I wrote an article on how questionable digital camera marketing has pushed
megapixels to the forefront, to the exclusion of everything else, and how this
"megapixel myth" leads to counterproductive design decisions. More than 1200
people read this article in the first few days it was made available, so I
promoted it to the "Longer Articles" section.
I saw the Keyspan USB
Server at MacWorld SF a few months ago, but it has only recently started
to ship (I received mine yesterday). This device allows you to connect a Mac
or PC to up to 4 USB 1.1 peripherals remotely over Ethernet, much as a print
server allows you to access remote printers. It also allows sharing of USB
devices between multiple computers.
I use it to reduce clutter in my apartment by moving away bulky items like
my HP 7660 printer and my Epson 3170 scanner away from the iMac in my living
room, which has progressively become my main computer, even though it is
probably the slowest machine I have.
You install the driver software (Windows 2000/XP or Mac OS X, no drivers
for Linux so far), and it creates a simulated USB hub device that takes care
of bridging the USB requests over Ethernet. There is a management program that
allows you to configure the settings on the USB Server such as the IP address
(zeroconf, a.k.a RendezVous is supported, a nice touch), password and access
mode. The user interface is functional, if not perfectly polished. To use a
USB peripheral hooked to the USB server, you fire up the admin client, select
one of the USB devices and take a "lease" on it. I have links to some screen
shots of the GUI below:
The process is as smooth as it can possibly be, given that USB devices are
not designed to be shared between multiple hosts, and thus some form of
locking had to be provided. I tried my scanner over the Ethernet, and have not
noticed any perceptible degradation in performance. The software copes with
sleep mode correctly. The only nit I would have to pick is that the power
adapter "wall wart" DC connector slips off the device too easily (not enough
friction to hold it in place), disconnecting it.
Many families are becoming multi-computer households. The Keyspan USB
Server is a surprisingly effective way to share peripherals or to move bulky
and seldom used peripherals out of the way. At a street price of around $100,
it is not inexpensive, but I found it a very worthwhile accessory for my home
network.
Although the FAQ on their web site says it only work perfectly with printers and scanners, I want one (later). When their drivers will support storage device (digital camera, memory card reader), it will be an outstanding buy.
And someday, somebody will write drivers for Linux: that will be heaven: sharing USB devices between multiple Linux/Window$ computer. If they could publish detailled documentation, it could definitively gives them a lead.
Right now I'll stay on the sidelines but expect me buying one around Christmas time.
I recently purchased a bar of Amedei
Porcelana chocolate. Fog City
News sells them for $11 here in San Francisco. When a bar of chocolate is
individually numbered in a limited edition,
you know it is going to be expensive... There are two reasons why boutique
chocolates bars made in small quantities are better than mass-produced
ones.
The first one is they don't adulterate the cocoa butter with vegetable fats
(a.k.a. margarine). The European Union yielded
to British lobbying efforts and allowed this indefensible practice. Not
that chocolate is the only product that legendarily taste-impaired nation
tampers with. I lived in London in 1982, and remember my horror at finding out
that vanilla "ice cream" included such fine ingredients as fish oil...
The second one is that big manufacturers like Nestle, Kraft Jacobs Suchard,
Cadbury or Lindt produce such large volumes they can only retain cocoa
varietals that are also grown in large quantities in industrial scale
plantations, just as McDonald's uses standardized potatoes grown to
order. Furthermore, several varieties are usually blended for homogeneity, at
the expense of character (echoes of the debate between proponents of blended
vs. single malt Scotch whiskey). Smaller companies or smaller production runs
do not have these constraints and can purchase high-quality cocoa beans that
are grown in small quantities.
Venezuelan Criollo cocoa is widely
considered the finest variety. It is not as strong (some may say harsh) as
Forestero varieties, but has much more refined and complex flavor. It also has
poor yields,
making it unsuitable for the mass market. Porcelana is the most genetically
pure variety of Criollo, and like the others, has mild but incredibly subtle
aromas, without the aggressive acidity of some.
I find self-proclaimed connoisseur reviews that speak breathlessly of
"fantastic tangy flavor, that evolves through wine and blue cheese to almost
too sharp citrus" faintly ridiculous at best, and more than a little
unappealing in how they are obviously patterned on wine snobs. That said,
Porcelana is definitely a superlative chocolate. I don't think I will be
feasting regularly on it, due to the price, but it is certainly worth trying
on special occasions.
Something to make the chocoolic in me salivate. I hope I'll be able to find it somewhere in Fukuoka at a reasonable price. Otherwise, it is one more reason to go back to Canada...
