Gadget lover's dream

Well, maybe not, but this USB MP3 Pen + FM Radio + Voice Recorder looked pretty damned good for under fifty bucks.

From the blurb:
# 512 MB flash memory
# MP3
# FM Radio
# Built-in microphone for voice recording
# Data storage
# Memo taking
# Mobile data storage and exchange
# Easy to view, edit, and copy files
# Dimension: 148x18mm
# Weight: 50g
# Support Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP, Linux or Mac Os

It's that last item, Linux support, that settled it. No line in, but I wouldn't use it in something this small anyway. Probably no ogg, either, but I can live with that too. No telling how long it'll take to ship from Hong Kong, and it would have been nice to have for the trip to Westercon in San Diego, but I bought it anyway.

He'll be missed

Jim Baen 1943-2006
( picture cut-tagged to save b/w )

(From technoshaman and others.) The suggestion on the page is to purchase copies of THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN and donate them to their favorite library or young person. Sounds like a good idea to me. Baen was one of the few print publishers who really understood how to use the web as an advertising tool. I don't usually visit the Free Library because every time I do, I end up ordering a pile of paperbooks.

Essential software

Remember my earlier post about open formats, and how Mark Pilgrim switched to Linux after 22 years on Apple hardware? Well, here's his Essential Software List -- it's an update of this list from 2004. I see we're both members of the Church of Emacs