TextMate lets the user bind any key combination to a snippet or command, thereby overriding the default behavior of that hotkey. This is useful. I’m trained to type option‐shift‐hyphen for em dashes (and option‐hyphen for en dashes)— but in the character‐encoding wasteland of the web, this is risky. So instead I’ve got snippets for the corresponding HTML entities — and – bound to those keys whenever I’m in an HTML scope.
It’s as though Microsoft invented a car with an opaque windshield — and then devised camera and periscope attachments so you can see where you’re going.
The fact of the matter is that the people who struggle most with writing are drunks. They get hammered at night and in the morning their heads are full of pain and adverbs. Writing is hard for them, but so would golf be, or planting alfalfa, or assembling parts in a factory.
The Del.icio.us Lesson. Yes! I’ve been saying this for months! (Not to other people, mind you. I’ve been saying it inside my own head.) Flickr is another good example: even if nobody else used the site, I’d still find it useful as a photo hosting platform. The network effect doesn’t just happen.
When, seventeen years ago, I designed the Web, I did not have to ask anyone’s permission… Anyone can build a new application on the Web, without asking me, or Vint Cerf, or their ISP, or their cable company, or their operating system provider, or their government, or their hardware vendor.
If Goodin wanted to be reasonable or accurate, he could have written a story titled “Some Guy Double‐Clicked a Trojan Horse Virus for Mac OS X but It Didn’t Actually Spread to Anyone Else”, but what kind of story would that be? OK, it’d be a true story, but it wouldn’t be a good story.
Since I redesigned this blog only a couple months ago, I didn’t really take part in the CSS Reboot this year. But I did make some minor changes to the layout. Gone is the sidebar (which I was never in love with); I’ve got a new section at the bottom of each page to replace it. Also: after experimenting with sIFR many times in the past, I’ve finally taken the plunge and deployed it on this site. (I’ll continue to tweak over the next few days, so wonkiness might ensue.)
The Bad in Email. For a long time I’ve considered e‐mail a hair’s breadth away from completely broken; I really don’t know why we haven’t started over.
[T]he Texans have nonetheless convinced themselves that they will be better off selecting Mario Williams, the tall, speed‐rushing defensive end from North Carolina State. I suspect Williams is potentially stellar. In time, he could be a Pro Bowl‐caliber player … The only problem is that Gary Kubiak has failed to weigh these points against the opposing argument, which is that REGGIE BUSH IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TACKLE. HE IS WAY, WAY BETTER THAN ALL OF THE OTHER DUDES WHO ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE DRAFTED. WHEN REGGIE BUSH IS RUNNING WITH THE FOOTBALL, THOSE ATTEMPTING TO KNOCK HIM TO THE GROUND CANNOT SEEM TO DO SO. THIS QUALITY IS ADVANTAGEOUS WITHIN THE GAME OF FOOTBALL, AS THAT IS PRETTY MUCH THE TOTALITY OF THE SPORT.
The only way to have power at twenty‐five, particularly in the music business, was to appear to be hip and groovy; then it would be assumed that you were a young visionary leading the way to the future. Being neither powerful nor particularly hip, I relied on my personal strengths. I was articulate, and I had a good sense of humor. I therefore styled myself as what can best be described as a young smart‐ass. It served me reasonably well for a number of years.