A new version of dashblog!

Version 0.12b has just been released and it gets better all the time. You can download it at June Tate's blog.

Dimitry Kirillov has developed a widget that allows Live Journal users to post from their desktops. Download it at dashboard widgets, or at Dimitry's website. Beautiful interface and nice features: mood selector, private/public/friends only selection and music pick-up.

Delicious Library

This is an awesome piece of software from Delicious Monster that catalogues books, CDs, DVDs and games and stores them on your hard drive in a - well - delicious interface. I have about 2,000 books and I've made half-hearted attempts to catalogue them the Dark Ages way (pen and card index) but never got anywhere. You can input details by hand or, if that's too slow for you, scan in the ISBN. There are other programs that do something similar, but DL is far and away the best IMHO.

I would like to see more places to look up in addition to Amazon such as Abebooks as many of my books pre-date ISBNs, but that's a minor peeve. I can enter the info myself and scan in the dustjacket or cover to provide artwork (once my HP all-in-one catches up with Tiger).

I've seen a couple of negative reports (I'm not going to link to them, but you can Google them easily enough), but these seem to relate to version 1; I have 1.5 (Tiger-ready) It even comes with a cute little widget.

Sorry PC-users - you'll just have to come to your senses and buy a Mac.

A Gripe

Why doesn't Blogger recognize Daylight Saving? I suppose I could say that I'm in France during the summer months (if only), but would that change the times for the whole Blog? Oh, well, a little enough wrinkle.

More about DashBlog

June Tate (respect!), creator of this widget, has a blog where you can download the latest release and read about DashBlog's progress. I cannot praise this widget highly enough!. You WinDO'Hs users don't know what you're missing.

Any British Blogger worth her salt ...

would be posting something insightful and incisive about the election. Here goes: Tony Blair got in again.

Waddya want - Jonathan Dimbleby? Robin Cook thinks he should step down as leader. Read all abaht it in The Guardian. I concur, but where does Cookie get off describing Lib Dems as 'reactionary'? I resemble that!!!!

Yes it can

It can cope with HTML.

This reporter for one welcomes our new Tiger overlord!

Problems

Connecting to the Internet has been a nightmare, although it looks as if everything has been sorted out now.

I do love Tiger - especially the Dashboard widgets. This Dash Blog gizmo is awesome. At least, it worked with plain text, but I'm using HTML now. Can it cope?

I've got a Tiger by the tail

I've just installed Tiger on my Mac. There are a few teething troubles, but I love Spotlight: an incredibly fast program for searching your computer, and Dashboard and its widgets. One of the latter is a cute gizmo that enables ypu to post to your blog (I hope)!

I can see why Eve was tempted by the Apple

I love my new Mac: the operating system is a doddle. I took me a while to get used to some things, though, like working without right-click; I miss the Solitaire and Free Cell games. Wonder if there's a commercial Mac version. A major disappointment was the loss of my ftp program, Terrapin. There's no Mac version and never going to be. I now use Transmit, and it's OK, but it's not Terrapin.

I have been using a CD-ROM (aimed at kids) called Rivka Teaches Hebrew. According to the liner notes, it works for both PC and Mac. Yeah, right. There are no Mac files on the CD. I surfed to lexingtonwarner.com/support only to be redirected to timeslearning.com. I emailed them and got no response, so I rang up. They couldn't understand why I had no reply, this was most unusual, etc, but told me that Lexington Warner are now in receivership so there was nothing they could do. I suppose I shall have to invest in Virtual PC.

My Runes program doesn't work in Mac either, so I found a Mac version called Rune Hilda. Couldn't get that to work either, so I emailed Ray@Mindmedia.com on 15 November. Guess what? I'm still waiting for a reply. I have since realised that I needed to install the Classic environment, and now it works fine. I'm not going to bother to tell Ray, though. Why should I put myself out for someone who can't be bothered.

C-Pen

It's come! I haven't yet explored its scanning qualities as I'm too busy using it as a mouse to get back on my desktop. It has to be said that it makes a rather clumsy mouse (or perhaps that's the fault of the mouser), but that is, after all, its secondary function.

It's great to be back on the desktop. I thank heaven for my laptop, but it kept freezing because it was 'out of resources' every time I opened Eudora and my browser at the same time

Gotta go - The Bill is just starting.

Disposing of old computers

You can try to sell them of course. You can pass them on to a friend. You can bin them (not good for the environment). Or you can use them to help the Third World. Computer Aid International "has already shipped over 37,000 PCs to more than 90 developing countries. Of those 37,000 shipped over 25,000 have gone to educational institutions and the remaining to community organisations working in fields as diverse as HIV/Aids, environment, human rights, and primary healthcare.".

They do have a limited collection service (they're based in London), but I use Parcel2go.com. Their rates are good, and they have a special low price for Computer Aid donations (at least, they did, last time I sent one.)

Of Mice and Women

I've been hitting the credit cards lately (so no change there) and buying all those accoutrements without which no home office is complete. I have a beautiful minimalist silver mesh letter tray that will set off my iMac to perfection [SIGH].

I am now the proud possessor of a cross-cut shredder. I'm still playing ... I mean familiarising myself with its various features. I have also installed a pull-out keyboard shelf on my desk. The mouse sits on a little pad to the side. It was a nice mouse. It was optical, but not cordless because I found they ate batteries. So the cord droops down under the desk. On the left-hand side, because I'm left-handed. The shredder is under the desk. On the left-hand side. Just under the drooping cord. You can probably guess the rest. It made the most dreadful sound, like someone flatlining. But more plaintive.

Luckily I had just ordered a C-Pen pen scanner, and that doubles as a mouse. Until it arrives, I have my battered old laptop. No point in getting another mouse. My iMac will be here soon [SIGH].

The answer is blowing in the wind

And the question is, "What are they doing out there?". 'Out there' is off the Kent coast, and 'they' are installing a wind farm. Read all about it here. You can see a picture of Resolution, the strange vessel that has been exciting the curiosity of the dog walkers of our English Shangri-Lah [COUGH] here.

Uncharted Waters

Being on unusually good terms with my bank at the moment I decided the time had come to think about a new PC. I have a Dell Dimension 4500S. I chose that particular model because you can stand the CPU on its side to save space. I've noticed of late that the DVD/CD-ROM drive doesn't always work properly in that position, so it's taking up considerable room on my desk.

I checked out Dell's website, and considered the Inspiron 9100: "The ultimate Desktop-Replacement with the flexibility of a notebook". Of course, you always get less for your money with laptops, and as I'm not on the move, it is, in a sense, redundant.

Next I checked out the VGCV2S.CEK from Sony. I was very tempted by this beautiful machine, but then I read a rather dismal review by one of the 'poor bloody infantry' (aka end-users). Although I came across only one disgruntled Sony user, I didn't find any 'gruntled' (LOL) ones. I thought it was best to go with what I know, and I have no complaints about Dell, quite the reverse.

I went back to the Dell site, and had just about configured the system I wanted, but had a couple of queries, so rang them up. Last time I rang, they were all Irish; now they all seem to be Indian. A lot of call-centres are moving to India. Why? Well, whatever reason businesses might give, in my not-so-humble-opinion (and that of many others) it's because they can pay a good deal less than the minimum wages laid down by the EC.

I spoke to a very pleasant woman who answered my questions and then gave me her direct line so that I could order. I said that I would place the order online, as I wanted to think about it a bit more. She then told me that it wasn't safe to order online as my credit card details could be stolen. I understand why she did it: I'm sure she needs every bit of commission she can get, but I couldn't help wondering what Dell would think if it knew its agents were telling potential customers that its secure website wasn't!

I hummed and haahed a bit more, and then I decided to sail into uncharted waters. I am so sick of WinD'OHs. I had problems after downloading Service Pack 2 for XP (who hasn't?!!!!) and have already had to download a patch. So I laid in a course for Apple, and there I fell in love. The object of my desire is the iMac G5. I didn't rush, though (not much!), I read a few reviews, and one person said that it's better to buy the eMac which does much the same for much less dosh.

I rang Apple, and the voice at the other end was Irish. Better still its owner was from Cork. My father came from Cork, and the accent is unmistakeable.

I asked about the eMac versus the iMac, and she said it would be better to go with the iMac. I was so-o-o-o-o glad she said that. She very kindly steered me away from some expensive and unnecessary options (I tend to get carried away) and knocked £70 off my 40Gb iPod. The only downside? I have to wait until the end of October. Oh, will this month never end?

It's not quite uncharted waters: I had the use of a Mac once, but it was so long ago that Apple was no more than blossom on the tree, hehehe.

I have a good feeling about this (uh-oh): all the Mac users I know are besotted with their machines.

On Starving

I fasted for Yom Kippur yesterday. It nearly killed me [G]. The last two hours were the hardest, and I was kept going only by fantasies of what I was going to eat that night.

That's not entirely true. At some point during the day I had some sort of epiphany. I had approached the fast in a very poor frame of mind, but suddenly something clicked into place, and I was so happy that I was fasting. And there was a sense of being linked with Jews all over the world.

I had the stopwatch out (slight exaggeration), and the first thing I had was a long, long drink of water. It is advisable to break the fast with a little plain rice and a cup of tea, or something like that. It is certainly not advisable to have a toasted cheese and onion sandwich and ice cream. I can vouch for that. It was lovely at the time, but I felt ill for the rest of the evening.

I still have nothing to say ...

but the writer of Baghdad Burning has much to say; all of it heartbreaking. Oh what have we done to these people?

Just logging in to say I have nothing to say. Bit pointless having a Blog then, innit?

I couldn't be happier

Athena


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

More on the Jerusalem bus bomb

Haaretz reports that the Al Aqsa Murderers' Brigade has claimed responsibility for the mass murder this morning. And one witness said this:

"It was like a pastoral scene — the sun was shining and it was serene outside — but the bus was a nightmare. Bodies were sitting in their chairs, burnt, motionless," said witness Drora Resnick. "There were burnt children sitting together. People started rushing off the bus, but they were still there, not moving."

Bus Bomb in Jerusalem

On a morning when 400 Palestinian prisoners are being released, the men of violence, the sowers of hatred, murder 10 innocent people and maim at least 30 others.

Doubtless public condemnation will be reserved for Israel if she takes retaliatory action.

Read more on An Unsealed Room.