TW Blog :: Entries for Software

When one attains the release called Beautiful, at such a time he knows in truth what Beauty is Gautama Buddha

Getting something for TV License at last?

Also relates to iPod Touch

I am extremely reluctant when it comes to handing over cash for my TV license. In recent years we have seen the BBC squander our money on lower quality programmes, worthless channels that regurgitate very old and over watched series and most notoriously deliver proprietary software to the select many that choose to have Windows as their operating system! Yes with regards the latter I am talking about the iPlayer. The quality of streaming media on the BBC has always been dreadful - ever tried watching a sporting match while working!? So then along came the iPlayer - software allowing the download and viewing of BBC programmes by UK based IP addresses. But software that was built under the sole premise of working on Windows PCs!

Well finally the e-petition has paid dividends and the BBC has announced a partnership with Adobe to make a Flash-based video version of the iPlayer to make it compatible on the Mac and other platforms. I suppose it is a step in the right direction, although the fact this only covers streaming versions of the programmes is not ideal. It still means the BBC is providing services with the tax payers money to only a proportions of the UK. Yet another example of the corporations disregard for accessibility to all as has already been exemplified in the ongoing issues of digital coverage. Of course a Flash based version doesn't bode well for the current incarnation of the iPod Touch which will be one WiFi device which will not be able to take advantage of the free access to the iPlayer from the Cloud network. Perhaps this will change with the SDK prospects next spring?

Now I just wish the licensing authorities would stop sending us those threats that the enforcement officer is due to pay us a visit - despite being fully paid up licensees and having informed the license office of this several times! No wonder there is a license fee shortfall when the amount of time and resources are wasted chasing licenses that have been paid! ;)

Posted on Oct 18, 2007 at 11:27:54.

Quicksilver Tips 1. Screen Grab and Email

Also relates to OSX

A bit to much grumbling recently - especially when today is my smile a while day! So time to get back to some informative blogging. When I was blogging first time round, a popular topic of conversation was choosing Firefox extensions and my favourite Firefox extensions but I think this particular topic has been well and truly saturated now. So instead over the next few weeks I will discuss a number of productivity tools I use on a day by day basis to help me get things done.

Where better to start than one of the stalwarts of any developer's arsenal on the OS X platform - Quicksilver (the art of acting without doing). I have a pretty exhaustive set of Quicksilver plugins installed on my all conquering iMac 3 gigabyte machine. Some of these rarely see the light of day, others I use on a regular basis - without thinking twice. One of Quicksilver's greatest strengths is it's ability to adapt to any task I wish to accomplish. One thing I do regularly is send visual scamps to collaborators during the CSS build stage of a job. Thanks to the Apple Mail Module and Screen Capture Actions I can complete this in three simple steps.

Fire up Quicksilver (I use Option + Space) and call up the Capture options (typing CAP is normally adequate but I have set Capture Window as the default for C to bring it up by default)
I choose Capture Window and then click the little camera on the window I want to grab.
Voila! The captured image appears in the first pane with focus on the second pane where I type E to bring up Email to…, hit TAB and start typing the name of the collaborator the scamp is going to. When their name appears hit ENTER and the the an e-mail will be prepared with the scamp in ready to go.

Of course, this can be extended further using the comma trick to add additional collaborators' addresses to the e-mail.

And since the captures are saved to the desktop could even capture a selection of screens and add them all to the same message using the comma trick. I guess I could take this one step further by introducing a trigger for step 1 but I actually find trigger overload weighs heavy on my short-term memory so avoid assigning too many short cut keys.

So that is my first little Quicksilver tip. More to follow…

Posted on Oct 04, 2007 at 18:04:09.

Reviewing OS X Package Receipts with lsbom

Also relates to OSX

In my previous post I slightly over-simplified the ease with which installed applications can be removed from OS X. Not all software comes packaged in a single application file and in these circumstances the Installer will be used to add the programme. This blind process is somewhat reminiscent of Windows installation which left me so paranoid of infection I was taking system snapshots prior to and post every install!

But the good news is there is a very simple command line tool (lsbom that provides access to the package receipt giving full details of what was installed where and your very nice clean system. Every Installer installation will place a Bill of Materials file (Archive.bom) in the package receipt for the installed software. The receipt itself placed in the Receipts folder on the drive. So just open up the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and enter the following command to see what files were installed where:

lsbom /Library/Receipts/{Application Name}.pkg/Contents/Archive.bom

If you are a Terminal novice you can hit tab as you enter any directory names to get a list of possible options (or auto-complete if only a single matching directory). This is useful for entering the application name if there are several alternatives or you are not entirely sure of spelling.

Posted on Sep 20, 2007 at 10:15:27.

OS X Software I Cannot Do Without!

Also relates to OSX

I am a software addict! Who isn't in this game. But I cannot resist downloading the latest software for a test drive.

But for every ten packages I download nine of those will inevitably wind up in the trash. In my Windows days this soon became a sorrowful affair as left trawling the registry cursing the total lack of usability. Fortunately on OS X this is simplified considerably with most software being self contained packages with only a small footprint left in the user library Preferences and Application Support folders.

Anyway my Dock is filled with logs of colourful icons (ooooh I love the eye candy!) for software I might use on a week by week basis. But what programmes must I have open at all times? Well here is a quick snapshot of some of my essentials. Perhaps a few are left off this list like Cyberduck, Photoshop and Fireworks but these are the major must haves if I were to reinstall.

From the right since that is where the interesting ones are:

iGTD: I procrastinate! This is the antidote.
Ecto 3 Alpha: Note this is alpha but it performs pretty well to me and I was already a paid up and very large fan of Ecto 2. I use this for my personal weblogs on both Blogger and Wordpress. Slightly different to other blog clients I have tried with great OS integration.
Mailpane Beta: Another pre-release this one. In essence it is a browser window for Gmail but it also integrates with the Dock, menu bar (instead of Gmail Notifier) and Growl.
Syncro SVN Client: I actually own this as part of the Oxygen suite (itself excellent software) and while I generally do must SVN management from the command line, this has become an essential client GUI for reviewing what went where and when along with integrated Diff viewer.
Adium: Feel the force! And see when my friends are around for a chat.
: Brilliant - I store everything here from purchase receipts to notes to serial numbers. I just hope it holds out once the SQLite database starts hitting the gigabytes!?
Path Finder: It has taken a while to get used to using this Finder replacement which has similarities to Directory Opus (my old faithful on Windows) and I am still discovering cool features. But couldn't revert to Finder only ever again!
Billings: I test drove a number of tracking and invoicing solutions and this came out as the least bloated and simplest to use.
Mail: Can skip over that one!
Textmate: I really only use this at its most simple (for instance I rarely use the inbuilt SVN package) but it is quick efficient and effective syntax highlighting/macro support.
Foxy: I am a CSS developer - need I say more!
ITunes: With DockArt running as the Visualizer.
Endo: Ecto's companion (buy them together at a great discount) and a fresh approach to RSS aggregation with lots of hidden treats.
Navicat: MySQL client GUI of choice since it allows SSH tunneling and many other other powerful features.
Safari 3 Beta (Pimped): Testing and general browsing.