iMac on itsWay

[Erica](http://www.ericaendicott.com) and I finally bit the bullet and bought a new [iMac](http://www.apple.com/imac) to replace our aging G3 iBook.

Macsimus, the name we’ve given our G3 iBook — yeah obsessing over what to name your computer is a Mac-nerd thing, don’t ask — had been ill lately. His screen would go dark if you pushed it back too far.

Apparently it’s either the logic board or the inverter, either of which the Genius at our [local Apple store](http://www.apple.com/retail/lenoxsquare) told us Apple would fix for free. But to do that, they have ship Macs off to Apple, and Erica needs a Mac for several projects she’s got going… hence the as-yet-unnamed iMac.

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Javascript development of yesteryear

If you had to do javascript development before [Firefox](http://www.mozilla.org) brought us the Javascript console… I feel for you.

I just finished working on some NCAA bracket Javascript [at work](http://www.ajc.com), and it was painful enough as is… I can’t imagine not having the console at my side.

The upside is, after the pain of initial development I cut the code back from 145 lines to 83 lines, and I could probably have cut it back further if I (used the/knew the) language (more often/better).

So, to any and all JS developers out there… if you’re not already using Firefox for development, then get [get downloadin’](http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/all.html).

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Subway – A Python Web framework

They say it’s like Ruby on Rails for Python… must investigate more.

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Your very own smart radio station with iTunes

I’m going to start trying this, immediately!

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Whatcha doing? PyObjC and WordPress

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts called, unceremoniously, Whatcha doing?

So, without further ado, here’s what I’m doing:

* Learning [PyObjC](http://pyobjc.sourceforge.net) for a photo gallery project at [work](http://www.ajc.com).
A previous version of my gallery tool used [Pashua](http://www.bluem.net/downloads/pashua_en/) as a fake GUI in conjunction with a [Python](http://www.python.org) command-line script/library I had previously created for my own personal use.

The time has come to update the tool, and I’m working through [Apple tutorial](http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ObjCTutorial/index.html) as modified by by [the PyObjC folks](http://pyobjc.sourceforge.net/doc/tutorial.php).

* Considering [WordPress](http://www.wordpress.org) for [heisel.org](http://www.heisel.org)

Why? Partly because change is fun, partly because I don’t like rebuilding, partly because it’s written in [a language I know](http://php.net) and so can extend — though [Python](http://www.python.org) would be better :-).

* Reading [Guns, Germs and Steel](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393317552/qid=1106243381/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-1818191-8398450?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), which was a gift from [Erica](http://www.ericaendicott.com).

I was worried that, like The Bell Curve, it would be an excuse for racism. If the introduction and first few chapters are accurate, it’s a very well thought-out and well-written anthropological/historical look at why some civilizations (read: white folks) have developed deep, complex cultures and technologies, while others haven’t.

* Watching [Carnivale](http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/) and [Battlestar Galactica](http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/).

Yeah, I’m geek — it’s just nice to have first run, quality sci-fi on the air since [our dearly departed](http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB4) left us so long ago.

**Update:** Apparently, [Ron Moore has a blog](http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/).

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