Well, there it is.

The perfect personal start page does exist. netvibes.

Seems to have everything I just wished for yesterday. Dropped right into my inbox via Rich at work.

Out with the old

It’s been just over a year, which means it’s time to dump the old iPod on ebay to make way for the new video sweetness iPod.

I always try to make things a good deal to start with ’cause that’s what ebay’s all about. The auction starts at 50 bucks and includes the leather case and a Griffin iTrip to boot. Plus the iPod itself is in mint condition and works great, not a scratch on it. So chop chop, only 6 days and 23 hours left from the time of this posting!

Tubing

We took a ride a little bit north to a place called the Double JJ Ranch this past weekend, everyone had a good time (snow) tubing and just kicking back. The place has a total western theme right down to the stop signs that say “whoa” instead of “stop.” We stayed in a little wood cabin with a loft upstairs for the kids to sleep in. Some advice if you go; call ahead and try to get a package deal for whatever activity you want to do (they have all kinds of stuff, horseback riding, snowmobiling, xc skiing, tubing etc.) because you’ll pay through the nose if you do it separately.

Double JJ

Originally uploaded by plounsbury.

New OSX Downloadables

I had time today to catch up on some new software; starting with netnewswire. I’ve had it on my computer at work for a couple days but had to yank it off because i wasn’t doing any work. I was just reading RSS feeds all day like a zombie. Now I have it here at home, where acting like a zombie won’t get me fired. It’s a super piece of time-saving software.

Next; iPodderX, a podcast client that can handle pretty much any kind of file (audio, video, photo) but I’ve only used it for audio podcasts so far. It gives me something to listen to on the way to work and helps me avoid road-rage.

And then; Panic’s usenet client Unison. This is AWESOME. I’ve been using MT NewsWatcher forever now and had no idea what I was missing out on. I use it mostly for music and with Unison you can view threads by file type, preview songs before downloading and you don’t seem to have to worry about finding a third-party binary decoder. It does it all for you.

Lastly; I finally got Bit Torrent software, mainly to download this.

Fresh Cicada

Fresh Cicada
Originally uploaded by plounsbury.

I was just testing out the interaction between blogger and flickr. Works great. I took this photo this past spring after waiting around in the front yard with my camera like a dork for this freakish thing to pop out of its shell. I read that they live underground for 80 years or so, feeding on tree roots. They dig their way out of the dirt, attach themselves to the bark of said tree, shed their nasty looking brown shell to reveal this shiny technicolor disco bug, then they mate, and then they die.