I think that’s how you say “Thanks for the glasses” in Italian, but I’m not sure. If I had a time machine I’d travel back to Northern Italy in the 13th century, track down the inventor (we don’t know who it was) and thank him or her profusely.
I just got my first, long-overdue glasses a couple of weeks ago. I’d forgotten what it’s like to see clearly. I’m quite nearsighted so I use them for biking and walking around, not for working in front of the computer, where I do fine without them.
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it intimidating when you go into any kind of store, and the salespeople ask you questions in jargon? Can’t they just read the prescription and take it from there without making me feel stupid? Plus, they didn’t even give me any orientation or brochure or anything to inform me on glasses care. They should have a brochure titled “Congratulations on your first glasses!” or something.
Perhaps I’ll consider getting bifocal glasses or contacts someday, but for now, these fill the bill beautifully.
My iBook’s power adapter overheated and died this weekend, and my new firewire/usb drive also seems to have bitten the dust. It may take me a while to keep my promise to review my experiences with the new Airport Extreme Base Station.
I just ordered a new power adapter from Apple and I hope they can get it quicker to me than the projected date, which is two weeks from now!
I got more reading done than usual this weekend, at least.
Thought I’d do a mini-series on the Mac software I use day to day. It might be of use to a new Mac user. Even experienced Mac users might find a surprise or two.
I’m always trying out various programs so I can choose my favorite. I like to think I’m pretty discriminating. I want the software I use regularly to be stable, reasonably fast, and have an interface that not only makes my tasks easier, but even makes them a pleasure.
To each their own, and I won’t claim that my favorites are uncategorically the best.
The first topic: Internet software. I happily rely on Safari, Mail and Keychain Access. Huh? Betcha didn’t see that last one coming. If you’re a Mac user, you probably rely on Keychain Access too, you just may not realize it. Every time your browser asks if you want it to remember a password for you, guess who? Yup, the Keychain. Don’t waste any money on shareware password-wallets. The Keychain rocks.
You can get more mileage out of it by actually launching the Keychain Access utility and creating a new keychain for your more sensitive passwords. Configure it not to unlock upon login, like your default keychain, but to require its own password and automatically lock itself after the desired amount of time. And any sensitive info that’s not a login-password pair? Put it in a Secure Note in your new keychain. Handy and safe!
Mail does everything I want, and now that WordPress is supporting Safari a bit better, Safari does too. Safari is also the fastest browser on the Mac, as far as I can tell, as long as you don’t let too many bookmarks build up. There are some wonderful extensions for Safari, too, like PicLens and many more you can find at Pimp My Safari.
I do a lot of file transfers most days, and I’ve been using Transmit for years. I love this program from the bottom of my heart. The interface makes my work feel so natural and intuitive. I use it for FTP, SFTP, and I love the illusion of “editing on the server,” which streamlines work. It remembers shortcuts to any specific directories I want on any particular server. The same folks who make Transmit also make Unison, the best Usenet program I’ve found, especially for downloading binaries. Fast, intuitive, a pleasure to use. Both programs well worth the shareware fees.
I occasionally do instant messaging, and Adium supports several protocols, is gorgeous, impressively customizable, and free. Can’t beat that!
BitTorrent is also a once-in-a-while thing for me, but I’ve tried several clients and Xtorrent is by far my fave. You can search and save your searches from right within Xtorrent.
One more thing: the GoogleFight widget. I use this often when comparing the popularity of a couple of words or phrases. It’s of real use to me when I’m writing in Spanish.
Try out Midomi and let me know if you’re impressed with its song recognition abilities. Sing or hum a couple of bars of a popular song and see if Midomi can guess it. I’ve found their database pretty spotty so far but that will probably improve over time.
I had a birthday realization. I’ve been thinking of myself as aging and frumpy.
So for my birthday, I’m starting a small personal campaign to change that aspect of my self-image. I started by weeding out a bunch of old shabby clothes I’ve wanted to get rid of for years and getting back into my home aerobics workouts.
I may get a haircut, but I won’t worry about going gray, which is happening pretty rapidly. Gray’s fine with me, it’s not worth the time and energy to color it.
I’m feeling pretty good about this resolution and I think I’ll post about my progress every month or so, as extra motivation for me.
