Simplicity In the Age Of The GUI

evenprime writes: "Wired is running a story on Mark Hurst's extremely retro GoodEasy computing environment, and how it's old fashioned *nix approach to computing -- flat text, small simple programs that can be chained together -- increases user productivity" It's an interesting, hyper-simple approach, though any user outside of Mark's agency would have to apply some creative adaption. Every few months, I try to re-organize and simplify the documents and programs on my system, this looks like a good experiment for the next time.

I guess...

How does this help me use my computer to produce music, layout a magazine or produce commercial art? Believe it or not computers have grown to be a whole lot more than e-mail, news and web. In fact most of those elements themselves are actually anti-productive most of the time. Being productive on a computer requires more than plain text and 5 simple programs...

Re:I guess...

How does this help me use my computer to produce music, layout a magazine or produce commercial art?

It doesn't. But then, that's like saying that a saw is a lousy tool because it won't drive a nail easily. And a mouse and keyboard in a GUI is (IMO) a horrible tool to produce music. That's why we have MIDI keyboards and hardware mixing boards that interface to computers. And why we still sell guitars, violins and flutes in the age of computers. The slight nuances that I can add completely intuitively with a fretboard far outstrip the control you can have with a mouse interface.

That is not to say that purely electronic music is not good, but even people like Chip Davis, Trent Reznor and Wanda Carlos use all sorts of dirty tricks and analog processing to create their music, not just a mouse.

The right tool for the job... that's the point here.

--
Evan

Re:I guess...

From the Jargon File:

IMHO

(From SF fandom via Usenet) In My Humble Opinion. Also seen in variant forms such as IMO, IMNSHO (In My Not-So-Humble Opinion) and IMAO (In My Arrogant Opinion).

a violin is no substitute for a computer either. There is no Drum and Bass violin music

Again, the point is: The right tool for the job. Trying to draw a wave form for the vocal lines of Pie Jesu would be ludicrous (*if* you're going for a human feel), but the Mighty Steven Hawking is damn cool. Jimi Hendrix's legendary performance of the US National Anthem is great, as is Lords of Acid's Sexy Space Chorale, which wouldn't be the same without computer use.

You're talking to someone who spent months on Amiga and PCs using various software and hand assembling MOD files (or before that, did 6502 asm to generate Star Trek themes on the Apple ][). I'm well aware of the fact that computers can generate music in ways that acoustic inturments cannot.

The point is - right tool for the job. Keeping my phone book drawn in the gimp would work. I keep it in a text file, and grep -i for names. There are a myriad of "right tools" and "wrong tools"... I use Konqueror to browse, and often wget files. All of this proves the *authors* point that you use the tools you got used to rather than what might be better or faster.

Music wasn't the best path to go down... the thread will invariably wind up somewhere devolving into a debate on shielding on patch cords. ;)

--
Evan (Who was up all night, and shuddered when he read the ramble above).

I'll say this -- this guy knows his Macs

...though why Office 98? It's a well-executed program, but it's a monstrosity...

A simple desktop is not a bad idea, and it's sort of a shame that what he's doing doesn't really apply to OS X (there's a reason Apple hides the Unix directories from public view -- it can get very confusing).

I have one particular thing I've always done on Macs that's worth mentioning, though -- I keep a tabful of aliases down on the bottom corner of the screen of both of my Macs (near the trash, but just far enough away) that lead to various important applications on my system (BBEdit, Netscape, Stuffit, etc.). It's a great convenience factor for me, and since it all snaps out of the way it manages to avoid ugly desktop clutter.

/Brian

Clear the desktop???

But thats where i keep all my STUFF!!

*tip of the hat to The Tick*

Re:Clear the desktop???

Really? On the Desktop? I never thought about that. I've been saving my stuff in the filing bucket named Recycle Bin. It keeps my files together, and I am protecting Mother Earth by recycling.

Good and Easy slashdotted already?

Geez, you don't get much simpler than a text file. Maybe they should spend more time working on their server than just the interface.

But I have to admit the stripped down version of everything to text files sounds effecient and fast - but most users also like the colorful bell and whistles. Might try this out sometime... if I can ever get at that blasted text file.

F-bacher

To make your computer efficient, think like one.

My wife uses our Mac at home. She clutters her desktop with icons, rarely empties the trash can unless I tell her it's essential, and (like the article says) never looks for more than one way to do a task, once she's found a way that works.

My office email is filled with people mailing MS Word documents to me for Web-related projects. Often there's nothing in these documents but plain text and some bolded topic headlines. If I try to convert them to HTML to make my job easier, it doesn't work, because MS litters Word-generated HTML with styles and nonstandard tags that only IE5 can understand, all to make the Web page look as much like the Word doc as possible.

Friends use instant messenging to send me short, two-sentence "hi"s throughout the day. Half of them use brightly-colored backgrounds, harshly-contrasting text colors, and hard-to-read fonts because they look cool to them. They rarely use good spelling or punctuation to make sentences easier to read. "KISS" is a slogan that has never occurred to them. They probably never empty their desktop trash, either.

All these people have something in common: they don't think like a computer. It doesn't occur to them that searching for data is easier if everything is in plain text, or that organizing your files into directories makes them easier to archive and find later, or that removing all the pretty colors and fonts and complicated layouts would make it easier for others to read what they've written. They're just here to have fun.

They're the reason for XP's Luna and MacOS's Aqua. Pretty colors and gradients don't help anyone get the job done, but it makes the computer more "friendly" and less computer-like.

Meanwhile, I send all my IM's in high-contrast colors and sans-serif fonts. I email plain text whenever possible and RTF whenever it's not. I organize my files pathologically so that I don't have to throw old things away to find new things. And my desktop background picture is only two colors: medium blue and navy, so it doesn't distract or take half a minute to redraw whenever I minimize my browser.

Because I do think like a computer. I like plain, readable text; I solve problems logically; and (unfortunately) I have a "stateless" memory which loses track of one thing as soon as it starts another. Keeping everything in neat lines and plainly-marked boxes is the only way for me to get any work done.

But if I didn't spend 8-12 hours a day in front of a computer screen, I probably wouldn't know that. I'd probably prefer the pretty colors and chaotic fonts, too.

Re:To make your computer efficient, think like one

All these people have something in common: they don't think like a computer. It doesn't occur to them that searching for data is easier if everything is in plain text, or that organizing your files into directories makes them easier to archive and find later, or that removing all the pretty colors and fonts and complicated layouts would make it easier for others to read what they've written. They're just here to have fun.

The reverse is also true, y'know. Most UIs need to be redesigned (hence Luna and Aqua) because they weren't made to work with someone who thinks like a person. Specifically a business person.

Y'know, someone where the trash is emptied regularly, where chatting is a way of life, and where things are filed long-term, but they're also kept short-term on the desk--not because they're filed there, but because they stay there because you *haven't* filed them.

The ideal would actually be the best of both worlds. Filters that can convert an e-mail attachment at a single command. A switch to filter out your "buddy's" preferences. And a way to have files you open and don't "file" head to the desktop, where they're periodically "saved" as a backup.

Too bad we'll never get that ideal.

Re:To make your computer efficient, think like one

My wife uses our Mac at home. She clutters her desktop with icons, rarely empties the trash can unless I tell her it's essential

Wow. My wife gets mad at me because I clutter my desktop with papers and rarely empty the trash unless she yells at me to do it.

Sumner

Re:To make your computer efficient, think like one

I used to be like you. But I just gave up. Now I use a perl script to convert my plain text messages to prismatic, bold, italic, underlined, visually obscene messages littered with random mispelings and profuse punctuation!!!?!!!??

And you know what? I have lots of friends now, and I regularly sleep with two beautiful women at once. I've got another perl script that filters their cruft into my own vanilla format. You might say I've developed my own private babelfish. Things are good for me. They could be good for you too.

Embrace and extend, grasshopper.

Cleaning up MS-Word generated HTML

My office email is filled with people mailing MS Word documents to me for Web-related projects. Often there's nothing in these documents but plain text and some bolded topic headlines. If I try to convert them to HTML to make my job easier, it doesn't work, because MS litters Word-generated HTML with styles and nonstandard tags that only IE5 can understand, all to make the Web page look as much like the Word doc as possible.

HTML Tidy, a program available from the World Wide Web Consortium [w3.org], will strip out the junk from Word-to-HTML documents you've converted to HTML. Go to the HTML Tidy [w3.org] web page and search for "Support for Word2000" - it should be a page or two down.

You can grab binaries for several OSs, binaries of other programs which have incorporated Tidy into themselves, or get the source. Hope that this works for you.

Re:To make your computer efficient, think like one

"All these people have something in common: they don't think like a computer."

This reminds me of economists, who have spent 30 years building theories of human behaviour based on utility maximization and rational choice. When they finally realize that real humans are neither utility maximizers nor particularly rational, rather than change their theories they get mad at the humans for not behaving the way they "should"!

sPh

The whole idea is good, but..

it lacks to take into account needs of different users, as well as it assumes that everyone is an office drone that only does two, three tasks on their default-set Dell with a bunch of aliases everywhere.

I like the overall idea of simple computing, but the fact is that power users, who use their machines multiple tasks, would not find most of the recommendations in this article useful.

Sorting out and organizing stuff according to your preference and style of computing is something that may work best for you.

I think that saying that 'this is the only good way' or 'this is the good way, other way is a bad way' is shortsighted and unreasonable. Some people cannot afford to have only 4 folders for specific purposes. And desktop was a designed as a place for aliases that allows you to organize and speed up the workflow.

After all, I feel that "GoodEasy" computing environment is not one that is as simple, basic, and unified as it can be. The real "GoodEasy" computing environment is the one that allows you to feel most comfortable in and lets you be most productive, depending on the tasks, work ethic, type of work, and your preferences.

Simple solution are the best

Most people these days think they need complexity in there life. Most of the time there are simple solutions that will solve our problems

I've been doing this for a long time.

And I think most people who program under some kind of unix do too. It's a combination of the GUI and the command line, not choosing between the two.

Windows users can't seem to grasp it for some reason. In my Red Hat class last quarter, whenever the Windows users needed a terminal they hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 to get to a virtual console instead of just opening a terminal emulator. And when they did discover that the terminal emu did everything that the console did, they still didn't grasp the idea that they could have more than one terminal on the screen at once.

The only problem is that no operating system default is set up exactly how I want, so when I get to a new system, it takes me a while to set everything up the way I like... it's especially silly having to carry around a copy of my .emacs and .Xresources files that I can't work without (I can use vi just fine though). At least my preferences aren't in some registry.

GUI grep, find, awk, sh

Wow, somebody has created a GUI for some of the
really useful Unix utilities, at least in effect.
The program to search all of your files quickly?
grep or "find ... -exec grep ...". No wonder it's
fast. Replacing abbreviations? awk. Every feature
describe is, as the article mentions, exactly
what Unix users expect from their computing
environment.

I wince every time I try to use a system that
lacks these features.

Why text?

Microsoft's Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and much of Access, are all built around the idea that bits are most useful when converted to atoms.
...
Unix uses quick-to-transmit plain text files instead of large, slow, printer-centric documents. Unix ties together multiple small programs to create systems both simple and powerful, instead of building complicated, monolithic applications that must compromise between flexibility and ease-of-use.

So Microsoft application's are based on the idea that computer users eventually want paper but Unix isn't -- but it's text-based?

I personally prefer to develop my code in a Unix, non-IDE environment, but I still think that piping text around is a real throwback. Even slightly advanced users will find themselves gluing bits of data together in a single line of text, and then using something along the lines of regular expressions to pull it apart.

For example, think about stdout and stderr. In Unix, you need two separate streams. Interleaving them is a bad idea because then you can't tell text in one stream from text in the other. You could have a single stream of output if each item in the stream were, let's say, a Text object or an Error object. You could then, in the next application down the pipe, choose to examine either Text object or Error objects, or pay attention to both. Also, the interleaving of Text and Error objects would convey useful information; something that's harder with two independent streams.

If you like the ideas of command-line, and small functional units that can be composed, and you want to build an environment from scratch, why focus on text as the main paradigm? Other things that programs could input, output and pass around include objects and tuples, which would have more intuitive tools for putting together and taking apart complex data that would otherwise be encoded into a line of text.

I know this much

From my experience with trying to make 30 and 40+ year old adults change from one computer program or OS to another, they will always resist and bitch and complain about "how it used to be".

Frogs boiling in water...

because of the active-user paradox, most people have no idea how much this damages their productivity. They're like frogs in boiling water.

'Like frogs boiling in water'? What the hell does that even *mean*?

I'm not sure of the point of this article. Is it supposed to be a shocking revelation that 'the Internet changed personal computing'? That non-technical people don't adapt to technology well?

No kidding, genius! Bah.

simplicity on my desktop

my desktop [wisc.edu].

Along the left side of my screen are launchers for my most often-used programs. Thanks to badgering of programmers on my part they respond to edge-clicks, making them easy targets.

The top of my screen has hacked versions of the deskguide and tasklist which also respond to edge-clicks. Thus, I can switch desktops and windows quite quickly with the mouse

I have a transparent terminal for when I need it. The large panel on the bottom is auto-hide. The applets there are too big to fit on a 24 pixel panel. Brak is there for dancing to music.

I don't believe the Keyboard is God, I think my setup is quite efficient, pleasant to look at, and very functional.

WordPerfect 5.1

I always thought that WordPerfect 5.1 was the pinnacle of word processors. I had the priviledge (or curse depending on your point of view) of running for a law firm back when WP5.1 was the standard bearer, and when we began moving to the GUI-centric Word, the administrative staff rose up in revolt. They were so crafty with those keystrokes, it was simply amazing. I gravitated towards Word myself, because it was sexier and I was young and immature ;) but I can guarantee you I was no more productive or quicker with Word than any of those secretaries were with crusty old WordPerfect 5.1.

Mirrors, anyone?

Has anyone been successful in reaching the referenced document. If so could you, please, make it available as WinterSpeak's server has apparently been /.ed.

Thanks.

A good pro-UNIX article.

This is a good article, in that it explains the UNIX small tools approach and dependence on text streams well, and in a way that normal people can understand. But aside from the brief blurb about GoodEasy and a quick explanation of a basic UI design principle, it's mostly just that -- UNIX advocacy.

Not that that's a bad thing, mind you.

Funny Mac Tech Support story

The part in goodeasy where he says "your first job is to clear off the desktop" reminds me of two funny calls I had when I did Mac tech support (which by the way, is 10x easier than the Windows tech support I do now but only 1/10 as easy as the VM/CMS support I did years ago)...

In the first call I determined the cause of their problem was that their hard drive was full. Caller disagreed so I Timbuktu'd in and examined their hard drive and showed them it was full. Caller said I was still wrong as "All of my documents are kept in this folder on the desktop". They took the mouse and opened a folder on their desktop... sure enough it contained hundreds of (MS Office) files. "See, all of my files are on the desktop, not on my hard drive." Of course I had explained that what is on the desktop is really on the hard drive too. The user says "You mean they are not stored in the monitor?"

The second caller was a person who kept all of their files in their trash (recycle bin for you Win people). When I asked them why they said "That way they won't take any disk space!". I explained that they actually do and in addition to it being rather awkward to keep all their files in the trash they ran the risk that somebody else using their computer would empty the trash and wipe out their files. User says "Yes, that has happened several times already".

UGGHHHHH!

All I want is this..

...a program that watches what I type and when it sees me repeating a word or phrase several times, suggests a short cut without interrupting me, e.g. displaying it in the info bar at the bottom of the window. For example, if I keep typing "String", it might suggest [S][T][space] as the shortcut.

I don't want to have to stop working and think up shortcuts since the computer would be better at identifying which words and phases I use most. I don't want the computer to try to guess what I'm going to do next since no matter how good it was, it would still piss me off when it was wrong (and it's none of the computer's business whether I'm writing a letter).

Where can I find it?

Sold Our Soul to GUI

A friend of mine has often commented that we've sold our soul to the GUI. His point is that GUIs don't always make life easier. People seem to focus on GUI for GUI's sake. I think that GUIs can make life easier, but not always.

Even when GUIs do make life easier, often the investment is not worh it -- Developers spend so much time on the GUI that either underlying functionality suffers or the entire program is bug-ridden.

What are your views on this?

What are some good alternatives to GUI development? Do you use any libraries for creating nice text-based apps with simple interfaces? If so, which ones?

Everything old is new again...

I am all in favor of tools like this. But it sure sounds like a reinvention of Quarterdesk DesqView!

sPh

simplicity? where?

Seven pages of installation instructions and a bunch of keyboard commands to memorize, and it's "simple"?

Man, some people just will never get it.

Tim

Use the correct tool.

I have seen some people avocate that everything can be done with a mouse and it is easy. I have heard people say command line is fast and productive. But there is a mixture of both worlds. Some Apps work better with the mouse and other is with the keyboard. I found Text editors, Word Processors and E-Mail and the like are best with keyboards. Drawing programs and web browsers are best with the mouse. (I do like lynx) but when I have good bandwith I am more productive with a graphical browser. They Have their place and none should replace the other. As for as ordany operating enviroment. I have X-Windows open with a X-Term All the GUI Apps I use the most are in as "shortcuts" (I use GNOME at home and KDE at work) in the title bar. The desktop is clean from icons. and I use the Xterm for file management and all the text apps. And I use the GUI links for Netscape, StarOffice and other gui apps. Also I have a link to Xterm to open an extra Xterm if I accedently close my xterm. The rest of my title bar has the clock a method to switch windows that are minimized. and thats about it. Even in the Xterm Ill use my mouse to cut and paist text from above because I didn't know the output before I pipe it or it is not in a easy order to parse. But if I want to kill all of my forked looped procesies. nothing beats a ps -ef | grep | awk '{printf "kill -9 %s\n",$4}' | csh

A gui version to kill thousands of proceies that are spread threw the processes stat could take a long time to get rid of.

command line is simple?

memorizing the syntax to dozens of cryptic commands is simple?

This is the Mac Way not *nix Way

As anyone read the actual guide? goodeasy [winterspeak.com]. From the the wired article and these post this sounds like this was done on some sort of Unix. Wrong this was done on a Macintosh.

These things have always been part of the Mac philosophy. Apps do one thing and do it well, use keybinds for everything. This is why IE defeated Netscape on the Mac side even with Mac Users often fanactical hatred of Microsoft. IE just a web browser and supported Inter Config. In Inter Config you can say what apps you whant to handle http,ftp, news etc. Of course Netscape would not allow you to use other apps for email, or news. It had all that built-in.

Of course Linux GUIs and other web browsers are over-bloated "suites" or "platforms". Mozilla a "platform" for developing appications. Konqueror is a file manager was a built-in web browser. Nautilus is a file manager, web browser, note taker and help browser. Are lynx and IE for Mac the only web browsers that exist? I know IE for windows is os is supposed to be a file manager/web browser. But they don't do that on the Mac, knowing Mac users will have little tolerance for that.

Thoughts on Win Gui and OS layout.

As a long time computer user, starting from a C64/Floppy/300 baud modems to DualP3s/Terrabyte storage/DSL I have migrated and changed the way I interact with GUI's and store my files many times over the years.

Mark Hursts ideas are almost like mine. I will break it down a little as to HD layout then OS.
I have normally have 2 HDs in my system, HDA for my OS's and HDB for my Games and Work. HDA I break down into 4 Paritions.
HDA1 for Win98,
HDA2 for Win2K,
HDA3 for either a Linux dristro or WinXP beta
HDA4 for the swap if im using linux.
HDB1 is 1 parition, normally 3 folders, Games, Work and Emulators. (Im a UAE and Mame freak.)

I dont normally use boot loaders other than Win2k's, If i boot linux i use loadlin, it seems easier for me to maintain. (C:\linux)

Im a big fan of Norton Ghost, using ghost on the paritions, I can restore quickly. As I like to play around with drivers and migrate my HD's to more space. I also burn the .gho files on CDs. If the files are larger than 700 megs, I rar the ghost images and make it self extractable. So I can boot a fresh HD from floppy. I also copy the CD images to the HD, unrar, and ghost from the whole image.

I'm a little more in depth on my HDA1 drive, I use directory names, Apps, GFX, Net, Sound, Utils, Work. I also have the normal windows directories, My Documents, Windows and Temp. Under My Documents I put My Pictures, My Music and Favorites. I then use M$ Tweak UI to point all windows versions on my HD to c:\My documents, C:\My Documents\favorites, etc.. This keeps all my files at hand if im either Win98, Win2K or linux. It makes it easier to keep every file in the same place under ever os. (Example, IE for Win2K and Win98 point to the same favorites, so my bookmarks are the same.)

After I get the basic windows installed (doesnt matter what version). I upgrade the entire installation with the newest patches and drivers. Then register file types for my apps, not windows defaults. Apps include textpad, winzip,winrar,cdrwin,nero,acdsee,winamp,proxomitro n. Windows modifications as x-teq [xteq.com] and m$ powertoys.

Now that windows is installed, and apps, I keep a shortcut to a folder NET in c:\net\net on my desktop. This folder c:\net\net keeps shortcuts for all my programs. Even if I reinstall windows, my c:\net\net folder stays. I put a shortcut of my NET folder in my tooltray. I can either alt-tab or click on the tooltray icon (in case my apps are maximized) to have access to my favorite apps. I really dont use the start menu, as it takes longer to get to my commonly used applications.

Microsoft has weened us off Dual pane file managers.(I miss fileman!) This was (IMHO) the hardest thing to get used to in win95 and new versions of windows. Trying to copy files from a file viewed pane, then select the destination folder is slower and has more steps involved. M$ introduced powertoys that included "Copy To and Move To" extensions to windows, that at least helped. I do keep a copy of 2xExplorer [32bit.com] for when I need to handle large ammount of files.

The part that actually increased my productivity was the toolbar. Being able to have access to my running applications, instead of alt-tabbing was a nice changed. It also provides a quick visual que on what programs im running. The tooltray also speeds up access to my c:\net\net quick launch folder full of shortcuts.

Drag and Drop, right mouse menus have become standard. I have found that I now drag mp3's onto winamp, and right mouse clicking and enqueing them. My older habit was using playlists for everything. IE didnt have the best right mouse menus, but with IE6, they have the most common menus again. (Using proxomitron [spywaresucks.org] and enabling all right mouse clicks also helps)

Now as my Linux GUI, I really use Windows as workstation, and unix as a server and display X back to my windows box. (X-win32 is far the best for this.) But when Im using a unix workstation, I normally install IceWM [icewm.org]. IceWM is small, fast and has a toolbar and tooltray. It is highly customizable and can add those extra buttons that come in handy. The windowshade mode which rolls up the window to a bar is very handy. Comes in handy when I need to view multiple load balanced servers at the same time. Also for quick eye-candy, I like the network and cpu meters [icewm.org] on the toolbar, dont really need it, but nice to see.

Started to use WinXP beta, and I'm pretty impressed with its Font Smoothing features. Check out some screenshots I made for friends here [ironwolve.com] and here [ironwolve.com].. The font smoothing works all throught the GUI, notice how the menus are changed.

I spend too much time playing around with new utilities and GUI's for windows. If your interested in modifing your windows GUI, check out Shell City [shellcity.net], WindowBlinds [windowblinds.net], and Litestep [litestep.com].

Have fun!
-Brook

Good idea, but...

I think what's important to remember here is that there is not one correct way to use a computer. Everyone has different systems that work for them. That's why the rigid color scheme and design decisions in OS X may hurt its acceptance in the long run. I want to customize my computer to my habits, not the other way around.

this guy needs to get out more...

> Back in 1987, just after the Apple Lisa had been introduced,

Erm, the Lisa was intro'd in 1983 and discontinued in 1985. I remembered as much, and confirmed it with one google search.

We're supposed to use an interminable text file to make our hard drive look just like Mark's?

Feh.

His simplified web site - though it was ref'd in the article, i failed to find his recipe text file after two levels deep in several links - so much for ease of use.

Considering that installing MacOS 9.1 or 9.2 or adding MacOS X will ditch this folder system by design...

And look at that client list! kozmo.com?!! oooooh.

Any Mac user with half a brain has already streamlined their HD in the fashion that suits their work style.

And Claris eMailer? Please. Trusting your email to a long-dead app may be ok for some crusty original *nix hardcores, but it's risky business for most. eMailer has familiar stability problems, and who ya gonna call these days when it does - and it will - take your mail along with it?

GUIs, command line and BASIC

The thing with the command line is that you have to think more carefully about the data structures you use. This means that you already have applied the necessary pre-planning required.

The same thing can make BASIC programs work faster. In essence, one writes for Z=function(X,Y):

A1=X:A2=Y:GOSUB {function}:Z=A1

If you think about the functions you use, you can make, and where the output is placed, you can replace the one function with serveral functions.

Interestingly, the people who fiddle around with lots of little tools will split the problem into lots of smaller ones when a single larger tool would be faster. The tools are often on hand, and are faster to assemble than it is to write one big tool. The bigger tool should be looked at if one is doing lots of the same task. The reference for this is Knuth "Literate Programming".

The increase in productivity is because the CLI forces one to consider the data structures earlier, eg, up front, and this is the right thing to do.

Running Windows? This will help.

Look here: http://mathias.dahl.net/dat/doc/html/hemsida/gqsmc .html

Re:WTC Gone?

We can just think about how horrible this tragedy is for 24/7 and get all bent out of shape (like the terrorists want to), or we can calmly multitask and cover other issues of the day as well as thinking about the World Trade Center being airplane bombed. We can't let them stop our way of life.

I'm not trying to say that everything will be the same as before, because it won't. It will never be business as usual again. But we also cn't freak about this.

F-bacher

Re:The next big OS

how about goodfun [somethingawful.com] ;) (ah, bad art and a bad game heh)

and so it makes sense...

The Good Easy
http://www.winterspeak.com/columns/goodeasy.txt

how to set up a mac
by Mark Hurst

version: 3/22/00 cf
version: 10/25/99 mh

DESKTOP

- your first job is to clear off the desktop. you want the desktop
to show (for now) ONLY the hard drive, and the Trash -- nothing
else.

- trash any aliases on the desktop.

- anything still on the desktop other than aliases, hard drive, or
Trash, put into the Utilities folder in the hard drive. now you
should have a clear desktop.

HARD DRIVE

- open the hard drive. your goal here is to have only four items,
all folders: System Folder, Applications, Utilities, and Creative
Good.

- open any folders OTHER than those listed above. just look one
level deep. trash any aliases you find.

- anything in the hard drive other than the four folders [System
Folder, Applications, Utilities, and Creative Good], put into the
Utilities folder.

- back in the hard drive, create a new Creative Good folder with
cmd-N.

- click once on the Creative Good folder to select it. then hold
down option-command and drag the folder onto the desktop. you now
have an alias on the desktop called "Creative Good". rename this
to "CG". (another way of doing this step: the Creative Good folder
selected, type cmd-M and then drag the alias to the desktop and
rename it "CG".)

- (once the mac is on the ethernet) use the chooser (Apple Menu ->
Chooser) to connect to Blue, the server. open Blue and create an
alias to "Creative Good - server", and place the alias on the
desktop of the Mac you're setting up. Rename the alias to "Server
CG".

APPLICATIONS FOLDER

- open the Applications folder. anything you probably will never
use (like Apple Video Player, or some bogus Apple Guide file), put
into the Utilities folder. you should now have an Applications
folder comprised of all the apps that you'll use commonly (or at
least once every couple of months).

- go through any folders like "Internet" and pull out the real app
folders to live in the Applications folder. for example, if the
"Internet" folder contains the Netscape Navigator folder, move the
NN folder up one level into the Applications folder. (general rule
of thumb -- when appropriate, eliminate folders within folders...
applies in cases like this bullet.)

CREATIVE GOOD FOLDER

- with cmd-N, create an folders called admin, backups,
special(used to be info), team, howto (used to be tools) and
personal, all spelled all lower-case. then, if appropriate at this
point, create folders for the client engagements you work on,
starting the name with a capital letter (Megasoft) or all caps if
it's an acronym (AT&T). this difference in spelling will help you
later on to distinguish easily (during a quick visual scan)
between client folders and "issue" folders.

- may want to create of those, then select View -> as List, and
then copy that folder so that the View as List preference gets
copied into the new folders. rule of thumb, EVERY folder should be
set to View as List.

SYSTEM FOLDER

- create a folder called "Apple Menu Items (Disabled)", without
the quotes.

- open the "Apple Menu Items" folder. View as List.

- anything you'll rarely or never use, move to the Disabled folder
you just created. this includes Scrapbook, Simple Sound, Remote
Access Status, Note Pad, Key Caps, Jigsaw Puzzle, Graphing
Calculator, Favorites, Automated Tasks, Internet Access, the video
and audio players, and the System Profiler. any aliases in that
list, trash them.

- open the hard drive folder. using cmd-M or option-cmd-drag,
create an alias to the Applications folder in the Apple Menu Items
folder.

- note on aliases: in the above step, name the alias
"Applications", not "Applications alias". on a Mac, you can always
tell an alias by the italics in its name, so there's no reason to
clutter things up with the "alias" in its name. if it's an alias
you'll be using for awhile (i.e. in your Apple menu), never
include the word "alias" in the alias's name.

- using the same method, create an alias to the Control Panels
folder and put the alias (*NOT* the Control Panels folder itself)
in the Apple Menu Items folder. rule of thumb, aliases are easy to
spot because their file names are in italics; actual files (non-
aliases) are displayed in regular plain type (non-italics). Do
this for the location manager as well.

- open the Applications folder in the hard drive folder. for the
following apps -- BBEdit, AppleWorks, Emailer, Excel, Word,
Netscape, and Up-to-date -- create an alias in the Apple Menu
Items folder to the application. for example, open the "Netscape
Navigator folder" and find the application called "Netscape
Navigator". with cmd-M or option-cmd-drag, create an alias of
"Netscape Navigator" in the Apple Menu Items folder.

- another note on aliases: in the Apple Menu, make sure all
aliases to apps are just the one-word name. for example, it
shouldn't be "Netscape Navigator 4.05 alias" or even "Microsoft
Word" -- it should be "Netscape" and "Word". keep the Apple Menu
as simple as possible -- it's one of the most important elements
of your Mac experience.

- for OS 9 move sherlock II into the Apple Menu Items (Disabled)
folder and copy Sherlock from the server into the Apple Menu Items
folder

APPS TO INSTALL

- BBEdit Lite 4
- Claris Emailer Lite 1.1v3
- Now Up-to-date 3.6.2 (don't install Contact, QuickDay, or any
other Now tchotchke)
- note: do NOT install quickday or quickcontact -- use the
custom installer to turn off those options and then go into
control panel and move quickday into the control panel (disabled)
folder.
- Netscape Navigator 4
- typeit4me
- QuicKeys 4.0
- Default Folder
- AppleWorks 5
- Microsoft Office '98 (make sure to run ppt to register copy)
- FileMaker
- Fetch
- digital camera software
- spell check
- Leave emailer installer in utilities folder

INTERNET CONFIG

- change the default Web browser to Netscape.

- change any file formats that read SimpleText into BBEdit's
format. (choose an example BBEdit file to get the right
settings...go to file mappings, sort by app, for simpletext .text,
.txt, .ascii change to BBedit by using the choose example button
and getting a BBedit file)

- change the default mailer to Claris Emailer. (not Outlook!)

- In the helpers editor change simple text to BBEdit, change
everything Explorer to Netscape, and change mailto to Claris.
Make sure to save preferences.

- change the Web home page to be the local file of 5 or so links
to key pages -- or nothing.

-make sure that the ms word icons are set to W8BN, W6BN, WDBN

PREFERENCES

- in BBEdit, make sure it's set to softwrap, window width, start
up with nothing, searches wrap around, don't print headers or date
stamp, don't show any toolbars and make veggie the default font.

- in Claris Emailer, set preferences not to prompt for reply or
deletions. (in Defaults tab, no checkboxes should be checked
except the bottom-right one; the top radio button in each pair
should be selected.) set Deleted Mail at 10-day window, Sent Mail
at 14-day window. when receiving mail, don't play sound and don't
flash icon in a menu bar

- in Claris Emailer under schedules, set the default connection to
once every 5 minutes. under easy set up set up the user, pass,
outgoing mailserver (mindspring.com or redconnect.net), and sig.
go to services -> internet and change the default encoding to
uuencode (NOT binhex). Have the downloads go to the desktop
(choosing the trash icon). Also, quoted text should be blue (use
crayon color picker). Put starter address file in address book.

- in emailer make sure that toggle schedule quickey works and move
column widths. make veggie default font.

- in Netscape, id is user (not a persons name) make sure the home
page is set to the local file open start.html which should be in
the info folder. Also, choose text only, no tool tips, no sound.
Set fonts to times 14 courier 12. Get rid of all preset bookmarks
under preferences and open bookmarks.html. also preload the
resizing bookmarks.

- in Up-to-Date, appointments get reminders never; todos get no
time attached (i.e. it shouldn't say "8:00 a.m." when a todo is
created); choose scrolling view; Under define calendar formats
make the current day bold and blue, make the weekends plain and
gold.

-in Appleworks, in preferences start up with nothing, make default
font times, under window choose hide toolbar

- in typeit4me, preferences -> expansion triggers -> click All so
that all the triggers are checked, then OK to make the preference
stick. also change # of entries

CONTROL PANELS

- in TCP control panel, put in DNS info.

- in speech control panel, go into Talking Alerts and turn off
both checkboxes (so it doesn't talk any alerts).

- in keyboard control panel make the repeat rate as fast as
possible and the delay as short as possible. Under options, assign
f keys (7 netscape, 8 emailer, 9 bbedit, 10 now up to date)

- in the apple control panel under appearance highlight color -->
others --> crayon choose fern; in the options tab uncheck smart
scrolling, check double click title bar; in the fonts tab uncheck
smooth

- in control panel --> control strip add hot key (cmd -ctl-s)

QUICKEYS

- import Quickeys sets from the installers folder on the server
- need to come up with standard set of quickeys to import into all
new macs as they come in; for now, here are the main ones
- cntrl-down goes to Finder; cntrl-up is Hide Others
- function keys map to switch to apps (only if they're running) as
follows:
- F6: AppleWorks (F6 may change to cmd-F6 on new Powerbooks;
have to check)
- F7: Netscape
- F8: Claris Emailer
- F9: BBEdit
- F10: Now Up-to-date
- F12 maps to "Show Rear Window"
- cntrl-C maps to "Creative Good" folder
- cmd-shift-F maps to Sherlock
- in Preferences, QuicKeys should be hidden except with cmd-option-
cntrl-click. (under options menu-configure quickeys. quickeys
menu should be hidden. pop-up menu everything should checked but
shift)
- in Emailer: cmd-shift-enter means Send Now; cntrl-S means toggle
Signature; cntrl-i gets inbox item; cntrl-o gets outbox.
- in Netscape: cmd-h means go home.

MISC

- get my current typeit4me data file, place it in the Creative
Good --> info folder. open typeit4me (menu to do so is in upper-
left of monitor) and choose that file to use.

- in Default Folder, make cmd-1 map to Creative Good folder, cmd-2
to Creative Good -> Good Reports. others are up to user.

- turn the mute button on (F6 on new macs)

- the info folder (in the CG folder) should contain the current
address file, calendar and typeit4me data file, the netscape
startup page.

- Put alias of main aps in the start up folder

- set up location manager and remote access

- make sure the battery thing on the control strip is set to
"better performance"

- trash should be viewed as a list

- pre-load the tools folder with the graphics and report templates
from the templates folder on the server

- make more liberal settings in the energy saver ctrl panel (at
least 10 minutes for each one)

* * * * * * *

Crib Sheet for Quickeys and other Key Strokes (and general
goodeasy tips)

ch 2/1/01
cf 3/22/00

Mac key combos

cmd-a - select all
cmd-c - copy
cmd-x - cut
cmd-v - paste
cmd-o - open
cmd-opt-o - open a window and close the one behind it
cmd-w - close
cmd-ctrl-w - close all
cmd-s - save
cmd-d - don't save
cmd-n - new
cmd-q - quit
cmd-. - cancel
cmd-z - undo

Universal Quickeys

cmd-shift-s - save as
control-down - go to finder
control-up - hide applications other than the current one (though
keep them
running)
Tab - go to the next field (works in all apps)
Shift-Tab - go to the previous field
cmd-delete - sends item to trash (in general and from open/save
dialog box)
cmd-tab - selects open windows in succession
shift right arrow selects text
cmd-f in the finder launches sherlock and brings up the Find File
tab
within sherlock:
cmd-g brings up Find By Content.

(open/save) dialog box:
-cmd-up - moves you up through the hierarchy
-cmd-down - moves you down through the hierarchy
- cmd-f opens that file in the finder, so you can use the various
sorting techniques there. (the finder is sort of like the desktop
in windows... the area where you can fly through the file system.)
-cmd-g finds next
- cmd-r allows you to rename the file
- cmd-1 takes you to the CG folder (if you'd like to map more
folders like this, choose the third folder icon from the left and
add the folder to favorites)

Shortcuts to Applications (f6 etc. are most effective on a full-
size keyboard, the kind you plug into the laptop. to make it
better for laptops, we've ALSO
installed these alternatives.

cmd-6 or f6 - appleworks
cmd-7 or f7 - netsacpe
cmd-8 or f8 - emailer
cmd-9 or f9 - bbedit
cmd-0 or f10 - now up to date

f12 toggles windows in an application
cmd-shift-a brings up addresses

In Emailer
- return - opens an email so you can read it. also closes it.
- cmd-right - closes the current email and opens the next one in
the list.
- cmd-left - moves you up through them
- cmd-opt-right - moves you down through your emails and delete
the last viewed open email
- cmd-opt-left - moves you up through your emails and delete the
last viewer open emial
- cmd-r - reply to sender
- ctl-r - reply to all
- cmd-j - forward
- cmd-opt-k -- send and receive messages
- cmd-return -- queue the current message to be sent (i.e. along
with all the others at the next scheduled connection, every 5
minutes or whatever)
- cmd-shift-return -- send the current message right now
- ctl-s - toggle signature
- ctl-d - disable schedule
- cmd-h - add recipient
- ctl-h add attachment and uncheck file compression
- option-up - top of email
- option-dn - bottom of email
- cmd-click on URL: opens netscape to that page
- cmd-click on e-mail address: creates a new e-mail message To:
that address
(these two only work in claris e-mailer... not in bbedit,
unfortunately!)
- cmd-opt-h changes your outgoing mail config for home
- cmd-opt-o changes your outgoing mail config for office
- cmd-' pastes text into emailer as if it is a return email (blue
with >s)
- cmd-1 takes you to the inbox
- cmd-2 takes you to the outbox
- cmd-3 takes you to the filing cabinet
- cmd-4 takes you to the address book
- home and end in claris emailer take you to the start or end of a
msg. (fn + left or right arrow)
*make sure you uncheck the compression box when attaching files

In Now-Up-To-Date
- cmd-n - new apt.
- cmd-t - new to do
- cmd-b - banner
- cmd-e - special
remember to use tab to go to next field (and shift-tab to go to
previous field).

In Netscape
- cmd-h - brings you back to your home page
- cmd-arrows take you forward and backward
- cmd-d - makes a bookmark

In Appleworks
cmd-t - scale by % (uses the % last defined in that menu option.
choose the menu option manually, Arrange -> Scale By Percent, to
change that %)
cmd-pgdn - move object to back (note that on a laptop, that will
be fn-cmd-pgdn)
cmd-pdup - move object to front (only in Draw mode)

In BBEdit

cmd-shift-\ - remove all line breaks
ctl-r - replace all
cmd-i - *italicizes*
cmd-arrow - takes you to the end of the line of text
opt-arrow - takes you to the next word
opt-up arrow - takes you to the top of the page
option-down arrow - takes you to the bottom of the page

In General

- mute the volume - on the laptop, f6 (or, to be exact, the button
that would be f6 with the fn button). please do mute your mac in
the office, unless you particularly need to hear something.

- when not in use for a few hours, have mac asleep -- point is, as
opposed to having it shut down (just shut the cover to put it
asleep).

- when you first get an app, do the following - play with all the
menu options - go through the preferences - memorize the major
keystrokes

- cmd-opt-esc force quits and application
- cmd-ctl-power button force restarts the computer

Typeit4me
e.g. dt, cg add more by "editing entries" in the typeit4me menu
** to disable triggers use shift-space

Remote Access:
Change location manager (in apple menu)
dial in with remote access (in apple menu)
change outgoing mail server (cmd-opt-h in emailer)

go over:

remote access/tcp/ip/appletalk
projector/monitor
docspace
text editor (find)
sleep
add mem to ppt and cwk
backups
attachments
server
file system
docspace
projector/monitor
how to zip and stuff
avoidance of cross platform issues
battery/disk removal
battery/sleep controls
remote access

It's true.

And it's not just the usual mourning but in fact a Score: 5, Funny.

Re:goatse.cx

He's right you know...

I'm not quite sure what to make of that.