More With Fun RSS

So I have been experimenting with ways to improve my blog lately (i.e. switching from Hello! to Flickr for my photo syndication) but I am stuck with the vast amount of time that it takes to sit down to actually use the web (surf, collate, blog, discard spam, etc.) and the paucity of free time in my life. I had hoped that I could simply manufacture more idle time by using my mobile phone more fully (I post most of my blog entries via email from my Treo 600 while I am in transit), but it doesn't really help me read to keep up with whats really out there.

So I've been thinking that it would be nice to be able to tag all the articles I read that I find salacious interesting (that I usually repost here), have Flickr autopost all my new pictures and occassionally blog (like I am doing here).

And that's when I saw the feed splicer that Feedburner is doing with Flickr and Bloglines. This is cool.

You can check out my feedburner splice here:

You can just click on it and it will render in your browser. Or you can add it to the RSS reader feeds.

I'm still working out the bugs, but this seems cool.

DirecTV Prepares Tivo Clone

Techdirt turned me onto a story about DirecTV launching their own Tivo replacement from CNN: Challenger takes on TiVo, video on demand.

While this is bad news, this still won't kill Tivo. People love Tivo, not the service. In fact, few people know what a PVR is -- even people that own a Tivo. It's that ubiquitous. It also has a UI that defines the industry. Assuming that Tivo can come through on their NetFlix arrangement (for broadband movie distribution), I think they will be around for a while . . .

D-League Basketball

Shelley got some free tickets to the Kings NBA game tonight so Kelly, Shelley and I wandered down to Arco Arena to see the Minnesota Timberwolves. Having never been to Arco, I was surprised at how small it was. The last NBA game (and only) was in Chicago and Sacramento's stadium seemed smaller than my University's. However, it was packed with locals and they do love their Kings in a midwestern, minor league kinda way.



The Kings folded to Kevin Garnett's Twolves 121 - 110 late in the fourth quarter.

Blogging with Blogger and Flickr

So a few people have asked about the infrastructure that supports Wander, my blog here at Blogger.com. It's actually pretty simple:

• The blog itself is hosted by Blogger
• The photos are stored at Flickr
• The photos and text are posted via email from my Treo 600

To replicate this setup, follow these steps:

1. Go to Blogger: Create your Blog Now and sign up for their free blogging service. They have you enter your some personal details, create a name for your blog and choose a template that defines how it looks.
2. Go to Flickr and signup for an account there. They'll want to know a little about you also. Flickr allows you to upload and store photos free (with restrictions).
3. Once you have both accounts active, you need to configure Flickr to post to your Blogger account. Go to your Flickr account page, a choose the link "Your Blogs" under the Blogging header. Click "Set up a new blog" and follow the prompts (hint: you are setting up a blogger blog). After this is completed, you can upload a picture to Flickr and then post it to your blog.
4. Finally, go back to your Flickr account page and choose the "Upload by email" option directly under the "Your Blogs". It allows you to set a style for the blog postings and gives you a email address to send them to.

Once you have all that completed, snap some pictures on your handy camera phone and email them with some snarky dialog to the email address that Flickr gave you. Instant blogger goodness.

God Hates Shrimp

Now that many of the "red" states have officially outlawed freedom of choice and the persuit of happiness (just after surrendering the home of the brave moniker with their fear-induced presidential vote), some enterprising people have found a new cause to put their biogotry behind: God Hates Shrimp.

Thankfully, we here in California still believe in freedom of crusteceans.

MNF

So Kelly and I spend every Monday night watching football (and my fantasy team win again) at our local Folsom bar, The Powerhouse Pub. And every week it just gets cheesier. The picture tells the story here (think unattractive scantily clad ladies).

Having said all this, the pub also has a 103" HDTV setup. I think we'll
endure the cheesiness for a few more weeks.

Prius

Shelley's finally got her wish and was able to trade in her VW Beetle for a Toyota Prius. As you can see from the photo, it's silver and kinda funky.

Happy to say that the gas mileage is incredible. I averaged 51 MPG on my trip to the Bay Area yesterday.

TiVo to add banner ads

A lots of talk today about Tivo's plans to add banner ads during fast forwarding. I don't think that this is really that big of a deal AS LONG AS this is implemented unintrusively.

I still think that I need to expand my PVR rig to HiDef. Check out EFF's Guide To HD PVR for some interesting details. HD capture cards are trending down to ~$250.

Fall (when the llamas return)

It's a beautiful fall day, unlike last week when Brian was visiting. And with beautiful falls days, come llamas.

This llama lives on our back fence line. He's been gone lately (not sure where llamas go - perhaps on the llama show circuit ?), but has reappeared now that the weather has gotten nice.

Konfabulator Ports To Windows

Konfabulator! the die-hard, mega-cool desktop beautification widget program has been ported to Windows XP. Once the exclusive treat for Mac OS X fans, Konfabulator was completely screwed by Apple and decided to open new markets to survive.

Maybe they will wise up and port this to Linux.