RADRails Integrated IDE for Ruby on Rails

October 15, 2005


RadRails is an integrated development environment for the Ruby on Rails framework. The goal of this project is to provide Rails developers with everything they need to develop, manage, test and deploy their applications. Features include source control, debugging, WEBrick servers, generator wizards, syntax highlighting, data tools and much much more.

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Chewbacca Actor To Become American In Texas Ceremony

Monday’s Ceremony To Be Held In Arlington

POSTED: 10:00 am CDT October 13, 2005
UPDATED: 10:13 am CDT October 13, 2005

ARLINGTON, Texas — The actor who played Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” movies is becoming an American citizen.

British-born Peter Mayhew says he’ll recite what part of the citizenship oath he can remember, but that “it will be a Chewie growl for the other parts.”

Mayhew says he’s feeling happy about becoming an American. He says “despite the politics, religion and everything else that goes on” America’s still one of the most wonderful countries in the world.

He says he’s buying a suit for Monday’s ceremony in Arlington, and that it will be the conventional type — not the brown furry sort.

NBC 5i

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Freeware Timers for Windows


Cool Timer is a countdown timer with a cool, customizable interface. It can be set for up to 100 hours and plays any WAV, MP3, or MIDI file when time expires. Whether you are baking a cake, taking a nap, or rationing out video games or computer time to your kids, this free program makes it easy.

Cool Timer

TimeLeft is a countdown, reminder, clock, alarm clock, stopwatch, timer, sticker and time synchronization utility. TimeLeft uses Winamp skins to show digits and text. The main feature of TimeLeft is a customizable reminder, which can alarm you at a specific moment of time or run periodically. It can also remind you before a specified event or keep on reminding after it. Reminder can show a message, play music, open a link/document or shutdown your PC. One more TimeLeft feature is a countdown, which lives on your desktop and shows the amount of time left to (or passed after) the specified event. Countdown reminds you of forthcoming or job to be done. Also you can place your countdown on a Web page.

TimeLeft

A simple program that allows you to turn your computer into a fully functional alarm clock. Includes support for 3 seperate alarms, and 3 types of alarms (buzzer, silent, and music).

gAlarm

A stopwatch which has 10 counters to clock multiple elapse times parallely.

Multiple counters also act as lap holder or just for keeping results of past clocking. Has ways to start, stop and reset all counters at once. You may select down count mode. Allowed to record counter values to a file oe Clipboard. Conversion feature calculates and shows time related quantities, for example time * speed = distance.

For Windows XP, 2000, NT4.0 and Windows Me, 98, 95.

Multitrack Stopwatch

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43Folders’ Procrastination hack: “(10+2)*5”

It’s called “(10+2)*5” and here’s why:

* 10 - Work for ten minutes with single-minded focus on moving toward completion on a single task. Ten minutes, and that’s all you’re allowed to do is work, work, work. No cheating, because (DING!) you actually get a break when you’re done…
* 2 - After ten minutes of sweaty, dedicated work you get a 2-minute break to do whatever you want—drink coffee, read 5ives, call your bookie, whatever. When the two minutes are up, it’s back to work on the next task on your list. This is important.
* *5 - You’re going to iterate this four more times for a total of one hour’s working/breaking

Link 43Folders

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GTD with Hipskine

When you begin to use GTD you will find it enables you to improve your organization skills. To stop there would be a slight, it is more about changing your reliance on your brain and others (Those folk who have the nerve to ask where something you are working on is) to remember things and when they are do. The GTD system gives you what you need to allow yourself to place your faith in an alternate system to do that for you. Thereby lowering the stress you are under when you feel that nagging sensation “Am I forgetting something?”. For me, GTD is not the first organization methodology I have attempted to use, and I hope to report that after a month I am an old pro and I fell wonderful about my method of doing it. Hipskine is the methodology I have implemented joining the Tactile feedback pleasures of a Molskine (http://www.moleskineus.com/moleskine-about.html) planner/journal (http://www.moleskineus.com/diary.html) and the efficient tracking of my next actions in a GTD fashion with Tracks a ruby on rails developed system. All in a device that requires no power, can accept a variety of Writing implements, (A big plus for me since I enjoy collecting pens and pencils way to much) and is small enough to fit in a pocket or purse. You can carry it anywhere.

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SceneWriter Pro v 3.5

SceneWriter Pro v 3.5
I have a go at some new screewriting software–SceneWriter
Pro v 3.5.


1. Out of the box

1.1 Installed tutorial doesn’t work
The tutorial that was packaged with SceneWriter Pro v 3.5 didn’t work. I had to go back to their web site and hunt down the online version, fortunately there was one–a very basic one.

1.2 Help doesn’t work
Can’t hit F1, can’t click Help…nothing.


2. Pros

2.1 Forces the writer to outline.

2.2 Autoscene
Pressing Shift+Enter, or Ctrl+I causes SceneWriter Pro v 3.5 to insert an auto- numbered scene. The writer can then, later, go back and rename the scene. This makes the fact that the writer is forced into outline mode seem almost tolerable. There will still be something of a steep learning curve for top-down thinkers like me.

2.3 Editable INTROs
Supposedly you can edit the INTROs. I tucked this item under pros because it doesn’t yet seem to be a flaw, though why one would need such a thing I can’t say.

2.4 Price
Even at $49.95 SceneWriter Pro v 3.5 is a sweet deal, but for a limited time they are offering a deep 60% discount. That beats the crap out of the nearest (price wise) competetor. If I remember correctly: Movie Magic is around $100.00, Final Draft is $179.00, and Writer’s Blocks is nearly $300.00.

2.5 Don’t have to hold down Shift.
One cool thing is that I don’t have to hold down the shift key to type a slug line, character line, or other uppercase element. Things that must be up cased are handled automatically.

2.6 Notes everywhere!
Scene notes, character notes, project notes. There are more than enough places to compartmetalize your information.

2.7 Schemes


3. Cons

3.1 Forces the writer to outline.

3.2 Fancy-schmancy slug line editor.
The slug line editor is just over done. While it isn’t difficult to get the hang of (after all you can just type your way through the drop down lists) I wish I could just turn them off, or only call them up when I need them. That is the key point: I need to be the one making decisions as to when I want a drop down list.

3.3 Tutorial refers to "Options" menu, but I can’t find it.
The tutorial, in several places, refers to an Options menu, but I can’t locate it for the life of me.

3.4 Freakin’ "Apply Changes" gizmo.
‘K I know I’m an idiot, over the years Microsoft has managed to convince me of that, but dude, either save the goddamned changes or don’t–just quit telling me about it.

3.5 While editing, the Enter and Tab key swap functions.
I guess it is because I am used to Movie Magic, but I found this frustrating. From the slug line you press enter and you are whisked to the Direction line, thence to the Character line at the mere press of a tab key.
Every time you press a key the damned thing changes function; difficult to learn and remember.

3.6 Schemes
I list this in both pro and con because I am sure some folks will like it, but in my opinion the time spent developing this little feature could have been better spent elsewhere. The default Scheme is called full, and means that every goddamned window is open. After tinkering a bit with them I discovered that I like the classic scheme best. The scheme called The Page is just unuseable.


4. Result
Overall I give SceneWriter Pro v 3.5 an A for effort. The price and feature set are just right for someone trying to break in to the business, but if I were to move away from Final Draft or Movie Magic I’d probably just switch to Word. This product won’t convince many FD or MM users to make the downgrade, and most cheepskate (like me) will hunt for a free alternative, of which there are many, but I am sure there is a market–somewhere.
Last updated: 10/14/2005
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