Luv me some mouse!

Seriously, I am perpetually trying out new mice.

This morning, while dropping by the Apple Store, they had a new bluetooth mouse from Razer. Known for gaming mice, which I love for their high resolution accuracy.

I picked one up, in black of course, and so far I have to say it is awesome!

The rubberized coating, coupled with the high resolution accuracy makes for quite an enjoyable experience.

Unlike the Apple Might Mouse, the Pro|Click doesn’t seem to have that laggy feel most bluetooth mice suffer from.

It also comes with a spiffy little bag to carry it around in.

Check it out

Today, most web content can be accessed on on mobile devices. Though you are at the mercy of how each site chooses serve mobile content - if at all.

Mowser cleans up and presents content for mobile devices in friendlier more efficient forms.

Mowser doesn’t just handle web sites, it also provides efficient access to RSS feeds and search engines in mobile friendly formats.

Mowser, which is developed by Russell Beattie, does it really, really well.

I don’t know the details of how Mowser works its magic, but its definitely more sophisticated than older efforts and a work of passion on the part of the developer.

After using it for a week, I prefer Mowser-powered browsing to regular browsing on my phone.

Content flies through the sluggish AT&T EDGE network, and the addition of Tech 100, Politics 100, Feeds and Search on the home page are awesome for casual browsing while on the road.

There is a lot more to Mowser than I have touched on and even understand after just a week.

I highly recommend it for anyone using a mobile device to access web content.

Big thumbs up!

I have used numerous tools over the years to keep on top of my tasks and projects.

Omnioutliner, Backpack, Stickies (digital not real) and countless others.

None every quite worked for me. They never felt right, too much overhead or took too long to get the info into them.

When inspiration and motivation strikes, you need to get it down fast, before the next distraction takes the thought away.

So, when Hog Bay Software released TaskPaper, I looked at the screenshots and quickly dismissed it as yet another to-do list.

How wrong was I.

As my week grew busier, I decided to give it a shot and see how it might fit into my workflow.

Much to my surprise, it began filling up fast and I found myself actually using it features. Not just staring at a window full of text.

The beauty of TaskPaper, is that it is drop dead simple on the surface, with just the right features under the hood.

You can use keyboard shortcuts to create a project, or simply type the title with a colon after it, adding tasks equally flexible and fast.

Marking something done can be accomplished any number of ways and the cleaning up your lists is so simple with “archive done tasks”.

Today as I was engrossed in our daily video chat, organizing the weeks priorities with my partner, I discovered a wonderful gem hidden in plain sight.

If you click on the project text, it create a tab of just that project! So you can filter down to one list and quickly go home to see everything.

TaskPaper gets 5 stars in my book.

Well worth the $18.95.

Grab a copy and support a wonderful independent Mac developer.

The Mylo is living up to my expectations. I am extremely happy using it for Skype calls, and as noted in other reviews the sound quality is exceptional.

A couple of annoyances have cropped up.

Skype does not sync contacts correctly. Adding one to your Mylo does not show up in your computer, and the Mylo Skype client only seems to reload existing Skype contacts after formatting the Mylo.

Also, battery life seems to be less than expected if you are actively using Skype.

A few missed opportunities come to mind.

Once again, the lack of AIM and MSN chat clients really does impact the convenience carrying the Mylo around your home or office.

The other glaring miss is lack of a built-in calendar application. I would gladly dropped the simple text application for a calendar.

I haven’t played with the media playback much, but if you could record Skype calls or make basic audio recordings this could be an ideal mobile podcasting device.

With the exception of the flawed keyboard, all other missed opportunities can be remedied with a software update from Sony.

I received my Sony Mylo today and so far I give it thumbs up!

My particular needs are very specific. A portable Skype device with basic IM and Web capabilities. Essentially something to keep the Cingular billing department eating mac ‘n cheese instead of fillet mignon.

The device is sturdy and well designed, though slightly childish (appropriate considering the target market). The screen is clear and bright with great antialiased text.

The keyboard is usable but would benefit from a slight increase in size. For those with large digits it would be nice of the sliding screen moved about 1/8 to 1/4 of inch further. It can interfere slightly with the top row of keys.

The included software works as expected but lacks some advanced features common in the desktop counterparts.

Noticeably absent are AIM and MSN chat clients. Hopefully that will be address in a future update.

Media playback, both Audio and Video, works as advertised. Criticism for lack of support to iTunes and other DRM-based services is pointless. The device plays most common open formats well.

I will post more in a couple days, but so far this device lives up to my expectations.

With the advice of a good friend at Nokia, I picked up a Nokia 9300 from a local shop. Just couldn’t handle the DTs encountered after dumping the Blackberry.

In short, this is an excellent phone and e-mail/sms device.

• Excellent sound
• MP3 playback
• QWERTY keyboard
• No camera
• Strong signal selection
• Bright and harp screen

• No stereo output for use in the car (see MP3 playback above)
• Keyboard could use optimizing. Fro example, Shift+2 for the @, when using thumbs, is a bit of a stretch.
• Hard to find carrying cases – locally at least
• Doesn’t include a memory card
• No iSync support (without 3rd party software or hacks)

Not sure I would call it perfect, but it is an excellent phone – so far.

Pros – Solidly engineered, thin, excellent battery life and completely usable iTunes integration.

Cons – Slow USB transfers from iTunes, can’t use included headset while charging.

When deciding to dump the Crackberry, I went in search of a phone. I had settled on this phone mainly because it didn’t try to do too much. It is world-ready, has a completely usable OS, and plays music and podcasts dependably.

Pros – Aesthetically perfect, stupendously fast and a perfect replacement for all currently shipping Mac Desktops.

Cons – Can reach searing temperatures when stressed, and some units have the dreaded CPU whine (like mine).

Overall, this is an awesome laptop that runs rings about all previous Macs. With the addition of Boot Camp/Windows XP or Linux the world is wide open to MacBook owners.

For the digitally entertained, I can be found playing Battlefield 2 on the Straferight.com servers or WoW on Bronzebeard under the name Slobberfist (<- don’t ask).

After working with the MacBook Pro over the weekend I can say I am impressed.

This coming from someone that owned every 17” Powerbook released, and a variety of other Powerbooks going back to the Duo 230C.

The speed increase is dramatic when using Intel native applications, regardless of it being a GUI or command line application.

There are noticeable slowdowns when using major PPC applications like Adobe Illustrator or games like Age of Mythology. But impressively, every PPC application I have run works flawlessly.

Luckily most of my daily tools are already native, including all major browsers except Opera.

Some of the tools I rely on daily, which are not available in native format include:

• Skype
• Macromedia Fireworks
• Adobe Illustrator
• NetNewsWire
• Video tools (Flip4Mac, VLC, etc.)

On another note, Apple really nailed their default configuration, at least in my case.

I purchased the 2 GHz model with 1GB Memory, and unlike previous releases, the memory consists of a single 1GB chip.

No more tossing out 256 or 512 MB chips when maxing out the memory in the Powerbook.

I do wish it shipped with a S-Video port or adapter, and a Firewire 800 port.

If anyone is in the market for a PPC 17” Powerbook in excellent condition, please check out my auction.