DistroWatch Weekly Podcast
Just discovered a great podcast that is hosted by Shawn Milo.
The URL for the RSS feed is:
feed://distrowatch.com/news/podcast.xml.
If you have iTunes, you can subscribe to this free podcast directly using that great application.
Big Red Tequila
Just finished reading a cool book called Big Red Tequila, written by Rick Riordan. Here is a quick snap of the cover:
He has written several other books that all feature the same main character, Jackson “Tres” Navarre. Takes place in San Antonio, Texas. It’s a good read and if you like books that make you feel like you are cruising around in a neighborhood that you grew up in, you will like this book.
Epson Photo R2400
Just got Mikie a new Epson Photo R2400 printer. We needed something for her to use to produce larger-format prints. Have been looking around for more information about the printer so we can optimize the quality of the printed output.
So here are a few URLs:
- Article about Epson UltraqChrome K3 Ink from inkjetart.com
- Excellent write-up by Jeff Schewe, who is a beta-tester for Epson. The title of the article is Epson R2400 and Ultrachrome K3 Ink Report
- Interview with Greg Gorman about the new Epson Printers
- Interactive Review from photo-i, based in the U.K>
MacBook Pro, D.O.A.
Received one of the first new Intel core-duo MacBook Pro laptops yesterday. With much excitement and anticipation, I unpacked the computer and plugged it in. Booted just fine. Problems during the initial registration and setup. The keyboard would not function properly. Could type lower-case letters and numbers. Could not type capital letters. Caps-lock does not work. (And no, the num-lock was not engaged). I plugged a regular Mac keyboard into the USB port and it worked fine. Called Apple tech support. Spoke first to Diane, who forwarded me to Wes, who forwarded me to Casey, who is going to replace the computer. Very sad. I have an issue number assigned to me… Hopefully the replacement will not take long.
Apple should buy…
In my opinion, Apple Computer should buy RunRev. I think it was a terrible mistake on Apple’s part to drop HyperCard. They could rectify that mistake by purchasing RunRev and bundling it with every computer that they sell.
Learning Italian
In preparation for Mikie’s and Chelsea’s upcoming trip to Italy, we are all trying to learn some basic Italian. After looking at all of the courses that are available at our local Barnes & Noble bookstore, we settled on the Pimsleur Basic Italian course.
I have tried other methods (for different languages) and have always had a hard with with them. I really like the Pimsleur method. It is designed to teach you to speak and understand a language. It is not intended to teach you to read and write the language. But what I like most about it is the graduated approach that it takes. Each lesson is about 30 minutes in length. You do one lesson per day. You can do the repeat the lesson on that day if you wish. Only a few new words or phrases or concepts are introduced during each lesson, so it’s not so difficult for my aging brain to grasp.
What I’m Reading Today
I started reading two books last night. Both are shaping up very nicely.
The first is One Ranger: A Memoir, by H. Joaquin Jackson and David Marion Wilkinson. This is one bad-ass book. I’ll post more about it later.
The second is Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan. Amanda at my office told me about this office. He is like a Texas version of Carl Hiaassen. A riveting read, so far!
Stephen Hunter Books
I like the author Stephen Hunter. He has a series of books that feature Bob Lee Swagger. Here is the order in which they should be read: