David Beach's Blog

Trying ecto

I downloaded the trial for ecto today. I'm trying it now. ecto is a desktop blogging tool that syncs with typepad and the other popular blogging tools. So far it's pretty nice. I like this much better than using the web page interface. It has a decent toolset and makes posting a snap. I'll use it for the trial period and we'll see how it goes. But so far so good.

Listening to dawn and drew.

It's been a good week. I had several meetings about the concept. Lots of momentum. I'll keep you posted.

I picked up "Web Site Measurement Hacks" (Eric T. Peterson) today. (using ecto's amazon hook to create that link). I'm looking forward to digging into it. Really.

My sleep pattern has been messed up. It's 3AM and I'm wide awake. Not sure what's up.

Quick post. Beach out...

Apple iPod nano

Apple released their iPod nano today. It's the iPod mini replacement. A smaller lighter version of the iPod. I bought one. Okay I know what you're going to say, but hear me out. The iPod I bought over two years ago (the greatest gadget ever purchased by me) died. Well the battery died. It has no juice. It holds a charge for about 5 songs then quits. So you can see my dilemma. Do I sue, or do I just give up and go out and buy the latest and greatest? I gave up.

Twain: now why did you buy a new ipod?
Twain: you just got that other one, right? the dinky one
beach: my old one ran out of batteries
beach: and the dinky one sux
Twain: hahha
Twain: so why is this so great?
beach: it's small, color, uh
beach: it's an ipod
beach: that's about it

They offer it in white or black. I got the 4GB white version.  It looks like a Storm Trooper's cigarette lighter. It has the click wheel, a color screen and displays photos as well.

Yahoo! Shopping just added them to the feed. We have the 2GB, 4GB, and several accessories ready for merchants to start selling them. I expect we'll see Apple show up there very soon.

Speaking of Apple, I've been playing with GarageBand lately using a Capella tracks from the Beastie Boys site and remixing them. You can hear my "creations" if you like. I've done two so far. Rhyme The Rhyme Well and Triple Trouble. Download 'em and put them on your new iPod nano. Enjoy. If you have a mac and don't have iLife, it's worth getting.

Gear Up For Burning Man on Yahoo! Shopping

Burning Man is this weekend. I'm sure that lots of you are heading up there to get dusty and looped. Good for you! I haven't been in a while, due to the fact that I almost died.  But other than that, I have no excuse as to why.  Someday I'll return.

If you are planning on going make sure you bring the right gear along to survive and have a great time.

First, get a tent. I recommend one you can stand up in. Hopefully you're going with others so you can create your own themed camp. You might also want to consider a shade canopy for out front. Then decorate the crap out of it. Make sure you get plenty of lights for the outside. Make them as different as possible so you can find your camp when you're seeing double... and at night.

You'll need coolers, at least a gallon of water a day, and plenty of garbage bags (take away what you bring and more). You might also want to bring something to clean yourself with.

Let's talk about you. Wear a freakin' costume. I don't care what you dress up as or what you look like, just don't go around thinking that it's okay to wear shorts and a t-shirt. Don't be boring. If you decide to wear nothing at all, I won't stop you. You could also get some desert boots. I hear they're all the rage. Also you'll need to protect your noggin. I recommend the big sombrero. Get one as big as possible. 3ft in diameter if you can. The authentic ones are good too.

To get out and about you need to be bringing a bike. But trick it out. You could also get a unicycle. It would go well with the clown costume.

Bring a camera. I'm all about the Lomo. Digital is great and all, but the shots you'll get with your Lomo will be amazing. The best is the LC-A. You can still scan them and post 'em to flickr. Use 100 speed film.

Okay now for something practical... earplugs. If you plan on getting any rest before the burn or after, you'll need a sturdy pair. Burning Man is loud. Lip balm, eye drops, toilet paper, and a first aid kit would be worth your while. A bullhorn is always nice for getting things off your chest. You might want to consider some two-way radios. You'll never know who you'll meet that way. And bring plenty of food for you and to share as well.

To contribute to the party atmosphere, I suggest some fireworks, a strobe light, a boom box, candy, and the first season of the New Zoo Revue on DVD.

Bring some art too. Make some, bring some, or make it there. There's nothing like Burning Man to get your creative juices flowing.

That's about it. You should probably read this if you really are going. Have fun. And don't wash your car after you get back. Just let the playa dust settle.

Treo 650

I swore I would never buy another PDA again. Dammit. Thank god the Treo 650 is a "Smartphone."

I've owned several "Palm Pilots." I've owned one as Palm, US Robotics, 3Com, Palm again, PalmOne, and freakin' Palm again. I've had a Philips Nino and a Dell Axim. I also think an orange Handspring sneaked in there at some point. What the hell is wrong with me? None of them worked the way I wanted them to. They all were awkward, tiny yet bulky, pieces of crap.

But the Treo is different. It does the one thing that I actually need to do... it calls people. Which means I will be forced to carry it around with me. Which also means that I might be compelled to use its other features. Such as real-time email, web surfing, calendaring, photos, and other things. Solitaire anyone?

All kidding aside. It's actually a slick machine. The phone works well through Cingular, the screen is bright and sharp, and the keyboard is a wonder of modern technology. It lets you type as a way to enter data. Go figure!

I can't seem to get the web working yet, nor email. Not sure what the deal is... perhaps I should read the documentation. I'll also have to get on Exchange at work so I can be like those other guys answering their "Pee-Mail" in the men's bathroom at Yahoo! Now that's being productive!

I learned a little trick for former AT&T users. If you want a new phone but can't get one because your contract isn't up, say that you want to add a phone to your plan. They automatically have to upgrade you to Cingular with a new plan and you get the discounts on the phones. I lucked out because Jane needed a new phone and plan, so I got her a free phone and added her to my plan for just a few bucks more a month. So instead of $600 bucks for the Treo, I paid $399.

On another note... Mark Pauline of Survival Research Labs spoke today at Yahoo! for no apparent reason. This is why I love Yahoo! It was cool seeing him and hearing about how and why SRL puts on the "most dangerous shows on earth." I get inspired by this sort of thing. So, thanks Bradley for getting people like this for these discussions. For those interested, there's a small show coming up on Sept. 10 in San Francisco. Perhaps I'll see you there.

Make Magazine

I'm not a "maker." I don't even pretend to be. I have a soldering iron, but I've only used it once on my old '63 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible. However, O'Rielly's new magazine Make has stirred the geek in me to the point where I may actually change my ways.

The latest issue has an article about hacking an Atari 2600 into a modern PC, it can even use the old controllers. I've never built a PC, and I may be in way over my head with this idea, but I bought a 2600 on Yahoo! Auctions last night. The next step would be for me to get the guts to gear up and build it out. I would have to take this slow, but I think I can do it. I'm not one to start small. But I've learned that if I take it one step at a time, I can usually make anything. At least that's the case with Legos and a pumpkin cheesecake I made once.

The great thing about the magazine, if you can call it that (it's more like a book), is how in depth the instructions are. It takes you through, step by step, everything you need to do. After reading it, I only have a few questions that hopefully can be answered by searching or posting to the Make site. Make is made by Mark Frauenfelder and Gareth Branwyn among many others... true geek pioneers of the modern age.

Do yourself a favor... go get a copy of Make.

Playing with CafePress

I've been playing with CafePress tonight and made some simple shirts to try out the service and promote this here site. Why not?

A couple of things about CafePress. The site is great and really easy to use, but it could use an interface upgrade. Imagine an Ajax version, it would be sweet. Just some simple inline editing and/or the ability to move the products around to the order you wish in the store. I'd also like to see an RSS feed with images of the products and some javascript or flash promo widgets so bloggers and others can merchandise their own sites.

CafePress won the webby award for best retail site. It was up against Target, Art.com, iStockphoto, and Home Depot of all places. iStockphoto is great, but you wonder how long the stock photo market will sustain with the advent of flickr, image search and other photo sharing services. I'm not saying it's dead, but I can envsion the possibility. There has to be better retail sites out there than this list. Where are the sites that offer highly personalized and customized experiences? Where are the sites that offer end to end service and content? Where are the sites that offer no distinction between online and offline? Just wondering...

So go ahead and get some shirts or a mug or something. I'll donate the profit to Vipassana Santa Cruz and the Prison Project.

Thanks.

Link: David Beach's Crap : CafePress.com.

Alienware : Star Wars Edition PCs

Star Wars Episode III is finally being released on Thursday. Yahoo! Search has rented out two theaters for us all to go. I can't wait. There are two things that make me feel just as I did when I was eight years old. Disneyland and Star Wars. I know, I'm a geek, but I wouldn't be writing this if I weren't (nor would you be reading it). So we have that in common. I'm sure, like every other blogger, I'll feel compelled to review the movie Thursday evening.

I saw these PCs on my hunt for technology products today. Talk about 633ky. Alienware never fails to impress. With their bad-ass configurations, to their industrial design and general feel. Their site is tight and well designed too. Great information and presentation. I wish they would branch out a bit and work with Yahoo! Shopping and other comparison sites. Check 'em out

Link: Alienware : Star Wars Edition PCS

The Cubes, Archie McPhee, My Action Figure

This would be funny if it wasn't so frightening. Okay it's funny. There are a couple of things they need to do to make this even more real. At least for my world... 1. A purple and yellow version 2. Silly half cube bullpens 3. The three person cube pile up

They also need teeny-tiny parking spaces for plastic SUVs and perhaps a restroom... but I'll let Billy, Brenda, and Holly describe that.

I love Archie McPhee. I remember pitching some big funded e-commerce start up during the LVLi days. Their target market was SMB -- small merchants, catalogs, and boutiques. We said that they should become the engine for Archie McPhee and market themselves to that kind of innovative and influential cataloger... to help illustrate our point we handed out dozens of Pez in Fez. It was pretty funny seeing all these venture capitalists and marketing folks wearing fezzes and munching on pez.

By the way, they still sell an action figure that sort of looks like me. It's kind of scary actually. My wife has one, she carries it around with her in her handbag. Get them while they're hot!! On sale: 2 for $4.95

Link: Welcome to Archie McPhee Online.

Understanding Comics & 10 Megs To Go

I had a surprise in my mailbox yesterday. It seems my good friend Dick Hollywood sent me this book for my birthday. Thank you Dick! I really appreciate it. Understanding Comics is one of the best information design books you'll ever read. If you are a working or aspiring IA or ID, this book should be on your bookshelf. It does a great job of deconstructing visual communication theory.

On another note. I only have 10 MB left on my 80 GB iMac hard drive at home. I'm cutting it close. I ordered  a new LaCie 250 GB external drive last week and am patiently awaiting its arrival. I also am installing another 512 MB of RAM in that machine. That should help make it last a while. I hope.

ThinkGeek :: Geek Work Shirt

Gotta love ThinkGeek. "stuff for smart masses." Mass can be taken a couple of ways. This shirt is available in XXXL, I'd either get that or the XXL. I like this kind of stuff though. Years ago I wanted Yahoo! to make baby shirts and onesies with the "New!" icon on it. I mean that's such a Yahoo! thing right? At the time they said they didn't want to dilute the Yahoo! brand, but now there are Y! shirts for everything. These guys have the right idea but without our icon, so why not us?

Link: ThinkGeek :: Geek Work Shirt.