Category: Meta
Google Apps
I’m now hosting my email via Google Apps, switching over from the default hosting with my webhost. I switched mostly to get a better handle on spam, since Google’s spam filtering on the server level is really good. I’d been using Spam Sieve to do client-side spam filtering, and it does a great job there. But I found that accessing my email via the web was a mess, unless I left my home machine on to filter email during the day.
I didn’t think seriously about a switch until Domani moved over to Google Apps — I had a GMail address, but really wanted to keep my own domain email. I don’t know how much else I’ll be using from the Google Apps suite, but the email functionality alone was worth the half-hour I spent this morning switching everything over.
Google’s decision to make IMAP available was the other factor – even with Google email for my personal domain, I was still hesitant to switch because I’d grown used to the convenience of IMAP. Once I saw IMAP was available, I rolled up the sleeves and got it done this morning.
The other not-so-minor effect of all this is that an iPhone just got more attractive. I had previously deemed the Mail app on the iPhone to be a bit problematic, since I was doing all my spam filtering on the client side, and of course there’s no Spam Sieve (or equivalent) for the Mail app yet (the developer SDK next year may change that). Now that Google’s doing the heavy spam filtering on the server side, however, the whole equation has changed. I’ll be keeping an eye out in the Spring for the expected first iPhone revision.
Point and Shoot Update
Lots of stuff happening - turned 30 last Thursday. Lots of friends came out to celebrate on Friday, some of whom I hadn’t seen in the flesh in a very long time. I have no photos, unfortunately, an oversight to which the remainder of this post relates directly.
Fake Steve Jobs was finally (and regrettably, in my opinion) unmasked, and new Apple hardware and software got announced yesterday. It says something about my obsession with keyboards that I’m probably most intrigued by the new razor-thin keyboard that they debuted as opposed to the iMac/iLife announcements. I’m using a Macally IceKey at work, and at home I’m rocking the super-clacky Matias Tactile Pro. So far the Tactile Pro is my favorite, but unfortunately it’s simply too loud for the office.
In a fit of autogifting I ended up getting the Ricoh GX-100, and the battery is charging as I write this. Amin Sabet’s detailed comparison between the GX-100, Panasonic LX-1, and Canon G7 helped me make up my mind. That, and seeing/holding all of the cameras in the flesh at Adorama.
I waffled for a long time between the GX-100 and the GR-D, but in the end the need for some measure of focal length flexibility won out. I think if/when the Sigma DP-1 and the GR-D follow-up hit the market I can decide whether I need a prime-lensed model. The other candidate was a Pentax K100D, with either the 21mm or 40mm pancake lens. The rationale behind getting the compact instead was for more portability - I already leave the rangefinder at home more often than I’d like, and that outfit is around the size of a small DSLR.
I’m excited to start shooting this thing. I’m going to install the Aperture and Lightroom trials on my machine, and see how each runs. I have a feeling that Aperture is going to be pretty slow on my Macbook, but it’s worth a try.
More hockey tonight.
SWFObject test
Testing the SWFObject embed script with Wordpress. Finally found a plugin to sidestep the voracious tag-stripping in WP: Kimili Flash Embed. Here’s an More…
I capitulate
After some prodding, a beginning. This also marks the end of a long digression into blogging experimentation for experimentation’s sake (blogger, movabletype, flash front-ends). In the meantime here it is, using the cleanest layout I could find.
