Pierre's Web

Government information awareness

This is neat, though the full name is a bit of a mouthful, and the site is broken right now because of too much traffic. But it looks like there's a thorough framework in place and it seems well executed. What a great idea.

Stuff I like

I've been too busy playing with some new toys to post recently, so I thought I'd fess up and admit what I've been playing with. (Ok, I've had some real work to do, too. But who wants to talk about work?)

The Segway

Ok, this thing is too cool. I was actually quite dubious at first, before trying one. When they became available on Amazon.com, I thought, "Gee, another gadget that every high-tech geek is going to buy. I'm not getting one." Well, I finally succumed to temptation and bought one about a month ago.

You've probably heard it all before. This thing is cool. I'm not going to repeat all the neat technology and mechanical engineering that went into it. But the surprising thing is that it is incredibly fun. You learn in about 60 seconds, and it's remarkably easy to control.

The unexpected thing is how fun it is, especially when going uphill. Whenever I glide uphill on a sidewalk, I can't help but think about how I would have struggled on a bike, or how long it would have taken to walk. And, it's fun to stroll along at walking pace alongside pedestrians, in complete control. It's nice having a couple extra inches in height, too.

Update: I had my first fall off the machine today, and skinned my elbow. I was doing something incredibly stupid, trying to climb a hill of loose gravel. Sheesh. Pretty stupid, thank you.

The Sidekick (Danger hiptop from T-Mobile)

This thing is so neat that I've forgotten how neat it is. The color display is really great, much better than I've seen on any other handheld. It's always connected to the network, so AOL instant messages come and go without having to tell the thing to connect. It syncs instantly to a web interface -- too bad it can't sync with my Mac via iSync. Not to mention not syncing with corporate e-mail/organizers.

The Macintosh

Yes, I switched back to a Mac, and I love it. I'm using the 15 inch PowerBook G4, and it is sweet. In fact, it seems everything Apple is doing these days is sweet. Plus, I get to run Unix tools/apps.

The iPod

A gift for my birthday, it is too much fun. I got the 30 gig version -- more storage than any of my computers had before I bought the PowerBook a month ago. Now I've got all my CDs on it, a nice tape deck adapter for the car, and I'm all set. Plus, with the Apple Music Store, I've bought more music in the last 10 days than I bought in the last 6 months.