After years of blogging under self-imposed restraints of ink and length, I've finally completed a week of regular, mundane blogging, and I must admit: it is way too easy.
When I imagined it to be comparable to running free after four years of wearing ankle weights, I had no idea how accurate that would be. I am sprinting when formerly I was jogging, swimming like Michael Phelps instead of swimming like, uh, me I guess. It's quite liberating, probably too much so.
Yes, I think I've given in too much to that freedom and let too many ideas get unbottled. I'll need to reel it in a bit and get the big brain back on a leash. I've found Evenote to be a good staging ground, where I can throw ideas out and see if they're worth pursuing. I'll keep doing that and be move selective of what gets released. Sorry world, but I don't think you're quite ready for the full Sumocat experience. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
No, I don't know why the topic of fish (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search?q=fish) keeps coming up. I'm weird, okay? Deal with it.
Anyway. Microsoft has released a new "Touch Pack" for Windows 7 (http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/05/27/introducing-the-microsoft-touch-pack-for-windows-7.aspx), which my GBM homey Rob Bushway has demo'd at GottaBeMobile (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2009/05/27/gbm-inkshow-microsoft-touch-pack-for-windows-7/). Lot of good stuff there, particularly Lagoon, a multi-touch virtual fish pond (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2008/08/virtual-fish-in-multi-touch-pond.html). Great idea, and not just because I proposed it two years ago (http://www.gottabemobile.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3049&PN=3). You're welcome. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Headed out to Accotink Park (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/accotink/) to walk around the lake. Intent is to make it sort of a nature walk so I'll see about posting photos to mark our progress. Probably throw me off my walking routine tomorrow, but we should be doing more than four miles today, so it's a sizeable net gain. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
In case you were worried about having to sort through the GottaBeMobile (http://www.gottabemobile.com/) site to continue to receive the full Sumocat experience, fret not. I've integrated my GBM entries into my sideblog and feed, so you can keep coming here to preview all things Sumocat. Obviously, I'm not going to cram my full GBM articles into the sidebar, so you'll have to click through for the full story, but the headline and first few lines are there to whet your appetite and keep you apprised of my digital doings. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
I told you those guys were trying to increase their attractiveness factor (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2009/03/whos-that-new-good-looking-guy-at-gbm.html). Or rather, I should now say "we guys." Yep, I've officially joined GottaBeMobile as a blogger (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2009/05/24/who-is-sumocat-why-is-he-blogging-here/).
It means I'll be delivering most of my tech commentary there, but Sumocat's Scribbles will keep on keeping on as my ink blogging outlet. GBM, despite being a vital Tablet PC resource, is not equipped for ink entries (but that might have to change).
It also means I'll be typing full blog entries on a regular basis. That will be odd, but I've now had practice on Rambles, so I should be okay. And nothing stops me from inking them ahead of time in Journal or handwriting everything via the TIP or ritePen (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search?q=ritePen) (which I've used for the first few).
Actually, it'll be interesting to see how prolific I become once I'm "unleashed." Little publicized fact: I'm a published writer and former copywriter who can hammer out up to 85 wpm. All the ink and micro-blogging is just to force myself to be more concise. Not that I have a problem being concise; I just prefer it that way.
Anyway, my goal is to keep the ink flowing, my Rambles (http://sumocats.blogspot.com/) rambling, and Notes to Self (http://www.evernote.com/pub/sumocat/notes), uh, selfish, while producing addition content for GBM. Being "unleashed" should go a long way toward making it less of an added load than it would be otherwise. And if I get the okay, I'll be implementing my usual unique solution for maintaining a single "thoughtstream." (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2009/02/surf-my-thoughtstream.html) I'll let you know. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
My two always-on tablet tools were updated this week. ritePen Pro (http://www.ritescript.com/Products/ritePenPro.aspx), which is my indispensable Tablet PC command launcher (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2008/08/ritepen-nircmd-round-up.html), has been debugged and is now running very smoothly on my computer. I really need to delve into the "pro" features of this thing, but I'm so comfortable with it as is that I lack the motivation to see more.
Also updated is the Microsoft research project InkSeine (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2009/05/21/new-version-of-inkseine-released/). Now this one I really need to get using because it's only its ScrollControl tool ring (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2008/02/inkseines-floating-tool-ring-rocks.html) that I use extensively for quick screen grabs, a key part of my ink blogging process. The ring is now accessible in the system tray, which should be useful for me. Lot of other updates and fixes in the journaling app too. Need to give it a serious spin sometime. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Or as we Transformers fans would say, "Transformed and merged" to become Transformers that turn into functioning computer accessories!
Ravage (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK10927&mode=retail) here transforms from his classic panther form to a flash drive. There's also a Beast Wars Tigatron (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK10928&mode=retail) version, laser mice fashioned after Grimlock (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK10926&mode=retail) and Trypticon (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK10925&mode=retail) and a USB hub designed after Blaster (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK10929&mode=retail) that turns into a laptop replica. Finally, a way to mix Transformers into my workspace without them taking space away from my equipment. All for pre-order at Big Bad Toy Store (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=1997). [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
So I started a new routine this week that I hope to follow every Tuesday and Thursday: walking to work.
Actually, I'm not walking the whole way, just the quick jaunt from Tanya's office to mine and back again.
About a mile to drive, but I shortcut to half that. Takes around 13 minutes to walk. Not much of a workout, but I plan on kicking it up by adding ankle and wrist weights.
Along with the exercise, I'm also trying to get more sun exposure. I've long assumed my vitamin D level was low, certainly by comparison to what it was in Hawaii, and that was confirmed the other week. I also read that my information processing style (http://unclutterer.com/2008/05/14/understanding-how-you-process-information-to-help-you-get-organized-part-i/) would benefit from morning exercise.
Along the walk, I'm listening to music from my iPhone, and I'm going to try to record some Notes to Self too (got three so far (http://www.evernote.com/pub/sumocat/notes#d4ac6d4c-0a7b-4f9f-9c4e-31e8813d110a)). My iPhone headphones with iPod control and microphone work great for both purposes. Hope to keep it going until winter. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
So this morning, I found a refutation (http://lifehacker.com/5259540/feedflix-notifies-you-when-netflix-movies-are-available-to-stream?t=12906194#c12906194) that I can use Yahoo! Pipes (http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=wppyFmlE3hGYpHmADoSbGg) to be notified when DVDs in my Netflix (http://www.netflix.com/) queue become available to View Instantly. To be honest, I hadn't actually checked when I made the claim. I just worked it mentally.
Turns out I was right (so MCWHAMMER can suck it!) but it was not nearly as simple as I'd thought, and as far as I can find, no one else has published a method for outputting dupes in Yahoo! Pipes (http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=wppyFmlE3hGYpHmADoSbGg). So I guess I'll be the first.
First, why would anyone want to output duplicate items from RSS feeds? Well, there will always be some reason to find where two groups intersect. Maybe you want to see which of your blog entries someone is copying. In my case, I want to see which of my Netflix DVDs are newly available to View Instantly. Here's how I did it:
(1) and (2): Log in to Netflix and get URLs for the "New choices to watch instantly" RSS feed and your personalized queue RSS feed. Order makes a difference because I'm matching (1) against (2). That's why they're separate then combined in order (3).
The merged feed is then split (4) in two identical feeds. One is sent through a loop (5) to add an identifying tag to mark this as the full combined feed. The other is sent to a filter (6) to strip out duplicate items. Because Netflix uses one description for a given movie in any format, I use that to determine uniqueness. This results in the two identical feeds being slightly different.
Then the two feeds are spliced back together(7) and sorted by the field with the identifying tag (8), in this case title. What's important here is the tagged items appear after the untagged items, except for those that don't have a match after the previous filter.
Finally, the items are filtered for uniqueness again (9). The unique filter discards every identical item after the first, that means the tagged items, except again for those that don't have a match after the previous filter. Thus, when I filter out the items that don't have the identifying tag (10), all that are left are the items in both feeds, in my queue and new to watch instantly.
Turns out only one of my picks was added to view instantly (but it's Die Hard, which is awesome). To check its accuracy, I added the newest instant view item to my queue, and it showed up right after the feeds updated. Worked with the second test too.
Obviously, working with data from a single source with known duplication makes this a lot easier, but it should work in less controlled situations with some tweaking. And it should work fine to check if someone is stealing your feed verbatim. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
A brief article on D*I*Y Planner (http://www.diyplanner.com/node/6561) (via Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/5256253/loosen-up-your-writing-grip-to-banish-pain)) emphasizes a point I'd discovered over years of adjusting to a Tablet PC -- a loose grip makes for comfortable handwriting.
As I noted a couple years ago (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2007/05/it-takes-light-touch.html), my near exclusive use of a Tablet PC for writing tasks has lightened my touch when it comes to writing. As part of that, my grip of the pen is much looser as well. When once I would have pressed hard with a firmly gripped writing utensil, now I slide a stylus gently across the screen.
While I do tighten up when more control is needed, for the most part, my grip is relaxed, and I can write comfortably for much longer than even as I could as a youth. Yep. my experience definitely supports the idea on D*I*Y Planner. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
A week ago, Rob Bushway lamented the fact that Lenovo offers Canadian customers more than twice the CPU options (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2009/05/01/lenovo-bumping-the-x200-tablet-pc-to-213-ghz/) than we in the States get on the X200. Today, I read that the Asus Eee T91 (http://gizmodo.com/5245736/asus-t91-convertible-eee-arriving-to-uk-next-month) convertible touchscreen netbook is on its way... to the UK. C'mon people, I know our economy is way down, but we're still tops in consumption. We would totally buy that stuff if you brought it here. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
The worries over the end of Build 52 (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search/label/Build%2052) working in Internet Explorer 8 (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-must-internet-explorer-suck.html) appear to have been somewhat premature. Got a tip from ixiion (https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=14494870&postID=5563555572269992392) that IE8 has a compatibility mode that reverts the rendering engine back to the previous one. Technically, I guess that means it still doesn't work in IE8, but IE8 can be retro'd to work with Build 52. So either set that compatibility mode or use the IE tab add-on in Firefox. That'll work until I get the next version, which will be free of IE-specific code (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2008/09/contemplating-next-build-52.html), built. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
