March 01, 12:11 | Comments (13)

Inline web-viewing in NetNewsWire

I just discovered a most pleasant easter-egg/future feature/unintended consequence with NetNewsWire that turns the killer RSS reader into an inline web-browser as well. The trick is really simple and works in both combined and traditional view.

Continued...

January 04, 14:23 | Comments (10)

Blogging from Espresso

By the powers of XML-RPC, I'm now able to update Loud Thinking from the comfort of a OS X application while still retaining the key benefits of being served by a web-application. That's especially nice since Movable Type doesn't support quick tags for formatting and linking in Chimera, but EspressoBlog (the OS X app) does.

Sadly, Espresso doesn't do any editing yet. Nor changes to the templates, sending of notifications, or any of the other more advanced capabilities in MT. It's just for posting and uploading files.

December 28, 21:55 | Comments (34)

Keeping omni schedules

If you're doing Painless Software Schedules on OSX, think about doing them in the $29.99 OmniOutliner. It's incredibly easy and, unlike Spolsky's recommendation of $1,099 Microsoft Excel, let's you manage subtasks effortlessly. This leds to more detailed schedules, which in turn leds to more precise and reusable scheduling.

Continued...

December 08, 23:44 | Comments (14)

Shady methods in the battle for balance

Michael Kimsal (PHP app framework vendor) gives his blessing of means in justification of the end:

...certainly there's enough FUD from both Java and .NET folks about what PHP *CAN NOT* do that pieces like this are welcomed if only to attempt to present a bit of balance.

I believe the exact opposite is true. Stooping to the level of FUD and adopting its shady tactics renders your argument untrustworthy. It robs it of usefulness for anything else than reinforcing misguided zealous pride in the pre-believers, who feel a need to be validated in their choice of language.

Worse than merely being useless, it's actively damaging the attraction of attention from the .NET and Java camps. You could claim to care little about the opinion held in those camps of PHP, but it would be foolish.

Now I'm going to walk out on a limp here, and likely draw the anger of my fellow expert PHP programmers. But I believe that the programmers in the J2EE and .NET camps are generally better educated, more experienced, and certainly larger in numbers than those of the PHP camp.

(Note that I spoke of generalities. Some PHP programmers are better than some Java and .NET programmers.)

This is a natural consequence of ease of use. PHP requires little programming prowess to get started. You don't have to know much about OOP, type-casting, class loaders, and what have you. You don't even have to compile. It's available at almost any webserver and integrates nicely with HTML from the get go. It's forgiving and informative in error.

Hence, it's perfect for and attracts learners, kind to intermediates, and selectively useful for experts (as is most tools and languages).

But I digress. The important thing is that I believe the world of PHP would do good by approaching Java and .NET in a more peaceful and non-confrontational manner. Show by execution the problems that can be solved simply with PHP -- not by vague and anecdotal comparison.

It's okay to pick common problems, such as a Pet Store, but let the reader deduce his own comparison. It's more creditable.

But I guess it depends on your motivation. If your need for validation in your language of choice is great then the road of spite is tempting. If your desire is to inspire, inform, or even persuade would-be PHP programmers, it certainly is not.

(So it's language bashing and comparison week at Loud Thinking. May I recommend tuning in next week if this bores you endlessly?)

November 02, 12:49 | Comments (8)

Instant messaging steps closer to standards

IM compatibility closer to reality (News.com):

[IETF] gave the go-ahead to the creators of open-source instant-messaging application Jabber to create a working group based on that technology.

What sweet pleasure it would be to have the instant messaging protocols wrestled away from the proprietary claws of AOL and Microsoft.

I'm about to venture into domain of IM bots, and the plethora of protocols, one more obscure than the other, is more than a little daunting (and add the ActiveBuddy patent to the mix and it's getting more intimidating than daunting).

Internet infrastructure is too important to be controlled by a handful of tech execs with the next quarterly earnings in mind.