I was rummaging through some of the old software bundles that I bought and realized that I had a license for WriteRoom from a MacHeist bundle last year.

WriteRoom is a peculiar little app in that it is a writer-centric text editor that also helps you to focus on your writing.



A little old school in the sense that the default view resembles a "green screen", but in many ways, it's quite effective. By hiding all other windows, your attention is not drawn away some annoying Growl alert demanding your immediate attention.

As there is no formatting or font control, you're focused on... get this, the words you write on the screen, as opposed to layout or any other esthetic distraction.



This piece of software is a gem if you've got anything substantial to write, be it a technical document, a blog entry, or even a letter.

Tags: writing, software, text

With over 11,000 photos in my iPhoto library, now is a good time to start pruning. Being a bit of a digital pack rat, I can't get myself to just delete photos. My main iPhoto library, however, has bloated itself to over 25GB in physical space, and the only logical solution was to split it into multiple libraries. I could simply burn the older libraries onto a DVD to clear up space as well.

Library management is not a task that is easy to do within iPhoto itself, so I had to look into some shareware alternatives.

The clear winner, based on reviews, was FatCat's iPhoto Library Manager (IPLM) which costs $20.



Clearly not the fastest tool around, IPLM does the job. For the past few years, I've been struggling with the cleanup and organization of over a thousand photos taken from my wedding, and still haven't really gotten around to finishing up the job. One of the reasons why it's taken so long is that I don't spend a lot of time in my home office when I do have time to make the edits. Breaking up the wedding shots into a separate library will allow me to work on them on my laptop whenever I have some spare time.

Moving the items is a pretty easy task. In my case, I simply dragged the events from the source library onto the target library and let IPLM have at it. Pretty simple indeed.

iPhoto Library Manager appears to rely on AppleScript automation to work its magic, which also appears to be why it works so slowly. This shouldn't be too big an issue, since it would be even more time consuming to make these changes manually, and because breaking up a gigantic library into smaller pieces is usually a one shot deal.

Tags: mac, iphoto, library, manager, review

John Gruber has a detailed comparison of the various Twitter clients for the iPhone.

I'm fascinated by Twitter's massive popularity but just haven't been able to get into it myself. The same can be said about the iPhone.

Tags: iphone, twitter, clients, john gruber

You might remember a while back that I wrote glowing praise for Cultured Code's Things application. Things is indeed a great Mac task management application. My only criticism with Things is... that it's a great Mac task management application.



What?

Like many other Mac users, I'm a multi-platform computer user. At home, I use a Mac, and at the workplace, I'm most likely using a flavor of Windows.

This is perhaps the biggest reason behind my bias towards cloud-based applications. I've already found that I have no need for Microsoft Office on my home computers. My migration to Google Docs has been seamless. The best part about using Google Docs is that I no longer need to worry about backing up any files. I don't find that I'm missing out on a lot of functionality, since I'm one of those 80-20 users.

I know there are other free web-based task editors out there, but Remember the Milk has broad support and works nicely with Google Calendar and Jott. Remember the Milk has a workable interface, although it definitely pales in the beauty of Things.



My dilemma with using Things has always been that I work on several different computers at different times of the day, and I don't want to be dealing with synchronization issues.

This issue is a dealbreaker for me. Fortunately for me, Things hasn't gone gold yet, or I would have been out the money that I would have paid for the license.

It's a painful decision, because Things is truly the first task manager that I've ever used that really works they way I think. If Things pulls an Evernote and moves towards a multi-platform client with a web service, I'll definitely consider going back. But for now, Remember the Milk is the winner.

Tags: things, rememberthemilk, cloud

Conde Nast Portfolio has an interesting bit on the background of the three congressmen who have come out and criticized Google's recent losing bid on the FCC spectrum.

You can always find out a lot about someone's real intentions if you follow the money trail.

Tags: google, spectrum

Gizmodo has a nice little summary of a New Yorker article about a guy who got stuck in an elevator for almost two days. There's quite a bit of interesting elevator trivia, especially this bit:

...the Door Close button is there mostly to give passengers the illusion of control. In elevators built since the early '90s. The button is only enabled in emergency situations with a key held by an authority.

Tags: elevators

Ars has a spot-on review of the emulator nerd's handheld, the GP2X F200.



I've had one of these babies since the beginning of the year, and they're pretty good for retro-gaming fans. I had to get a PSP fighting pad cover to stick over the D-Pad so I could pull of a Dragon Punch, but now I can get my fix of 2D fighting games on the go.

Tags: gamepark, gp2x

CNET and Trusted Reviews have new reviews of the 9" EEE PC.



I love the new screen, but I think the price boost takes away the "cheap appeal" of the original Eee. Once you breach the 600 dollar range, it's a hard call between buying a full powered laptop and a portable surfing device. With HP's new gear, the small and cheap laptop space is going to get crowded.

Having said that, the Eee's form factor is near perfect when you're traveling. My first generation Eee was indispensable during my trip to San Francisco. I was able to plan my itineraries and book restaurant reservations from the convenience of my hotel room without having to lug a full sized laptop during my travels.

Tags: asus, eee

Service Pack 3 is due to arrive on Windows Update on April 29. Apparently Microsoft says that you can expect a 10% speed boost. So why do I need Vista again?

Tags: windows, xp, vista

I know I mentioned this a couple of entries ago, but it merits an entry for itself.



Jott.com is a very neat service that lets you call in with your cel phone, and leave actions to yourself. The voice recognition software is pretty good (provided your command of the English language is too) and you can integrate it to your Google Calendar, Remember the Milk and other web services accounts.

It's very handy to use if you're not near your computer but need some tidbit of information sent to one of your computer-related services. Best of all, it's free and available to Canadians.

Tags: jott

I've seen GorillaPods before, but as I was listening to the MacBreak podcast, Andy Inhatko reminded me of how cool these things are.



Very cool.

Tags: gorillapod, tripod, photography

Lifehacker's Gina Trapani wrote up a nice little list for PCWorld on free online tools that can enhance your life.

Gems on the list that I like include:

• Remember the Milk, a to-do list editor
• Sandy, a virtual assistant
• Jott, a text-to-task converter, which by the way now has access numbers in Canada

Tags: freeware, lifehacker, rememberthemilk, sandy, jott

The new screenshots for The GIMP 2.5 are looking pretty good. Looks like they took user feedback to heart.

Tags: freeware, gimp, photoshop

There's a Slashdot thread on the closing of portions of MySQL's code base. I suspect this could have a negative impact on MySQL's popularity.

Tags: freeware, mysql

The new Sony Alpha 300 series of DSLRs have been making their rounds on review sites. David Pogue reviewed the A300 for the New York Times, and CNET and Digital Trends have reviews of the A350. Imaging Resource has a very detailed review of the 350.



Let me tell you why I'm a big fan of the Alpha 300 in particular. The differences between the 300 and 350 aren't huge, and if you've been reading any photography blogs in the past little while, you'll know that at some point, more megapixels result in diminishing returns, particularly in the areas of noise and write speeds.

Honestly speaking, the Alphas don't have the best picture quality or lens selection out there. Canon seems to rule the roost on picture quality, and Nikon seems to dominate with optics. Having said that, the Alpha are no slouches. Unless you're a hardcore photography buff (and therefore not the target of this article), you're likely to be more than happy with the pictures that come out of an Alpha.

The key, however, is to remember that the most important part of photography is the photographer's eye. Let me give you a good example: at my wedding, there must have been a dozen relatives with more cutting edge and expensive gear than the guy we hired to take pictures. When I look at the pictures I got from my wedding - there were many photos from relatives that may have been superior in clarity and colour, but none that were superior in composition or craft. Clearly it takes more than a great camera to take a great picture. Combine a great eye with great gear, and then you've got Daily Dose of Imagery.

The second most important part of photography is how easy the camera is to use. Sony's Live View is currently the best implementation on a digital SLR. At this moment, Live View is enough of a reason to consider the Alpha 300 series over its competitors. You can take pictures from low and high angles more easily than any other DSLR. By using a second sensor, there are no mirror tricks, and you get the same ease of use that you would from a standard digital point and shoot. The speed of the camera is pretty peppy, so all in all, it's a usable camera.



The Alpha 300 is a great camera for average Joes who are looking for a little more than a point-and-shoot or super zoom camera. It's affordable (for a DSLR, at least), at around $800 CDN with a zoom lens. Note that the Alpha 300's big brother, the Alpha 350 goes for the same price without a kit lens. At 10MP, the Alpha 300's picture quality is more than enough for most weekend shooters, and it's super easy to use. Add a Lensbaby 3G, and you'll be taking spectacular pictures in no time.

Just a little postscript to this recommendation: When it comes to lenses, I'm not a big fan of zoom lenses, but I'm a lesser fan of lens swapping. I tend to think that for most hobbyist photographers, these are the lenses that should be bought:

• Wide to Moderate Zoom, i.e. 20mm - 70mm
• Short depth of field lens, like a Lensbaby
• If you find yourself taking a lot of group shots, get a good quality wide angle lens as well

Note that I'm not a fan of telephoto lenses. They're expensive, heavy, and harder to use. Telephoto lenses are better for people who really know what they're doing. Sad to say, but a lot of people who have telephoto lenses don't know what they're doing.

Tags: sony, alpha 300, alpha 350, lensbaby

If you're ever wondering how to do something, there are two sites that could provide you with the answers: WikiHow and Instructables. Both are extremely useful sites.

Tags: wikihow, instructables

There was much made over Psystar's Leopard "hackintosh" bundles yesterday. It was certainly a big enough deal that Psystar's site buckled under the traffic load, leading to speculation that the site was down as a result of an Apple cease and desist order.

The thing that seems to got everyone bent out of shape is that Psystar has offered to sell a legal copy of Leopard and then break the Apple EULA and install the software on the box itself (for an extra fee, of course).

Ars has a pretty good analysis of the situation.

I'm surprised that someone hasn't done this sooner, there is a lot of activity on Insanely Mac's forums on what specs make the ideal hackintosh.

Apple could easily put a company like Psystar out of business without even unleashing their lawyers if they simply provided a consumer level tower. Forcing users to spend the big bucks on a Mac Pro fuels the motivation to create a hackintosh among many of those who can't afford it. Of course, there will always be part of the population who just won't buy a Mac under any circumstance, but there is clearly an untapped market for Apple out there.

Tags: psystar, apple, mac, osx, insanely mac, hackintosh

An interesting font identification quiz.

I feel pretty good about my 31/34 score, considering I'm not even close to being the font nerd I was 20 years ago... It also feels good because current font nerd John Gruber got 32.

Tags: fonts, test, john gruber

Wired is reporting that a new cancer therapy without side effects is close to entering the human trial phase.

Kanzius RF therapy attaches microscopic nanoparticles to cancer cells and then "cooks" tumors inside the body with harmless radio waves.

Tags: cancer, therapy, nanoparticles

RED has made another huge splash this year at the NAB show.



Particularly of note is their new 3K Scarlet mini camcorder. This 3K resolution camera is not a consumer camcorder, but at its reported price of $3,000, it is within the price range of a hardcore prosumer.

Wedding videographers, film schools (and students) and professional video podcasters will be lining up for this beauty.

Tags: camcorders, red, nab

Until now, there was no sleek cooking surface for gas purists. Electric is no way to cook (although it is the way to bake), and so far, induction has not made everyone a believer. So, gassy home chefs have been relegated to the ugly metal grates to suspend their pots over their beloved flames.



Well, say hello to Fisher & Paykel's upcoming CookSurface gas cooktop. The surface is glassy smooth when not in operation. When in operation, risers appear to suspend your pots above the flame. Neat stuff!

Tags: fisher & paykel, gas, cooktop

Think Geek is offering old-school e-mail for those of you who are feeling a little nostalgic.

Tags: paper, e-mail

Anybody's who worked with Vista for even a few minutes knows of the annoying torrent of security dialogs that pop up. Heck, Apple even made a funny commercial out of it. Apparently, Microsoft designed this feature of Vista to annoy its users.



The "feature" in question is called the User Account Control. It's basically the traffic cop that nags users on various operations that might have even a smidge of risk.

According to Microsoft's David Cross:

The reason we put UAC into the platform was to annoy users. I'm serious.

Tags: vista

Rumor has it that Guns N' Roses have finally finished the long awaited Chinese Democracy album.

If you're a lucky American, you might be in for a free Dr. Pepper this year!

Tags: guns n' roses, dr. pepper, chinese democracy

Linuxseekers has posted a review of the recent Eee-friendly Mandriva Linux 2008.1 release.

Tags: linux, mandriva, eee, review

Amazingly, 30 years of confidential Walmart videos are for sale. Legally.

From the article:

In recent months, Flagler has opened its trove of some 15,000 Wal-Mart tapes to the outside world, with an eye toward selling clips. The material is proving irresistible to everyone from business historians and documentary filmmakers to plaintiffs lawyers and union organizers.

Tags: walmart, video

My programming hero, Joel Spolsky, has organized his first conference, the Business of Software Conference 2008.

Scheduled for September 2008, he's managed to line up an impressive array of speakers, including Seth Godin, Eric Sink, Richard Stallman, Jason Fried, and of course, himself.

Tags: joel spolsky, conference

It turns out the Kwikset Smart Series locks aren't really available in Canada... at least not under the Kwikset brand. Instead, they're marketed in Canada as a Weiser lock, one of their sibling companies under the Black and Decker umbrella.



The two key product benefits of the Smart Key system are bump-key resistance and easy rekeying. I can definitely vouch for the rekeying simplicity - I was able to rekey a lock in less than 30 seconds. If you've got a bunch of doors that you want to lock with the same key, you no longer have to have them done by a locksmith or the keying guy at Home Depot. Unless, you have a key grinder in your house, you'll still have to pay to get copies made, but that's not a big deal.

Since the pricing of the Smart Key system doesn't really come with a significant premium, I think it's a worthwhile investment to change your locks, lest you haven't seen any bump key videos in the past year (where have you been!!?).



I originally investigated the idea of buying a Medeco cylinder, but they are very expensive.

In the end, if someone does want to break into your house, they will find a way. For me, the key is that they break something to get in. The last thing you want to be doing is arguing with an insurance company over whether you locked your door... after all, a bump key burglary leaves no trace.

Tags: locks, bump keys

Some gaming sites have been reporting a rumor of a new DS at E3. Should be interesting. The Macbook-like clamshell form factor of the current design is already excellent. Maybe Nintendo's engineers have worked some magic and are making a DS that looks like a Macbook Air? Nah, that's just crazy talk.

Tags: nintendo ds, e3

The Gadgeteer has a review of the Brando SATA Dock. I think this is a very good gadget for the IT professional or PC hobbyist. The price, however, is ridiculous, considering what the going rate of a drive enclosure is.



It looks like a company named Sharkoon has a similar product line from the same OEM.

Tags: drive, enclosure, brando, sharkoon

PocketGamer is reporting about a new adapter that lets you use a microSDHC card as a Memory Stick PRO DUO in Sony devices, including the PSP.



This shouldn't be of interest only to gamers, you should be able to use this device with a Sony camcorder or camera as well. Given the low price of SDHC in general, it could be a useful device for many Sony customers out there.

Tags: memory stick, ms pro duo, microsdhc