did you ever stop wondering? — thoughts on software and consumer technology among other things
Since I’m starting to experience symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome again, I’ve decided to get my self keyboard and mouse wrist rests by Fellowes. Seems to be helping a lot for now.
I’m still contemplating on what my main pointing device should be for my home setup. Currently, I’m using a Logitech VX Nano Cordless
Kinokuniya had a Lunar Year Sale. Everything was 20% off storewide. Thus, I decided to invest in books that would help me practice and gain more programming (or scripting) skills. I got phrasebooks for Python, JavaScript, Apache and MySQL. I already have a PHP phrasebook that has proven to be quite handy when I’m stumped and Google can’t seem to help me. I also got a Python + Django book so I can get a better feel of Python from a web development paradigm, since I do mostly web things although I’m hoping to do more mobile stuff soon (iPhone, S60 or even Android if opportunities permit). I also got a book on Dojo Toolkit so that I have an alternative to jQuery.
Some people might argue that you can learn a lot more about programming on the web. Although I also subscribe to that belief, I think I learn a lot faster when I’m reading from a book. Somehow, a book helps me have full focus on what I’m trying to learn. It helps me avoid my penchant to multi-task, specially when I get distracted by all the wonderful things I can see and do on the web.
Something new to help keep my Inbox clean. Gmail Labs’ Send + Archive. It’s useful for me since I Archive most of my email once I’ve responded to them so I can always have an overview on my Inbox which stuff I still have to attend to. Now I only have to click once to do so.
I’ve decided to make my year ender post two parts. Part one would focus more on my brushes with technology for the year that passed. Second part would focus more on personal events and realizations. So here goes..
Hello Apple
2008 is the year I became part of the cult of Mac. I was always intrigued by the Apple experience. I’ve been hearing a lot how intuitive and easy to use Apple’s products are especially when my girlfriend got a MacBook a couple of years back.
Come April 2008, I got a taste of the Apple experience when my colleagues got me an iPod Touch as a farewell gift. The user experience was just beautiful and refined. Having gotten a taste of Apple’s definition of intuitive and easy to use; and knowing how easy it is to run Windows through BootCamp or virtualization, I was totally convinced that my next portable would be a Mac. And a MacBook Pro it was specifically.
I wrote before why I got an E71 and not an iPhone, after a few more months of using it, I’ve grown to love it even more. Since I go back to Manila around twice a year I usually switch my SIM cards, putting Globe on my primary phone when I’m in the Philippines. The E71 seems to know which SIM card I have on and automatically has all the settings for mobile Internet and MMS. I don’t have to request for the settings or enter them manually. The configuration settings are probably stored on the SIM card and the E71 just automatically retrieves it so I don’t have too many access point settings on my phone.
Google Chrome has recently taken off the “beta” label. After installing it and using it for quite some time, I’ve began to really like it so much that it has replaced Firefox as the browser I use for web surfing (I still use Firefox + Firebug when doing web development). It’s fast, responsive and doesn’t show any signs of sluggishness even if there’s more than 20 tabs open. Tab management is also intuitive, it’s easy to merge tabs or separate them into different windows. It also supports native drag and drop for file upload fields, something I’d like to be native in Firefox since the dragdropupload plugin can be wonky at times.
I wonder when will the OS X version come out.
Finally got myself an apple keyboard so I can use my underutilized external monitor with my MBP’s lid closed (I only learned I could a couple of days ago, goes to show how much of a n00b i still am in the Mac world).
As for first impressions, the keys are light to the touch but still responsive enough for touch typing, which is good for people (like me) who are having RSI or CTS. It is a whole lot better than the keyboard I use in the office which is a generic one that comes with Dell Vostro machines. I think I’m gonna enjoy coding with it and one more reason for me to develop a blogging/writing habit. It even looks good with my E71.
It seems Dropbox links are now being used for spam purposes. A couple of days ago, I was wondering why Google Apps’ Gmail keeps on rejecting every message I send with a Dropbox link. So I tried to shorten it with is.gd and my message went through. However, today I got the following message while trying to shorten another Dropbox link:
Sorry, the URL you entered may be linked to spamming and is listed either in the SURBL or URIBL lists. To prevent the possibility of using this site to facilitate spam, it has not been added to our database.
Please bear in mind that use of this service for spam purposes is prohibited (see terms and conditions) and any such URLs will be disabled, and misuse reported to the relevant authorities. I wonder if other Dropbox users are experiencing related issues.
Gmail recently released Tasks in Labs. It seems to be usable enough. I have yet to judge though if it’ll be something useful for my quest for efficiency and producticity. Haha 
After reading We Are Typist First, Programmers Second, I tried the same test the author used and I got the following:
I tried 5 times just to be sure and my results hovered around +/- 3 of the above. Jeff Atwood does have a valid point that typing is a core programming discipline since you really have to type a lot of not just code but at some point documentation, specifications and emails about what you just made, among other stuff. I also like to code and test something I thought about rather than just write the idea of it then type later. Being able to type relatively fast helps me to be able to maintain that train of thought while trying to address a problem.
