Posts

I wrote a Vim syntax file for rdist. If you’re one of the other ten people out there who are still using rdist, feel free to grab a copy. https://github.com/tangledhelix/vim-rdist

I recently switched from Apple’s Terminal to iTerm. At first, it was just an experiment, to see if iTerm was really usable. I’ve used iTerm before, but it was some years ago, and at the time it was buggy, slow, and unstable. I’m glad to report that it has grown by leaps and bounds, and is now my full-time terminal. Things I find superior to Apple Terminal: Real xterm keys I didn’t realize I was missing these before I had them again. I’ve used xterm and similar (e.g. rxvt) in the past, of course, but it’s been some time. Xterm passes through keys like PageUp and PageDown, and most unix programs know how to use those keys (Vim, for example). ...

I’m a big fan of the movie Dark City. I’ve watched it dozens of times. (Mild spoilers below.) Kiefer Sutherland’s portrayal of Dr. Schreber is arguably, in my opinion, the best of his life. Sure, he’s now known for playing Jack Bauer, and for various roles past, stretching back to “Lost Boys.” But for me, Kiefer’s mastery of his craft is best shown by his performance as the one lucid human in a city living in eternally forced delusion; a quiet, damaged hero. ...

When I was a kid, I loved magic. There is a picture on display in my mother’s living room. David Copperfield sits at a table signing autographs. My brother and I are next to him, while he signs our event posters. I’m slack-jawed, literally the picture of awe. I had a magic set, so I knew how simple illusions worked. But Copperfield’s work was so far beyond what I understood, he may as well have been Merlin. Or Jesus. ...

Yesterday we participated in the 1st Annual FAAN Walk for Food Allergy, held at Jacobs, er, Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland. My mom, my in-laws, and others joined us. This event being in its first year, there were a few rough edges. The emcee was barely audible because she wasn’t talking into her microphone loudly enough. There weren’t any signs directing people to the proper gate at the stadium. But it all worked out in the end. ...

First, a confession: I’m a pen nerd. I recently read about Sharpie’s new Liquid Pencil, and was excited about it. A pencil with no leads to break? An erasable writing instrument that becomes permanent after a day or so? It seemed like the perfect pocket pen (er, pencil). Sign me up! Just over a week ago I saw a two-pack at Officemax and bought it. I’ve been carrying one in place of my usual Pilot G-2, as an experiment. ...

If you use Facebook, you’ve undoubtedly seen this at least once. I hate the new Facebook! Join my petition group! Let’s bring back the old Facebook! It happens any time Facebook changes anything significant. People are enraged for a while. After a few weeks, it peters out and things go back to normal. Until the next change, at least. Rinse, repeat. Think about this. What are they really saying? I have learned how this site works. You changed it, so now I have to learn it all over again. I’m pissed off. ...

Attached to a gift from my brother this afternoon.

Joe Wilcox challenged John Gruber to allow comments on Daring Fireball. Gruber explained why comments aren’t enabled. Wilcox responded by turning off comments on his site for two weeks (an experiment). I recently disabled comments on this site. It’s not widely read, and what readers I have don’t often comment. The level of attempted spam finally decided it. Readers can still remark using my contact form. The ones who know me personally know how to find me using Twitter, Facebook, or email. ...

I recently wrote about improving the Instapaper function in Fever°. It occurred to me that a small pop-up window would be much better than having a full-size browser window come up just for a second. Then I wondered if I could put a javascript: URL into the Fever° settings. And whaddya know, it works! The new link I’m using (wrapped for readability): javascript:window.open( 'http://mysite.com/instapaper.php?url=%u&title=%t&selection=%e', 'instapaper', 'width=300,height=200,toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,resizable=1' ); You can copy the link below. You’ll need to adjust it to your site. ...