raamdev

I downloaded the Netshare app that was mentioned on Lifehacker several months ago before it got pulled from the store. It still works great for me. Wireless tethering is really powerful for mobile users and I really hope Apple and AT&T get it right with iPhone 3.0.

Very cool.

Slight bug with the refresh counter. I clicked the TweetBOSS logo to refresh the page when the counter was at 0.2 min(s) and the counter updated to "Next Refresh In: -0.1 min(s)". ;) (Subsequent refreshes showed the correct countdown.)

At our company we're building an entirely web-based product that will be used more by businesses than consumers. Early in development we decided to exclude IE6 from the supported browsers list due to the extra development time and associated costs required to make it happen.

I'm all for a simplistic web (I prefer plain-text sites myself) but I think the more sites stop supporting IE6 and instead move towards standards-compliant designs, the sooner IE6 will disappear (and the sooner the big corporations who haven't upgraded will feel the pressure to upgrade).

A bit excessive IMO, but very, very cool.

I'm sure losing any finger would affect your typing, but with practice the human body is capable of learning amazing things (like the people who learn to write fluently with their feet after losing both arms). Of course age affects this learning process too; a younger brain will more easily rewire itself. Typing doesn't require much strength. Losing your pinky finger, for example, has a huge effect on your grip strength (see Yubitsume: http://www.japanslate.com/pinky-fingers/ ).

I actually joined and then attended the Boston FU meet a few times (there were only four of us that ever showed and after a few meetings it fizzled out). Here's something I whipped together in 30 minutes to bring to the first meet:

http://blog.raamdev.com/2008/08/27/boston-fu-retractable-ear...

I love the idea behind FU and wish there were more open hacking groups around where people could attend, even if only to watch and listen to others. I don't necessarily have a ton of time for hacking stuff, but if I could spend an hour or two every week looking over someone's shoulder while they make something, or listen to someone explain their crazy ideas and then have open discussions as a group, I think it would help everyone explore new ideas and opinions.

If not for my ridiculous schedule (working at a start-up), I'd be more inclined to get such a group going myself.

I second Beyerdynamic. I have a pair of DT 770 Pro at home and DT 231 in the office. A bit pricey, but great quality.

To help with the comparison, you can get emails when people unfollow you too: http://useqwitter.com/

Just thinking off the top of my head, but wouldn't cloning the MAC cause conflicts with the existing MAC on the network?

I've done something similar with cloning my iPhone MAC to get free WiFi access on my laptop using the free AT&T WiFi provided to iPhones.

But if what you're saying actually works, this seems like a dead simple way of getting free access. I already have Kismac installed, so I'll definitely try it. Thanks!

Stanford iPhone Application Programming course materials here:

http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/index.php

If science eventually proves without-a-doubt that the Big Bang was only one of many Big Bangs and that in fact, there seems to be no beginning or end to the Big Bangs, then the universe would essentially be infinite.

If it's determined that the universe, and everything in it, lasts (in one form or another) forever, then the meaning of time disappears. You cannot have time unless you have a beginning and an end.

I suppose the proximity sensor that turns off the screen when the phone is pressed against your ear during a call is supposed to prevent this from happening (though the proximity sensor itself is definitely not problem-free).

But in Mail, the Trash button makes you confirm the deletion. You'd have to accidentally press the 'Trash' button, and then accidentally press the 'Delete Message' button too (which is bright red and a whole inch away from the Home button).

> There are so many benefits, and as long as you have a little self-control, pretty much no downside.

I would change that to "a lot of self-control".

As someone who is filing for bankruptcy (due to investment property loss related to the sub-prime debacle, not credit cards) and has had all his credit cards canceled (even the ones paid on time), I can tell you how much more difficult it is to live off cash alone. There have been so many times when the flexibility of a credit card would have saved me from several $35 overdraft fees. Such repeated experiences quickly teaches you to change your habits and be more frugal.

If you don't feel disciplined enough with your credit cards now, try not using them at all for a few months. Take them out of your wallet and stick them in a box at home so you can't use them when you're out.

Here's the test on Google.com:

http://loadimpact.com/result/google.com-398c66a059f3ab3c096b...

That sounds like a great way to live cheaply in a peaceful/quiet environment. How did you find and approach the monastery? Did you already know someone there?

I invested in three multi-family properties (12 rental units total) and became a landlord at age 21, so I also haven't had a good stretch of freedom in years. The sub-prime fiasco made me lose all three of them last year (their values dropped by 70%!) and I'm filing for bankruptcy this year. But I'm actually very happy the way things turned out. I learned a TON being a landlord and it made me realize just how tied down owning property made me. I'm finally feeling freer than ever and I'm really looking forward to the future!

BTW, it's interesting that you're looking to start learning the guitar and the piano... I've recently become interested in learning them too! Good luck, and thanks!

I can really relate to this and reading it sparked something inside me to write a response. I started writing a comment on his post, but it became so long that I turned it into a post on my own blog:

http://blog.raamdev.com/2009/02/19/the-pursuit-of-knowledge

My goal now is to continue living frugally so I can set aside a big enough bucket of money to get me through one year without work. Then, when the time is right, I’ll spend a year learning something of interest, possibly making small amounts of money on the side. When needed, I’ll start working and hopefully keep repeating this process. If something I do makes me tons of money, great. If not... well it’s not about the money.

Official release announcement: http://debian.org/News/2009/20090214

I use both VIM and Eclipse PDT on a regular basis. Recently, while looking for a nice free Eclipse plugin that gives me vi key bindings (I haven't found one yet), I came across an interesting project: Eclim (http://eclim.sourceforge.net/)

While most Eclipse plugins bring vi functionality to Eclipse, Eclim goes the other way and brings Eclipse IDE functionality to VIM (using an Eclipse plugin that acts as a server-interface to a collection of VIM plugins). I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds interesting.

VIM is definitely top dog. I remember how excited I was when I learned how to use ":vsplit" and ":e ." -- I spent the next few years using it as my IDE. (Off topic, but equally as exciting was my recent discovery that the screen utility can do split-windows! Yes, I need to RTFM more often!)

Yes it does. Try it. Google "raamdev" or "Raam Dev".

> so offer them to do all the hosting and maintaining for them in exchange for free food every week

I do this with a local vegan restaurant. They're the only one in the area and although I love eating there, they are a bit expensive.

One day I was having trouble getting on their free wireless network, so when I went to the counter to pay for my meal I mentioned the problem to the owner. Recognizing that I eat there all the time, she asked if I wanted to take a look at the wireless router in the backroom. All I did was restart the router and it worked again. The owner said the $18 meal was on the house for fixing the wireless.

Now I'm hosting their website and taking care of all tech support in return for an open tab. I bill the owner but mark the balance as $0 and in return I never pay for food when I eat there. My good relationship with the owner has led her to introduce me to other local restaurant owners and now I do work for them too.

I can definitely see how that is the best of both worlds. In fact, I thought of doing that before I bought an iPhone, but carrying around fewer devices is more important to me than having a perfect keyboard.

Also, being able to listen to music (with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, btw) and not worry that I'm missing calls is invaluable (the call just interrupts the music).

I sit here at 2:30AM with my hand on my head staring at the screen wondering why the hell I'm not sleeping when my eyes find the title of this post "Digital Overload is Frying Our Brains". Yes indeed. Exactly what I was feeling!

Are we Information Junkies getting hooked on ingesting new information as fast as it comes at us? If, as the article says, we are programmed to be interrupted, how does a constant flow of interruptions effect our ability to grow as individuals, form individual opinions, and be creative? How important is all this information anyway?

As a former 5-year, very satisfied Blackberry user who switched to the iPhone 3G last June, I have this to say about the comparison:

For business use that requires lots of replying to email, management of large volumes of email, copy/paste functionality, and the possibility of integration with existing Enterprise systems, the Blackberry is a must.

If you mostly just need to read email and only occasionally reply, you have a moderate volume of email (< 30 per day), and you are more interested in a device you can have fun with on the train and use as a replacement for your iPod, then iPhone is perfect. The apps available on the iPhone are truly killer. Real, playable games that you can fully enjoy. Also, web browsing on the iPhone is beautiful -- sometimes I find myself using it in front of my laptop!

I've convinced both my boss and my manager NOT to get an iPhone and to instead upgrade their phones to either the BB Curve or Bold. They both thanked me afterward when they realized just how much they relied on easy email reply and the ability to "mark as read" multiple messages (come on iPhone!). The iPhone is definitely a more media-centric device, whereas the Blackberry has been refined for the specific needs of business users.

The Google Updater was causing problems for me on Mac OS X (it would continuously fail to update), so I removed it. For anyone else also using Mac OS X and wanting to remove the updater, you can read how here:

http://blog.raamdev.com/2008/12/19/howto-remove-google-softw...

Yes, not responding at random times.

Chess.

I use Facebook much like I use LinkedIn: as a way for people to find me (and sometimes to find people I have lost touch with).

To keep my Facebook profile somewhat "alive", I have my Twitter account set to automatically update my Facebook status and I use the Wordbook plugin for WordPress to automatically post my latest blog posts to my Facebook Wall. Email alerts on Facebook are configured to notify me of the rare events when someone requests friendship or responds to my Facebook status, so I rarely even need to login.

I've made a similar transformation, going from 233LBS to 160LBS.

http://blog.raamdev.com/2004/03/07/changed-for-life

After losing the weight and getting in shape, my asthma and allergies disappeared, along with my eczema. Fitness has become one of the most important things in my life.

If there is one piece of advice I can give to anyone looking to get in shape it would be this: Stick with it and stay consistent. Fitness is a lifestyle, not a goal or destination (that's why diets fail).