The reason I use Mac OS X is because it is several levels of magnitude less frustrating than using Windows. I could take or leave Aqua (actually, thanks to ShapeShifter, I’ve pretty much left it), and I don’t frequent sketchy sites so viruses probably wouldn’t be that big a deal for me. I just find Mac OS X much easier to understand and use. I think a large part of this is because Apple decided that “competition” means making a better product with the user in mind instead of pulling illicit corporate shenanigans and bullying everyone else out of the market. The main reason I think Mac OS X is a better product is because of the user interface, which is highly standardized across the many diverse programs that run on Mac OS X. I can download a Cocoa program from a new developer and be pretty much certain that the keyboard shortcuts I’m used to will just work (among other things). It makes picking up new software extremely easy.

Unless I want to switch between tabs, that is. If I want to switch between tabs, then I have to think carefully about which program I’m using, try one shortcut, curse when it does something unexpected, and then use the actual shortcut. Just take a gander at the variation across some of my favorite programs:

OmniWeb: cmd-↑ and cmd-↓ (command + up arrow / down arrow)
CSSEdit: cmd-{ and cmd-} (command + shift + left bracket / right bracket)
Transmit: cmd-shift-← and cmd-shift-→ (command + shift + left arrow / right arrow)
TextMate: cmd-opt-← and cmd-opt-→ (command + option + left arrow / right arrow)

And then there’s Adium, which lets you choose. Two of the options are shared with a program above; two are not. Thanks to my youthful foolishness, the shortcut I got used to in Adium was not shared: cmd-[ and cmd-] (command + right bracket / left bracket).

So here I am with five different programs, each with a different shortcut for switching between tabs. And I’m left with a single question:

What the fuck?

I love my desk, don’t get me wrong. But it is not set up very well for computing. There’s a roll-out keyboard holder, true, but not really anywhere good to put the mouse. I had it up on the top of the desk next to the computer, but ever since I’ve started doing web design and using the mouse a lot during the day, I’ve been getting pretty bad pain in my wrist (okay, maybe the unfortunately small Nintendo DS that I’ve been crouched over for hours every day wasn’t helping, either).

In any case, after eyeballing the amount of room I had on the keyboard rollout, I realized I simply couldn’t fit a mouse there unless I wanted to be constantly tracking. I decided to look into trackballs; they’re stationary, after all.

Turns out that it’s barely worth the plural. Local stores carry, at most, two of them; both wired, both Logitech, both very red and speckly looking. Okay, whatever. I bought the one for the thumb (Logitech’s optical Trackman Wheel), because I wasn’t willing to make a gamble on an online trackball that I’d never got to try.

Wrist pain pretty much instantly went away. I’m a fan of the trackball. I’ll probably develop some horrific thumb problem, but who cares? The trackball lets me hold my hand at a more natural angle than the mouse ever did and, even better, lets me keep it entirely relaxed. It was a bit squiggly at first, but it only took me about a day of heavy use to get used to it.

Two thumbs up. Well, maybe one thumb up, and one kind of limply sprawled nearby panting at all the extra work it’s had to do.

Take a moment and go take a look at Writing.com.

Now take some deep breaths and recover from your initial “What the shit?!” reaction.

As best I can tell, this is one of the most popular writer’s critique websites that you can find. Hundreds of people will be online at any one time, posting their writing, reading other’s writing, and just generally using the website.

This is a crime. Why do writers settle for this kind of crap? It’s nothing but advertisements, and even if you “upgrade” your account to get rid of the ads, its still impossible to get anything done because the site’s interface is designed so poorly. There’s simply no excuse. That site should be allowed to die, preferably in agony.

It’s hard to find good sites for writing critique online. Critique Circle is like a breath of fresh air after Writing.com, but it has far fewer people online at any one time (10-20 in my experience). I just don’t get it. Why do writer’s have no taste?

If there were any justice in this world, ColdFusion would never have been created.

I currently have a client whose webhost uses Windows hosting. Okay, I can handle that. It’s not what I would advise (since I’m far more competent with Linux hosting), but these things happen. And the host offers PHP.

But this particular client’s website was designed in ColdFusion, which means that it’s languishing on one the host’s ColdFusion servers, with no access to PHP. Due to the fact that I cannot test PHP applications under Windows SQL conditions, I get stuck using ColdFusion in order to be able to test anything.

It wasn’t until I was halfway through the project and banging my head against a wall because nothing was working that I figured out that it wasn’t just ColdFusion, it was ColdFusion 5, two full version numbers lower than the current released version. This server is obviously a dinosaur. I have a fairly decent background in ColdFusion thanks to my college’s idiotic policies (they used ColdFusion rather than PHP because they didn’t think PHP, a piece of open-source software, was secure), but having to use ColdFusion 5, which I’m sure is light-years better than 4, is like riding a tricycle when I’m used to PHP’s motorcycle. At least ColdFusion MX was a bicycle with training wheels.

Needless to say, the site’s code is ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly, and no fun to write, either.

I know the people who need to hear this are not going to read this, but please businesses looking for hosting. Just because Windows “business” hosting often costs more, doesn’t mean it’s better. And if you settle for Windows, at least make sure that you don’t get saddled with ColdFusion.

On the other hand, this project has forced me to think about interface design a lot (mainly because my first design choices weren’t possible given the limitations, but also because the people who will be using this site are not at all savvy when it comes to the web). When I have more time after the project is done, I shall have to ponder interface on the web.

Alright, I’ll admit it. In a moment of weakness, I bought myself a Nintendo DS. I am not sure what made me start thinking about buying one, but I found myself peering at them through the glass at the local electronics store, perusing the games, and thinking to myself, “Should I? No! Spending money bad! But they’re so shiny…”

I held out for a while, but after reading the reviews online (highly positive), taking a long bus trip in my now car-less existence and watching the guy in front of me play PSP the whole way, and then agonizing over it for days I finally gave up and just bought the damn thing.

And wow. I’m loving it. Along with the system, I purchased Puzzle Quest and Mariokart DS. Today in another moment of weakness, I also purchased Final Fantasy III.

In any case, this is possibly the coolest piece of gaming equipment I have ever purchased. Granted, the handheld and stylus are slightly uncomfortable after extended usage in my much-larger-than-a-child’s hands. But it’s worth it. The dual screens are gorgeous, the touch-screen mechanic useful, the games that I’ve bought so far extremely fun. And integrated Wifi? It doesn’t get cooler than this.

I may be late to jump on the handheld gaming bandwagon (this is my first handheld), but I am a whole-hearted believer now. If only I had more friends with DSes so that I could play Mariokart against them online…

There’s always something to strive for.

Whew! After a little over three weeks, I’m at last back in the United States of good ol’ America. To recap (for anyone not aware), my dad had a sabbatical in France (because he is a hard-core Francophile, it seems), and as a graduation gift he brought me over here. Just for kicks, he brought my sisters, too. When we scheduled the trip, I wanted to go home after two weeks, but he pressured me into a month because he didn’t think two weeks would be long enough.

After having me grump around the house for the last two weeks, I suspect he’s regretted this.

In any case, I was in France from the end of May until the end of June, and am at last home. And about time, too. Before coming to France, I was pretty sure that I’m not a tourist. Now I’m certain of it. I really, really dislike wandering around other people’s countries consuming their culture. Especially when I’m surrounded by a language that should never have been written down.

Of course, that isn’t to say that I didn’t had fun. There are some good things about France (the baked goods and their approach to fruit—i.e., lots of it and without loads of sugar—are particularly praiseworthy. Seeing places like Fontaine Bleue was cool, and hot white chocolate at Angelina (near the Louvre) is good enough to die or kill for. But a month was still too long.

Since having me bitch constantly isn’t all that fun, here’s some other good stuff that has happened on the trip:

Going to Scotland (and very briefly, London). Scotland is a really, really cool place. Granted, everyone’s driving on the wrong side of the road, but they’ve got some very fun little castles (the best are the ones that are run-down, where they just let you explore the place on your own and don’t restrict you to the fancy, lord-and-ladies areas). We also got to see my cousin Laurie, who is one of my coolest cousins.

In London we got to see Avenue Q, which is amazing on stage. Just from hearing bits of the soundtrack thanks to Ajay I hadn’t thought I would like it much, but I was dead wrong. What a hilarious show.

Seeing Dad was really nice, too, since I haven’t heard from him much recently. Granted, a month in close quarters was a bit much, but so it goes. Family is there to drive you nuts.

I also enjoyed a number of things in France, but overall it’s just not my country of choice.

In any case, now I’m home and trying to make a living doing freelance web work. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get clients regularly enough to keep myself afloat, but we’ll see. If not, I’m planning on applying to some agencies like the one I worked at in Walla Walla. They always need workers, and I’m sure I could get a good reference.

I’d never really thought it would happen, but I also got a cell phone to help out with the whole being a business thing. It’s very strange having to think about carrying it around with me. I’m having a minor dilemma trying to figure out how to put both it and my keys into pockets (since I can’t very well put them into the same pocket or I’ll scratch up the phone). Life is a trial.

I’m also trying to do some writing, although I haven’t really dived into that yet. I’ve done some writing for the book I always meant to write first, but nothing substantial yet. I’m thinking of re-implementing the daily word requirement for myself. Without a deadline, I think I can set it low enough to be low-stress, and it certainly helped me get my thesis written.

And that, I think, is enough of a monstrous update for now.

Alright, I’ll admit it: I may be a hard-core Francophobe (for reasons that I’m not really clear on; probably my one patriotic American action), but damn do the French know what to do with fruit.

In America, I am apt to search despondently down aisle after aisle in the grocery store for 100% cranberry juice (or grapefruit juice, or orange juice, or…). In France, you just wander down any aisle with fruit juice in it.

They also make yoghurts that have more fruit than sugar (and some truly bizarre yet tantalizing flavors; grapefruit yoghurt, anyone?). Add to this the extreme number of pastry shops with little bundles of raspberry-loaded joy, and you’ve got a culture that knows what to do with fruit. My dad has been practicing French with a French woman (who is practicing her English), and we were invited over to their house. Desert? A huge bowl of strawberries and raspberries. (Cue heavenly music and lights here.)

Sit up and take notice, US! Fruit actually tastes great without adding a bunch of sugar to it!