Blog Posts

FastMac ships to Canada, eh?

I was just chatting with Mike, from FastMac, about that iPod battery failure post I wrote up a while back, and the follow-up attempt to buy a new battery. Apparently, FastMac can ship to Canada for something like $10, express! Other guys charge more than the cost of the battery to ship it up here, but FastMac has a network of Canadian resellers or something, so it’s much cheaper. They haven’t updated the website with this info yet, so check back with them later to see what the official story is for shipping to Canada.

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Webstractor - nice app, wrong direction

Product Image: Webstractor

Webstractor

My rating: 3 out of 5

As part of the ADCE blogging project, we apparently get thrown some new stuff to try out (and likely to review). The first thing that came my way was Webstractor - a cool sounding app that is kind of a combination between Safari and DevonThink. It acts as an offline searchable cache of web pages you surf, and generates tables of contents for sets of these pages.

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Tips for Very Large Projects

Update: I’ve wikified this list to make it more useful.

Some notes I’ve gathered while working on some Very Large Projects™ over the last couple of years. Some of the projects have done some of these things, and some have done few/none of these. Live and learn… I’m just documenting them here so I can refer to something quasi-concrete on the next big-ish project that comes along.

None of these tips are written in stone. They are also not necessary for a project to get done, but these should make things much easier on everyone. YMMV. IANAL. YHBH. Wait. Not the last one…

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Unplugging at home

Janice just dared me to go a whole month without checking the computer while at home. Apparently I’m a little addicted to checking in (RSS feeds, email, writing blog posts, etc…).

So… I’m going to give it a shot. No non-work-related computer access from home for one month. I plan on leaving the Powerbook locked up on my desk at work.

Unplugging until Monday morning…

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Mapping relationships in the Blogosphere?

It would be really cool if Technorati or Bloglines (or Google, or BlogBridge, or Antarcti.ca, or PlumbDesign, or someone else) created a visual relationship mapping tool for the connections between individuals online.

I suppose it would have to be “Identity 2.0” driven, since people may have more than one online presence (a primary blog, a work blog, a personal blog, a Flickr account, a Del.icio.us account, etc…) and the value is showing relationships between people and not software.

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Remembrance

PoppyOn this day, in 1918, marked the end of The Great War. The War To End All Wars. Later, to be known simply as “World War 1”. My grandfather served in that war, and luckily survived both the war and the flu pandemic that it quickly spread with returning soldiers. I had family serve in WWII as well, and thankfully all returned home safely. Millions of others (on both sides) were not so lucky.

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iPodder.org Educational Directory is borked for now

DOH! A while back, I switched to using Dave Winer’s OPML editor, and at about the same time (apparently - I hadn’t noticed - it was just pointed out to me on the EdTechTalk brainstorming conference call) the Educational directory on iPodder.org went dark.

I had assumed that the OPML editor would create a file that iPodder.org could parse, and that the hosting provided by the OPML software would work. I’m not sure which fell over, but I’ll revert to a manually edited, hand-published .opml file ASAP.

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WebObjects officially cross-platform again

Apple released an update to WebObjects - WO 5.3.1 Developer - which includes these changes:

This update addresses the issues and adds support for the features listed below: (emphasis mine)

  • Adds a modified Developer tools license that allows WebObjects applications developed with Xcode 2.2 to be deployed on any compatible platform
  • Adds better SQL Generation in the EOModeler Plug-in design tool in Xcode
  • Improved FetchSpecification building in the EOModeler Plugin design tool in Xcode
  • Adds a “components and elements” window for improved workflow in WebObjects Builder
  • Addresses incompatibilities with Xcode 2.2 Developer tools on Mac OS X 10.4
  • Bug fixes

Way to go, Apple! You had us all a bit nervous after the switch in licensing scheme at WWDC2005, but it’s sooooo good to see the decision come down on the right side of the fence. This will go a long way toward helping retain/grow WebObjects usage.

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Flickr Post Bar plugin for WordPress

I just came across a reference to Joe Tan’s Flickr Post Bar plugin for WordPress. It adds a handy-dandy “add image from Flickr” bar to the WordPress authoring form. You can set it to add any of the standard Flickr sizes. I’ve set it to use “medium” - the 500px wide image. If it worked, there should be a fun picture of Evan, Teddy, and Daddy playing human totem pole…

Daddy, Evan and Teddy

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