Stuff you can’t live without
This started as a simple task. I wanted to convert some cassette tapes into MP3 files. I have a shiny new iMac that I thought would be perfect for the task. Then I ran into lots of problems.
I used GarageBand to record the audio. I thought I could simply save it as an MP3 file but that would be too simple, wouldn’t it? GarageBand only creates AAC encoded audio in M4A files. Unbelievable! Eventually I got a solution.
Tools, Tools (Ad Nausium) [sic.]
“There are problems with the many-tools-hacked-together approach that adds an odd balance to it.”
Bruce Alderson and I have a common vision. I wish that there was a stable platform for PHP applications that provided all the common stuff like database abstraction, user login and account management. I just want to seamlessly combine the best of MediaWiki, WordPress, Gallery and PHPbb. I don’t want to have 4 different logins and spend weeks trying to make templates for each so that they all look alike. Somehow these Open Source packages need to cleanly separate the functional engine from the application presentation layer. Then I could mix and match them.
I thought this ad was cute when I first saw it. However, the second time it popped up on my web browser I realized something wasn’t quite right.
Dice is a website for job postings. They ran this ad on SourceForge looking for Java programmers who are on the market. The thing is, if you actually read the code, the else clause doesn’t make sense. OK sure, if myjob is boring then go look for a new job, but the else clause says suck it up. That effectively states, if your job is not boring then suck it up, which seems odd.
I added some tips for using Cygwin to the Cygwin entry at Wikibooks. I’m going to repeat them here for my own reference and the benefit of other Cygwin users.
I’ve never liked the term Requirements Specification or Software Requirements Specification even though these are widely used in the industry. There are requirements and there are specifications. The two are always different in my mind. Indeed, Webster’s defines them differently.