There now seems to be an easier way to do it.

Check out Drop.io.

With that widget you can upload files, links, faxes, phone calls, etc and it’ll be added to my drop.io page. Not only will that page e-mail when it is updated, but it also has an RSS feed, so anyone can stay updated with what’s been added. You can email stuff to devonwhittle@drop.io, leave voice messages at 646-495-9203 x 82341 which are automatically uploaded, conference call to 218-486-3891 x 209039849. So lots of possibilities.

I think this is a great tool for taking suggestions - if it takes off. Only time will tell.

So after see Kottke raving about Infinite Jest borrowed out a copy from the uni library. After about 30 pages, I’m doubting whether it is worth my time through this 1000 page tome of random conversations between unidentified characters, jumping through the chronology like a cheap bucking cow at a mid-western bar. Impossible to follow, mostly boring, sometimes tremendously insightful (the pot addict description was amazing). It’s a shame because I can see some strings of stories that I would really like to get to the bottom of but Wallace’s insistence on being so ‘different’ and writing a ‘fractal’ story means he jumps around, doesn’t note who is speaking a lot of the time and generally leaves you to put the story together like some literary pick up sticks. Not an enjoyable way to read.

Maybe I’m just off fiction, I haven’t had a good read for a while. I think I’ll borrow out Utopia again - there’s nothing like a classic. Or thumb through Arturo Ui again - always a brilliant read.

In terms of non-fiction, I’ve just been given For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark and this is an interesting read. He is going to demonstrate exactly what monotheism is responsible for - ending slavery, burning witches, science. I’m really looking forward to digging in to this.

Other news? Our Moot is drawing to end, I’m gonna miss these crazy cats. I’m hoping we can really blow them away in Adelaide. 12 weeks, what a rush.

Jess is getting me hooked on climate change, further fracturing my law interests. Trade, humanitarian, human rights, climate change! Me thinks my first year out of uni may be a bit disappointing. Academia here I come!

Yeah I know I don’t do much with this space, but that’s cool no need to stress. James5 is going great! About 30 hits a day, 30 people subscribed to the RSS feed and some pretty high up results in Google, I’m pretty happy with how that little project is turning out.

Speaking about projects, great news! I got into the 2008 ELSA WTO Moot! Me and three other Melbourne uni team members will be slaving in the library over summer to get our written submissions ready for January 15. Then orals are in March. If we get through the Adelaide round we get to go to Geneva - how sweet.

In preparation for this big new organisation task, I’ve heartily thrown myself into mac software and downloaded, evaluated and struggled with a whole heap of different apps designed to make life easier. What follows is my (draft) list of 3 apps that make my study and fun time a whole lot easier.

Firstly, you can’t go past Vienna - an opensource RSS feed reader. If you do not know the power of RSS feeds you are taking way to long to get up to date with news. I currently have over 200 different websites RSS feeds being automatically updated in Vienna. In the morning I quickly do a refresh so all the content is downloaded to my Powerbook, then on the train I can quickly sort through over 500 posts to work out what news is important, what I can blog about, and any recent developments at the WTO. Honestly, this is my number one mac program and makes life so much easier to keep track of. I’m planning on publishing my OPML files (OPML files are a collection of feeds that you can plugin into news readers) on James5 soon so you can see exactly what I subscribe to.

Next, Skim - a PDF reader, annotator and note taker. I only just discovered the real beauty of this app today in its note-taking and highlighting abilities. Now when I read a PDF I literally highlight it in Skim and make any notes that I need to remember. When done I click export and get a text file with my notes for each page in sections. Then I head over to DEVONthink Pro (see below) and import the notes before running them through a script that divides them up. This cuts my note taking time in half.

Finally, the one program I wish I had four years ago, DEVONthink Pro - a personal information manager. This one actually costs quite a bit of money but I’m sure it is worth it. In DTP I import all my notes, pdfs, docs, websites, ideas, urls, etc then I take notes on journal articles, cases, websites and before long have a massive database of information of everything I read. Then when I need to write an essay or research something that I’ve read about before, eg. the WTO, I just search through my database using DTP’s special AI goodness. It really is good stuff. DTP also has a cool “See also” function that can show you how your bits of information are related. To think I’ve spent four years of uni typing up notes and doing research and then literally just chucking them out and starting afresh with each new essay - ridiculous! The best part is there is a rousing community of DTP users out there doing cool things with scripts and plugins, not to mention just sharing how they use DTP. If you are an organisational/info-geek like me you’ll love DTP.

So that’s my top 3, of course I haven’t bothered with Camino, Mail, MailTags (google this - this program rocks!), iCal or even iGTD (an advanced to do list) - but those are good too. There is so much good stuff out there. Also, Google has some good online offerings such as Google Docs, Groups, Reader, Notebook, Bookmarks - that also make things a bit easier.

Hopefully now I’ve got this organisational thing out of my system I can actually use all of these tools to get some work done!

There’s a quirky and interesting exhibition of pictures draw in 1910 imagining the year 2000. Some are pretty close to the mark, some way off.

I hate horror movies but love zombies.

I’d love to try this someday. Just need to find some properly sized material and I’m all set.

Beautiful street art. They put ‘holes’ in billboards by taking a photo of the area behind the billboard, pasting it on the billboard and removing a chunk of the image. Very clever. Also very clever, translucent street signs.

I really want to make (and eat) these quesadillas… Mexican is my favourite.

Can you imagine dissecting an entire Humpback Whale?

This is brilliant. It’s the main Axis of Evil players made up as lego characters. Sadam even glows in the dark to represent that he is dead.