As I mentioned recently, I’ve been looking for ways to simplify this site.
It’s a truism, but more is not always more.
And I was really starting to feel that more was less. So I’ve been getting rid of stuff:

time of posting
related posts
Google AdWords
Chitika MiniMalls
all the “add to Google,” “add to feedburner,” “add to My Yahoo,” etc. […]

OK, just first impressions. Kinda ugly, isn’t it?

I happened to see this Moto cell phone about a week back - probably a link off Digg or something like that.

Frankly, the simplicity appeals to me. The feature list is not as long as my arm:
• Built-in FM radio
• WAP 2.0 Browser
• Decent-sized color screen - 128×128 CSTN display
• Messaging services
• Lantern
I haven’t got a clue what lantern means, […]

I’ve recently been considering re-doing my blog skin, and wondering about all the pieces, chunks, and components of a modern, integrated blog.
There’s a ton, at least on my site. At least 13:

header with “station identification:” name and so on
introduction to the site and author
list of categories
list of recent posts
RSS paraphernalia
[…]

For over a decade, Teresa and I (mostly Teresa) survived life dryer-less. That sounds shocking to a lot of people, but we just never bought a dryer.
When we were just starting out, we spent $800 on a Maytag washer, and there wasn’t any cash left over - or at least none that we really wanted […]

Dick Hardt pointed out this very cool new USB keychain wristband:

Love ‘em! (And I don’t even use USB keychains.) Note that they’re only available at Target - a clothing store!

I’m currently thinking of redoing my blog design, and just started another, Fish Crackers.
And I want it to be usable and cool and web 2ish and wonderful and aesthetically impressive, of course.
Here’s a great start for seeing what kind of design is hot right now. But not just hot - also good. Even great.
Here […]

I keep hearing more about marmoleum as a cool new flooring option.

Looks like a very neat eco-friendly option other than hardwood or tile. Feet-friendly, too.

I haven’t been able to find great/proper/fitting furniture for my stereo equipment, so I’m wondering about building my own.
This has me inspired:

It’s by Manhattan design firm hiveminddesign. You can get a look at it here too if you aren’t up to the pain of navigating hivemind’s oh-so-cool-but-very-90’s all-Flash site.
The feet, which aren’t visible in this […]

Yes, this is to-die-for cool.

Yum!
(Saw it first at boingboing.)

I’m sort of in the market for a design tool that will let me have some fun with home design and architecture, and there are two tools that appear interesting right now.
One is Microspot Interiors. Looks very cool - you see it in action via a demo movie. A bit pricy, perhaps, at about 120 […]

My wife Teresa saw this on a website yesterday:

Nice!

I’m building another calendar and wanted something annoying out of a picture of my daughter Gabrielle.
Here’s what 30 minutes of photoshopping bought me:

Not too shabby, although far from professional.
As is usually the case, poor composition is the problem; I should never have taken the shot with that buoy in the background.
This happens to be at […]

OK, I’ve done it with my iPod, as have thousands of others.
Why not with my Harmon/Kardon AVR 240? Here’s about a 3-second exposure with the camera on a tripod.

For companies that still don’t get it: aesthetics are important. Aesthetics are important. Aesthetics are important.
At least, if you want anyone to love your product. If you […]

I use Wordpress as my blogging software, and I recently upgraded to the new version 2.0.
The new version is excellent in most ways, wonderful for integrated comment spam blocking, it is driving me nuts with its silly image uploading problems.
I format my own images in Photoshop and (in the old version of Wordpress) customized the […]

I’d like to use Firefox more. I honestly would.
But when I get stuff like this, I really, really don’t feel like it.

There is not a bold or a strong or a css class tag anywhere in that paragraph.
Firefox has stronger compatibility across the entire web. There are occasional sites that do not display or behave […]

OmniOutliner is an excellent Mac OS X app for outlining and organizing just about any kind of information.
It’s intuitive, powerful, and elegant, but there’s one thing that annoyed me about it: it insisted on printing the title of each document at the top of the document.
This totally violates the WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) principle, since the title, […]

A screenpic from an amazing photoset on Flicker:

Next up: toe of newt …
. . .
. . .
(BTW, here’s one of my insect shots. Not nearly as close-up, or as quality.)