I have updated the Norwegian translation of the latest beta version of [Chax](http://www.ksuther.com/chax/) now, and sent it to Kent for submission in the final version of 1.4.6.
If anyone would like to have it before 1.4.6, just drop me a message and I’ll send it to you.
[tags]ichat, chax[/tags]
Applescript is a scripting language I haven’t played much with since I got my Powerbook. I actually haven’t found any use of it…until now 
I have created a small Applescript which uses the shell “utility” fortune to display some wisdom in the everyday work. From the man page for fortune: «fortune – print a random, hopefully interesting, adage». The following script lets the user loop through random quotes and smart little notes and gives the option to send it to the clipboard:
[code]
repeat
set f_text to (do shell script "/usr/local/bin/fortune -s -n 80
/usr/local/share/fortunes/computers")
display dialog ¬
f_text with icon 1 ¬
with title ¬
"Send Fortune to Clipboard?" buttons {"Cancel", "Next", "OK"} ¬
default button "Next"
if button returned of result is "Cancel" then
display dialog "Cancel"
exit repeat
else if button returned of result is "Next" then
else
set the clipboard to f_text
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
[/code]
*(set f_text to (do shell script “/usr/local/bin/fortune -s -n 80 /usr/local/share/fortunes/computers”) should be one the same line)*
As you can see, I have specified some options for the fortune command. The following bit specifies that the length of the fortunes should not be more than 80 characters:
[code]
-s -n 80
[/code]
-s can be replaced for -l to specify a minimum length instead. The path which I set at the end is the path to computer related cookies.
It is also possible to use this Applescript to set new status/mood messages in iChat/Skype (and possibly other IM applications too, but I have only tested on these). To do this, replace the line which says “set the clipboard to f_text” to:
[code]
tell application "iChat"
set the status message to f_text
end tell
tell application "Skype"
send command "SET PROFILE MOOD_TEXT" & f_text
end tell
[/code]
[tags]applescript, fortune, ichat, skype[/tags]
I now received spam on my phone too! I was sitting here working on my thesis when I heard the phone rang in the living room. It immidiately stopped, and there was a WAP Push message in my inbox. Obviously, the ringing was only for getting attention. The message said:
3 FREE Ringtones!
and the url for the message is http://no.widelive.com/index.wml?cp=17
Obviously, if I go to the address stated I will be downloading something (I do not trust it to be ringtones, and I’m not that interested in it either). Is this the new way of spamming people? I have never heard of this kind of spam before.
Btw: The number the call came from is: +911815011829
[tags]spam,wap,mobile[/tags]
Skype includes an option to poll the online status from a username, and that is what I use for the online status display on the sidebar here. Since I want the plain text version (and not all caps like the one Skype offers), I used this code in a k2 php module:
[php]
$status = file_get_contents(“http://mystatus.skype.com/lindsve.num”);
switch($status) {
case 0:
$message = “Unknown”;
break;
case 1:
$message = “Offline”;
break;
case 2:
$message = “Online”;
break;
case 3:
$message = “Away”;
break;
case 4:
$message = “Not Available”;
break;
case 5:
$message = “Do Not Disturb”;
break;
case 6:
$message = “Invisible”;
break;
case 7:
$message = “Skype Me”;
break;
}
echo “
$message
“;
[/php]
If you know of any easier way, please drop a line in the comments!
[tags]skype, presence, web[/tags]
I have been quite busy lately, so it’s been a while since my last post on this blog. My thesis is approaching the deadline, and there is still a lot of work to do, but I’m really looking forward to getting it done.
I have now updated the [WordPress](http://www.wordpress.org) install here (to 2.0.4), and in the process moved the site over to the über-cool [k2](http://getk2.com) theme.
The image I use in the header is part of an image I took in the subway (Metro) in Copenhagen.
[tags]wordpress,k2[/tags]
It appears that [Google](http://www.google.com) has a launch frenzy for Mac OS X these days. Last week they released [Google Video Player](http://video.google.com/playerdownload), a video player for watching videos downloaded from [Google Video](http://video.google.com/). I can’t say I have found the great usefulness of this app yet, but maybe it will come to me later. Yesterday, they released a couple of other goodies, including an update to [Google Earth](http://earth.google.com/) for Mac and [Google SketchUp](http://sketchup.google.com/) for Mac. The latest release of Google Earth features integration with SketchUp (which Google purchased a while ago, and this is the first Google branded version of this app since the purchase), and as such I decided to download that too and try it out.
I must say though, is it really necessary to emphasize _(Free)_ as much as they do during installation? Take a look at the screenshot below, and see how many times they actually state that it is free…
[tags]Google Earth, Google SketcUp, Mac OS X[/tags]
The publishing platform which I use for this site, [WordPress](http://www.wordpress.org), have now been updated to v2.0.3. This is a bug fix and security release, and is recommended for all WordPress users. They’ve also backported a number of security enhancements from 2.1 to further enhance and protect sites using the engine, including small performance enhancements.
Mark Jaquith has [posted a zip-file](http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2006/06/01/wordpress-203-upgrade-changed-files-zip-changes-diff-changed-files-list/) with changed files only, so that the update process is a lot faster. I have now updated this site, and it took me only a few seconds.
[tags]wordpress, security, blogging[/tags]
I have now changed the email address associated with my MSN account. It is now the same email address as I use for Jabber messaging: geir-tore at jabber dot no.
So now I can be contacted with the same address on email, Jabber (incl. Google Talk) and MSN.
_Update:_
It seems to be some trouble with changing the email address associated with the MSN account. I can log on to MSN with Messenger and my entire contact list is in place, but the online/offline status doesn’t seem to be updating. I have sent an email to MSN Support about the issue, but I honestly doesn’t expect a reply anytime soon
Let’s hope that it resolves itself soon.
_Update #2:_
It looks like the online/offline status are propagating correctly now. It started to look right yesterday, after I sent out an email to all the persons on my contact list about the change, but I have confirmed that at least one of them didn’t update anything manually so there is somehow an automatic update process here.
[tags]msn, email, jabber[/tags]
Allan Odegaard, the developer of [TextMate](http://macromates.com), has put up a great post about the advantages of [Unicode](http://www.unicode.org/). I must say that this is mandatory reading for those who are producing text files (especially html), and still are unaware of the benefits from using Unicode.
You can read the full post [here](http://macromates.com/blog/archives/2005/09/18/handling-encodings-utf-8/).
[tags]unicode, textmate, html, text editing[/tags]
I took a round trip to Copenhagen yesterday for a meeting with our thesis supervisor. Although I drove from home as early as 4:45 in the morning I noticed something weird during the flight to Copenhagen – seat row no. 13 was missing? I found this a little bit weird, but didn’t think much of it until later that evening when we flew back home again. Neither of the two airplanes used on the flights home had a seat row no. 13 either, and that was when I really found this weird.
I have been trying to figure it out today with a little bit of googling, but this mystery is still unresolved to me.
UPDATE (05/31/06):
I had another round trip to Copenhagen this monday. When we used the self-service check-in kiosk and were about to select our seating on the plane from Oslo to Trondheim, we noticed that the plane had a seat row #13. It didn’t have any available seats though so we did select some other row. After getting aboard the plane we could confirm that the seat row #13 was there, and our quest for the missing seat row was to end.
During the flight I flipped through the SAS Braathens flight magazine, and in the Q&A section I found the same question, asking for seat row #13. The answer from the carrier company was the same as suggested in the comment from Bendik; it’s superstition. The question in the magazine had a twist though, because the former SAS planes (SAS and Braathens are two flight carriers that merged in Scandinavia) didn’t have the 13th seat row, but the former Braathens planes do. The answer didn’t say, but that can also be related to the fact that the SAS planes (at least the newer ones) are from Airbus and the Braathens planes are mainly from Boing.
