The New York Times has done it again. The latest in the site’s long series of useful Flash apps is up and running.

This nifty app has several fun and user-friendly features:

• Drag your favorite sports to the top of the list
• Switch between local and Beijing time
• Click on events to add to your Favorite Events queue
• Events results and related New York Times articles are indicated with handy icons

So whether you are protesting the Games or not, you now know how you can stay up-to-date on all the events in Beijing. Give it a try.

I bought a new laptop for the first time in four years this past week. I have been waiting for Vista to settle in a bit, since various factors require that I buy a Windows machine. The first thing I want to say is that this computer is gorgeous. It is a Dell Inspiron 1525, and while it’s not the slickest model out there today, it is just a beauty of a little laptop.  From its built-in web cam, to its super sweet touch pad, to its delightful TrueLife display, I could not be happier with the physical aspects of my new baby.

Enter Vista.

I actually enjoy a lot of things about Vista, which I won’t get into because too many others have already done so. I have mainly one problem with it, which is that it doesn’t play nice with Adobe’s Creative Suite 2, which is the design suite I use daily. Now, obviously Adobe has us all by the scrotum here and can easily force us all to buy CS3. I pose the following question to all my designer and techy friends:

Who should go, Vista or Adobe?

I haven’t bought new Adobe software in two years, so it wouldn’t be outrageous for me to buy the new CS3. And I’m not one of those Vista haters - at least not yet - so “Vista sucks” will not be an acceptable argument in this debate. I do have the choice on this machine to dump Vista and install XP.  This option is cheaper but seems silly since Vista is the future, as is CS3.

I am looking for reasons to keep Vista, reasons to upgrade to CS3, or any other input from all you savvy people.