AppleScript 2.0!
Posted by dAVE in Applescript, Mac OS X on 10/30/2007
Thanks to df for pointing out that Apple has posted release notes for AppleScript in Leopard.We can now ask if an application is running, without AppleScript launching it to find out. ;-)Some nice additions to running AppleScript on the Command Line:
- use
#to comment out a line - start the script with
#!/usr/bin/osascript, and make it executable, will enable it to be run in the shell osadecompileis a command line script to display compiled scripts as text
Now osascript also supports additional arguments on the command line, so now you can run a script and provide strings for it to use. see the osascript man page for details, and an example. This feature was available in Tiger, I just never noticed until now!
StuffIT download
StuffIT, that became Allume, that became digital river is becoming less and less relevant on Mac OS platform. Part of the reason for that, of course, is the policy of the manufacturer, that requires signing up, buying things, etc. It’s nearly impossible to find the free StuffIT expander, for those rare moments when you need it.
In any event, here is a direct link to the StuffIT download page. I had to give out a throw-away e-mail address to get it.
SCIFI’s Fiction Archive is going offline! WGET your copy today!
Posted by dAVE in Random Observations on 6/13/2007
To be honest, I did not do any research to figure out why the archive is going offline in 2 days. I took a quick look, decided there was tons of great content, and…
wget -m -np -p --include-directories=/scifiction/classics/,/scifiction/originals/ http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/archive.html
Which gave me about 13 Megabytes of files.. and since I know I don’t have time to read them now:
tar jcv www.scifi.com -f scifi.com_archive
And tossed the resulting 5.5 Mb file into *my* archive folder.
Thanks to Boing Boing for pointing it out!
Today’s Cool Key Command!
Select a word, do command-ctrl-d, and it invokes pop-up window with data from the dictionary. Thanks Tom!
Speaking of Ottawa
Speaking of Ottawa is a project I have been working on with Tom. There is now some detail on what we are working on on the site.. go look and while you are there, sign up for the annoucement list!
Parenting 101
Posted by dAVE in Random Observations on 4/3/2007
Some of the things that made our lives easier after having our first, and second child;
A Sling to carry her in, which keeps her cuddled up against mom or dad and leaves us with our hands free.
“What to expect the first year“ something to read when baby is keeping you awake at odd hours of the night.
Night time feedings go a lot easier if you change the diaper *before* feeding the baby. We learned that the hard way!
Sleep when the baby sleeps. Nobody cares if you vacuumed, but they will notice that you look like a zombie.
When you read to your children, tell them the Title, Author and Illustrator of the book… it didn’t take long before he figured out he liked Jan Brett’s books!
Get a library card, and use the online system to reserve and remind you to return books. We take out several books every week, and have found some were so good that they were worth buying from our local independent bookstore!
Setting the default width for columns in the Finder!
Posted by dAVE in Tech. Support on 3/23/2007
Thanks to JC over at Mac Geekery I just learned that there is a way to force the Finder to use a different default width for columns in column view!
It turns out to be super easy to apply too..
Close all your finder windows.
Open a new one
Resize a column, while holding the option key down
Close the window
Open a new window… voila!
Thanks again JC!
Bus tracing under Windows.
I’ve used USB Sniffer v1.8 to sniff USB bus transactions under Windows. It works, although generates very verbose output (and I have to copy the .log files to a unix box, where grep/sed/awk can actually make them useful. Yes, I know about cygwin, no, command line editing under windows still sucks).
I was told to give a free version of Bus Hound a try, especially for looking at IDE transactions. (BusHound supports alot more then just usb bus, and I was told that it’s quite good, which is a win, since I am thinking about foregoing using USB to IDE adapter, as using USB introduces extra data in bus traces, by wrapping around CDBs.)
P.S. Reading ATA/ATAPI 7 and MMC 6 specs gave me headaches. So I stopped.
Elliptic Cryptography textbook
Posted by stany in Mathematics on 3/7/2007
Looked some more at AACS specs. Realized that I don’t know jack about elliptic cryptography. Asked Yuly Billig what he recommends as a gentle introduction to elliptic cryptography for dummies with limited algebra skills.
He recommended “A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography” by N. Koblitz, QA 241.K672. Carleton library has two copies, so next time I am on campus, I shall sign one out. I guess we’ll find out how much of a dummy with limited algebra skills I am.
It’s all about copious spare time.
Peter Watts’ Books are licensed under CC
Peter Watts, a Canadian Marine Biologist responsible for Vampire Domesticantion lectures (Which you should spend 40 minutes and listen to, and definitely read the little corporate slogans at the corner of each slide) licensed a bunch of his books under CC license, and made them available for download.
Thank you, Peter! I was looking on Amazon, and at 50 to 90 dollars a copy (per softcover), it was not feasible for me to buy them.
If you liked these, consider buying Behemoth: A-Max and Behemoth: Seppuku. They are also good.
Oh, and regarding slogans: in F.E.A.R, on certain levels there were posters that said “Remember, it’s Quantity, Quality, Safety in that order!”