Running is therapy

I just fired up Vmware and installed IE7 Beta 2. While I really can’t comment on how it will work as an everyday browser, I did do some minor testing of the web app I have been writing. Interestingly enough, I went into the javascript:


if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
        requestObject = new XMLHttpRequest();
} else if(window.ActiveXObject) {
    requestObject = new ActiveXObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP");
}
    return requestObject;
}


And made it look like:


//  if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
        requestObject = new XMLHttpRequest();
//  } else if(window.ActiveXObject) {
//     requestObject = new ActiveXObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP");
//  }
    return requestObject;
}


…And IT WORKED!

This is pretty fantastic. I still won’t use it. It doesn’t run on linux and it’s not pluggable like FF, but still. Very cool that in 10 years just about every web app will become 3 lines lighter in code :)

**EDIT** I got rid of that dudes picture…it was creeping me out **EDIT**

I fired up vmware tonite and gave yahoo widgets a try (yes I know they were invented by a startup and yahoo bought them). And I must say, it’s pretty nice software. There are several linux projects which aim to do the same thing…gdesklets and the KDE one (I forget what it is called). If you happen to be a windows or OSX user, I would give them a spin, they look nice and perform very well.

I have been waiting for this day since 1995 when we last got to the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to the big show. I am pretty proud of them right now.

10 years after that night when they ran out of time against another team. I have been waiting for this. I am pretty happy right now.

Ok, I need to come clean. I’ve been coveting a new MacBook Pro. This coveting has led to many many page views at apple.com.

This morning on my ritualistic viewing of specs and applications I ran across Automator.

Now I could crack the obvious joke here: “I liked this better the first time…when it was called Shell.”, but I won’t. I actually do think this is a good idea. IMNSHO this is giving the power that we linux users enjoy to the surfing-and-chat-set. And why shouldn’t they have it?

I had had a conversation with my girlfriend the other night about why I thought that if people were acclimated to the PC by way of the shell, they would be more productive. I then explained the power of the shell and associated GNU coreutils (picture her nodding…but only because she loves me) and how when I need to get something done I turn to the shell because I know that with a few deft keystrokes I can accomplish a lot of would be tedious tasks.

However most people today (in the US at least) don’t come to know computers through the shell, they have that all abstracted away from them with a graphical user interface. Automator makes sense to me in light of the above. Automator is a nod to the shell, however instead of making people learn a new interface to their computer, this gives them the power of the shell, but uses a metaphor they are accustomed to.

I was reading my blog…and it hit me, I didn’t want to keep reading. The font here was horrid…why didn’t anyone tell me. It’s like walking around with a booger on your face. Thanks a lot guys!

I got a Sirius radio unit for christmas from my girlfriend and have been using it for a couple of weeks now. I thought I would post some impressions in case others where considering it.

Cost

The first thing I should touch on is price. It’s roughly 14 bucks a month for service. IMO that is a little high for what I personally get out of it (more on that later). However my girlfriend included a gift card that paid a portion of the intial setup fee and several months of programming. For a little more money I was able to get a years subscription, making it desirable to me.

Set Up

After deciding on the one year plan, I went to the website above and started the process to get it working. This is kind of a PITA. While in and of itself, it is really a matter of telling them what you unit you have, and giving them your credit card, it doesn’t quite play out that way. See you have to give them the numbers from the back of the unit…and at roughly the same time you have to have it plugged in, turned on and the antenna placed…this leads to going in and out of the house a few times (if you only have the car unit) to get it accomplished. Not exaclty the Oregon Trail mind you, but a pain.

Sound

My car stereo doesn’t have a line-in so I have to use the built in FM modulator (or one can buy the external modulator). The sound quality is about what I expected from the unit. It sounds pretty much the same as regular FM radio. I would imagine having a line-in would make a pretty decent difference, and is something I may look at in the future.

Programming

If you are interested in satillite radio I imagine you already have an idea of what the different services offer, and that will probably go a long way toward making your decsion as to which service to get. It was that way for me at least. I love NPR, and I hate loosing it and trying to find the local carrier when on long trips. That, and the other clincher for me is the contract Sirius has with the NFL. They broadcast all the NFL games live. This to me is a no brianer. So aside from getting 3 different NPR stations and all the NFL football games, I also listen to a lot of the sports coverage. There are a bunch of stations, including one I rather like called NFLRadio (channel 124). There is one downside. I haven’t listen to the music stations that much yet, so I can’t speak to them, however the sports and news stations all have commercials. This is dissappointing. I had hoped that paying for service instead of using regualr FM I could be free of that. (To be honest, if I decide not to sign up for another year at the end of this one, it will be because I think that having to listen to commercials on pay-for radio is a crappy way to treat subscribers). Some channels I realize are mearly rebroadcasting the regular feeds, and those come with commercials, however NFLRadio is a Sirius channel, and I find being advertized to on there offensive

Final Thoughts

I hope I haven’t left you with the impression that I don’t like the service. I do like it. I like it a lot. There are a few downsides (cost, commercials, sound quality with the FM modulator) however, getting to listen to the Steelers when they are not being broadcast on TV here and driving the other week to Altoona and not having to hunt and peck for NPR alone have been worth the price. I most likely will resubscribe next year…however if I do, it will probably be on a day that I didn’t have to listen to some huckster selling me “goto Meeting” instead of listening to the latest NFL news.

I am an avid football fan when I am not doing computer related things.

I think that you have to say, so far, after 5 quarters of divisional playoffs, that it has been a defensive struggle.

a buddy of mine has a decent thread going about what to teach children about programming I have submitted a comment that is awaiting his approval, but my suggestion was HTML/CSS and then JavaScript. I must admit this is not my sole opinion. A guy I work with is teaching his son web programming with JavaScript. However, I think this is a great idea. JavaScript and HTML/CSS will give the young person instant gratification. To me nothing is cooler to new comers than GUI dev, and HTML makes a nice way to introduce GUI concepts as well as the “Wow!” factor of making a text box on a field of blue :)

Unacceptable