We're All Spoiled

I just had a thought with regards to how pampered and spoiled we have become in today's society. I was just looking on my desk and admiring how small my iPod Shuffle is and got to thinking about how it's neat and all that it's so compact, but like many others, I wished it had some sort of display. Then it hit me. Back in the day, back when I was in high school in the 80's, my portable CD player, which was huge by comparison, didn't have any real display to speak of either. Sure, you could tell on the little digital readout what track was playing, but for it to display the actual track name wasn't even something that was considered. Now, I understand that CD's didn't have near as many tracks to have to keep up with and therefore it was easier to remember which track was which, but my point is that today people (even me) seem to get caught up in criticizing what something doesn't have, rather than appreciating what we do have.

Wie Turning Pro Soon?

It's been going around for months that Michelle Wie will turn pro after her 16th birthday next month. Looks like there is more evidence now. Juli Inkster's (now former) caddie Greg Johnston, who has caddied for Wie in the past when Juli was taking a week off, is going to be taking over as full-time caddie for Wie. I don't know if Wie's turning pro was supposed to be a big secret or not, but if it was, it seems to me letting the caddie announce his intentions a month early is not a good way to keep up the suspense.

Much Love To The Fox

I love Firefox. I think it is teh shiz, if you know what I mean. One of it's greatest assets is the many extensions that it offers. I remember reading an article a while back which stated that Opera was better, because most of Firefox's essential extensions were just automatically built into Opera from the get go. Opera may indeed be better. I can't say because I haven't ever used it, but in my opinion the sheer barebonesedness (I know, not a word) of Firefox is what makes it so great. Some of the "essential" extensions listed in the article that I read are not ones that are essential to me. I don't want someone else deciding for me what extensions, or features, I need in a browser.

That being said, you need these two extensions: Save Link in Folder and Save Image in Folder. They are essential.

Shameless Plug

Ok, I'm going to give this a shot. For anyone interested in a "free" iPod Nano, please click on the link below and at least check out the offer. From all of the research I've done, this company is legit and does give out free items, as long as you jump through their hoops. You just need to sign up for one of their offers, get 6 friends to do the same, and you get your free Nano. I've never tried one of these things, but figured it was worth a few bucks and a little time to see what happens. Would you please be my friend?

http://www.ipodnanos4free.com/default.aspx?r=470544

Floaters Explained

This Wiki entry explains what those things are, where they came from, and (most importantly) confirm that your aren't "seeing things".

Hopefully this also will explain why I keep seeing Boomer from Battlestar Galactica floating around in front of me. Heh.

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The New iPod Nano Is Here

Well, looks like the big announcement from Apple today didn't go anything like I had hoped. No bigger Shuffle, no flash Mini... well, that's not entirely accurate I guess. Looks like the big Shuffle and the flash Mini are the same thing, namely the iPod Nano. Apple decided to introduce the 2GB and 4GB flash player, which will take the place of the iPod Mini in the lineup, and will sport benefits of both the Shuffle (flash-based) and the Mini (screen). It's a neat looking little unit, but I have to be honest that I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping for something to help drive down the price of the Shuffle, but instead it looks like all we got was a replacement for the Mini.

MP3 Players Can Cause Hearing Loss?

Leave it to the New York Times to post something like this. Apparently some dudes over at Harvard Medical School have discovered that in-ear headphones produce higher output levels than traditional headphones. Thing is, headphones have been around a lot longer than MP3 players, so I don't think I would blame the MP3 players specifically. Heck, now that I think about it, I wouldn't even blame the headphones. I'd blame the people who have their volume too loud.

Red Cross Katrina Dog Ears For Your Website

Brian Alvey created these very cool and easy to install "dog ears" for your blog/website... you can install them quickly--just please download the images to your own server so Brian's server doesn't get jammed up.

Obviously I have added this to the top right corner of my site. Just click and donate whatever you can. Also, thanks to the folks at Extrabigfoot and TheJosher for volunteering to help host the image.

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Have I Lost Interest?

Obviously, I've not been posting a lot of golf-related stuff of late. I think the reason is that there's not a lot going on in the world of pro golf right now, and neither is a lot going on in my own personal quest to become a better golfer.

After the majors, I guess the next big thing that peaks my interest is going to be the Presidents Cup coming up at the end of the month. It's not surprise that the USA vs. the International Team is not as big to me as the Ryder Cup. It just doesn't have as much history to it yet, even though the players on the International team are usually more familiar to me than the European team of the Ryder Cup. Also, after last year's debacle, I hesitate to get too worked up about it, lest I become sorely dissapointed again.

On my own personal front, I've just not been into the game that much this season. I don't know why. It just seems like I go through these phases where I either don't have time or just don't care about it that much. Next year I might play every day, but I've pretty much given up on this season. It's funny, because earlier this year I shot the best round I've had in several years, but still didn't have any real desire to go back out and build on it.

One other interesting thing that I'm looking forward to is the Big Break IV on the Golf Channel. Looks like they're going to go for some kind of Ryder Cup feel with a USA vs. Europe thing. It will be interesting I think. I just hope I don't end up disliking everyone on the US team.

Enough With The Shuffle Already!!

A few days ago I posted about some issues I had with my iPod Shuffle. Thanks to some suggestions from Erik at The Sand Trap (thanks, Erik!) and this page, I think I'm finally working things out a little bit. My favorite feature, which I'd noticed before but hadn't tried, is the option to "keep this iPod in the source list". Basically, it keeps a little image of my Shuffle contents in iTunes even when it's not connected. This way I can edit the contents any way I want and my Shuffle will be updated with that list whenever I connect it.

By the way, the White Stripes rock.

Flash Mini & More Shuffle

According to this article, Apple will shortly upgrade its iPod Mini line with color screens and flash memory, and its iPod Shuffle line with increased storage capacity. For anyone thinking about buying a Mini or a Shuffle, you might want to wait until after this announcement. I was thinking of upgrading my Shuffle to a 1GB model, but after reading this article, I think I'll wait. If a 2GB Shuffle is released, the 1GB model will almost certainly drop in price.

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Logitech’s Latest Harmony, The 520

I love Logitech's Harmony remotes. I've got one of the cheaper models, the 659 I think. Looks like they're going away from the peanut look with this new one.

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Yahoo! Domains Only $1.99/year

Yahoo is currently offering domain names for $1.99/year or $9.95 for 5 years. Hurry while this offer lasts!

I have taken advantage of this deal to register rubofthegreen.org and it is now pointing to this website. For anyone interested in registering their own domain, this deal expires September 2nd at 11:59 PST.

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