April, 16, 2005 archives

i needed to be accessible to someone on another instant messaging system, so i finally took a look at adium. it’s a very nice little instant messaging application that supports the major instant messaging systems.

it took me some digging to figure out how to move the whole contact list around, though. you need to hold down the apple key and drag it.

the ichat in tiger will have jabber support, but i may end up sticking with adium. with the styling of the contact list it allows, it is much less obnoxious than the ichat buddy list.

too bad none of the instant messaging platforms has really opened up.

the mathmos tumbler is a very cool little light. it’s basically a rechargable brick that glows in one of nine different colors depending on which side you place it. (some sides alternate between two different colors each time you flip it to that side.)

i’m on a roll with local charities, so i’ve continued the streak with a donation to the midnight mission, which just last week opened their new facility a few blocks from their old one (which i can see out my window).

a few weeks ago one of the alôud sessions at the central library was with sam davis, author of designing for the homeless: architecture that works, who has steadily worked his way down the economic ladder in his architecture — his previous book was the architecture of affordable housing. it was an interesting perspective on the homeless problem, and i was sitting amidst a number of people from dome village who had a fairly negative take on the larger missions in los angeles. but i guess one important bit of knowledge i took away from that is that it is going to require a range of solutions to tackle the homeless problem, and it is good to see it being attacked by considerate and considered people.