Monthly archive: July, 2008

Unzip utilities for Windows

July 29, 2008, by 2 comments

While I use a Mac for personal use (and ministry), I have a Windows desktop at work.  For the most part, I have managed to get things working back and forth with little/no problem. However, there are still a few things that I much prefer on the OS X side of life. One of those things is zipping/unzipping files. Mac OS X is natively aware of .zip, .tar and .gzip files probably due to its Unix underpinnings (I love using that word).

At work, I recently obtained a large amount of data in .zip and .tar archives.  While I was able to extract them with no problem on my Mac, the same has not been true on the Windows side.  Windows does have a zip and extract capability built in.  However, it does not always work and is limited in scope.  So, the files I was able to extract on my laptop, I could not open on my desktop.

So, I looked around for Windows utilities.  I quickly found two heavyweights: Winzip and PKZip.  Now, I remember both from my other jobs as we used them before Windows had this capability built in.  However, they are commercial and I did not want to pay for something that I get with Mac OS X built in.  Another quick look and I located 7-Zip.  Free, open source and capable of opening those all too common .gzip and .tar files from *nix operating systems.

I quickly downloaded and installed the software.  Viola!  In no time flat, I was able to open the previously archived files with no problem.

Morale of the story? When in doubt, trust others to have the same problem and (possibly) have an answer.

I love open source.  It makes life bearable in a Windows world.

Seems like Red Sweater is already on the case

July 22, 2008, by No comments yet

In my haste to put up a post with the new WordPress app for my iPhone, I neglected to actually look over at the Red Sweater site to see if there will be a MarsEdit version for the iPhone. Of course there will be. The developer (Daniel) is just patiently working on it. Do I blame him? No. In fact, I am rather glad he is taking his time. I am looking forward to a full featured app that is like the one I am working on right now.

I love MarsEdit and can’t imagine using anything else.

Take your time Daniel, I’ll be waiting to download it as soon as you put it up.

[Updated] First iPhone post

July 22, 2008, by No comments yet

This is my first post with the iPhone. So far, I like it. It was fairly easy to setup. Now, it’s just a matter of getting used to the interface.

However, I would not write a long post on this. It would also be nice to upload pictures. Red Sweater Software, are you listening?

[Update] It seems you can upload pictures from your iPhone library. Nice.

photo

Technology is great and useful

July 22, 2008, by No comments yet

Today I was tasked with the responsibility of creating a new web form that can retrieve visitor submission information and send a simple email along to the person tracking subscriptions.

It got me thinking.

Since we have a list of existing users and a database table with some rudimentary form of the subscriber list, can’t I just go all the way and keep track of both new subscribers, i.e. non-members, and the existing subscribers so I can export a list? Going further, I thought, we can create reports on this list.

In my last job at Trinity University, I tracked and managed large sets of address information. One of the biggest headaches was wrong or invalid addresses. Fortunately, there are several services that keep track of just kind of data and can be compared against your dataset. I now have a nicely shrink wrapped copy of address verification software on my desk.

What started out as a simple email form has blown into a new application to verify addresses and manage magazine subscriptions. Yes, its more work, but it will make it easier to track and verify our mailings.

It won’t hurt that we can also export addresses sorted by ZIP code and get a break on the postage.

Hmm. Useful and fiscally responsible. What a concept.

Am I the only one loving the iPhone 2.0 software?

July 22, 2008, by No comments yet

I don’t think so.

I have had friends at church and co-workers alike come and tell me about the new iPhone v 2.0 software. We all know what problems Apple had getting it out. But now, I wonder how I ever lived without it. I have added several apps (Omnifocus, Bible, Yellowpages) and have been quite pleased. I did have some problems the day after the App Store launched when all apps would fall back to the home screen. But, I removed them and reinstalled and that cleared it up. No problems since.

This has got to be helpful on many levels.

First, is the immediate access to data.

Second, the ability to sync my phone and laptop is (finally) paying dividends.

Third, it’s just cool to show off.