Apple Introduces 10GB iPod They’ve also updated the iPod software to support contacts. I don’t think I’ll be using that feature.

Alison has posted a hip new design tonight. One of the best things about this year’s SXSW was getting to know her.

I apologize for neglecting my weblog duties since I’ve been back. It’s primarily a symptom of some strange blog malaise I’ve been experiencing. I’ve been putting the time away from the keyboard to good use though. My pool is just about ready to be opened, my gardens are much better tended than they were a week ago, and I’ve either hit the gym or gone inline skating every day. That last item is directly related to the first, I don’t want to be flabby computer boy at my own pool. I’m quite sore today as a result of yesterday’s bench press extravaganza. Updates should resume as normal tomorrow morning.

Okay, so I was distracted by the NCAA basketball tournament yesterday. Considering that the Final Four is right here in good old Atlanta this year, I figured I’d pay attention. As a result, very little computer work that was scheduled for yesterday actually got done. There are more games today, but perhaps if I get the TV Tuner installed in the one machine back here in my office, I won’t have that problem today. I’m finally beginning to feel normal again post-SXSW. This is accompanied by the realization that I left my house a mess, and so I have returned to a mess, and that needs to be dealt with. Oh, and Happy Fourth Birthday to Kottke.org.

So, I’m back from the show, and it was well worth going. I’m quite mentally and socially tired, but I’ll sit down tomorrow and write something up about the people, places, panels, and parties. I’m thinking that it should be with a minimum of name dropping. That would probably be good, but difficult to avoid. A couple of quick observations though. 1) There are a real lot of bloggers. 2) When confronted with groups of people larger than fifteen, I am seemingly unable to remember anyone’s name. Nighty night.

Ranchero: Web File Types CM Plugin If you do any kind of Web development or design work on a Mac OS X box, this is a must check out tool. I relied heavily on the Mac OS 9 version back when that was what I used. Best of all, it don’t cost nothing.

Just picked up my badge. I doubt that there will be many updates here for the duration of the show. Seems like a real fun bunch here this year.

Hello from Austin!

NY Times: You Listen, You Pay: Post-Napster Music Services The Times reviews three of the label backed online music services. After reading the article, I’m not enthusiastic. I almost think that the labels want these offerings to be a worse choice than purchasing physical cd’s.

I was watching an episode of Real Sports on HBO last night. Among their reports was a story about gymclass dodgeball. Apparently, there is an increasing movement among schools in this country to ban the game of dodgeball. The rationale is that it is “an excessively violent lesson to be teaching children.” I don’t even know where to begin reacting to this. I loved dodgeball in gym class as a kid, and I was far from the star athlete of my class. As far as it being an excessively violent lesson, there are plenty of other, more violent, things that kids are exposed to these days. It’s a sport, and, win or lose, I think that competitive sports teach kids valuable lessons. It’s amazing to me with all the crap kids have to negotiate through in life these days that some fool is using his precious spare time to fight the scourge of dodgeball.

I'm getting my act, and my house together today for my trip to SXSW. The house really has come along nicely in the last couple of months, but it still sometimes feels way too big for just me. I seem to switch back and forth between hanging out in the living room, and hanging out in the office. Having a wireless network that actually works anywhere in the house, including my screened in porch and by my pool in the backyard, is going to get much cooler when the weather gets nicer.

Anyway, I'm going to Austin a bit early, bringing my skates, and I'm hoping to get to see a little more of Austin than I did the last time I went to SXSW two years ago. The other thing that is happening today is that I am finally going to deal with the mess of hair on my head. Had a bad haircut a year ago, and I have spent the entire time since trying to grow it out. As a result, my hair is halfway down my back, and it's getting really tiring.

DJ MarWax - The Turntablistic Site It’s mostly technical stuff for DJing, but I didn’t want to forget it.

Webmonkey: Flash MX Overview This article actually has some hands on details, which I haven’t really seen anywhere else. (via mac.scripting.com)

If you own and travel with a notebook computer, the Logitech MouseMan Traveler is the way to go. It’s small, but not too small. It works with all of my machines and all of the operating systems I use. It’s optical, so it works well on any non-reflective surface. Finally, it comes with it’s own little carry case to prevent it from getting crushed in my bag full of junk, and to keep the cord nice and neat. No one paid me to say that.

The Register: Macromedia Unveils Neo

Macromedia: ColdFusion MX FAQ

Macromedia Flash and ColdFusion Resource Center

Walter Mossberg “The iPod only works with Macs, though Apple should have a Windows version by the summer." As far as I know, this is the first time we’ve heard this. Apple is going to release a Windows version of the iPod? I would imagine they are just going to release Windows software for it.

Dan Gillmor laments the slow performance of Virtual PC on Mac OS X. I agree, but I don’t really use it anymore anyway. PC’s are cheap, and there are really only five or six apps that I run that I can’t find any equivalent for on the X platform. You are better off buying a discontinued or second hand machine IMHO. (via Mr. Barrett)

Flash 99% Good. First Aid Manual For Usable Flash Sites I was unaware of this site until Web Graphics pointed it out to me. I’m happy to see Macromedia putting effort into making Flash more usable and into making it faster on the Mac. The next question is what happens with all of their editor software. I use Cold Fusion Studio and Homesite to do all of my PC based Web coding.(except Java) Others, especially those who are more designy than codish, are using Dreamweaver and Ultradev. I don’t see Macromedia keeping all four of these applications alive, but it’s quite a tightrope act for them to please all of the target audiences with one line of products. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.