Dock Stacks

My Adobe Dock Stack

When I was new to the Mac, I kept all of my commonly used programs on the dock. It wasn’t long before my dock turned into a logistical nightmare. It stretched across my screen 30 apps wide, it seemed. I had to tame the beast. In walked something called “dock stacks”.

Thankfully, I wasn’t on my own. There are numerous articles to help you customize your dock stacks. The great thing is how easy it is.

I try to keep my stacks clean and foolproof. Deleting my stack or my stack folder shouldn’t delete the individual programs. I create a folder inside of my Applications folder. You could create this folder anywhere, of course, but keeping it where all the applications are made sense to me. I then would drop all of the relevant aliases into the folder. The folder gets put on the dock, and a stack is born.

I’m not sure how else I could organize my Adobe Suite, my administrative programs, and my web development programs. You already have stacks, you say? Well, then I’ll just consider you a level 2 Mac user. We can jump right to the good stuff.

Spaces

Exaggerated Spaces

According to Apple’s website, Spaces is the end all be all of clutter management:

Spaces lets you group application windows together according to the way you work and easily switch between them. Create a space for work. Create a space for play. Organize each space just the way you want it.

What it does is give you four desktops. Imagine a situation where you had to get something done very quickly and with minimal distraction. You didn’t want to close Safari, but you’re positive that the huge list of minimized programs in the dock is going to drive you batty. Enter Spaces. You now have four desktops uncluttered by the other’s applications to play with.

Typically, I only use two spaces. One contains my frequently used programs (Adium, Safari, Tweetie, etc.), and the other contains the one-off or focused set of programs. Whipping out a web design quickly? We’ll hop over to Space 2 so that we’re not distracted by the open lolcats on Space 1.

The screen where you can see all four (or more) Spaces allows you to drag and drop applications between the windows. This makes it easier to organize things after-the-fact when you realize you need the organizational help. If you know you’ll only want to open up an application in a particular Space, you can also assign it to whichever you choose.

I was afraid of Spaces for the longest time. Playing with it after the frustration of a desktop strewn with random apps helped me get a better sense of what it was for. When I felt organized again, I was using it right. Above all, you have to remember to play with your Mac.

Expose

Configuration Menu

Bundled with Spaces in OSX’s System Preferences panel, Expose is a great little tool that allows you to bind keyboard and mouse functions to different actions. For example, when I set up Spaces, I set the bottom left corner to bring up the Spaces dashboard. This helps me reinforce using both applications.

There are other settings you can play with, but I’ve found that Expose was the gateway to something more beautiful. I kept getting frustrated that I couldn’t one-click search for applications and files. Why shouldn’t internet queries be one click away, too?

Quicksilver and Alfred

Cmd+Space for me.

When Spotlight isn’t pretty enough or robust enough, many people turn to Quicksilver and Alfred to pick up the slack. I personally chose Alfred because it’s currently in development. The gent responsible for Quicksilver has stopped developing it, according to rumor. Instead, he’s moonlighting as a Google employee working on their Launchbar, a similar application.

What can we do with 'A'?

Now, why a quick launcher? I want my display results shoved in my face sometimes. I search for Delicious Library? I want it to pop up big and bold in the center of my screen. An additional app lets me do that. And while there may be a way to get Spotlight to do Google searches for you, applications like Alfred are much easier to configure.

With Alfred, any query is a single keyboard command away. This makes me the fastest IMDBer in the room most of the time. When alone, it makes sure I don’t fish through an entire folder chalk full of apps in order to find the one I’m looking for. If you use your Spotlight for easy application launching, you’re already one step ahead of the Cmd+Shift+A dance.

Oh, and by the way? Congratulations on level 3.

For Design

Photoshop

A staple in any designer’s arsenal, Photoshop has become the de-facto standard for web design. I’m hoping that another company will come out with a true competitor. Pixelmator is looking promising, but it’s not quite there yet.

I have one of the suites, but it seems like Photoshop is the only one I actually use in any regularity.

Fontcase

Fontcase, by Bohemian Coding, allows a designer a way to manage their fonts that isn’t the default font book in OSX, which leaves much to be desired. This tool allows you to not only categorize your fonts and tag them, but to give a line of text several treatments in seconds.

xScope

I found this little tool on accident, and I’m glad. The price, at $27, is a little steep. What the tool does is give you a measurement tool on steroids. It lets you find dimensions, gives you rulers, previews screen-sized viewing ports, magnification, guides, rules, and crosshairs right on your screen. This has been invaluable for PSD to HTML work.

For Development

Coda

I started with Panic’s Coda when I first got my Mac and it hasn’t failed me since. It provides an easy, clean way to edit HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and CSS files. One of the beautiful things are snippets, which allow me to create new pages from templates or to toss in quick bits of saved code.

TextMate

Sometimes I need something bigger than Coda, or Coda’s easy workflow becomes too much for a PHP script to be written in. Strip it down to it’s basics, and you get TextMate, which touts itself as the missing text editor for the Mac. I’m inclined to agree with them.

MAMP

Once in a while I run into something that I have to test locally. WordPress Theme development is easiest when done in an environment where a refresh of the page is all you need. Working on the server can be a nightmare, and that’s where MAMP comes in handy. It gives you all of the LAMP stack, but chops off the L to give it to you on your M(ac).

Cyberduck

I’m not sure I’m willing to pay $35 for Panic’s Transmit, so I’ve stuck with Cyberduck, which is a free FTP client for the Mac. It’s reliable, saves the bookmarks, and asks if I want to overwrite files. What more do I need?

For Administrative

Billings

When I first struck off in the freelance market, I dug around for an invoicing software for quite a bit. I tried several web-based products, a few software-as-a-service bits, and finally settled on Billings. It does basic things, like estimates and invoices, while allowing me to do freelancy bits, too. Retainers are standard, as are what Billings calls “slips”, which allow me to break a website into design, coding, and anything else I’d like. Most of the custom bits are templated, which allow you to create defaults that you reuse again and again.

Pages

Pages is Apple’s version of Word. At $80 for the whole iWork Suite, it’s significantly less than Microsoft Office’s similar Home & Office Suite which rolls in at $150. It has some absolutely gorgeous built-in templates, which provide numerous layout options. The best part is that it’s not difficult to create your own templates, in effect allowing your corporate branding to be consistent between all documents.

If You Can’t See It From The Road…

One last goodbye from Scarlet.

I made this mistake three times before I realized exactly what the problem was. I was lured off the highway by the promise of a blue sign. Gas! Food! Presumably bathrooms!

About ten miles in, it would dawn on me. Maybe, I’m not going in the right direction… The barren road certainly isn’t giving me any gas. I’d turn around, and try looking for signs. Sometimes, I’d even go just as far in the other direction.

Spaz, displeased and irritable.

What did I learn? You really shouldn’t go off the road for anything less than something you can see from the highway. Those large, obnoxious glowing logo poles are actually to be trusted. Blue informational signs? Not so much.

Similarly, LA is comprised of not only blue signs that lie but also logo posts that appear to have displacers of some variety. Wait the three hours it takes to get across the city. You’ll regret getting off the highway. The Wendy’s you wanted? It’ll always look about two blocks away, regardless of where you swear it has to be.

Something Will Go Wrong

Oh look, a light.

Oregon is a long way away from Arizona… the length of California, in fact. It simply would not do to leave the car unchecked before such a journey. Low and behold, the place I had her checked said she was fine. Fit as a fiddle, even if she did need an oil change (which she promptly received).

Fluids replenished, we hit the road! About a third of the way through California, the check engine light turned on and the car informed me I no longer had traction control, if I wanted it. I twittered. I also panicked and called someone even though the car wasn’t misbehaving. I think nearly 10 people told me to check the gas cap, which was not loose for the record.

A sensor having a panic attack is not grounds for flipping out, but something had to go wrong, didn’t it?

Sleep Is For The Weak

Snooozing.

I had such a wonderful plan. I would drive as far as I could on the first day, tuck into a rest stop, snooze for a good five to eight hours, and then get back on the road for the second and final leg of the journey. It was a very good plan.

However, I forgot a few key things. For starters, Spaz didn’t shut up for more than an hour at a time (which was a vast improvement over the every seven seconds pre-drugged). My seat no longer reclined to a comfortable position for napping. I’m not exactly in my most secure and restful state in the middle of California at a less than well lit grassy area.

I’m not sure I got more than an hour’s rest in a single stop. This wasn’t so bad. As long as I gave serious consideration to whether or not I could safely drive to the next roadstop 75 miles down the highway, it was a good plan. I even reached Portland in what I would consider record time.

Alls Well That Ends Well

The only thing worse than being two animals stuck in a small car for a 25 hour drive is being the human that has to deal with the two stuck animals. Puck was given the run of the yard, Spaz the run of the house, and I was treated to a long, hot shower. What’s better than that?

You Don’t See That Every Day

WARK!

Now, what I want to play is a chocobo. You see them as accessories, toys, and as figurines, but rarely as a cosplay subject. It does happen, but I think that my idea is a winner.

It wouldn’t be the most accurate costume. I’d be wearing a yellow skirt, with a wide belt that holds my tail feathers, bright orange leg warmers over yellow leggings, and a silly orange beak. Naturally, I’d speak only in ‘wark’s, ‘kweh’s, and the noises that the chocobo makes in the dungeon games.

The Game

I can’t do just a costume. I must have something to play with. There must be some sort of game to go with the deed. I can think of two.

In all colors!

The first game is easy and involves music. With the portable music players the way they are these days, it’s easy to put my iPhone in a pocket built into the costume just for it. There are so many Final Fantasy games that it should be easy to find all of the music in the various games. Mixed among those should be the particular theme that plays at the Chocobo Farm in FF7. When that starts, I begin the chocobo dance! WARK!!

The second game involves greenery. Gysahl Greens aren’t exactly real, but there are many things that they could resemble. In general, they look like elongated turnips. I’m willing to accept anything that’s a root or a leafy green, really. If someone, particularly in a FF costume, gives me greenery, I will do the dance of the chocobo! Once that happens, I will relinquish a makeshift materia!

But Its Better With Friends

Chubby Chocobo

One of the best things about cosplay is being able to dress up with your friends. What I envision is a whole group of chocobos. You’d have the surly black one, a fiery red one, the elusive gold chocobo, and maybe even a chubby chocobo (if someone’s a good sport).

If we had different materia to pass out, it could even be a collector’s game. Someone would have to have all the other materia before they can get the prize from the golden chocobo. WARK!!

The Movie Night

The Old Cover

The movie night itself was an impromptu dinner and flick session. I think the hilarious part of the entire situation was our concepts of what we were about to watch. David didn’t realize that my version was a musical. I didn’t realize that his version was a regular movie. No musical need apply.

We were both coming from very different perspectives. We had a movie we loved and wanted to share it with the other, but didn’t bother to check expectations or differences in the movies before hand.

The Old Film Style

Scheme... What Scheme?

Films older than the early 80s show their age in peculiar ways. The actual film technology doesn’t seem to be that different, at least not to the eye. It’s the techniques that really show through.

For starters, the camera doesn’t move as much. In many cases, it’s stationary. You certainly don’t get the dramatic zooms when there’s tension. If the camera does move, it seems obvious. People talk only to the camera in most cases. Their lips aren’t obscured or faces masked. They’re quite clearly facing the camera. I can’t tell whether this is a throwback to stage plays or simply the style at the time.

The pacing is also much slower. There’s generally less action, more sets, more minor characters who you know odd details about, and more smoking. Smoking and drinking are prolific in anything pre-80s, it seems. It’s less common, depending on the rating of the film, but it’s less common in general.

The acting itself is very different, too. Things are understated quite frequently, though I’m not sure the best side-by-side comparison is a film and a musical. The interactions are what really get me. Beyond the slow pacing, beyond the dated sets, you’re dealing with an odd dynamic between the actors. They don’t seem to quite get into it in the same way actors nowadays do. Lines that interrupt another actor are the most obvious example of this. The lines don’t seem to be true interruptions. The actor who is interrupted politely stops at the appropriate point. It’s strange.

The New Musical

Your Scheme!

Musicals seem to have changed over the years. If you look at Singing in the Rain and compare it with the Moulin Rouge, you’re going to get very, very different experiences. It’s not so stark a contrast as old horror films to new horror films, but the disparity is there.

The musical numbers themselves are huge. The characters are overacted, which leads to some wonderful scenes. The choreography is painstakingly planned. The sets are frequently ridiculous. All of these things boil down to what we seem to have dubbed the ‘new musical’. Films in this category include the already mentioned Moulin Rogue, Across the Universe, and naturally The Producers.

The character interaction between Leo and Max really just does it for me in this movie. The whole thing was well cast (if you ask me). David mentioned some issue with Matthew Broderick’s acting. He said that he appeared to flip back and forth between super neurotic and just himself. I don’t see it, but I can see how he would see it.

Beyond that, the songs are wonderful. I think it managed to keep a Broadway feel to the whole movie, though I’m not exactly the best judge of what constitutes a Broadway play.

The Verdict

The Girl is New(ish)

David walked away still loving the old one but enjoying the new. I walked away still loving the new one but having enjoyed the old. Neither of our minds were changed as far as which was ‘best’, but we did find something interesting in the one the other presented.

Old films will be forever loved by those who saw them growing up. Newer films will find themselves in that selfsame category if given a few decades. The best part is being able to enjoy them both.

The Premise

Food! Wait, I’ve said that already, haven’t I? Well, I suppose it bears saying again. Food!! Food is important, yes?

This new arrangement is entirely based on dinners. We pick a day during the week that both of us can deal with, trading off who has to
plan the meal and cook.

The host picks a theme, usually a country, and then a few dishes to go with a main course. I was lucky enough to get the first go and my sister requested that I go with some Japanese food.

The First Meal

I decided on something fairly simple. A vegetable, an appetizer, and the main course were the order of the day.

For the main course, my sister requested something noodly, but I wanted soup. So, a compromise was in order… niku jaga! Niku is meat and jaga is potato in Japanese. Make sure those and the onions are sauteed in the pot. Throw in some dashi stock, shirataki noodles, and sauces such as soy and sake and you’ve got one tasty soup!

But such a meal would be incomplete without vegetable tempura and gyoza! All in all, the entire thing went so well!

The Story Line and Characters

Laharl, Flonne, & Etna

The storyline, on the surface, is pretty simple. After waking the prince from his two year nap, Etna informs the prince that his father’s been dead for quite a while. The kingdom lacks a ruler. She and Laharl then go on a quest to regain the title of Overlord and fend off all of the greedy demons clawing at the kingdom.

Etna’s more devious than she lets the prince know initially. But, this is no surprise. They are demons, after all.

Celestia also sends an Angel Trainee into the Netherworld to assassinate the already expired Overlord, and she naturally gets roped into the party.

Laharl, Your Pissy Prince

Laharl

The main character of this entire fiasco is known as Laharl. He is the son of the now dead Overlord King Krichevskoy and carries with him all the baggage a royal father seems to bring teenage boys. He’s arrogant, rude, and easily stirred to anger.

In battle, Laharl is your standard ‘swing a sword until the damned thing dies’ sort of character, which seems to suit him just fine.

Etna, Monologue Champion

Etna

I’m pretty sure that Laharl’s vassal Etna is why I adore this game’s characters. For starters, she’s outspoken. Secondly, she’s ultra violent in an odd way. I’m not sure if she aims for causing severe bodily harm, but she is not shy with her spear.

Flonne, Wayward Angel

The third main character is the ever cheerful Flonne. Her optimism and odd vapidness is enough to make you heave. According to Etna, her head is full of flowers, and Flonne didn’t seem to have much of an objection to this assessment.

On her own, Flonne seems pretty useless in battle.

The Game Play

The game is a tactical one, which borrows heavily from Final Fantasy Tactic’s gameplay style. You move your members around a square-filled playing field attempting to wipe out all of the enemies.

You’ve got a load of different types of characters to create, mentor (which allows the teacher to gain abilities native to the student’s job), and level-up. Certain jobs only become available after arduous tasks, special existing combination, or having one character leveled up enough.

Beyond that, the storyline is hilarious.

What Happened…

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I adore the game. When I heard that it was out for the DS, I jumped on the bandwagon and purchased it. I wanted to make sure I had it for my flight down to Austin for SXSW. When I started playing it, something felt wrong.

Had… had they really changed Etna’s voice actor? My favorite character’s lines weren’t being delivered in the same, snarky ways as before. She almost had whiny, rather than a jeering lit to her voice. Oh, no… What had I bought?

So Much For That

SXSW didn’t give me much time to enjoy my new game, but I also didn’t have much desire to pick up the game and run with it. That single change killed much of the game for me. I suppose it’s a word of warning for users to get attached to a single character like that.

Did this sort of thing ever happen to you? Did you ever get completely attached to a single character and have them changed just enough to kill your love in a sequel or re-release?

Remove Clutter and Stress

This is working pretty well. My house is staying cleaner than it had been, even if I have a few lapses. Being the only one in the apartment has a few upsides. For one, any messes are mine. Secondly, I now know exactly how long certain messes take. It brightens up certain things in my past interestingly.

The people stress is slowly leaving my life. I’ve successfully cut out most of the negative influences, with only a few remaining. Even those I’ve managed to limit my contact with. This has improved my mood dramatically and my life on a day-to-day basis.

Within a few months, the remainder of my excess baggage should be all gone, and we’ll be ready to have a happier, healthier daily life.

Exercise is Good For You

This is one that I flagged as problematic. I’m very bad at exercising. There’s not much about exercising that I don’t dislike.

There’s the sweaty bit, which is gross and smells funny. I can’t breathe when I run, and that hurts. My joints hurt when I do anything that puts impact on them. I also hate the feeling the day after a “good workout”. Your muscles always feel weak and oddly pliable.

Even with that, I’ve started doing some running with Puck that’s helped keep me a bit more in shape. I hate it, but it keeps the puppy quiet and tired, which is always a bonus. Apparently my physical activity will be linked with Puck’s activity level, at least for the time being. If I have children, my activity level may be designated by theirs.

Ruby on Rails

This has been a complete no-go, which is odd. I thought I’d have this one in the bag, but it requires a fair amount of free time that I apparently don’t have.

Between work and school, my free time to sit down and just work on a project like this has been minimal. When work slows down, I’ll likely get to do it. It’s bound to slow down eventually, right? Right?

Eat More Fruit

I think I can definitely call this one a success.

I’m not sure if I’m eating the recommended serving amount each day, but I’m getting a lot closer with my handy dandy blender. I can say that I’m getting 1 to 3 servings a day with my breakfast. Now, I just need include fruit as part of my desserts for lunch or dinner, and I’ll be all set.

Just Let It Go

I’m not a very good judge of this one, but I’m pretty sure I’m getting better slowly. My ability to just let things slide may be improving because of the people who are no longer in my life. Without that constant stream of stress, it may be easier to just move on than to have a fit about something.

I still get worked up about things that ultimately don’t matter beyond the span of a day or a week. It’s going to be months (and likely years) before I really get more chill about things. But, this is a good start.

These following concepts I find are largely valid in Final Fantasy 7, 8, most of 9, 10, and now (about half of) 13. I don’t count 11 as an MMORPG, and FF12 never quite felt like a Final Fantasy to me. It felt like a robust version of Vagrant Story. While that, too, was an awesome game, it had a different feel.

There will be spoilers bellow. If you haven’t played FF13 and would like to go ahead unspoiled, stop reading now. So, without further ado…

Denial Is Just One Of The Stages

Squall's a Sad Panda

This is one of Hero’s Journey staples, and rings just as true in Final Fantasy. First, the hero figures out what he has to do. Then, he refuses it. His friends try to encourage him to continue forward.

When he runs out of options he breaks down. Most of the time, this takes the shape of an admission of a fear of losing the friends he’s not willing to get close to. When his friends are still there, he takes back up the quest and we’re all good to go!

The Rule: Cloud, Squall, Tidus, and Lightning
The Exception: Zidane (except for when he learns what he is)

Minorities Are Hilarious!

Sahz and his chick.

What would a Final Fantasy be without a character to poke fun at? Unfortunately, the culture seems to dictate that these characters look different from everyone else. Can’t have it cutting too closely, can we? Barret and Sazh (who is less heinous) are larger-than-life versions of the stereotypes they represent. I really think we can do better than this.

Quina would be an exception except for the fact that s/he has no determinate gender.

The Rule: Barret, Quina, Wakka, and Sazh
The Exception: Zell

Not Enough Coffee To Deal With You

Selphie's Hairflip

Right on the heels of the comedian is the girl who I’d like to drown in a shallow pool. They’re irrepressibly cheerful, always bouncy, and usually perky enough to send most rational people screaming in the other direction. And yet, they never seem to get on the nerves of those around them. It’s interesting.

The Rule: Yuffie, Selphie, Eiko, Rikku, and Vanille
The Exception: None.

We Don’t Serve Your Kind Here

The cutest outcast around.

We frequently run into some sort of segregation in the game. Many times, the source of the hate and fear in the game is misplaced, but there’s always one race that carries the brunt of it. In FF7, you’ve got the Ancients some of whom are revered. It still makes Aerith one hell of a target.

In FF8, it was sorceresses. Naturally, Rinoa manages to become one. Handy, isn’t it?

Garnet and Eiko are the last two surviving members of a race that could summon beings and rock the very foundation of what we call ‘war’. There’s a reason why you don’t see Summoners on every street.

Rikku is an Al-Bhed. What’s more to say? These people keep tampering with a power that knocked us back into a primitive era. Blasphemers.

Fang and Vanille are from Gran Pulse, the terrible place underneath Cocoon that is the source of all the habitat’s woes. We might as well string them up right now for the crime of being born.

The Rule: Aerith, Rinoa, Eiko, Garnet, Rikku, Fang and Vanille
The Exception: None

Stay Tuned…

This will be a three part series. Want the remaining 9? You’re going to have to wait!

I just had one of these wonderful errors, and Twitter came to my rescue.

What Happened

I’d spent nearly two hours attempting to fix a single bug in IE7, and it was wearing on my nerves. After taking a bit of a break for lunch, I came back to the problem and it was just as bad. Regardless of what I tried, it wouldn’t fix.

Then, I thought I found a solution. I should just float the element instead of positioning it absolutely. This, however, came with it’s own set of problems. Those problems didn’t need to just be fixed in IE7. They were across the board. Ghhaaa!!

So, back to the original method and then to the frustration of the still unsolved IE problem.

Crap, I Need Help!

It occurred to me that I have a large amount of followers who are involved with the tech and design community. So, I whipped up a web page that included the following information:

• A paragraph explaining my issue.
• The CSS associated with the offending element and its immediate surroundings.
• The HTML associated with the offending element and its immediate surroundings.
• Screen shots of the element in FF and IE7.

With that taking no more than five minutes, I let out the call on Twitter.

Dude, This Is Awesome

Within an hour, six people had messaged me with various hypotheses. They were all super helpful. What’s more is that they had real information. It wasn’t just “lol, ur dum” sort of comments.

So, thank you @tedgrafx, @thebeerrun, @barneycarroll, @fairheadc, and especially @shimoroka. You all helped me solve the problem that I spent longer than I should have on in record time.

It also turns out that I was being dumb… hadn’t dealt with a hasLayout bug in so long that I had forgotten both what causes and what fixes them. Two points for a complicated design.