Blog

Synthetic Culture

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The Elucidator is a quarterly print magazine published in Easton, Pa. It’s the sort of thing that people outside of the town might never expect to be here: a magazine reviewing local culture, life, and arts. It’s “Chew” and “Imbibe” columns check out the Lehigh Valley’s bars and restaurants, while “Listen” reviews a variety of music, and regular photo essays explore life in and around Easton.

Like I said, it’s nothing you’d expect to find here. Unless, of course, you actually lived here.

Easton’s changed a lot over the years, in some ways for the bad (gangs) and many ways for the good (the arts). There’s an established arts community, multiple art galleries, some cool downtown events — including beer, garlic and shad (yes, shad) festivals.

Mac Productivity Hacks

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I spend a lot of time on the Mac — at work, at home, when I’m dreaming. These are the hacks that I use almost every day to get the most out of my computers.

Zoom in on anything

For a zoomed in view of anything on your computer, hold the CTRL key and then brush upwards on your trackpad with two fingers. To zoom out, hold the CTRL key and brush downwards with two fingers.

Get Google Talk working with iChat

There is no Google Talk client for the Mac, but you can access its instant messaging capabilities by setting up Jabber in iChat. This will not support voice chat, but it works just fine for text. Learn how to set up Jabber via this Google help page.

Fast launch applicatons from the dock

Sometimes you want to quickly browse your full list of applications without delving into the Finder and clicking on the “Applicatons” folder (or following a shortcut from the Desktop).

A hack I learned by visiting the Apple Store was to drop a shortcut to my Applications folder. Under 10.4 Tiger, you could then right-click on the folder and see a full list of all your apps. Then select the one you want, and it launches.

Impromptu Take Your Daughter to Work Day

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My dad was a science teacher, and I spent many a day going to work with him, on Saturdays or summer days, while he set up his classrooms, rebuilt bulletin boards, and generally did teacher stuff. I have pleasant memories of wandering through empty schools, exploring new corridors, and taking the occasional break to draw … Read more

Nuclear Midnight is now 5 p.m.

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I’d settled into a good routine. Get off work at 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., go to the gym, and then get home by 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. in time for dinner with the family. Take care of the kids – giving them baths and cleaning up the house – and help herd them into bed … Read more

Operation Zzz

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I look like death warmed over. There are deep bags under my eyes, my neck muscles are vise-tight despite a massage on Saturday, and my face has that hang-dog, puffy look that comes from one too many nights spent sleeping far too little. This is actually an improvement. Things were worse in December and January, … Read more

Get A Head with Futurama Icons

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If you’re like me, you saw the shelf-based Dock for Mac OS X Leopard and thought … hey, I could put some heads in a jar on that! And now you can, thanks to the Futurama “Heads in Jarks” icons from Icon Factory. The icons are available for Windows as well as Mac. They’ve got … Read more

Under the Geek Tree 2007

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An assortment of presents under an artificial Christmas tree.

T’was a very geeky Christmas once again this year, and the Geek Tree’s rocket tree skirt is filled with all manner of games and toys for thirtysomething boys. First up, this year’s Hess truck goes off-roading with a huge engine-revving 4×4 with two motorcycles. Very cool, and an instant hit with the kids. My annual … Read more

Spawn of the Geek Tree

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The Geek Tree has spawned. With my 18-month-old son NeutronLad obsessed with putting almost everything he finds in his mouth, we decided that hanging up my various mini (and easily swallowed) ornaments wasn’t a good idea. At the same time, my parents discovered my old Christmas tree from high school, a 18″ tree that I used … Read more

The Day Before the Night Before Christmas

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It’s the 23rd of December, which is a date my four-year-old is having a hard time grasping. She’s mentally willing for Christmas to be here tomorrow and the whole “Christmas Eve” thing just isn’t making sense to her. But she can tolerate Christmas Eve … it’s the Day before the Eve that’s really getting to … Read more