February 2008
5 posts
The "black swan"
Another thought-provoking podcast from SALT (Seminars About Long Term Thinking). A “black swan,” (Nassim Nicholas) Taleb explained, is an event which is 1) Hard to predict; 2) Highly consequential; 3) Wrongly retro-predicted. We pretend we know why the big event happened, and so entrench our inability to deal with the next world-changing improbable event. Examples: Viagra, 9/11, Harry Potter,...
Dave Thomas on SER
Nice interview with Big Dave on Software Engineering Radio podcast — Link
chumby →
Now this is a kinda cool device! And I almost kinda want one.
Apple TV: Take 2
Installed the Apple TV update last night. I have yet to rent a movie, but I have to say the direct access of iTunes content is very sweet. HD quality is quite acceptible. Netflix is still a better deal overall, but I’ll probably end up buying a movie occasionally (my Netflix queue is full of long tail movies mostly, which will never make the iTunes catalog). Apple TV 1.0 was for me a...
InstantShot!
Nice addition to the taskbar providing better controls for screenshots. InstantShot! « DigitalWaters.net Projects And another that allows changing the file format: ShotChoice
January 2008
3 posts
1 tag
Disk Inventory X →
Cool way to see what’s taking up space on your Mac volumes. Also see WhatSize which takes a different approach.
cloud.lic.io.us
Interesting dashboard widget for accessing your del.icio.us bookmarks. Link
Quick Look plugins
A couple interesting Leopard Quick Look plugins Folder List Zip Viewer
December 2007
5 posts
New Job
Started my new job as a Sr. Java Developer at GoDaddy.com on Monday after 14 years with OTI..IBM. Lots of really interesting things happening here and a chance to learn some new Java web frameworks and tons of database stuff (no Ruby at the moment, though, we’ll have to see about that :-). Too bad I missed the holiday bash, everyone was talking about it on Monday. The environment here...
AppJet: Instant Web Programming →
Interesting way to create webapps using an online IDE.
Vienna Newsreader →
So far I like this. Might possible replace NetNewsWire.
Cocoatech: Path Finder 4.8.3 →
After listening to a MacBreak Tech podcast, decided to give Path Finder a demo trial. Looks pretty interesting relative to Finder.
Installing MySQL on Mac OS X
Good article on building your own MySQL install from source. http://hivelogic.com/narrative/articles/installing-mysql-on-mac-os-x
November 2007
3 posts
FORA.tv - The World is Thinking →
FORA.tv delivers discourse, discussions and debates on the world’s most interesting political, social and cultural issues, and enables viewers to join the conversation. It provides deep, unfiltered content, tools for self-expression and a place for the interactive community to gather online.
dotfiles.org →
dotfiles.org is a place to upload, download, and share your dotfiles.
Pivotal Blabs
http://www.pivotalblabs.com/ Added to my Rails feeds list.
October 2007
1 post
Rogue Amoeba - Radioshift: Radio on your schedule,... →
September 2007
2 posts
Netflix Freak
Interesting little app for managing your Netflix queue. $15 shareware. Demo available. NetFlix Freak
noobkit.com
A new site for browsing Ruby and Rails doc — www.noobkit.com
August 2007
6 posts
MailTags
I pretty much suck at having any kind of sensible email “system”, so Merlin’s latest Inbox Zero series has me on a quest to change that. MailTags adds tagging to mail.app.
VMWare Fusion vs. Parallels Desktop
Still on the purchase list. Looking like VMWare might be the better option: Product comparisons Benchmark comparisons
OmniFocus beta
Finally got a beta invite to OmniFocus last week. New builds every few hours. I like the UI and the task/project/context integration will be nice once I figure it all out and start moving from my adhoc system I’ve managed using Bonsai (desktop) for several years.
E Text Editor v1.0
Came out of beta the other day. Bought a copy. http://www.e-texteditor.com/
autotest
I’m a TDD noob still and it’s something I really need to move into next in my Ruby development activity. But I find this very interesting — hooking code saves from your editor into automatically running your unit tests, and then adding a bit of bling to the process by audibly signalling pass/fail status. Check out this link and watch the screencast.
"QuickSilver" on Windows?
Ok, so I’m hooked on QuickSilver on the Mac and now need something similar for the PC. A quick search finds this review. I installed Colibri. First impressions — kinda nice, kinda similar, kinda simple.
July 2007
3 posts
Yep →
Like iTunes for PDF files. Tip from MacBreak Weekly podcast. Merlin suggested this scanner to feed it.
David Seah : Taking A Look at Getting Things Done →
I started link surfing while reading Rick DeNatale’s site and ended up on a page about GTD. I’d read this article a while ago but enjoyed the read again. Don’t “burn out your ‘mental clutch’” switching between thinking and doing (I like that). Still looking forward to the release of OmniFocus (watch the demo) for the Mac.
MBP
Picked up a new 17” hi-res MacBook Pro today. No screen pixel defects observed.
June 2007
17 posts
Safari
Starting playing with Safari a bit. I think the integrated RSS feed view mode is nice. The goth look of the UI will take some getting used to.
Cool Bluetooth headset
Noise-cancelling, used by the military, high-tech look. Jawbone Bluetooth headset
SpaceMonger
Learned of an interesting little harddrive statistics program while listening to the recent edition of the Security Now podcast — SpaceMonger. Search for the free version 1.4.0.
TextMate clone for Windows
Still in beta, the “E” text editor is attempting to knock off TextMate on the Mac. And apparently the developer of TextMate is in collaboration with E’s developer(s) to help bring this to the PC. 30-day trial doesn’t actually expire while product remains in beta.
Apple - Mac OS X Leopard →
News from WWDC
What's on my Shuffle?
I have a first-gen 512MB iPod shuffle which is usually hanging around my neck. Here’s what typically playing from that little device: …coming soon.
Phoenix Ruby Users Group
I started attending the local Ruby group meetings a couple months ago, feeling I needed to engage with others of like mind. Nice to see a decent sized group of regulars attending, including James Britt who runs the Ruby-Doc.org site. I began my Ruby Conversion back last September out of a feeling of intellectual stagnation. I hate working so hard to get things done, and Java, even though...
Mac software short-list
The apps I’m most likely to look seriously at (purchase) initially for the new Mac: OmniFocus — staying sane (maybe) with GTD OmniOutliner - I live in outlines Parallels Desktop - who needs a pc? Quicksilver - Swiss Army knife TextExpander - keyboard macros everywhere TextMate - programmers editor. Ruby at the core, gotta be good. Carbon Copy Cloner - disk backups Adium -...
Back to Apple Store
Called the Biltmore Apple Store today to see if any hi-res MBP’s had been put out as floor demos — they have. Hopefully tomorrow I can see first-hand whether the hi-res display is a good choice. I hate the thought of passing on the hi-res option, even though it may be overkill for my intended uses. But then you never know. I can always change text preferences in editors to get bigger...
New T60p ThinkPad
Four years pounding the keys of this (now aging, slow, and overstuffed) T40p, … a new T60p appears on my desk today. Nice!!
Philosophy →
From a programmer’s perspective. Some good ideas.
The Long Zoom
Listened to a fascinating podcast today from the Long Now Foundation on, among other things, why TV shows like “Lost” and video games like “World of Warcraft” are addictive, how the upcoming game “Spore” may have profound educational potential to help teach what the author calls the “Long Zoom”. “…the value of a long zoom is in identifying and employing every...
Parallels Desktop
Will be my first Mac software purchase. Have several legacy PC apps I need to maintain. Parallels Desktop for Mac
New MacBook Pro's
Have been waiting for months for this. Heading to the Apple Store tonight, hopefully leaving with a box under my arm. Apple - MacBook Pro Update: Well, didn’t bring home a new MacBook as hoped. Apple added another configuration choice to the mix, a 1920x1200 pixel display ($100 option) that will do a full HD image, but as I don’t need high-res graphics as much as crisp text for...
Tip -- Viewing file system folders from Firefox
Simply drag a folder from Explorer onto the bookmark menu bar of Firefox. You’ll get a new bookmark menu item with sub-menus corresponding to the file system folder hierarchy.
cool doors →
Searching for options to separate media room (converted dining room) from living room.
May 2007
5 posts
“Coding in RoR is like talking to an intelligent, beautiful woman. Coding in PHP...”
– Move to Iceland » I Hate Ruby on Rails
“Bringing to the attention of other programmers innovations that I find, which...”
– http://antoniocangiano.com/articles/2007/03/13/haskell-eye-for-the-ruby-guy
Backward Chaining
Why “Backward Chaining”? Just a reference to a problem solving strategy I learned of a long time ago while studying AI (and doing a whole lot of work in Turbo Prolog! — I once wrote, in Turbo Prolog, a 4-axis stepper-motor-controlled photometric measurement and analysis system — a goniometer — designed for testing the Boeing 777 prototype flatpanel cockpit displays....