Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

I'm afraid I have to give up. I've read so much recently that there's no time to review all the books on the pile. Let's just say if I was doing 50bookchallenge I'd be well over my target already...

So, as I need the space, and here's just the start of a list of the recent reads with a quick star rating instead of a full review. Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly...

( Book list behind the cut tag... )

And that's just the recently read paperbacks. Hardcovers, proofs and trades to follow in a further post....

Having spent far too long fighting both Proteus and Fire as a Mac OS X instant messaging solution, I discovered that the venerable Adium has had a huge rewrite and is now a multiple IM client. I gave it a quick try last night, and I have to say, it's pretty good - if you can ignore the ducks and if you turn off the sounds.

Worth a look. Especially as it's free...

A special bonus Scare-o-deleria from the man that brought us Scary-go-round (and Bobbins).

More strange web comics for your reading pleasure.

To be honest, a lot of the bundled software on the Treo 600 sucks (as I've said in my reviews!). There are a lot of nice features on Microsoft's Smartphone that I've got used to - among them the idea of the "Today" screen, which brings together your next event, along with your current tasks and possibly some application links...

I've been looking for something to add that to the Treo, and I think I've finally found what I'm looking for. What amuses me, is that it's the latest version of a piece of software I used back in my Palm days - Iambic's Action Names - with a new name, Agendus. It's got all the features I want - a better address book, better tools for handling international appointments, a today view which includes tasks, and an IMAP mail client. There's good use of colour, and the ability to integrate SMS messages and and add icons. All in all, I have to say, it rocks.

My only quibble is that it doesn't do secure IMAP yet, and I can't seem to do IMAP folders...

But it's a start. Looks like I can delete the hack of Versamail off the Treo.

I have just managed to decipher the instructions on one of the new triangular Cornflake packets! And have folded it correctly...

Rar!

Inspired by a conversation on IRC this afternoon...

How do you write down the symbol for the square root of minus one? (Otherwise known as "are you an electrical and electronic engineer or not?")

[Poll #281018]

I'm posting this using my Treo from Dining Room B in the House of Commons...