Improvised Dividers in iCal

Because I cannot wait for the Leopard.

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Free stuff I cannot do without: Actiontastic

Alright, forget what I wrote earlier today about dragging items from OmniOutliner to the iCal to-do pane. The manual syncing manoeuvre I recommended does not hold a candle to a new application I found: the sleek, simple, integrated Actiontastic.

Like kGTD, Actiontastic is based on David Allen's Getting Things Done. (Unlike kGTD, it does not require you to purchase OmniOutliner Pro.) Actiontastic allows you to collect data quickly, organise your tasks by project, as well as set contexts for each task. Best of all, it syncs with iCal and is compatible with Quicksilver. It even syncs with the iPod.

Tasks are easily collected via Quicksilver with the Actiontastic plugin. You can specify which project and context the task belongs to by using ">" and "@" respectively. For example, if you type in Quicksilver:

Borrow "March of the Wooden Soldiers" > Comics Appreciation @library

Borrow "March of the Wooden Soldiers" will get sent to the project Comics Appreciation with the context library. Sweet....



Tasks collected via Quicksilver get sent straight to the inbox in Actiontastic.



At your leisure, process the tasks by hitting the "Play" button on the bottom left of the screen. You can then sort it into a project (or single action) and allocate a context.



Plan your projects in the "Projects" pane. The first item in any project is considered a "Next Action". You can drag items to order them.



And it will be automatically updated in the "Contexts" pane.




And when you are done, hit the "sync" button at the bottom right and it syncs with iCal, creating individual calendars for each of your contexts.

The syncing works the other way as well: if you change something on iCal, it syncs right back to Actiontastic.

It is fast and the interface makes sense to me: the best kind of app. Thank you, Jon Crosby!

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STOP PRESS! REGION-FREE MACBOOK!!!!

Region madness no more! There is a solution!!!

I don't know whether it is because of the latest version of VLC (release 0.8.6c) or if it is because of Mac OS X 10.4.9 (check out the comment in this forum), but, dang it dang it dang it, it works!!!!!

VLC played my region 1 and region 3 one after the other without a hitch! Afraid that it only worked because it changed the region coding of my supposedly unflashable MATSHITA DVD-R drive, I loaded up DVD player and inserted a disk of the "wrong" region, and I was relieved to find out that I still had all 4 changes to make.

Oh my goodness, I need to celebrate....

Steps:
1. Download the latest version of VLC (release 0.8.6c), and/ or
2. Do a software update (Apple > Software Update)

[Aside: your computer may start crashing after updating to 10.4.10. If so, download the airport extreme update here.]

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OmniOutliner + iCal = the low-tech, free way

One of the limitations of using iCal to organise my work-life is that I cannot organise by project and context concurrently.

Is it a little confusing? Let me explain it a little better. For example I have two projects: to clean my room and a course that I need to pass. If I organise it by project, this is how it looks.

1. Clean room
• Buy mop (Next action)
  
• Research best way to remove coffee stain
  
• Clear out top shelf
  
2. Pass course
• Buy textbook (Next action)
  
• Read online notes for class
• Read textbook

If I were to organise it by context, this is how it would look like.

1. @town
• Buy mop
• Buy textbook
2. @home
• Read textbook
• Clear out top of shelf
3. @computer
• Research best way to remove coffee stain
• Read online notes for class
  

At present, my to-do list in iCal is organised by contexts, but it doesn't give me a good overview nor a platform to plan the details of each individual project.

kGTD (kinkless Getting Things Done) + OmniOutliner Pro solves this problem in a way that is nothing short of beautiful. Check out the video here to see how it works.

In a nutshell, what kGTD + OmniOutliner Pro does is that it allows you to create a list of projects in OmniOutliner, allocate contexts for each task within each project, and even allocate "Next Actions". When you hit "sync", all of that gets synced with iCal, with individual calendars created for each context.

But OmniOutliner Pro costs US$69.95. (Educational price US$49.95)

I may purchase it some time in the future (or wait for OmniFocus); meanwhile, I'm going to steal the idea and implement it with the OmniOutliner that was bundled with my MacBook instead. What I'll do is plan my projects in OmniOutliner, then drag the tasks into iCal under the right context.

OmniOutliner:



For example, I can drag "Get a haircut" under my Make-over Project in to the to-do pane in iCal under the context @town. And viola, there it is. Manual syncing! Haha!

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The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

I'm on a bit of a Jasper Fforde roll, but this third book of his fell slightly below expectations for me. I think it was a lack of dramatic action. This novel is set in the well of lost plots, a place where wannabe books are formed and re-formed before they are published.

If I dare say, the first book is all action, slight diversion; the second book 50% action, 50% diversion; and the third is all diversion, slight action. I like the second book best.

Though I must admit that that had had and that that debate had had me rolling about the floor laughing.

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My Singtel broadband plan is only 226k?

Check your broadband speed here.

Strange, isn't it, that I'm getting 226k when I'm paying for a 1Mbps plan?

I recently downgraded from a 3Mbps plan to a 1Mbps so that I could save $13 a month. That $13 a month was my latte factor, since I could easily get by without that extra 2Mbps in speed. (Now if I can squirrel that $13 away before spending it on something even more frivolous, like March of the Wooden Soldiers or something.)

But I felt the drag and so I was curious about the speed I was getting, so I went to check it out on CNET's site and it told me that I was chugging along at the half the speed of a 512k. Hmm.. strange, isn't it?

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While I was walking from the train station today, I had the brief thought that an eternity of non-existence is more desirable, or at the very least, more plausible than an eternity of happiness. Why do we think that God owes us happiness? Those who believe in heaven go around brandishing their right to be happy, their right to a happy ending. But what are we, really, except mortal breath caught in dust?

I'm worried that I'm becoming too much of a realist. Faith, hope and love elude me. I cannot believe in what I cannot perceive. When I passed out after giving blood quite a few years ago, for that fifteen minutes, I was nowhere. I had no consciousness, no spirit, no soul. What makes me think that I should have an eternal soul?

My dad's hair is thinning. I see a patch of baldness beginning in the centre of his head, extending outwards, the way we rot from the inside out, given enough time. And I am scared.

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My mood is a see-saw

Is that how you spell see-saw? I rarely see the word in print. It used to be an integral part of my vocabulary when I was in kindergarten — "Do you want to play see-saw or play swing?" was just about the extent of my decision-making abilities.

Anyway, what I am trying to say about the see-saw is that my mood is like one, a see-saw that is; although, if you wanted, you could also say "a swing", or even "a slide"; or heck, it could even be the entire playground, sand and all.

And the reason why my mood is a see-saw (or swing or slide or entire playground..) is that just ten minutes ago, I was really happy and exuding positive energy from having had an interesting conversation this morning, and then I read an email that made me sad, in that dampening way, and suddenly the world doesn't look so primary-colours cheery anymore, just a dull shade of gray and sepia (for variety's sake).

I hate it when that happens. So I try to be flippant until the feeling goes away.

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Unconfounding the after

How do you tell if words such as after, before, and until are subordinating conjunctions or prepositional phrases?

IF "AFTER" IS FOLLOWED BY A CLAUSE (i.e. includes subject and verb), IT IS A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION. IF "AFTER" IS FOLLOWED BY AN OBJECT, IT IS A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

• Charlie will wait here until sunset. ("until sunset" acts as an adverb)
• It will be some time before summer. ("before summer" acts as an adjective)
• After that effort, everyone doubts whether she can win. ("after that effort" acts as an adverb)

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION

• Charlie will wait here until we finish the test.
• It will be some time before the seasons change.
• After she did so badly, everyone doubted whether she could win.

Source for examples: The Tongue Untied

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Incoherent mumblings, Tummy rumblings

I've been so hungry recently — I must have worms!

I had three crackers for breakfast and I was hungry by eleven. So I power-walked to the canteen at noon where I greedily consumed a plate of rice with a side of ladies fingers, chilli chicken and mapo tofu, which made me postprandial on the train-ride home, but that didn't stop me from popping open a pack of cheezels for a snack at three.

Now it is five minutes to five, and chubby hubby has me wanting both laksa and a hot savory pie at the same time. (Pic below by chubby hubby, the blogger who always manages to make me hungry and languish at 1. my lack of a kitchen, and 2. my inability to cook even if I did have a kitchen. Oh, woe.)

Somebody give me a curry puff.

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On moods

Moods show the writer's attitude.

There are three moods: indicative, imperative and subjunctive.

The indicative mood states an actuality. ("The sun is shining today. You may want to bring your shades."

The imperative mood makes requests and gives commands. ("Please settle down and get to work.")

The subjunctive mood is used with only two types of verbs — be and were — and they are only used with two types of sentences:

1. Statements that are improbable or contrary to fact.
2. Statements that express a wish or request, an urgent appeal or demand.

If I were [not was] you, I would not dig my nose in public. (improbable)
If I were [not was] a butterfly, I'd thank you Lord for giving me wings! (improbable)

It is important that everybody be [not is] at the meeting early. (expresses a wish)

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On verb tenses

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On verbals

What are verbals? Verbals are hybrids that don't act as verbs in a sentence. They look and sound like verbs, but they function as adjectives, nouns and adverbs in a sentence, so don't be fooled.

Participles are part verb and part something else, and function as adjectives. There are two types of participles: present participle (verb + "ing") and past participle (verb + "ed").

Let sleeping dogs lie. (present participle)
Exhausted from my three hour train ride, I fell into bed. (past participle)

Dangling participles are participles that point awry.

Babbling incoherently, the nurse wrapped a blanket around the baby.

Gerunds (verb + "ing") act as nouns.

Running up the slope the last six months has given me calves of iron.

Remember to use a possessive pronoun before a gerund.

I was upset about our leaving so early in the morning. (use possessive pronoun)

Infinitives (to + verb) issue commands, gives instructions or make requests. They may act as a noun, an adverb, or an adjective. Somtimes they are even omitted.

I want to go home! (noun)
We come to bury Caesar. (adverb)
Harry was the first guy in our crowd to marry. (adjective)
Please help me make the bed. (omitted "to")

Verbals are deceptive things.

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Travelling for three hours a day

makes me sick. Motion sick, bus sick, train sick, crowd sick.

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Lolly! Lolly! Lolly! Get your adverbs here!

indubitably...

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