Ok, it’s Christmas time and coming up on my blog’s one year anniversary so I’d gotten you all video iPods–then I watched The Office and saw what evil can come from ignoring the secret Santa $20 spending limit, so I returned them all. I can’t give you kind reader’s expensive electronics but I can give you one kick ass lifehack.

 

This year I’ve gotten you all an online gift certificate for self-esteem. I am giving you (in no particular order) a list of links that are guaranteed to make you feel superior to everyone around you, albeit at the expense of others.

 

I Work With Fools

Where disgruntled workers share their inter-office horror stories. If you don’t feel better after reading the one about the employer who saves money by docking people for being late for meetings, there is no help.

 

The Eggcorn Database

Nothing makes you feel superior better than pointing out other peoples mistakes, especially when they are in writing. The Eggcorn Database gives you a repository of self-image bolstering snippets. It’s like a Powerbar for the ego-impaired.

 

Blogslot

The guy who brought you Lapsing into a Comma, and The Elephants of Style, Bill Walsh, from time to time, derides writers, and other editors for the tiny errors that slip through the cracks.

 

Query Letters I Love

Take pleasure in watching as Hollywood insiders (and some wannabe insiders) immolate aspiring screenwriter’s life’s work, and not a few egos in the process.

 

If you know of any others, leave a comment.

 

 

 

I have to snigger smugly to myself when I see Mac users giddily pee-peeing themselves over something as ubiquitous as a text editor–albeit a suped-up programmer’s editor–but I do understand why; there just ain’t that much out there for Mac users.

 

The most recent example of urine drenched Mac-lemming giddiness comes from WebMonkey via LifeHacker. Heidi Pollock (refrain from meathead jokes please) said: “The day I discovered TextWrangler — the heir apparent to everyone’s beloved BBEdit Lite — I swear my eyes welled up with tears of joy.” What we’re talking about is a scriptable, configurable, syntaxt high-lighting, source code debugging, text editor. That might be a short list for Mac but for Windows the list is Ensteinian in its proportions.

 

You may join me in my derisive laughter. No? Well let me give you a short list of reasons to laugh right along with me.

 

NoteTab:

NoteTab (one upon a time known as Super NoteTab) is a tabbed text editor with a built-in scripting language that allows users to control the interface.

 

Another handy gadget included with NoteTab is the clipbook editor. With clipbooks you can store huge swaths of text embedded with replaceable parameters that either prompt for input or wrap around selected text. With the clipbook repository, users can download tools to help develop in languages from AutoLisp to VRML.

 

Save text directly to your handheld device, convert CSV files to HTML tables, search the web, create a rolodex, email your text, all from within the application.

 

ConTEXT:

ConTEXT is the TARDIS of text editors–it is bigger on the inside than it look on the outside.

 

With unlimited file size, an unlimited number of tabs, an unlimited number of syntax highlighters (download them as plugins, or create your own custom highlighters), multiple human language support, code templates, file explorer, file compare, support for multiple file formats (DOS, Unix, and Mac), and more. You can see why I call it the TARDIS of text editors.

 

A couple really standout items are the macro recorder, and the command line handler. You could almost replace the standard Windows shell with ConTEXT…I might just give that a try.

 

Chrimson Editor:

It’s so small it fits on a floppy, which means that I keep a copy of it on my portable