When I got my Treo [treotoiphone, treoinhawaii, treoweekone, treofirstimpressions], I was happy to see that Palm included the ability to sync with Microsoft Outlook. With older Palm devices, I always needed to use IntelliSync or Chapura's PocketMirror. PocketMirror is very reliable, but it always annoyed me the way it handled Outlook security dialogs.
I sync my Treo with 2 different computers, my home and my work. Alas, Palm's Outlook Conduit does a terrible job in this case. Almost every single appointment in the Calendar would get duplicated on each HotSync. And even if I didn't touch an appointment on either computer, I would still get a HotSync warning that the item was modified on one or more computers, and would be duplicated. In addition, I couldn't mark items as private because they would never get HotSync'd. I like to have my personal appointments marked as private so the details will remain hidden on my work calendar. Even worse, some items would randomly not sync at all, for no apparent reason.
Yes, I have the "enable sync on multiple PCs" box checked. Having it unchecked causes HotSync to pop an annoying warning dialog every time I sync.
So I downloaded PocketMirror XT, and after some installation hassles, I'm back in business. PocketMirror is highly configurable, and handles syncing with multiple machines flawlessly. It still hacks away at the Outlook security dialog, but what a relief to not have to deal with sync problems every day.
Note on PocketMirror installation: PM uses the ancient and horrible InstallShield system for installation. On one computer, the app would not install until I deleted all of my temp directories and rebooted the computer. On another computer, PM wouldn't install at all unless I was running in Safe Mode. Ridiculous! How many customers is Chapura losing by using such an awful installer?
In my office closet, I have about 6-8 years worth of Stereo Review / Sound & Vision and Guitar Player magazines. I've kept them because the stereo mags contain reviews of now-vintage hi-fi equipment (which I consider buying now and then), and the guitar magazines have equipment reviews as well as interesting lessons.
But after spending a couple of days cleaning out and reorganizing the closet, I'm wondering why I keep the magazines. They take up a ton of space, and in all this time, I have yet to actually crack open a back issue. Am I ever going to plan a purchase that requires back issue magazine research? Will I ever have enough free time to study even one old guitar lesson? Can I even figure out which magazine has a particular review or lesson?
So what to do? Chuck 'em in the recycling bin? Plow through each one and tear out the most interesting pages? Donate them to a library (do libraries even want this stuff)?
eBay? Nah, forget eBay.
As you've noticed, I have Google ads on this blog along the right side of the page and along the bottom. I don't have them to make revenue. Rather, I wanted some semi-non-intrusive elements of active content on the site. The ads rotate according to some proprietary Google algorithms, so you tend to see something new and hopefully interesting every day.
Unfortunately, a bunch of the ads I've seen recently on this site have been what I would consider scams. Basically, they are the type of ad that screams "Free iPod! Just fill out a survey!" I don't want that crap on my web site, but Google's ad configuration page doesn't have a way for me to disable this stuff. Yes, I can block ads from a specific URL, but that is obviously a useless hassle.
So I'm thinking of dumping Google ads. I still want some active content in that space, so I think I'll try an Amazon Associates panel. It might look overpowering, however, so we'll see.
Hmmm, maybe I'll create a fake adserver app that serves up a regular dose of fake ads for fake companies and products…
My friend Joe may have sailed solo across the pacific from Mexico to Tahiti, but he's taking a commercial airplane home. According to his latest email update, he's actually shipping his sailboat back. On a ship.
I don't know anything about yachts or sailboats, but apparently, you can have one shipped almost anywhere in the world by a company called Dockwise. They have giant floating drydock ships that sink themselves low enough to let boats "float on and float off" for long distance transport. Neato. Check it out: http://www.yacht-transport.com/
There is some pretty innovative software showing up on the Mac these days. An app that caught my eye today is WriteRoom from Hog Bay Software. WriteRoom is a full-screen text editor with… nothing else. Just a blank screen and your text, no OS distractions. Excellent!
Alas, I use Windows and Linux, not MacOS. Fortunately, there is an easy way to imitate WriteRoom in Microsoft Word 2003 on WinXP. Just fire up Word, press Alt-V, then U, and voila, you're running Word in full-screen mode. As an added bonus, there is a special full-screen toolbar that you can customize or leave blank as you see fit. Interestingly, if I also open the options dialog and change the default Word color scheme to be white text on a blue background (a la the classic WordPerfect for DOS), I find it even easier to concentrate and write. Additionally, I mapped the F11 key to the View/ToggleFull function, which is the same key used for switching to and from full-screen mode in Internet Explorer and Opera [operaubuntufonts, opera, opera9, operastaticbin, opera-idstring, operamini41, linkstashbuttonsforoperawin764bit, badoperasites, operaminiusage, operamini4].
Funny that this feature has been in MS Word all along, but it took an innovative developer on the Mac to make me aware of it.
Oh wow, my old pal Takahashi Meijin has a web site and a blog which he seems to update regularly: http://www.hudson.co.jp/16shot/. I wish I wasn't so illiterate in Japanese so I could read it. And I have got to order one of his T-Shirts.
If you don't know who Takahashi Meijin is, he's the main character in the classic NES Adventure Island ![[WikiPedia]](http://www.mikeyp.com/css/external.gif)
video games produced by Hudson Soft. He was mega famous in Japan during the 8-bit gaming days. In the US versions of the games, his character was known as Master Higgins.
The always interesting blog Cool Tools recommended a book called Peopleware . The book describes just how screwed up managers and management processes tend to be at software companies. The book basically states that most software companies focus so much on the product, process, and bottom line that their projects usually fail. Why? The companies neglect to take care of the most important part of the development process: The developers themselves.
Reading the book was torturous, but not because the book was poorly written or out of touch with reality (as so many management books are). Rather, it was 200+ pages of descriptions of poor management decisions and bad processes that made me say, after almost every page, "sheesh, my company does exactly that!"
After reading many development and management books (usually as required reading for some corporate training exercise), I found that most of those books are 5% useful and 95% total garbage. Peopleware is exactly the opposite.
It was also interesting to read the books Work to Live and Peopleware back-to-back. Reading Work to Live will make you rebellious. Reading Peopleware will make you angry.
I rarely discuss politics on my blog, so let's file this one under "humor."
If you ever wondered why so many bizarre, illogical, and downright backwards bills get passed in the US Senate, you only need to read the following transcript of Sen. Ted Stevens (R - Alaska) to gain some insight: http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/index.blog?entry_id=1512499. It is, in his own words, an incredibly misguided understanding of how the internet works, and how that "understanding" influences his voting. If I'm interpreting his poor grammer correctly, I think he believes that the increased presence of video downloads on the net is preventing him from getting his email on time. Therefore, he believes, those video providers should go out and build their own internet.
Some choice quotes:
"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."
"…the internet is not something you just dump something on… It's a series of tubes."
"Maybe there is a place for a commercial net but it's not using what consumers use every day."
(Caught on Craig's blog)
