BrainLog http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/ en Copyright 2008 Wed, 14 May 2008 06:34:42 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Six HBO shows added to iTunes. Nice!

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/six-hbo-shows-added-to.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/six-hbo-shows-added-to.html Wed, 14 May 2008 06:34:42 -0800 Piet, a programming language whose programs are grids of colored squares.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/piet-a-programming-language-wh.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/piet-a-programming-language-wh.html programminglanguages Mon, 12 May 2008 06:38:48 -0800 Redesign Readers of this site following via a feed reader may not have noticed that the site has been redesigned. The new design is nothing innovative, but it fixes a heap of problems with the previous design that I never liked but didn't have time to fix. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's a step forward.

One note for feed readers: You're probably subscribed to a file called "index.rdf", a proper RDF file that was an alternative to RSS in an early set of default templates that came with Movable Type. With this redesign, I built the site up from scratch using the latest version of Movable Type, which does not include an RDF template. As a temporary measure, I've set up "index.rdf" to serve the RSS feed for the site (now called "rss.xml"). This is totally wrong, morally speaking, but the few feed readers I tried it with didn't seem to have a problem re-discovering the actual file format. If there's demand for a proper RDF feed, I'll look into restoring the RDF template. I'm sure it's around here somewhere.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/redesign.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/redesign.html Fri, 09 May 2008 06:09:47 -0800 Via M-x all-things-emacs, an Emacs feature I've always wanted and has been there all along: navigating between windows using cursor keys.

(windmove-default-keybindings)

Shift + a cursor key moves to the window in that direction from the current window. You can change the modifier from Shift with an argument to this function:

(windmove-default-keybindings 'meta)

Or you can pick your own key bindings for the windmove-* functions, where * is up, down, left or right.

I am never typing C-x o again.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/via-mx-allthingsemacs-an-emacs.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/via-mx-allthingsemacs-an-emacs.html emacs emacs NewbieEmacsTip Thu, 08 May 2008 06:55:58 -0800 Quick: An Introduction to PLT Scheme with Pictures. Yay pictures.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/quick-an-introduction-to-plt.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/quick-an-introduction-to-plt.html scheme Thu, 08 May 2008 06:17:16 -0800 line-height: abnormal. The author of CSS: The Definitive Guide explains why my favorite CSS directive is actually quite complicated.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/lineheight-abnormal-the-author.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/lineheight-abnormal-the-author.html Wed, 07 May 2008 06:25:14 -0800 Going Private: The Five ForcesCircles of Hell, an explanation of Porter "Five Forces" analysis as it applies to the communications and technology industries.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/going-private-the-five-forcesc.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/going-private-the-five-forcesc.html Mon, 05 May 2008 06:37:51 -0800 Ze Frank and the poetics of Web video.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/ze-frank-and-the-poetics.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/ze-frank-and-the-poetics.html Mon, 05 May 2008 06:09:03 -0800 Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm. Wired on SuperMemo and its inventor. (No Mac version, but.)

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/want-to-remember-everything-yo.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/want-to-remember-everything-yo.html Fri, 02 May 2008 06:00:34 -0800 Clustarack Rube Goldberg promo video. I loved it when this kind of thing got popular, then eventually got a little tired of it. This one gets me all excited again for its use of thematic elements: "chaos in the print shop," and the product you need to handle it. (Pay attention to the redirect to the product page at the end of the video.)

Behind the scenes.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/clustarack-rube-goldberg-promo.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/clustarack-rube-goldberg-promo.html Thu, 01 May 2008 06:43:35 -0800 Instruction set: imaginary code. Vague instructions prompt participants (maybe you) to write computer code. Only one instruction set posted so far, but it already has 18 entries. Seems like an especially nice way to get into Processing, though of course all languages are welcome.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/instruction-set-imaginary-code.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/05/instruction-set-imaginary-code.html Thu, 01 May 2008 06:18:06 -0800 Marc Andreesen: If Microsoft goes fully hostile on Yahoo.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/marc-andreesen-if-microsoft-go.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/marc-andreesen-if-microsoft-go.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:45:09 -0800 Charles Babbage's masterpiece difference engine comes to Silicon Valley. A modern build of Babbage's mechanical difference engine will live at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View for 6 months starting in May.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/charles-babbages-masterpiece-d.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/charles-babbages-masterpiece-d.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:03:16 -0800 Commuting, a series of photos of people commuting to work, shot with a tilt-shift lens that makes its subject look like toys, but they're actual photographs of real-life people and places.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/commuting-a-series-of-photos.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/commuting-a-series-of-photos.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:18:47 -0800 Amazon.com is shutting down print-on-demand books that don't use Amazon's own POD service, BookSurge. BookSurge has fewer features and cannot do Ingram distribution, so if you want both Amazon and, say, Barnes and Noble, you'll have to publish two editions of your book. I hope there's a lawsuit.

]]> http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/amazoncom-is-shutting-down-pri.html http://www.dansanderson.com/blog/2008/04/amazoncom-is-shutting-down-pri.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:12:22 -0800