I’m trying out some new software to help increase my productivity. Here’s each and the reason why:
- QuickSilver – I used this for a bit before Tiger and have quickly tired of Spotlight as an application launcher. It’s slow and well can only launch things. QuickSilver can do more and seems to be faster at that task (it’s not for searching inside of files…. Yet.)
- DesktopManager – I always had too many windows open: email, web browsing (multiple windows with multiple tabs), iChat, text editing and sometimes more. Now I have a new desktop for each genre and simply use mouse gestures to get to the right one. Seems to work so far.
- TextMate – I haven’t been happy with BBedit for some time so I’ve been looking around for a new text editor. Development on TextMate seems to be going strong and the feature set is already pretty nice. I’m trying to go BBedit free for the trial of TextMate.
Welcome to the new WordPress powered site. I have been meaning to move the weblog over to this server (the same one that hosts MobileTracker) for a while. I may even start updating more.
I updated my DrudgeReport Mobile script to be up to date with some changes Drudge made to his code. It has been out of date for a little bit only showing some of his links. It should now display everything. About a thousand people use this every month, so this should be a welcome update.
I also created the option to browse the page without images, which is great for devices with smaller screens or for just plain faster load times. Not everyone is blessed with EDGE or EV-DO. Most browsers have the option to turn off images, but if not this is easy too. Just update your bookmarks.
Anyone interested in a WAP version?
I called today to send my PowerBook into Apple for service. Since I got it back in 2003 I’ve had the white spots issue, but partly because it has gradually gotten worse (but been bad for a while) and partly because I’m cheap I hadn’t called before today. While it’s free, I wanted to get a new screen later in the life of the machine because screens are typically one of the weak spots for portables. I’ve had the computer almost two years, so when I get the new screen next week the clock will start over for its bulb to die. That’s a two year jump.
In other news, I bought a 24" display for use when I’m at my desk. It hasn’t come yet but should be here about the same time as the updated PowerBook. Will make a great combo for office/mobile work.
Often times when I’m at a store looking at CDs I’ll find one by a group that I’ve heard good things about (maybe a friend told me to check out their latest release). I have a good memory, but not for things like CD titles. Instead of being high-tech and just use something like the iTunes Music Store, I went overkill and wrote myself a tool to use on my phone that pings Amazon for some info about a CD via its UPC.
Let me explain.
I go to a little XHTML page and type in a CD’s UPC code, which isn’t that bad since phones are optimized for numeric input anyway. I hit go and in a second or two comes back info like the title and artist (for verification that everything is correct) and then the all important release date and price. If I see the release date was last month and the price is the same as the store I’m in, I found a steal and will snag it. If Amazon has it for a bunch cheaper, or if it wasn’t the release I was thinking of, I can pass. Oh and it also passes the average review score, so I know if I have good taste.
I haven’t used this in the wild yet, since I just wrote it tonight, but you can take a peek. Remember that it’s made to be used on a mobile phone, so there are no graphics. It runs super fast even over GPRS. But you’re welcome to try it out in any web browser.
Amazon Mobile CD Lookup
I’m thinking about making it a little more handy, and perhaps adding a few other similar functions (maybe for books and DVDs). Obviously books have their release date built in, but price and rating info would be fun.