This post from the Austin airport (major flight delays) courtesy of my fancy new iPhone. I love it. The screen is absolutely amazing and I’m getting used to the keyboard. Recommended, check it out.

If you’re looking for a great, geeky present for yourself or one of your Mac loving friends, MacHeist has a bundle of 10 Mac programs for the low, low price of $49. This price includes TextMate, one of the nicest text editors for OS X—a piece of software that normally costs 39 Euros by itself. Even better, 25% of the purchase price is donated to one of eight charities of your choice. Overall it’s a win-win, so head over and check it out.

When I changed hosts for my blog, it also meant that I could no longer just SMB the files around. I had to find an actual SFTP/SCP-client for my Macbook. A quick Google search turned up Cyberduck and Fugu. I arbitrarily chose Fugu. (Turns out this was the right decision. Dustin convinced me to try Cyberduck; version 2.6.1 crashed three times in a row while I was trying to type in the hostname. But I digress…)

Fugu is pretty slick, but it would only open files for editing using one of the preset editors, none of which I had. I decided to see if I could change the list of available editors to include TextEdit, since I was only editing basic CSS.

Turns out you can. Here’s how.

1. Right click on the Fugu application and choose “Show Package Contents”

2. Navigate to Contents, Resources, ODBEditors.plist

3. Open the ODBEditors.plist file in TextEdit. Scroll to the bottom of the file and either create a new entry or modify one of the existing entries. I modified the emacs entry, since I don’t plan on ever using it. This is what it should look like:

4. Save the file and you’re good. Load up Fugu, click Fugu, Preferences. In the preference pane, click the Files icon. In the External Text Editor, choose the name of the editor you just created. In my case, TextEdit.

Viola! You can now command-J to edit files with your chosen editor from Fugu.

Every time Steve Jobs takes the stage in his signature black turtleneck and jeans, I cringe. Not because I particularly dislike his wardrobe or even Steve J himself; I cringe because I know he is invariably going to inspire a nearly undeniable urge to decimate my budget. He has succeeded once again.

If you haven’t heard about the MacBook Pro, a quick Google search or a stop by the Apple website will get you up to speed. An Intel Core Duo processor, 15.4″ widescreen, built in iSight, a screen as bright as their cinema displays, Front Row and remote included, and their new “patent pending” MagSafe power connector are a few of the major bullet points.

But really, the most important factors are that it’s an Apple Intel notebook, it’s amazingly thin, and it’s wrapped in shiny aluminum (although I was hoping for carbon fiber… I guess there’s always next year…). I must have one. Now.

I’ve managed to hold off the temptation so far, plunking down $3k on a notebook wasn’t exactly in the plan, but damn if I don’t want one. Badly. I’ve even managed to get it in my shopping cart a couple of times, most notably after Steve J said “If you want one I suggest you get your order in early” during his keynote. That simple phrase must’ve set off the zombie obedience mode in my brain, because before I knew it, I was happily configuring away at the Apple store.

I have to keep reminding myself that I’m holding out for revision two. It’s basically a constant chant whenever I read anything about the MacBook: “revision two, revision two, must wait, revision one always sucks, revision two will be awesome, but look at it! <drool>, no! focus! revision two.”

We’ll see if I cave… :)

So we all know that Apple came out with a U2 version of the iPod. I’m sure all seven of the people that own one think they are really cool. Now, however, a truly limited “limited edition” iPod is coming out in Japan from Bandai. Somehow, Bandai got Apple to agree to make a Neon Genesis Evangelion edition iPod. They will start manufacturing the units once they receive 1000 orders but production will be limited to 2000 iPods total.

The 20 gig player will set you back 47,250 yen or about $450. There are some extras such as an enamel case and over the ear headphones plus the iPod and the accessories will all feature the “NERV” logo. If you have more money than brains and you want to get your hands one of these, Bandai plans to start taking orders midday on December 22.