As a general rule, I prefer to avoid upgrading my operating system if I can, so typically I get a new OS when I get a new computer. My current computer runs Windows XP and is still doing OK, so that's what I'm using. However, it's a few years old and I'm thinking about getting a new one now that Windows 7 is…

For what it's worth, I like the Astronomy-aware Unix Calculator available by Alexey Vikhlinin at [hea-www.harvard.edu] for doing command line calculations. I realize the tip here is a little simpler than using a script, Perl in this case, but I'd recommend giving this one a look even if you're not into astronomy. …

It seems as though Google's getting better about sending invites more quickly. I was invited last night, and got Google's e-mail invitation. I had heard it would take a while, but I was expecting to wait about one week, so I was a bit surprised to get it in one day. #googlewave

Not for Palm Centros or Treos, huh, just the Pre?

I included a URL link to a picture of the Cartier Diabolo fountain pen that I normally use. I have a few other fountain pens — Waterman Phileas, Namiki Vanishing Point, and Pelikan Pharo — but I can't keep the ink flowing in all of them, so I decided to use just the Diabolo for a few reasons. One, it was a PhD…

Gmail's pretty good at spam filtering, and I've found that my filters basically cover false detections for me. Since I have a bunch of filters set up to automatically tag/label and categorize my regular incoming mail for me, when I skim my spam folder, I really only have to look for tagged/labeled messages there. …

For most of my writing, I use a fountain pen, specifically a Cartier Diablo. I do use pencil sometimes, mainly when solving puzzles or doing other things where I expect that I may need to erase and rewrite something.

Yes, but I really just listen to the TV most of the time when I'm on the Internet. If something on TV catches my attention, then I'll switch to watching it for a bit, and go back to listening when it's over.

It was out for me late this afternoon, but it's up again now. I don't think IMAP was affected though, because Thunderbird was still able to get new messages.

Interesting, but my name is too common and/or my web presence isn't strong enough to get anything good out of this. It analyzed 30 items for my name, and I don't think any of them were about me. I think a possible useful addition for this would be to show you the matching quotes (or whatever they are) it finds…

It depends. Many of my work e-mails end with some form of "thanks" or nothing if it's short enough or conversational enough. When I've top-posted a comment on something I'm forwarding though, I put my name at the end of my comment, before the forwarded message, with my usual work signature appearing all the way at…

Perhaps people know this already, but the link does appear to be up and working again. I was able to order some cards just now.

Does anyone know if there's a way to use Yahoo's SMTP servers for free? I've done some web searching and tried a few different settings, but Gmail isn't accepting any of them for my Yahoo account. I'd appreciate any advice on how to remove Gmail's "on behalf of" line from my Yahoo account. Thanks.

@dundermifflin: The 20-minute limit is mentioned in an update to step 1 of the visual guide linked to in this post's update. I'm not sure if it appears elsewhere though.

I have a laptop, but only rarely travel with it. When I visit family, I can use their computers, and my Palm Centro smartphone suffices everywhere else. Generally all I want to do on vacation is avoid getting way behind on e-mail, so I really don't need much more than my Centro (which is quite a full-featured…

@gontofe: Yes, the Wikipedia article provides a good summary of how to tie the different knots, so that's useful. If anyone wants to know more about the math, there are the papers and such at the link I gave and maybe Wikipedia's "References" links.

@metrophage: Thanks, but it looks like all the copies for sale are from third party sellers, not Amazon. I might have to go that way though, and will consider it.

For tie knots, I think [www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk] is the most comprehensive resource. The authors have written a book, too, but I can't find that to buy it, so I just have the articles linked to on that web page. They mathematically analyzed tie knots for things like size, shape, and balance to figure out the most…

This is one of the scripts included in Better Gmail 2 add-on for Firefox, isn't it? Will that add-on be updated with the new script soon? I think I'd rather have it there, in one place, than an older version in the add-on and a newer version in Greasemonkey. Thanks.

Originally, I had a pre-paid plan that charged by the minute. I only paid for the minutes I used, but still had to add money to the account periodically (every 3 months) even if I had money available already in order to keep my account active. When I switched from the basic cell phone to a smartphone to avoid…