I was talking with someone recently (I can't remember who) but we got on the topic of the Pope. I think it'd be cool if the new pope blogged. I'm not really Catholic (but I am raised Catholic), but I'd add a papal blog to my list of stuff to read. Seems like it might be kinda cool to hear the pope's take on world events in a more timely fashion. Perhaps I could get this information in some other way (maybe there's like a Vatican newspaper I could read), but, to be honest, I don't read many newspapers anymore. If it's not in a blog, an email, the select few magazines I read, or Jon Stewart, I probably haven't heard it.
On similar lines, Jeremy wondered:
Does the Pope use Paypal? (by Jeremy Zawodny)
Maybe Pope Benedict XVI could make his mark by embracing new technology. I think that'd be a pretty cool legacy for him to leave. Just imagine the progress... in 1992 John Paul II apologized to Galileo - 359 years after the Church condemned him at the Inquisition. But it would have taken the Church a mere 8 years to plug into blogs. (According to Wikipedia, blogs are 8 years old.) If that ain't progress, I don't know what is.
I've finally gotten a powerbook from work. I'm still learning the different key shortcuts, but all-in-all, I have to say I'm loving my new mac. So far, here are the things people have suggested that I use:
Of course, there's the whole mail issue. Some people like Thunderbird, some Maill.app (a.k.a. Apple Mail), some like Eudora. Currently, all my email is served from an Exchange server, so I'm just trying to use Entourage. Someday, I'd like to move to Thunderbird, but I can't seem to get it to work with Exchange just yet.
Also, still trying to figure out the right theme to use for Adium. I want something like the bubbles, or the other cool see-thru type layouts. But, I have a ton of contacts, so I have trouble moving the whole app up and down when i need to. I suppose it'll get better with time, but for now, I'm just using one of the layouts that looks "traditional".
I know a lot of people like Safari for web browsing. But, I love Firefox and have used it for months on windows. So I've reset my default browser to be FF instead of safari.
I think the resetting of the default browser was the only weird thing in terms of User Interface so far. I had to go to the Safari Preferences to set the default browser to Firefox. Not bad, just a little weird. Why does Safari control what the default browser is?
I think my biggest desire is a good calendaring app. iCal seems cool, but I can't seem to hook it up to my Exchange/Outlook calendar, nor can I sync it with Yahoo Calendar. So... I'm a bit lost on why I should adopt yet another calendaring thing.
Anyways, let me know if there are killer mac apps out there that I should use.
A ton of people have asked me "Why do you blog? Why does anyone blog?" I think Brandon's latest post, Feh.: addendum or the new butt pincer in my bathroom, gives an excellent answer. Ok, so maybe you need to know Brandon and Bill. But I think, even without knowing either of them, or me for that matter, you'll find this story funny. In the same way that you find David Sedaris' essays hilarious, you'll see Brandon as our own LA-based human comedy chronicler. And without blogs, you'd never, ever hear this story. (Unless you were hanging out chatting with them over beers some time.) And if you never heard this story, how would you find humor on a Friday afternoon?
This note is by far the best I've ever read for clearly delineating the difference between URIs, URLs, URNs, "resources", and "representations". If you've looked at any stuff related to the Semantic Web, or read the REST thesis, or listened in on the REST vs SOAP discussions, or even used URNs, you've probably run across this distinction. This note does a superb job at defining and distinguishing what they all mean. It doesn't unlock the secrets of the semantic web, but having a clear understanding of these distinctions will greatly help you understand and participate in any discussions about rest or the semantic web.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hhalpin/homepage/notes/uri.html