I’m generally a fan of tabbed browsing and make heavy use of it in Safari. You can set Safari to open a link in a new tab by holding the command key (on the Mac), but it won’t do this automatically, like when you click on a link that normally would open a new window. You can force Safari to do this by opening up the Terminal in Mac OS X and typing the following command:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

You’ll have to quit and restart Safari for the changes to take effect. I just did it in the Safari 4 beta and it works like a charm.

“Snap.”

There really aren’t that many situations where “snap” is a good sound. Come to think of it, I can’t think of any. It’s certainly not something you want to hear coming from your lower back while you are standing in the gym in a semi-seated position with a loaded barbell on your back.

If you talk to people who are serious about weightlifting, most will enthusiastically extoll the many virtues of the squat. But those people were nowhere to be found yesterday morning while I crouched awkwardly trying to calm my fears of imminent paralysis.

Everything seemed surprisingly intact. At first. I slowly rose up and returned the weight to its resting place before confirming that my legs could still move. Having just (nearly) recovered from a wrist injury acquired nearly six months earlier, I recognized that plowing onward would probably not be a good idea. But, I mean, I couldn’t just stop my workout. The squat was my first exercise, after all. As I made my way around the gym and completed most of my routine, I found my back slowly tightening, pulling me into a clumsy position with my chest hyperextended. I tried my best to avoid looking like a peacock. I thought I was having moderate success at achieving a normal gate, but several passerbys shot me sympathetic glances on my way to the office.

“Why would you ever do squats?” asked Bill, back at the office. “The only people who do squats are bodybuilders. And you’re not trying to be a bodybuilder.”

I gave him my “whatchu talkin’ about Willis?” look, but he didn’t seem to notice, and instead continued to rail against the squat. I was still mulling the question over why Bill would assume I wasn’t close to fulfilling my bodybuilding dreams when he tossed over a couple tablets of ibuprofen. I muttered my thanks and shuffled back to my desk. “Not trying to be a bodybuilder…I’ll show him!” I thought, straightening up with pride…when a sharp pull in my lumbar region reminded me that I needed to find some water to swallow these tablets.

Well it’s one day later and I’m much better, really. I can almost get out of bed in less than a minute if I don’t make any sudden movements. I can feel myself getting stronger already.

Watch out, Bill.

• AKI from PTLD at conference = need for more coffee http://twitpic.com/1nzid #
• Downloading the Safari 4 public beta #
• Oh yeah, chocolate peanut butter for lunch today. http://twitpic.com/1o1cl #
• “every American…wants this country to succeed”…a dig at Rush? #
• Bobby Jindal is kind of annoying #

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In college, I tried to take a course called “Thinking About Thinking.” In addition to the appeal of the intriguing title, it was taught by such academic celebrities as Stephen Jay Gould, Alan Dershowitz, and another, less famous professor whose name I can’t remember. I went to the first lecture or two, but it was quite a popular course and evidently I didn’t get into the course. At least, it’s not my transcript so I assume I didn’t make the lottery.

Being the innovative intellectual blogger that I am, I decided to take the professors’ idea to the next level. That’s right, I am blogging about blogging. Perhaps you guessed that’s where this was going because of the title of the post.

I’ve been posting to infobhan for years now, I’m always tempted to abandon it for some easier-to-consume format. At one extreme is Twitter: it’s great for a quick thought or comment, forcing me to distill my thoughts into 140-character soundbytes, but it can’t replace the sheer joy I get from rambling on this site. I’ve dabbled into Facebook – it succeeds in bundling social networking services into a neat package, but ultimately seems to be creating it’s own microcosm of the internet and lacks the flexibility of more open, albeit more targeted, services like Flickr and Twitter. I thought about trying to simplify my posting with an integrated blogging system like Tumlbr, but I find I rarely actually read anyone’s Tumblog. While it seems appealing that you could capture both Twitter-length mini-messages with full blog posts, viewing these interspersed with random photos and links seems somewhat disjointed.

As I searched for the right platform, I asked myself the same question all bloggers ask themselves: why do I blog? The answer, of course, is a bastardization of this site’s tagline: I blog because I am. We blog to prove our existence, to contribute some proof that we are still alive and thinking. But this brings me to the nightmare that all bloggers have…what if no one is reading? It’s a fear that even I must confess to having from time to time. “How can that be?” you ask. “Surely a wise and experience blogger such as yourself must know that there is a wide audience reloading this page hourly in anticipation of your wise words.”

Well, those are comforting words. And yes, I know I am blessed with admiring fans. But fame can fade and I may be left one day with a dwindling audience and the need to ask myself if I should go on posting. Until that day, I hope you enjoy reading.

One thing that I’ve come to appreciate over the past several years is the value of a good bakery. Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy to find one. Recently, I stumbled across the Blue Frog Bakery in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Verdict? Really nice muffins. If you like buttery croissants, you’ll love this place. The baguettes were also quite good. Worth a look.

You know, I’m not a violent person. But there’s something about Bluetooth headsets which brings out my inner bully. Every time I see someone wearing one of these (particularly while NOT talking on the phone), I want to teach them a lesson. Make them an offer they can’t refuse. You get the idea. Anyway, just when I thought that was bad enough, some genius at Nikon decides to create this abomination:

Now tell me you don’t want to go all Chris Brown on him.

Please do not wear this.

The Earl of Sandwich is sometimes credited with popularizing the frequently-eaten convenient meal, but I’m convinced he’s been out done by Señor Burrito, or whoever invented the Mexican treat. Okay, so apparently the word “burrito” is supposed to mean “small donkey”…but let’s face it, that sounds retarded, so I’m sticking with my delusion of a mustachioed jumping out of bed with sudden inspiration, rushing to the kitchen, and wrapping some beans and rice in a tortilla.

Whatever the real story here, someone deserves the Nobel prize…or at least some sort of prize. While sandwiches may keep your hands relatively clean (apparently, the Earl’s main goal was to keep his hands from getting greasy while playing cards), they can still be sloppy. The bread gets misaligned, the contents fall out the side, and there’s a lot of space devoted to bread.

Consider the burrito: you can fill it with whatever you like and it’s all wrapped up in a nice, neat package. If it’s well made, the only way the contents can get out is through the end facing your mouth. Isn’t that the idea?

I’ve eaten burritos for the last two nights. And had one for lunch yesterday. Lunch today? Viva Burrito. Viva burrito, indeed. You can’t get bored of these things because there’s an infinite number of varieties. And who can argue with the convenient packaging.

The best part is that, in these hard economic times, burritos can be a wise investment. For relatively little cost (as little as $1-2, even at places like Whole Foods), you can equip yourself with a frozen burrito that will be a delicious and nutritious lunch. The key with these is to prepare them properly. If you just microwave them as instructed, they often turn out gummy and fall apart easily.

Ideally, you buy them early enough so they can thaw through the morning. Either way, start with an abbreviate trip through the microwave to warm them up: I use one minute for a thawed burrito, and maybe one and a half for one that’s still frozen. Then take it to the toaster oven until the tortilla starts to brown. This gives the burrito a bit of a crispy crust and allows time for the cooler center to warm up.