Ages ago I blogged about Boca Java coffees. I must admit that I figured we’d tire of the coffee and by now would be back to buying stuff locally, somewhere other than the grocery store, most likely. I’m delighted to report that we’re still enjoying Boca Java selections. Thanks to their program that enables the selection of one free sampler with your “club” order I’ve found a couple additional blends that we really like. They change the free selection and if you really, truly want to try another blend they sell sample packets of most, perhaps all, that are currently available for roasting and shipping.
We are currently enjoying the last of a particularly tasty holiday blend that was originally offered around Halloween 2006. They continued to allow it to be ordered through February 2007 so I stocked up on the last order I could make for it. I’m hoping they will bring it back for Halloween 2007.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Spike
This is a nifty little collaborative clipboard app that enables you to share files painlessly across your network. As it states on Porchdog Software’s website: “Spike requires no configuration. Just start Spike up and it finds all of the other shared Spike clipboards on your network. Simply click on a remote clipboard and visually inspect the clippings. Double click on a clipping to load it, then go to your favorite application and paste. Or drag the clipping from Spike to your application.”
I couldn’t think of a better way to state it, so quoting the developers seemed to fit the bill here. The app allows you to easily share files between Macs on your network or between Win 2k, XP or functioning cross platform as well between Mac and Windows machines.
You do have to be on the same network for it to find other clipboards. The thumbnail images are scalable so you can see some of what is in the clipboard. I find this is a bit hit and miss depending on the type of files you are looking at. Even so, it’s extremely useful for moving files around between my Macs and on a different network for sharing files between my Macs and a Windows machine.
It works as advertised and is a useful little app for the price, especially if you are getting more than 2 copies. I’m always happy to find developers who have multi-copy or family pack pricing. Porchdog has a “try before you buy” download available at their website.
Price: 1-2 $7 per copy, 2-4 $6 per copy, 5 or more $5 per copy
website: http://www.porchdogsoft.com/products/spike/
Trampoline
For the longest time I’ve been resistant to using any type of launcher for my applications. You may find, as I did, that you have to squint at an overloaded Dock if you don’t have a launcher solution. The “folder full of aliases” in the Dock method works well. Not elegant, not configurable, but workable.
I’ve just installed Trampoline and I’m amazed at how useful it has become in just 24 hours of use. I’m hooked. I’m currently using the default alt+spacebar hot keys to open the application on my MacBook Pro. Assigning hot keys appears to be quite flexible, which should allow you to avoid interfering with hot keys you may already have set. One suggestion in the fairly helpful PDF user guide is if you happen to have a three button mouse to set the third button to open it.
Trampoline opens right under your cursor, which is convenient, though can take a bit of getting used to. Where your cursor is on the screen determines how large the “wheel“ is when it opens. It can be a bit annoying when the cursor is close to the edge of the screen since the wheel opens at the smallest setting and sometimes off the edge of the screen. The developer knows about this but the UI functions a little inconsistently when attempting to move it into usable range. That issue aside, I’m getting a great deal of use out of it, having explored about 1/2 the setting options and keyboard commands to customize it. The initial default is set to grab all the apps from your Dock (docked and open) when the app is first opened. Once that’s accomplished you can clear out that overloaded Dock and keep adding more to Trampoline. You can put folders as well as applications in the items menu. When you click on a folder it will “bounce“ you to a new wheel with the contents of the folder displayed.
There are quite a few customizable features, it’s a snap to install and you’ll likely make immediate use of it, even just using default settings. The version as of this review is 2.0.3, requires Mac OS 10.4 and is a Universal binary. This is likely to be one of the keepers out of the myriad shareware I’ve been downloading and trying out recently and may just fill that app launcher niche for you as well.
http://www.old-jewel.com/
Note: For a limited time a free version is available at http://macheist.com/ when you register and complete Heist 6.
I’ve just installed Trampoline and I’m amazed at how useful it has become in just 24 hours of use. I’m hooked. I’m currently using the default alt+spacebar hot keys to open the application on my MacBook Pro. Assigning hot keys appears to be quite flexible, which should allow you to avoid interfering with hot keys you may already have set. One suggestion in the fairly helpful PDF user guide is if you happen to have a three button mouse to set the third button to open it.
Trampoline opens right under your cursor, which is convenient, though can take a bit of getting used to. Where your cursor is on the screen determines how large the “wheel“ is when it opens. It can be a bit annoying when the cursor is close to the edge of the screen since the wheel opens at the smallest setting and sometimes off the edge of the screen. The developer knows about this but the UI functions a little inconsistently when attempting to move it into usable range. That issue aside, I’m getting a great deal of use out of it, having explored about 1/2 the setting options and keyboard commands to customize it. The initial default is set to grab all the apps from your Dock (docked and open) when the app is first opened. Once that’s accomplished you can clear out that overloaded Dock and keep adding more to Trampoline. You can put folders as well as applications in the items menu. When you click on a folder it will “bounce“ you to a new wheel with the contents of the folder displayed.
There are quite a few customizable features, it’s a snap to install and you’ll likely make immediate use of it, even just using default settings. The version as of this review is 2.0.3, requires Mac OS 10.4 and is a Universal binary. This is likely to be one of the keepers out of the myriad shareware I’ve been downloading and trying out recently and may just fill that app launcher niche for you as well.
http://www.old-jewel.com/
Note: For a limited time a free version is available at http://macheist.com/ when you register and complete Heist 6.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Readers, please help me figure this out — target="_blank" tag in iWeb
Okay, perhaps I’m already doing what can be done about this but, I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m missing something — or someone out there, somewhere, may have a better solution.
How can I *easily* get the target=“_blank” tag into my href tags when using iWeb and Google’s Blogger? Is going in after publishing and editing all the links (albeit with a global replace) the only way to do this?
I’m most interested in a fix for my iWeb pages than anything else. It’s not that much of a burden to edit the HTML on my blog after uploading from one of my journal apps. And yes, I’ve sent the “feature request” email to Apple numerous times. I know they don’t reply and I’ve no way to know if it’s ever gotten into a real feature improvement list anywhere within Apple.
I’m generally quite happy with the hardware and software that Apple makes available to the consumer but I’m really, really tired of having to go in and edit, post publishing it to .Mac, to keep readers from being whisked off my site due to an informational link I’ve included. <sigh>
Apple, is it really that hard to add a button to iWeb so that when we make a link we can choose target=“_blank” to keep people on our site?
How can I *easily* get the target=“_blank” tag into my href tags when using iWeb and Google’s Blogger? Is going in after publishing and editing all the links (albeit with a global replace) the only way to do this?
I’m most interested in a fix for my iWeb pages than anything else. It’s not that much of a burden to edit the HTML on my blog after uploading from one of my journal apps. And yes, I’ve sent the “feature request” email to Apple numerous times. I know they don’t reply and I’ve no way to know if it’s ever gotten into a real feature improvement list anywhere within Apple.
I’m generally quite happy with the hardware and software that Apple makes available to the consumer but I’m really, really tired of having to go in and edit, post publishing it to .Mac, to keep readers from being whisked off my site due to an informational link I’ve included. <sigh>
Apple, is it really that hard to add a button to iWeb so that when we make a link we can choose target=“_blank” to keep people on our site?
I'm a Mac App Junkie!
So, I admit it, I’m a Mac App Junkie. I hope to review and ultimately be able to recommend a variety of software that provides real daily value and won’t necessarily break your budget. Some really, truly useful software won’t take a single dime of your budget since their developers are putting them out there as freeware!
I’ve had the pleasure of being re-introduced to shareware in a big way over the last few months. In my early days of computing (suffice it to say I’ve been using Mac’s since they were only 1 year old and I do have a Mac 128k still tucked away somewhere) we partook of freeware and shareware via the BBS’s we chatted away on. I’m not sure I would be that trusting again on the Windows platform.
I work at a university and students sometimes teach us a few things as we attempt to teach them. I received an invitation to participate in MacHeist back in early November 2006. Their goal, which I at least believe was admirably achieved, was to heighten user awareness about great, inexpensive Mac shareware.
I’m in a definite minority going into an “event” like this. First, I’m a woman — (ack! watch those sexist comments on those forums ;-). Then, heaven forbid, I’m over 40!!
But, I like a good puzzle as much as the next guy. MacHeist was fun, the forums (for the most part) are engaging and informative and I got a boat load of useful software along with a few I’ll probably never use much.
The user community on the MacHeist forums has put me onto quite a few additional apps and places to get them. We had MacAppADay* during December. Some folks weren’t too impressed by the offerings but there were a few here and there throughout the month that I hadn’t seen before or hadn’t gotten elsewhere. I’m still using a couple on a regular basis.
I learned of MacZot! quite a bit later than many of the MacHeister’s. Since then, though, I’ve definitely found apps that were worth grabbing at the discounts provided via that site. A group that participated in MacHeist started their own “solve it and earn software” site — theAmazongroup. I’ve enjoyed participating in their site as well. Nothing has come close to the pace of MacHeist and we’re still awaiting the 6th Heist (due this Wednesday, April 18) with hints that there will be a MacHeist II sometime in the future.
I’ve found some real gems that are enhancing my Mac computing on a daily basis. I’m looking forward to passing information about them that I hope others may find useful.
* an “Under New Management” posting is all that’s up on that page these days
I’ve had the pleasure of being re-introduced to shareware in a big way over the last few months. In my early days of computing (suffice it to say I’ve been using Mac’s since they were only 1 year old and I do have a Mac 128k still tucked away somewhere) we partook of freeware and shareware via the BBS’s we chatted away on. I’m not sure I would be that trusting again on the Windows platform.
I work at a university and students sometimes teach us a few things as we attempt to teach them. I received an invitation to participate in MacHeist back in early November 2006. Their goal, which I at least believe was admirably achieved, was to heighten user awareness about great, inexpensive Mac shareware.
I’m in a definite minority going into an “event” like this. First, I’m a woman — (ack! watch those sexist comments on those forums ;-). Then, heaven forbid, I’m over 40!!
But, I like a good puzzle as much as the next guy. MacHeist was fun, the forums (for the most part) are engaging and informative and I got a boat load of useful software along with a few I’ll probably never use much.
The user community on the MacHeist forums has put me onto quite a few additional apps and places to get them. We had MacAppADay* during December. Some folks weren’t too impressed by the offerings but there were a few here and there throughout the month that I hadn’t seen before or hadn’t gotten elsewhere. I’m still using a couple on a regular basis.
I learned of MacZot! quite a bit later than many of the MacHeister’s. Since then, though, I’ve definitely found apps that were worth grabbing at the discounts provided via that site. A group that participated in MacHeist started their own “solve it and earn software” site — theAmazongroup. I’ve enjoyed participating in their site as well. Nothing has come close to the pace of MacHeist and we’re still awaiting the 6th Heist (due this Wednesday, April 18) with hints that there will be a MacHeist II sometime in the future.
I’ve found some real gems that are enhancing my Mac computing on a daily basis. I’m looking forward to passing information about them that I hope others may find useful.
* an “Under New Management” posting is all that’s up on that page these days
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sony really, truly does NOT understand consumers
Sony — a huge, huge company with some really interesting products. Take for example, the AIBO. Nifty idea. A robotic dog that you can program to do some things similar to a canine friend and a bunch of things no canine could manage.
You promote these, you sell them. You know that at least a few universities have fleets of these little guys doing things like playing RoboCup — getting a good deal of press. Then WHAM! you stop making them. But, you don’t just stop making new robotic dogs, no, you stop making ALL supporting accessories as well.
So, let’s see, you’ve made the people who forked over a few thousand dollars for each dog use proprietary memory sticks in the first place. No, these dogs couldn’t possibly use a common commodity memory stick that you produce by the millions. Oh, and you stop producing that specialized memory for them... and the batteries... and the battery chargers... ?!?
Please, did Sony expect all of the AIBO’s in existence to instantly drop dead when they decided they would make no more of them?
Trying to find a few 16MB proprietary memory sticks isn’t the first fun thing I’ve run into while attempting to support a lab that uses the AIBO’s for their research. Try finding that battery or battery charger. Don’t try to buy one from a SonyStyle store that you can’t physically walk into.
In this day and age you’d think that if Sony sells it, and it’s in stock in a store in the US, you should be able to give them a credit card and have them ship it to you, but NO WAY. They can’t possibly trust that someone is a legitimate customer if they want a battery (or two), a memory stick and are willing to pay for the shipping — whatever they want to charge for shipping! Go ahead, charge me more to ship than the product costs, I wanted the darned stuff that badly!
Every time you try to get a hold of a human to speak to at Sony a recording tells you, very pleasantly, to look for their products on their website. When you do get a hold of a human being they inevitably end up giving you a phone number to a different portion of Sony to try to track down what you are asking for. Education, call 1-800-nnn-nnnn, ah you need XYZ dept, please call 1-888-nnn-nnnn... nearly ad infinitum!
The stores do seem to routinely have a few of something that have been discontinued, at least for a little while before it’s sent to molder in a corner somewhere. These items can’t be had online because of the wonderous supply chain management that is in place in these modern days of retailing — it disappears from the Sony web (SonyStyle, direct parts, etc.) amazingly quick when Sony says “make this no more!”.
For those battery chargers I actually got shunted 3 times and then spoke with a regional sales representative at a warehouse facility somewhere in central Pennsylvania or maybe it was western New York! It was crazy. He could see the product. He knew that someone had them in stock but I COULDN’T BUY THEM because they wouldn’t ship them to me. I had to physically walk into a SonyStyle store to make the purchase.
An enterprising soul in their San Francisco store — who shall remain safely nameless — actually spoke with the manager of that store and they agreed, after I faxed massive amounts of information over to them (it’s a corporate credit card — we’ll deal with it) they actually could ship me a few of these chargers. But, even though I’d managed to get that far, the stores can’t send stock to each other.
We tried in vain to get a NY and Colorado store to send the San Francisco store some of the stuff they had on hand so I could buy it and get it all shipped together. Nothing doing. They don’t work that way. OMG, give me a break!! What do we have computers for? Can’t we use inventory tracking to our benefit and actually SELL the product to a customer who is willing to pay for it? Full price? No discounts? Come on!
Each time I get into this “search for a product Sony says is toast” scenario I think to myself “Does Sony actually want to sell anything to the consumer?” It’s such a huge corporation that they primarily deal with "channels" — sell a pallet or crate of something to [insert favorite consumer electronics retailer here], who then has to carry all the accessories... maybe. The consumer be damned if Sony discontinues something that still has end value and may still be in use — and that was just selling last week in stores, no less.
The problem is, Sony doesn’t allow anyone to pick up the slack either. With lots of other products where models get discontinued, folks have filled in the gaps for parts and accessories. Sure, it’s not OEM but if it works just as well, why not?
Heck, there was a guy who increased the functionality of the AIBO but Sony jumped all over him about mucking with their precious proprietary AIBO. He was actually helping them sell memory sticks and the original software program needed to run what he’d created and they slammed him for it. They actually sued him, cease and desist! Their stuff was necessary for the functionality he designed to even work for the AIBO! He told people Sony's stuff was necessary and he proved that caused people to go out to BUY SONY's STUFF! Really, smart Sony. d-:
If I didn’t have to deal with this as part of a job I love 99% of the time, I’d definitely make sure I had no Sony products around me at all... ever!!
[addendum: I needed to buy a memory stick for a university class that has 6 AIBO's — 1 stick went bad — the last one I managed to get from Sony at retail was around $29.00 I think. Lucky folks who bought extras and never opened them are now getting between $150 and $300 on places like eBay. Thanks Sony!]
You promote these, you sell them. You know that at least a few universities have fleets of these little guys doing things like playing RoboCup — getting a good deal of press. Then WHAM! you stop making them. But, you don’t just stop making new robotic dogs, no, you stop making ALL supporting accessories as well.
So, let’s see, you’ve made the people who forked over a few thousand dollars for each dog use proprietary memory sticks in the first place. No, these dogs couldn’t possibly use a common commodity memory stick that you produce by the millions. Oh, and you stop producing that specialized memory for them... and the batteries... and the battery chargers... ?!?
Please, did Sony expect all of the AIBO’s in existence to instantly drop dead when they decided they would make no more of them?
Trying to find a few 16MB proprietary memory sticks isn’t the first fun thing I’ve run into while attempting to support a lab that uses the AIBO’s for their research. Try finding that battery or battery charger. Don’t try to buy one from a SonyStyle store that you can’t physically walk into.
In this day and age you’d think that if Sony sells it, and it’s in stock in a store in the US, you should be able to give them a credit card and have them ship it to you, but NO WAY. They can’t possibly trust that someone is a legitimate customer if they want a battery (or two), a memory stick and are willing to pay for the shipping — whatever they want to charge for shipping! Go ahead, charge me more to ship than the product costs, I wanted the darned stuff that badly!
Every time you try to get a hold of a human to speak to at Sony a recording tells you, very pleasantly, to look for their products on their website. When you do get a hold of a human being they inevitably end up giving you a phone number to a different portion of Sony to try to track down what you are asking for. Education, call 1-800-nnn-nnnn, ah you need XYZ dept, please call 1-888-nnn-nnnn... nearly ad infinitum!
The stores do seem to routinely have a few of something that have been discontinued, at least for a little while before it’s sent to molder in a corner somewhere. These items can’t be had online because of the wonderous supply chain management that is in place in these modern days of retailing — it disappears from the Sony web (SonyStyle, direct parts, etc.) amazingly quick when Sony says “make this no more!”.
For those battery chargers I actually got shunted 3 times and then spoke with a regional sales representative at a warehouse facility somewhere in central Pennsylvania or maybe it was western New York! It was crazy. He could see the product. He knew that someone had them in stock but I COULDN’T BUY THEM because they wouldn’t ship them to me. I had to physically walk into a SonyStyle store to make the purchase.
An enterprising soul in their San Francisco store — who shall remain safely nameless — actually spoke with the manager of that store and they agreed, after I faxed massive amounts of information over to them (it’s a corporate credit card — we’ll deal with it) they actually could ship me a few of these chargers. But, even though I’d managed to get that far, the stores can’t send stock to each other.
We tried in vain to get a NY and Colorado store to send the San Francisco store some of the stuff they had on hand so I could buy it and get it all shipped together. Nothing doing. They don’t work that way. OMG, give me a break!! What do we have computers for? Can’t we use inventory tracking to our benefit and actually SELL the product to a customer who is willing to pay for it? Full price? No discounts? Come on!
Each time I get into this “search for a product Sony says is toast” scenario I think to myself “Does Sony actually want to sell anything to the consumer?” It’s such a huge corporation that they primarily deal with "channels" — sell a pallet or crate of something to [insert favorite consumer electronics retailer here], who then has to carry all the accessories... maybe. The consumer be damned if Sony discontinues something that still has end value and may still be in use — and that was just selling last week in stores, no less.
The problem is, Sony doesn’t allow anyone to pick up the slack either. With lots of other products where models get discontinued, folks have filled in the gaps for parts and accessories. Sure, it’s not OEM but if it works just as well, why not?
Heck, there was a guy who increased the functionality of the AIBO but Sony jumped all over him about mucking with their precious proprietary AIBO. He was actually helping them sell memory sticks and the original software program needed to run what he’d created and they slammed him for it. They actually sued him, cease and desist! Their stuff was necessary for the functionality he designed to even work for the AIBO! He told people Sony's stuff was necessary and he proved that caused people to go out to BUY SONY's STUFF! Really, smart Sony. d-:
If I didn’t have to deal with this as part of a job I love 99% of the time, I’d definitely make sure I had no Sony products around me at all... ever!!
[addendum: I needed to buy a memory stick for a university class that has 6 AIBO's — 1 stick went bad — the last one I managed to get from Sony at retail was around $29.00 I think. Lucky folks who bought extras and never opened them are now getting between $150 and $300 on places like eBay. Thanks Sony!]
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Been a while, time for a chuckle... Ah, that pesky missing "L"
I don't know, is this funny or just sad? Spell Check is obviously not your friend. Just do a search on "Pubic Accountant" in Google.
You will get about 127,000 hits. Many of them listings for actual Public Accounting firms or independent CPA's (Certified PUBLIC Accountants) announcing their services to the web surfing world. Ah, that pesky missing "L".
It occurs in text of city, state and federal goverment sites. For a nice example, text search this page: http://acc.ohio.gov/bdmn0904.html.
They have three instances on the same page!
It is in myriad employee biography pages. In fact, one CPA lists his memberships as -- Member : AccountantsWorld, American Institute of CPA's, Michigan Association of Certified Pubic Accountant's
Why type it out the second time you list it when you've abbreviated it in the first instance? Is this to clarify that in Michigan they really aren't "Public" accountants?
It's in the html page title of many, many accounting firms. Moving too fast to double check this? Got a posting deadline that is looming? Folks, give your text copy or html to someone else who hasn't been typing or reading it multiple times and pay attention to the all too easy error of the missing "L" in public. Seriously, it just doesn't look professional even if it does give someone a laugh when they are stressing out at work.
Foreigners are susceptible to this as well, unfortunately. You will find listings from Canada, Australia & Korea. Just to name a few.
And, to give credit where credit is due, I got onto this tangent by way of a reference to www.webpagesthatsuck.com. An excellent site to look at if you are responsible for any web design or content management. (-:
You will get about 127,000 hits. Many of them listings for actual Public Accounting firms or independent CPA's (Certified PUBLIC Accountants) announcing their services to the web surfing world. Ah, that pesky missing "L".
It occurs in text of city, state and federal goverment sites. For a nice example, text search this page: http://acc.ohio.gov/bdmn0904.html.
They have three instances on the same page!
It is in myriad employee biography pages. In fact, one CPA lists his memberships as -- Member : AccountantsWorld, American Institute of CPA's, Michigan Association of Certified Pubic Accountant's
Why type it out the second time you list it when you've abbreviated it in the first instance? Is this to clarify that in Michigan they really aren't "Public" accountants?
It's in the html page title of many, many accounting firms. Moving too fast to double check this? Got a posting deadline that is looming? Folks, give your text copy or html to someone else who hasn't been typing or reading it multiple times and pay attention to the all too easy error of the missing "L" in public. Seriously, it just doesn't look professional even if it does give someone a laugh when they are stressing out at work.
Foreigners are susceptible to this as well, unfortunately. You will find listings from Canada, Australia & Korea. Just to name a few.
And, to give credit where credit is due, I got onto this tangent by way of a reference to www.webpagesthatsuck.com. An excellent site to look at if you are responsible for any web design or content management. (-:
Friday, April 28, 2006
Two to Go
This morning I opened the 4th of the Bloggers Blends, the New Media Mavericks. It's a medium roast from the prized Tarrazu region of Costa Rica according to the label. It's definitely bolder than Bloggers Boot Up Blend and more in line with Late Night Log In but it came across as a bit smoother than Log In.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Number 3 - Bloggers Boot Up Blend
So I managed to take enough time this morning to brew up a 3rd blend to try, Bloggers Boot Up Blend. At least to my sleepy, "not yet ready to take on the office" taste buds, it struck me as being right between Beach Blast and Late Night Log In in terms of strength.
I'm still favoring Beach Blast as the top choice thus far but I have three to go before declaring a clear winner. Boot Up Blend is quite a nice breakfast brew with a satisfying, relatively smooth finish. It's a nice middle of the road, medium blend that will certainly satisfy a morning coffee drinker's needs.
More information on the types of beans and where they are grown can be had at the Boca Java web site. The have a decent deal going on the 6 blends right now with either a hat or a mug thrown in. Not bad. (-;
And an update from my hubby, he's voting for Beach Blast over Late Night Log In as well at the moment, but he hasn't tasted Boot Up Blend yet.
I'm still favoring Beach Blast as the top choice thus far but I have three to go before declaring a clear winner. Boot Up Blend is quite a nice breakfast brew with a satisfying, relatively smooth finish. It's a nice middle of the road, medium blend that will certainly satisfy a morning coffee drinker's needs.
More information on the types of beans and where they are grown can be had at the Boca Java web site. The have a decent deal going on the 6 blends right now with either a hat or a mug thrown in. Not bad. (-;
And an update from my hubby, he's voting for Beach Blast over Late Night Log In as well at the moment, but he hasn't tasted Boot Up Blend yet.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Taste testing fun - Bloggers Blends
I'm going to try all of the blends in the Bloggers series straight — no sugar, milk, cream, creamer — to see how they stack up to some of our long-standing favorites. Then I'll do what my coffee-snob friends despise and add that packet of sugar and milk or cream to see how they compare to other coffee as I normally drink it.
So, the package of 6 Bloggers Blends arrived the other day and the first one we (my husband and I) tried was the Bloggers Beach Blast. To quote from the Boca Java description, "This luscious flavored coffee will make your blog! Featuring a tantalizing combination of chocolate and caramel." And a tasty brew it is! I'm generally not much on flavored coffee blends but this one is smooth and subtle. The flavoring is not overpowing and I actually like it straight — black. That's unusual, as I generally like at least a little milk or cream(er) in my coffee and often that packet of sugar my coffee-snob friends avoid. This one may make the short list for blends we keep on hand regularly.
The second brew I tried, Late Night Log In, is stronger in flavor but still quite tasty. I like this one better with some creamer (I tried a vanilla creamer with just a little milk since the flavored creamers are always too sweet on their own for my taste). This is definitely a bolder roast but it doesn't leave a bitter or acidic taste like some darker roasts or European blends. I tend to steer clear of the really strong roasts as they tend to haunt me with heartburn. )-:
I've tried other mail order brews as well as large national chains (not just Starbuck's ;-). So far, the Bloggers Blends I've tasted are every bit as good and in a reasonable price range compared to some of the better brews I've enjoyed. I have 4 more blends to try and hope to get them all brewed sometime in the next 5-7 days. So far, I'm pretty impressed with two the Bloggers Blends I've tasted so far.
So, the package of 6 Bloggers Blends arrived the other day and the first one we (my husband and I) tried was the Bloggers Beach Blast. To quote from the Boca Java description, "This luscious flavored coffee will make your blog! Featuring a tantalizing combination of chocolate and caramel." And a tasty brew it is! I'm generally not much on flavored coffee blends but this one is smooth and subtle. The flavoring is not overpowing and I actually like it straight — black. That's unusual, as I generally like at least a little milk or cream(er) in my coffee and often that packet of sugar my coffee-snob friends avoid. This one may make the short list for blends we keep on hand regularly.
The second brew I tried, Late Night Log In, is stronger in flavor but still quite tasty. I like this one better with some creamer (I tried a vanilla creamer with just a little milk since the flavored creamers are always too sweet on their own for my taste). This is definitely a bolder roast but it doesn't leave a bitter or acidic taste like some darker roasts or European blends. I tend to steer clear of the really strong roasts as they tend to haunt me with heartburn. )-:
I've tried other mail order brews as well as large national chains (not just Starbuck's ;-). So far, the Bloggers Blends I've tasted are every bit as good and in a reasonable price range compared to some of the better brews I've enjoyed. I have 4 more blends to try and hope to get them all brewed sometime in the next 5-7 days. So far, I'm pretty impressed with two the Bloggers Blends I've tasted so far.
Friday, April 21, 2006
...and more coffee
It has arrived... an aromatic package brimming with a 6 blends of fragrant beans begging to be ground and made into the elixir that keeps us surfing, typing and generally functional. I'll be tasting each of the 6 Boca Java blends over the next week or so. In the mean time you can check out more information at Blogger's Fuel.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Coffee...
Coffee... what can I say, full-time job, 4 year old son, teaching in my spare time... coffee is a MUST!
Just time for a few recommendations that find appeal in our household.
We're trying a new "coffee club" - Boca Java. I haven't had enough of it for full comparison with other blends we like but thus far it is comparing favorably (flavorably?) with others we've tried. I like their signature blend Boca Sunrise and am about to try out a few more in the coming weeks. I'm tempted, since the name is utterly appropriate and they are giving a mug for a short while, to try the Blogger's Blends and see whether they will push me off the other name brands I'm used to consuming in fair quantity throughout the week. (-;
Just time for a few recommendations that find appeal in our household.
We're trying a new "coffee club" - Boca Java. I haven't had enough of it for full comparison with other blends we like but thus far it is comparing favorably (flavorably?) with others we've tried. I like their signature blend Boca Sunrise and am about to try out a few more in the coming weeks. I'm tempted, since the name is utterly appropriate and they are giving a mug for a short while, to try the Blogger's Blends and see whether they will push me off the other name brands I'm used to consuming in fair quantity throughout the week. (-;
Busy life...
Wow, it's been a while since I've penned anything here. Lot's going on with full-time career, 4 year old son and lots of other interests.
So, since the last time I blogged I've bitten the bullet and gotten a video iPod. What a wonderful piece of technology. Now I can quietly watch the West Wing and Gilmore Girls without explaining the language and details of the shows to my 4 year old. Loving it!
An absolute must if you are a Mac user with a video iPod is Elgato's EyeTV (see my prior blog EyeTV Rocks!). The only thing I can add there is they've done a super job of making it a snap to add recorded video to the iPod.
I've gotten a couple new Macs recently. A new tower at work and a new one at home. I decided to pounce on some good pricing before the Intel Macs and haven't gotten my hands on one of those yet. I'm continuing to read with interest all of the developments with running the dreaded Windows on the Intel Macs. Truly, there is no good reason NOT to buy a Mac these days, which is music to the ears of Apple shareholders!
So, since the last time I blogged I've bitten the bullet and gotten a video iPod. What a wonderful piece of technology. Now I can quietly watch the West Wing and Gilmore Girls without explaining the language and details of the shows to my 4 year old. Loving it!
An absolute must if you are a Mac user with a video iPod is Elgato's EyeTV (see my prior blog EyeTV Rocks!). The only thing I can add there is they've done a super job of making it a snap to add recorded video to the iPod.
I've gotten a couple new Macs recently. A new tower at work and a new one at home. I decided to pounce on some good pricing before the Intel Macs and haven't gotten my hands on one of those yet. I'm continuing to read with interest all of the developments with running the dreaded Windows on the Intel Macs. Truly, there is no good reason NOT to buy a Mac these days, which is music to the ears of Apple shareholders!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
iPod -- pro or con?
I just read an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sunday, August 14, 2005 edition, Resisting the Temptation regarding iPods. There seldom seems to be a middle ground reported in the various "technology wars" these days. Granted, reporters have limited column space available to them and editors may even shorten articles, further eliminating pertinent information. However, there just doesn't seem to be time or space for thorough examination and balanced reporting. This isn't just true for articles about iPods -- look at the ridiculous articles that happen on a regular basis about operating systems. Some of it is just plain silly, mostly prompting flame wars among people who seem to have nothing better to do than sit at their computer waiting for one of these to surface so they can immediately log in to the discussions to say "I hate Windows/Mac" or "You Mac/Windows users don't know what a real OS is..."
I happen to own an iPod. I own and work on Macs and also work on Windows from time to time. My personal preference is to work on my Macs. No particular piece of technolgy is right for everyone. I'm certain that, in the academic setting where I work, I could canvass a hall or two and find an equal number of people who will or will not use the iPod, for various reasons. Price is certainly an issue. And, believe it or not, everyone who buys an iPod is NOT buying it to be hip or trendy.
Some of the things that opponents, vehement non-iPod users, or even general non-MP3 player users, may not get are:
(1) The iPod doesn't just hold music... ever heard of books on tape? Well, they produce quite a few titles on CD. There's also Audio.com. Oh, and depending upon the length of the book (6 Harry Potter books, an Isaac Asimov collection, Hitchhiker's Guide, Salmon of Doubt, etc.) it can gobble quite a chunk of drive! It can provide hours of listening -- especially nice when driving a distance, in rush hour or not. There are myriad adapters available to make the iPod playable on your car stereo. You may even be a lucky person and have gotten a vehicle that has a direct hook-up!
(2) The iPod doesn't just hold music... ever heard of backup files? Hopefully, if you use your computer(s) much you have a good backup strategy. The iPod I use could just hold tons of music in addition to the books on tape. However, it is a wonderful external drive for my Macs. I can do backups on the fly or at set times. I can use it to take work files home to work on when I don't have my laptop and don't want to futz with logging in over the network. It's extremely versatile.
(3) The iPod doesn't just hold music... I'm becoming a broken record, eh? So, I don't have this capability because my iPod isn't the newer color version. I'd like to get the 60 Gig photo version because I have a 4 year old. The logic here is, I'm constantly around people who ask me if I have photos of my son with me. We had Gordon late in life (when I was 38) and a lot of people are just as thrilled as we are that he came into our lives. I could show many more photos to folks, not just of my son, if I had the iPod Photo. It's a pain to pull out the laptop even though the photos would be viewable in a larger screen. I tend to keep my iPod with me almost all the time. Ready access to the photos would be great.
(4) While I'm on the "not just music" kick... Don't forget about PodCasts. Some of them are indeed music or music related but there are so many other types with more popping up every day.
Still, even with all of these capabilities the iPod certainly isn't for everyone. My husband thought he'd like to try out a competitor so, as a gift, I bought him a 20Gig Rio Karma (does Rio make a large capacity player anymore? They show the Karma but no "buy it" button for it). I should have known better. In our family at least, I'm more of a gadget user than he is. He aquired my old TiBook and it's languishing a bit from lack of use (wish he'd just get into the habit of checking iCal on it regularly so he'd have the family calendar I have posted ;-). He had a Palm for a while and it too found a corner to live in (he recently rediscovered it and put in new batteries but it's not functioning at the moment). I'm still regularly using my Handspring Visor that I've had for quite a few years now.
The article ends with the suggestion that rather than buying an iPod you might buy Apple's stock instead. I can agree with that. I have purchased stock in Apple, have had it for a number of years. The kicker here is, if you are buying the stock you REALLY, REALLY want people to be buying the products that the company is producing!
I'm sure that I could have come up with another product that would be useable. The final component for me regarding a lot of Apple products is that I really do appreciate the quailty engineering and the fine industrial design they produce. Though, I'm reserving judgement on their latest iteration of the mouse. That will be a separate blog once I get my hands on one to check out thoroughly.
I happen to own an iPod. I own and work on Macs and also work on Windows from time to time. My personal preference is to work on my Macs. No particular piece of technolgy is right for everyone. I'm certain that, in the academic setting where I work, I could canvass a hall or two and find an equal number of people who will or will not use the iPod, for various reasons. Price is certainly an issue. And, believe it or not, everyone who buys an iPod is NOT buying it to be hip or trendy.
Some of the things that opponents, vehement non-iPod users, or even general non-MP3 player users, may not get are:
(1) The iPod doesn't just hold music... ever heard of books on tape? Well, they produce quite a few titles on CD. There's also Audio.com. Oh, and depending upon the length of the book (6 Harry Potter books, an Isaac Asimov collection, Hitchhiker's Guide, Salmon of Doubt, etc.) it can gobble quite a chunk of drive! It can provide hours of listening -- especially nice when driving a distance, in rush hour or not. There are myriad adapters available to make the iPod playable on your car stereo. You may even be a lucky person and have gotten a vehicle that has a direct hook-up!
(2) The iPod doesn't just hold music... ever heard of backup files? Hopefully, if you use your computer(s) much you have a good backup strategy. The iPod I use could just hold tons of music in addition to the books on tape. However, it is a wonderful external drive for my Macs. I can do backups on the fly or at set times. I can use it to take work files home to work on when I don't have my laptop and don't want to futz with logging in over the network. It's extremely versatile.
(3) The iPod doesn't just hold music... I'm becoming a broken record, eh? So, I don't have this capability because my iPod isn't the newer color version. I'd like to get the 60 Gig photo version because I have a 4 year old. The logic here is, I'm constantly around people who ask me if I have photos of my son with me. We had Gordon late in life (when I was 38) and a lot of people are just as thrilled as we are that he came into our lives. I could show many more photos to folks, not just of my son, if I had the iPod Photo. It's a pain to pull out the laptop even though the photos would be viewable in a larger screen. I tend to keep my iPod with me almost all the time. Ready access to the photos would be great.
(4) While I'm on the "not just music" kick... Don't forget about PodCasts. Some of them are indeed music or music related but there are so many other types with more popping up every day.
Still, even with all of these capabilities the iPod certainly isn't for everyone. My husband thought he'd like to try out a competitor so, as a gift, I bought him a 20Gig Rio Karma (does Rio make a large capacity player anymore? They show the Karma but no "buy it" button for it). I should have known better. In our family at least, I'm more of a gadget user than he is. He aquired my old TiBook and it's languishing a bit from lack of use (wish he'd just get into the habit of checking iCal on it regularly so he'd have the family calendar I have posted ;-). He had a Palm for a while and it too found a corner to live in (he recently rediscovered it and put in new batteries but it's not functioning at the moment). I'm still regularly using my Handspring Visor that I've had for quite a few years now.
The article ends with the suggestion that rather than buying an iPod you might buy Apple's stock instead. I can agree with that. I have purchased stock in Apple, have had it for a number of years. The kicker here is, if you are buying the stock you REALLY, REALLY want people to be buying the products that the company is producing!
I'm sure that I could have come up with another product that would be useable. The final component for me regarding a lot of Apple products is that I really do appreciate the quailty engineering and the fine industrial design they produce. Though, I'm reserving judgement on their latest iteration of the mouse. That will be a separate blog once I get my hands on one to check out thoroughly.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Music finds on the net
After reading a few "news" articles online about audio blogs I went to one referenced site that I'd highly recommend. There is a wonderful guitarist out there who is recording early music. Visit Jon Sayles website for a hefty dose of excellent FREE recordings of 2, 3, 4 and 5-part songs and instrumental selections from the 14th - 17th Centuries.
I'm glad to see he put a link up on his site to the higher quality 2-CD set he has recorded as a fundraiser for a charity for seizure disorders in the U.K. You can get the higher quality recordings from www.stars.org. The price is ridiculously cheap for the quality and quantity of recordings that Jon has provided.
I for one hope that Jon keeps playing AND keeps recording early music for those of us who thoroughly enjoy the guitar (having made meager attempts at playing it myself years ago).
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Preparing for Tiger
Just took a 4 day trip to the San Francisco area to visit family & friends. Had a great time at Pescadero beach and up in Sonoma and Napa. While we were away my Family Pack finally arrived from Amazon. It was a deal I couldn't pass up. I had a gift certificate and Amazon is running a $50 rebate for Tiger purchases made by 05/31/05. If you don't need the Family Pack there's a $30 rebate on a single license.
So, I'm cloning drives, repairing permissions and preparing to install Tiger this evening. My storage situation is worse than we first thought! I have multiple machines and a total of 310 GB in the machines themselves!!! Sheesh. Now I'm pricing even larger hard drives to get my back-up capacity in line with the machines. It is truly amazing how quickly drive space is gobbled up by video. I thought mp3's, photos, Illustrator and Photoshop files were bad. (-;
The plan is to upgrade my AlBook then my husband's TiBook and then finally our iMac. Might be finished in the wee hours after all are completed. Once I'm sure everything is in working order I'll have to post a couple of the best photos from our trip.
So, I'm cloning drives, repairing permissions and preparing to install Tiger this evening. My storage situation is worse than we first thought! I have multiple machines and a total of 310 GB in the machines themselves!!! Sheesh. Now I'm pricing even larger hard drives to get my back-up capacity in line with the machines. It is truly amazing how quickly drive space is gobbled up by video. I thought mp3's, photos, Illustrator and Photoshop files were bad. (-;
The plan is to upgrade my AlBook then my husband's TiBook and then finally our iMac. Might be finished in the wee hours after all are completed. Once I'm sure everything is in working order I'll have to post a couple of the best photos from our trip.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
EyeTV 200 -- rocks!
Well, it rocks but it also is contributing to a phenomenal amount of storage need in our household now. However, now I can actually WATCH the shows I'd like to see without worrying about content for the 3 year old's eyes/ears -- after he goes to bed, of course. I absolutely love the fact that I can strip the commercials and advertising out before we watch his favorite kids shows (over and over and over).
While I still think that PBS has some of the best content for kids, what is with the "commercials" for Fruit Loops, Kellogg's, and other stuff?? Thankfully, Mister Roger's Neighborhood must have some sort of agreement in place that only permits the traditional "This program is funded in part by..." spoken sponsors list. Our two-working-parent household doesn't allow for much regular TV watching so it's nice to have even more fine grain control over the viewing by getting rid of commercials from PBS as well as the regular Saturday morning fare.
I can't recommend EyeTV 200 highly enough if you are a Mac addict like me (Sorry Windoze folks, you'll need to look for other comparable products because Elgato only makes this for us Mac faithful). (-;
While I still think that PBS has some of the best content for kids, what is with the "commercials" for Fruit Loops, Kellogg's, and other stuff?? Thankfully, Mister Roger's Neighborhood must have some sort of agreement in place that only permits the traditional "This program is funded in part by..." spoken sponsors list. Our two-working-parent household doesn't allow for much regular TV watching so it's nice to have even more fine grain control over the viewing by getting rid of commercials from PBS as well as the regular Saturday morning fare.
I can't recommend EyeTV 200 highly enough if you are a Mac addict like me (Sorry Windoze folks, you'll need to look for other comparable products because Elgato only makes this for us Mac faithful). (-;
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
What a great platform - Apple's Mac OS X
I'm having a great time capturing video, editing and burning DVD's for my son these days. I'm looking forward to my "Family Pack" of Tiger arriving so I can explore the new features they've added.
I try not to be a total Mac snob but, what can I say, they keep coming out with more amazing hardware and developers (including Apple's own) keep giving us software that just works! I was able to grab a wonderful audio snippet to keep with a couple of PDF's I created from web content about an artist whose work I admire (and actually own a piece of!). There are times when the information age simply rocks!
I'm currently enjoying software (and hardware) from:
Zapptek -- way cool iPod apps
Elgato -- EyeTV
Readerware -- great database tools for book lovers, DVD and CD collectors
Porchdog Software -- a great app called Spike. I work cross platform a lot at work and this is just "the" easiest way to get a document from the Mac to the Win box.
And looking into getting software from:
Cepstral -- much better sounding voices for speaking things like text from the Gutenberg Project converted to spoken word for "iPodding". Imagine my surprise when I realized this little company is close to home (Pittsburgh PA ;-).
I try not to be a total Mac snob but, what can I say, they keep coming out with more amazing hardware and developers (including Apple's own) keep giving us software that just works! I was able to grab a wonderful audio snippet to keep with a couple of PDF's I created from web content about an artist whose work I admire (and actually own a piece of!). There are times when the information age simply rocks!
I'm currently enjoying software (and hardware) from:
Zapptek -- way cool iPod apps
Elgato -- EyeTV
Readerware -- great database tools for book lovers, DVD and CD collectors
Porchdog Software -- a great app called Spike. I work cross platform a lot at work and this is just "the" easiest way to get a document from the Mac to the Win box.
And looking into getting software from:
Cepstral -- much better sounding voices for speaking things like text from the Gutenberg Project converted to spoken word for "iPodding". Imagine my surprise when I realized this little company is close to home (Pittsburgh PA ;-).
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Do you know what you actually have?
I frequent a certain popular (most of the time) online auction site that provides no end of amusement to me. Why is it that some folk are so certain about what they are listing -- regardless of whether they are remotely close to identifying an item correctly or not? Have you noticed how many "hard to find" or "super rare" things come up when you do a search? I was looking for some odd, small item and the search for it brought up 60-70 of them ranging from $3 to $50 (those $50 ones were the "super rare" ones). Apparently some folk can't take 2 minutes to search the auction site to see if anyone else has actually listed the same item and see what it's selling for. Marketing 101 anyone? Then again, maybe there are enough people who believe the descriptions and just buy the stuff without verifying it themselves. d-;
Sometimes it feels to me like we're in such a hurry we can't be bothered with accuracy anymore. I collect lace of various types and vintages. There is a fair amount of information available online for identifying lace. The lack of two minutes worth of search to attempt to verify what kind of lace they will be trying to sell is obvious when you see the picture. There are instances when there are no bidders because the listing is so obviously off. I sometimes manage to find real bargains. I do periodically find myself sending a seller information about their item. I figure there are people who probably charge for that service but folks don't seem to be making a killing on their online auctions for the most part (at least those I know who are doing it part-time or trying to rid their houses of overload). (Google that item before listing it!)
Of course, there are also wonderful books to help identify myriad items one might want to sell. Many of them available at your local library. (-- hmmm, do people go to the library anymore with book prices ridiculously low in some cases from online used book sellers?)
Speaking of used book sellers...
My husband and I sell used books from time to time in online auctions and also have our own meager website. Sometimes it's hard to sell a book when it might push us below our cost to acquire the title. This happens periodically when someone online at auction or listing with a used book consolidator has the darned title listed for 0.99. We still enjoy doing it. We pick up loads of books to read first then resell. Luckily, if you watch your inventory closely and don't spend too much on it, one or two good titles can pay for a batch of boxes that will have 50 titles not worth more than 0.25-0.99 each. Then there are the titles you pick up for next to nothing only to find out they are listing for $50 or more -- but, that's only good if there are actual buyers for it at the price everyone seems to be listing it for.
(We have a title like that around right now. It's an inocuous fiction novel that was published in the 1970's. There it was in a box of 40 books we paid $10 for. The listed price from the usual online used book sellers ranges from $185 - $721... get real!! I've seen it listed by the same sellers every time I do the search. I have a copy but, what is someone really willing to pay for it? In fact, I think more copies of this book have come onto the used sellers market recently-- almost all listed at $185-198. So, doesn't that indicate it is less scarce than people thought? I'd like to get $200 for it too but I seriously doubt someone is going to pay me that much. Maybe I'll list mine at $125 and skew the market. They'll be getting a better copy than some listed at $185 -- ours isn't Ex-Library -- and I'll be able to buy a couple more $10 boxes of books. ;-)
Okay, off the soap box for tonight.
Sometimes it feels to me like we're in such a hurry we can't be bothered with accuracy anymore. I collect lace of various types and vintages. There is a fair amount of information available online for identifying lace. The lack of two minutes worth of search to attempt to verify what kind of lace they will be trying to sell is obvious when you see the picture. There are instances when there are no bidders because the listing is so obviously off. I sometimes manage to find real bargains. I do periodically find myself sending a seller information about their item. I figure there are people who probably charge for that service but folks don't seem to be making a killing on their online auctions for the most part (at least those I know who are doing it part-time or trying to rid their houses of overload). (Google that item before listing it!)
Of course, there are also wonderful books to help identify myriad items one might want to sell. Many of them available at your local library. (-- hmmm, do people go to the library anymore with book prices ridiculously low in some cases from online used book sellers?)
Speaking of used book sellers...
My husband and I sell used books from time to time in online auctions and also have our own meager website. Sometimes it's hard to sell a book when it might push us below our cost to acquire the title. This happens periodically when someone online at auction or listing with a used book consolidator has the darned title listed for 0.99. We still enjoy doing it. We pick up loads of books to read first then resell. Luckily, if you watch your inventory closely and don't spend too much on it, one or two good titles can pay for a batch of boxes that will have 50 titles not worth more than 0.25-0.99 each. Then there are the titles you pick up for next to nothing only to find out they are listing for $50 or more -- but, that's only good if there are actual buyers for it at the price everyone seems to be listing it for.
(We have a title like that around right now. It's an inocuous fiction novel that was published in the 1970's. There it was in a box of 40 books we paid $10 for. The listed price from the usual online used book sellers ranges from $185 - $721... get real!! I've seen it listed by the same sellers every time I do the search. I have a copy but, what is someone really willing to pay for it? In fact, I think more copies of this book have come onto the used sellers market recently-- almost all listed at $185-198. So, doesn't that indicate it is less scarce than people thought? I'd like to get $200 for it too but I seriously doubt someone is going to pay me that much. Maybe I'll list mine at $125 and skew the market. They'll be getting a better copy than some listed at $185 -- ours isn't Ex-Library -- and I'll be able to buy a couple more $10 boxes of books. ;-)
Okay, off the soap box for tonight.
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