Belkin USB hub powered by firewire

I'm quite pleased with my Kensington USB dome hub -- it's solid and very accessible. The only downside is the power supply -- it means yet another cable. I was a bit disappointed that Kensington didn't take power from the Mac's firewire port.

That's the neat part of the Belkin USB 2.0& Firewire 6-Port Hub For Mac Mini. Power comes form the Firewire. It consumes one Firewire port (on the Mac) and provides two on the hub, so net 1. That's nice, but it's really a USB hub powered by firewire. Great -- I wish more vendors did this.

There are two problems. The Mac connector cables are very short -- it's really designed for the Mac mini and one Amazon reviewer claimed the cables were too short for his Intel Mini. Also, the USB ports are mostly in back of the device, I'd rather have more in front.

Worth keeping in mind.

Guidelines for the construction of content-rich web sites

The Basics of Search Engine Optimization is a high quality essay on how to build topical websites that will be popular and thus well ranked. It's a reference worth keeping.

Regenerating and maintaining Outlook's Master Category List

Outlook (all versions) stores the master category list in the stores the master category list in the registry. This is absurd, but since only a tiny number of Outlook uber-geek users care about Categories (tags in modern parlance) it’s not a big deal.

For Outlook PIM-geeks, it means changing machines deletes the list. Individual tasks retain their categories (the string is stored in the PST), but there’s no corresponding Master Category List entry.

Here’s how I regenerate under these circumstances:

1. Export all tasks to Access. (this is easiest for me, other formats will work better for non-Access people)


2. Dump all categories into a text editor (I use TextPad)


3. Turn them into a list (trivial grep task) and sort with duplicate delete.


4. Edit and cleanup.


5. Turn into comma-separated strings.


6. Copy and paste into the Master Category List enter box

It only took a few minutes to regenerate my MCL this way.

PagePacker makes pocket-sized books

TUAW pointed me to this an application that produces very nice booklets from OS X printing:

Big Nerd Ranch Weblog » PagePacker makes pocket-sized books

... I often wander around without a computer, so I needed a nice easy way to print important bits into little books of information that I could carry around in my pocket. Chad Adams figured out a brilliant technique of cutting and folding pieces of paper into little books and called it PocketMod. The technique was brilliant, but the software was a little awkward. So I, knowing a little about Cocoa, hacked together PagePacker. ...

You need to read the folding directions. Very clever, and very 21st century in terms of how this has evolved through the contributions of several persons. However, note the odd mention that it expires in June due to Leopard …

Integrating an iPod into a home: multispeaker

Wireless remote speakers have been disappointing, but I’d love to put something like this in the kitchen with remote speakers in the living room. Price is competitive, $300 for the base station and one remote speaker.

EOS Wireless - Products

... IntelliTouch announced Eos, a digital, wireless, multi-room audio speaker system for iPod. The system links up to four stereo remote wireless speakers using a frequency hopping scheme that the company says provides a range of up to 50 meters through walls and ceilings. It offers a base station with an iPod dock, two high performance stereo drivers, a ported sub-woofer, and SRS WOW sound enhancement, while the remote speaker systems feature the stereo drivers and subwoofer plus a removable, integrated power supply that allows the speaker to mount directly on a wall power outlet. A weatherproof wireless outdoor amplifier, which features two audio zones with separate volume controls, is also available. The Eos is scheduled for release in March at $299 for the base station and one remote speaker. ...

The base station has an IR remote control. They use a proprietary wireless technology.

Eos uses GigaWave, a proprietary digital wireless technology to broadcast interference-free CD quality digital audio to up to four satellite receivers at a distance of up 150 ft (50 meters).  To avoid interference, Eos’ GigaWave uses proprietary digital spectrum technology (DSS). The special communications algorithm used in our GigaWave technology will not interfere with WiFi networks (both 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz) or digital products (like telephones) in the 5.8GHz range.  This same technology allows Eos to stay clear of interference cased by with by other products that communicate in the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz range (as well as microwave ovens which operate at 2.4GHz).
 
Another reason that Eos has such phenomenal broadcast characteristics is the fact that it incorporates an error correction scheme that is capable of resending packets if signal is interfered with.
 
Our proprietary wireless protocol, combined with error correction technology is the reason why Eos is the only product on the market to ever can broadcast interference-free, CD quality audio to up to 4 satellites.

I’ll be looking for reviews ...

Optimizing a blog for ad revenue

Guy Kawasaki Still Leaving Money on the Table [Adsense Case Study] at Digital Inspiration has great tips on optimizing blogs for Adsense revenue, but note that Guy Kawasaki is only pulling in 3K a year. Really, it's not worth the bother for most of us.

Windows On-Screen Keyboard (OSK)

When Some Keys on the Computer Keyboard Aren't Working (Digital Inspiration) - just type osk in the command line. Great tip!