Pablo Averbuj

TextMate + QuickSilver = Fun

Like I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not fond of changing my tools, but when work replaced my laptop it was a good time to revisit text editors on the Mac. I’ve been using TextEdit to take random notes, but Mike was pleased enough with TextMate to pay for it so I figured it was worth a look.

One of the first things I noticed and read in their documentation was regarding their philosophy which was a good read and encouraging. What didn’t seem to jive is the fact that the menus are so extensive, it seems almost impossible to use without a mouse. Unless you’re using QuickSilver. I previously read (I believe on LifeHacker) a trick with QuickSilver that lets you type in menu commands.

So for example, when I finish writing this post, I would normally have to do the following with the mouse:
Bundles -> Blogging -> Post To Blog.

Now, it just so happens that there’s a short-cut, but I have near 0 chance of remembering this. Instead with QuickSilver I do the following:
Alt-<Space>, “post b”

By that point “Post to Blog” is highlighted. I hit “Return” and I’m done. Maybe it’s not for you, but for me it’s significantly more efficient.

Google Reader feed swap

I had previously been sharing my “starred” items from Google Reader and I was using it to share things I found interesting from the various sites I keep up with. Embarrassingly, only today did I discover that there’s a “share” feed as well, that’s better suited for what I’m trying to do. So I’ve made my “starred” items feed private, if you’re curious, I intend to use it for “things I want to read again later”. I will use “shared items” for, uh, sharing. I’ve updated the sidebar on the site with the new code, I’m posting this in case someone who reads this subscribes to my starred items (I believe at least one person does, hi Alex!). This is the URL for my shared items: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/03223703547434487905 which you can add to your feed reader.

Comment spam followup

Regarding my rambling on December 30th about a spam attribute to the <a> tag already exists, it’s an attribute called “nofollow”. WordPress already uses it for comment links. So why am I still getting comment spam? What purpose does it serve? Are the readers of this blog going click on one of the casino links? Wait, people read this blog?!

Tonight’s WordPress Rabbit Hole

So here’s how I got sucked into spending way too much time working on WordPress tonight.

1. Hey, I really want to use feedburner, but my ajax-y search (that I’m sure nobody uses) broke last time I used the feedburner plug-in. (1 minute)
2. I’ll just set up a Google Custom Search (20 minutes, mostly messing around with it).
3. Now that I think about it, I was just looking at the Google AJAX API and Google Custom Search, I bet those two things could work… (2 hours)
4. Neat, but my search results are crap because everything is under “index.php”. I should turn on permalinks (15 minutes)
5. Well, now it’s going to take Google for ever to index my site, I should submit a sitemap…
6. Here’s a neat sitemap plugin! (15 minutes)
7. Crap it wasn’t really designed for sites that have multiple blogs in a single directory structure, I’ll just put it in /sitemap/sitemap.xml (10 minutes)
8. Crap Google wants sitemaps in the root directory. I guess I’ll fix it with a mod_rewrite rule (30 minutes, most of it editing wrong file)
9. Ok, fixed now submit the sitemap to Google and wait for it to update (5 minutes)
10. Wait, all of the search results are prefixed with “Pablo Averbuj” I should fix that. (30 minutes, taking over UI from Google)
11. Ok, now I’m ready to install my feedburner plugin!

At the conclusion of which I’ve spent more than a couple of hours and learned a few things along the way. The Google Custom Search Engine stuff is pretty neat, and it ties into the Ajax API nicely. The Ajax API takes a lot of fiddling to make it behave the way i wanted (ie, seamlessly fit in with my previous look and feel). The sitemap plugin I linked to above is very nicely done, especially the management page. And soon I’ll learn how many people read this site via feeds. I’m sure it will be almost as exciting as Christmas.

ReadyNAS conclusion

After various failed attempts to resuscitate the NAS, Infrant decided it was a more serious hardware problem. I asked in jest whether they had an advanced replacement arrangement (they’re small so I didn’t figure they would). It turns out they did but that was a challenge of its own. I faxed over the RMA form twice and had to nag the support guy several times until they actually shipped it. They shipped it DHL ground from California and it got here much faster than anticipated.

I was a little nervous about moving the drives from one chassis to the other even though the instructions seemed simple but there was no deception. With both chassis turned off (duh) I moved the trays from one chassis to another and powered up the new unit. Everything was back, settings, accounts, permissions, IP address, etc. Completely 0 effort, so kudos for that. The new one has been humming along and it even sounds quieter than the old one for some reason.

Meet the master

Nobody I’ve ever met has surpassed my ability to look unintentionally completely creepy in pictures. But where others have failed, Vlad has made a valiant attempt to challenge my position. Look for yourself and compare. Has the master been bested? I think not.

Useless start-up: Afeeda

Saw this over on Mashable. Basically the same idea that I wrote about in December. It’s starting to feel like the dot-com days are back, for better or worse.