It has happened twice recently. Two of my favorite web-designers/information-gurus/entertaining-bloggers have been hired by Apple, and after that... nothing. They announce that they have been hired, and then their blogs go silent. Occasionally they will have a post about their puppies, or a new haircut, but nothing even remotely related to web design, information design, or stuff I used to rely on them for.

Anyone else noticed this? Who will be next? Here are the two who have most recently been ripped from my feed list:

> [Paul Nixon](http://www.nixlog.com/about/) < abducted on [March 22, 2005](http://www.nixlog.com/archives/2005/03/22_a_new_job.php)
> [Dunstan Orchard](http://www.1976design.com/blog/colophon/) < abducted on [November 29, 2004](http://www.1976design.com/blog/archive/2004/11/29/a-new-job/)

At least Apple is getting good people.

Hello, enterprising software writers. In short: I want a .Mac-free version of the .Mac screensaver module. And I have $100 to throw at you.

I own a Mac OS X machine. I subscribe to Apple's .Mac service. I do so for exactly one feature: the .Mac screensaver. This feature works thusly: I designate an album in iPhoto, hit ".Mac slides", upload the photos, go to my screensaver in Mac OS X, designate my .Mac member ID, and voila, screensaver of the photos with complete Ken Burns Effect. Anybody with Mac OS X can subscribe to this screensaver if they know my member ID. Like the Grandmas.

This costs me $100 per year.

If you write a program to do this, I will pay you $100 (what .Mac cost me this past year) to be able to use it. Make it freeware, make it shareware, make it open source, I don't care. Just give me a working copy and I will send you $100.

Here are the specs.

$100 for a screensaver module for Mac OS X (Tiger at the very least, older versions at your discretion), that will pull jpgs (add other file formats if you like!) from a designated directory on the web and store them locally on the user's machine, then display them full screen using the Ken Burns Effect (or some other similar--but not copyrighted--effect, like the Bobby Joe Zoom Pan Dealio with Fade Transitions).

$25 bonus money for a Windows screensaver module that does the same thing, but on Windows XP.

$25 more bonus money for a plugin for iPhoto 5, so I can select an album and export it to the directory on the web that I designate. The plugin should automatically reduce the size/quality of the photos as they are uploaded, so transfer is quick.

Please?

Anyone?

This episode of _The Amazing Race_ took place in Argentina, where I was born. We left when I was eight, so all I really know about the place is what I have heard from my family, but even so it was fun to see Mendoza, Buenos Aires, and Tigre.

This is the second season of _The Amazing Race_ that I have watched, and I am pretty much kicking myself for not watching it earlier. Though I have to admit, this season far outstrips the last one, and it is because of Rob and Amber. Their skill at finding the littlest foothold to get themselves ahead is only surpassed by their sheer luck. Last ep. they took a four hour penalty that put them far behind the first four teams, but they still made the early flight (causing much gnashing teeth among those first four teams) and then pulled out the win at the end of the stage.

I am in awe. Plus, they are wickedly fun to watch. I'd also like to note, for those people who felt that Amber displayed little personality in _Survivor: All Stars_, staying mostly in Rob's shadow... same thing is happening here. If she has a personality, she's hiding it very well. Rob, of course, couldn't hide his personality if... oh, someone offered him a million dollars.

I look forward to this show every week.

Ouch. Last night on _Survivor_, the Koror tribe got the best of both worlds. They got rid of Willard, who was a nice guy, but had to go before they could get rid of Karen, who they just have to get rid of as soon as they can. Plus, they smacked the other tribe but good. First, Koror beat Ulong at the challenge, but only after making it look like they might just lose. Then, at Tribal Council they lip-smacked their way through reward stew and beer, while the Ulong stared at the hard, dusty ground. And then, to boot, they gave immunity to Ibrehem, Ulong's marked man.

Beaten, hungry, and hopeless, Ulong voted a tie for Angie and Bobby Jon. Why they didn't vote out James, annoying hillbilly that he professes to be, I just don't know. In the tiebreaker, Stephenie changed her vote and Angie was out "unanimously."

So now it is eight well-fed, rested, nattering players vs. four hungry, desperate, feral survivors. I know who I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley with a tub of KFC in my hands.

Be warned, I intend to make a new push into television postings. I watch a lot of TV. I like a lot of TV. I own a TiVo and know how to use it. It is about time I made use of this predilection.