Ok, so I was wrong

I know I said I didn’t mind reading HTML code in my post when I compose it. But you know what? After using the latest ecto 2 for awhile in WYSIWYAG mode, it is so much easier on the eyes! Though there are a few annoyance that slow me down. First I am so used to using Cmd-U to insert a link. Now Cmd-U is used for underline in WYSIWYAG mode. So I have to actually hit the hyperlink button instead. Second is that while in WYSIWYAG mode, there is no way of copying or editing existing URL short of switching to plain text mode. But apart from that, I love it 🙂

Update: WYSIWYAG mode also removed any keyboard shortcuts for inserting HTML code that is not defined in rich text editing mode. Not to mention in this mode, applying some extra HTML code block around these HTML code that I inserted. Also if the default editing mode is set to Rich Text, switching from Rich Text editing mode to plain text doesn’t actually give me the original plain text. What I get is the plain text version of the Rich Text editing mode with Convert Linebreak turned off! I think I will stay using plain text editing for awhile.

[composed and posted with ecto 2]

Pauli Exclusion Principle and iPod Mini in a juice bar

Recently a number of Leah’s colleagues, including the owner of the juice bar, have acquired iPod minis. However strange things started to happen with all the iPod minis. First one of the worker lost his iPod when the owner’s iPod was playing in the bar. Then today when another worker iPod was playing, the owner left his iPod in the gym and lost it.

To a trained physicist, there is a simple explaination to this. It is the Pauli Exclusion Principle. In short:

In a closed system, no two electrons can occupy the same state.

Obviously Leah’s juice bar is a closed system where no two iPod minis can be in the playing state at the same time. Simple really!

[composed and posted with ecto]

ecto 2 beta

One of the perks of working with Adriaan is that I got to test out new beta release of ecto 2. This new version has gone multi-windows (or in Windows speak, MDI). It is modeled pretty closely to Mail.app (or Outlook) and I am just starting to exploit this feature. It is very convenient to be able to have a draft opened and jump back to edit an existing post. With ecto 2, I am beginning to treat blogging as the same as emailing.

I am not a big file uploader so I haven’t tried out the new ‘attachment’ feature yet but I feel it is definitely a step forward from the already great file upload feature in existing ecto. What I can’t wait for though is the WYSIAWYG editing. The existing preview feature is great but it is not as intuitive to use as WYSIWYG. However, being a developer myself I am comfortable in reading text interceded with code so WYSIWYG isn’t as big a deal as most user.

This also means that just when my Windows version of ecto catches up with the Mac version in terms of features and functionality, Adriaan has leaped ahead with ecto 2! Am I going be forever playing catch up? 🙂 The obvious question is of course when will WYSIWYG editing coming to the Windows version. Without giving away or promising too much, all I can say is that this is what I am working on right now 😉 How long will it take to become available, that I can’t tell you as I don’t know myself! Watch this space though…

[composed and posted with ecto 2]

Internet is not just the web

I’ve been accessing Usenet since I have internet access in 1992. Lots of people nowadays equal the internet with the web but there are much more than that. Usenet is such a diverse and rich medium in which to get information that a lot of the time it is the only source.

Since I’ve switched to Mac I’ve been using the free newsgroup reader Halime. Sadly its developer has stopped work on it since November 2003. It has a very strong user interface and preview features that I love. However, since this weekend it has been behaving strangely with lots of beachball period.

I finally gave in this evening and downloaded a copy of Union from Panic. It has a different user interface philosophy but I got used to it very quickly. The one feature that I found really useful but not available in Halime is the ability to filter out messages without attachments. This is very useful for browsing binary newsgroups.

I think Union is very close to my ideal newsgroup reader. The only annoyance I have with it is the rather large icon/view of newsgroups’ groups (i.e. grouping of newsgroups). I prefer minimalistic UI and this is not one of them.

$24.95 is a slightly above what I would fork out without consideration so I think I will take the full advantage of the trial period and decide at the end.

[composed and posted with ecto 2]

News just in

So let see what I have been up to recently… Well, Leah and I spent the last weekend in Boston. MIT Museum was disappointing. Tiny little museum with not much impressive technology (old or new) on display. My house feels more hi-tech than the museum! Not to mention the highly camouflaged campus. I was expecting high-tech, glass/metal faculty buildings with satellite dishes on the roofs, etc. Instead I thought I was in an industrial area of Boston with abandoned warehouses and power station. The Freedom Trail was interesting and given that any map of Boston seems to exaggerate the size of the city we managed to walk the trail in an afternoon with time to spare for lemonades (hand squeezed for $3 a pop!) and coffee. The photos for this trip will be up soon.

This evening I played in my company’s softball game for the first time. While practicing, I managed to get hit by a ball in the side of the face when a colleague of mine missed a catch. My nice Oakley glasses take the brunt of the force. It didn’t break up surprisingly thanks to its tough construction, but I do have a slightly bent out of shape glassed on my nose right now. The left arm joint is loose and its piston spring is stretched and thus the arms won’t grip my ears evenly. Now the glasses won’t stay on my nose properly and keep sliding down. Very annoying and uncomfortable. Have to take it to the shop tomorrow to see whether it can be repaired or I’ll have to get a new frame. Either way, more money down the drain. At least I can wear my contact lenses while the glasses are being repaired.

Work is boring right now. The project is at the stage where everything major (and minor) design decisions are settled and we just need to build the damn thing. Very monogamous. I start looking at the clock within couple of hours of starting work each day, that’s how bored I am. If it were for my rather fragile immigration status (still waiting for my Green Card) I would have started looking for another job. Then again, this one doesn’t bestow me with responsibility and has regular hours but the pay is below par. New job probably means the opposite. Damn those terrorists who made INS prolongs the GC process!

As for my own software, I am ready to release another version this week if the guy who provides the icons come back to me with my request. If not, I may have to get another guy to do it. This version will be one of the most stable version so far and the next version will take awhile to develop as some major changes are on the way.

Haven’t bought any new gadgets/electronics for at least couple of months now, which is rare for me. Good for the bank balance but bad for my short attention span. Need excitements…

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