I'm still waiting for my Dots Gloves. It's now been 5 and 1/2 weeks since I placed my order. Guess mine is one of the longer-to-fulfill orders in that month-long average. Dang.

My favorite Incase Slider case for my iPhone is starting to peel. I'll put up an addendum to my review on it shortly and include some pictures.

I just read this article over on MacRumors. In short, Apple's latest portables with the mini DisplayPort connector will not put out video over a non-HDCP connection. I'd never heard of HDCP, High Definition Content Protection, before but I will be sincerely irritated if I need to spend more money for a special connector to display iTunes movies I buy or rent through my new MacBook Air. Looking at some posts over on the Apple Support forums, users with the new laptop models can't even output some iTunes video to Apple-branded displays with Apple-branded display connectors. WTF? Another moment of disappointment in Apple. I hope they address this soon without requiring me to spend more money than the pretty penny I just laid down for my new MacBook Air.

You know, I just can't praise NetShare enough. I'm really not trying to rub in the fact that I have it with the folks who missed the opportunity to buy it from the App Store - I swear. I am just regularly stunned by how useful it is. Yes, I know I could accomplish the same thing with a jailbroken app (I think it's PDANet?), but I didn't have a good experience jailbreaking one of my first-generation iPhones to make me hesitant enough to do it to my 3G. Regardless, I'm on the train heading home from work, no WiFi network in sight, and I'm able to browse the internet, check email, and blog on my MacBook Air through my iPhone's data connection. Freaking brilliant.

There are rumors out there about AT&T officially announcing tethering for the iPhone, with the monthly rate for this feature at $30 at a minimum. And, this won't be an unlimited plan with a cap of 5GB per month. I'm not the type of girl to steal cable (well, not anymore) and am not opposed to paying for a service I use. But I already get unlimited data with my iPhone's data plan and pay $30 a month for that. I'll just keep using NetShare (carefully enough to not set off any alerts at AT&T), thank you very much.

(To be clear, this isn't my first experiencing with tethering. My first foray was with a Sony Clie NX70V PDA, a Bluetooth Memory Stick Adapter, and a Sony Ericsson T68i. God, that was ages ago!)

I did manage to pick up a brand new MacBook Air on Friday evening, and I love it so far! I had been reading that only the SSD models were hitting stores and the hard drive models are delayed until the end of the month, but I wanted the SSD version anyway so I knew it would only be a matter of time before I get my hot little hands on one from an Apple store. I stalked - um, I mean called, my local Apple store and got a hold of someone on Friday afternoon who said they had a few in stock. I left work a little early (thanks, boss!) to catch an earlier train home to get to the store a little sooner. I called the store again to make sure they still had at least one before I left the train station, and talked to a girl who put me on hold for a while and came back to say, and I quote, "Um, like, I don't think we have any more in stock." I gritted my teeth and said thank you and hung up. I decided to head to the store anyway figuring she probably had no idea what the hell she was talking about, cued by her uncertainty and the fact that she sounded like she was 12.

The mall was Friday-night busy yet I still managed to walk calmly to the Apple store without yelling incoherently at the obnoxious teenagers who inevitably got in my way repeatedly. When I got to the store, I hunted down the oldest staff person on the floor I could find - I think he was around 19 - and explained what I wanted. He wrote everything down and had someone go find the Air while he went for the SuperDrive. I was half-expecting the stock boy to come back and say there were no more Airs, but he had one in hand and handed it silently to my sales guy. I checked the specs on the box to make sure it was indeed the latest rev and nearly shouted with glee.

I did forget to buy one thing that night - the USB ethernet adapter, which I needed to do the migration from my MacBook to the Air, but I went back and picked one up on Saturday. I ended up not using it, which is another story in and of itself, but I think I'm done with the migration and have been carrying around my splendidly light Air during my commute - it's nice to shave a couple of pounds off the weight of my backpack!

Holy crap. I just called my local Apple store and they have the updated MacBook Air in stock! I'm leaving work a little early to get there and buy one. Unfortunately, they said they couldn't hold one for me, so I'll have to hope that they still have at least one left by the time I get there (wish me luck!), though the salesperson I talked to said they haven't sold any of them all day so far. Woo hoo!

I am decidedly distracted today, unable to focus on the massive amount of writing I really should get done today for work. Looks like I'm going to put in some time over the weekend, at this rate. I swear I have ADD at times like these.

I'm thinking of snowboarding now since I'm heading to a local ski/snowboarding kick-off event with some friends this evening. I can't wait for snow! Though I must admit that boarding out in the northeast is nearly as good as boarding at Tahoe, my previous stomping grounds. Call me a snow snob, I don't care, but boarding on ice sucks. Anyway, my love for all things gadgety prompts me to think of new accessories for the upcoming snow season. At the top of my list is a new helmet with Bluetooth built in. No, I don't talk on the phone regularly while boarding, but it's the easiest way to stay in touch with the people I'm boarding with, and it does become a pain in the rump to dig my cell phone out of my pocket repeatedly throughout the day. So, Bluetooth helmet it is. I've checked for reviews of them, but really haven't found any. Might have to bite the bullet and buy one and then do my own damn review of it!

My quiver currently consists of a Salmon Ivy 146 and a Burton Feelgood 149, in case you're wondering. I haven't been using the Feelgood much at all out here - all ice and no powder make for a preference for a shorter board - so I may put it up for sale shortly. We shall see...

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably already know that I have ordered another case for my iPhone. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised by this turn of events myself - I have been 100% satisfied with my current case, the Incase Slider. It perfectly suits how I use my iPhone and offers the protection I want. But the wily and talented leather devils at Vaja came up with a case similar to the Slider in functionality, the iVolution Dockable. It's a fitted leather case that covers only the back and outer edges of the iPhone, and the bottom portion rotates backward to reveal the dock connector for charging or docking. I've had many Vaja cases over the years and I've always loved them. Look for my review of this case in about a month - it will take about 20 days to make and then I'll take some time use it and break it in...

(I'd ad a link to the case or a picture of it on Vaja's site, but everything there is Flash. Grrr. Fix your site, Vaja! You used to have HTML links for each product!)

My blog is meant to be more tech-oriented, but I've found a song that I've been playing in single repeat mode quite often lately, and thought anyone who is interested in electronic/ambient might like it as well. It's a song called Four Letter Words by Pete Samples - clicking on this button will open iTunes -->

I have quite a few favorites in this genre - I've been meaning to create an iMix to share them...

I just wanted to say that I did get a response from Dots Gloves to follow up on the email I sent over the weekend inquiring on the status of my order. I received the exact email I'd found over at TUAW.com that I quoted a couple of days ago here in my blog (look down 2 posts). I'm glad that I got a response at all, but I would have appreciated a little more detail on when I could expect my gloves. An average of a month-long wait until an order is shipped does give me a ballpark, but an average means that it takes longer for some orders and less time for others. I just can't think it's that hard to figure out when a pair of gloves will be ready and shipped. A supercollider made-to-order, yes. A pair of knitted cotton covers for my hands, not so much.

Oh, well. I'm still looking forward to receiving them and still plan to do a review. Until then, my non-iPhone-compatible North Face gloves will continue to suffice.

I left my iPhone at home today. I didn't realize it until I got to the train station and felt the pocket where I usually keep it and found it to be devastatingly empty. I stopped, felt the pocket more thoroughly (which must have looked odd to the others waiting for the train since it's the chest pocket under my left breast), and muttered a mild curse. I briefly considered going back home to get it, but then dismissed the idea since the next train wouldn't leave for another 2 hours and I didn't want to be quite that late for work. Though most of my co-workers, including my boss, have iPhones and would therefore be more sympathetic to my plight, I didn't think it would be a good enough excuse to be late for work by several hours.

I think it happened because of a disruption in my normal coat-putting-on routine. Normally, my coat is hanging on the back of the chair at the island in the kitchen, and I put it on, put my iPhone in my pocket, pick up my backpack and keys and head out the door. After volleyball last night, my coat was in my gym bag, and when I took my coat out of it, I left it on our bed instead of bringing it downstairs to hang on the chair. So this morning, I had to run upstairs to get my coat, thus breaking the routine. When I came back downstairs, I grabbed my keys and backpack, completely forgetting about my iPhone.

So, here I am, iPhone-less. I had no book to read on the train (and I am reading some absolutely glorious trash at the moment), no music to listen to as I walked to the subway station, and no RSS feeds to catch up on while on the subway. I'd like to say that I learned an important lesson today about how overly-dependent I am on technology, but I'd be lying like a rug. I didn't learn a damn thing this morning, except for the fact that I need to do something to make sure I don't forget my iPhone again. Ever.

So, you know those Dots Gloves I said I'd ordered a couple of weeks ago? I still haven't gotten them, and I emailed the company over the weekend to inquire about when I can expect them. I haven't heard a response yet, and don't expect one quite yet since I just emailed them over the weekend and today is the first business day since. But, I thought I'd Google for the experiences of others with ordering these gloves, and found the following quoted email from Dots Gloves in a comment by MoBUrkhardt posted over at TUAW:

There’s currently been an average month-long wait until items are shipped. This is of course too long, but we’re a startup company. We have no muscle.

Full and immediate refunds are of course available, so just let us know. We don’t want to lose your business, but these gloves are handmade in New York City -- we can’t compromise quality for speediness.

This is a temporary hiccup of growing Dots Gloves. In the future, it will not happen. We will be streamlined, beautiful.

Take care, and thanks for your time -- and I know that phrase takes on extra weight in this context,

DOTS

(Please disregard if you have already heard from us, or your order has already shipped.)

Other comments indicate that people have been waiting well over a month for their gloves, many not receiving any communication at all to update them on the status of their order.

I will say this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine - if you've already paid for something and there's going to be a delay in getting the product to you, the *least* a company should do is let you know. I didn't receive the above email, though I do hope to hear something back in response to the email I've sent. And there's nothing whatsoever posted on their site to indicate any back-order status at all. The offer of a refund is nice, but I wouldn't know about this option unless I'd received this email.

So far, this isn't a good introduction to this company. Start-up or not, communication with your customers when you already have their money is essential in my book. And while I'm at it, why does the fact that they're hand-made in NYC make a difference here? It's one thing if they're hand-made in Burma by 2 elderly women with one pair of eyeglasses to share between them and then shipped here, but NYC? Come on - that shouldn't impact the time it takes to produce them at all.