They did have Verizon DSL, so I was in luck... it IS available. I called Verizon to make my order... this is on September 24th. Verizon took my order to set up my phone and DSL on October 1st (DSL being ready on the 4th... as it spanned a weekend). I thought everything was ready to go for me to get back to work when it was set up. The 4th came and I had no DSL service. Thus the phonecalling began.

I called Verizon for the DSL setup status. I got one Verizon representative who had no clue as to what was going on... and they kept calling me Mr. Ritter or something... and transferred me to someone else who "could help me". When I was transferred, it was like I had never talked with the previous Verizon representative. I had to start my story all over again. This person also did not understand and tried to convince me that the service was in progress of being set up. She transferred me to someone else who transferred me to someone else. This went on for about an hour and a half. Finally, as soon as I got transferred again, I asked to speak to a supervisor. This supervisor was calm and collected, but still had no answer for me as to the status of my DSL setup. They made some calls to other Verizon departments in a 3-way call setup so I could hear everything. Funny thing happened: they couldn't reach other internal departments. Talk about stellar service. I asked to speak with this persons supervisor... I was getting closer to the top where I was sure my answer was awaiting me.

I re-explained my entire story and told them that I've been on the phone for well over an hour and a half. This person called a couple other internal Verizon support people (all in the 3-way call setup) and finally made a breakthrough... some sort of explanation. They said that they didn't cancel the previous resident's account until the 4th (the previous residents moved out a week before Oct 1st). I didn't actually have service prior to the 4th, so I don't quite understand this one. They said that due to this, they wouldn't be able to set me up until the 8th. I said that was unacceptable and I needed DSL service today... period. They made a couple other calls to see if there was anything they could do to get it set up today. After a couple conversations with other Verizon support people, my date was set back even further, to the 11th. I was livid, but said fine. Set me up. I had no other choice. Sure I can't really do much work without internet, but it's the best that I could do.

Guess what happened on the 7th. I got a call from Verizon. They said that my order has been reset and I had to call yet again to "re-submit my order" and that after doing so, Verizon would need another 5-7 business days to get me up and running. WHAT!?! This was the last straw. I then decided that Verizon is simply incapable of fullfiling my needs for high-speed internet. I called Comcast... didn't really want to go with Comcast since they're such a monopolistic pirate of a company, but it's my last option. It's going to cost a bit more, but will be more than 4 times a fast, which is good.

The kicker is that when I called Verizon to cancel my DSL request, the Verizon representative couldn't find my account (and called me Mr. Ritter again), and then said that I didn't even have an order set for DSL... it was like I never called in the first place. Unbelievable. Not only does Verizon have a monopoly on my area, they also can't handle providing service to my area. I don't mind it when something is the only option... as long as it works. Otherwise, make room for something that will.

Apple 17-inch LCD

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I did my research on this one. It was a close run between the Apple 17" LCD and the same from Formac. The specs on the Formac seemd a bit better, but there were 2 problems:

1) Reviews said the casing was a bit flimsy
2) Noone carries the product in their store, so I can't look at it before I buy

That was pretty fusterating. Even the Authorized Resellers didn't know much about it or carry the product.

So. I bought the Apple display and I must say I'm very happy with it. The colors are true, the images and text are sharp, and best of all, I won't get a eyeball tumor as fast as if I was still using a CRT.

I'd totally recommend the Apple 17" display, although I have a feeling that there'll be a new line of displays coming out soon sporting the new 'metal' casing to match the G5... IMHO, the metal will look lame on a display. But to each his/her own.

I Switched

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:00:08 PST

I was doing all of my work on a PIII 1.13ghz Sony Vaio laptop... just doesn't cut it for those long hours at the office. It was time to upgrade, and I decided to go all the way and get myself a Mac. The G5's just came out, but I don't do any video or audo or anything like that. So, a dual 1.25ghz G4 with SuperDrive was more than what I needed.

I'm very happy I switched. I work on websites to be put onto an Apache server on a Linux box, so working within a *nix based environment means less minor tweaking and removing Microsoft crap from my stuff. There's quite a learning curve, especially when you're someone who knows what they're doing on a PC (unlike those 'switchers' in the commercials... they're all morons). But I'm getting the hang of it.

Specs

Machine Model:	Power Mac G4
CPU Type:	PowerPC G4 (3.2)
OS X Version:	10.4
Number Of CPUs:	2
CPU Speed:	1.25 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU):	256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU):	2 MB
Memory:	1 GB (2 DIMMS)
VRAM:	64 MB
Bus Speed:	167 MHz