Into the Twitter
Posted on March 17, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,106 views | 3 Comments
Today I took the plunge, downloaded Twitterific and decided to give Twitter a go. It took me awhile because some time ago I decided to only engage in a limited number of social networking sites/experimnents. Before Facebook, something had to die (sorry Friendster). Before Twitter something else had to die (sorry LinkedIn).
It took about 10 seconds of use before I wondered: “how annoying could Twitter get?”. Two more seconds of thought: iTunes status updates automatically dumped out through Twitterific to Twitter. An annoying, useless update every 3 to 5 minutes! ‘Course no one would actually do that, it would be so extremely annoying and useless. I was wrong.
Which means I’m simply not thinking maliciously enough. I need to step it up a notch. iTunes and Adium status? iTunes, Adium and Transmit messages? How about going directly to the source and pumping all local Growl notification out through Twitterific? Now we’re talking!
I’ve added it to my “ToDo” list. Lucky for you its near the bottom.
(Twitter: senorprogrammer.)
Un-Scrabulous?
Posted on March 12, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,541 views | 1 Comment
Undoubtedly Scrabulous is perhaps the best reason to stick around on Facebook (some might suggest only?) - I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it, with my 1-1 record at the moment.
However judging from the number of 1300+ and 1400+ rated players I appear to know I seem to have been unwittingly living amongst a long-lost sect of Mensa all these years (no offense to all my friends, really, this discovery is quite serendipitous… look it up).
I don’t want to cast aspersions but I suspect some people might be using unsavoury means to dominate their games which, alas, simply reduces it down to a machine-on-machine contest based on luck with us hairless monkeys handling the grunt work.
So if you’re really curious about what Scrabble ranking you’re at check out the most excellent Scrabble by Gamehouse. This is the officially-sanctioned-by-Hasbro downloadable version and currently it gives me an Elo rating of 1044, solidly “amateur”.
“Where’s my Vorpal Sword when I need it?!”
Posted on March 7, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,130 views | Comments Off
The ultimate tribute to Gary Gygax.
I LOL’d.
Legal Browser Rendering? Wtf?
Posted on March 3, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 989 views | Comments Off
Today Microsoft announced that IE 8 will render per standards compliance, which is great, but this sentence is just weird to my brain:
While we do not believe any current legal requirements would dictate which rendering mode a browser must use, this step clearly removes this question as a potential legal and regulatory issue.
Have we honestly created a world in which we might have to worry about HTML rendering being governed by law?
Does that strike anyone else as insane?
You’ll Just Get Dirty
Posted on February 19, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,061 views | 2 Comments
Via Bad Astronomy, a scientist debates a muslim fundamentalist on whether or not the Earth is round. (”Debate” is probably the wrong word for it, given the futility). This is laugh-out-loud funny (unless perhaps if you believe in it….)
The scientist makes a game try at it, but sometimes debating people like this just proves Heinlein right: “Don’t wrestle with a pig: you get dirty and the pig enjoys it”.
Fundamentalists say the silliest things!
Why Free Software Usability Sucks
Posted on February 7, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,119 views | Comments Off
This really, really old article on Why Free Software Usability Tends to Suck (from 2002 but still valid though they start out talking about “free” and immediately confuse that as synonymous with “open source”) has hit Reddit again. And will again, and again, and again I’m sure.
Fortunately the whole “argument” about why software made freely-available (OSS or not) tends to have worse usability than its commercial counter-parts can really be succinctly condensed into these two statements:
- Free software: works for me.
- Commercial software: works for you?
’nuff said.
iTunes: Always Allow. Always. Please?
Posted on February 5, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,793 views | 2 Comments
iTunes is one of the applications I’d like to always allow incoming connections. As you can see from this screenshot I thought I’d set things up in the Security preferences properly.
As you can also see from this screenshot every time I re-launch iTunes it asks if I’d like to allow incoming connections:
Is it me? Am I missing something? Is it an iTunes bug? I’d really like to be not asked that every single time iTunes launches.
While it may be true that the setting can be changed in the Firewall pane, it is cruelly ineffective.
Update: Filed into Radar as issue #5727576.
Welcome to the Tribe
Posted on February 5, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 999 views | Comments Off
Congratulations to Cory and Alice on the birth of their first daughter, Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow.
Fine news indeed.
I Knew It Seemed Familiar
Posted on February 4, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,106 views | Comments Off
Obviously the world is abuzz with Microsoft’s attempt to purchase Yahoo! for that crazy figure that does not compute. I don’t know if it’s a good idea or a bad idea, to me it seems like two companies who’s products I don’t use turning into one company who’s products I don’t use.
But I couldn’t shake this vague feeling that I’d seen this scenario before…. some sort of game in which monied entities move about buying up small sets of properties, amassing more and more, paying fines, hoping for luck, until but one is left standing….
The first web bubble was pet food and greed under the pretend guise of a new era in human development. Thankfully the second web bubble isn’t that, it isn’t even real business. It’s just the world’s biggest game of Monopoly!
I suspect some time about four years ago the Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Apple folks were all sitting around drunk, giggling about who’s bank account ran the most lines of zero’s, when someone (I suspect it might have been Brin) said “C’mon, let’s play. Let’s play for real!” and then promptly went out and bought Picassa, the Baltic Avenue of the web world. (At which point Apple said “You’re all a bunch of losers and none of you understand me anyway!” and sulked off into the basement to riff on their semi-acoustic in a pot-haze).
Alas, it does appear that Google is still holding Boardwalk and Park Place and they’re fully loaded to bear. Good luck Microhoo.
Happy or Sad?
Posted on January 31, 2008
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 1,118 views | Comments Off
John Gruber notes that:
Windows Vista Help: Opening the Windows Vista box
“Even the packaging suffers from poor usability. Jiminy.”
because of that little help tidbit that describes how to open the Vista packaging. It’s sad if it’s “for reals” but I’m not convinved… could it be Microsoft’s attempt at help humour ala Apple’s How to pick up and carry your iMac G5?
Don’t know how to pick up and carry your iMac G5? It’s easy.
Before moving your computer, make sure all cables and cords are disconnected. Pick up the iMac G5 by grasping both sides of the computer. Carry it to wherever you wish.
I just don’t know anymore.
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