Tweets of the month

Back to development work
28 Oct

Yesterday, another one bit the dust! :)
20 Oct

Anyone interested in a part-time RFID product development job?
18 Oct

Tooth tuning :)
15 Oct

Rain, thunder, and lightning at IST
8 Oct

The only republic really worth celebrating started in 1974-75. Even with all its problems, as long as there is true Freedom there is hope!
5 Oct

Reading student's thesis
4 Oct

Saint Joan - The Girl Soldier

Saint Joan - The Girl Soldier by Louis De Wohl

A very well written account of the story of Saint Joan of Arc, the medieval savior of France. Recommended.

Internet Language

2l8 = too late
4 = for
4get = forget
afaik = as far as I know
afk = away from keyboard
asap = as soon as possible
atm = at the moment
ayf = all your fault
b4 = before
b4n = bye for now
bbiab = be back in a bit
bbl = be back later
bf = boyfriend
bq = beyond question
brb = be right back
btw = by the way
btdt = been there, done that
byp = beg your pardon
cu = see you/ cracking up
cul = see you/ catch you later
cya = see ya
faq= frequently asked questions
focl = falling off chair laughing
gf = girlfriend
gfc = going for coffee
gmab = give me a break
gmta= great minds think alike
hand= have a nice day
idk = i don't know
ikwum= i know what you mean
jam = just a minute
jas= just a second
jic= just in case
l8r = later
lb(g)r = little boys (girls) room (bathroom break)
myob = mind your own business
lol = laughing out loud
m8 = mate
mlnw = make love not war
ne1 = anyone
nm = nevermind
np = no problem
nrn = no reply necessary
omg = oh my god
p? = pardon?
ppl = people
soy = shame on you
sup = what's up
tia = thanks in advance
thx = thanks
ttyl = talk to you later
ubb = urgent bathroom break
w8 = wait
wbs = write back soon
w8n = waiting
wb = welcome back
wn? = what now? / what next?
xoxo = hugs and kisses
y = why

Calibre

When I presented my suggestions for the Kindle, I forgot to mention the software that makes the e-book experience much more satisfying and avoids vendor lock-in: Calibre. It is a kind of iTunes for e-books.



If you have an e-book reader, I highly recommend using Calibre for managing your books. I recommend it even if you don't! :)

Groovy regular expression operators

The Java regular expression (regex) typical invocation sequence is:

     Pattern p = Pattern.compile("a*b");
     Matcher m = p.matcher("aaaaab");
     boolean b = m.matches();

A matches method is defined by the Pattern class as a convenience for when a regular expression is used just once. This method compiles an expression and matches an input sequence against it in a single invocation. The statement

    boolean b = Pattern.matches("a*b", "aaaaab");

Groovy is a promising new language for the Java platform that includes the following regular expressions operators that greatly simplify the use of java.util.regex:

~ creates a Pattern from String

=~ creates a Matcher, and in a boolean context, it is "true" if it has at least one match, "false" otherwise.

==~ tests if String matches the pattern

Kindle DX suggestions

I love the Kindle DX and I think it is a fantastic device.

My suggestions to make it even better:

1 - Provide an option to configure the screen saver. I find it very annoying to find different writers everytime I open the device. There are some of them that I really don't like and would like to remove them. The screen could just go blank and it would be fine for me.

2 - Provide a way to connect the kindle to the PC wirelessly, using the WLAN. It would be so much more convenient than having to use the USB cable.

3 - Provide a touch-sensitive edge to the screen, to make page turning more intuitive, but keep the button anyway, it's OK :)

4 - Recognize image file formats (JPG, PNG, GIF) and allow a photo album interface. For instance, one folder of photos could be recognized as a photo album with a nice interface.

5 - Provide an MP3 player with more options.