MarsEdit takes off

Congratulations to Brent and Sheila of Ranchero Software on the release of MarsEdit 1.0!

MarsEdit is a weblog editor for Mac OS X that makes weblog writing like writing email—with spell-checking, drafts, multiple windows, and even AppleScript support.

We like it. Go check it out.

Time to buy your Secret Santa Gifts

I got the email today about my Secret Santa gift recipient. He's a Blog-Keeping, Mac-Using, iPod-Loving Liberal. And no, it's no one I'm married to; in fact, it's someone I've never even heard of before.

So now I have to decide, do I just get him a DVD off his Amazon wish list, or do I throw something else in randomly that I suspect another B-K, M-U, i-L L would like?

Today's Internet Time Waster

Advice for the Dems

The DNC sent me an email today touting their 2004 accomplishments and asking for feedback. OK, they did some good things. But there's also a whistling-past-the-graveyard quality to the note. Here was my feedback:

• Spend more time on developing a coherent message for Dems. In polls, we win on the individual issues, but cannot seem to break through with a clear message. Enforce party discipline. Spend time building a true top-to-bottom party structure. Use our new-found financial strength to run Democratic candidates for every office. Many will lose, but some will win, and in surprising places.

• We need to be Democrats, not Republican-lite.

• Become the reform party! Republicans offer a target-rich environment for attacks on their corruption, financial irresponsibility, and arrogance. Not to mention that they simply are wrong on issue after issue. Expose them for what they really are.

• Eliminate Iowa and New Hampshire from their leadoff primary positions; they are not representative of the true nature of the general campaign. Winning these states predicts nothing, and does not seem to help our candidates be better general election contenders. Worse, candidates waste time sucking up to local interests that never matter after the primary or caucus. Who outside Iowa really thinks ethanol subsidies are a good thing? Dump IA and NH before they hurt us again. People in these states will be disappointed. Too bad. They'll get over it. Instead, move to a system of regional primaries, or juggle the calendar so that Western and Southern states get a shot. Update: Looks like the DNC is thinking about this already. Tapped has the scoop.

• Find a way to knock out weak or symbolic candidates sooner, or at least bar them from debates. They waste too much time of the real candidates and blur our message. 2004 examples: Sharpton and Kucinich.

• Never allow Bob Shrum to work on a presidential campaign. Ever again.

• Finally, we need strong leadership for this next cycle, not milquetoast party apparatchiks. Pick a new DNC chair that won't be satisfied with business as usual. Another set of campaigns run by the usual consultants and media firms will be death. That approach has failed. We have lost three elections in a row. We control no branch of government. More of the same will not lift our fortunes. An inside-the-Beltway chair will only lead us to more failure.

BrowserCam competition

I've heard lots of talk about how useful Browser Cam.com is, but it's always accompanied by how it's too expensive for what you get. If that sounds like you, check out url2image.com. They'll both send you screenshots of how your web site looks in multiple browsers, but the latter is about half the price.

Another Urban Legend

Starting Jan 1, 2005, all cell phone numbers will be made public to telemarketing firms. So this means as of Jan 1, your cell phone may start ringing off the hook with telemarketers, but unlike your home phone, most of you pay for your incoming calls. These telemarketers will eat up your free minutes and end up costing you money in the long run.

According to the National Do Not Call List, you have until Dec. 15th 2004 to get on the national "Do not call list" for cell phones.

It turns out that this one is mostly an urban legend. Snopes.com, the Urban Legends Reference Pages, has this one covered. Snopes is great for checking the veracity of alerts like this that you get via email. Plus, it's a fun read for all sorts of urban legends.

According to the Snopes page, here's the gist (I've edited for length):

"So...it is misleading in stating that such a directory will "soon be published"...and in directing readers to sign up with the The National Do Not Call Registry. The latter step...is premature...and largely unnecessary...because FCC regulations already in place block the bulk of telemarketing calls to cell phones.

Adding one's cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry (even if currently unnecessary) won't likely have any adverse effect, but customers should be aware of exactly what that action will or will not accomplish."

Dashboard Widgets info!

New from Apple Developer Connection: a brand new article, Developing Dashboard Widgets. I'll have to look at this in depth a little later, but I have one quibble—why on earth is their recommended JavaScript text a book that's almost four years old? That's just ridiculous, and not only because we've got a competing title. Things have changed in the last four years (like, oh, say, Safari being released?) and an out-of-date book isn't the best reference. I'm not saying it's a bad book (hey, I even paid for it), but it certainly isn't current.

Also announced: there's a new Dashboard Widgets contest that ends January 5.

Debian Women

There's an interesting article on NewsForge titled, Debian Women: Geek feminists in action. The only thing I'll say about it here, though, it's that it's a HUGE relief to me that they aren't named "Chicks" or "Babes" or "Girls" (or even worse, some mispelling of one of those).

Never having been a chick or a babe, and not having been a girl for about 30 years, it's wonderful to see an online women's tech group that isn't afraid to use the word "women."

Number 2, number 2...

Via Macintouch today, I heard about Number2.com, "Free Test Prep for the ACT, GRE, and SAT." Anyone heard about these folks? It sounds too good to be true, and I wonder if they turn around and sell off the info they get as their way of staying in business. Their Privacy Policy looks fairly straightforward, but I'll most likely keep an eye on Sean when he signs up to make sure he opts out of all the "special offers."

Windows users suck

A few months ago, I tried to have a come-to-Jesus talk with a friend of mine about computer security. Or, in her case, computer insecurity.

At her house, she's got an unpatched Windows PC (with whatever version of Windows that happened to come on it) hooked up to a DSL box. She's also got teenagers who can run and install anything they want. She's not that familiar with computers. I called this a recipe for disaster, and tried to tell her that she was, in my exact words, betting her house and life savings that nothing bad would be installed, either by her kids or by virii. She just shrugged it off.

What brings this to mind now is the Wired News article Spyware on My Machine? So What? and the USA Today article, Unprotected PCs can be hijacked in minutes. How do you convince people that they need to be concerned about their privacy? How do you convince people that an off-the-shelf PC is an open target that hurts everyone? What's it going to take?

It's a sad day

Yep. I'm happy to announce that I've got a paying gig writing for Macworld magazine.

An ideal holiday gift

Al wrote today about a surprise gift he just got in the mail:

Then I took a look at the receipt, and found that a fellow blogger had gifted me with a volume written by a couple of other folks in my little community.

What a welcome sight for an old nurse status-post holiday season weekend beat-down! Thank you, Steve - I think that Mac OS X Unwired is one of those reference works that Apple fans using wireless should have on their bookshelves.

Thanks, Steve, and thanks, Al!

Still here, just busy

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth; I've just been busy with the Healdsburg Community Chorus. We've performed four times in the last 10 days, and we've got another four performances in the next 8 days. And that's not counting the 5 rehearsals in that two and 1/2 week period, either.

If you're interested in coming to one of our big performances next week, you can buy a ticket from me or one of the local bookstores. And if you're wondering what else there might be to do around here over the holidays, here (in PDF form) is the local list of events.