The Darkest Evil

The OpenOffice.org development team finally releases a beta version of OpenOffice.org which does not require X11! One that is fully Aqua and it works and looks quite beautifully - even to the point where I would remove Microsoft Office and use OpenOffice.org exclusively. In fact, as soon as I have used it extensively enough, I am going to write a complete guide on the new OpenOffice.org for Mac. But I think I like the eye candy in Microsoft Office v. X better. (more…)

While I strongly dislike booting into Windows via Boot Camp or using Parallels by virtue of being a Mac purist, I have found a great software programme while I was a Windows fanboy and I want to share that with you now. It is called SDP Downloader and it allows you to download content from a MMS stream. For the uninitiated, a MMS stream is a content streaming format commonly used by Windows Media Player and was developed by Microsoft. The SDP Multimedia website is dedicated to deciphering the mystery behind MMS and allowing developers easier access to information about the protocol. (more…)

Have you been experiencing a number of e-mails starting to slip through your spam mail controls? Is there someone extremely desperate on an online dating service that just won’t get the hint? (read the below notice first if that is your scenario, though). Here is how you can configure Apple Mail’s junk mail filters to work their best for YOU.

NOTICE: This could be equated to being blocked on Instant Messenger and you might want to consider talking to the affected person before you decide to block them. There should be a set of Dynamics to Blocking People. Many times, in good faith, people will respect your requests and this will probably go a long way for your friendships. Especially if you are the kind of person that wants to make friends instead of enemies. (more…)

If you read my post yesterday, you would know that I had a copy of Windows to return to London Drugs today. Well, guess what? They would not allow me to return it. Fuckers. It appears as if I have to beg Nicholi for a small pay advance (actually it would be a loan, seeing as I am getting the money soon, just not before it’s due) on my rent while I scramble to collect the rest of it. However, I know one thing is for certain, London Drugs has lost my business indefinitely.

I like to online shop. That’s because I hate waiting forever for a bus to come and take me to the LRT station so I can head on down to Chinook to purchase a DVD. I would much rather purchase one online but there is one factor that prohibits that. When I want something, I usually want it now and not in a few days. This is unfortunate because I am certain that Amazon.ca has a bit more credibility than London Drugs. And it is unfortunate that they have decided to violate their own guarantee, the guarantee on the packaging AND federal law.

However, I take solace in the fact that not all business are as bad with customer service as London Drugs or Subway are. MediaTemple, my current web host, gave me $40 in credits to my account for the outages in November. I am happy that at least THEY know how to act honourably.

This is a list of all the software I purchased this year, whether it was for my MacBook Pro or for my Windows PC that I used to own.

Applications that I Purchased

• Acquisition - A file sharing app for the Macintosh platform.
• Adobe Creative Suite 2 - A set of cool Adobe applications. I usually only use Photoshop though.
• Apple Aperture - A cool photo editing and arranging app.
• Chroma - A media player that I bought. I shouldn’t have though, it wasn’t all that great.
• CSSEdit - A cool little CSS editing app.
• Delicious Library - A cool app that will allow you to scan in your books, DVDs and other media so you can index them and keep track of them. Uses your iSight to read the barcodes and pulls data from Amazon.ca.
• FlickrExport for iPhoto - It’s a pretty cool app that allows me to upload my photos to Flickr from my digital camera after they are imported into iPhoto.
• Keepsake - Come to think of it, I am not entirely sure what this game is about.
• Microsoft Office for Mac - We should all know what this is.
• Neverwinter Nights for Mac - Yes, this includes the two expansion packs as well. I had to get those so I could play NWN to it’s fullest.
• Neverwinter Nights 2 Chaotic Evil Edition - I hear it’s a pretty cool game. I hope I get to play it once Game.co.uk delivers my copy.
• Parallels - For those times when I need a test Linux environment
• Postal 2 - The ultra-violent offencive game from Running With Scissors.
• Spymac Club - A series of applications for people to connect to the SpyMac community.
• TextMate - A great text editor for the Mac.
• Transmit - A very nice FTP app.

I have to find a way to make $450 quickly so I can afford the rent this month. It is getting to be so costly. In fact, I am kind of afraid to ask Shush for a small extension on my rent so I can make the date. I am so tired of this shit. I guess the only way I am going to catch up is by becoming an agent for something like the Sunflower Network. Also, Nicholi is still having trouble registering the non-profit with registries so I can’t apply for my work permit yet. Plus, I don’t have the $150 fee for the work permit. I mean, I don’t see why people wouldn’t want to loan me the money for that. As soon as I get it and Nicholi gets the non-profit registered, I will be able to pay back the loan. After all, I would have a job. I need to get $75 together also to renew my bus pass for next month. Otherwise, I will probably be stuck in this house. Plus, I need the money for the pass before the 10th of next month.

I have this copy of Microsoft Windows that I have not installed on my computer but is opened. Tomorrow, I am going to try to return it at London Drugs tomorrow. I am tired of just skating by each month and plus, I have very little money to eat on so I am screwed on that end. What a shame too, considering I have been craving Taco Bell for the longest time. Plus, I want to get some of those Moo.com cards and I would like to get my phone line moved over here. I am also having my copy of Poser 7 returned so I can have $250 USD transferred into Canada. Plus, I am begging the owner of the Sunflower Network to allow me to work on that project as soon as possible. I will probably offer to redesign their website for them for free.

To tell you the truth, I am not really sure whether or not I oppose Adobe’s new icon scheme. I love the new Adobe icons and yet, I hate them at the same time. Here’s my opinion:

The pros: They look GREAT on the Dock. I personally love how they are boxed and the fact that the only two Adobe products I really use are Photoshop and Acrobat, a lot of the other icons don’t really matter to me. (The most famous person that shares my love for Adobe’s new icon set is Veerle Pieters)

The cons: They lack the imagination of the previous Adobe icons and stuff that I loved. (The most famous person that shares my disdain for Adobe’s new icon set is Jason Santa Maria)

Personally, I will probably remain undecided until I can’t make cool things like Blackthorne or this wallpaper from Avalonstar.

I hate the Microsoft Windows architecture so very badly. Why do I say this you might ask? Well, there are so many problems with the Windows architecture. Plus, they keep changing the name of the next release of Windows. Mac OS X has a LOT of stability and a lot of the features that Microsoft is copying, and more. And, Macintosh computers are always a bit more secure than their PC brethren. Plus, Microsoft has a very closed source coming library called DirectX. For the uninitiated, it makes it hell for game developers to port their applications over from Windows to Mac or Linux.
I think I agree with Bertrand Serlet (Sr. VP - Software Engineering, Apple Computers) on his comments about Windows in general and Windows Vista made at WWDC 2006. There are many things that you would see as stolen from Apple. The local search (stolen from Spotlight), IE 7 RSS, Windows Mail and Windows Calendar have features stolen from Mac OS X. Underneath it all though, it is still Windows. It still has the Registry, it is still DLL hell and it has terribly aggressive Digital Rights Management.

Hey, maybe we can resolve this WordPress problem after all? I would surely love to get this problem solved as I have had so much problems blogging with Flock. (more…)

You know something, I am tired of Zend Studio, the constant freezing and just for the FTP functionality. I have made a decision and that is to move back towards Crimson Editor. It’s a great text editor that I used to edit this site with. In fact, I think I got it before even getting vBulletin and it was recommened to me by Eric Newport. (more…)