Linkfest I

So I've added an RSS feed, at left. With an RSS reader, such as amphetadesk or RSSowl, you'll get notified whenever I update this little web site. The idea is that you just check in to your RSS reader instead of clicking through to the dozen web sites you dutifully check every morning. Like all the other crap I endorse, it's not revolutionary: you spend half an hour setting it up and reading the manual, and then it saves you four minutes of clicking per day = a full day of clicking per year. I have to admit I've only had my own RSS reader for a day, and only have vicarious raves from people who say that having one of these little news tickers open has entirely changed the way they get information and has made them finally feel that enlightenment is attainable in this lifetime. I wonder what I'll do to kill time if I can't waste it checking to see if anything new has turned up on Plastic in the last six minutes.

Asst links But there's always more (not-regularly-updated) junk to be had. In addition to the usual list of links, I offer the following, for my fellow distraction-seeker.

I'm at the World Bank today, copying data sets to my own portable hard drive. Instead of a bar crossing the screen, the little application opts for a ball that grows in size. Very cute. Almost beats the status bar from Halo.

On the desk here is a copy of Bank Swirled, the in-house humor magazine. It's filled with in-jokes and standard office humor. Representative sample: ``hello. I'm a constipated water buffallo. Is there a World Bank program to help me?''

Pocket calculator show is about 80s technology, back when things still had buttons, instead of a screen with pictures of buttons. An interesting idea, though I wonder why they don't just go all out and talk about 20s technology, when adding machines were made from brass and wood.

Equally retro but more hands on, here is a set of Infocom text games for you to download and play. These games are a paragon of good computing and bad humor, and can be run on pretty much any modern hardware (including a lot of phones).

This photographer took some wonderful photos of Thailand. Interspersed with the photos is an extensive discussion of how he went about backing up the digital photos onto both a CD and portable hard drive. The contrast is stunning.

I've been very interested in alternative keyboards. I mean, you can have the most efficient software on the planet, but if you have to wave your hands around in painful ways to use it, then it's still not efficient. When I have any say in the matter, I use a split keyboard with built-in touchpad, in my lap. But I sometimes fantasize about what life would be like with these more innovative designs.