October 21, 22:58 | Comments (12)
My delight in seeing the Pragmatic Programmers publish their first two tomes of the Pragmatic Starter Kit is three-fold. First, as a regular consumer of technical books, it's great to be able to read more book-length material from Andy and Dave. Second, I was able to pick the first of the books at a $20 steal with instant delivery in my favorite format (PDF).
Third, and the main topic of this post, it represented a tangible success in my ongoing evangelism to convince publishers of technical books to supplement their paper versions with DRM-free ebooks.
Continued...
October 12, 1:01 | Comments (18)
I used to have two bulky Windows machines with one powered by an old 15" Compaq CRT and the other by a 22" Samsung CRT weighing 31.5 kilos. On top of that, there was my 17" iMac and a 12" iBook.
All have been banished.
October 10, 17:49 | Comments (17)
Panther introduces on-the-fly security for your home directory with File Vault and easy encryption of mail exchanges, but loosing my iPod at the Chicago O'Hare airport reminded me that there'll always be a weaker link. This time it was the physical security of my hardware.
So it's not about loosing the iPod as a piece of consumer electronics. That's kind of annoying too, but with 1.5 years in the running it had served it's time well. It's about something more personal.
That iPod held a copy of most of my electronical life on it. Everything from my high school diploma, to budgets on future projects, and my second year exam paper. And tons of sources. Nothing mission critical, like the password to my bank account, but significant personal information never the less.
So I think I know what people who've been burglarized feel. The unnerving sense that a stranger has gone through your things. Your personal belongings. And usually someone who've been burglarized experience this from the "mere" tossing of their drawers and closets.
Now back in the land of the materialistic, I've just received a letter from my insurance company that assure me that I still have the same coverage — even though they just jacked up my yearly premium by 15%.
Anyone care to wager whether they'll pick up the cost of reacquisition? Clues on how to best phrase my claim are most welcome as well.
October 06, 5:50 | Comments (3)
The Chicago Cubs haven't swung their way this far into the play-offs since 1908. And I've never cared much about baseball. I guess some things can change.
Though you'd think that something as rudimentary as body clock adjustments would have an easier time doing so. Never the less, it's 5:36 local Danish time, which shouldn't really matter after almost a week at Chicago time, but it does.
I shouldn't complain, however. It's been a wonderful week. Cold, but sunny and clear. Work, but inspiring and nearing completion. Wait, but fulfilling at delivery.
Yearh, that last part would indeed be a reference to my new 17" PowerBook with 1GB of RAM and an Xbench score that blows away most hardware with an Apple logo on it.
