A stream of thoughtsciousness
My name is Donovan Watts. I am the Founder of Getting Sites Built, a web design agency.. we plan, design and build websites. Donovan's thoughtStream is my weblog. For kicks, I hoop. 
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Today's project involved getting my Stowaway Universal Bluetooth Keyboard to talk nice to Sprocket4, my Pocket PC mobile phone. After installing a driver, which was easily found on the support section of the Think Outside site, all's well. It works really well! 
What if your laptop exploded once it got more than, say, 10 miles away from your person?
Gmail makes for a good backup in a pinch. Dave Winer graciously zipped up and emailed my entire OPML Editor blog to me recently. That email and the attachment will forever be in my Gmail archive. Instant Blog backup! I've read this tip online before but never used it. Try it; Zip up your important documents right this instant and then send the zipped file as an attachment to your Gmail account. Just leave it there and forget about it. No need to thank me now.. after your computer is stolen and you can recover that folder you just backed up you can thank me. :-)
It's amazing how easy it is to get back up and blogging after a theft or (hard drive crash) with OPML Editor if you can get a hold of your 'online' blog folder. Thanks Dave for sending my blog folder to me and for making this task drop dead easy. Just download and install the Editor, drop the backup folder into your local OPML Editor blog folder and off you go.
Though I usually edit text in OPML Editor, sometimes I like to use a regular old-fashioned, non-outline based editor. On the Mac I prefer textmate.
Sharing vs Keeping private 
It's interesting to note that the things I decided to share on the internet are those things that remain after the theft. Those things I opted to keep to myself, tucked away on my laptop, are those things that are gone forever after the theft.
Considering my new life as a victim of a theft, I'm not so keen to go back to my old ways. You know, keeping everything on my laptop. What if I'm robbed again? Well, one thing I'm thinking about is using online services for everything. I mean everything. You know.. instead of using Apple's Address Book and iCal and iPhoto, I'll use 37signal's Backpack and flickr and other online services. Sure, these can get hacked if someone knows my password. Sure, unless I back up the data, I'm at the mercy of my host. Sure, but I'll tell you what. If I keep nothing of value on my laptop, then the next thief won't have anything personal of mine. That's by far the thing that hurt the most was losing my precious photos and videos and other documents. Were I to keep those online instead, I just might be more protected. Yeah?
Yesterday I provided a link to a site which helps you get a new passport. Today I point to a page which helps get your passport back quicker. You do need to prove foreign travel in the near future however.
Good news is that my folks are letting me take their old Apple laptop with me until I can afford a new one. That means I get to keep on trucking. Sure, it's a 466 MHz PowerPC G3 with only 320MB of ram and OS 10.3.9 but it'll do for now. And that means I can stop borrowing other people's machines and keep on blogging with OPML Editor.
Tomorrow I go to the Post office and apply for a new passport. It's going to cost $157 and I should get it in three days.
I just put Daisy back up for sale on craigslist. I lowered the price to $1400 obo and I hope someone picks her up. That's a great price for a reliable car. Niko, the VW Vanagon I recently purchased, should be outta the shop in a few days and then I'm ready to roll once again. The last time I tried to roll outta here, Niko broke down and I got robbed. Hmph. Take two coming up! Let's hope the second time around things go a bit smoother.
I talked to my cousin David Watts today. He's taking his family up North as well for a road trip. We might hook up along route. That'd be fun. I haven't seen David in over twenty years.
AAA coverage is essential for a bloke like me. I'm always traveling here and there. And breaking down here and there. So, I've decided to up my coverage with them. For another $50/year, I can sign up for the Premier plan. So, instead of only being towed up to 7 miles, I can get towed up to 200 miles once. Let's hope I don't need that service but with the way things have been going for me lately, I'm kinda figuring to spend a few hundred miles in the front seat of a tow truck, getting to know the driver very well. :-) NOT!
I've not been reading any RSS feeds since my laptop was stolen. All my subscriptions were on the laptop and I haven't had the energy to figure out how I might start over again. So, I visit scripting.com and that's about it. Otherwise, I guess I'm on news reading hiatus.
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