O'Reilly Network: AppleScript Primer for Mac OS X

AppleScript is a built-in Macintosh automation tool that gives users the ability to control the operating system and several of their favorite applications. While this powerful scripting system has always had a loyal following of Macintosh aficionados and publishing professionals, the release of Mac OS X 10.1.2 may mean AppleScript is ready to strut its stuff in front of a wider audience. Here are some of the exciting AppleScript developments on Mac OS X:

The latest of the BBEdit Updates - BBEdit 6.5.2 - was announced yesterday. As per usual the Bare Bones crew inject humour into their documentation. For example, BBEdit 6.5 Release Notes:

"In Carbon, there is no longer an LMGetMenuFlash() so we were defaulting to three blinks when clicking a URL. Some of the engineers hate that, so it was changed to default to one blink. Whoever disagrees can meet me in the parking lot after work."

The fact that BBEdit is designed, written, and maintained by such a talented, dedicated, responsive, and funny bunch, is one of big upsides of what is IMHO, the best editor bar none. I'm downloading the update right now as I'm too impatient to wait until I'm next connected to the work Ethernet. About 30 minutes to go over a modem link B-}

David Weinberger's comments in the klogs list resonate with me:

"...with web-based doc mgt, it feels like you're publishing your stuff, not putting it behind 6 inches of rolled steel.

This, IMO, is perhaps the key reason why a KM system that incorporates weblogs can succeed. We write weblogs not simply to do good for the organization but because we are social creatures who like being listened to. We like being in public. We like being appreciated. We like being famous. People (in general!) will only write weblogs if they get personal satisfaction from training a small spotlight on themselves. And that, btw, is why KM weblogs will only work if they are allowed to wander off topic, make jokes, get sassy, publish personal ideas and opinions, and occasionally curse out dumbass managers."

One of these days I'm going to read the the cluetrain manifesto book.

scotsman.com | Graduates lured north by big pay

GRADUATE salaries are higher in Scotland than London, leading to a flood of university leavers heading north of the Border.

A surge in the number of vacancies and starting salaries of almost £19,500 - more than £1,000 higher than in London - have made graduate jobs in Scotland more attractive.

Bucking the national trend, the number of posts for which graduates are sought has risen by 14 per cent north of the Border, compared to a slump of a about 25 per cent across the UK.

Interesting. This of course means that graduates from Scottish universities will face increased competition for jobs in Scotland. Which, in turn, means that they'll need to make sure that they make the most of their opportunities at Uni. As long as I can remember the (good) students from Strathclyde have usualy needed to move down south for the really well paid jobs. Hopefully, this means that some of the smartest graduates stay in Scotland and contribute to the economy and culture north of the border.

Bookmarking this AppleWorks 6.2.2 Updater for a download later tonight.

Students, and anyone else in Glasgow next Thursday for that matter, are invited to a departmental seminar given by Robert Chassell the Founding Director and Treasurer of the Free Software Foundation:

Dan Shafer - Mac OS9 Move to OS X: Hardly Trouble-Free, But Worth It, I Think:

I have finally moved 90% of my computing life from Macintosh OS 9 (aka Classic Mac) to the gorgeous new OS X to which Apple is fervently hoping most Macintosh users will migrate over the next year or so.

The switch was much more difficult and frustrating than I had anticipated. More than once during the period of adjustment I threatened just to chuck it all and head for Windows XP, a move virtually all of my friends would have applauded if for no other reason than to shut me up about the things Apple did "wrong" in designing and deploying an operating system they don't care about one whit.

My own experience of migrating from OS 9 to OS X seems to have been more straightforward than Dan's experience. Amongst the few OS 9 apps that I haven't managed to replace are MS Office and Nestcape Communicator so I'm trying to use these as little as possible. I know there's an issue with the Umax 2200 scanner I have as there aren't and OS X drivers for that. But all the apps I use on a day by day basis are running natively under OS X. It has been rock solid ever since the changeover. The only (non-beta) app that consistently misbehaves is IE 5.1.3. Go figure!

Incidentally Dan found tips for migrating an OS 9 Radio installation to OS X useful which certainly makes documenting it worthwhile.

Dave posted A note to C developers on Scripting News today.

The points (and links) are interesting. I concur that 'view source' is the foundation upon which much of the web is built. If it were not for the fact that people could learn from their peers by checking out how web sites were built from HTML and Javascript, and scripting environments such as perl, python, php, zope, etc., I doubt that the web would have grown at the phenomenal rate it has.

It's fascinating to see the new guard of UserTalk scripters coming onstream due to the 'view source' aspect of Radio. It's like the old days of Frontier. I've often written that Frontier/UseTalk is the environment that I find must fun (and productive) due in part to the fact that it's a typical scripting language (i.e it's in essence an interpreted language). But it's the integrated, peristent, object database that really turns my head. It's a very powerful, and fun, combination.

At Wednesday's lecture I asserted that UserTalk was probably one of the least well-known, and under-appreciated, languages - ever. I believe this will change as more and more Radio users lift the hood on the underlying technology and people start to explore it's potential. Time will tell if there will be sufficient demand for a second book on Frontier/Radio/UserTalk to complement Matt Neuburg's excellent textbook.

How different things would be if Radio had been shipped with the 'source code' removed!

Book looks at Mac OS X and Java

If you're a programmer or developer wanting more info on the role of Java in Mac OS X and advice on using Mac OS X as a Java development platform, a new book, "Early Adopter Mac OS X Java," from Wrox Publishers might be worth a look.

MacCentral.com: OSXFoundry up and running

OSXFoundry will cover all Mac OS X programming related technologies: PHP, WebObjects, JSP, Java, Objective C, AppleScript, as well as such databases as mysql, frontBase, and OpenBase.

Discussion point: Laugh? I almost learned something • UK Centre for Materials Education

By Professor Peter Goodhew, Director of the UK Centre for Materials Education

"Scientists and engineers are, by and large, a rather earnest mob. Most of us (and I admit to being in the club myself) believe that our chosen profession is intrinsically interesting and of huge importance to society. Small wonder that we think that others should take it seriously too. Oscar Wilde had a few words to say about the importance of being earnest, and among them are a couple of my favourite aphorisms. "Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow" and "Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness" .

Science and engineering are important - far too important to take seriously, so what is the alternative? Obviously they should be fun. Why, after all, do many academics enjoy practising their profession? Surely not because it makes them rich - it must just be fun. However our idea of fun is seen by the outside world to be limited to a separate category of activity, sometimes called, rather pompously, "The Public Understanding of Science" or "Science for Schools" as if the fun is reserved for external public consumption to counter the fact that the real thing is dry as dust. On the contrary - surely the fun should permeate every scientific or engineering activity, including education. [more....]

Professor Goodhew is a man after my own heart. There's excellent advice in this article.

Incidentally, this article was found via David Davies' MedWeb Technology Test Area : LTSN News Feed Search. Thanks David!

Gareth told me that his photos can now be found at his Odd Cobbled Together Galleries of Stuff. So far all that there is:

Gunc Dunc
Duncan Smeed the kind, if mis-guided, individual who allowed himself to get cold water poured on him on a cold March morning in 1999 for Comic Relief.

I repaired Gareth's link in my Comic Relief page too!

Eudora 5.1b18 regularly crashes on me. Fortunately it never lost any e-mail but it was annoying nevertheless. According to the 51.b20 reaease notes a number of crashing bugs have been squashed. So I'm downloading Eudora 5.1b20 right now - slowly ;-) Fingers crossed that this version will be much more stable.