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I read a two-page ad in MacWorld magazine a few days ago about an annual “MacHeist” deal. The list of software last year was very good and the bundle cost only $50 so I was very interested in this year’s bundle, which would be announced on 9 January 2008 (today).

Well, this year’s bundle includes Snapz Pro X 2, $40 alone, which I wanted to buy anyway, so I was sold. I bought the bundle for $49.00. And TaskPaper is looking VERY nice. I moved my todo.txt file into it and I’m already up and running. The runway to figure out the basics and get back to work with TaskPaper is about 10 seconds. Wonderful.

I was thinking yesterday about how people expect their computers to be faster, faster, faster, with the goal of operating instantaneously in every regard. Others criticize them and label them power-hungry, bitter brides.

I gave this a little thought and saw that what people really want is for computers to be like the rest of the world. Instantaneous. When you turn the page of a book, you don’t wait for it to render. When you dig a hole with a shovel, you see the hole immediately and it is immediately available for use.

People that want their computers faster just want them to be real. It’s not a new standard, really.

A week before Christmas, at a lunch party at my mother-in-law’s house, an old family friend told me she found two tripods and “a lens” in her attic and I was welcome to them. Cool. A week later, Christmas Eve, we had dinner at her house and she gave them to me.

Both tripods were heavy duty. One seemed a little brittle but the other looked great. And the “lens” was a small, white Meade refracting telescope. The one tripod is quite a nice one for my needs — I’m very happy with it.