December 2009
Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest. http://thepowerofless.com/
RT @platypus1320: Every web designer's nightmare come true... - http://bit.ly/4HMme7 /via @boxofblue
Does software decay over time? Yes... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_decay
Got mobile broadband today. Only £8/mo & 2 month min. contract. :) http://j.mp/7P6XGv
Just confirmed: We're moving from Abingdon... to Abingdon! Just the other side of the estate in fact! :-D
Sure, we can do that. We can do anything you want. Just tell me which three features I should cut from the next release. http://j.mp/10ni0u
10 Things to Consider when Writing for the Web http://bit.ly/6WLmJE /via @carsonified
Much better date picker than jQuery UI: http://keith-wood.name/datepickRef.html
RT @carsonified: Interesting new "contact support" page design from @campaignmonitor - http://bit.ly/5UbnX4
November 2009
RT @gtdguy: How fun (& civil!) to walk w/my dog at her pace, letting her finish processing each smell before going to the next.
Obviously no-one ever did a usability study on train over-seat displays. Why not traffic light style?
Don't like new retweet feature - too hard to get full list of tweets, inc. retweets, from the API
RT @ktotheb: Don't wait. The time will never be just right. ~ Hill
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. -Helen Keller
RT @zen_habits: You can turn a bad draft into a good one, but you can't turn no draft into a good one.
Super-cool new design for UK plugs http://bit.ly/1bdNkc (via @develyn)
The 1st, 2nd & 3rd versions of any [software] are really pretty good ... then companies start adding more & more stuff. http://bit.ly/2NzGxd
Some things worth doing are worth doing poorly. (http://cli.gs/1t7Nb)
October 2009
RT @stevepavlina: Compromise: ensuring that no one gets what they actually desire. Use "win-win or no deal" instead.
Ate too much chocolate and now feel sick. Damn you Tesco two-for-one offer that I cannot resist!
I obviously don't use Facebook enough, because I have no idea what everyone's complaining about this time!
RT @zen_habits: The world of tomorrow if the Internet disappeared (pics) http://is.gd/4wtFq
"An imperfect job completed today is always superior to the perfect job delayed indefinitely" http://bit.ly/yyZQu
Labour have started saying what they will do if they win the next election. Does that mean they won't do anything worthwhile until then?
“Remember that there is no code faster than no code.” - Taligent’s Guide to Designing Programs http://is.gd/3QYNl
"Variable reinforcement" of constantly checking email compared to gambling: http://bit.ly/1PwZ5V
I now have each of Win 7, Vista and XP on my 3 different computers, and equally happy with them all. No good reasons to upgrade, or not to.
September 2009
The 76th rule of acquisition: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
Rip DVDs to iPod free: http://handbrake.fr/ + http://dvd43.com/ (Windows)
Installed Server2Go on my USB key last night. Seems really good so far. http://server2go-web.de/
The smell of cheap washing up liquid mixed with old coffee in the kitchen at work reminds me of working in a hotel...
Ain't about how fast I get there... Ain't about what's waiting on the other side... It's all about the climb. http://bit.ly/RurjX
Just realised it's now possible to set MP3s as audiobooks in iTunes instead of converting everything to .m4b!
Testing Ubiquity for Firefox - looks pretty powerful (http://labs.mozilla.com/ubiquity/)
August 2009
I always thought 'til was the correct short version of until, not till. http://bit.ly/tUiDt
TIFF: Thousands of Incompatible File Formats! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF)
Upgraded work PC from 1GB to 3GB RAM. I can now open photoshop files in about 1 second instead of 1 minute!
Useful app for finding out how much memory you can install in your PC: http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/
The Hollywood Operating System http://nand.net/~demaria/hollywood.txt
So glad we don't have software patents in the UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8197990.stm
Just realised my Out Of Office responder said I am away until 10th September instead of August. I don't think anyone actually noticed!
Google Mail vacation responder keeps replying to the Google Calendar daily agenda emails!
Finished unpacking within 45 minutes of getting home... new record?
Eating lunch in a fairly posh hotel... Wearing a hoodie. Doesn't feel right somehow.
My web host's multi-layered spam protection eliminates almost all spam... but also makes relaying mail from my dev server very difficult :-/
It took all my self-restraint not to buy anything in PC World or Staples!
July 2009
You can always tell when a new Zend Framework is about to be released by the mass of Jira updates
RT @carsonified How to Increase Sign-ups by 200% http://bit.ly/QSxDj
RT @zen_habits: This is a cool little simple app to help you focus: http://stickyscreen.org/
"It does say 'No recruitment agencies' on our website". "Yes, well everyone says that, but they don't really mean it"!
Super Mario: Teaching kids the value of Magic Mushrooms - since 1985
Rubens Blah-Blah-Blah-rrichello - The Single http://bit.ly/lwEJ8
RT @lolamby: Mac users, just so you know - it's not cute when you include that __MACOSX crap in every directory you touch. Cut that out.
Encrypted my laptop hard drive... and USB key. Better safe than sorry.
I love how you can press a few keys on the keyboard and 20 minutes later a guy rings the doorbell and hands you your dinner
Busy weekend of CSI, Torchwood, Need for Speed & Grand Prix ahead!
"Its illegal to ban me from Steam when I was using a undetected hack" lol http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/6541/vacbanloldv3.jpg
June 2009
"This instruction manual has been produced in a manner that will enable you to obtain maximum pleasure from riding your bicycle."
Easily create ".htaccess" files in Explorer in Vista by typing ".htaccess." instead (http://tinyurl.com/nlgfhq)
Standing File Rack from David Allen Co: $75 (http://tinyurl.com/cp9y4f)... 2 book ends from local WHSmith: £4 (& resizable too) #GTD
There should be an "Undo closing Windows Explorer" button, like there's an "Undo close tab" in Firefox!
BioBuddy all-in-one biodiesel processor - available now: http://www.biobuddy.co.uk/
"Improvements to service reliability" really means "less often and takes longer"
May 2009
Giving Google Chrome another try. Definitely faster. Not sure I can live without my FF extensions though!
MouseKeys is very useful for pixel-perfect positioning of things
"I think you're talented, but not that likeable... I mean that in a positive way!" -Simon Cowell
I now have a lovely 19" widescreen monitor at work. It's a step up from the 15" one, but doesn't compare to my 24" monitor at home!
After about 5 hours I've come to the conclusion that the only solution for this particular IE6/7 problem is to use JavaScript.
If you use IE6... I hate you! Because supporting IE6 is painful... and I have to support it because 1 in 5 people still use it!
Graham Norton seems determined to put every other country down! #eurovision
Excellent YouTube mod script: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/13333
Todays weather by Metcheck: "Subscript out of range: '237'". Guess that means umbrella then? http://tinyurl.com/ovjlzv
I now have 3gb dual-channel memory. Even iTunes is fast now! (Sadly Twitter is not!)
Why you shouldn't use Wikipedia as a source! http://digg.com/d1qPkz
"Easy words, big writing, pictures, sound..." Apparently accessible now means treating everyone like kids! http://tinyurl.com/dxkdct [PDF]
Just ordered 4GB RAM. Can't cope with Photoshop + Illustrator + Firefox + iTunes with 1GB any more. Might have to upgrade to 64-bit OS next!
April 2009
Why does Windows Live Messenger *still* say "Jason has a new profile picture (36 days ago)" - when does it stop being new?!
Who is Bill Posters and why does everyone want to prosecute him?
RT @zen_habits New on Zen Habits: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (or, the Privatization of the English Language) http://is.gd/uLYJ
By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day. -Robert Frost
RT @zen_habits [...] Succeed or Else: http://www.succeedorelse.com/
This thing knows me! "lonely incurious cautious; quiet academic ROBOT" http://twanalyst.com/DaveJamesMiller
On average Jack Bauer encounters a “ticking bomb”, and someone who must be tortured to defuse it, 12 times a day. http://digg.com/d1pT5v
Easier way to retweet using the Twitter web interface: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/26500
RT @brokep It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release.
Stupid news reporters: RT @msaleem When they steal it's okay, when we steal it's a crime - http://digg.com/d1ojpU
RT @stevepavlina: The only "have to" is that you have to die. The rest of the "have to's" are what you create in your head. - Jim Jackson
I hate when you open a load of websites in tabs, and one of them starts playing sounds! (Even worse if more than one!)
RT @stevepavlina: B.S. excuses: I don't know how. Not enough money/time/energy/talent. Family says no. Not in the mood. Will do it later.
It's been over a year since I last redesigned my website... Must be time to do so again!
List items should be understandable within the first 11 characters (2 words) - http://useit.com/alertbox/nanocontent.html
Internet (n.) "The biggest distraction ever invented." - http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/top-10-productivity-hacks-2/
Does Economics need to start recognising herd behaviour? http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/alumni/warwickconnect/herd/
RT @stevepavlina: Heart-warming photo story of paying it forward - http://www.helpothers.org/story.php?sid=9267
Interesting stats on the growth of technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY
RT @stevepavlina Ppl buy gym memberships to access a building full of challenges, yet they complain about the challenges life provides free.
March 2009
Cool Earth Hours pics - before & after http://tinyurl.com/dl3ns6
Quite liking being able to use the new MSN (oops, I mean WLM!) on 2 computers at once.
FutureTweets is great when you have lots of things so say but not all at once! http://futuretweets.com/
The Ratter is back for 2009 at http://www.theratter.com/ . "The lighter side of F1"
"I ran the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal tool but Internet Explorer is still installed on my computer" (http://drupal.org/node/88746)
Unsubscribed from the RSS feeds & podcasts with the lowest SNR. Should save a lot of time in the long-run.
Never understood why women buy uncomfortable shoes and then complain when they wear them. Can anyone explain?
Sitting on the Tattershall Castle on the Thames in the sun with a drink with lovely people.
I don't think the weather got the message that spring doesn't start until tomorrow!
I'm starting to think everyone posting Tweets to Facebook is not the best idea - I read them all twice!
Brilliant CSS-only (no images) drop shadows: http://tinyurl.com/9myv4l
Apparently you can't use the word "MySQL" on Google Adwords any more... http://tinyurl.com/d6e6kf
Get around Firefox "Secure Connection Failed" in 2 clicks instead of 4: http://tinyurl.com/6bhp8x
Loving Spotify for listing to albums before deciding whether to buy them! http://www.spotify.com/
Two dangerous phrases: "Can you just..." and "All you have to do is..." !!
Today I was introduced to Quake Live. There goes my weekend! http://www.quakelive.com/
Ctrl-W in Vim is backspace word; in Firefox it's close tab, and I keep pressing it! At least there's Ctrl-Shift-T to undo it!
Trying to send a HTML email that looks right in both Gmail and Outlook! Argh!
Might we finally get rid of IE as we know it one day? Hmm... http://tinyurl.com/cvjrg9
24 solid stage drives in RAID running at 2GB/sec... I want one! http://tinyurl.com/dm4h3n
Decided @syncplicity is better than @dropbox http://tinyurl.com/ajj9wp
Decided one 24" monitor is just not enough - gone back to 24" TFT + 19" CRT dual monitor setup! Much better for watching videos.
Why can't Realtek use sensible names for startup programs? I always have to Google RtHDVCpl.exe and Skytel.exe to check they're safe!
Part of me wants to watch the other 12 episodes of 24 right now! But part of me thinks spacing them out makes it more exciting!
It's been 6 years and I still think Jack Bauer will say "on the day of the California presidential primary" at the start of each episode!
When will terrorists realise they should kill Jack Bauer as soon as they get the chance?! (And James Bond too.)
February 2009
CSS problem: Content wider than the background: http://DJM.me/b858
January 2009
Synchronising files between multiple computers: http://DJM.me/b864
29 Dec 2009
RT @ktotheb: It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
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