Coming Soon
September 13th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
Chirptastic is a Twitter client for the Mac… It is currently in
development and I hope to have the first beta available in a week or
so…
My New Blog: Blogging And…
August 8th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
Since I do quite a fair bit of blogging I thought would start a blog about blogging! I've named it Blogging and…, as a style thing each post will start with "Blogging and …", for example the first post was called Blogging and How To Create a Free Blog at Blogger.com, the next Blogging and What is Wordpress? You get the idea…
Blogging and… helps you build a successful and popular blog. By providing tutorials, tips and articles along with community participation you and Blogging and… can create blogs worth reading and blogs that have the potential to make money.Two atoms were walking down the street…
August 5th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
Two atoms were walking down the street. One atom says to the other
one, “I’ve lost an electron! The 2nd atom replies, “Are you sure?”
Says the 1st atom, “I’m positive.”
New Mac Bundle; $450 Worth of Apps for $49.99
August 3rd, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Technology
The Mac Sale was launched today and for a limited time only you can get $450 Worth of Apps for $49.99. The bundle of 10 applications combines the products of both established Mac powerhouses and startup indie developers.
The full list of applications in this exciting new bundle is:
- REALBasic Personal - The exceptional rapid development environment. Designed to appeal to newcomers to software development and also old hands looking for another tool to add to their arsenal.
- Iris - A new image manipulation app with a beautiful user interface. It’s uncluttered user interface makes it a joy to work with on everything from photos to logos.
- Interarchy - The ultimate file transfer tool. With support for FTP, SFTP, Amazon S3, WebDAV and more.
- Flux - The powerful web design application. Flux supports just about everything your can throw at it from XHTML/CSS to JavaScript and Flash.
- Scribbles - The innovative sketching program, with a remarkable user interface ideal for anyone needing to make quick sketches or fun paintings.
- TaskPaper - The amazingly simple but flexible task manager. With a restrained user interface TaskPaper focuses your mind on your tasks ahead, and not a complex application.
- WriteRoom - The remarkable word processor aimed squarely at writers. It’s full screen mode has become famous in the Mac community and even got plaudits in the New York Times.
- Stuf - The clipboard manager tool which lets you copy and paste over your local network. You’ll wonder how you ever managed with it!
- Mariner Calc - The lean and mean spreadsheet. This established and mature spreadsheet application is long standing Mac workhorse, and with good reason.
- HoudahSpot - Don’t search, find. HoudahSpot adds the missing “Advanced” function to Spotlight…
How long have I been using Linux?
August 3rd, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
I wrote a little email to someone recently about how long I have been
using Linux and I though I would cut and paste a section from the
email and post it here!
early 90’s… In about 2002 I switched 100% over to Linux due to the
releases of OpenOffice.Org, FireFox and BibleTime. With these apps and
a few others I was able to switch and had no need for Windows at
all… Then in 2007 a terrible thing happened someone gave me a Mac!
Of course I had to start it up and bam! I switched to OS X but mainly
using the same applications like OOo, Firefox and now BibleDesktop
(instead of BibleTime). I still keep my fingers in the Linux pie, I like and use CentOS a lot
and I like Ubuntu Server as well, in fact I was writing a book about
Ubuntu Server but time constraints killed the project about half way
through.
Guest posting on rGadget.com
July 31st, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
I have taken a guest blogging position on rGadget.com. My first post is Arrington’s CrunchPad in the Shops by November; Real Competition for Apple’s Unnamed iTablet and my author profile is here.
Identi.ca
July 28th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
I’ve signed up to Identi.ca, you can see my profile at http://identi.ca/garysims
For those who don’t know, Identi.ca is an open source social
networking and micro-blogging service where users can send text
updates (called dents) up to 140 characters long in a similar way to
Twitter.
Apollo 11 Source Code Available on Google Code
July 25th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
It was once said that the computers on Apollo 11 had less computing power than a modern pocket calculator and now we can read to machine code and see! The code for the Apollo Guidance Computer, or AGC has been transcribed, by Google, from scanned images of printouts for both the Command Module (codenamed Comanche054), which reached moon orbit and was the return vehicle; and the Lunar Module (Luminary099), which took astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon.
Google also provide a virtual AGC which is an emulation of the on-board Apollo guidance computers, along with some ancillary items needed to make the emulation do something interesting.
You can see the Google Blog entry about it all here.
UPS Air Cargo Mechanics Jokes
July 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Me
Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high
school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of us who fly
routinely in our jobs. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form,
called a ‘gripe sheet,’ which tells mechanics about problems with the
aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs
on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next
flight.
Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are
some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ‘ pilots (marked
with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked With an S) by maintenance
engineers.
By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an Accident.
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit
P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.
P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what friction locks are for.
P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.
P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search
P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.
P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a Midget
pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.
The Mac Sale Launches New Bundle; Register Now For Chance to Win an iPod
July 22nd, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » Technology
The Mac Sale has announced their brand new Mac software bundle, offering a great deal to both the developers of the applications and customers alike. The Mac Sale combines the products of both established Mac development houses and independent startup developers.
The Mac Sale bundle goes on sale on the Tuesday 4th August 2009 for $49.99, so head on over to The Mac Sale to register your interest and also get the chance to win a brand new iPod Touch without any purchase required.