Andrew

Not being a novelist, I'm a bit outside of Scrivner's target demographic, but I've found it quite useful for certain types of projects.

My general rule of thumb is that anything under about 10 pages, I'm better off in a normal word processor - but once you get up in to 20, 50 or 100+ page documents, Scrivner's organization tools become indispensable.

We just finished up a 250 page proposal for a client, and I'm pretty sure I would have gone crazy without Scrivner. I've been waiting for a deal before I bought it, looks like now might be the time.

@Abraham P That's a pretty insightful perspective. I have a soft spot for Sony, but get put off by their fondness for propriety standards.

With cameras particularly, I think it's critical to hold one in your hands and actually use one before buy it. It's how I ended up a dedicated Nikon fanatic; back in 2005 I was all set on buying a digital Rebel, but then I went into a store and held both the Rebel and the D70 - and my mind was quickly changed. The D70 felt the way I thought a camera should, the Rebel - with better specs on paper, felt wrong.

The problem comes when people start taking their preferences as absolutes.

@Yemble Ahh yes, classic. Instead of getting excited about new technology and more options, let's turn this into a battle of DSLR vs. MIrrorless Compacts!! Then we can have about as much insightful discussion as the comments after Engadget's iPhone and Android posts.

The truth is, Mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses are great. And might be a better option for some consumers than DSLRs. But, there are reasons why they'll never be a total replacement.

Personally, if I had to choose, I wouldn't give up my DSLR viewfinder and incredibly fast autofocus in exchange for the smaller body of a mirrorless. But, here's the beauty of the situation - I don't have to choose! If I really wanted, it'd be entirely possible for me to have both a DSLR and a mirrorless camera.

Or, even, to recognize that while one choice is right for me, a different choice might be right for someone else.

Actually, as soon as I have an extra $600 to spend, I think one of these will be my next photography purchase, cleverly disguised as a gift for my wife.

This is awesome. But the guy really needs to partner with some RC nerds. They've been doing custom tracks, first person video and the like for years - and they're quite good at it.

I'm sure they'd be able to turn this excellent proof of concept into a full-featured video game / RC hybrid.

@thevolta and start at $450.

@mikeventi I've been comparing 4GB DVD rips with 4GB x.264 or h.264 Blu-Ray rips - and (to my eyes) the quality increase with a 4GB Blu-Ray is negligible. However, once you get into 8GB territory, you have a far-better looking movie file.

So, my recommendation is that if you're going to be ripping your blu-rays - plan on at least 8GB if you want something that's noticeably better than DVDs.

@proppat Stop ruining my fantasies of AndroidOS!

Or iPhone hardware running WebOS. I'd happily take either.

@5T3FonPC Not to get all flame'ish - but have you used WebOS? I just dropped my Pre because the hardware is disappointing, but the OS's interface is freaking fantastic.

I'm using an iPhone 4 now, and while the hardware blows the Pre out of the water, in many respects the iPhone UI and Android UI are far behind WebOS in terms of usability.

In my dream-world, Google bought Palm and incorporated WebOS's UI into Android. If only...

Greatest. Headline. Ever.

@bighap also worth hating the fact that they're contributing to a harmful practice.

From Wikipedia: "Due to overuse, the mpingo [African Blackwood] tree is severely threatened in Kenya and needing attention in Tanzania and Mozambique. The trees are being harvested at an unsustainable rate, partly because of illegal smuggling of the wood into Kenya, but also because the tree takes upwards of 60 years to mature."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Blackwood