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Rivet 2.2 is now available. Some big things in this update:

• Added video thumbnails display (Xbox and PS3).
• Added music album art display (PS3 only).
• Added support for iPhoto Events.
• Added metadata support for the date and duration of movies.
• Improved loading speed of photo thumbnails.
• Improved parsing speed of media and libraries.
• Fixed display of accented characters.
• Fixed an index number issue.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an iPhoto folder to only display movies or photos, not both.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an Aperture folder to only display movies or photos, not both.

Rivet works with both Xbox 360 and PS3, and costs only $18.95. This is a free update for all Rivet 1.x and 2.x customers. Download a demo or the update at http://cynicalpeak.com/rivet/.

This tip got a little coverage on Twitter as being one of the best tips ever.

I don't remember the last time I wanted to "paste and match style," though, so I'm leaving my settings alone. You may feel differently, of course.

Spotted outside of the local Red Lobster:

Guy can afford a Corvette, but not a dictionary¹?!?!

At least it doesn't say "its".

Today Carey, her brother, their father, and I attended the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic near Toledo, OH. It's an LPGA stop and has been for 25 years - though due to the current economic situation and the current commissioner, it may not be back for a 26th year.

While I don't mean to take anything away from the women, it's amazing how large a talent gap exists between the men on the PGA Tour and the women on the LPGA Tour. Wow. And most of what I'm talking about has to do with the short game: I saw as many three-putts (on teeny tiny greens) as I did one-putts and we saw more than a few straightforward chip shots left in the rough, hit across the green, or played well long or short.

I honestly think the best thing Annika Sorenstam did was to take a little of Tiger Woods' time to learn some short game stuff. If an average LPGA player could improve her short game tremendously, I think she'd see big results. Of course, since there may not be an LPGA next year¹, maybe that'd be a waste of time.

Other things of note about the LPGA Tour: they embrace the fans more than the PGA Tour. They make themselves readily available for autographs. They draw about 1/100th the number of fans a PGA Tour stop has, with very, very little corporate involvement.

Hey, the weather was fantastic. And despite what may come across as negativity above, they're fantastic golfers - you just can't compare them to the men. I had a great time, Carey, Brandon, and Stan had a great time, and I hope the event returns next year.

Nearly every time a significant date arises in U.S. or even North American history, I think back to my trip to France.

In the U.S., we see things and are told "this was built in 1612" and we go "oooooooh." Then we go to France or wherever and see things that were built before Christ was born.

Really puts things in perspective.

Anyway, Happy 233rd, United States of America¹.

Why on earth are fireworks illegal (in PA, anyway - I think even sparklers may be illegal)?

Cigarettes are legal, so I don't buy the safety issue at all. Perhaps the government should make fireworks legal, and tax the heck out of them like they do for cigarettes.

Is Backblaze as good as I'm hearing? $50/year for unlimited backups?

I realize you need the upload speed to do it - which may be my limiting factor (~750 kbps up) - but other than a problem with your Internet speeds… it works?

Though this list is mostly funny, a few are true and apply to even skilled photographers. Yet others are dead wrong (I'm looking at you, #7).

We got about 7.5 inches of overnight. The power was out most of the day (from 3am until about 5:30pm). Things are SOAKED. I'm not sure I've ever seen so much rain in one day. It's like half of Lake Erie decided to make a quick round trip to the sky and then back to Earth.

Check out the two photos here. Some video here.

Scorecard 2.0 for the iPhone is finally available. The approval process for iPhone apps seems to have been delayed - badly - due to WWDC, so we're glad it's finally approved. After all, we shipped the desktop app some time ago.

Don't believe the reviews, either (currently 2 of 5 stars). The app works beautifully, and as I wrote here, the vast majority of the low reviews are written by people who either can't read or who resent the fact that this is an add-on freebie app to a paid desktop app.

I'm thinking of submitting my iPhone 3G for AppleCare work. The back case is cracked, and there are three little dots on the screen which almost look like little holes on the inside of the glass. The cracking is the big thing: it's cracked near the bottom port and twice near the ringer switch.

Anyone out there had an iPhone replaced? What's the procedure these days¹? How long are you without your phone?

My MacBook Pro has an annoying habit of "half dimming" even though I've turned off the screen saver and most everything else appropriate.

Fortunately, others have managed to solve the problem.

pmset -g lists the "halfdim" parameter's value, often 1. To set it to 0, use sudo pmset -a halfdim 0. The "a" specifies all profiles.

Thanks to gibbilicious and this Apple support thread for more. I may still give Caffeine a try, though.

Recently, my favorite joke has been a rather simple one. Apologies in advance if you're religious or offended by jokes about stereotypes.

A priest and a rabbi walk into a church. They see an altar boy lighting some candles. The priest says "Boy, I'd like to screw that boy." The rabbi asks "Out of what?"

Hardy har.

I'm terrible with jokes because I don't put any effort into remembering them, largely because I never figure I'm going to have anyone to hear them.

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And you know what I'd like? A real set of tools.

I have a good enough drill. I have a Dremel. I have some other things (like a fairly good level).

But most of the rest of my tools are scattered brands and types. I have one set of needlenose pliers (somewhere). I have one wrench as well as a pipe wrench. I have a hammer. Maybe two. I even have a crowbar.

I'd like one set of tools and something that organizes them. I don't need a thousand-dollar tool set. I don't work on my cars. I just want stuff that I can use around the house without having to wonder if I've got the right tool for the job.

So what do I need? Sears has "mechanics" sets. They have "Professional" and "Pit Crew" tool sets. I'd like something that's of relatively good quality with a moderate selection and variance of tools.

Any suggestions?

P.S. Lowe's and Home Depot don't seem to really get into selling "sets" of tools, per se, unless it's a ratchet set or some other single-purpose type thing. Sears sells sets… anywhere else?

Sidebar widgets are finally somewhat useful in WordPress 2.8, so I'm thinking of converting my sidebar into, errr, widgetizing my sidebar.

Currently the sidebar's a "sidebar.php" file which includes about 20 <? include('sidebar_blah.inc'); ?>. I comment the ones out that I don't want, and the rest show up. It's pretty simple, but it's kind of outdated, and if I ever want to move to a new theme - which I may at some point - it'd be nice to bring along my widgets.

So, how to make a sidebar widget? A quick Google search pointed me here, here, here, here, and of course here. Did I miss any?