May
24
Over the past year, I’ve been learning to use two programs for nearly everything I do. The first is OmniOutliner Pro, which I used to take notes in my University lectures. Its outlines fit well with how my lectures were presented and my note-taking style, making it a near perfect tool. For non-note taking, I’ve been using John Gruber’s Markdown, which provides a simple formatting syntax, which is clear and easy to read before it’s processed, and a processor to convert the plain text into HTML.
I often use Markdown for quick note taking and even some long form writing (I’m using it to write this post, for instance). I love Markdown because all its files are just plain text; OmniOutliner’s files, while rather open, can’t come close to the openness of Markdown. Were something to happen to the Omni Group, or I were for some reason unable to use OmniOutliner, I’d like to be able to access my notes. What I really wanted was a way to get all of my school notes, stored in OmniOutliner format, exported to Markdown syntax. Read more
Apr
20
Four years ago, I bought my first Mac, a 20″ iMac G5 which I named Zeus. It’s a great machine, but I’ve decided to sell it. As I talked about before, I bought a Macbook last January, which I named Hera (Zeus’ wife). In the last few months, I’ve noticed that Hera is so much more powerful than Zeus. With the rise in online Flash video, I’ve noticed Zeus stutter and be slow, but Hera has always been able to run it just fine. I decided it was time to put Zeus out to pasture and begin using Hera full time.
Now, Zeus’ slowness wasn’t the only reason. Whenever I travel, I bring Hera with me, which has meant using her (yes, I call it ‘her’) exclusively for weeks at a time when I’ve gone to Florida or New York or even to my parents’ place in London. In that time, using Hera exclusively has been wonderful. She’s fast and light and easy to carry. Her keyboard is wonderful, unlike the old-style one that came with Zeus.
I’m also moving to my parents’ place for a few months. Networking at their house has always been tough. I’m convinced the place acts as a Faraday Cage, so 802.11g wifi was very spotty in most places (Cell signal is also a problem). A few months ago they bought an Apple Airport Extreme, covering the house in 802.11n WiFi, which has much greater range. It’s a great fit for their house, and Hera works just fine on it. However, Zeus is too old to use it; he only can do 802.11g. The house used to have Cat5 cable running to the bedrooms, but they had it removed when they renovated their kitchen. The only place to put Zeus would be next to the router, in my mother’s office, which she likes to keep slightly neater than a pigsty. As much as I love my mother, I wouldn’t be able to work there. Without an internet connection, Zeus would be pretty useless.
So, the time came to get rid of Zeus and use Hera full time.
Apr
9
Working With TechSoup
Tagged school
As part of the final assignment in my Computer Science degree, I had to work with a non-profit in Toronto to help them with a technology issue they faced. I chose to work with TechSoup Canada, an organization which acts as a clearing house for large companies to donate copies of their software to the non-profit sector, saving those charities up to 95% of the cost of that software. It was a great experience and gave me an opportunity to see what issues are faced when working in the non-profit sector.
Mar
27
This one proves it. It is someone’s job to come up with inappropriate headlines.
God ‘will not give happy ending’.
Why does the BBC do this to me?
Dec
12
I’m becoming convinced that news agencies and wire services have people whose jobs are dedicated to coming up with dirty headlines that will pass the censors.
Gays down tools in protests against same-sex wedding ban
1 day ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Gays across the United States were urged to skip work on Wednesday as part of the latest protest against recent votes outlawing same-sex marriage in several regions.
[via]