So, we're sitting around Saturday morning, one kid is watching TV (yes, we know) while the other is playing happily with the big, vinyl-covered foam blocks we keep telling you are the most awesome toy ever.

Gazing in admiration at them, we decide that maybe we should buy another set, as these are five years old and constant, almost daily play has started to wear them out just a smidge. It would be nice to have some back up pieces, since we anticipate at least three to five more years of play with them.

So I go to my trusty old link, and there they are at Constructive Playthings, now for $140. Not bad, but we have a gift certificate to Amazon, so, on a whim, I decide to check and see if I can get them through Amazon. Not sure what to search for (the manufacturer is unclear) I go with their title/description on the Constructive Playthings web site, "Soft Play Forms."

Sure enough, they are listed at Amazon, though only from a third-party individual, and for a $100 premium... but I was much more interested in the second item Amazon suggested for the search: Soft Play Forms.

[Screenshot]

Okay folks, WWDC is come and gone, and it is time to take the next step in the Home Computing Master Plan. First up, the Mac mini, external storage, external monitor package. The first two are easy, but the last is proving a bit of a headache, so I thought I'd post about it.

I am deliberating between three (well, two) 24" lcd monitors.

One thing to keep in mind while you're looking at lcds is the relative quality of the panel part. One indicator of that is whether the panel is 6-bit, or 8-bit, and one way to tell that, is by the viewing angle. If the viewing angle is 160°, then you have a 6-bit panel. If it is more like 178°, it's an 8-bit. I think.

In any case, looking at the specs above, it is easy to dismiss the Apple screen, however high the quality might be. Between the BenQ and the Dell, well... the sheer number of reviews, the price, and my own personal history with Dell monitors (I bought a lot of them when I was running a computer lab, many moons ago) makes me lean that way.

I think I'll be getting the Dell. Dude.

Your thoughts?

Here's the deal.  I'm reading a trilogy by Robin Hobb.  It's a fantasy series, yes, and the books are actually a bit of a trudge, but surely worth it in the end.  I have the first two in paperback.  The third—and final—book is now out in hardcover.  I don't buy hardcover.

So, I would very much like to visit on online book retailer, find the hardcover edition of this book, and check a box that says, "Notify me when this is available in paperback."  Submit!  When I get the email, I click on a link, I check out, I have the book, they have my money.

But nobody does that.  Not Amazon, not Borders, not Barnes & Noble.  Now, I understand that they can't actually place a pre-order for a book that does not yet exist.  It hasn't been announced by the publisher, it doesn't have an ISBN number, and who knows, maybe they'll never get around to printing a paperback version of it.

But chances are (and I'd put them at 99.99%) that this book will eventually show up in paperback form.  They could offer me the option, with the caveat that I may never get notified.  If any of those three retailers had this option, they would have just made a sale.  As it is, I'll likely forget about it, and maybe see the book on a shelf during one of my infrequent visits to a physical bookstore.  And maybe I'll buy it then, and maybe I won't.

On a related note: Borders and B&N both offer lists of books coming soon.  But none of these lists are searchable.  Hello?  Of course, Amazon doesn't seem to offer a browsable Coming Soon list, so maybe the other guys aren't worried.

I don't remember how I ended up there (really, I don't) but I happened upon the Gap.com women's clothing section the other day, and noticed that they have a new feature on their site. For certain items of clothing, if you hover your mouse over the image, a closer version will appear. This is great for really examining the details of the item you're considering buying. It's also great if you're a thirteen year-old boy. And no, I couldn't find any male clothing worth "examining."

I know I have waxed on about these blocks before. And I know they are terribly expensive ($128 for a set of five, we bought two sets). But these are, bar none, the best toy we got for our baby.

Update to make the "buy these blocks at Constructive Playthings for $129" link more obvious.

These are huge, vinyl covered foam blocks. They are big, brightly colored, and light, so you can stack them high and knock them down without fear of damaging your baby. They come wrapped in black plastic, like a set of tires from Costco (or is that just a myth?), and ours arrived a little dusty. Our boy has always loved building things, and we're not sure which came first, the blocks or the desire. But he's almost five now, and still using them as much as he did when he was younger.

Here are just a few pictures of what we have done with them:

The rest of the pictures are on Flickr.

I love just about everything that Matthew Baldwin writes, but this is funny stuff. Like, so funny I had to read it out loud to my wife, driving her off to bed. Laugh out loud funny. Here you go: Matt Baldwin's Slacker's Guide to Christmas Presents (not the real title, because I'm lazy).