...more recent posts
"Hi" - Nasty Outlook virus going around. I'm getting hammered with this thing. Here's what to do if you are infected. Well, that plus stop using Outlook Express unless you really know that program well (I mean unless you know how to change all the massively insecure defaults - not showing file extensions of downloaded files!!! Automatically executing them!!! - that Microsoft ships this thing with.)
The stars must be lined up or something. I really got a lot done today. I was fortunate enough to have eight straight hours to spend in the code, and I now have the complete system in my head just like back when I wrote it. Except this time I'm rested enough to actually do battle with all the little inconsistencies I just let go the first time around following the "good enough" engineering principle (or is that the "can't see it from my house" building principle?) Anyway, there were some serious inconsistencies which I believe are now worked out. Phew. I love working on this thing.
I'll explain the changes tomorrow over here.
We've been talking about Segway over here if you're wondering why I haven't mentioned it.
A couple more photos from 76 Clinton.
Random time waster graphic novel type thing: shapeshifter. Starts out kind of slow and awkward but stick with it. That's a really really really really good cup of coffee.....
Nice time last night at J.'s party. Saw some old friends from school which is always interesting. I guess J is a friend from school too, but I don't think of her that way any more now that we've been hanging out for so long in NYC. Those Providence college days seem long ago, which I guess is a complete cliche, but not surprisingly it is also true. I had a great time back then, but I don't miss those years. Things are happening now. I was always young before. Now, suddenly, I'm not. And that doesn't have anything to do with chronological age. I think it has to do with engaging the task that will be the work of your life.
I talked to J.B. for a little bit amid all the wine. He always seems genuinely interested in what I am doing, and I really appreciate that. He's smart. I tried to argue something about cool software being produced (or at least completely thought out) by one person. That it has to bear the stamp of an individual if it is really going to catch the fancy of people. But I wasn't able to argue (explain) my point well. Of course most software will be produced by teams of people. Most of it is too complex to do any other way. This will be especially true of large projects. But I think that the really revolutionary software (where revolutionary doesn't necessarily mean 'world changing' but just something like 'suddenly popular out of left field') will be the result of one person thinking through a problem. Individuals have a better chance than teams at making breakthroughs (although probably highly isolated individuals are at a disadvantage - so the whole issue is sort of muddy.)
I hope I get the chance to continue that conversation with him.
Now playing: two Gram Parsons CDs in one (mostly with Emmylou Harris) -> GP and Grievous Angel. How could it be I had never heard of these albums? Nice weekend listening. "Love Hurts" is beautiful. I know the Kim Deal (and Bob Mould?) version from, I think, the Love and a .45 soundtrack, but I never knew where the original was from. Incredible. Not very often I feel too young these days, but not knowing about this stuff before almost does it.
[update: O.K., I guess the Gram Parsons / Emmylou isn't the original Love Hurts. A lot of people recored it, but it was written by Boudleaux Bryant.]
I'm making good progress on the new [editpage].
This is going to solve some long standing and subtle (but still annoying) problems. I really feel like it's coming together.
I do almost all my scripting in BBEdit on the Mac (although everything runs on Linux.) David McCusker just greatly improved my life by pointing out the MPW font. If you code on the Mac, do yourself a big favor and download this font right now:
ftp://ftp.apple.com/developer/Tool_Chest/Core_Mac_OS_Tools/
MPW_etc./Miscellaneous/MPW_Font.sit.hqx
Thanks!
Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has a review of the handspring Treo, a combo cell phone, PDA, email/SMS/webrowser due out early 2002. Sweet. Here's The Treo page at handspring.com, and here's the /. thread this all came from.
I want one. The one with the blackberry style keyboard, that is, not the graffiti (PalmOS) pen input one.
Couldn't sleep last night. Layed in bed thinking about different page caching schemes. That may not sound like fun, but it actually wasn't too bad. I think I came up with a solution. Hopefully this weekend I can make good progress on the new preference setting interface. This is going to be my first attempt to make everything usable by someone who hasn't been using the system all along. Traditionally I'm not very good at that sort of thing, but I have some hope for this attempt. I'm trying to get something ready for the first of the year, but that's just a loose date. We'll see how much free time December allows.