Posts from — December 2003

The year in review. These lists pop up all over the place. This guy has compiled them all on one page. Thanks. By the way, this site is a lot of fun to read. Thanks again.

The Secret Diaries of the Hobbit folk is a good way to get more insight into the story from the perspective of its characters.

I couldn’t afford the items in the 12 Days of Christmas. Here’s the annual “Christmas Price Index” report from PNC Bank.

Mr. Picassohead will keep you busy through the entire holiday season.

Mark H. - best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Microsoft is getting into the blogging business with The Spoke. It looks good for some first time bloggers. Check it out.

Just in time for Christmas, this is cute.

“This site is designed to give an overview of what we can do to keep our computers safer and more secure while we are on the Internet.” I found a ton of useful information here.

From the people that brought you KaZaa, here comes Skype. “It’s P2P telephony that just works.” You can use this service to call all over the world. The best part is it’s free. This is the beginning of something very cool. The convergence of voice, video and data over a single network may be here sooner than we think.

It’s almost year’s end and the Best of 2003 lists are starting to come out. Time magazine lists the coolest inventions of 2003. Dean Kamen’s water purifier gets my vote. As if his awesome Segway wasn’t enough, he comes up with this excellent solution.

OK, so I’m not getting a TIVO for Christmas this year. I opted for a new digital camera (and printer) instead. Had I decided to get that TIVO, the Deal Database Forum would have been my first stop after getting it setup. They show all sorts of ways to hack a TIVO unit and have some good tips & tricks to get even more out of your unit.

Don’t fret too much about me missing out on TIVO. Comcast is offering some new DVR-type service soon. I’ll hold back to see what this is all about and if it proves to be lame, get a TIVO in the spring.

Oh yeah, Comcast just doubled my broadband speed. Thanks. Now it’s back at the level when I first got the service, before anyone even heard of cable modems in my area. I appreciate the speed boost nonetheless. Now if they would just lower the price, I would be all set.

Courtney Love wrote a great article on music and piracy for Salon. I have a new respect for her after she shares her insight into the business. Thanks.