Paging Diane Duane

[Diane Duane]



Today's (9/28) Bizarro must be for all the fans of Diane Duane's Feline Wizardry Sequence

Is Palm's Centro the iPhone nano?

[Palm, Centro, iPhone, smartphone]


In short- no.

Small(ish) screen & apparently no wifi. I guess a $99 smartphone has to leave a few things out, right?

Nevertheless, between this phone and the new Amazon DRM-free MP3 store, Apple must be feeling a bit of heat these days.

Me vs Win XP

For reasons unbeknown to me, the Dell Optiplex I have at work has now decided to print a page with with name, etc. before everything I print. After much online searching and struggling to find the proper terms to search with (thanks for nothing, Microsoft!) I think I have stumbled onto the term used which is 'Separator Page'.

Thinking that must be the problem, I boldly go into the Printers and Faxes sub-menu. Now I choose between Properties instead of Preferences (although I can get to Preferences via Properties as well - go figure). Dig, dig, dig and finally find a button labeled 'Separator Page,' and smugly click it. Oh. there is no separator page selected. Hmm, let's see what the Redmond crowd says about that. I find:

To set a separator page for a print device, follow these steps:

1.	Access the General tab of the printer's Properties dialog box and then click on the Separator Page button.
2.	In the Separator Page dialog box, click Browse and then select one of the three available separator pages: • PCL.SEP Switches the print device to PCL mode and prints a separator page before each document. • PSCRIPT.SEP Sets the print device to PostScript mode but doesn't print a separator page.

So... I can set a separator page that will not print a separator page? Sounds odd but I recall when you wanted MS Word to use the UK dictionary the official solution was 'hide existing US dictionary and rename "UK dictionary" to "US dictionary".'

Did this solve the problem? No. I am still getting a page before EVERY document regardless of application that lists User/Host/Class & Job.

So, today in the battle between me and Windows XP the biggest loser would be the trees closely followed by my productivity.

Getting Warmer, Apple

[Apple, MacBook, cheapassbastard]

In my sub-grand MacBook quest comes this listing at the AppleStore today

Refurbished MacBook 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White now $1099

13.3-inch glossy widescreen display, 1GB memory,120GB hard drive, 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

New MacBooks to come pushing out the old?

Interesting TV Numbers

[TV, NBC, Heroes, Studio 60]

From Amazon Daily:

Heroes, possibly the most-talked-about show of last season, started strong, with the second-season debut drawing higher numbers than last year's opening episode (14.1 million viewers total). However, the romantic, time-travel adventure Journeyman lost five million of those viewers and ended up with fewer viewers than the vaunted but canceled Studio 60 attracted last year.

Personally, I was underwhelmed by the Heroes debut & wonder what the numbers will be like next week.

Aaron Sorkin needs to get his shows on USA Network where they can find an audience.

Another Apple Purchase Postponed?

[Apple, Google, iPhone, gPhone]

Seems Michael Bazeley (Senior Web Editor at the San Jose Mercury News) had an interesting time at the Emeryville Apple Store Sunday,

"So I?m standing in the Emeryville Apple store today trying to troubleshoot a problem with a sales rep when a young woman bolts up to us saying she wants an iPhone. Like, now. After some back-and-forthing about the particulars, she says she?s a Google employee and she was going to wait for a demo of the gPhone, but it turns out Google?s only letting 30 people test it internally and she?s not one of them. So she?s going with the iPhone instead.

At which point, the Apple rep and I exchange glances and he says ?gPhone? So it?s real, huh?? And the Google gal realizes she?s probably said too much and changes the subject.

So there you go. Take it for what it?s worth. "

Being a Cheapass-bastard sometimes means not having the latest toys but what are you gonna do?

DEALMAC ALERT: MacBook laptops from $800

The following HOT DEAL was just posted on http://dealmac.com/?ref=alert_1 !

Refurbished Apple MacBook 13" Laptops from $800 shipped

The Apple Store restocked several factory-refurbished Apple
MacBook Widescreen Notebooks, in White and Black and in Core
Duo or Core 2 Duo models. Five models are currently
available. All come with with one-year warranties and free
shipping. They're removed when they sell out. Notable:

* MacBook Core Duo 1.83GHz 13.3" in White, model no.
MA254LL/A, for $799;

* MacBook Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz 13.3" in White, model no.
MA699LL/A, for $849; and

* MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz 13.3" in Black, model no.
MB063LL/A, for $1,299.


This email is Copyright (C) 1997-2007 dealnews.com Inc. All rights reserved. dealnews.com Inc. disclaims responsibility for all content, including prices, specifications, and availability. Please read our full disclaimer: http://dealmac.com/disclaimer.html

UPDATE: this deal seems to have already expired. Now on offer

MacBook 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera

$1099 (16% off the original price)

Why Lego Rocks

[Lego]

In case you need a refresher on why Lego bricks rock:

Mac News to Muddy the Water

[Apple, MacBook, laptop]

From 9 to 5 Mac

We have received some information about some upcoming Apple laptops - we think they are MacBooks but aren't 100 percent sure they aren't the fabled Pro slim line.  
What we know:

• Black aluminum and silver aluminum (like MacBook Pros) have been seen
• They are considerably slimmer than current MacBook and even a bit more than MacBook Pros
• The screen reaches much closer to the edges than current MacBooks but is the same size as current MacBooks - indicating a somewhat smaller footprint

So, perhaps some judicious waiting and watching is in order....

Laptop Shopping Update

[Apple, MacBook]

After Britta's comment (BTW: You were corect, no iPod just a SanDisk
512 MP3 player) I looked at the .edu prices for real Apple gear:

MacBook 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
* 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* Double-layer SuperDrive
$1,199.00 ($999 for the Combo drive model)

Refurbished MacBook 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Price: $1,099.00

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Price: $1,699.00

Should I Make the (Anti)Switch

[Computers, MacOS, Windows, laptop]

Soon I will be without my (on average) trusty work-supplied G4 PowerBook laptop and have started using a Dell (sigh) desktop (slight job change). As such I have been looking into buying something on my own and saw this in today's paper:

Compaq F579 (Refurbished) Notebook Pc,15.4"inch AMD Tuion 64x2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-53,Windows®Vista Home Premium.
Hp: FRYS.com #: 5374688 Great Value Compaq F579WM -Refurbished -90 Days Factory Warranty Microprocessor: 1.7GHz AMD Turion 64x2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-53 Display:15.4"(1280x800) Wide Screen Memory:1024MB DDR2 Expandable T0 2048MB Hard Drive: 120GB 5400RPM Serial ATA Multimedia Drive: Multi-Format DVD-/+RW Double Layer Drive Conectivity: 56k modem v.90 ,Integrated 10/100 Network card Wireless Connectivity:802.11 b/g Graphics Card:NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 (UMA) Shared Upto 287MB External Ports: 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals from digital cameras to MP3 players 1 VGA, 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack 1 ExpressCard/34 slot ,S-Video out Operating System:Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium.	Price: $ 549.99

Other than the obvious, "It's Not a Mac" and "It's Refurbished" what is the catch? (Windows can always be replaced with something more open-source, right?) I am not looking to out-frag someone, or write the great American novel, just surf wirelessly, edit photos, maybe edit video???

Wait and See

From TUAW comes yet another reason for me to hold of on any Apple iProduct purchases:

Today, Apple released iTunes 7.4.2. Apple kindly fixed that small problem where people inadvertently installed custom ringtones on their systems. Thank you, Apple.

In related news, Apple momentarily blocked accidental Linux use. But then, as with the newt from Monty Python , Linux got better.

Apple also looks out for iPod Touch users. Its new firmware transfer scheme protects users from themselves. You won't accidentally install custom software on the iTouch or access the underlying OS, at least for some time to come.

Hey, waiting to buy an iPhone already saved me $200!

Match Game's Brett Somers Dies

[Year of Death]

Actress and comedienne Brett Somers, best known for her appearances on "Match Game" in the 1970s, has died. Her son, Adam Klugman, says Somers died Saturday at her home in Westport, Connecticut of stomach and colon cancer. She was 83.

She appeared on several episodes of "The Odd Couple," playing the ex-wife of Klugman's character. In real life Somers had married actor Jack Klugman in 1953. They separated in 1974 but never divorced.

"Now I feel {blank}"

Want: Just Say Yesh

I don't need yet another t-shirt, but this is rather cool.... This so-soft, 100% organic, oh-so-comfy tee has everything you need.  Made in the USA, our cool blue tee has an all new design with "Yesh" in distressed orange lettering on the front and the same lettering style for the Mutts logo on the back.  Available in Small to XX-Large, this new tee expresses Mutts at its simplest: "Yesh!" Go fetch it now!

Impress Your Guests with an Alcohol Infusion

If you're tired of traditional cocktails, try spicing up your liquor with
an alcohol infusion. In bars across the nation, jars filled with vodkas
infused with anything from fruits to jalapeños function as fashionable
ornament to the bar backdrop.

But these attractive flavor-infused liquors aren't just for show. They're
made for mixing in a wide variety of delicious drinks. These infusions add
a creative and tasty twist to any cocktail. They also happen to be
extremely easy to make.

More...
http://www.paragonrestaurant-news.com/sep07_paragaon.html

Crater Lake Cooler

Want to make an infused cocktail without all the work? Here's the
recipe for the Paragon favorite

3 ounces Marionberry House Infused Crater Lake Vodka
4 ounces Reed's Extra Ginger Brew
2 dashes Regans' Orange Bitters
1 Orange Slice, for Garnish

Pour all the ingredients into a tall cooler glass filled with ice.
Stir well. Garnish with an orange slice.

Paragon Restaurants: BERKELEY SAN FRANCISCO SAN JOSE PORTLAND

The Germans Have a Word For Everything

New word of the day thanks to the Providence Journal:

Glauckenstuck

– remorse in experiencing the misanthropy of schadenfreude.

YouTube Comments Now 99.9% Spam?

YouTube  Broadcast Yourself™

New (Non)Comment on Your Video XXX has commented on your video. To read this comment, which is most likely spam, go to the page in question. — The YouTube Team

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