Interesting article on SpeakUp:
“…just appreciate the fact that design is all about failure. Every designer I’ve ever met has failed, and failed miserably, and they continue to make a successful career out of failing.”
I found a repair kit for our Jeep window regulator on eBay, and emailed the seller about whether or not it will fit our model (we have a 2-door and the kit is for a 4-door). I got a detailed response from him last night, and if my memory serves me correctly (I’ve only had the thing out of the door three times so far) the kit he sells will work. I have to wait until the rain passes to tear the door down to confirm, but to have this fixed would make me so happy.
After reposting on Cragislist, I’ve got a nibble on my spare iMac, which means I might be able to liquidate that and turn it into a new set of tires for the Jeep, something else that vehicle desperately needs. How we made it through the winter without sliding off the road into a ditch is still a mystery to me, but the sky pilot has smiled on us so far.
I also found a used Yakima rack system on Craigslist at ¼ retail, which I’m hopefully picking up this weekend. The plan is to bargain shop for a used roof pod to free up internal space in the cabin (or mount the spare on the roof, whichever is cheaper) so that babyhauling becomes easier.
My experience with iPhoto’s printing service, especially with black and white prints, is that color consistency seems to be a moving target. I sent two pictures out to be reprinted last week and the difference between these and the first batch is huge—where the first batch had a bluish hue, these are much warmer. Now I need to go get some more IKEA frames to put these in, as well as the OBEY GIANT poster I’ve had in my office since December.
Having problems with OS 10.5 not picking up a DHCP connection? Frustrated because it happens every time you restart? Try this solution.
In System Preferences, Go to Security and click the Firewall tab. Change the top setting to “Allow all incoming connections”, and then click Show All at the top (thus closing and saving the Security pane).
Go back to Network, click on whatever method you’re using to connect, and then the “advanced” button at lower right. When the pane drops down, click the “Renew DHCP Lease” button at upper right, then wait to see if you pick up a new DHCP address (something starting in the 192 range). If you’re successful, great!
Click “OK”, go back to Security -> Firewall and turn the firewall back on.
If you’re not… sorry, bucko. You’re on your own.
A few months ago, I had the good luck to do some basic design work for an iPhone app (an icon, splashscreen, and some minor beta testing, but not the website) and it’s now available through the iTunes store: GoCraigsy is an app which will create and post new Craigslist listings. If you’ve got an account (and even if you don’t, I believe), you can create an ad, populate it with location and Google map data based on your phone’s location, take and add photos with the iPhone camera, and post the whole thing to the Craigslist city of your choosing.
It will also let you browse your current listings based on supplied account information, which makes it invaluable for people who have a ton of stuff to get rid of which doesn’t fit in one listing.
Overall, it’s clear there was a lot of thought put into how the overall user experience works; it’s designed to get the user to the places they need to be with a minimum of fuss and tapping around. Taking a picture is easy, and the ability to flip and delete photos is included; there’s a field for boilerplate text, which means tedious junk like contact and terms info can be entered once and forgotten. And, my suggestion to add horizontal text entry was included, so it’s that much easier to type longer entries.
My only beef with it is that it’s difficult to find through the iTunes store; you’ve got to know what to search for exactly in order to find it, but that’s an Apple issue.
If you have an iPhone and sell a lot of stuff on Craigslist, you can’t beat the price. Go try it out!
Looking through eBay for replacement Jeep parts, I found a $50 repair kit for a $500 OEM replacement part. I’m seriously considering this solution instead of trying to source a new regulator.
I got Finn a pair of Uglydolls for her 6-month birthday last week, and they arrived on Monday. She’s next to Moxy in the photo, who she likes to play with when she’s awake, and she has Ox to keep her company while she sleeps.
Sunday afternoon, Finn took me for a two-hour walk around the neighborhood to look at the flowers and budding trees.
Yeah, I’m here. Not a whole lot of time to write. The weekend is coming up, though. I hope it’s sunny and warm.
1. AIG names recipients of bailout money. I understand that AIG underwrote all of these shit loans, and that somebody’s got to pay out the money to keep the banks afloat, but jesus christ, man, why wasn’t the company regulated to capitalize more than it was? Which leads me to…
2. AIG’s Insistence on bonuses raises ire in Washington …as well as everywhere else.
AIG Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy said his company was taking steps to limit compensation in AIG Financial Products — the British-based unit responsible for issuing the risky credit default swaps that have brought the company to the brink of collapse.
While I understand that the bonuses are written into the contracts of these employees, we, the American taxpayers, now own most of this company. Fire their asses, and give them nothing.
3. Cheney: Hey, Don’t Blame Us For Mess
While discussing the question of fault, Cheney suggested that Democrats on Capitol Hill had tried to block his administration’s efforts to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Right. You couldn’t fix that with a majority in the House and the Senate? Tool.
Yet it was a lobbying group with GOP ties that convinced leading Republicans in the Senate to kill a Republican-sponsored reform bill in 2005. And Politico reported that it was Republican holds in the Senate that delayed a reform bill in late 2007 that would have allowed the terms of mortgages to be rewritten.
4. Possibly the best piece of non-journalism ever committed to tape: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer. This will take a few hours out of your day, but it is well worth the time if you’ve seen your 401k drop by 1/2 in the last six months. (I can’t find an easy link to the whole series, so do a search for Cramer on the Daily Show site).