On the Studio B list,

On the Studio B list, there's been a great discussion about alternatives to MS Word. In particular, there's been solid info about that holy grail of computer book authors: being able to use StarOffice or OpenOffice when publishers require Word documents. However, those people who prefer to use open source software should keep in mind that Richard Stallman says that this can't be done. Who to believe, who to believe...

All about the North American

All about the North American House Hippo (via The Voidmstr).

The GPS Personal Locator for

The GPS Personal Locator for Children is a combination watch/GPS/PCS device for kids that allows parents to track (via the web or phone) where their kids are at all times. I'm curious if this falls under the "No pagers or phones allowed at school" rule. I also can't decide if this is creepier than it is cool, or cooler than it is creepy.

Until just now, I didn't

Until just now, I didn't know that Darwin had a mascot: Hexley the platypus.

On Market Street in San

On Market Street in San Francisco today, I saw a guy begging. His sign said "Homeless, my ass! I just want to get high!" I was impressed by his honesty, but I still didn't give him a quarter.

Just for the record, I

Just for the record, I should point out that it took me about two minutes to get a press badge today. I walked into New Media Registration, handed them a copy of the February Macworld, pointed out my name, showed them my driver's license (establishing that that name really is me), and they printed out the badge. Their bark is much worse than their bite.

Chris Pirillo notes that he'll

Chris Pirillo notes that he'll be in Santa Rosa on Thursday--so he's coming up to our neck of the woods right when we're down here in his. Hey, Chris--come up and visit sometime when we're at home, and we'll show you why rural doesn't have to mean "like Iowa." <g> [Note: this was posted here instead of on Chris's site because I got an error trying to respond there.]

Call it what you want,

Call it what you want, but I think of it as the iLuxo.

From the comfort of our

From the comfort of our living room, we're simultaneously watching the keynote on TechTV and via webcast, thanks to the wonder of picture-in-picture. The TechTV picture is (considerably) better, but they're several minutes behind as they keep breaking for commercials [Note: we're assured every time they break away that it's being "Tivo'd"--when did TiVo become a verb?].


Memo to self: don't look under the couch at the end of the keynote.

Damien lets the cat out

Damien lets the cat out of the bag. Extremely cool, but doesn't live up to the hype (not that I'm sure anything could have).

Looks like Dori's wish below

Looks like Dori's wish below is (more or less) coming true, but that somebody else is doing it.

Okay, we've scoffed at the

Okay, we've scoffed at the rumor sites, debunked some bs, and made fun of the Apple hype. Given that, I want to at least mention the machine that I really, really want Apple to announce: the Pippin II.

The original Pippin was a game controller that came out about the time 3DO self-destructed, taking a large part of the entire game industry down with it. The Pippin, though, was pretty cool: it could play CDs and Mac games and surf the net as well. IMO, it was way ahead of its time.

What I'd like to see tomorrow is something that "goes where no PC has gone before": in my entertainment center. I want a PVR, an MP3 server, a DVD player, and an 802.11b base station all in one stylish looking box with Firewire and Ethernet, plus S-Video and coax in and S-Video and digital audio out.

The remote will be included, but the wireless keyboard and game controllers will be extra. Of course, it should be able to play just about any Mac game, too.

Wish me luck!