Note to self

My current morning schedule does not give me time to: get dressed, take meds, read cartoons, blogs, email, take the kids to school and work, do the dishes, glance at the newspaper, make and eat breakfast, and get anything else done.

Computer- and album-related tasks will have to wait for evening.

Survival

Wilderness Survival Kit: Gadgets and Ideas That Could Save Your Life - Gizmodo

As we mourn the death of C|Net journalist James Kim, we want to do whatever we can to prevent such tragedies. There are lots of ways to improve your odds when you get lost in the wilderness, stranded in your car, or are somehow thrust out of this comfy cocoon in which most of us are living. So we put together a list of gadgets and ideas that might help you survive in the wild. If this can save just one person, it will have been worth it.

They give a pretty decent list of things to keep in your car, and things to do (like tell somebody where you're going). kyburg has another list in this post.

I need to update our car kits. Even here in Northern California, there have been a few occasions when I've been glad of the flannel shirt I keep in the trunk, and wished I had a blanket as well. And it's not as if we never have natural disasters here. Even with your car parked in the driveway, a survival kit in the trunk could save your life some day.

Be safe, folks!

Will Apple's iPhone be an iPhlop?

The Apple phone flop | Perspectives | CNET News.com

Apple, in other words, won't be competing against rather doltish, unstylish companies like the old Compaq. The handset companies move pretty quick and put out new models every few weeks.

Second, Apple has to face the issue of trust. Music players are fairly easy. Songs come out of memory and must be amplified. With cell phones, consumers care mostly about quality of service. Who, really, doesn't expect a new company to conquer all the static and connection issues with their phones? Granted, Apple will use contract manufacturers to assemble their phones, but designing these phones takes experience and talent. And the cell carriers are far deeper into it here.

So when consumers get to that counter at CompUSA, they will debate buying the Apple phone, and even hold it up for a look. But when they whip out the credit card, they'll probably opt for a Motorola.

(From techdirt.com.)

There were two things that contributed to the iPod's success -- Apple being the first company to realize that music players were fashion accessories, and being the first company to exploit vendor lock-in with iTunes and, later, the iTunes Music Store. Neither applies in the cell-phone world. We'll see.

I love it when a plan comes together...

So theStarport's fileserver, Nova, is back in operation after swapping its motherboard for a low-power, fanless one. UPS battery runtime is roughly double what it was before. W00t!

Only problem is that the stupid little MiniITX board doesn't have a parallel port, so I'll have to connect the printer via USB. Should work, but I can't seem to find a cable. Got 'em somewhere... Have to remember to print party fliers at work tomorrow.

The new recording box, with old Nova's motherboard, is mostly together. (update 2304: it boots. Needs a new kernel and preferably a complete upgrade, but it's useable now if I need it.)