Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 |
This is not really a true productivity tool but I think it has enough value that it deserves to be mentioned. If you’re on Windows and work with the Command Prompt a lot, you might be fed up with the overly dull look of the black Windows command console and you look over to the Linux guys with their stylish terminals with envy. Then it’s time for you to grab and install Console, a Command Prompt enhancement that adds several useful features like multiple tabs, text editor-like text selection, different background types and - the real deal - transparent background. This alone is reason enough to throw the old console look overboard. The console font as well as window size and position can be configured. Get the latest release version 1.5 at sourceforge.net/projects/console/ for free.
Filed under Misc | 1 Comment »
Sunday, November 19th, 2006 |
Just found this yesterday via Adobe Consulting Blog … Converse - Chuck Taylor, Jack Purcell, Basketball Shoes, Design Your Own Converse Shoes. Click on the first shoe under Collection. You can design your own sneaker with your own style of color combination and even add a personalized text at the side or back. I first thought its a nice gimmick for playing but in fact you can order your designed shoe in your preferred size! I’m a big fan of classic sneakers but I have rather large feet and finding large sneakers in Japan is more than just a challenge so I thought I’d make my own couple of neatly colored Cons and order them … until I saw the Shipping in U.S. only sign! Damn! Well at least I could print my design out. Here’s my low top suede model ‘Venice Nights’ 
…
This shoe designer is a nice example that shows that Flash really needs to support 3D! Imagine you could freely rotate and texture the shoe model! Wouldn’t that be cool?!
Filed under Misc | 9 Comments »
Saturday, November 18th, 2006 |
If you’re working with XML on Windows and you like your tool full-featured there’s a good chance that you have worked with Altova XMLSpy, a first of all very good and powerful XML editor but on second look becomes a nasty bugger that calls home as if there is no tomorrow.
Thats fine and good! Let them try it to call it home as long as they want, I can block it with my Firewall! It was noted by some other blogs that XMLSpy not only transfers data to check the legal ownership but also transfers private data that is none of Altova’s business, so there is good reason to block the spy (what a fitting name!) off!
But what if you want to use the Eclipse (or Visual Studio) XMLSpy PlugIn? If you block Java’s JRE, Eclipse also can’t connect to the web anymore. But fear not, there’s an easy solution. Here’s how to block off XMLSpy …
Go straight to your WINDOWS/system32/drivers/etc/ folder and add the following line to the host file:
127.255.255.255 link.altova.com
This redirects every access to link.altova.com to the local machine, thus blocking of connection attempts. With that you’re free to let Eclipse access the net while XMLSpy has to stay inside the system.
Filed under Misc | 3 Comments »
Friday, November 17th, 2006 |
I’ve made a partition with Windows Vista RC a while back to check out how well my used Software will run. First off I like Vista, I really do! It’s polished Aero Look is reason enough for me to switch from the vomit-colored Windows XP. But I soon realized that something important is currently missing … compatible Software! That means compatible drivers in first line. Ok, it’s still about two months away until Vista will be in the shelves for anyone (with license volume release at the end of this month) but Vista has been how long on public beta? One year? Two years?
Checking the Logitech website for a driver for my beloved MX310 mouse … nowhere to be found! Not even a working 32bit driver! Not even a word mentioned about a future driver release! How about sound? I check M-Audio’s website to get a driver for my Delta Audiophile; Their 32bit WinXP driver doesn’t install while their 64bit Beta driver installs but Vista gives me an error afterwards that it wont accept unsigned drivers! There’s a ton of other Peripherals that I’m using for which I’m sure no compatible drivers are available so I don’t even bother searching for them now.
How about applications? Flash runs fine, though it’s tool windows look a bit odd with thin borders/corners around it. Photoshop runs smooth as if it never did anything else while ImageReady’s tool palettes seem to be not style conform anymore. Illustrator then goes completely bonkers with Molasses style window-dragging and tool palettes that sometimes have round corners and sometimes not. At least Eclipse runs fine! Well, on 32bit that is! On 64bit it will spit out an error about an incompatible DLL.
That said my Vista Experience went a bit limiting so far! Dynamic Font Management is a foreign word for Microsoft too! It seems nothing has changed about how Fonts are handled! They are either installed or not. I guess I hang a little longer with MainType! Let’s hope other companies aren’t sleeping and have drivers ready until release, even if they don’t loose one word about it. It would suck otherwise!
Filed under Misc | 38 Comments »
Thursday, November 9th, 2006 |
Fotologue which was Japanese only for a while has been translated into English and opened up it’s gates for anyone else around the globe! Not only does it look much more stylish than Flickr or any other photo sharing site, it’s also completely done in Flash! Check out my gallery for a quick preview of how the user galleries look.
via If Then Else
Filed under Misc | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 |
I’m really missing one great invention that has yet to come for global consumption … books made of electronic paper! I’m not talking about these LCD display-like books or these foil-like papers that are already used for some advertising purposes. What I’d love to see available is a pocket notebook made of finely woven ePaper that I can plug via USB to my PC and load documents on it, which then are displayed on the paper and can be read just like a normal paper book. I prefer reading long texts on paper rather than on the screen!
I often find texts on the web, tutorials or other interesting information that I could read while on one of these long Tokyo subway rides or simply while hanging out in the living room but it would be too elaborate to print them out and fold them into my Hobonichi Techo.
One could argue that I could need a notebook PC but that would be too much, all I’m asking for is a book for reading. Hey it would be cool if it also uses Solar cells so it doesn’t need to be recharged and while we are at it the pages could glow so it can be read in the dark too … oh well, one can dream, but this definitely doesn’t sound like a far away utopia!
Filed under Misc | No Comments »
Friday, September 22nd, 2006 |
I just had to refuse the second job offer this year where I would have to fix somebody else’s written ActionScript 1 spagetti code! I don’t know what is the reason for agencies trying to give such jobs but it’s save to say that the troubles of digging through the messy and often timeline-spread code is enough to justify an estimate that sounds too high for the client.
The question comes up why they don’t just ask the person who originally wrote the code! That could have many reasons but if a client comes back to me and asks me to fix something in a years old project then I’ll do it for a measly payment simply because I know my source code. It’s a total different thing to fix somebody’s code, especially if it’s pre-AS2.
I always feel uncomfortable rejecting jobs, even such ones so I would be interested how others handle this situation! Do you usually reject such jobs or do you accept them?
Filed under Misc | 16 Comments »
Thursday, August 24th, 2006 |
I was trying out Google’s own code repository Google Code today, finally delving into some SVN knowledge with Subclipse and was starting to wonder if there is actually an explaination about all those Open Source Licenses which is understandable for non-lawyers. A quick googling gave me this useful ZDNet link … HOWTO: Pick an open source license where the editor describes some of the most common licenses like GPL, MIT, BSD, Apache etc. in a more concise and clear way. It makes it much easier than digging through all those license text at opensource.org.
Filed under Misc | Comments Off
Thursday, August 17th, 2006 |
I must have been temporally mind absent when I strolled through Akihabara some days ago and went into a Computer Shop to buy this cute little - but ridiculously overpriced -
Happy Hacking Keyboard!
Not only doesn’t it have Letters, it also has no cursor keys and no function keys! Well ok mine is dark gray and has black letters on it that can only be seen with enough light in the back. It”s a 66 keys Keyboard and all special keys can be accessed with the Fn key. It means you have to press two keys to use Cursor keys or Function Keys and if you want to press Shift+F1 you have to hold three keys at once. Quite a finger acrobatic trainer isn’t it? Not to mention that I also have to get used to the American layout.
I somehow feel back at the C64 where double and triple layered keys were the daily thing. This little black devil meanwhile went into my shelf to be replaced with my ten year old trusty Cherry Keyboard … three times by now! Finally I accepted to give it a longer try! Sure, Its masochism but the quality and feeling of the keys is so irresistible! Plus I got a lot more space free on my desk suddenly (you should know … space is the most expensive thing around here!)
Filed under Misc | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 |
Being that old hardware DIY’er that I am (it started long ago with changing the kernel of my C64) I’ve so far always bought parts and built my PCs up by myself. This time I was pondering with buying the new Dell XPS 700 just because it’s case design is so ultra slick (around 100.000 times more slick than a Mac G5 Park Waste Bin ever could be if you ask me) but I’ve changed my mind after realizing once more that Dell’s sale policy sucks. That is because here in Japan the XPS is not available as customizable as in the US! While in the US the minimum parts required are the CPU and memory, here at Dell Japan you have to buy an almost fully rigged machine.
So instead of buying an XPS 700 with a flatscreen, DVD, keyboard, mouse and Windows XP Home, all stuff that I don’t need I’ve decided to go again and choose all required parts from the ground up by myself. Here is how my next PC will look like …
Antec P180B Case (looks like a mini frigde but is very quiet and cool inside)
Antec Neo HE 550 PSU
Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard
Pentium D 945 CPU (3.4 GHz)
Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler (have to double check if it fits on the mobo without probs!)
2x Corsair XMS2 2GB (2x 1GB) 800 (PC2 6400) (4GB)
Leadtek Winfast PX7900 GTX TDH (more silent and cooler than comparable Radeon cards)
2x HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 250GB 7200RPM SATA
… Not only is it cheaper (though still quite steep) but it also means more memory and quite a bit more silence in our room than with the XPS. My last mainboard was an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe and I’m totally satisfied with it since it is running stable for about two years now. I think I’ll turn the old water-cooled Pentium4 into our Linux Server after this.
Filed under Misc | No Comments »
