I’ve been trying to send some e-mails with attachments via Gmail, from within Safari. Frustrated, I launched the 1.0b1 version of Camino, and it worked the first time I tried.
If Camino could mimic the easy subscribability of Safari when it comes to RSS and Atom feeds, there would be no looking back. Based on my own usage, Camino is consistently faster than Safari at rendering, uses less RAM over time, and remains more stable.
Then Tom has to go and remind me why Safari kicks butt when it comes to designing for standards.
An article in the latest Macworld has prompted me to look seriously at del.icio.us. My personal work habits have evolved to the point where I’m no longer worried about keeping bookmarks synced between two systems, but the prospect of an online backup of my bookmarks, that I could access from any where, is appealing. I’m coming closer all the time to my own personal death knell for .Mac.
Anthro’s eNook is so cool it almost makes me wish I didn’t have enough space to get one. Almost.
A happy belated to Tiffany.
Finally, my thanks to Tom. He knows why.
Tag: tech
…the more they stay the same.
[Via Dan.]
Erik links to the Speakeasy Speed Test, so I figured I would give the Verizon fiber connection a go.
Using the Dallas server:
Download Speed: 7400 kbps (925 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1634 kbps (204.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Los Angeles:
Download Speed: 6301 kbps (787.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1599 kbps (199.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
New York City:
Download Speed: 7928 kbps (991 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1637 kbps (204.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Seattle:
Download Speed: 4436 kbps (554.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1540 kbps (192.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
(What is it about sucky connections from the Dallas area to the Seattle metroplex?)
Chicago:
Download Speed: 8227 kbps (1028.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1633 kbps (204.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
(Faster to Chicago than across town!)
Washington, D.C.
Download Speed: 8870 kbps (1108.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1650 kbps (206.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
San Francisco
Download Speed: 5354 kbps (669.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1577 kbps (197.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
(Silicon Valley sucking off the bandwidth?)
Atlanta
Download Speed: 7676 kbps (959.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1619 kbps (202.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Jack Good, mathematician:
“My Windows 98 computer tells lies and often forces me to shut down improperly. Such behaviour in a human would be called neurotic.”
AOL is still a crappy way to Internet, in my not-so-humble opinion, but their latest commercial (“Too much information”) had me in stitches.
Need to send an e-mail to a loved one’s or friend’s mobile phone, but can’t remember the confusing phonenumber@anameotherthanthecompany.something e-mail address wireless services set up? Use Teleflip, a free service. You can use it from any e-mail client or web-based e-mail. Just send a message to phonenumber@teleflip.com, and that’s it. Be sure to use all ten of the phone’s numbers.
(Note that any fees your wireless provider charges for receiving e-mail/text messages to your phone will still apply.)
Backpack and Writeboard, two excellent services by 37signals, both use Textile for text formatting. I have nothing against Textile; I used to use the plug-in for Movable Type on my blogs.
When John Gruber released Markdown in to the wild, I was intrigued, and soon after, made the switch from Textile to Markdown, and I’ve used it for online formatting ever since. Like Merlin, I’ve found myself using Markdown syntax in other areas, but unlike Merlin, only while typing.
Now I want to have my cake and eat it, too: Markdown for Backpack & Writeboard.
After using the latter for a couple of days, I e-mailed 37signals with my request. I figured it would be something not-too-hard (I hesitate to use the phrase “fairly easy,” because I am, for the most part, totally clueless about backend web server type stuff) for them to implement Markdown formatting for Writeboard. My suggestion was to make it a preference a user could select, leaving Textile as the default.
The reply I received from 37signals honcho Jason Fried was encouraging. While he made no promise as to future implementation (not surprising, standard fare), it does sound like something they’ll toss around the conference table. A whiff of hope is better than none at all.
Tom’s not happy with Brent and Sheila’s sale of NetNewsWire to NewsGator. I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that he’s literally on drugs.
If you’ve spent any time on the Ranchero beta lists, exchanged e-mail with Brent, or read his blog posts on development, you know Mr. Simmons does not go off half-cocked with major business and development decisions. Despite Tom’s dislike of NewsGator, I’m sure Brent and Sheila were quite careful with whom they chose to sell NetNewsWire. After all, this company is Brent’s new employer. He would have to be convinced the company would foster the sort of development environment in which he would have the freedom to make NetNewsWire all it could be.
As he notes, there are things he’s wanted to do with NNW that he has been able to not get to, having to deal with the business and support aspects of being an independent software developer. By going in-house with NewsGator, Brent is now free from those other constraints, absent anything he may wish to do on the side with Ranchero’s other products that NewsGator did not purchase. With regard to NetNewsWire, all Brent has to worry about right now is programming. One would reasonably believe this is a Very Good Thing™.
I have no opinion about NewsGator, as a company or with regard to any of its products. They have never been on my radar before. Perhaps Tom knows something I do not, but again, I believe Brent would have done his research regarding the company before making such a commitment.
With regard to selling out to Apple, I don’t see that ever happening. Apple’s nod to RSS is the feature built in to Safari. I don’t see a standalone news reader in Apple’s future, nor do I see Apple devoting the depth of features you can find in NetNewsWire in to the RSS cabinet of Safari.
In the end, it appears this is a good thing for the Simmons, and a good thing for Mac users. NetNewsWire simply rules the news reader market, on any platform. No doubt this is the number-one reason NewsGator was interested in it, and I don’t see any other product, much less an open-source initiative, knocking it from that perch any time soon.
Gruber points out that Ranchero Software has sold NetNewsWire to NewsGator. Big, big news in the Macintosh community it is. It appears this is a good move for Brent and Sheila Simmons, and will not affect NetNewsWire aficionados, yours truly included. I am a little concerned about MarsEdit, which Brent says, in the above-linked interview, they are searching for a new home for.
I’m sure Brent will take some heat from certain zealots in the Mac blogosphere and beyond, but he will get none from me. He and Sheila have to do what’s best for them, and by throwing in with NewsGator, it would appear the sky is suddenly the limit. Our best wishes to the Simmons, and we eagerly await the next version of NetNewsWire!
Update, 9:35 PM CST: Gruber notes the post in Brent’s blog regarding the acquisition.
Note to self: do not join the clueless Authors Guild.
I echo Gruber’s sentiments regarding the decision of the Authors Guild to sue Google over Google Print. For one, an author can choose to exclude his work in a fairly simple process. Second, as an aspiring author, were I to publish a book, I would love to see it read by as many people as possible. If Google Print helped me accomplish that, so much the better.