Project Planning & Scheduling Software -- Project KickStart
KickStart integrates with Outlook -- sort of. KS projects become Outlook task categories, and KS tasks become Outlook tasks. There's no synchronization -- KS is always the source of truth and it overwrites the Outlook categories. Without Outlook that tasks must be treated as "read only" or moved out of the KS categories.
I'm going to experiment with this a bit. I'll preface each KS project with the prefix ks_ so I know not to touch those tasks in Outlook. They will also display on my Palm (unfortunately, due to PalmOne's failures, Palm synchronization is not what it used to be ...).
john
Friday, April 23, 2004
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Topix.net and mangled advertisements
Digital Cameras News - Topix.net
Topix.net is a largescale news aggregator. I prefer Google's front page, but Topix has a very large ontology (knowledge structure) of news topics. That's not evident from the front page, but if you search on a topic you can quickly get long lists of topic domains -- about 250,000 according to an NPR show.
This is their topic collection for digital cameras. They do some kind of limited RSS feed as well. I'll experiment with this and probably link from my news page to very specific Topix.net domains -- such as digital photography.
They seem to use the targeted advertising business model, which could be a great fit to these focal domains. It doesn't work so well when searching on domains that aren't in their ontology. Here's an ad associated with results from a search on "plague":
Topix.net is a largescale news aggregator. I prefer Google's front page, but Topix has a very large ontology (knowledge structure) of news topics. That's not evident from the front page, but if you search on a topic you can quickly get long lists of topic domains -- about 250,000 according to an NPR show.
This is their topic collection for digital cameras. They do some kind of limited RSS feed as well. I'll experiment with this and probably link from my news page to very specific Topix.net domains -- such as digital photography.
They seem to use the targeted advertising business model, which could be a great fit to these focal domains. It doesn't work so well when searching on domains that aren't in their ontology. Here's an ad associated with results from a search on "plague":
Buy Plague Products
We link to merchants which offer Plague products for sale.
PC Magazine: Top 100 Lesser Known Web Sites
PC Magazine: Top 100 Web Sites
PCMagazine (I fondly remember the original ZDNet BBS ...) has a list of 100 web sites -- but it's not the usual list. These are "lesser known gems" divided into 12 categories (lifestyle, photography, etc). At the top right side of each page there's a short list of the entires, so you don't have to navigate the entire page. I may comment here on the one's I end up liking, but they're worth a review. Many, but not all, are familiar to me.
The persistent URL for this page may also be: www.pcmag.com/top100websites
PCMagazine (I fondly remember the original ZDNet BBS ...) has a list of 100 web sites -- but it's not the usual list. These are "lesser known gems" divided into 12 categories (lifestyle, photography, etc). At the top right side of each page there's a short list of the entires, so you don't have to navigate the entire page. I may comment here on the one's I end up liking, but they're worth a review. Many, but not all, are familiar to me.
The persistent URL for this page may also be: www.pcmag.com/top100websites
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
PuTTY: a free telnet/ssh client
PuTTY: a free telnet/ssh client
I lost track of this app a while ago. It's free and worked when I last used it. Need to try it again.
I lost track of this app a while ago. It's free and worked when I last used it. Need to try it again.
Monday, April 19, 2004
The New York Times > Movies > Scanning at 4000 lines per frame
The New York Times > Movies > 600 Macs, 4,000 Lines, One Giant Leap for DVD's
Neat story, makes me think again of the digital vs. 35 mm discussion.
If a 35 mm film were square, and a "line" was a pixel, this would be the equivalent of a scanning 8000x8000 pixels, or 64 megapixels. I think that a 35mm still image has resolution within a factor of 2-3 of this number, so it's not so far off.
In practice 12-16 megapixel CCDs seem to produce images of equal sharpness to 35 mm negatives. Given advances in technology (such as in-camera variable tonal range adjustment) and a straightforward extrapolation of today's sensors we should equal the effective resolution and color capture of consumer-grade 35mm still cameras within 2 years. With appropriate use of JPEG2000 compression the images should be manageable.
I'd love to read an article that explored these numbers in more depth.
Engineers calculate that 4,000 lines of data would be needed to reproduce all the visual information in a frame of [35mm movie] film ...
By contrast, most DVD's these days — good as many look — begin with a compromise: they're scanned at just 1,080 lines, at most 2,000 (sometimes as few as 480), and the source is almost always not the original negative but a copy.
Neat story, makes me think again of the digital vs. 35 mm discussion.
If a 35 mm film were square, and a "line" was a pixel, this would be the equivalent of a scanning 8000x8000 pixels, or 64 megapixels. I think that a 35mm still image has resolution within a factor of 2-3 of this number, so it's not so far off.
In practice 12-16 megapixel CCDs seem to produce images of equal sharpness to 35 mm negatives. Given advances in technology (such as in-camera variable tonal range adjustment) and a straightforward extrapolation of today's sensors we should equal the effective resolution and color capture of consumer-grade 35mm still cameras within 2 years. With appropriate use of JPEG2000 compression the images should be manageable.
I'd love to read an article that explored these numbers in more depth.
Northern Softworks: Panther Cache Cleaner is essential?
Northern Softworks
The current version of OS X runs very well indeed -- but it does have problems with corrupted cache files. This $10 utility has been highly recommended.
The current version of OS X runs very well indeed -- but it does have problems with corrupted cache files. This $10 utility has been highly recommended.
Sunday, April 18, 2004
VIA Strengths Scale - a cut above the usual web survey
VIA Strengths Scale - Welcome
It takes about 30-40 minutes to do the 200 question survey, but it is a serious psych analysis. A Guardian journalist speaks well of it as a self-discovery tool.
It takes about 30-40 minutes to do the 200 question survey, but it is a serious psych analysis. A Guardian journalist speaks well of it as a self-discovery tool.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
More solutions for iPhoto's 'Not enough Disk Space' error
macosxhints - A solution for iPhoto's 'Not enough Disk Space' error
One of many fixes for what appears to be several problems. See thread for other fixes, or see my postings. As of May 04 I used Panther Cache Cleaner's most extensive cache cleaning function to resolve a recurrence of this problem.
Recently, I tried to export 800 images (<1G) from iPhoto 4.0.1 and got the message that I had insufficient disk space to complete the operation despite having 20G free on my HD.
I checked the internet to look for others with this problem. There were several comments about iPhoto remembering the size of the original HD on which it was installed and several workaround solutions but no solution till now...
Turns out the solution is easier than the workarounds (e.g export to alternative HD etc). All you have to do is to erase the iPhoto preference file ~/Library -> Preferences -> com.apple.iPhoto.plist and all is good again
One of many fixes for what appears to be several problems. See thread for other fixes, or see my postings. As of May 04 I used Panther Cache Cleaner's most extensive cache cleaning function to resolve a recurrence of this problem.
Macintouch: fixing cache corruption
Mac OS X Panther (10.3.3)
Macon Shibut
Regarding Amir 'CG' Caspi's missing CD/DVD System Preference Pane icon [Apr. 14], this has indeed happened to others before. I had the same experience. By Googling around on the web, I found several references to it by others. The problem is a corrupted cache file. Quitting System Preference and deleting the file com.apple.preferencepanes.cache from the folder ~/Library/Caches will take care of it. I'm not sure how or if Caspi's using VirtualPC played in the matter.
Nigel Cartwright
Duplicate or missing preference panes are caused by cache corruption. To resolve this:
1. Quit System Preferences.
2. Trash the file com.apple.preferencepanes.cache in your Home > Library > Caches folder
3. Empty Trash
Launch System Preferences and all should be well.
OS X should include more cache cleanup in its regular maintenance scripts.
Macon Shibut
Regarding Amir 'CG' Caspi's missing CD/DVD System Preference Pane icon [Apr. 14], this has indeed happened to others before. I had the same experience. By Googling around on the web, I found several references to it by others. The problem is a corrupted cache file. Quitting System Preference and deleting the file com.apple.preferencepanes.cache from the folder ~/Library/Caches will take care of it. I'm not sure how or if Caspi's using VirtualPC played in the matter.
Nigel Cartwright
Duplicate or missing preference panes are caused by cache corruption. To resolve this:
1. Quit System Preferences.
2. Trash the file com.apple.preferencepanes.cache in your Home > Library > Caches folder
3. Empty Trash
Launch System Preferences and all should be well.
OS X should include more cache cleanup in its regular maintenance scripts.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Microosft MVPS.ORG resource
Welcome to the MVPS.ORG home page!
The MVPs show up in Microsoft's usenet forums. They appear to be microsoft-related small businesses. This is a central respository for them. If it's maintained will be an interesting set of resources.
The MVPs show up in Microsoft's usenet forums. They appear to be microsoft-related small businesses. This is a central respository for them. If it's maintained will be an interesting set of resources.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
BBC World Service: Great expansion of their radio service
BBC World Service.com Radio Player
The BBC has reconfigured their online radio services. The new link shows an awesome array of material. It wasn't working with the OS X REAL Audio client (no error, simply wouldn't play), but for some mysterious reason the RA eventually client recognized it needed a new Codec and downloaded it. Now it's working again.
The BBC has reconfigured their online radio services. The new link shows an awesome array of material. It wasn't working with the OS X REAL Audio client (no error, simply wouldn't play), but for some mysterious reason the RA eventually client recognized it needed a new Codec and downloaded it. Now it's working again.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
What I want in my next digital camera: An improved Canon G2
John's Digital Photography Page
I was thinking again about what I want to replace my G2. Turns out, not all that much! It's all technically possible, but I fear "market failure" (the bane of my existence) will rear its head and divert the market in other directions.
Basically I want an improved G2 for about $500 to $600 US. Including:
1. JPEG2000 rather than JPEG. (Better color range, better edges with fewer artifacts at higher compression.)
2. 6 megapixel is fine.
3. ISO 800 with minimal noise.
4. Faster cycle time, image throughput, etc. (16 bit internal bus, faster internal storage, faster image acquisition, firewire or usb 2.0 etc)
5. Image quality (color, etc) as good as the G2. Favor lens quality over increased zoom.
6. Fix the minor bugs and usability problems I put on the page I reference here.
7. Image stabilization for handheld shooting at 1/15 sec.
8. Fix the built-in flash's defective exposure control -- but keep the hot shoe!
9. Comparable quality, reliability, and ruggedness.
None of this is demanding. All of these things appear in today's cameras -- indeed they already offer more megapixels than I'm asking for. I DON'T want an SLR. They're too big, have dust problems, too expensive, I like the swivel LCD on the G2, etc.
The question is -- will the market deliver what I want? I fear it will deliver both far more, and, critically, far less.
I was thinking again about what I want to replace my G2. Turns out, not all that much! It's all technically possible, but I fear "market failure" (the bane of my existence) will rear its head and divert the market in other directions.
Basically I want an improved G2 for about $500 to $600 US. Including:
1. JPEG2000 rather than JPEG. (Better color range, better edges with fewer artifacts at higher compression.)
2. 6 megapixel is fine.
3. ISO 800 with minimal noise.
4. Faster cycle time, image throughput, etc. (16 bit internal bus, faster internal storage, faster image acquisition, firewire or usb 2.0 etc)
5. Image quality (color, etc) as good as the G2. Favor lens quality over increased zoom.
6. Fix the minor bugs and usability problems I put on the page I reference here.
7. Image stabilization for handheld shooting at 1/15 sec.
8. Fix the built-in flash's defective exposure control -- but keep the hot shoe!
9. Comparable quality, reliability, and ruggedness.
None of this is demanding. All of these things appear in today's cameras -- indeed they already offer more megapixels than I'm asking for. I DON'T want an SLR. They're too big, have dust problems, too expensive, I like the swivel LCD on the G2, etc.
The question is -- will the market deliver what I want? I fear it will deliver both far more, and, critically, far less.
Friday, April 09, 2004
Apple - Discussions - Altec inMotion speakers & iPod resets
Apple - Discussions - Altec inMotion speakers & iPod resets: "I'm very concerned that the Altec inMotion cradle is damaging iPods. I too am having increasingly curious behavior associated with inMotion use. It goes something like this:
1. Insert into cradle.
2. Remove from cradle.
3. iPod seems fully charged.
4. iPod goes to sleep abruptly, (resets?).
5. Wake up iPod, battery is totally drained.
PS. If you do use the inMotion, the manufacturer's recommended insert/removal procedure includes directions to UNPLUG the darned thing -- not just turn it off.
Given the odd recommendations from Altec about insertion/removal, and these crashing behaviors, I strongly recommend against purchase of this device unless we hear some definitive commentary from Apple or Altec."
1. Insert into cradle.
2. Remove from cradle.
3. iPod seems fully charged.
4. iPod goes to sleep abruptly, (resets?).
5. Wake up iPod, battery is totally drained.
PS. If you do use the inMotion, the manufacturer's recommended insert/removal procedure includes directions to UNPLUG the darned thing -- not just turn it off.
Given the odd recommendations from Altec about insertion/removal, and these crashing behaviors, I strongly recommend against purchase of this device unless we hear some definitive commentary from Apple or Altec."
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Review: Shuttle ST62K XPC Zen - including build experience
Review: Shuttle ST62K XPC ZenWhat makes this special is he describes the barebones system AND how he built it. If I were to buy another XP machine, this would probably be it.
HeadRoom | Headphone info by gurus
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Very professional layout and great content from serious users.
Very professional layout and great content from serious users.
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