Blog

I bought my second copy of Omni Outliner at the end of last week, for the desktop. I’ve gotten hooked on the PowerBook, where it came installed, and decided that the endless To Do list in my head needed to be more tangible. Decided is a cover-up for a longer discussion, but let’s leave it there. I did knock off a few checkboxes this weekend, from the mundane task of writing a friend back to the more measurable step of getting some accounts up to date in Quicken. Anyway, Omni is a slick, smooth program, which does more than I use it for, and it was (is?) on sale for $19.95, so if you’re on Mac OS X, I’d encourage a look.

My favorite thoughtful feature of the program is its strong export capabilities, especially to HTML. I’m a huge fan of CSS, but I don’t -write- compliant code except when carried along by templates… like here and in anything I write in Omni Outliner. It also exports OPML and a few others. Some have even started to take advantage of the application’s scriptability to write their own renderers. If you’re really looking for an in-depth comparison of Mac OS X outliners, try this two-part list. I never knew there were so many choices, so my easy choice of Omni Outliner may be more a testament to the power of bundling than anything (but I don’t think so). Anyone know of a similar comparison list for Windows outliners?

Fun, small wedding yesterday and Friday night. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, and we all rightfully celebrated ‘his Edness.’ If you know him, you know.

A great side-benefit was dinner with another college roommate, Kristan, whom I haven’t seen since visiting Boston to run the Marathon in April 2001. He’s doing well, and I wish we saw him and Stephanie more. One more good friend in Boston… why don’t they move out here to SF?

(I’d like to put down more than these mundanities, but wanted to close the door on this topic, for now.) Earlier this week, I learned from the TiVo Community Forum that the lack of support for the 2.8 version of the Linksys USB wireless adapter in the TiVo software was the problem. TiVo wouldn’t recognize the adapter, and the TiVo site wasn’t clear enough on the fact that they recommended the 2.6 version (which is no longer for sale!) because the later version wouldn’t work with their software. Anyway, I requested an upgrade (beta, I think), and got it sometime Tuesday night… and everything worked like a charm yesterday. So one unsightly phone cord strung across the room and under the rug is gone. Given the extra work that went into connecting all the A/V equipment correctly, I sure hope this wireless thing keep taking over for cords. Our built-in cabinets are great for everything except mucking with the endless connections. Admission: we got help from “Gene, the stereo guy” — quite reasonable rates and helpful. One less thing for me to worry about when I get home.

Writing here reminds me that most people (including me) could use an editor. Oh well!

On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, atrabilious was the word of the day from Dictionary.com. I’ve been saving that email ever since.

The email gives two definitions.

1. Melancholic; gloomy.
2. Irritable; ill-natured; peevish.

I’m rarely melancholic, but a lack of sleep/time sure makes me peevish. Peevish is a good word to say, sort of like moussaka… just rolls off the tongue. I can explain moussaka to the boy. Peevish might have to wait.

Anyway, here are the references from the email. Regular readers of this site (both of them?) will understand why I saved the initial email, knowing I needed to use it before too long.

Captain Aubrey’s steward [was] an ill-faced, ill-tempered, meagre, atrabilious, shrewish man who kept his officer’s uniform, equipment and silver in a state of exact, old-maidish order come wind or high water.
–Patrick O’Brian, The Hundred Days

So here we have him, as entertainingly atrabilious as ever he was . . . mocking the Fords, the Hitlers, the Mussolinis, the Sir Alfred Monds, the Owen D. Youngs — all who would go back on laissez-faire and on toward the servile state.
–John Chamberlain, “Future Shock,” New York Times, October 6, 1996

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Atrabilious is from Latin atra bilis, “black” (atra) “bile” (bilis). It is a translation of Greek melankholia, from melas, melan-, “black” + khole, “bile.” According to ancient and medieval physiology, an excess of black bile in the system was supposed to cause melancholy.

Aubrey’s steward is Preserved Killick, of course. I have not yet reached The Hundred Days in the series, but I will.

I stayed up late last night polishing off the final pages of Allison Pearson’s I Don’t Know How She Does It. I didn’t read Bridget Jones’ Diary, but I wonder if it was similar. Very real, very up-to-date, but still fictional… this book felt very timely to me, as a parent of two kids. Basic gist: London financial whiz Kate Reddy is also a mother of two, juggling the demands of a high-paying (but all-demanding) job with her kids and her husband. I won’t drag on with the whole plot, but I felt like I was watching a train wreck at times, wondering whether or not she would have an affair. The affair seemed a symbol of the important question: what will win when she’s forced to choose between family and job?. I was surprised by the event which brings the book to its dramatic height. More important, though, was that the ending didn’t get too tidy… although it was a bit ‘happier’ than you would have expected.

I read the book because my wife read it in her bookgroup, and laughed out loud at various lines. I, too, found some parts so spot-on amusing I smiled, which is about the best I do when reading something funny. I wonder if the atmosphere in this story will feel incredibly dated in 10 or 20 years. Hard to tell, but there’s something dangerous about a novel being too in-the-moment sometimes. I guess I wonder if this book — which is fashionable right now — will stand up as a must-read in a generation. Now, that’s a pretty hard standard to hold up. This book had enough strength to make me think it has a chance… which is a solid effort for something I enjoyed like popcorn at times. I’ll bet there’s a screenplay being shopped right now, with the action moved from England to NYC. Let me know.

Since the California law that goes into effect on January 1, 2004 won’t slow down the international spammers, I was glad to find another low-tech way to slow the harvesting of email addresses. Vin Crosbie pointed out this handy tip for encoding an email address in a way that web browsers will work, but the HTML source will not give away the address. Of course, this is just another Red Queen step… run faster and faster just to stay in place. But we have to try.

Ever since the announcement of the new G4 iBooks, I’ve been curious about whether the new 12″ iBook was comparable to the 12″ PowerBook I purchased in July. Seems I’m not alone, and a few other have actually written down their thoughts. Here’s a grid which basically concludes that it’s almost a wash, and then there’s the TidBits Talk discussion, where debate continues (although not aggressively). I’m happy with my purchase… and this is just the way of the world when it comes to technology.

Spent the weekend at Ed’s bachelor party in South Lake Tahoe, got a stack of bills to pay and accounting to do for some family stuff, and the girl must have a tooth coming in because she’s cranky as all hell. And I cannot get the &*%&^% TiVo to recognize the wireless network, despite some helpful tips from Mark which didn’t pan out. I need a bachelor weekend at home… but my wife needs the same, I know. Guess we’ll sleep next year.

I spent much of today writing down requirements, in preparation for a kickoff meeting at work tomorrow afternoon. We’re going to re-introduce a feature from the past, but this time we’re going to do it ourselves, rather than outsourcing the service. Despite problems with the outsourcer which led to our discontinuing the offering, readers (tens of thousands of them) enjoyed the service. We’ve talked about renewing our efforts here for (literally) years. We start tomorrow. That gets me excited. We’re doing something you would recognize. In fact, part of our success will come from mirroring the lessons and subtle touches of similar services well enough that there is no hesitation or questioning about (a) what the service offers and (b) how it works and (c) why you would want to use it. Making that ball of wax silky smooth for readers will take some solid work. When you ‘follow in the footsteps of giants’ you have to take big strides. How’s that for building on an old metaphor? And mangling/mixing others?

All this vagueness about the service in question seems pointless, especially because we’re not creating something that surprising. But if I’m going to be a public voice for my workplace, I’m going to run it by my boss first, and I haven’t shared my personal blog with him (although I know he’s bookmarked my work blog, I’m proud to note). I believe in blogs, but there is a constancy to the workplace approach to publication. It wins awards and a loyal audience. For now, I’m loath to pretend I speak for more than myself, beyond putting a personal touch on my responses to reader email. I don’t hide my job, but I don’t reach for Scoble-hood, either.

I woke my son up this morning, and… well, OK, he woke me up this morning, per usual. After a few pleasantries, I told him it was October 21st. And then I asked him how old he was. He started: “I’m…(hesitation)…THREE!”

Yes, today was the third birthday. Pretty easy to forget the level of anticipation and excitement that goes into your birthday when you can count your years on one hand (if you can count ;-). Just basking in the glow this morning was a truly positive parental moment. There are, of course, less positive moments, but watching the glee he took in each present tonight and his cake demolition made me a proud papa, and pretty happy overall. Happy Birthday!