E-Scribe News : a programmer’s blog

About Me

PBX I'm Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using open source software, especially Django. In the '90s I did graphic design for newspapers and magazines. Then I wrote technology commentary and reviews for Wired, Salon.com, Chicago Tribune, and lots of little places you've never heard of. Feel free to email me.

Book

Python Web Development with Django I'm co-author of "Python Web Development with Django", an excellent guide to my favorite web framework. Published by Addison-Wesley, it is available from Amazon and your favorite technical bookstore as well.

Colophon

Built using Django, served by Apache and mod_wsgi. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive. The markup engine is Markdown.

Pile o'Tags

ajax apple blogs browsers business design django ebay fp fun google hardware haskell intellectual property iphone javascript linux media mercurial mobile open source os x oscon oscon2007 palm php programming python rails rants reading risks ruby site spam textmate the well tips tools unix vcs web development web frameworks webservers wmassdevs

Stuff I Use

Akismet, del.icio.us, Django, dpaste.com, Emacs, FreeBSD, Freenode, jQuery, LaunchBar, MacPorts, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, SQLite, Subversion, TextMate, Trac, Ubuntu Linux, wmii

Spam Report

At least 70644 pieces of comment spam killed since January 2008, mostly via Akismet.

The Open Source Desktop, Revisited

Two and a half years ago I wrote a review-like essay on six weeks spent using FreeBSD and KDE as my primary desktop system -- when I was between PowerBooks.

As hinted at in a recent post, I now have a second machine alongside my 15" PowerBook. It's an old Dell Inspiron 4000 running bleeding-edge Ubuntu 6.06. This includes GNOME 2.14 with the Deskbar -- which gets compared to Quicksilver but is more like a hybrid of Spotlight and LaunchBar.

Anyway, I'm going to spend a few weeks playing and working with it as free time allows, and then do a writeup something like the one from 2003 -- but with higher expectations all around!

Friday, May 5th, 2006
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Some related posts: Xiph, Ogg, FLAC, et al. • Jumpcut is back • QuickTime 0, Open Source 1 • Sparkle: automatic application updates • Great open source apps for the Mac • DarwinPorts 1.1 • Mining Monday: FreeBSD, KDE and Me • Cyberduck, cyberdoc • Camino • Sourcemorgue

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