I have no interest in ordinary humans!

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

As you’ve no doubt noticed, I’ve been rather remiss in posting here.  That’s because I’ve been busy failing automata again¹. However, when that’s done, you’ll actually see some interesting things happen here.

First, I’m going to set up a wiki to provide decent documentation for Amazon’s EC2 API. I don’t know how many people have seen this, but the fact is that the documentation there tells you little about how to use the API. In fact, the class descriptions are downright confusing and in some cases grossly out of date. Indeed, Amazon spends more time trying to sell you the service than it does telling you how to use it with your programs. I’ll be starting with the C#/.NET API, as it’s the one with which I’m most familiar². Python will come next, followed by Ruby, then Java³, unless others want to help me out with that.

I’m also considering writing a web server intended to run in the cloud. If nothing else, this should help mitigate storage and transfer limits, circumventing the practice of overselling that has come to dominate the shared web hosting market. That might not be hosted in this space, though, as I may do that as my thesis. Yes, the project will accept multiple cloud services, but I imagine that it’ll start on Amazon, mostly because it’s already established.

1. It’s not a matter of not understanding the subject, but rather the fact that the only way to demonstrate to the instructor that I actually do know what I’m talking about is impossible for me. I cannot follow and sort that kind of information in that manner.
2. I’m not actually a Windows partisan, but the service for which I figured out the API is a Windows-based service.
3. This is actually because I hate the Java programming language. It’s supposed to be object-oriented, yet interestingly fails at that: there is a distinction between primitives and objects that make the language less intuitive and harder to leave when it comes time to learn a new language.

This was posted originally at my WordPress blog, here.

I’ve been using Blacktree’s QuickSilver on my Mac since I got it back in 2006. It’s actually been a very nice launcher, I’ve decided to try something new: Google’s Quick Search Box, which is written by the same guy, Nicholas Jitkoff.

Initial results display an improvement over some aspects of QuickSilver: I can type a domain name in to Google’s Quick Search Box and it simply goes there. Also, I can use the large type function without the use of escape characters, which will be nice for presentations. In addition, it has integration with Google’s web based search engines, so I can search at the press of a button (and yes, that includes YouTube, to which I am hopelessly addicted).

However, there are some missing features. For example, there isn’t (as of yet) an Adium plugin, meaning I can’t use it to initiate conversations with my friends. Also, it does not support e-mailing files as attachments like QuickSilver does. Perhaps these features will appear at a later date, which I can only hope will happen.

i’ll give the program a few more days and update if I decide to go back to the comfortable arms of QuickSilver.