ChillyWilly

#10: Safari Enhancer and Saft Updates -This tool makes all of the weird goofs and bugs about Safari easier to deal with.

#9: iTunes 5.0 - The true sleeper of the Sept 7th product announcements. Cool new features, improved shuffle options and just as easy to use.

#8: Create enhanced podcasts - Great post on how to create enhanced podcasts. Haven’t published anything yet, but thanks to this post, I’ve got another Mac-related diversion.

#7: Opening Mac mini Sans Putty Knife - Didn’t see this post before I already did the putty knife opening (no scratches, at least no visable ones). But future openings of my Mac mini will have me going back to this post.

#6: My wishes for iLife ‘06 - iLife ‘05 isn’t all that bad, with the exception of iPhoto 5’s limitations (allow me to rename the file when importing into iPhoto, not just the caption). This post gave me some hope that maybe… just maybe, Apple will actually listen to some of our complaints and I can start using iPhoto instead of Finder to manage my digital photos.

#5: Opera Still Offering Free Registration Codes - I’m a stable guy when it comes to browsers. But I’m open to trying new browsers. And what a better way to try new options when they are free.

#4: Vaio Running OS X - I’m staying away from the x86 OS X mods and waiting for the offical Apple product. But that doesn’t mean seeing someone else running OS X on a current WinTel system keeps me from salivting.

#3: FreeMacWare - What’s better than Mac software?? Free Mac software.

#2: Lesson learned: Keep a vintage Mac around - Thank goodness I’m not the only one keeping older Macs around for those “just in case” times. Although they do take up considerable more room than the bootable MS-DOS 5.0 floppies and Windows 95 CDs in my desk drawer.

#1: iPod nano - Okay… all of the other 9 favorite posts provided useful helps for my daily Mac and iPod uses…. but this thing is just cool…. and to read the details, along with the user rants and praises makes me drool just thinking about having one.

Albums Listening to: Staind “Chapter V”, Shadows Fall “The War Within”

Top Article: Leaders Lack Disaster Experience - This is the government we are talking about, so it’s not such a stretch to employ your buddies over someone that’s qualified to know something about the department they will be heading. Sad that innocent lives were lost when there may have been a chance to save those that were stranded if quicker action would have been taken.

Current Rant: Cell phone contracts. They all do it. Tie you down for 1-2 years, charge a $150 to $175 fee per line if you leave before then …. and then don’t really do much during that time to make you feel like you are getting a good deal and good service. Granted, for the most part, I’m happy with Sprint. But their latest merger seems to have added the idea that they can charge $5.00 for “free” roaming or $7.50 for picture mail when these features used to be included in their plans. And while switching phones is 90% painless, it’s the 10% pain in the ass issue re-activating my Vision (web) on the new phone that’s got me upset at the moment.

Regardless, why the need to force you to stay with them? If their service was great and their attention to detail was part of their customer service, they wouldn’t have to shackle you down for 24 months. You’d stay because they had great service and you were treated as a customer should be treated. I’m currently not under contract but staying with Sprint because I don’t care to re-sign with them or any other carrier. The nice part of being month-to-month on a granfathered plan makes dealing with the 10% bullshit a bit more bearable.

Personal Comments: With summer winding down and coming off of a nice weekend trip to the beautiful spots and canyons in southern Utah (Bryce, Grand Staircase Escalante, Calf’s Creek, Goblin Valley) , it’s time to start thinking positive about going into fall and then winter (which seem like 8 months long here in Utah) and hoping to get some personal demons locked up and/or thrown out, find employment that pays and respects me more than my current clusterf*** combination of day job and side work and make time to complete some personal goals (getting my writing career going again, for one).