I’ve decided to get back into blogging after an extended hiatus, but want to take a more rounded approach instead of just focusing on computing-related stuff.
I’ll make a category for Byteclub-relevant posts, so that those posts can still show up in the Byteclub timeline.
For now, though, you can see all of my stuff over at http://anicholson.net/musings
Attended Christian Union’s Monday Night Training this week, with a focus on Church History. During the talk, the speaker mentioned how the Catholic church in the Middle Ages viewed Latin as a special holy language, and that the Bible (and therefore, truth) must be expressed using it - and not the languages the common people spoke.
It made me think a bit more about Latin itself, and while I was doing that, a few similarities between it and a language of a different sort, (viz. Lisp), started to appear:
As for my initial attempts to grasp Lisp, however:
Latin is a language,
as dead as dead can be:
It killed the ancient Romans,
and now it’s killing me!
Was at perl.com reading some tutorials yesterday, but when I tried to go back later to read some more, the site couldn’t be found. Not by ping, not by nslookup - nothing. I tried again this morning, still nothing. I thought it might have been a DOS attack, but that wouldn’t explain the lack of DNS entries. Then I thought - “Their domain registration has expired!” So I shot off to ajaxwhois to see if this was the case.
I typed in “perl”, and then was gob-smacked to see “perl.com available” :-O I then went to GoDaddy to try and register it, only to discover that the entry on ajaxwhois was cached, and that the owners of perl.com had managed to re-register it in time…
I wonder how much I could have sold it for…
After a holiday that couldn’t possibly have been any longer than it was, things are finally kicking back into gear uni-wise.
After one week of lectures, the initial stereotypes and hard-to-shake first impressions have been formed for the latest batch of subjects, and so I present them here (not having done so for previous semesters):
I also have a gig as a tutor for Object-Oriented Programming, the C#.NET-based OO subject taken by Andrew Cain. I’ve got two classes on Friday, and I’m looking forward to taking those as well.
On an entirely unrelated note, this blog suffered a massive spam attack the other day. In order to prevent my email inbox from being flooded with emails asking me to moderate comments spruiking everything from cars to pills to share-trading software, I’ve decided that posts will only be open for comments for a week. After that, comments will be closed. It’s annoying (did somebody say Akismet?) but as a stop-gap measure, it’s the best I could come up with…
For a while now I’ve been using Meebo while at uni to access my IM accounts,
(for assignment collaboration purposes only, of course) and I quite like their layout. I had even started using it at home, but having it get lost in a maze of Firefox tabs was a little annoying.
Enter Windows’ Active Desktop feature. I’d never been able to think of a use for it, but I was curious to see if Meebo’s extensive use of AJAX would still work on the Desktop. To my surprise, it works very well, and has now found a home on my second monitor - very useful for when working on an assignment or project. All of meebo’s nifty features (like their new Rooms, for example), but without getting hidden in tabs, or taking up taskbar room…
I locked Meebo in place using ActiveDesktop’s “Lock items” option, so that if I need the second screen for extra space, I can drag things back off it without accidentally dragging Meebo as well.
I’m don’t think ActiveDesktop is still supported in Windows Vista, being replaced by the Sidebar, so this little trick is restricted to those of you who run Windows XP or earlier.
Software: File manager module of cPanel
http://cpanel.net/
cPanel is an integrated server management tool, that allows many aspects of a server to be configured from one central location. One of its less usable features is the File Manager. This module allows for basic filesystem manipulation, e.g. creation of folders, basic permissions, deletion of files & folders, and “creation” of files via upload. While this is a handy feature, it makes distinctions between UI elements that are not made in most file browsers, causing confusion.
The best example of this is the representation of folders in the window: there is an icon, and a hyperlinked name of the file/folder next to it. What the program fails to make adequately clear is that clicking on these two items actually perform two separate tasks, whereas the default assumption that a user would make is that they are identical. Clicking on the name of the file/folder brings up information about the file in the right-hand portion of the screen, but in such small space that often the user will not notice this, and assume that nothing has happened. If the user actually wants to open the file or folder, they must instead click on the icon. This unnecessary distinction is capable of causing considerable frustration to users who are new to the system, and are not sure how everything works.
A far better way of handling the situation would be to have the folder information and options displayed on the right by default, and have “Open” action be performed when the user clicks on either the icon or the accompanying name. This behaviour is far closer to most other file managers, and would be picked up much more quickly by new users. As for files, the same could be managed without much difficulty - when the user clicks on the icon/name for the file, the information should be displayed in the right side of the panel, with a prominent option (maybe a button) underneath to allow the user to open the file.
Hauppauge WinTV Nova
http://www.hauppauge.com/
WinTV is a program that allows the user to view DVB digital television & radio broadcasts via their Hauppauge TV tuner card. It is built on top of Internet Explorer 5.5, and uses ActiveX controls to display the UI elements and the video to the user. Unfortunately, it is slow to start up, and has a nasty habit of reporting scripting bugs in the interface. As a result, it is not a fun program to use at all.
The main causes of this shemozzle are:
WinTV Nova is a good example of how not to develop software - it’s a poor advertisement for what is otherwise an excellent card.
Product: Meebo
http://www.meebo.com
Meebo is a web-based Instant Messaging (IM) client, that is capable of connecting to multiple IM networks at once. It is aimed at people who want to be able to connect to different networks from wherever they are, without worrying about whether a specific client is available to them. Users who register for an optional account may even connect to the same network more than once with different email addresses.
Pain points the system addresses:
The system can be summarised by form and function as follows:
Form:
Function:
Meebo allows its users to easily communicate with contacts from many different IM networks from a single location. It supports most features of its local client equivalents, including Display pictures, custom messages & display names, emoticons, and group chat (although this does not bridge across different networks). It uses CSS & AJAX to simulate the windowing system that most IM clients use (ie, a central contacts window, and child windows for each conversation).
Improvements:
While Meebo looks great, its extensive realtime use of images and JavaScript can be rather stressful on the browser running it, and as a result, it does tend to use more RAM on client machines than a local IM client. A “light” version of the interface (like MSN hotmail offers) would go some of the way to resolving this issue.
Another feature that Meebo could benefit from is the addition of a file-sending facility between contacts, such as the one offered by MSN Messenger. While this is not a huge issue in and of itself (if you can use Meebo, you can probably log into Webmail and send your contact an email), it is inconvenient.
- Vision Statement
- Envisioned mission statement.
- Mission Statement
- Vision Statement…Company creed. Usually seen in the reception area, but becoming less common…
–from Weasel Words, by Don Watson.
What exactly is a vision statement? Is it, as suggested above, just a jargon-filled paragraph, devoid of meaning? Or is it a useful tool when developing a project? (more…)
Thunderbird 1.5.0.10
Released 21st February, 2007
Mozilla Foundation, http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/
Thunderbird is a free, cross-platform open-source communication package – more specifically, it includes an email client, RSS aggregator, and Usenet client. Since its 1.0 release in 2004, it has been a very successful product, with over 45 million downloads to date.
Thunderbird’s target audience is mainly those looking for a “one-stop-shop” for their email, News, & blogs without getting bogged down by unused features. As such, it is similar to Outlook Express, Microsoft’s cut-down version of Outlook. The major advantage that Thunderbird has over Outlook Express is its built-in extensibility – if extra functionality is desired (say, PGP message encryption, or access to webmail-only email accounts), the solution is often only a download away.
The open-source nature of Thunderbird has allowed customised versions of it to be created for varying situations, one of the most well-known being “Thunderbird Portable”. This variant allows the user to transport their email with them on a portable medium, such as a USB drive.
Cool Features:
Message view allows messages to be grouped by date. This allows for old mail to be collapsed away, making it easier to find messages when browsing.
Pros:
Free
Cross-platform – new OS? No worries
Easily extensible
Supports both RSS & Atom news feeds
Cons:
Memory-intensive
Slightly clunky “Write Message” interface when sending to many recipients
I didn’t think of it first!
All in all, Thunderbird is a good piece of software, and easy to use. However, it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi
in order to make it truly special.