Whenever people come to New Orleans they always ask me for restaurant recommendations. They know that New Orleans is filled with great restaurants, so what they really want is my 'special picks.' First of all, I tell them about One Restaurant in the Carrollton Bend area. That's the place I go to most often. The food is always outstanding, and the people are really great. The menu gets updated pretty regularly, so it's not like you can burn out on it easily.

So, what about other recommendations? Well, the best thing is to get some ideas of restaurants that are close to where you are staying and then one or two outside that zone. Go to NOMENU.com and check out the listings of restaurants by neighborhood (scroll down and look on the left side for the hard to find link). But, first consult their Grand Repertoire list. If you look at that list, you'll not only know where to go but also what to order.

Last year I waited in line for the new iPhone, which you will recall was launched on a Friday at 6 pm.  I got in line at 3 pm and was able to get my phone and activate it without any problems, although there were some people who had trouble. 

When the new 3G iPhone was announced I was intrigued, but figured I'd avoid the first day rush and let things die down before I switched over.  But a couple things made me change my tack.  First, I told my VSO (a/k/a 'very significant other') I'd give her my old iPhone when I upgrade.  Recently, her phone's battery starting acting up so she's needing to make a move.  Second, I thought about how much fun it was sitting in the line last year (I know, I'm weird).  And lastly, I figured that, with an 8 am launch, not that many people would get in line before 6 am.  This is New Orleans, after all.

So yesterday morning I got up early and scootered over to the AT&T store. Amazingly, there were as many people as there had been when I got in line last year.  I wound up sitting next to a cool guy named Jesse, who is a writer.  We had a great time talking about all kinds of things, while  AT&T employees handed out water bottles and smiled cheerfully.  The nice woman who bought my house was in line ahead of us and came over to say hello. She told me that she had gotten engaged and I gave her a big hug and felt good to learn that the new owner was very happy.  The iPhone thing that brought us all together seemed secondary. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well because I had been swimming the night before and got water in my ear.  So I was getting kind of woozy and pain was starting to develop.  Also, I was overly-hydrated (thanks to the generous water supply), thinking how nice it would be if there was a bathroom close by, but there wasn't.  Then the friendly AT&T guy, who had earlier asked us what model of iPhone we intended to buy, came over to say that I probably wasn't going to be able to get the 16 GB black model.  He said they had plenty of white ones, but only 20 of the black ones.

I started to think about having to wait another 45 minutes (or more) just to get into the store.  Why wait in line to get something that isn't exactly what you want?  I knew that Becky wouldn't want me to do that, especially when I didn't feel well.  And especially if I could probably just come back in a few days and get the black one then.

So I scootered home (by now it was 8:30 am).  At 9 am I sat down to my computer and I found out that the whole iPhone 3G launch was turning into a massive disaster.  People who bought new iPhones couldn't activate them in the stores, and were told to go home and do it there only to find out that they couldn't make the phones work.  People, like me, who had the old iPhones and bought new ones often found that they paid more money for a new phone that didn't work.  And then there were the people who didn't want a new phone, but just wanted to download the new 2.0 software.  In many cases, they wound up with a non-functioning phone too.

Fortunately, my friend Billy tipped me off about a secret way to download and install the software yesterday so I have the new software on my old phone.  And, even more fortunately, the phone works.  Becky and I went for some ice cream late in the day and on the way we stopped in to the AT&T store, which was by then not busy at all.  I spotted one of the nice guy who had told me that I wouldn't be able to get the black phone, and asked him if they had any phones left.  He looked pretty demoralized as he told me that they had sold all the phones.  I asked him if there were problems with the activation, and the corners of his mouth dropped even lower and his shoulders came down too as he nodded his head.

I felt bad for him.  Earlier in the day he had been so upbeat, and was sharing the joyful anticipation of the crowd.  But obviously that crowd's joy had turned to anger and frustration and that had taken a toll on him.  Apple screwed up big time.  The early word is that their servers couldn't handle the load.

I'm not an engineer so I can't say how they might have managed their servers better.  But, to me, the core problem wasn't an engineering problem, but a hubris problem.  Apple wanted to do too many things at once.  Last year they had some server problems, and they were only rolling out the iPhone in the United States.  This year they were rolling out the iPhone across the entire world.  And they weren't just rolling out a new phone; they were rolling out the new 2.0 software and that required every old iPhone user to essentially reactivate their phone.  And if that all wasn't enough, Apple was also cranking up their new MobileMe service, which was a server based system. 

I can't for the life of me figure out why Apple didn't roll out the 2.0 software a week or two ago. And they should have rolled out the MobileMe stuff two weeks after the new iPhones came out.  Well, actually that part might wind up happening after all.

Apple's strong suit has always been its careful approach to putting things out.  Maybe the euphoria of its stock climb and all the positive press has clouded their judgment.  That's usually what happens when hubris gets the better of you.

And me?  I learned that while it's nice to meet people in line, it's stupid to buy something on the first day that it comes out.  I really don't need a new iPhone, but when I do finally get decide to get one, it'll be at my convenience and on my terms.

Apple's latest operating system includes a program called Time Machine, which is supposed to make backups simple. All you have to do is hook up an external drive and and Time Machine will start making hourly backups.  If you accidentally delete a file and empty the trash, no problem.  Just open up Time Machine and 'go back in time' to find the file before you destroyed it.

Time Machine is a great idea because most people find backing up too hard, and that's why they don't do it.  Apple makes it so easy that there really isn't much to think about.  One thing many people did think about was whether it would really work in an extreme emergency, such has having to restore all the data on a computer hard drive.

Which brings me to main story.

Looks like the Fake Steve Jobs blog has come to an end. I totally understand that the concept had run it's course, so I'm not going to talk about the sad part. Instead, I offer a video of the FSJ author, Dan Lyons, talking about how he got the blog going in the first place. Dan Lyons, by the way, has left Forbes and is headed for Newsweek. Funny how many bloggers wind up leaving their job once they start blogging.

Thanks to Mike B for the link to the video!

My MacBook Air needed to be repaired (don't ask, it was my fault), and Apple was very good about pickup and repair.  On June 30 I got an email telling me that I should be getting the computer back that day.  The email included a DHL tracking number, which showed the computer due to arrive on June 30. 

But as you can see from the latest information from the DHL website, the computer, after having spent a bit of time travelling around the country, is in Waco Texas.  Update: it's now made it to Louisiana (although not to New Orleans).

I rarely watch local TV. If I do it's a DVR recording so I can fast forward through the commercials and the crime reports. But, crime reports are at least 75% of the "news" so it's rarely worth it fire up the DVR.

If I was interested in the crime reports I'd read the email blasts that I get from the local police station. Here's today's offering:

Shooting – 9000 blk Edinburgh

The victim stated he entered a friend's vehicle to drive to the store
when he heard gunshots. The victim stated he then observed he had
been shot. The victim stated he jumped from the vehicle and fled for
his safety. The victim stated he did not see any perpetrator or
perpetrators.

Aggravated Battery by Shooting – Olive & Hollygrove

On Saturday, 07/05/2008 at about 3:24 a.m., the victim and his cousin
had stopped at the intersection of Olive and Hollygrove Streets.
According to the victim, he heard several shots in the area and drove
off. While driving from the location the victim noticed that he had
been shot in the left side of the hip. The victim's cousin then
transported him to Tulane Hospital.

Aggravated Battery by Shooting – 9000 Block of Edinburgh

The victim stated he had entered a friend's vehicle to drive to the
store when he heard several gunshots. Realizing that he had been
wounded he fled the area for his safety. The victim was unable or
unwilling to describe the suspect.

Aggravated Battery by Shooting – Milan & S Tonti

On Saturday, 07/05/2008 at about 11:20 p.m., the victims were at the
intersection of Milan Street and South Tonti Street. The victims
reported hearing several shots and observed that the driver was struck
in the face and the rear driver's side passenger was also struck in
the right hand.

Perhaps we should be broadcasting Bill Cosby's speech at this year's Essence Festival instead of the local crime reports. Sadly, there are people who regard shooting as normal behavior. Then again, maybe it is in New Orleans.

As part of the ongoing lecture series on minimalism, I now offer a provocative idea about how to carry less stuff to the next beach party or barbeque. How much less stuff can you carry to such an event? After all you'll probably showing up in just a T-Shirt, shorts and sandals (and the stuff you carry in your pocket).

Well what happens if you decide to drink beer? (Which hopefully the host is providing in bottles for maximum refreshment). You'll probably have to either bring a bottle opener or keep going back to the kitchen to open your beers. But not if you own a pair of Reef Fanning Sandals ($49), which come with bottle openers on the bottom of the soles. Trust me, nothing is more minimalistically cool than reaching down and casually opening your beer with your sandal.

Pick up a pair and try it out this holiday season!

I like Apple computers, but I'm not a zealot. I use Windows (albeit on a Mac), and I can list several things about Apple's operating system that annoy me. True, I think Apple's software is better than Windows. Why? I don't know. One reason is probably because Apple controls the hardware and software, which makes it easier to ensure optimum compatibility. That doesn't mean that Apple won't screw things up down the road, but for now things work pretty well.

Before I switched over I had no idea if Apple computers were better or worse, but that didn't stop me from deriding Macs. Now I know better. I know both systems well enough to compare them, and I know that I can't live without Windows but I can keep it under control.

So, when I came upon an email yesterday from a Windows user who was trying to give advice to a lawyer who wanted to switch to Macs I had to laugh. Let me explain the situation so you'll understand.

There is this 'email group' that I tune into, and it's inhabited by lawyers who like technology. One of the participants writes in to say he's tired of Windows XP because it crashes all the time. He says he has no intention of moving to Vista. He hates XP's vulnerability to malware and viruses. He doesn't like how long it takes his laptop to wake from hibernation. But he needs to run a Windows program called Casemap as part of his practice. His plan is to get a Macbook Pro and use a virtualization program like Parallels or VM Fusion to run Windows on his computer, but first he wants to know if he's headed for problems he can't see.

Of course, since I live in exactly the world he is seeking I could have told him that he'll probably be fine. It'll take him awhile to get used to the Mac operating system, but after a few weeks he'll get the hang of it and after a few months he'll wonder why he didn't switch sooner. Of course, it won't all be perfect (nothing is) and he'll find some things about the Mac OS that he finds annoying. But he won't have the major annoyances that he seems to be trying to avoid: i.e. frequent crashes, inability to reliably sleep his laptop, and excessive vulnerability to viruses and spyware. At least not for now. Like I said, who knows what will happen to Apple computers in a few years?

But I didn't write in because I didn't see his email. I did, however, see the response from a Windows lover.

The Windows zealot tells him that if he switches to a Mac just to avoid those problems he's basically 'throwing the baby out with the bath water.' Then, after carefully considering the best way to solve all of the guy's supposed problems, he offers this amazing solution:

"Do a fresh install of Windows XP. This will ultimately be quicker than trying to figure out what is going on exactly. Once installed update Windows until it will update no more." (emphasis added)

Yes, it's true that Macs can get viruses and may face increasing threat as they become more popular. But for now they are less prone to malware than Windows computers. I haven't run virus protection on any of my Macs and have had no problems on any of them since I started using them in 2003 or so. I have had to reboot my Macs, but only occasionally. For the most part they run great for months at a time.

Oh, say that reminds me: you know what I've never had to do on any of my Macs? Re-install the whole freaking operating system. Of course, in the Windows world reinstalling the operating system is considered a routine housekeeping practice. Some people do it at least once a year, and others do it whenever Windows reaches its 'half-life.'

So, if you are thinking about switching to a Mac just to get more reliability, better sleep mode, and less malware, please don't. Don't be rash, and try to keep things in perspective. Just reinstall the operating system.

And quit whining about the goddam viruses.

Ken Lammers of the CrimLaw blog has some recollections about how the law blog phenomenon took hold. My memory is hazy, but I agree with his assessment. Apparently my blog was part of the 'Copper Age.' Ah, what an idyllic time that was.

A few months ago I noticed that my DVD collection had grown to about 40 or so titles, which isn't a lot but it's not 'just a few' either. I also noticed that I rarely watch the DVDs, which violates my minimalist principles. Why not, I asked? No immediate answer occurred to me and the thought escaped (although it was a thought that seemed to recur periodically).

Flash forward...

The other day I rented a couple of DVDs from the local Blockbuster. It was a Friday night and Becky and I were staying in. I picked two movies that were clearly distinct. So we watched one, which turned out not to be so great. The other one, which was about Bob Dylan, was one I really wanted to watch. But I knew the reality: I would never watch it within the 1 week deadline.

What a waste of money and effort.

But then I remembered that I had a computer program called Handbrake (free, open source program for Windows, Mac, or Linux). Handbrake allows you to 'rip' (i.e. copy) DVDs. Is this legal to do for a Blockbuster video? Perhaps not, but this is not a post about what's legal. This is a post about how to make your life easier.

So I ripped the DVD to my hard drive (where it took up 1.5 GBs of 'space') and returned it to Blockbuster. I didn't want to watch it on my computer so I imported it into iTunes, which is set to automatically sync to my AppleTV (which is connected the sleek flat panel TV in the bedroom). Now I was ready to enjoy my movie. Sure enough, halfway through watching it, the phone rang and I had to abandon my viewing. But a few days later I finished watching the movie without fanfare. That's when I realized why I never watched my DVDs.

Watching DVDs is a huge PAIN IN THE ASS!!!