Inside the Little Plastic Castle

...we have spent altogether too many hours juggling AV boxes. ( Now all caption formats viewable on our HDTV )

I have discovered how to increase my glee and reduce my anxiety. ( free my brain by doing healthwork first )

I started a good book (or at least, its first 60 pages meet that criterion). ( Not on Fire But Burning )

MyGuy found a beautiful, framed 1800 print of an iris at Goodwill this morning.

More news as it happens; maybe politics next time.

What's your favorite thing right now?

When a web page address (“URL”) appears as-is in the text, it’s a “bare link.”

For example, this URL:
http://jesse-the-k.dreamwidth.org/profile
takes you to my profile page.
( two ways to make links )
In Dreamwidth and most other online writing spaces, a bare link automatically becomes clickable. I prefer bare links because

• They’re easier to type, test, and proofread.


• They simplify working around link rot.[2]

( more details details details )

today I learned that the shareware software distribution sites like Versiontracker and MacUpdate are no longer reliable places to download trial software. They've moved to a "get $$$ to inject malware into our downloads" business model.

Can't prove which one did it, but something loaded MacKeeper in Safari, and now my Mac is yelling at me to buy something from them to get ride of itself.

So now I need to erase and restore my Mac. I backed up last night, hope the backup isn't infected, I may be offline for a few days.

If you have any wisdom, feel free to email my username at his domain!

Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of. 

 

I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese knives, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic presses, margarita glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, food processors, ice cream makers, takoyaki makers, and fondue sets languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards.

 

The one I really miss is the cookie press: MyGuy would imprint his pecan shortbread cookies and we were all buzzed in a sugar/butter rush for a day.

 

Even though my mother was a gadget addict, and actually used them, I guess we’re not so interested. (Whenever they visited they’d bring a gadget, and the day after they left we’d hand it over to Easter Seals’ Thrift Shop.) Last year we decided that we’d been cooking together for 33 years and maybe we should buy a <em>set</em> of pots and pans. Non-stick is kinda nice. IOW, I’m just getting used to the fanciest gadget of the 1960s.

Also the trackpad on my Mac just went paws-up, so may be awhile replying.
 

My Mac went paws-up on Sunday, so this is a drive-by post. I detail some "interacting with Jesse without setting fire to her body" tips in last year's WisCon post. (The panels listed there are in the dim past, of course.)

I'm at the hotel, but without email. Twitter DMs to @Jesse_the_K will ping my phone. My phone number is in my profile info here at Dreamwidth. Also, use the magic bulletin board on 2nd floor, next to the craft supplies table.

My panels are:

How to Make WisCon Affordable
Sun, 2:30–3:45 pm -- Senate A
WisCon is an empowering event, and more people should get to participate. But journeying to Madison, finding a place to stay, and affording membership are all difficult, much less being able to buy a dessert ticket. How have we been able to make it affordable for ourselves? In what ways could WisCon become more accessible for poor people?

Not Everyone Lives in the Future
Mon, 10:00–11:15 am -- Room 623
Technology has an undeniably transformative effect on our lives and it is worth examining who has access to those effects. Geeks are generally very engaged with technology and it is easy to assume that the Internet, cell phones, computers, etc. are a given in everyone's lives. However, there are large communities where technological access is not at the level that geeks take for granted. How does lack of access to technology impede communities' ability to prosper? How can geeks help to make technology more available to communities that may benefit from them? Are these transformative effects even desirable? What are good examples of SF that highlight or problematize this issue?

I will be on the "Not another *&^%$ Disability Panel" next year.

The Teleread Blog aggregates all sorts of useful news on ereaders, epublishing, e this and e that.

From the source:
Eleven free stories by Philip K Dick

To librarians:
Self-service iPad checkout for libraries

To the consumer:
eReader Interactive Database Comes on Line
This last is an awesome tool with 128 devices and selectors for screen kind, size, OS, price etc.

To assistive technology (YAY)
Switch-based Access to Three Kindle Models

Here's the RSS feed I made and added to my reading list (long form).

http://teleread-feed.dreamwidth.org/

To add Teleread to your daily inhale, visit that link and then choose subscribe from the navigation bar on top.

It's been a slow, boring, sleepy time. It's been a horrifying, fast, annoying time. It's been a puzzling time, it's been a fannish time. To wit:

1. Out on the town, sitting in the littlest room reading fanfic on the throne (as I do) and I dropped my iPod touch. ( Damage! Shining Knight in Wool Armor! Apple does good. )

2. It was rainy, so I was wearing my wheelchair rain cape. ( Who knew I'd kiss death? )

3. Saw the endocrinologist. T3 high, T4 low, TSH low. ( End may be in sight )

4. I won a drawing from the talented artist known as chkc in a successful fannish scheme to get anatsuno to Australia. Her SGA chibis are things of wonder. ( Look what she drew for me!!!! )

I'm still stuck in AV confusion land, unsuccessfully Skyping and failing at burning DVDs.

This site
http://www.videohelp.com/
has a huge amount of info, all platforms, very indexed, A++++


Maybe I'll get an answer? Who knows.

I'm testing a multi-site, multi-network Skype call and I'm dubious. If you're willing to be skyped by me, kindly leave a screened message with your Skype address/handle/nym? Our conversations will be secret forever.


I've just purchased a NIFTY new utility for my Macintosh trackpad. Among other wonders, it puts off having to think about switching to Lion for a while.

It's called JITouch. It adds scores (literally) of new gestures to any Mac application, with either the trackpad or the magic mouse.
http://www.jitouch.com/

My favorite is the "pegged" gesture. Hold one finger on the trackpad, and then tap another — left down switches one tab right; right down switches one tab left. And of course you can redefine as needed. They have a downloadable trial.

Many more gestures than Lion. I've been using Macs since 1985 and I never upgrade to a new version until at least the dot-three release, that is, 10.7.3. I'm happy at 10.6.8 right now.

I've been enjoying podfics -- fanfics read aloud by fans (sometimes, but rarely, the fic's writer). Flannel-PJ type podfics really help me get to sleep.

I have a lot of experience narrating books, articles, and manuals for readers with print impairments, but podfic is *different*. I lack any creative writing skills, so podficcing looks like one way I could contribute to fandom.
( So I'm soliciting beta readers for my first podfic )

Reply and I'll message you the MP3 link. Any comments you have to offer would be swell -- I'm a rank beginner!