I may setup an Asterix-based PBX with VoIP phones at the new place in Houston, if we can find VoIP phones that we like.
The thought of being able to automatically route incoming calls (to voicemail, eternal hold, etc) based on caller ID is very, very tempting.
My list of essential OS X software (updated).
What I’ve been up to lately:
Got a hat from Texas Hatters in Buda.
Got a Strat from Guitar Resurrection here in Austin.
(can you tell that I’ve a Stevie Ray Vaughan fan? I’ve wanted one of the SRV Signature Strats for 12 years now, but that “SRV” pickguard is only cool if you’re 16 years old..)
Finally found my lost copy of Photoshop Elements 2.0, but I’m pining away for the new verson 3.
Slowly making my way through “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity“, which I picked up after reading about it on 43 Folders.
I donated a Sentinel32 32-port secure console server to the WikiMedia Foundation, the people who bring you Wikipedia.
I’ve always been very picky about the keyboards I use. When I use systems that have a PS/2 keyboard interface, I prefer either an IBM Model M, “big clicky” keyboard, or one of the well-built 101-key “grey slabs” that came with systems from SGI. When I was really lucky, I’d find an old Northgate OmniKey at Goodwill for $5. Over the years, I built up quite a collection of Model Ms and Omnikeys, and a few spares “just in case”.
I switched to using a Mac full-time at home a couple of years ago. The only thing I didn’t like about the new Apple systems was the mushy keyboard that came with them, and didn’t offer enough lift at the back to be in a proper typing position when using a wrist pad or support. Because the Mac was USB, I couldn’t use my old Model Ms or Omnikeys (and PS2-to-USB adapters had too many limitations). I quickly ditched the factory keyboard and switched to a MacAlly iKey. Goodwill in Austin often had them for less than $10, so I’d buy one whenever I saw it, and have five or six of them around now.
Two months ago, I was looking for “something better” than the iKey, as the key surfaces on them wore out and became “shiny and slick” too quickly, and the semi-transparent keyboard body discolored and became yellow over time. I found the Keytronic USB Keyboard for Mac, and it was even better than the iKey. Despite having rubber keyswitches, it had a good solid feel and was durable - until a soft drink came too close and gummed up the space bar. It may still be fixable, but if so, it will go into the “emergency spares” keyboard pile.
Right now I’m typing on the best keyboard I’ve ever found for a Mac - the Tactile Pro by Matias. It resembles a white Apple keyboard in form factor, but has Alps keyswitches - the same used in the Northgate OmniKey keyboards. It’s got a five-year warranty, so I don’t have to worry about it wearing out anytime soon.
I think I’ll be buying another one to put on my Linux box at work - since it’s USB, it will work with any system that can take a USB keyboard. The Apple keys will map to Windows keys, and driver software for XP to enable special keys is available.
The only thing I don’t like about this keyboard is that it’s kinda loud or “clacky”, but I think that will go down a bit with time as I break it in. Right now I’m just in heaven, after having to use the original iMac keyboard for a few days after the KeyTronic keyboard died.
Edit: I’ve ordered another Tactile Pro to use with my Linux system at the office.
A Faith-Based Presidency (NYT article via DailyKos) scares the crap out of me. I thought we had separation of church and state for a reason?
iMac, Therefore I Am.
Anybody want to buy my “old” dual-867Mhz G4 PowerMac?
If you’re reading this site via a RSS or Atom feed, please point your reader at this url from now on:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/AnotherWordForNerd.
Go to http://www.transstudio.com/ and download the “Transmaterial” book as PDF.
This is amazing. Reminds me a lot of the books about “What’s coming in the future” from Time/Life in the early 80s.
About two months ago, I started using Alex King’s Tasks software to keep a to-do list of projects for the consulting / sysadmin / webmaster work I do “on the side”.
Over the weekend, I ugpraded to the “commercial” (non-free) version, Tasks 2.0.
This is one of the simplest, yet the best, pieces of software I’ve ever paid for. If you’ve got a PHP/MySQL-enabled web server or hosting provider, try it out. Just from being able to properly keep track of things on my to-do list, I’ve got increased productivity - and in return, very happy clients.
I highly recommend it. If you’ve got a multi-user environment, look at Tasks Pro. I may eventually upgrade to it so that I can give clients a login and have them add projects directly.
It’s official - we’re moving to Houston.
Probably won’t be there permanently until mid-December, but we’ll have a rental place and will be gradually moving things down there on the weekends within two weeks.
Anybody want to buy a year-old Hitachi 51G500 51″rear-projection HDTV in December? I’ll let it go cheap (1/2 to 1/3rd of what I paid for it) because I don’t want to have to haul it 150 miles.