deebeedee

I suppose hell now is experiencing a prolonged ice age. Apple partners with Hewlett-Packard to produce HP-branded digital music players. Of all PC makers though, H-P I think is the most compatible with Apple. It has recently made a commitment to make products that are “sleek, not geek”. I’m actually impressed by their recent ad campaign. One of their commercials I particularly like is the digital photography one featuring The Cure’s “Pictures of You”. It was only a matter of time that a camera maker would use the song as a soundtrack for its commercials.

p.s. Mr. Bill Hewlett is an alumnus of my high school in San Francisco.

So says Apple. They just released the Windows version of iTunes. I’m interested how Windows iPod users would find it. I’m sure some of them have been waiting for this day to come.

I discovered a way to read web pages while working. All I do is plug my headphones into my Mac, launch my Safari browser, go to a page I would like to read (it’s better if it’s super long), highlight the text, then select Speech>Start Speaking Text under Safari’s Services menu. My Mac would then read me the page! The default voice I use is Bruce but I sometimes use Victoria. The Mac’s spoken text capabilities have always impressed me. It’s a technology that’s been around since the early ’90s I believe. Apple adding it to the Services menu, which is available to every application (though it doesn’t work with IE), has elevated it from mere novelty to practically usable.

Mind you, I can’t have my Mac read to me all the time. This type of thing is perfect only when I do production work, like creating graphics and coding. But if my task involves some thinking (yes, production work is mindless work, heh), I definitely wouldn’t try it.

One other thing I do is listen to sermons/talk radio online. My favorite places to visit are STR Radio, The Bible Answer Man, RZIM, and a couple of local pastors’ archives in OnePlace.com. Formats come in WMV, RealPlayer or MP3. When sermons are available in MP3 or RM formats, I just download a whole bunch of them at home, burn it on CD, then listen to the CD at work.

Apparently I can listen to the Bible while working now too - it’s available in streaming audio or MP3 (link via Phisch). But I may have to rethink that. The Word of God surely requires much more concentration, reverence and deeper study than I could ever give at work. Listening to the Bible in this format is probably more suited for commute trips and doing household chores. Maybe it’s time to save up for an iPod.