I love this. The poster and the film.

If your article is set in a text size that i find too small, I'm more likely to Instapaper it than bother increasing the text size in my browser.

Just something I noticed.

Since i have an assignment to do, i thought i'd talk about my setup and software - it seems to be fashionable at the moment (see: My Setup by Damian).

Hardware

I primarily use a 2007 15" MacBook Pro (2.33 GHz, 3 GB RAM). It's a fantastic machine and i would be hesitant to replace it.

At school and when i'm out and about, i use a MacBook Air (1.6 GHz, 2 GB RAM). I generally use this for note taking or browsing the intertubes. It's not a powerful machine by any means. Amazingly portable though, you don't notice it in your bag.

I also have a wireless keyboard and a Mighty Mouse (both by Apple) but they don't really come out unless i'm working on an essay or a night of coding.

Software

Now the fun stuff.

These days i find myself doing a lot more with graphics, i never used to. For messing with photos i love using Pixelmator and for other graphics stuff i use Acorn, described as the image editor for humans.

For coding i use Coda, 'nuff said. I also use Nano for light coding and note taking, inexplicably, i find it a joy to use.

My browser choice is an equal mix of Firefox, OmniWeb and Safari. I usually have them all running at the same time.

Other apps i use include:

• Quicksilver — for finding/launching stuff
• Backup — for backups
• Balsamiq Mockups — for mockups
• AppDelete — for uninstalling applications

So i've been having a jolly time getting a server (a Dell computer) to talk to DynDNS and the problem lay with the forwarding of ports.

The network at my parents house consists of a generic ISP router plugged into an Airport Express to make it wireless (yey!). I also use a bunch of these wonderous white boxes to extend the wireless signal around the house.

So the error i made was trying to forward ports from the router directly to the Dell computer. This didn't work. I finally realised that:

1. The router assigns the Airport Express an IP address
2. In turn, that particular AE is responsible for assigning each computer on the WAN an IP address which is different from the IP that the AE is assigned by the router (confusing!).

So to get this to work you need to forward the ports twice:

1. Forward the ports from the router to the AE (using the IP addresses assigned by the router).
2. Forward the ports from the AE to the Dell computer (using the IP addresses assigned by the AE).

It works. Thankfully.

Dark Water by Wade Waters

This is one of my favourite LPs of all time. That it's not on iTunes is pretty shocking. You can buy it from their record label.

sometimes i feel like a great chef
who has devoted his entire life
to monastic study of the art of cooking
& gathered the finest ingredients
& built the most advanced kitchen
& prepared the most exquisite meal
so perfect, so delicious, so extraordinary
more astounding than any meal ever created
yet each day i stand in my window
& watch ninety-seven percent of the world
walk past my restaurant
into the mcdonald's
across the street

— Poem from oPtion$: The Secret of Steve Jobs by Fake Steve Jobs

• Beejive · £7.49 | iTunes | Company
  Best application for instant messaging.
• Byline · £2.99 | iTunes | Company
  Feed reader that keeps sync with your Google Reader - so good it made me switch to Reader full time.
• NatsuLion for iPhone · Free | iTunes | Company
  I found Twitterrific to be slow where NatsuLion is a breeze (smooth scrolling FTW!)

Special mention

• NetShare · was banned from the App Store which is a shame. I use it regularly, it's super handy.
• i Love Katamari · £4.99 | iTunes | Company
  I love this game, though can get a bit slow once the ball gets big.
• Remote · Free | iTunes | Company
  Wifi remote for your iTunes :D
  

Teaching children to use Windows is like teaching them to smoke tobacco—in a world where only one company sells tobacco.

— Quote from Not Free at Any Price by Richard M. Stallman

Some games i would like to have the time and money to play, in no particular order:

• Dead Space
• Far Cry 2
• Fable II
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• Fallout 3

Tonight i downloaded a fantastic game on XBOX Live Arcade called Castle Crashers.

It's basically in the same vein as other slash-and-hack games (I love Streets of Rage) but it's super quirky, brilliantly animated and quite taxing.

I'm betting the multiplayer is immense. Can't wait to try that out.

Handy links

• Some screenshots
• Castle Crashers at Metacritic
• Developed by The Behemoth