Apple

New version of iBlog

Lifli software has released a new version of iBlog. You can download it here Most of the features in the new version don’t apply to me, since I use the .Mac version of iBlog, and can only create a blog on my .Mac disk space. But one feature that does apply to all iBlog users, is a Auto Abstract feature (which I’m trying on this entry). The Auto Abstract is supposed to create the abstract version of each entry (the part you see on the main page, that has the short information with the “Read More” link.

The AA feature has got a little slider bar, where you control how much of your body entry is used to make up the abstract, anywhere from 1-100%, as well as a check box to enable/disable it. One bug I’ve noticed as I’m creating this entry, is that if part of the body that the AA feature chooses has got a hyperlink in it (in this case, the link to download the updated iBlog) the AA doesn’t keep the link information, just the text. I’ll have to remember to submit that one as a bug.

One feature I’d like to see added to iBlog is some indication to the reader, whether or not there is anything else on the ‘read more’ page. I’ve seen other Blogging software that has information in parentheses after the “read more” link that tells you how many more words, and/or pictures are in the “body” of the entry. I’ve requested the feature from Lifli Software, so who knows, perhaps it will end up getting added at some point in the future.

Just Stuff

Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

So, after getting stuck trying to get to ‘the control room’ in HALO, I decided to give Jedi Academy a try.

For those not familiar with the series, it picks up after the last Jedi Knight game (Outcast), instead of reprising the role of Kyle Katarn, you pick up the role of one of the students. Haven’t got very far yet, but so far its an entertaining game. To keep performance up, I did turn down some of the video options, so it looks a little grainy… and its yet another video game that doesn’t take advantage of the full screen on widescreen displays. Must be because its a port of a windoze game..and so few windoze users have wide-format screens….

Now…if I could just find a way to make the deaths of the things I kill with my lightsaber gorier! =)

Just Stuff

Celebrity Mole

So, the first episode of Celebrity Mole aired last night. Since I had to work, we taped it (Man..I miss the PVR features I had with Dish Network..Hurry up TiVo…make a HDTV compatible unit!). And watched it tonight..

since its just the first episode, its hard to say for sure who the mole is (Although, we know its not Ananda Lewis, since she was the first person voted off).

Right now, my hunch is that Mark Curry is the Mole. Janice thinks its Tracy Gold.

So it will be interesting to see how it plays out this season…

Just Stuff

iTunes Music Store

One interesting tidbit that Steve Jobs revealed about the iTMS yesterday during his Macworld keynote, was that 1 customer (he didn’t say who) has spent over $29,000 (yes..that’s 29 THOUSAND dollars) at iTMS since it opened!

All I can say is..DAMN! that’s alot of music

29,000 / .99 = 29292 songs which is 3 of the 40 Gig iPods filled to capacity (ok..so the 3rd would have a little room left on it)

so.. this person has got enough music purchased..to listen to all their music for about 3 months..and never repeat a song!

Way to much spare time (and cash) on their hands…

Apple

MacWorld Announcements

Steve Jobs unveiled a whole slew of new goodies today

Where to begin, where to begin…

1. xServes updated to G5 chips, giving them something like 30 GigaFlops of processing power

2. xServe RAID updated, now supporting up to 3.5 Terabytes of storage (thats a LOT of porn– And it would probably hold quite a bit of other data, should you choose to store your Porn elsewhere)

3. Business card sized mini-iPods, in a variety of colors

4. Final Cut Express 2.0

5. updated versions of all the iApps, except iTunes. And added GarageBand to the mix, which really looks like it will be fun to play with. I’m really looking forward to some of the new features in iMovie and the expanded storage via iDvd (up to 2 hours per disc) will definitely make it easier for me to finally get around to doing something with all the footage of Kael I’ve got laying around.

All in all, a pretty good MW, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the new apps….

Current Events

Busy Day!

Oh where to start… do I talk about Britney’s marriage to some guy she went to school with? The Mars Rover? The Europeans’ still missing Mars craft?

Let’s start with the dumbass down in Florida (click here ) who not only shook her baby (causing Shaken Baby syndrome, cranial bleeding, and eventually death).. but since apparently that wasn’t enough for her.. she also BIT her 10 month old baby on the back, leaving visible bite marks. Then she can’t even keep her story straight to the cops, she apparently thought she had a boyfriend who abused the baby, and then seems to have remembered that she isn’t actually dating anyone. Lock her up, toss the key!

So… that brings us to space exploration! In case you missed it… late last week the European Space Agency landed a rover on Mars…and lost it sometime after it entered the atmosphere.. to date, no attempts to contact it have been successful including a couple of attempts from NASA’s Mars ships (en route to Mars at the time) to pickup the missing rover (Beagle 2) signals as Beagle’s landing site was flown over. Yesterday, our rover landed and today it made contact with us, sending it first pictures. A few days ago, we sent a probe into the tail of a comet to grab a handful of meteor dust so space programs everywhere are busy….maybe we’ll end up back on the moon soon.

and of course…Britney Spears tied the knot early this morning to a childhood friend….of course the article states that she’s going to have the wedding annulled, and mentions rumors of her being so drunk that she couldn’t walk…. wonder if she had a chance to consummate her marriage before she passed out into a drunken stupor?

(you can find links to all these articles on CNN.com, and probably every other news site out there)

Just Stuff

Broncos and Playoffs

:sigh:

Unless you live in a cave (in which case, how are you reading this?) By now you’ve heard of the Broncos’ incredibly poor performance in today’s playoff game against Indianapolis

Apparently, there was only enough room on the Charter flight out to Indy for the Offense, and the Broncos were forced to leave their Defense here in Denver…because they certainly didn’t show up on the field to play the Colts today! So, it looks like the best thing about the Superbowl, is going to be the commercials (hey…maybe the rumors of Apple running a 20th Anniversary commercial are true).

On the plus side…. the Raiders sucked even more then normal this year!

Just Stuff

Entertaining Read

For those into RPGs, and Fantasy reading, here’s a quick link to the first part of a short story written by Ed Greenwood (he basically designed the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons). Click here

I thought it was entertaining, and I’m looking forward to the second half, when ever Wizards of the Coast posts it on their site.

Apple

2 Days till MacWorld

MacWorld Expo San Francisco starts Tuesday with Steve Jobs’ keynote speech.

For us Mac geeks, Macworld is like Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years, Kwanzaa, and our Birthday all rolled into one. It has historically been the big event where Apple announces new products, both hardware and software. In recent years though, they’ve been trying to get away from only making announcements at MW.

Some of the rumored products that are rumored to be announced Tuesday are:

G5 based Xserves in both 1U and 3U enclosures

Faster Powermac G5s

an “iBox” which is rumored to be a Apple produced set-top box (think TiVo done the Apple way, with integration into the iLife Apps)

Revised iLife Apps

“mini-pods” – smaller, cheaper iPods currently rumored to be in 1 and 4 gigabyte capacity.

I have no idea about the reliability of these rumors, I read them all on various rumor sites like: macrumors.com appleinsider.com and thinksecret.com

Tech

Webring

If you’re paying attention to all the stuff on the right, you’ll notice that this site is now a member of the iBloggers webring. Which is a webring devoted to people using iBlog (DUH! like I really had to explain that)

For those of you not familiar with a webring, its just a bunch of websites with similar themes that link to each other through another service. the iBlogger’s webring uses webring.com to ‘control’ the ring. Its easy to setup, and webring.com provides all the necessary code, so you can just cut and paste it into your website.