Today is your last day to submit entries for the "Rename the Podcast" contest. We stop accepting name suggestions at 11:59PM EDT today, so get your entry in now. You could win an iPod nano or a Shuffle and more. All for simply suggesting a few new names for the podcast.
You can enter as many times as you want—but now is your last chance!
I'm undesigning for a little while. I know... I'm insane. I just need a clean slate here and I plan to mess around with various things as I start ramping up SimpleLog 3.0 in the near future. Sorry for the visual mess—things will change around here soon again, I'm sure.
Macworld just declared xPad a "Mac Gem". It also earned a decent 3.5/5 mice, which isn't too bad for an old application like xPad. I'm always delighted to hear that people are still getting good use out of the application, and this nice review from Dan Frakes was great to read.
It's quite perfect timing, to be honest, since I'll be speaking about Iterative Cocoa and Web Application Development at WWDC next month. I'll be talking about developing xPad, SimpleLog, and other such goodies. I'll also be discussing a lot of process and strategies for rapid development. If you're going to WWDC, be sure to check it out.
Every week I see more and more great sites using SimpleLog. Here's a few of the most recent sites added to the list:
Are you using SimpleLog? Add your site to the list on the wiki!
My sister graduated from college last week. Needless to say, I'm proud. I'm also worried, because she majored in psychology and now whenever we hang out I'm nervous that she might try to figure out what's wrong with me.
It's been a little while since I've mentioned it (and since we've released an episode), so don't forget about the "Rename the Podcast" contest that's still going on until June 1. You can win an iPod Nano or a Shuffle or other prizes just for entering a name suggestion to rename the podcast.
We've been on a bit of an unplanned hiatus due to work and other stuff, but we'll be getting back to the podcast in the very near future. In the mean time, enter the contest!
The plan, as I see it, is to redesign every few weeks until every last person I know calls me on the phone and yells at me. I'm getting close to fulfilling it. This is the third redesign in as many months. I gotta say, for not being a "designer," I sure to seem to enjoy it sometimes.
This design (which I've dubbed "bonsai") is based on a photo I took recently at the BBG. In fact, almost all of my recent designs have been based on photos. I guess that's where most of my inspiration comes from.
You'll note, if you've been a good little visitor, that this design melds a little of the textured background design from a while back with the newer layout of the previous design ("commie" as it was called). What can I say—I like to iterate.
In all honesty, I really liked the previous design (which is why the layout stayed), but I felt like it was time for a lighter design for the summer and once I took that photo of the bonsai tree I knew I had to redesign.
I'll be in Portland at Railsconf later this week. If you're going and we've met before (or haven't met), please drop me a line (garrett at maniacalrage dot net) and let me know so we can meet. I'll also be live blogging my experience of the event for Digital Web Magazine (as well as duplicating that writing here), which should be fun.
I haven't been back to Portland in about 12 years, so I'm really exited. Oh, and the nerdy conference is a good thing too.
Update: Unfortunately, due to last minute scheduling conflicts and some general busyness, I'm not going to make it out to Portland after all. Maybe next year!
Well, I'm officially over the hump and heading toward the dreaded three-oh: Today I turn 26. Birthdays don't really mean much any more these days, I guess. Katia and I plan to have dinner in a nice restaurant, grab a drink and then I'll cry into my pillow for two hours. Okay, so it's not so bad. But I do remember people saying you're supposed to get wiser as you age, and I don't think that's happening.
Hiking in the woods, Katia likes to keep a clean mouth by utilizing random sticks found on the ground. She also enjoys wearing bandanas.
I took this photo of Katia in the garden of our hotel in Tokyo back in 2005. When I took it, I told her I was going to take a "dust jacket" photo that she could use when she became a published author. I think it came out damned near perfect.
"Depends on what you're looking for. I've got three kinds." His hands are dirty and he gestures too much while he talks. "You're not from around here are you?"
"How can you tell?" I ask, but I already know the answer. I'm wearing pants.
"You're wearing pants," he says, and points to my Dockers.
"Yeah, well, it's a custom where I'm from. I hope it doesn't offend you?"
"No, it's not offending me, it's just making you look like a damned fool is all."
"Okay. Sorry." I point to the middle of the three under glass.
"Don't you go apologizing to me about it," he says, as he takes it out of the case and lays it on the counter in front of me. "Just don't be surprised if people give you a hard time around town."
"Fair enough." I look it over. It's in good condition—great actually. "Does it still work?"
"Of course! I only sell working stuff."
"Okay. How much you want for this?"
"Well, since you're from out of town and all, I'm gonna have to charge you a little more. You know, to keep up appearances."
"Right, I understand. How much?"
"Tell you what—give me two hundred."
"Done," I say and take out a wad of twenties. I count off ten and toss them on the counter, pick up my purchase and head toward the door. When I open it, the bell above the jamb jingles and I turn. "Thanks, old timer."
"You're welcome. You be careful with that thing."
"I will," I reply and head out into the sun.
A while back I wrote about my problem with dual display to single display window placement, and I received a bunch of emails from people having the same problem. Thankfully, I also received an email from Abhay Kumar1 with a solution: A freeware, Universal preference pane called Forget-Me-Not.
Forget-Me-Not will remember your window positions for you! Forget-Me-Not will save your window sizes! Forget-Me-Not will restore everything for you when you re-connect your monitor!
And, by golly, it actually works. The only things that don't seem to get moved back correctly are the Twitterific window and the Quicksilver panel, but everything else gets moved about perfectly.
Now I can unplug my Cinema Display and all the windows shift to single-display layout. Plug the display back in and bam—they're back where I want them. Fantastic!
