Writing a book

That could sound weirdly, but I started to write a book. I was writing only for one evening, so I couldn't even say if I will be writing it regularly or it's just a short-time activity. The book isn't about computers, it a fiction book in fantasy genre. I even couldn't understand about what is it. I can only say that it is about 3 friends :)

Ubuntu — first try

Recently I've tried to use Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. On virtual machine.

I've tried Linux and FreeBSD a few times before. Not very successful. Though I have to say that these attempts make my brain to think how to use, not just simply "install and use". However I wasn't able to move from familiar Windows environment to unknown *nix.

Some days ago I've decided to try Ubuntu on virtual machine. I've used two of them: VM and VirtualBox.

VirtualBox was the first. What was bad: progress bar of user interface which must be orange was instead almost invisible. But that is not serious bug. Much worse was that while installing OS on virtual HDD it failed on some step without any warning and I wasn't able to start OS from hard drive, the only choice was live-cd but that is not very good because I need to install some software on my OS to feet my purposes.

Then I've tried VM player. It hadn't got problems with progress bar and it installed successfully and now I can run it from virtual HDD. But... I couldn't find how to switch my audio card to OS (that was rather easy on VirtualBox) and, what is much more worse, it had problems with Internet. Internet is too much important for me to use OS without access to it.

As a result of this faulty attempts I've putted Ubuntu on virtual machine in a long-term box and decided.... to try it on real machine. I've already wrote that I'm studying C# now, so I don't think I could leave Windows for a long time, but I could try Ubuntu as an OS for browsing Internet :) Time will show...

Texter

I've found a good tool from Lifehacker: Texter. What does it do? It watches on input from keyboard and if it find special combination of symbols it replaces if with text snippet. For example I've setted replace MS with Microsoft. So bow I don't need to type full name but only some letters by the result is the full name not the acronym.

This application can be extremely useful in programming if your editor doesn't support code snippets (or supports them badly, or you want to share snippets between different application without some "import/export"). These can be not just simple snippets but full templates of code.

What is more Texter support bundles: groups of text replacements that can be exported and imported. So if you can share your bundles with your friends and colleagues.

And finally: Texter can perform not just text replacement but scripts: it can imitate key commands (for example Tab). This can be useful when filling some forms in which you definitely know tab order of fields.

In conclusion I think Texter is rather a good tool (it provides statistics on how much letters was replaced and how much time this saved to you).

Links:

• Lifehacker [Site with tips and downloads for getting things done]
  

• Texter [text substitution app]

Butterflies

There is a popular story about ugly duck who became a swan. There is also a popular example of such transformations: caterpillars become butterflies. What most of us think about caterpillars? They are ugly and nasty. I hate them. Especially when they are on my fruits... :( Some caterpillars become insects which are also nasty, but some caterpillars become beautiful butterflies. Don't you think we can say the same about people? Some become "butterflies" (good people?), some become disgusting bugs (bad people?), and others, probably most of people, become other insects, for example hard-working people can be compared with bees...

What's the morale? When you look at a young person look at what she "eats": that's will be a building material for her mind and personality during period of cocoon. If she eats mostly not good building material (rudeness, abuse language, violence, and lack of culture, etc.) then we will get another "bad brick" in our society. If she fills herself with something good (mind training, some books that may be are idealistic but shape mind in a way useful for society, etc) then we will get "good brick" in society. Or not the brick but mason?..

Egnoly Text Editor

For about one year ago, I bought my first book about programming — it was "C++ How to Program" by H.M.Deitel and P.J.Deitel. I've read 4th edition and now they are preparing to publish 6th edition. I think that's rather a good book for starter, all in all I've learned much from it, in despite of that it is about C++ — not very easy language. For that year I've learned basics of Python, Perl, Java, Ada, C#, Visual Basic and in university I've studied Turbo Pascal for one year. All of I've programmed were console applications. The only exception was working with Microsoft Access on courses were I used VB for modules, but that was not "normal" programming of GUI — all in all it is Access not Visual Studio. And after the year of programming I've changed the situation.

Now I'm working in Visual Studio on my first "normal" GUI application — text editor which I've called Egnoly. I'm writing it on C#. Yesterday I finished first version of it (0.0.1). It can open and save file. Plus built in Windows Forms TextBox class abilities of cut/copy/paste. Not very much. But it works! Moreover development GUI apps is rather unfamiliar task for me, so Egnoly hasn't any tests written and strong system of exceptions. Furthermore I don't know C# well.
To resolve the last problem I've bought Andrew Troelsen "Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform, Third Edition". I think after reading it I'll be comfortable with developing GUI, e.g. modifying classes from System.Windows.Forms (as a understand that what I need to make a color syntax highlight).

So I've started my way to become a GUI wizard :) For now Egnoly is only a program to develop my programming skills from bad to "something better" :), bit what it will be in future?.. Time will show... :)

"Old new" pace of life

Now when I'm working there are serious changes in my daily timetable. I'm at work for about 8 hours every day and I still haven't adopted to this. Of course I want to perform some programming as usual, but after the work I now haven't got enough energy for this. Today I've read two articles in Spectrum magazine and pieces from "The Republic" of Plato. That's not very much and moreover I've realized that I don't remember almost anything from most philosophic books I'd read... :-( I think I should reread some of them...

Furthermore as I've already mentioned I want to buy a book about C# and then about UML, but I still don't decided when to buy first of them.

And I want to sleep very strong for now..

Choises

There are choices. They are all around us. We are making choices every day (click here). And one decision could be better that others. But why we usually choose one that's not better?

And may be we have only one choice... The choice to accept or not, that was chosen for as.

And sometimes we couldn't follow our choice.