Some Random Thoughts

24 Apr 2007

Some miscellaneous things I've had clanking around in my head lately:

I just finished reading Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke. This is not your typical dry technical book, rather it really gets you thinking about how you mentally approach web markup and CSS design. I'm definitely going to adopt some of his suggestions as I work on redesigning my site. It also doesn't hurt that the book itself is beautifully and creatively laid out.

In preparation for some summertime camping trips with the kids, I've been looking around for outdoor gear that can make life a little easier. One of the best things I've found is the Midland 74-250C portable weather radio. I've been out of the loop on the latest weather radio developments, and was pleasantly surprised to learn about S.A.M.E. technology. Radios with SAME allow you to input specific county codes and receive alerts only when something is issued for those specific counties. Very cool.

Looking for a good, simple, free online (with local install) family organizer? Take a look at Cozi. Implementing a very simple to use interface (read: the wife can use it), Cozi allows you to keep a calendar for any and all members of your family. You can also define shared shopping lists and send just about any information over email or to mobile phones.

I've been looking for a good online backup solution for quite a while, and finally found one that is affordable. Mozy Online Backup gives you 2GB of backup space free, but for only $4.95 a month, you receive UNLIMITED storage! This is by far the best deal I've found, and I've been backing up there for about a month now. The only painful thing is that I've got over 200GB of data I want backed up, and since Comcast limits upload speeds, the initial uploading can be painfully slow with large data sets.

There is a new del.icio.us Bookmarks Extension available for Firefox that finally ties together del.icio.us bookmarks and Firefox in a useful way. Click on the toolbar icon to see a complete, searchable list of your del.icio.us tag and bookmarks. You can even display them as a sidebar. Very useful.

Personal home page Netvibes keeps getting better and better. Its become an indispensable personal dashboard that I use every day.

I'm a big fan of power pop, and discovered a great blog this week, Absolute Power Pop. Obvious Pop is another one I read often. Give them a visit.

Finally, it seems Sheryl Crow has gone off the deep end. She has decided to share with the world her wonderful ideas to save Our Mother The Earth, including limiting the use of toilet paper to one square per sitting. Let us know how that works out for you Sheryl, and keep those fabulous ideas coming.