Saturday, February 24
Windows Presentation Foundation
What is the Windows Presentation Foundation?
WPF is the graphical subsystem of .NET 3.0, which aims to provide a unified and consistent model for displaying graphics and building user interfaces.
What is the Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere?
While WPF is a feature of .NET 3.0, WPF/E is a portable subset of WPF.
Has WPF/E been ported to the Mac?
Yes!
Cool! Where can I find some awesome WPF/E apps to play with?
Uh... there are some demos in the WPF/E dev centre, but... hey, maybe it'll catch on?
WPF is the graphical subsystem of .NET 3.0, which aims to provide a unified and consistent model for displaying graphics and building user interfaces.
What is the Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere?
While WPF is a feature of .NET 3.0, WPF/E is a portable subset of WPF.
Has WPF/E been ported to the Mac?
Yes!
Cool! Where can I find some awesome WPF/E apps to play with?
Uh... there are some demos in the WPF/E dev centre, but... hey, maybe it'll catch on?
Prosoft Engineering Data Rescue II
Here is my review of Prosoft Engineering Data Rescue II.
It's ace!
My housemate's PowerBook's harddisk fucked itself sideways. We pulled it out, stuck it in a USB chassis, and restored his home directory onto my MacBook Pro.
He bought the chassis and replacement harddisk from Computerbase. He had the hardware checked over by Stormfront.
Data was rescued. Fun was had. Cookies for all!
It's ace!
My housemate's PowerBook's harddisk fucked itself sideways. We pulled it out, stuck it in a USB chassis, and restored his home directory onto my MacBook Pro.
He bought the chassis and replacement harddisk from Computerbase. He had the hardware checked over by Stormfront.
Data was rescued. Fun was had. Cookies for all!
Labels: apple, data rescue, repair, review, shopping, software
Friday, February 23
Animal Crossing
I just realised I haven't played Animal Crossing for a few months, and I honest to goodness just felt a moment of guilt for the poor animals living in my weed-infested little town.
Labels: animal crossing, guilt
The Day The Earth Stood Still
20th Century Fox have confirmed their intention to remake The Day The Earth Stood Still for 2008!
I don't want to get excited... but I love the original, and I want to love this too. Unfortunately, REMAKES SUCK:
1. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Humourless and monotonous.
2. Banana Man: Lifeless after the original demo track.
3. Robin Hood: ARGH NO STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP.
4. The Italian Job: PLEASE STOP WITH THE BLAND MAKING.
5. NO I'M TOO DEPRESSED TO GO ON.
I don't want to get excited... but I love the original, and I want to love this too. Unfortunately, REMAKES SUCK:
1. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Humourless and monotonous.
2. Banana Man: Lifeless after the original demo track.
3. Robin Hood: ARGH NO STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP.
4. The Italian Job: PLEASE STOP WITH THE BLAND MAKING.
5. NO I'M TOO DEPRESSED TO GO ON.
Labels: movie, the day the earth stood still
Sunday, February 18
Rebuild of Evangelion?
According to Ain't it Cool News, according to AnimeNation, according to Sponichi Annex, Hideaki Anno has announced that the first new Evangelion movie will be released in Japan on September 1.
After the last one, myself and two friends went into therapy. I hope Anno hasn't lost the magic.
After the last one, myself and two friends went into therapy. I hope Anno hasn't lost the magic.
Labels: evangelion, movie
Friday, February 16
King of Shaves
In the beginning, Jon used Nivea For Men Shaving Foam Sensitive with a Wilkinson Sword Quattro Titanium blade, and the world was okay.
Then he tried King of Shaves AlphaOil and was disappointed. Then he tried AlphaOil and foam together, and the world was better.
Then he got a Gillette Fusion Power blade, and he smiled.
Then he tried King of Shaves MagnaGlide ARB Shaving Gel. He has no razor burn. He's just had the closest shave in this life. He will never buy any other shaving gel ever again.
He is very happy.
Then he tried King of Shaves AlphaOil and was disappointed. Then he tried AlphaOil and foam together, and the world was better.
Then he got a Gillette Fusion Power blade, and he smiled.
Then he tried King of Shaves MagnaGlide ARB Shaving Gel. He has no razor burn. He's just had the closest shave in this life. He will never buy any other shaving gel ever again.
He is very happy.
Labels: king of shaves, nivea, review, shaving
Monday, February 12
Creative Commons
Most of the photos in my Flickr gallery are now covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
One of my photos was used without my prior permission in Flickr Combat. Since I was happy for the free publicity, I made it official and loosened the license.
One of my photos was used without my prior permission in Flickr Combat. Since I was happy for the free publicity, I made it official and loosened the license.
Labels: cat, creative commons, photo
Sunday, February 11
NetNewsWire vs. FeedGhost
Fact 1. At work, I read RSS feeds in FeedGhost.
Fact 2. At home, I use NetNewsWire.
Fact 3. I'm mad for the software user experience.
Fact 4. I haven't eaten for 10 hours.
Battle!
NetNewsWire looks like a MacOS X application ought to. It uses standard controls, has a Spotlight field, and doesn't throw up any surprises.
FeedGhost, on the other hand, is built with some very custom controls. The default theme looks damned good, but it doesn't feel like a traditional Windows application. Grids, for example, don't quite work the way they should.
Say I want to change the article list so the oldest article is at the top rather than the bottom. I click on the "Date" column header, and... the oldest from today, not the oldest in the grid, moves to the top. Then I notice that the articles are grouped by "Today", "This Week", etc., and "Today" is still at the top. I can see a mysterious "Date" box in the grid header, but I don't know what will happen when I click it. I thought that clicking the column heading would sort it, but it only did half a job. What chance do I stand with a button I don't recognise at all?
The NetNewsWire toolbar is totally configurable, and can be shown/hidden with a single click. FeedGhost uses the new "ribbon bar"-style control, which packs in a lot of functionality but isn't configurable. Seriously, I've setup my pane layout -- I don't need those buttons anymore.
If you want a consistent but bland interface, NetNewsWire wins. If you want a gorgeous interface which trips you up occasionally, FeedGhost wins.
User Interface: Abstain.
Both of the applications can open web pages in tabs. FeedGhost uses the Internet Explorer engine, which works great and keeps me logged into my websites. NetNewsWire doesn't keep me logged in, so I have to open some articles manually in Safari. There's an "Open in Browser" toolbar button, but it doesn't do what you might think.
Web Handling: FeedGhost.
They both offer the ability to synchronise subscriptions and read articles between multiple installations of the product. NetNewsWire takes around 20 seconds on my Mac to sync and shutdown when I quit the application, while FeedGhost... I don't know when it syncs, but it does it, quickly and without fanfare. NetNewsWire makes me wait, and FeedGhost does what it's told.
Synchronisation: FeedGhost.
FeedGhost allows you to tag articles with keywords. I love tagging my content! Gmail, Blogger, Flickr, iPhoto, del.icio.us let me do it, and my RSS reader must give me the same.
Except NetNewsWire doesn't. Bummer.
Organisation: FeedGhost.
FeedGhost.com hosts RSS feeds of articles with tags I choose to make public. I can send tagged articles automatically to FeedGhost community feeds. NetNewsWire lets me send articles to del.icio.us or my own weblog -- but for fuck's sake, please can I have a del.icio.us toolbar button? You have no idea how irritating it is to have to context-click every damn article when I've got so much toolbar space begging to be used.
NetNewsWire wins for hooking into an established social bookmarking service, which makes sharing easier and increases my feeds' audience. FeedGhost does share well (and makes it much easier than NetNewsWire), but I want to publish all of my feeds in one place.
Sharing: NetNewsWire.
FeedGhost's support is right up there with the best. E-mails are answered quickly by human beings, and feedback is welcomed. The FeedGhost team keep personal and corporate blogs, which are in the default subscription list. Hell, there's a "Feedback" button right up there in the toolbar. Enough said?
I've never written to the NetNewsWire team. I don't know if they keep blogs or if my opinions are wanted. That's very traditional and there's nothing wrong with it, but FeedGhost goes above and beyond.
Personal Touch: FeedGhost.
Now, let me tell you what seriously bugs the shit out of me. I have two RSS readers which can synchronise with themselves, but not between each other. Fuck, wouldn't it be great if I could tag a C# article at home to show the guys at work? Or flag an article in the cybercafe to show to my friends later on my mobile device du-jour?
My RSS feeds are more important to me than web browsing. As nice as it would be to keep all my bookmarks synchronised, I can live without it. But now that all of my mail is synchronised (across webmail, Mail.app and Mozilla Thunderbird), it's too bloody painful to keep all my feeds in sync manually. Bloglines and Google Reader have turned me off web-based readers, so my hopes are resting on some feed synchronisation standards and services appearing soon.
In conclusion, things I want to see in NetNewsWire:
In conclusion, things I want to see in FeedGhost:
In conclusion: both the products offer great user experiences, and there's very little feedback I can offer to improve them. RSS readers in general are reaching beyond "good enough". What we need now is more innovation in RSS services.
Next week, I'll be comparing and contrasting the new "Battlestar Galactica" TV show and Jane Austen's novel, "Pride and Prejudice".
Fact 2. At home, I use NetNewsWire.
Fact 3. I'm mad for the software user experience.
Battle!
NetNewsWire looks like a MacOS X application ought to. It uses standard controls, has a Spotlight field, and doesn't throw up any surprises.
FeedGhost, on the other hand, is built with some very custom controls. The default theme looks damned good, but it doesn't feel like a traditional Windows application. Grids, for example, don't quite work the way they should.
Say I want to change the article list so the oldest article is at the top rather than the bottom. I click on the "Date" column header, and... the oldest from today, not the oldest in the grid, moves to the top. Then I notice that the articles are grouped by "Today", "This Week", etc., and "Today" is still at the top. I can see a mysterious "Date" box in the grid header, but I don't know what will happen when I click it. I thought that clicking the column heading would sort it, but it only did half a job. What chance do I stand with a button I don't recognise at all?
The NetNewsWire toolbar is totally configurable, and can be shown/hidden with a single click. FeedGhost uses the new "ribbon bar"-style control, which packs in a lot of functionality but isn't configurable. Seriously, I've setup my pane layout -- I don't need those buttons anymore.
If you want a consistent but bland interface, NetNewsWire wins. If you want a gorgeous interface which trips you up occasionally, FeedGhost wins.
User Interface: Abstain.
Both of the applications can open web pages in tabs. FeedGhost uses the Internet Explorer engine, which works great and keeps me logged into my websites. NetNewsWire doesn't keep me logged in, so I have to open some articles manually in Safari. There's an "Open in Browser" toolbar button, but it doesn't do what you might think.
Web Handling: FeedGhost.
They both offer the ability to synchronise subscriptions and read articles between multiple installations of the product. NetNewsWire takes around 20 seconds on my Mac to sync and shutdown when I quit the application, while FeedGhost... I don't know when it syncs, but it does it, quickly and without fanfare. NetNewsWire makes me wait, and FeedGhost does what it's told.
Synchronisation: FeedGhost.
FeedGhost allows you to tag articles with keywords. I love tagging my content! Gmail, Blogger, Flickr, iPhoto, del.icio.us let me do it, and my RSS reader must give me the same.
Except NetNewsWire doesn't. Bummer.
Organisation: FeedGhost.
FeedGhost.com hosts RSS feeds of articles with tags I choose to make public. I can send tagged articles automatically to FeedGhost community feeds. NetNewsWire lets me send articles to del.icio.us or my own weblog -- but for fuck's sake, please can I have a del.icio.us toolbar button? You have no idea how irritating it is to have to context-click every damn article when I've got so much toolbar space begging to be used.
NetNewsWire wins for hooking into an established social bookmarking service, which makes sharing easier and increases my feeds' audience. FeedGhost does share well (and makes it much easier than NetNewsWire), but I want to publish all of my feeds in one place.
Sharing: NetNewsWire.
FeedGhost's support is right up there with the best. E-mails are answered quickly by human beings, and feedback is welcomed. The FeedGhost team keep personal and corporate blogs, which are in the default subscription list. Hell, there's a "Feedback" button right up there in the toolbar. Enough said?
I've never written to the NetNewsWire team. I don't know if they keep blogs or if my opinions are wanted. That's very traditional and there's nothing wrong with it, but FeedGhost goes above and beyond.
Personal Touch: FeedGhost.
Now, let me tell you what seriously bugs the shit out of me. I have two RSS readers which can synchronise with themselves, but not between each other. Fuck, wouldn't it be great if I could tag a C# article at home to show the guys at work? Or flag an article in the cybercafe to show to my friends later on my mobile device du-jour?
My RSS feeds are more important to me than web browsing. As nice as it would be to keep all my bookmarks synchronised, I can live without it. But now that all of my mail is synchronised (across webmail, Mail.app and Mozilla Thunderbird), it's too bloody painful to keep all my feeds in sync manually. Bloglines and Google Reader have turned me off web-based readers, so my hopes are resting on some feed synchronisation standards and services appearing soon.
In conclusion, things I want to see in NetNewsWire:
- Tagging.
- A toolbar button to send an article to del.icio.us.
In conclusion, things I want to see in FeedGhost:
- Sending articles to del.icio.us.
- The patience to configure the article list, and the willpower to not click around and fuck it up.
In conclusion: both the products offer great user experiences, and there's very little feedback I can offer to improve them. RSS readers in general are reaching beyond "good enough". What we need now is more innovation in RSS services.
Next week, I'll be comparing and contrasting the new "Battlestar Galactica" TV show and Jane Austen's novel, "Pride and Prejudice".
Labels: feedghost, netnewswire, review, rss
Saturday, February 10
A Platoon of Lesbians
Rep. Gary Ackerman: "For some reason, the military seems more afraid of gay people than they are against terrorists, because they’re very brave with the terrorists. I mean, if the terrorists ever got a hold of this information, they’d get a platoon of lesbians to chase us out of Baghdad."
thinkprogress.org
thinkprogress.org
Labels: homophobia, lesbians, military, politics
Thursday, February 8
Tuesday, February 6
Sunday, February 4
Saturday, February 3
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