Category: Thoughts

  • Imperfectly building my imperfect PC

    Had a couple of free hours last night after the kids went to bed so I went up to the attic to sling together my latest and greatest cheapie Windows box. This one, based on an ASUS T3-M2NC51PV all-in-one, barebones case and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane processor (actually running at 1.9GHz ),…

  • Refreshing our look with Mandigo

    After years with the basic WordPress default theme, I decided it was time for a spring wardrobe update at GravitationalPull.net. I wanted a new theme compatible with the latest version of WordPress as well as the plug-ins I rely on like SpamKarma and Automattic’s wicked cool sidebar widgets manager. Some of the theme preview sites…

  • Solving Tivo download issues

    I’ve tried a variety of programs to get TV shows off our Tivo and onto my iPod, mainly so the kids can watch some of their favorites while traveling. The Tivo, which sits in our bedroom far from the nearest wireless access point, was connected to the Internet and our home net via a Netgear…

  • A couple of better Lightroom guide books

    I’m happy to report that I’m learning a lot and getting plenty of use out of both of the books that I bought last week about Adobe’s Lightroom program, my new preferred photo manager. Martin Evening’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers, with the dark grey cover above, is a bit…

  • It’s Lightroom by a full length over Aperture

    (Updated 6/21) Some time last year, I can’t say exactly when, I crossed a threshold with Apple’s iPhoto software. The program had already slipped from the “greatest thing since sliced bread” category down a few notches to just “really useful” as my growing photo collection had slowed basic operations and made the program’s tagging deficiencies…

  • Tim Grey’s Lightroom book fails to inform

    Adobe’s wonderful new digital photo program, Lightroom, has a lot more bells and whistles than iPhoto or other typical low-end photo software. That’s exactly why I bought it. With a so-called prosumer camera, the Canon Digital Rebel XT, I’m able to do many more sophisticated things while shooting pictures and I needed a software program…

  • Mighty mouse, today you are so…not mighty

    I’ve been loving Apple’s wireless keyboard and mouse that came with my 24″ iMac. Lean back in my chair, scrounge around the room, pick one up, put it down — never lost a connection. And they even work great to wake the iMac up from a snooze, which I had thought would be the Achilles…

  • Passover ends with the traditional donut sandwich

    After eight days of remembering the deprivations of slavery, another year of Passover ends with a reminder of the joys and luxuries of being free — including the donut sandwich with a side of triscuits and cheez-its. No complaining from the healthy crowd. I used whole wheat bread.

  • He marched in the animals, two by two

    …And he called out as they came through Hey Lord, I’ve got green alligators and long-necked geese Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I’m so forlorn I just can’t find no unicorns. Ah, the Irish Rovers and The Unicorn Song. Brings back fond memories of rainy…

  • Sprint USB Modem Smacks Down Verizon

    (Updated 3/28) As I mentioned the other day, I just passed my two year anniversary as a customer of Verizon’s wireless broadband service. I decided to try Sprint’s competing service since it costs $20 less a month (I can’t add a voice line to the same account). Well, the Sprint Novatel Ovation U720 modem arrived…