Things are looking better for finding iPhones, but they’re still not universally available, and there are still lines. Availability was very low over the weekend, but overall it’s been trending upward.
Chris Barnes put together a tool that surfaces this data in real time. Good stuff. I actually have an interface that does the same thing, [...]

I finally was able to get my hands on an iPhone 3G (black 16GB, at Bellevue Square). But I’ve continued to be kind of fascinated by the whole issue of availability. Finding an iPhone is still not easy in many parts of the country! I’ve been gathering some data from Apple’s availabilty checker (which I [...]

You know that nifty “Check iPhone Availability” page on Apple’s website? The one that’s supposed to help you avoid a trip to an Apple Store that has no iPhones? Yeah, it doesn’t work. At all. It claimed that the Bellevue store had all models in stock today. But when I arrived this morning before they [...]

Ok, this technically isn’t something I bought that I love — it was a gift. But it’s a very cool gadget, and I do love it. It’s a Mastercool 52224-A Infrared Thermometer. It looks like a little gun. You just point it at something and it instantly tells you the temperature. Cool! (Or “hot!” as [...]

As some of you know, we’re having our master bathroom remodeled. I don’t really want to talk about that right now. But I do want to talk about towels.
We decided that when our new bathroom debuts, we should have new towels too. Of course, just going to the store and buying some towels wasn’t good [...]

The Apple TV Take 2, originally announced at Macworld about a month ago, is finally available. And while I was ready to buy one after I heard the announcement, my eagerness has worn off. The price point is relatively low, so I may still eventually buy one, but I’m not terribly excited about it. And [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve written a TIBTIL post, but this gadget really earns it. It’s the Chef’n GarlicZoom. Chef’n is a local company and they make a lot of cool stuff, but this is my favorite thing of theirs so far. I generally try to follow the Alton Brown philosophy of avoiding unitaskers, [...]

A few years ago, I was browsing Powell’s and I came across this beauty of an old cookbook. It’s a 1937 edition of My New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (1938 printing), complete with many clippings and hand-written recipes. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there, and it’s fun to try to guess the [...]

Almost everyone who cares about such things agrees that video downloads will eventually be the most popular way for people to get movies at home. No more going to the video store or waiting for Netflix. No more trying to get a horribly scratched disc to play. Instant gratification. The holy grail. I certainly believe [...]

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that I’m an early adopter. I like to try out new products and technology, and I’m used to products having some rough edges. But sometimes, the edges are so annoyingly rough that I just have to share my frustration. You, dear reader, are the lucky recipient.
About this time [...]