RSS Readers

While I'm discussing RSS Readers, I highly suggest you get one. Now.

Basically, an RSS reader lets you subscribe to certain websites, or portions of websites, and whenever a new item is added, it shows up in your RSS reader. You see the headlines, and decide if you want to read the whole thing or not.

Yahoo News, Onexposure.net, even specific searches on Craigslist. Now I don't have to scour Craigslist to see if anyone's selling Nikon equipment -- I'm notified automatically. You can even subscribe to the Adverse Possessor via RSS, and get notified everytime I post a new article. If you have a blog, I can add you to my RSS reader, and get notified instantly.

It's changed the way I surf the internet more than any other development. It makes keeping up with dozens of sites trivial. I can scan 1000 headlines a day, in a matter of minutes. I can easily keep track of all kinds of information right from my phone. And you don't even need a phone like mine to do it.

I use Google Reader, but used to use NetNewsWire, which syncs with their online NewsGator service. I like both of these options because I can keep up with them on my computers at home, my laptop at work, and my phone, and don't have to read the same articles twice. It's also easy to "share" stories I find interesting. You see those to the right on this blog.

Now that I've become accustomed to it, the old way of clicking through a dozen bookmarks a few times a day seems absolutely ludicrous.

Onexposure.net

I know I keep talking this site up, but it's amazing. The "Latest additions" gallery shows up in my RSS reader.

"Best Buy De-Hoses Washers To Save Money?"

According to alleged Best Buy insider, Best Buy is removing a previously included (and necessary) component in order to sell overpriced accessories.

Personally, I believe it. When I worked at Best Buy during law school, there was a conscious effort from Management to de-emphasize Epson Multifunction Printers, because they came with a USB cable in the box. Management hated selling them, because they couldn't then push their overpriced cables. I strongly suspect this type of pressure led to Epson's later removal of USB cables from their multifunctions.

It got really ridiculous when Best Buy employees told customers that they needed to buy gold plated USB cables if they were printing photos, or else the picture quality would suffer. I've seen it happen, and know others that were told the same thing. Don't try and pull this crap on an electrical engineer.

I don't know if these salesmen were intentionally misrepresenting the facts, or didn't know any better. It doesn't really matter. Shameless liars and ignorant fools both give bad electronics advice. Best Buy employs thousands of each.

'Ya think?

"Gee Whiz, It Turns Out That Kinoki Foot Pads Are A Scam" Who exactly needed proof of this? Oh yeah, I guess it's the ear candle crowd.

via The Consumerist.

I can't imagine this will last...

...but I'd love to be proven wrong. Mygazines.com. Free scans of real magazines.

Long day

Glad it's over. It's just too bad tomorrow is a Monday.

Sent from my iPhone

If anyone plans to make a large Home Depot purchase soon...

Email me. I can save you 10%.

Check out this guy's site:

I sold him my last Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 last night. He's a professional photographer, that does a lot of work for KU. He showed me some some pictures that he took at the NCAA title game against Memphis. These galleries are from the 2006-2007 season, mostly, but they're still awesome.

DO NOT BUY YOUR CABLES IN A STORE

Need a TV wall-mount? Monoprice.com
Need an HDMI cable? Monoprice.com
Need a retractable iPod cable? Monoprice.com

This place really lives up to its reputation. You can get HDMI cables for under $6, every day. Best Buy charges $220 for an equivalent cable. The Monoprice cables are every bit as good, I promise.

Don't listen to the TV salesman. Do your own research. Incredibly, you'll spend twice as much just on tax for the Best Buy cable than the Monoprice cable costs total.

Best Buy wants $152.99 (on sale) for a wall-mount rated lower than the one I bought for $24.50.

Check out this order I just placed:

Adjustable Tilting Wall Mount Bracket(Max 165Lbs) - $24.50
Retractable iPhone sync Cable (Quantity: 4) - $6.24

SubTotal - $30.74
S&H Cost - $10.64
Grand Total - $41.38

Do me a favor, and tell everyone you know not to buy ANY cables or wall-mounts from retailers. Wal-Mart charges a lot less than Best Buy for HDMI cables, but even $20 is a lot more than $5.

Fresh out of lenses

Once my iMac sells, I'm all out of merchandise. Unless someone coughs up my asking price for the 46" LCD.

AP NEWS BULLETIN: "Woman riding a donkey fights off lion with machete"

Lions are scary enough. Lions with machetes are the kind of stuff nightmares are made of. Kim Jong Il's nightmares, to be specific.

ACAPULCO, Mexico - A Mexican woman said she fought a 500-pound lion with a machete near the resort city of Acapulco and scared him away. Celsa Aleman said she and her 7-year-old niece were riding a donkey Monday along a road when the lion went after the animal's legs. -Associated Press

Scared him away? What kind of self-respecting lion would be afraid of a woman and 7 year-old girl? Especially if he had a machete.

See the AP's unfortunate grammar here.

Hopefully the Chiefs don't suck *too* bad this year

But with the top draft pick injured, and all our eggs in Brodie Croyle's basket, I don't hold out too much hope.

EDIT: Picks, I should have said.

I'm thinking of getting a Honda Element

There's a lot to be said about functionality in cars. This one
appears to be very functional.

Sent from my iPhone

In the spirit of the post below...

Via Penny Arcade.

Flat Out Awful

Police State in 3...2...1...