March 2, 2005 in Web/Tech I begged... I pleaded... I won! From now on, my Damn Good Downloads, Damn Good Websites, and Gems of the Internet links will be archived on a single, easy-to-find page at thescreensavers.com. So if you saw me talking about it on the show, find it in The Sarah Lane Files!
You were all so sweet to email me with your concerns, after I didn't live-blog the Acadamy Awards on Sunday night. Well, a few of you anyway. I love that you expected me to! Here's my Oscar reality: I was on the couch, fully horizontal, eating cheese and crackers for 3 hours. Do you ever just have one of those weekends where you don't have much to contribute? Me too.
On the software front, if you missed today's show, I shared my recently discovered free Windows tool, ExplorerXP. It adds Firefox-like tabs functionality and folder grouping to what you previously thought was the only way to "explore" your computer. Good times!
Oh, and you all remember my buddy Foo Foo (Dan Huard), right? Well, he's doing great, and just launched his new site, scopetech.net. Go say hi and if anybody gives you any trouble, tell them Lane sent you.
Now if you'll excuse me, I think my couch is calling again. If only I had some nuts and chews to take the edge off...
February 21, 2005 in Personal So long, Mr. Thompson. Thanks for being you.
February 19, 2005 in Personal Many of you have noticed me drinking my favorite beverage over the past year, and consequently I've received a ton of questions about Kombucha: What does it taste like? Is it green tea? Is it gross? Is it like soda? Why drink it?
I'll tell you a little story. Last year, my dad was battling stomach cancer and having a hard time swallowing food and liquids, including water. You can imagine how frustrating (not to mention dangerous) it was for him to not be getting any nutritional value- like being forced into starvation. Huge issue. Well, someone turned him onto a fermented mushroom tea concotion called Kombucha, and surprisingly, it was the only thing he could swallow. He couldn't even swallow water, but this crazy drink somehow went down and gave him energy. We were all ecstatic. My parents' fridge was full of this stuff. So eventually I gave it a try.... and LOVED it!
This isn't to say you'll automatically love it, though. My mom claims it tastes like vinegar and won't go near it. Kevin thinks the mushroom strain artifacts that settle at the bottom of the bottle are a little icky. And even if you're interested, it's hard to find- the only markets I've ever seen carry the Kombucha brand I like are Whole Foods and Wild Oats. But I'm a total believer that anything that helped my dad that much has gotta be some kind of wonder drink. Plus, I think it tastes yummy!
Do a little online research and you'll discover how many people believe Kombucha improves health in a variety of ways. I should mention that no solid medical research I know of supports many of these claims, and I'm certainly not trying to speculate beyond my own knowledge of medicine and disease. But as someone who has battled sinus problems and skin allergies my whole life, I can honestly say I'm feeling healthier from drinking Kombucha. Am I imagining it? Maybe, but I know my dad wasn't.
February 18, 2005 in Web/Tech Ok, I know I've said it before, but today I mean it: this Microsoft article is the Best Thing Ever. In a very leet sort of way.
Thanks to Ryan for the link!
