Tattoo residue

Engadget is reporting that the iPod tattoos being provided by HP can leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

Virgin Galactic

No, that’s not a typo. Richard “I-have-more-money-than-I-know-what-to-do-with” Branson is going to cater to his peers with the new Virgin Galactic, slated to rocket spaceward in 2007. As Dan says, the future is now. Well, almost now, at any rate.

Gmail for Newties

I have some Gmail invitations to give away. All of my friends and online acquaintances already have accounts. It seems that Gmail4Troops has a surplus of invitations to give out.
So, here’s your chance to get in the club. These are the criteria, and you can leave them in the comments:
1. You must be a current Newton MessagePad or eMate owner. Not a former owner, not a wanna-be owner. It doesn’t matter which model Newton you own.
2. State your Newton’s model number, and provide a link to a picture of the device. A picture of your personal Newton, not a generic photo of your particular model. It can even be a crappy mobile phone shot.
3. Let us know if you still use your Newton every day, or is it more of a novelty you tinker with from time to time (like my 2100).
Obviously, there is a certain amount of trust involved on my end, and a lot of honesty involved on your end. Don’t be a lame faker. The first six (6) respondents get a Gmail account.

To categorize or not to categorize?

That is the question.
I have wondered, of late, if I should continue to bother. If I shouldn’t just stop categorizing, and kill all current categories. As a blogger, some times it is downright annoying trying to categorize a post. If a category doesn’t yet exist, you have to create one. If you create one, then you may go months without a post assigned to that category again.
I have found, as a blog reader, that I really don’t pay attention to categories on others’ sites. If I discover a new blog, and want to read more than just the post that brought me there, I usually go in reverse chronological order, rather than sorting through categories.
I know some of my fellow bloggers out there utilize categories, and some do not. I’m looking for both bloggers and blog readers to weigh in on this issue. Leave your thoughts, pro or con (or both), in the comments.

Register.com’s radio nonsense

Have you head the radio ad from Register.com with the two guys, “We lost the client because we didn’t have a web site”? What utter tripe. Apparently, Register.com doesn’t have a clue how an actual sales meeting would work.
If I am a sales person, already in a client’s office, meeting face to face, half the battle is already won. I am the face of my company, especially if the company is my own. I have full knowledge and pricing of my company’s products, and can show examples to the client in question. Presumably, on my business card will be an e-mail address of some kind, so the client can get in touch with me in some manner other than by phone. If said client–who has met me, seen my examples, been given a catalog, brochure, or other marketing materials, as well as my prices–then decides to not buy my products or services simply because I do not have a web site, then said client is insane.
If by not having a web site means one would not have an e-mail address, then Register.com should note that in their commercial. The whole thing is nonsense, and really annoys me each time I have to hear it. And for crying out loud, don’t pay Register.com twenty bucks when you can go to GoDaddy and register a domain name for nine dollars.

Fun with statistics

Top 10 search phrases for retrophisch.com for the first three days of September:
1. powerbook skin
2. definition of a liberal
3. sweet
4. conservative democrats
5. disassemble ipod
6. blaser r93 lrs2
7. barney cam
8. lsu tiger stadium
9. apple powerbook g4 12
10. powerbook benchmarks

ATPM 10.09

The September issue of About This Particular Macintosh is now available. Ellyn sneaks in a word on integration, while Matt pontificates over the new iMac. David Ozab discusses a recent copyright case, and Paul has the latest from the world wide web.
It’s the Chris Lawson review issue, as the licensed pilot (be afraid, be very afraid) examines a hardware hacking book, the iRac, and the MicFlex. Oh, and Eric looks at DEVONnote while Michael puts my next keyboard through its paces. Some great renderings by Mark Feemster are available as desktop pictures.
Enjoy the fruits of our volunteer labor on behalf of the Macintosh-using public!