Michael Randall › Comments

I always have the Fisher Space pen on me. It's on that list. So small and convenient! - Sam Grover

Here's the link to the review that convinced me to make the Uniball 207 my pen of choice: http://www.moleskinerie.com/2006... (hat tip to @tiesque on Twitter, who sent me that link when I asked for pen recommendations). It's easy to find (you can get it at the grocery store, Target, etc. as well as the office supply stores) and it's cheap (usually about $1.50 per pen). It comes in black, blue, and red. I love it. - Josh Bancroft

It's also the "official pen of that check forger guy behind the story/movie Catch Me If You Can", because the ink is chemical proof. Or something. :-) - Josh Bancroft

I'm mainly hooked on the Tombow Zoom 414 multipen at the moment - a nice metal multipen that takes standard D1 refills. Parker branded refills are nice - smooth and dark black. He does have some good choices, though. I'd second Josh's points on the Uni Signo 207, though - nice style and good to write with. I'm usually a fountain pen fan, though, and I love the Lamy 2000, and Pelikan Souverans. - Michael Randall

I'd add the Pilot Razor or Razor II (both fine-point felt-tips) and the Zebra F-301 (a small non-gel ballpoint that can go on a keychain). - Jon Adair

I bought the 890IS and like it. flaws: too much plastic and the power button is weird - RAPatton

I have the 870. It has image stablization, 8megapix, and a huge view screen. Love it. - Christian Anderson from fftogo

image stabilization, that's what it's called. i only knew the name in Japanese. Thank you Christian :) - Mona Nomura

Wait....Chris, have a look at the Lumix Range. Very good cameras. I have the FZ30. :) - Toastpaint

Sorry to spam your thread Chris, but my friend's Lumix Food pictures http://bit.ly/panason... - Mona Nomura

I have to agree with the folks who are pimping the Panasonic Lumix line. I have a Canon XTi, but our point and shoots are all Panasonic Lumix and we're getting great pictures. - David Thomas

Go with either the Powershot SD870 IS (not the 890) or Panasonic Lumix TZ5. The 870 is smaller but the TZ5 has one sweet zoom range. Both start at 28mm which gives you a bit of a wide angle that no other P&S compacts have which is why I like these two. - ronin

Canon PowerShot A720 IS 8MP / 6x Optical Zoom Digital Camera $169.99 shipped at Dell Home - http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna... - Bradley McSpinn

G9. You wont regret it. - Nick Humphries

G7 is my weapon of choice. - Veronica

C: I've always been impartial to Canon but check this out.. http://www.google.com/trends... - Mona Nomura

http://dealnews.com/digital... Filter by Canon ...great deals abound! And yes, go for the IS models for the clear anti-shake photos! - Glenn Batuyong

I have a little SD750 Elph. Fitd in my short pocket & takes amazing quality. You may want soething geekier but I really love the camera. - shelisrael1

Even the cheapest ones (A590 IS) take good pictures. Canon is good. - Dillon K. Hoops

I have heard good things about the Canon Powershot G9. But I have the S3 IS and I love it. It does not shoot in the RAW format however. The G9 does. - Jim Williams

Have a PowerShot Elph SD600 and a S5is. The Elph is great to take anywhere, the S5 is excellent for the "serious" shots. - Jared B. Luther

Chris, if you go with the 870, which you should, grab it at Costco (kirkland or woodinville). Costco has a great return policy. They give you cash back. Return for any reason. - Christian Anderson from fftogo

The G9 ! that is all - Vox

I have a G9, but they're all good. My wife had a Panasonic Lumix, but dropped it for my old Ixus (Elph or SD depending on market). The G9 is great if you want RAW images to get the best quality, but it's big, heavy and expensive, so not the best option if you don't care about RAW and full manual control. - Michael Randall from twhirl

Dear Microsoft, why the hell do I have to reboot every time I install software? Surely there is a better way. - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

Of course you don;t have to reboot after installing all software, or even most of it. Even most OS updates these days do not need a reboot. - Soulhuntre from twhirl

doesn't stop windows from asking. that message sucks... - Chris Harris

Was the transformer looking menacing at the time? - Damien Franco

This is what happens when you put poorly defined rules in the hands of an underachiever with a double-digit IQ and an inferiority complex. What's next? Requiring passengers to be fully anaesthetised when they fly? - Andrew Terry

no matter what I wear ... my full name always gets me SSSS on my boarding ... - Raza from Alert Thingy

dont mind them, just transform away! - Alemsah Ozturk from Alert Thingy

*ashamed to be English at this point* - Slappy Line

this sounds like USSR in last years of its existence... tho, for me all *Western world* in general looks as "USSR in last years of existence" -- all this crisis from mil overpsending, problems with wars abroad, domestic idiots en masse, etc - A.T.

In the UK now, a picture of something is the same as the thing itself. It's the law. - Michael Randall from twhirl

@michael, what have we become? - Tyler Gillies

Next time come to acquire the tickets wearing a t-shirt with money. A picture of money. - 9000

Maybe because it was Optimus Prime.. If it had been Bumblebee, Britain's favorite and most fuel-efficient Autobot, you'd be OK... - Chris Reed

Whoah. The British government is getting more retarded with every passing day. This makes the James Bond movies even more unreal than they were. - Raoul Pop

I wouldn't want you on my plane- your clearly a dangerous terrorist who is going to take us down with your shirt gun. - Chris Hollander

Well first they have to make the thing illegal. Then they have to make a fake representation of the thing illegal. Then they have to make talking about it illegal. Then they have to make a picture of the thing illegal. Only THEN can they make the picture in your head illegal. You can't expect to implement thoughtcrime overnight, people! - Karim

Some bits of the UK system are a bit weird at the moment, we've got councils 'spying on individuals right now' - http://is.gd/oLt - Andy Davies

Actually, if I'm honest, something about that story screams "made up"....lol - Slappy Line

Now covered by the BBC and more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2... http://news.google.co.uk/nwshp... - Simon

More than meets the eye... - Clare Dibble

Anesthetizing travlers pre-flight would solve all sorts of problems. Plus you could stack 'em up like cordwood, get lots more passengers on each flight. - Jason Wehmhoener

Jason: Cory Doctorow once suggested the same thing on a podcast (TWiT, or Mac Break Weekly, maybe) He called it something like Ninja Airlines. A ninja would shoot you with a tranquilizer dart, pack your stuff, and put you on the plane. Once you arrived, he'd give you the antidote and slip out the window before you completely came to. - ha3rvey (just a friend)

Cory++ - Jason Wehmhoener

that is ridiculous, will post to http://tcritic.com - karl

Yah, covered by the press and the BBC now, so I revise my earlier declaration of shenanigans. Still, it's not policy, it's just one officious, ignorant, jumped up little oik with a rule book and the power to tell people what to do. We call them "jobsworths," as they can be identified by their cry of "it's more than my job's worth to let you through with that on." - Slappy Line

where is the "Gay" button? - Noah David Simon

Made me hesitate to Like this. But I haven't filled my quota of Likes for you yet Shey! - Hutch Carpenter

I 'Like' the content, not the user who shared it. If more often than not I like the content the user shares, I subscribe to them. - Capn' One Eye - adrift

Just what are you trying to say? Hmmm..... - Colin Walker

Not so far on FF, but on Twitter, my favourites list is pretty much identical to Merlin's (@hotdogsladies) tweets list. - Michael Randall

I love each and every one of you equally!! xxxooo - Chrimmus Tad

LOL Noah. I definitely tone down my liking of some folks at times. Don't want to seem like a doof. - Carla Thompson

lol thanks Hutch! - Shey, Jamaican of FF

Crap, I must have a crush on Andrew Dobrow. - Kevin Bondelli

You'll get over it. I was like that with Livejournal at one time. Then with Twitter too. - Morton Fox

Good night! - Morton Fox

the whole internet is like that! :) - edythe

http://xkcd.com/386/ - Morton Fox

Morton Fox: ha. yes. - edythe

"for quickly"? What, am I on crack? Jesus. - Andrew Dobrow

Haven't fooled with the API yet today. - Andrew Dobrow

There's a delay posting tweets through the Twitter API too. twhirl probably uses a separate thread to post to Twitter in the background. That's something I can't do yet in TwitVim. - Morton Fox

But nevermind. My FFeedVim plugin is halfway there so I can post my lunch tweets to Friendfeed. :) - Morton Fox

So how to I unhide Twitter in the friends tab. - Andrew Dobrow

I've never purchased from a local store; and my dad used to own 2 of them in Cleveland, Ohio (Laurel Camera...since out of business though). I feel bad but I frequent local stores to test out new equipment and then purchase it online. - Benjamin Golub

Back when I asked about the Canon 400D at our local (Tiverton, UK) camera shop (Cameras Plus), they told me they didn't have it, and couldn't get it at a price I'd like, but were still happy to spend a while telling me how good it was, and how happy I'd be with it if I went off and bought one online. The result is that I go in there fairly often, and have bought quite a few bits from them since. I settled on a Nikon D40 some time later, and have recently added a Canon G9. - Michael Randall

I'm not sure that I agree with the practice, but I've got a friend who goes to the local store and has the salesperson help him pick out a camera, and then goes online to find the cheapest price. More and more I think better resources are online nowadays, so you can just do all of the shopping online and skip the lousy clerks altogether. - Eric Florenzano

By the way, if you ever have the chance to go to B&H's bricks and mortar store in Manhattan you'll find that they have a *huge* amount of knowledge about their products and will take the time to make sure you get the right thing. Somehow that makes me feel better about buying from them online, even if they won't let me do it on a Saturday. - Kevin Fox

Tullys sucks. I recently went to buy some accessory at a Tullys store at Northgate Mall, Seattle. The person in the store behaved as if he is doing a service for me. It is time these people realize that it is pure business and they gotta treat their customers with due respect. - Krishnan Subramanian

I visit a local (Long Island) shop when I want trival, relatively inexpensive accessories. But for bodies, lenses and anything it's worth the trip into Manhattan to B&H because 1) I get the better price, and 2) both B&H and Adorama store your purchasing history in their computer systems, giving you bargaining leverage in future transactions. This is especially useful when selling or trading used gear. - Tom Harrison