GTD apps on OS X

There seem to be lots of to-do managers and Getting Things Done applications on OS X lately. iGTD, which may have the best name, or at least one that's very easy to remember, seems to get 2 or 3 updates a day this week. It's free, but so is Actiontastic, which is also now open source. I need one of these which will allow me to access my things to do from two computers. It sounds like Actiontastic will do that eventually, but not yet. Maybe I can store the info on a thumb drive for now and do it that way.

Temecula getting smoggy

I looked on the Best Places to Live site and was surprised at how low Temecula was ranked. The one thing that stood out was air quality. Now, I chose Temecula over Riverside because the air quality is quite a bit better there. I can visually see the difference most days and let's face it, Riverside has some of the worst air in the U.S. and that's not going to change anytime soon. The brown layer I see as I drive to work is not appealing at all. But maybe Temecula's air is getting worse. I have noticed more smog lately and I didn't see it before. More cars and people might make a difference, but there is usually a nice ocean breeze around 3 PM to cool things down and clear it out. What happened?

Gators should win again

Stanford is out, Cal never got in, so I'll have to go with my other alma mater, the U of F, to win the tournament. They've got the same starters as last year and just like last year they are hot at the end of the season. I think they can do it again. There are some other good teams, but I'm betting on the Gators.

Tournament starts tomorrow

I know they had that play in game yesterday, but that's kind of a gimmick. The winner gets to lose on Friday. Stanford is actually playing in the first game against Louisville. Cardinal against Cardinals. I'd like to see Stanford win but I don't think they have much of a chance. Their team is a little young and if the big guys get in foul trouble they will have problems. Louisville is a better team and should win with no problem.

10.4.9 update

Apple released what should be the last OS X update before the next big update, 10.5. I'm waiting on this one because the last time I jumped on a big update, I didn't have smooth sailing. This one seems to include a lot of photo related stuff, which is nice, but I think I will wait a few days before I go ahead. At least I do have my laptop backed up, so it wouldn't be too bad if it went wrong.

58 mpg

I was able to get 58 miles per gallon on the way to work today. I'm not sure what the temperature was, but it was pretty hot, so driving without the A/C wasn't ideal. I'm not sure I can do that during the summer. I'm not sure where the extra two miles per gallon came from. The only thing I did was wash the car over the weekend. Still need to check the air pressure and the oil needs to be changed.

Poker Tables at CardroomSupply

Do you need a nice poker table for your weekly poker games? Cardroom Supply sells poker tables with free shipping on orders over $100, but they've also got gaming supplies and poker chips. Their selection of poker tables is tremendous, the prices are low, and 90% of the tables are in stock and ready to ship the day you order or the next day. Check out their March Madness sale and save 5% on your order. Cardroom supply is the place to go if you are serious about setting up a nice poker room.

A few similarities

I was watching the highlights of the Pac-10 men's basketball tournament where Bryce Taylor made all 11 of his shots, including 7 3-pointers. It got me wondering if he was related to the New Jersey high school player Brian Taylor. Turns out that he is -- Brian Taylor is his father and is now the principal at a charter school in Los Angeles. Brian Taylor was a star at Perth Amboy High School and I went to several of his games with my father, who was a sports writer for the Perth Amboy Evening News. Oddly enough, Brian Taylor and I have some things in common -- same first name, both born in June in Perth Amboy and both with a son named Brice (mine) and Bryce (his). That's where the similarities end though. He was a pro basketball player with several teams while I was fortunate enough to make my high school team. For a long time, he held the New Jersey high school record with 84 points in a game.

LA Times article on PayPerPost

Friday's LA Times had an extensive article about PayPerPost in the Business section. It was on the front page of that section in the lower half and included two photos. Most of it featured the top earner on PayPerPost, Colleen. I don't think it was a balanced article. It was similar to the one I was part of a few months ago where you are interviewed and you provide examples and respond to questions, only to find that you are portrayed in a negative light in the article. I guess that's the way it goes, but in this article, there are quotes from two critics of PayPerPost, which is good to provide balance, but the writer has a biased slant against it also, and that comes through in the way he describes the two PayPerPost bloggers who are part of the story.

Some of their fellow bloggers are critical, saying the industry is polluting the blog world and misleading consumers by blurring the line between advertising and unbiased opinion.

"The problem is the advertisers are trying to buy a blogger's voice, and once they've bought it they own it," said Jeff Jarvis, a City University of New York journalism professor who writes about technology at BuzzMachine.com.

"PayPerPost versus authentic blogging is like comparing prostitution with making love to someone you care for deeply. No one with any level of ethics would get involved with these clowns," said Jason McCabe Calacanis, an entrepreneur who co-founded Weblogs Inc., a network of blogs that includes popular technology site Engadget.

The problem with this quote is that the "fellow bloggers" quoted aren't really the same kind of bloggers as the ones who participate in PayPerPost. Jason Calacanis started weblogs, inc., which consists of a bunch of sites which have paid bloggers writing about specific topics such as electronics, video games, Apple, and more. Each of these sites contains lots of ads -- under the header, in the sidebar and in between the posts. I like these sites and check them frequently, but there is no disclosure on these sites like Engadget about what kinds of relationships exist between the writers and the products they write about. Jason Calacanis has frequently criticised PayPerPost in regard to disclosure, and he also has ads and endorsements on his personal blog with no disclosure. In fact, he attacks PayPerPost based on the LA Times article on a post on his own blog. I have to agree with the idea that disclosure at the top of each post is the way to go. I have done this with most of my posts and have tried to go back and correct the others. I do need to develop a better system to make it easier to do that.

Jeff Jarvis is a former reporter, a professor and not the typical blogger. He does have a very extensive disclosure on his site though.

There is no disclosure I could find on Jason Calacanis' site, just a bio written in the third person.

NoCal knocking out SoCal

It looked like both of my schools, Cal and Stanford, were going to take out the LA schools, UCLA and USC in the Pac-10 tournament. Cal did well and Stanford was up big at halftime, but then faded in the second half and allowed USC to tie it. Overtime is not looking good for Stanford which seems to lack the court leadership they need in games like this. I say put both of those Lopez guys in there at the same time and take away the inside from USC. We'll see what happens, but if Stanford doesn't pull it out they probably are not going to get into the NCAA tournament.

Shopping for Brilliant Diamonds?

Buying diamonds requires some serious shopping. Diamonds have a special meaning associated with them, and in some cases, a special price, too. Brilliant Diamonds is a site where you can find Diamonds For Engagement Rings as well as wedding rings, earrings, and necklaces. Brilliant Diamonds can help you learn about diamonds before you spend your money -- check out their 10 part audiocast on the ten things you should know before buying a diamond. The audiocast has a nice casual style and hits the important points. They tell you up front that when you are about to invest thousands of dollars in a diamond, you need to be informed. Their Diamond Buying Guide is also a good place to start if you don't know where to start. Once you are informed about diamonds and are ready to start looking, take a look at what's available from Brilliant Diamonds. This site is a one stop shop for learning about and buying diamonds, so if you are looking for a diamond for a special gift, put Brilliant Diamonds at the top of your shopping list.

Photography assault

Last night was our final class in the night photography course. People had some nice images to share and discuss, but there was one disturbing story. One of the guys in the class had been taking photos yesterday of some buildings in downtown Riverside near the jail. He had his camera on a tripod and his backpack was nearby with a can of spray mount in the outside pocket. The way he described it, three sheriffs who work in the jail completed their shifts, exited the building, and walked past him on the sidewalk. They walked a little farther, then turned around and came back and tackled him and held him on the ground. They claimed that he had tagged a building and was taking pictures of it. The problem with that idea was that he didn't have any spray paint and what they thought was spray paint was the spray mount he had with him to mount his pictures for class. He yelled at them and they threatened to handcuff him but eventually let him go. Given Riverside's dismal record when it comes to policing problems, even though these guys were not police officers, it's a very scary incident. They gave no warning and had no evidence. The guy was a photography student, not a tagger and he had done nothing wrong. He seemed willing to let it go, but if there are members of law enforcement in Riverside going around assaulting citizens on the street, someone should know about it.

night photo class ends

Tonight is the last meeting of the night photography class. It was only 6 weeks and I was sick one week and missed that class, so it has gone by quickly. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to learn that might be useful, but it ended up being very interesting. I was happy with what I learned and the assignments were very useful. I think I got way more out of it than I expected.

Dick Vitale for Basketball Hall of Fame

Bob Knight is campaigning for Dick Vitale to be selected for the Basketball Hall of Fame. I didn't know those guys were buddies, but I think it's a good idea. Dick Vitale is Mr. Positive and has done his share to promote college basketball. He is a little over the top at times, maybe most of the time, but he seems like a good guy to be around. I'd vote for him!

CS3 will be good for Apple

Blogger is not treating me well. I had my whole post disappear when it caused Firefox to disappear. According to MacWorld, Apple may gain close to a billion dollars in profits from sales of high end Macs to people waiting for the release of Photoshop CS3 later this month. I am not sure if I'll be buying CS3. I don't use it much, but it sure is faster on my MacBook Pro than CS2 and maybe with my new interest in HDR photography, it will be worth the upgrade. The academic price for CS2 is around $289, so if CS3 is similar, it might be something I can afford. I don't like buying expensive software that I don't use much, though, so I'll have to think about it.

Night photo

This was one case where combining images to create an HDR image didn't improve things. I think it was too dark and there wasn't enough variation. This is the Fire Station in Old Town Temecula. It looks old, but I don't know how old it is. There are separate sleeping quarters in an adjacent building. I think it's worth going back and getting some shots during the day, although the traffic will be an issue.

HDR prints

I picked up my prints of the HDR images. They were accurate since I used the printer profiles at Costco, so I didn't have any surprises, but the sharpness and lightness that you get on screen isn't there on paper. Maybe I could get better results at home with my Epson printer where I can more easily adjustments.

Phoenix Glass Repair

Driving can be hazardous to your car's windshield. Little rocks fly up, hit your windshield and you've got a chip or a crack, just like that. Well, if that happens in Phoenix, give Phoenix Auto Glass Company a call. They know everything about auto glass repair in Phoenix and are certified by the National Glass Association. They can take care of chip repair or if that won't do it, they'll replace your windshield or door glass. They are approved by all major insurance companies and are available 24 hours a day. There's no extra charge for their mobile service, so they'll come to your home or workplace and do the job there so you don't lose any time waiting. They offer a lifetime guarantee on parts, labor and materials which is good as long as you own or lease your vehicle.

Who's going to PostieCon

There should be a big crowd at PostieCon in Orlando in June. I'd like to go but I think think that's going to happen. If you go, I recommend a side trip to Celebration. I spent about 3 months there doing research for Apple when it first opened.

HDR photos

I ended up with a small number of HDR photos that I liked. There were a few which didn't turn out to be anything special. It seems like a wider range of aperture settings produces a better HDR image, even if you are only using 3 images. In some cases, I had 7 - 9 pictures and there wasn't enough range in there to produce anything interesting. The fact that most of mine were shot at night didn't help. The ones that looked best were shot at twilight.