2006 March

Have you ever lost a backpack before?

Yeah, it's that big. Go ahead, try a search for your favorite keywords – check out the Social section alone. Insane. Looking for a job? Try importing a job search OPML. Looking to buy? Try importing a shopping search OPML. Insane. Rock over, London. Rock on, Chicago. Shayne Sweeney, the breakfast of champions.

Read more on Gada.be – Over 225 Search Providers!…

Hey, wanna save $5 off your next order of Adagio Teas? I can recommend an unlimited amount of friends through my account. Send me know your name and email address and I’ll be able to send you a $5 gift certificate. I just picked up a green sampler (apricot green, gunpowder, kukicha, li zi nutcracker, sencha overture, spiced green), 10oz of genmai cha, a green tea starter set (with citron green, genmai cha pop, hojicha fugue, kukicha, and the ingenuiTEA teapot), and a free guide to tea book (w/ $19 purchase). So, if you’re also a tea drinker – and judging from the responses I received from my last post on green teas, there are a few of you out there – go ahead and drop me a line. FWIW, I’ve discovered that I like the nutty/ricey flavors most of all.

Read more on Adagio Teas Coupon…

This is worse than the time you put your chocolate with my peanut butter. Things aren't peachy with this mistake; life is not a bag of cherries.

This weekend, a friend emailed me with questions on purchasing a PS2 for a relative. I did my best with the answers, short and sweet (with his numbered questions in italics):
1. I assume there are different models. Which one should I get?
A “new” PS2 – one that is slimmer than the “old” one. And then there's the separate memory card.
2. I assume the Playstation comes loaded with at least a few games. In addition, would you suggest some games that I should get also.
Nope. Few game systems actually come with games anymore (to save on cost). It's difficult to say what kind of gamer the kid is, but they do have relatively boy-generic starter packs available.
3. While it will be used here in the US, it will also be used in Portugal. Portugal is PAL. Will the Playstation play both in NTSC & Pal?
You might need this signal converter. It won't play DVDs unless you buy the separate DVD controller (don't ask me, I'm not Sony). Even then, the worst that you might have to contend with is region coding.
4. Portugal power is 220V. Do you know if it will work on both 110V & 220V?
I looked at the PS2 manuals (online), and did a few Google searches for more information on this – to no avail. The only results I found were unofficial “hacks” that weren't guaranteed to work. It might (MIGHT) have an auto-voltage detection feature.

Read more on Purchasing a PS2…

We traveled to Plano, Texas this weekend for the wedding of my brother (Ben) to his fiancee (Amber) on Saturday. It was a simple ceremony in a quaint Methodist church somewhere on the edge of town. Had it been a Catholic ceremony, we'd still be there genuflecting our collective asses off (and still be going to hell for it). The couple wrote their own vows on top of the classic verbiage, which added a nice touch to the proceedings. I was Groomsman #1, with Adam (the other Pirillo) taking on the role of #2, and Amber's brother assuming the #3 position in line. Methinks the Pirillo clan frightened her family a bit – and I probably should've undyed my hair before heading over there (but the red waves aren't very obnoxious at this point). Still, everything seemed to go off without a hitch.
They decided to hold the wedding reception at the local “Swinging D” ranch – with free blended margaritas for everyone. We danced, we played, we talked, we mixed. Amber's father informed me that this was the first time many of his family was meeting his wife's (Amber's mother's) side of the family, too. Can you guess which family was the loudest? Ponzi appreciated seeing my family again, if only to gain further insight into my idiosyncrasies. Yes, she still thinks I'm crazy – but she understands a little more “why” when we meet up with my blood relatives. Adam and Eugenia (his wife of Ecuadorian / Venezuelan heritage) were looking just as sharp as they were at their wedding, too. So, that's… two brothers married, one more to go… this November.

Read more on The Third Pirillo Wedding…

J.D. Lasica was onhand at SXSW 2006 signing copies of his book Darknet: Hollywood’s War Against the Digital Generation. A sensationalistic title for sure, but it’s a valuable read for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of digital audio and video as they pertain to sharing and using consumer entertainment. J.D. is also one of the minds behind online media servie ourmedia, which is one of the YouTube alternatives that works to host original content instead of the latest slice of a Tivo’d moment. And you can keep abreast of what’s going on in J.D.’s world at New Media Musings. In the interview, you can get the latest developments on the Darknet front and some background on ourmedia and the Real People Network.

Read more on J.D. Lasica’s Darknet and ourmedia.org…

Derek Scruggs is one of those people with a hand in many projects. You might recognize his name from his personal blog, Ask Derek Scruggs, or from marketing firm Escalan, or maybe you’ve used ClickThruStats to keep track of link popularity. At SXSW 2006, Chris caught up with Derek to talk to him about his latest endeavor, The Enthusiast Group, a project that might be described as the Weblogs, Inc of the XGames crowd, although it hasn’t officially launched yet so this is something of a scoop.

Read more on Derek Scruggs on The Enthusiast Group…

SXSW seems like the place where a service like Buzznet comes to life, with the overlapping interests of music and technology. While there are many places to share photos online, one place where music fans tend to congregate is buzznet, in large part due to community interaction and easy integration with MySpace accounts so vital to the fanboy mentality. Marc Brown, co-founder and president of Buzznet, talks with Chris about photo sharing, integration with third-party blogging apps and community relationships, as well as the recent additions of video and text blogging to the suite of Buzznet services.You can see Marc’s photos on Buzznet and read his thoughts on random topics at his blogblogblog.

Read more on Marc Brown of Buzznet on Photo Sharing…

It occured to me this evening, as I was interviewing the guys from HelpShare and Lookmarks, that Gada.be is creating the Internet's definitive RSS Search directory. Yeah, take a look at this single OPML file and tell me I'm wrong. A9 isn't doing it, and Yahoo! isn't doing it. If I'm missing any searches, I'd be surprised – we've got over 200 of 'em in there (not including the dupes). It's not just about bragging rights – it's about doing it, and doing it right.
As I mentioned a few minutes ago in a huge update… “Been noticing the conversation around Gada.be’s OPML gaining a bit more traction lately. That’s quite nice to see, actually – and I wanted to encourage more of you to use Gada.be’s automatically-generated OPML in any one of your Web or Desktop applications. No funky APIs – no approval process. Just use our OPML, please. It’s there in every single category (including a hidden “aâ€�? category).” Reference links include:

Read more on The Definitive OPML / RSS Search Directory…

After posting my switch from NewsGator to FeedDemon (Outlook is running much faster now), I got a note from Pito Salas of BlogBridge. I had taken a look at their client a few months ago, but ultimately turned away from it due to its foundation in Java. I have nothing against Java itself, but its performance on Windows is worse that .NET – which is bad to begin with. Life is much better (read: faster) without .NET or Java apps on the desktop. However, that doesn't mean the apps (themselves) aren't without merit. As Pito pointed out with BlogBridge (points which I largely understand and/or agree with)

Read more on The BlogBridge, Crossing the NewsRiver?…

When Robert Scales, CEO of Raincity Studios, isn’t running the Vancouver, B.C. based design boutique, he’s out taking on the world. Armed with a camera and audio recording gear, Robert can be found filling his Flickr photo stream with images or doing what he calls gonzo audio recording. At SXSW, Ponzi talks with Robert about this gonzo audio recording, and his life enjoying the world following a youth spent in Montreal. You can keep up with Robert at Robert Scales dot org.

Read more on Robert Scales of Raincity Studios on World Travel…

There are many different aspects to Mozilla's Firefox, do you know about them all?
Firefox Facts is the definitive guide when it comes to using the world's most famous alternative browser. Inside the pages of this eBook you will get tips and tweaks to make your browsing experience better. You will also get reviews of some of the best known and the less known extensions as well. Download the PDF.

Read more on Free Firefox eBook…