Posts

I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only mutt user who missed having mail notifications in the indicator area. From a quick google search, it turns out I was in good company. Even better, a fellow by the name of Brad Mont actually wrote a basic python script to create an appindicator that would monitor a maildir. It was about 90% of what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I didn’t want another icon crowding the panel, so I adapted his script to use the messaging menu, so it shows up with chat (and any other communications programs). I made a few other changes along the way (notifications). Thanks to the folks who wrote gm-notify for being such an easy to read example of both notification and the messaging menu. ...

Assuming you’re doing a Google Image Search for a specific unicomp keyboard. ZOMG!

As well as my previously mentioned Unicomp keyboard, I also decided to purchase a Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical. It’s basically a thumb-oriented trackball that resembles a standard mouse (with regards to clicking, scrolling, etc). Adjusting to using the trackball was extremely easy. I have one at work and one at home. I haven’t been able to use it for games yet, so I’ve still got a second mouse around for that (more on that in a bit…) ...

I’ve recently purchased a Unicomp Customizer 104. It is essentially a modern version of the old IBM Model M mechanical keyboards. I do a fair amount of typing, so I thought it would be worthwhile to invest in a better keyboard. I’ve decided not to post photos since there seems to be no shortage of those on teh interwebs already. The feel is very nice. It reminds me of the Model M I used to have, but unfortunately, that model is long gone and I can’t do a direct comparison. The keys are very loud, which was expected from this type of mechanism (Buckling Spring). I expected the actual mechanism to buckle roughly 50-75% of the way down so that an experienced typist can stop their finger motion before they hit the backplate. It appears that these keys require almost 95% motion, at least by my rough estimate. I consider it impossible to type without moving the key completely down. Unfortunate, but no worse than any other keyboard. ...

I’ve tried (and failed) to use many different pieces of software designed to manage todo lists. The main reasons I’ve failed is because the software either has a high learning curve, bad documentation, or it is cumbersome to use. I’ve finally struck gold with devtodo. Out of the box, it is almost perfect, but there are a few little issues: It expects .todo in the current directory It has no ability to track what you are working on. I’ve managed to work around both of those with some extra functions in my .bash_profile. ...

I recently had need to do a reverse find, and couldn’t discover any programs that offer this functionality. I decided to work around the issue using a bash function, loops, and find. This function can be stuffed into your ~/.bash_profile, and referenced wherever you need it. rfind() { rfind_path="${PWD}" while [[ "${rfind_path}" != "/" ]]; do rfind_search_paths="${rfind_search_paths} ${rfind_path}" rfind_path=$(dirname "${rfind_path}") done find ${rfind_search_paths} / -maxdepth 1 $@ -print -quit } As an example, let’s say I’m in /home/user/docs, and I execute rfind somefile.txt. rfind will actually build a command and execute the following: ...

Okay, so the ipad is just a big ipod touch, and filling the “device too large to always have on you but too limited to do lots with” between a handy with-you smartphone and a real computer. If it was an accessory to a computer, THEN it would be interesting. Put it on the dock and it acts like a second screen. If you’re reading a PDF or web page, you can send it to the ipad for display, grab the ipad and continue having your reference material up. How about an example: ...

I’ve linked my blog to [Twitter](http://twitter.com Twitter), [Identi.ca](http://identi.ca identi.ca), and [Facebook](http://facebook.com Facebook) via [ping.fm](http://ping.fm ping dot fm) via [CR Post2Pingfm](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cr-post2pingfm/ CR Post to Ping fm) [Twitterfeed](http://twitterfeed.com/ Twitter Feed dot com). Whew. Hopefully this means that I will update my blog more often as there is a slight, remote chance that somebody might actually see it. I’ve got two LUG presentations coming up: DIY debian packaging for [LOLUG](http://groups.google.ca/group/lolug London Ontario Linux Users Group) and KVM+libvirt for [KWLUG](http://kwlug.org/ Kitchener-Waterloo Linux Users Group). I’ll post slides when I present. ...

I’ve created a new project called imagecompare. The purpose is to detect and merge duplicate images, particularly where EXIF information may differ. There is more information on the project page

I’ve recently switched over to using git for revision control for my personal projects. This has made doing packaging and development substantially easier. I also decided to use git for my resume. I’ve redone my resume in LyX (a LaTeX front end)