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Mailing list for the paranoid (or parents)
My wife and I signed up for the Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall newsletter. I thought this was a good idea to see which of our son's toys we need to inspect. Little did I know that we'd get email just about everyday with a few more recalls. These recalls don't make headlines, but they make you go "hmmmm" when there are so many. Today's email had 4 products in it, all made in China, 3 for violation of Lead Paint Standard. China needs to get on the ball or our government could ban imports of certain products.
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Sad day for NotifyMail
Monday marked a sad day for NotifyMail. After 13.5 years of using the product that I wrote (it helped launch my career), I have finally stopped using it. Do I still want to be notified instantly of new mail? Absolutely. Do I still believe in the product? Well, sort of. Several months back, I wrote about my switch to IMAP. While I was having an email exchange with a friend, I couldn't understand how he responded so quickly. He said his mail client just kept putting new messages in his mailbox and I soon learned about IMAP IDLE. I found a plugin for Mail.app and sources tell me that this is a standard part of Leopard's Mail.app client. IMAP IDLE basically keeps a connection open to the server and just gets pinged when there is new mail or a new transaction. This is much better than NotifyMail because there is no server configuration required and no separate desktop app to run. It does keep a connection open, but sends/receives very little traffic.
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Strange markings on cables
Most people don't look at the markings on the side of cables, but sometimes I do to see if it is Cat5 or Cat6 and see what other ratings are on it. Today as I was helping my dad with his dying computer, I look at the GeekSquad cable he brought over (I'm not a fan of anything from BestBuy) and start reading. "FIREWIRE 6-6 CABLE-6' • GEEKSQUAD.COM • IF YOU NEED TO DETAIN A BURGLAR UNTIL THE AUTHORITIES ARRIVE, THIS FIREWIRE® CABLE CAN RENDER APPROXIMATELY THREE PERPETRATORS IMMOBILE WHEN PROPERLY HOG-TIED • 1 800 GEEK SQUAD • © 2004 GEEK SQUAD"
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Upgrading from particleboard
When I first moved back to San Diego about 8 years ago, I searched for a large desk to fit in my apartment. I ended up buying 3 desk pieces (2 the same, one a large corner piece). The desks gave me a lot of room and weren't cheap. Over the last 8 years, the desks have moved into 2 different houses, moved because we had carpet installed twice and then the last time they were moved is when I got a new floor in my office. The problem with this is that particleboard doesn't move very well when there are screws, pins, etc. in them. I had drywall screws holding it together.