Now that we’re “just” a blog, though, I have no hesitation to do these things right out in the open. It’s easier for me and hopefully won’t trouble you too much.

So, dear readers, please bear with us as layouts change, blank boxes appear and disappear and my photo gets smaller (or goes away completely), and enjoy this look at how Internet sausage is made.

Hello webmaster Wow what a fantastic article about Garden State Parkway! Your keen insight into Garden State Parkway is informative and creative. I look forward to reading other articles you have. Thanks.

Nice try.

I haven’t spent much time on-mic since then, although I’ve threatened to start up “RandomMaccess Radio” again every once in a while. This week, though, I finally return to the Internet “airwaves” as a member of the “MacJury,” Mac User Group guru and podcaster Chuck Joiner’s latest venture. The show joins his already excellent lineup of MacNotables and MacVoices. MacJury distinguishes itself by convening a panel (the jury) to talk in relative depth about two or three issues of interest to the Mac community, not to re-hash the week’s tech news.

I think this is a great strategy and fills a real void in the Mac podcast space. I like Chuck’s idea of rotating jury members, too–mixing up the panel should keep the discussion and interactions fresh. For episode two, Chuck’s panel included Steve Sande of Movable Beast, Red Sweater Software’s Daniel Jalcut, Rogue Amoeba’s Paul Kafasis and yours truly. We covered the future (and merits) of the Mac Mini, some of the possible consequences of Microsoft’s buyout of Yahoo!, and the iPhone’s dominance among mobile browsers. It was, I think, a good discussion and a fun listen (for geeks, anyway). I liked the way we interacted and had a few laughs along the way.

Panelist or not, I think it’s a good listen and a show with a lot of potential. Give it a try and let me know what you think. The show is now up and available for subscription on the iTunes Store. (Link via Chuck Joiner.)

Click here for the PDF.

The icon’s pretty basic right now, but as a “proof of concept,” it’s kind of cool.

Mystery solved.

Random Access, by the way, was the original name of the Macintosh User Group newsletter column that evolved into this site. I only added the extra “m” because the domain name was already taken.

Before the main focus of the interview (my Macworld session on WiFi for beginners), we spent a couple minutes talking about this site. For whatever reason, we spent what was probably too much time discussing the role of RandomMaccess as a Mac journalism “watchdog.” I think I used the word “curmudgeon” and Chuck called me an “enforcer.” While I do see commenting on how the Mac press handles its responsibilities as a big part of what’s unique in what I have to say on the web, I’m afraid it may have come across a little over the top in the interview. I see it in a much more light-hearted way than I fear it sounded.

For the record, I plan on covering the Mac press the way I do everything else in this incarnation of the site: observe things that interest me, and when I have time, comment where I think I can add something worthwhile to the discussion. I have no intention of looking over the shoulder of every web writer who covers Apple, and the mental image I get of me as “The Enforcer” is just downright silly, even if I’m the one who created it.

Please bear with me — it’ll get better.

Ever since my career path took a decidedly non-Macintosh-centric path, I’ve had little time for maintaining a full-service Mac news site. I still think I have a few worthwhile things to say, though. So, encouraged by bloggers like the excellent John Gruber of Daring Fireball and the surprisingly fun exchanges of observations on Twitter, I’m re-launching RandomMaccess as a blog. The difference is mostly in scope: I won’t feel the need to report on the day’s news as much as comment on it; the last thing the Mac web needs is another site regurgitating press releases and aggregating headlines. But I do think there’s room for critical commentary and analysis. (And of course, the occasional snarky remark.)

I hope you’ll stop by often. I have a feeling this is going to be a lot of fun.