512 Pixels

I know it seems egotistical to link to my own article, but (A) I was proud of the headline and (B) I like that no one cares about this anymore, even though a few months ago, the world was ready to burn Cupertino to the ground.

It feels good to be back in the fold.

TMZ:

Mark Zuckerberg claims he’s being stalked by a man who’s been sending him creepy messages through Facebook and threatening his safety … TMZ has learned.

Zuckerberg has obtained a restraining order against 31-year-old Pradeep Manukonda – after Mark filed legal papers claiming the guy has tried to “follow, surveil and contact Mr. Zuckerberg using language threatening his personal safety” … and the safety of his girlfriend and his sister.

Law enforcement sources tell us Pradeep had gone to several Facebook offices in Palo Alto attempting to contact Mark to ask for money for his financially-strapped family.

According to the legal docs, Facebook security also intercepted Pradeep at Mark’s home on January 24 just as he was about to walk up the front steps.

Kelly Guimont is thankful Apple pulled out of the show. I tend to agree.

This beast makes my 16.5 square-foot desk look tiny.

Ian Hines got me hooked on Alfred, but Susan Pigott just talked me into buying the power pack.

Dave Caolo, on why the library is a better place to work than Starbucks:

Starbucks is erupting with distractions. The first is the music. I like to listen to music when I work, but it’s got to be instrumental. If a song has lyrics, I’ll pay attention to them. Don’t get me wrong, the music at these places is great, but not while I’m concentrating. On the other hand, the library is as quiet as…well, a library.

There’s also several conversations within earshot, other people clacking away on their keyboards … one time a woman asked me to troubleshoot her connectivity issues. Sorry, lady, but I’m trying to work here.

Be sure to check out James Shelley’s piece Dave links to, as well.

In iFixit’s teardown of the Verizon iPhone 4, the company notes that the new phone has a redesigned vibrator:

Our tests show vibrator has quieter, softer feel, and makes a better sound when on a table.

Only Apple cares about such details.

On Friday, I had a bit of a computing crisis.

My Apple Extended II at work crapped out.

Well, I thought it did. It started when hitting the space bar wouldn’t wake my MacBook Pro up while it was in clamshell mode.

The Magic Mouse woke the machine up, but then I noticed it. I could only type in caps.¹

Toggling the Caps Lock key on and off made no difference. Neither did unplugging and replugging the iMate didn’t work. Rebooting didn’t work.

I was quite sad. I use an Extended II at home and at work for a reason — the feel is great, the key travel is just right and the noise² is simply amazing.

I took the keyboard and the iMate home, to test it with my Extended II and iMate I use with my personal 27" iMac. After some component swapping, it came to light that my iMate had kicked the bucket.

After pulling the trigger on an iMate on eBay, I realized I was cursed to use one of the aluminum keyboards we have floating around the office.

Then I remembered I had a Apple 109-Key USB keyboard in the hall closet. I haven’t used this keyboard in forever.

The keys are far more firm than those on the 108-key Apple Pro keyboard. While I much prefer the black keycaps — since the white ones look gross overtime — I need something with more backbone than a Pro keyboard.

Since this keyboard isn’t as tall as my Extended II, I’ve noticed a little pain in my wrists, but I’m sure I’ll get adjusted after a few hours of typing.

This keyboard had a Bluetooth-based version, but I’ve never understood why people would use a Bluetooth keyboard on a system that doesn’t ever move — like my desk rig.

So, while I’m eager to return to my Extended II, I’m glad I had a decent, modern backup to use when the day comes that I can’t bang away on my beige keyboard anymore.

Ben Brooks called me a keyboard snob this morning. While he meant it as a compliment, he’s right. I’m a snob when it comes to my keyboards. It’s a gift … and a curse.¹

So is Dave Caolo.

This is some brilliant stuff.

Marco:

Now, you can support publishers automatically from Instapaper: simply link your Readability account in Instapaper’s Account screen. Instapaper will notify Readability whenever you save articles, and they’ll be included in the publisher calculations for your Readability account.

You’ll be directly supporting the sites that you save to Instapaper, automatically.

You can contribute whatever you want, starting at $5 per month. What are you waiting for?

I just linked mine — it took about 15 seconds. This lets me continue to use Instapaper,¹ and support the sites I love. This is great news.

On a related note, I’ve sent ForkBombr up with Readability — so feel free to use that new “Send to Instapaper” link on each post. Wink.