Building simplicidade.org: notes, projects, and occasional rants

Notes

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PerlTk

I always wanted to learn PerlTk, it seems the most portable way to do a quick GUI for some perl script. My problem with it is that, being a Mac user for sometime now, I really don’t want to run X11 to use it. Apparently, my problem is solved… TclTk Aqua Batteries-Included is a Tcl/Tk distribution (binary with source available) that runs native in Aqua. I’m going to install it, and then I’ll try to compile PerlTk against it.

Changing Powerbooks

My Powerbook is now 2 years old. It stills runs perfectly, and the battery still provides 2+ hours of charge (with heavy use; almost 3:00 if editing text only and if I’m really careful with battery usage). So I don’t have reason to change to a new one just now. Anyway, I asked around (Nuno and Pedro) what features would make them switch to a new one right now. Based on their opinion, and my own personal interests, I decided to write the reasons that will make me buy a new powerbook.

Phones

Rui is my preferred source for all that is mobile or PDA related in the last couple of months. He is pretty exhaustive, and I share a lot of his view on what I want as my PDA and mobile. I’m not as forgiving about Windows CE as he his, not because I hate Microsoft (I really don’t, I like a lot of software they do, not the operating systems but the apps), but because I really don’t like the Windows interface.

Software patents in Europe

So the European Parliament voted against software patents but the Council voted for software patents. What’s next? Well, elections are coming, next Sunday, so choose wisely if you care about this. Check this page to find out how the Portuguese MPs voted. Next week, may the lobbying begin. In June, the Council must formally adopt the position, so you have a couple of days. You might need this: key arguments against software patents and MPs contacts.

iTunes usage

I was discussing with Nuno how he uses iTunes, and I was amazed that he likes party shuffle… I don’t use party shuffle, too lazy to pick songs and stuff. So I have a special playlist, a smart one, that I use. This playlist assures me a continuous stream of music with 3.5 days turn around time (assumes you are listening to itunes 24 hours a day, of course, so it’s more like 10 days).

BitTorrent text mode

Finalmente! Sim, eu sei que vinha um cliente de linha de comando com o bittorrent orignal, mas nunca o consegui por a funcionar… Vou por isto a bombar e dou noticias.

Clie no more?

I’m a proud owner of a Clie NZ-90 (the monster!), but it seems that it will be my last Clie. I think I understand why they are doing this. When I first heard about Clie, they where very advanced in comparison with Palm and Handspring offers, but now, the Palm T3 and others are getting there. I don’t know the entire Clie line. There are some models that don’t have a replacement right now (mine for example), but those are niche markets.

My CTRL is stuck

I use a Logitech wireless desktop everywhere. I like the keyboard feel very much. It’s not as good as the old PS2 IBM keyboard (BTW, if you have one of those for sale, let me know :) ), but it’s better than most. I use it with my Powerbook for two years now, and I always had this glitch with the CTRL key and a specific key combination. I use the portuguese layout, by the way.

Pod::Webserver

The python folks had for sometime this tool that would convert the locally installed documentation into HTML and give you a small HTTP server to publish it. Can’t remember the name, though. Perl folks didn’t. Until today. TorgoX has been working on that, and today he upload Pod::Webserver to CPAN. You need a very recent version of Pod::Simple (I had to force an update on my local CPAN mirror), but apart from that, works great!

New ecto release

Nuno had a problem with ecto because he was using a older version of MovableType. The latest release, 1.1.6, fixes that, so all of you using Macs out there, and need/want a blogging tool, my recommendation is ecto. Works great.