I Totally Want One of These

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Ion Audio is coming out (“Soon!”) with a gadget to let you photograph your books quickly and easily. Take a look at it here.

I’ve been thinking about building something like that myself for most of last year. (See this video for some ideas about how you’d do it yourself.) But the DIY project that guy outlines involves finding two cameras that can run CHDK, and a computer that can run some kind of interleaving software, etc., etc. The appeal of a turnkey solution is pretty significant.

(The pricing isn’t set yet, but if they can hold it to something like the estimated $150, that would be another draw. The DIY project would cost that much, plus a lot of time.)

Kudus: Engadget (which isn’t impressed) via CNET.

Castle

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I haven’t blogged lately. (No duh.) Christmas is a busy time for a preacher-man, and January’s busy for a Presbyterian. Plus, I had a vacation in there, too.

But I’m back now, and I thought I’d mention my latest TV show. As you know, I watch TV while I do my cardio workout every night.

Back in September, as you may recall, I decided to try this show with Firefly alum Adam Baldwin called Chuck. That was pretty good. But there’s only three seasons of Chuck available at Netflix, so I finished it awhile back.

After that, I watched some movies, but in mid-December I decided to follow up Chuck with Firefly alum Nathan Fillion‘s show Castle. Which I really liked.

It’s another romantic comedy like Chuck, but the setting is different. Instead of Nerds and Spies, it’s Cops and Murderers. You can go read about it at Wikipedia and elsewhere, but I just finished the second season and now I’ve got to wait until summer to find out what happens next. (The big question: when it hits Netflix, which will I catch up on first: Chuck season 4, or Castle season 3?)

Google Docs Now Includes Drawings

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This is pretty neat: Google Docs, which I’ve mentioned here before and increasingly trust, now features a drawing app. It seems to be pretty full-featured, although it doesn’t seem to have scaling and measurements. By full-featured, I mean, compared with Powerpoint, not with Illustrator.

Google Drawing (export as PDF)

Google Drawings is also (in my testing) a little buggy, but (in my experience) web apps get updated faster than desktop apps. Anyway, there it is, for what it’s worth. Your mileage may vary. You can export your drawing in number of popular formats, and they look pretty good to me. Here’s the PDF I exported from the above drawing.

Google Drawing (Exported)

VLC vs. DVD Player.app

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Apple’s DVD Player.app has been broken for so long, I honestly can’t remember the last time I was pleased with it.

It’s very telling that if you go to Apple’s web site, you can’t find DVD Player there. If I was them, I’d be ashamed of it too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Windows Media Player worked better.

Since (at least) Snow Leopard version 10.6.4, and continuing now in 10.6.5, DVD Player has been impossible. Routinely it crashes before you get to the main disc menu, and I’ve probably sent in 20 crash reports.

But no more. I switched to VLC. And you know what? “It just worked.” It’s a shame Apple can’t make software like that any more.

So Now It’s Okay…

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…to like Rush? That’s what it says in the Toronto Globe and Mail:

Both the book and the film attempt to come to grips with a band that has had the most unusual career trajectory, defying age and the loathing of critics to fly high for decades, with no end in sight.

I’ve been listening to Rush since they assumed control with 2112, and honestly, I don’t much care for anything they’ve done in about 20 years. I just checked iTunes, and the highest rating I’ve given anything they released since Counterparts is 3 stars. I gave that to “Faithless” on Snakes and Ladders, and “Vapor Trails” and “Earthshine” on Vapor Trails also have 3 stars.

Still, even if their work hasn’t done much for me lately, I’m glad they’ve kept trying. I’d hate to see Rush become a nostalgia act going from casino to casino playing nothing but the old standards.

Ah, but what standards! From Permanent Waves to Moving Pictures to Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, Presto, and Roll the Bones: what great records! (Great live performances, too: my Amazon wish list has some of their concert DVDs. Hint, hint.) As an old headbanger, I’m glad that these kids today are learning the awesomeness that is Rush. (Check out this performance of “YYZ” for an example.)

Schneier on Security Theater

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Bruce Schneier weighs in on security theater:

Exactly two things have made airplane travel safer since 9/11: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers they need to fight back. Everything else has been a waste of money. Add screening of checked bags and airport workers and we’re done. Take all the rest of the money and spend it on investigation and intelligence.

Kudus: Gruber.

Google Docs on Mobile Devices

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This is cool: you can now edit your Google docs on your mobile devices.

IMG_0046.PNG IMG_0047.PNG

I’ve become quite the fan of Google Docs. That whole cloud thing beats emailing a spreadsheet back and forth between me, the church secretary, and the clerk of session. To say nothing of automated offsite backups, and (now) mobile access. Also, the price is right.