Myles Braithwaite's Journal Posts

Top 40 Songs of 2011

2011-12-19T15:24:00-05:00

You can purchase this playlist on iTunes or stream it on Rdio.

The Answer Was You / Sloan
Welcome / Hey Rosetta!
Shoot Out Sparks / The Swallows
It / Rich Aucoin
Heaven’s Just for Moviemakers / Graham Wright
Colours / Grouplove
Blue Eyes / Destroyer
To Carry Many Small Things / Mina Tindle
Let’s Win! / Alexander
The Stand / Mother Mother
Soviet Race / Graham Wright
If Raymond Carver Were Born In the ’90s / Library Voices
Jimmie’s Still Jimmie / Joel Plaskett
Reaction / Acres Of Lions
Your Daddy Will Do / Sloan
Rolling In the Deep / Adele
Video Games / Lana Del Rey
Mission Bells / Armistice
The Golden Age / The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
Nostalgia / The Burning Hell
Chapel Song / We Are Augustines
Adieu / Cœur de pirate
The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball / The Killers
Green Thumb / Sunparlour Players
Bad Ritual / Timber Timbre
What a Little Moonlight Can Do / Boy and Bean
Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog) / Brett Dennen
The Prime Minister’s Daughter / Library Voices
Post-War Blues / Dan Mangan
Cruel Thing to Do / Peter Elkas
Pop Goes the World (Men Without Hats) / The Burning Hell
Owen Sound / Elliott BROOD
She’s Thunderstorms / Arctic Monkeys
Book Club / Arkells
Paradise / Coldplay
Queen of Hearts / Fucked Up
Who Are You? / Kathryn Calder
Healthy Hands (Will Mourn You) / Tasseomancy
One for You, One for Me / Bright Eyes
Oh Fortune / Dan Mangan

Get an OPML File of All Your Public Twitter Lists

2011-06-28T12:31:00-04:00

I made this simple python script today to get an OPML file (to be imported into Google Reader) of all my Twitter lists.

#!/usr/bin/env python

__version__ = '0.1'
__project_name__ = 'TwitterListOPML'
__project_link__ = 'https://gist.github.com/1051517'

TWITTER_LISTS_URL = "http://api.twitter.com/1/%(username)s/lists.json"
TWITTER_LIST_FEED_URL = "http://api.twitter.com/1/%(username)s/lists/%(list)s/statuses.atom"
TWITTER_LIST_HTML_URL = "http://twitter.com/%(username)s/%(list)s"

OPML_START = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- OPML generated by TwitterListOPML -->
<opml version="1.1">
	<head>
		<title>Twitter Lists</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<outline text="Twitter Lists" title="Twitter Lists">"""
OPML_END = """		</outline>
	</body>
</opml>"""

OPML_OUTLINE_FEED = '<outline text="%(title)s" title="%(title)s" type="rss" version="RSS" htmlUrl="%(html_url)s" xmlUrl="%(xml_url)s" />'

import sys
import urllib2

try:
	import json
except ImportError:
	import simplejson as json

def get_lists(url):
	request = urllib2.Request(url)
	request.add_header('User-Agent', '%s/%s +%s' % (
		__project_name__, __version__, __project_link__
	))
	opener = urllib2.build_opener()
	data = opener.open(request).read()
	return json.loads(data)

def main(username):
	t_lists = get_lists(TWITTER_LISTS_URL % {'username': username})
	
	print OPML_START
	
	for t_list in t_lists['lists']:
		list_title = t_list['name']
		list_html_url = TWITTER_LIST_HTML_URL % {'username': username, 'list': t_list['slug']}
		list_xml_url = TWITTER_LIST_FEED_URL % {'username': username, 'list': t_list['slug']}
		print OPML_OUTLINE_FEED % {'title': list_title, 'html_url': list_html_url, 'xml_url': list_xml_url}
	
	print OPML_END

if __name__ == "__main__":
	username = sys.argv[-1]
	main(username)

Download: twitter_list_to_opml.py.gz

Sympatico Legacy SMTP Server

2011-06-10T13:38:00-04:00

One of the large issues when trying to configure people’s email usually comes to sending messages. If you/they are using Bell Internet (previously Sympatico) you can use a legacy SMTP server at smtp1.sympatico.ca. It will only work on Bell’s ISP (not include your local Starbucks), so it would not be a good idea to configure it on a laptop. If they are working on a laptop the best idea is to see if their email provider provides an iterative SMTP port. Port numbers 587 and 2525 have become a somewhat standard alternative for email providers. If that doesn’t work, another option would be to use the SSL server which is usually on port 465.

Who Apple Copied

2011-06-07T10:32:00-04:00

People on Twitter keep posting that Apple essential copied everything from Android in their new iOS 5. While they went further than that:

Microsoft

Apple’s new iCloud (formally MobileMe (formally .Mac (formally iTools))) service copies one of my favourite features of the now dead Microsoft Kin (what Microsoft did after they bought Danger the maker of the popular Hiptop/Sidekick) when you take a picture that picture is automagically uploaded to Apple’s iCloud service.

Dropbox

When editing a document in the iWork suite (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers) your document will be uploaded to their iCloud service to be easily accessed from any of your iDevices. Also AirDrop in Mac OS X Lion is basically a Peer-to-Peer file share that will allow you to share entire folders between multiple computers and users.

Google

The notification system.

RIM

iMessage is a blatant copy of BlackBerry Messenger.

Remember the Milk

iOS 5 will include a new application called Reminders for tasks. One cool feature will you will be able to setup a Location Reminder for when you arrive or leave a location. Apple has never been able to do tasks while, iCal has probably the worst task management of any system ever developed (it’s also the worst calendar management system ever developed).

Readablity and Instapaper

Safari will have a feature called Reading List where you will be able to save unread Web site that will sync between your iDevices. iOS 5 Safari will also have the same feature as Safari for the Mac where with a click of a button you will get an easier to display version of the website.

WWDC 2011 Keynote

2011-06-06T16:34:00-04:00

If you aren’t following me on Twitter than you might not know that I -watched- followed (Apple doesn’t provider a live stream so you have to follow live blogs) Apple’s Developer Conference this afternoon.

Mac OS X Lion

Lion is the seventh iteration of the Mac OS X operating system (which was released on the 24 March, 2001). To say Mac OS X is getting long in the tooth, would be an understatement, especial up against Windows 8’s Metro U.I. (Metro is Microsoft answer to WebOS with a card layout system (if you had a beer or coffee with me in the past year or so and we were talking about U.I. design I would have brought up how awesome I think it is)).

One interesting feature of Lion is the full-screen API. It’s nice to see a company finally get that humans can’t multitask (no you can’t (I know you think you can but you can’t (it’s scientifically proven))). Right now I am actually writing this journal entry in a full-screen text editor called iA Writer.

Launchpad and Mission Control look cool but I have to use them to see if they are actually going to be useful.

iOS 5

Apple has now copied ever great feature from BlackBerry and Android and put them into iOS 5.

Notifications

Notifications were one of the weakest points in iOS. They are similar to Twitter tweets where you will only get information out of them when you are actually looking at your phone. The new notification system is pretty much a clone of Android (they actually got something right the first time).

iMessage

iMessage is a clone of BlackBerry Messenger which is a private, securer, and proprietary chat client. It is heavily used by suites and like Facebook if you aren’t on it you have no social life (I am a little bitter about this). I will never use iMessage because out of everyone I know (clients, colleagues, friends, enemies) I am the only one who uses an iPhone (I am also a little bitter about this).

iCloud

Like the idea of a Dropbox clone more integrated to the Operating System but I am a little scared of something I am not playing for.

Conclusion

I will probably buy the upgrade.