I Now Pronounce You...

At one o'clock today I'm officiating my friends Ian and Heather's wedding. I've got my little speech written and I'm pretty sure all our paperwork is in order. Should be fun and it is definitely going to be interesting!

Tell Me How You Really Feel About The New Google Favicon

Isaac Schlueter of Foo Hack has devised a strategy for reinstating the original Google favicon using a local apache proxy server. Personally I think visual identity has always been a weak spot for Google and the new icon really doesn't bother me much anyway (I tend to look at tab titles mostly and Safari doesn't even show favicons on tabs). Still, I have to admire him for doing something proactive and not just whining about it.

Carnivores Like Me

Seed magazine has posted a very interesting, balanced and well written article about the impact of rising meat consumption around the world. As a meat-eater who's been trying to reduce his meat intake for health reasons (curse you, sedentary lifestyle!), I may now have some additional motivation.

Carnivores Like Us

Google Launches Its Own JavaScript Library CDN

Google just launched it's AJAX Libraries API. This is great news for the smaller, independent libraries but with Dojo already being hosted by AOL this move would seem to actually hurt their ability to optimize client caching by splintering deployment. I imagine the Dojo team is supporting this so maybe they know AOL is a horrible company with deplorable customer relations and an even worse environmental track record something I don't.

Read This Later

One of the web services I've been using a lot lately is Instapaper. A site that lets you quickly save links to content you want to read, just not right now. It's like bookmarking, only transient. Sign-up is equally simple. All you need to do to get started is to supply either a user name or email address, a password is optional, and grab the bookmarklet.

America's Next Top Model

Priceless.

A Few Favorite Mac Applications

I'm a switcher. I had no interest in anything Apple OS 9 and earlier. With the switch to X86 and OS X's geek-approved (and web development friendly) Unix foundation, I was forced to re-evaluate my position. Here are a few excellent applications that have struck a chord with me in my time with Apple.

TaskPaper

The GTD movement is officially out of control. That said, this little application from Hog Bay Software is a testament to the power of simplicity. If you'd rather spend more time working then you spend setting up your to-do lists, this app is for you.

Skitch

Everyone loves Skitch. Take a screen shot, annotate it, draw on it, upload it. If you're a software developer, once you file your first LOLBUG, you'll be hooked.

DrawIt

DrawIt has a clean single window interface, a simple plugin infrastructure, non-destructive editing and and good export options. While still not a replacement for Photoshop, this has become my favorite Core Image editor.

Media Snap

MediaSnap allows you to search Youtube and download the videos to your desktop as Quicktime movies. It's simple. It works. It's free.

TextMate

There are two kinds of software developers. Those who use huge, monolithic IDEs; and those that prefer a simple, lightweight, text editor. TextMate is the answer for anyone who falls into the latter category.

Edit: Added the URL for DrawIt's web site.