Category Archives: Gadgets

Catherine’s Guide to Backups, Part 1

So there I was at Best Buy, finally taking care of that “backups” business.1 Since Apple added their super-convenient Time Machine app to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, I’d been meaning to get around to using it. A year later, I bought a simple external USB drive, a Western Digital MyPassport. Easy. Tiny. USB-powered.2 So [...]
Also posted in Apple, Catherine, Learning is fun! | Comments closed

In Which Catherine Is No Longer Lazy

So I recently started jogging. I know, I know, I’m ruining my image as couchbound layabout, but it’s true. (If, by chance, you were unfamiliar with this image, let me take this opportunity to spoil all chance of being thought of as in particularly good shape.) I’m tall. Really, really tall. (Yes, taller than that one [...]
Also posted in Catherine, Cycling, Exercise | Comments closed

Trackballs: A part of our heritage

In the summer of 2007, I learned I had a bit of an RSI problem when a can of Coke I was holding suddenly slipped from my grasp and plummeted to the ground. I couldn’t apply enough pressure with my thumb and fingers to hold it in my hand. One short diagnosis of tennis and golfer’s [...]
Also posted in Apple, Canada, Catherine, News, Usability | Comments closed

Mobile data rates: Canada’s national shame

With the US release of the iPhone permeating even Canadian news, I’m finding that my current smartphone solution just isn’t as desirable as that which I cannot buy. These days, I’m more than happy with my Treo 650, despite PalmOS showing its age. I expect a Linux-based Treo will follow the recent Palm Foleo by [...]
Also posted in Canada | Comments closed

OpenMoko: like the iPhone, only Linuxier!

Like most Mac-owning, right-thinking individuals, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the Apple iPhone, despite living in Canada, where mobile data rates are unfortunate, to say the least. Also, the whole “closed platform” thing. That and the “how do you dial this with gloves on?” bit. And the fact that there’s no word of any Canadian release [...]
Also posted in Usability | Comments closed