Hack a Day always makes me wish I had more time to allocate to just-for-the-helluvit activities.
Delicious Library
Timeline….
Oct 1st - Nov 7th 2004
Wait patiently for the release of Delicious Monster’s Library
Nov. 8th, 9:00am
Receive email notification that Library is shipping and ready for download. Too bad I’m on my PC at the office.
Nov 8th, 7:45pm
Download the demo and poke around a bit. It’s nice, maybe a tad slow.
Nov 8th, 8:00pm
Hook up digital video camera to iMac and turn it on.
Nov 8th, 8:05pm
Hold barcode on randomly selected book in front of digital camera, wait 5 seconds and then listen as the name of the book is spoken by the computer, and watch as a high-res image and detailed information is automatically entered into Library.
Nov 8th, 8:06pm
Giggle aloud, yell for Jess to “Check this out, bring a DVD!”
Nov 8th, 8:10pm
Enter credit card number in order form to buy license for Library. I’ve already had $40.00 worth of fun and I’m just started!
Nov 8th, 8:10pm-??pm
Scan everything in sight
Hi Mac!
Time for a change.
It’s been a few days since I got my new iMac, which might explain why it’s been quiet around here this week. I’ve been spending as many waking moments as I can getting used an entirely new OS. I haven’t used a mac regularly for a long time and I thought it was time to come back for a few reasons…
Most of my development work is now targeted toward Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP, and OS X is unix, which feels more and more like home. I spend most of my productive time in a terminal using VIM or Mutt or Firefox, which all run lovely on OS X.
The software is getting better. There are an awful lot of Ubergeeks using OS X. Those are the folks that make tools which make life on a computer better. Not only that, but many of the cool things that run on Linux are easily portable to the Mac.
Most importantly, I was simply getting bored with Windows.
So after a few days getting to know this thing….
Hardware
The iMac is georgeous. I didn’t like the new flat-looking things at first. Thought they were boring. After having it on my desk for a bit, I now think it’s the best looking most elegant computer I’ve ever used.
The screen is fab. 20” of bright, sharp beauty. I could stare at this thing all day, and probably will.
I can’t believe Apple won’t admit that a 1-button mouse is a bad idea.
Software
Two things: Expose and Quicksilver. These two alone make it worth dumping Windows. I spent about 20 minutes just making my windows disappear and reappear in all sorts of interesting ways. “Hey Jess, watch this!” I then went into an epileptic fit and had to stop.
Installing apps is really too easy. I spent a while trying to find what I must have missed. There’s no way you just drag an icon to your Applications folder, is there?
Why can’t I resize windows using all sides. Hitting that little corner on the lower right is sucking up valuable minutes of my life.
When I close all of the windows of an app, the app still hangs around doing nothing but eating RAM. Command-Q is becoming the keyboard shortcut of choice.
The Finder kinda sucks. I’m so used to using Directory Opus on Windows that the anemic, slow and goofy Finder interface is more trouble than it’s worth. I hope I either get used to it or someone writes a worthy replacement.
The applications are, for the most part, wonderful. Someone has been improving things while I was gone. Even the little freeware utilities feel polished and professional.
I’m hooked. My PCs are soon to be moved to an unused corner of my desk for use only when I need to do some SQLServer work or for testing web apps in IE. Good riddance.
I tend to get a little, uh, involved when I find something new, so this particular blog might get a tad Mac-centric for a bit. I’ll get over it soon enough.
Marc Canter’s Fridge
Marc posts a photo of his fridge (or some UI thing resembling a fridge) to my Flickr group The Refrigerator Project
Going Postal
Just finished Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. I’ve heard whispers that the Discworld books by Pratchett are a joy to read, but never really followed up. Turns out I’ve got a lot of catching up to do - there’s like, 12 33 of them. The book reads like something between Douglass Adams, Monty Python and Tolkien. I laughed out loud, which is good.
Dogs Are Cool
Both my dogs are sick and exercising my clean-the-crate-and-carpets-twice-daily skills, but I don’t mind because dogs are cool. Especially this one
Review: Control Room
Control Room: A film about the differences between American and Arab journalism before and during the war in Iraq. Absolutely riveting. Watching journalists from Al Jazeera and the US networks sitting across from each other and commenting on (then current) events both puts things into and takes things out of perspective. One of the best examples is the reporting by Al Jazeera of the toppling of Sadaam’s statue in Baghdad. Instead of the cheering “crowd” we were shown, it looks more like a half-dozen teenagers following a script. I’ll never see the news in the same way again.
MySQL 4.1.7 Is “Production Ready”
Finally, I’ll be able to upgrade to MySQL 4.1.7, as it’s now officially a “production” release.
Everybody say “subqueries!”
Back From Mexico
To sum up….
Surfed (or tried surfing) on a beautiful beach near Pescadero for a couple days.
Slept in Palapas with no doors or windows to speak of, and of course dogs walking in and out.
Drank the world’s greatest Margaritas in Todos Santos - a tiny town with a ton of fun hidden within it. Great food too.
Ate breakfast at Rosita’s, a tiny “restaurant” that in the states one would probably not even drive by slowly. Good eggs though!
Fell off the bar that I was dancing on at a place called Squid Roe’s in Cabo San Lucas after another successful search for a good margarita (or six).
Got lost and wandered the streets (alone) in the backwaters of Cabo at 3:00am. That was probably unwise. I finally flagged down a local in a van and begged him to drive me back to the hotel. He did, and it only cost me $US20.
Recovered the following day by relaxing in the sun at the Hotel Finisterra’s huge and beautiful pool.
I don’t think I’ve ever had quite so much fun in quite so few days.