PodShow - an excellent web-based podcast aggregator

I have explored quite a few podcast aggregation solutions, and so far this is the best I have seen.  PodShow allows you to create any number of public or private channels, or lists of podcasts you wish to watch.  This makes it easy to group channels into categories, like video vs. audio, or tech vs. music, or any number of other possibilities.  You can then use your aggregator of choice to subscribe to these custom channels very easily.  The only missing feature so far is allowing individual episodes to be added to a channel...  but I am hopeful that that will come in time.  Overall, this is a great effort.  I am very pleased to see that web-based podcast aggregation is making progress.  Now I can really start to get into podcasts.

CrossOver Mac runs Windows apps on your Mac

CrossOver Mac allows you to run many Windows applications transparently on the Mac. This is a screenshot of CrossOver Mac running Internet Explorer 6 for Windows. What a great way to test web sites for cross-browser compatibility! It will cost $59.95 for a single-user license, with a Beta of the product available to test drive now.

"Cider" lets Windows games run on Intel Macs

One huge barrier to adoption of the mac platform is the normally very slow way in which games come to the platform.  Cider promises to change that for good.  Using a minimal set of the Win32 API, it offers developers an incredibly simple method for porting games to the mac.  As a longtime mac user who enjoys gaming, this is very exciting news for me.

The (un)Happy Planet Index

Ahh, happiness... as an idealist, I generally believe that this is what life is about. You would think, with all of our wealth, that the U.S. would be at the top of the world happiness index. However, it's way down at number 150 out of 178! From the site, it is calculated as follows:

The HPI incorporates three separate indicators: ecological footprint, life-satisfaction and life expectancy. The statistical calculations that underlie the HPI are quite complex. However conceptually, it is straight forward and intuitive:

HPI =	Life satisfaction x Life expectancy
	Ecological Footprint

The HPI reflects the average years of happy life produced by a given society, nation or group of nations, per unit of planetary resources consumed. Put another way, it represents the efficiency with which countries convert the earth’s finite resources into well-being experienced by their citizens.

This is a very interesting measure...

My web site

I'm really starting to get into building my web site! You can see the latest draft here. I'm trying to include a lot of very dynamic content - things that I will update without even thinking about it. My flickr photos, del.icio.us links, and interesting blog entries on Google Reader. Working on this site may even rejuvinate my blog posting - here's hoping!