Allen’s holiday gift to IT: wireless remote control laser fighting battle tanks.

We’ve been buying HP 3800n laser printers this year and have a few of them scattered around the businesses at this point. We are finding that the price per page for color printing, for text enhancement color, not full page graphics, comes out at a good price per page of around 4.5 cents. However, that is still an adjustment from the 1 to 2 cent per page for black and white that people have come to expect. The key is to buy decent OEM toner at a good price and to not print what doesn’t need to be printed in color. I’ve found a good price on toner at buy.com with free shipping that seems to be the best price from a reputable retailer for OEM cartridges.

I was out sick on Friday. Real awful mess…coming out top and bottom, fever, all that. I took all day to recover, but with the recent Norovirus outbreak I was out all weekend. When I came in this morning I found that not only had I been quarantined for the weekend, but my entire desk had been quarantined. Everything–mouse, monitor, pens, post-its, my speaker (???)–was wrapped in plastic and draped in caution tape. When I saw it, I laughed… a lot.

It’s good to be back.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dec. 14, 2006 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) will introduce a beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 software, the next release of the world standard in digital imaging, on Friday, December 15th. Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple’s new Intel-based systems. The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform, as well as for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista computers. The final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 is planned for Spring 2007. The software can be downloaded at: http://labs.adobe.com

I’ve been going ape over Gorilla Glue lately (you love the pun, I know it). Branded as “The Toughest Glue on Planet Earth,” I haven’t found a material Gorilla can’t bond. In the past week or so I’ve used it on a wood table, a metal Mac, a glass mirror, and a plastic pedometer, and all are holding strong. I do not know, and probably wouldn’t understand the chemistry behind its adhesive superpower, but I will vouch for it as the greatest glue on Earth.

FanControl lets you set the speed of each built-in fan so you can make your MacBook run at more comfortable temperature. In order not to damage your machine FanControl does not let you set a minimum speed less than Apple’s defaults.

We picked up this new tea from Zingerman’s Deli last week (thanks, Gauri!), here are our thoughts:

A very pleasant nose with a rich malty aroma. Its taste hints at roasted grain and has a touch of sweetness. There’s little astringency and the flavor is long and smooth with a clean finish. It has a full body, but is not overwhelmingly strong. It’s companionable, and as Elph put it, “A tea I’d be happy to wake up to in the morning.” First steeping: 3 minutes, Second steeping: 4 minutes (and just as good!)

Wow, what a dinner. The Roadhouse threw down some awesome food - the theme was foods from the South that were special because of their local nature. Maybe you’ve tried them, probably you haven’t. The dinner was accompanied by stories from John T. Edge from Southern Foodways Alliance and some short films by Joe York. It was a full house of 75 excited people.
The menu included so many yummies - big ole Apalachicola oysters from northern Florida, Nashville fried HOT chicken, nassau grits, fried sweet potato pie (nice job from the Bakehouse on the desserts). The surprise favorite for me was the Georgia barbecue quail - it’s a wee bird but Alex did it up with some nice subtle sparks of cayenne so that it had a lasting impression without being too hot. It was a lyrical foreshadowing for the HOT chicken entree to come. That was spicy, and from the very funny short documentary film we watched on the subject, it was probably the mild version of what is served at Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville.

I’m looking forward to what the Roadhouse comes up with for these special dinners in 2007.