My dad definitely had one by the time I was three or four. So 1987 at the latest.

Have we talked about this (or similar) before? Anyway, (apparently) no more lost posts!

Firefox with Greasmonkey: The Protect Textarea Greasemonkey script monitors the textareas on a web page and alerts you if you try navigating away from the page before submitting the changes in the textarea.

That means, for example, if you've typed some text into a comment box but you try following a link or closing your tab before you submit the comment, you'll see an alert warning you that the form hasn't been submitted. Couple this with the previously mentioned Textarea Backup script and you should never lose another online opus.

[link]

I'm having a Tivo problem. Last night, while I was watching TV, the screen went black and the lights on the front of the Tivo turned off. Every five seconds or so, the green light on the front (but not the light behind the logo) and the TV screen would flash on for a fraction of a second, then turn off again. This has happened before, and what always fixed it was unplugging it for a little while and then plugging it back in. So I unplugged it and went to bed.

Tonight, I plugged it back in, and the same thing with the lights and screen flashing is still happening (though now it's the startup screen on the TV.) Anybody know what to do? I checked the Tivo site, and it wasn't very helpful. They had answers for what to do if the lights do turn on, and for if the lights don't turn on, but not for if they're flashing. I checked all the connections, and I tried pressing some buttons on the remote to see if that would do anything.

Ugh, Hil. I've never had a Tivo problem that couldn't be resolved by repeating Guided Setup, but that sounds more hardware-y than I've encountered before.

ION, does anyone else here use Netvibes? It was mentioned in Slate so I thought I'd check it out. Don't know how much I'll actually use it, but I like what I see so far. (And I'm oddly charmed that the default image search is the union jack. Do people with US IP addresses get stars & stripes?)

Hil, do you run Bonjour on anything? It can make Tivos act weird - shutting off or resetting for no reason, which could be what yours is doing if it gets a signal that makes it shut off as it is coming on.

Netvibes gave me cats as the default image search.

Jessica,

I use netvibes. I like it. it takes some time to set everything up (at least in my opinion), but it pretty easy to learn. I like the mobile version of netvibes slightly better than google reader.

Anyone have any suggestions as to why my scrolly mouse suddenly has no scrolly? I've checked the settings, restarted, and shut down-allowed to sit-restarted.

I just ordered the Digital Rebel XTi! Thanks to everyone who helped with advice and links!

Hey Gris - I *know* you'll be going to this:

Made on a Mac
The Making of Broadway's Spring Awakening
May 17 at 5 p.m.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the musical Spring Awakening. You'll hear from director Michael Mayer and members of the cast about how Mac tools, such as iTunes and GarageBand, have enabled them to create this innovative new musical. You'll even be treated to a short performance by the cast

They've actually had a few of those already, Jessica. I went to the first one (which was hosted by Duncan Sheik and producer Tom Hulce, rather than Mayer) and missed the second one (which involved the lighting designers, if I recall correctly). I will probably try to go, but it was super-crowded even back in December, when the show was still on the brink of failure. Now that it's more successful, it may not quite be worth the effort for me. Though I would like to talk to Michael about the show - he was at the stage door last week, but I was talking to somebody else and missed him.

Anyway, if it's anything like the first one, it's more interesting for fans of the show than for those really interested in the Mac stuff. The questions tend to drift away from Apple products pretty quickly.