Wednesday, July 26, 2006
CHM files display error message?
A lot of docs on Microsoft's site come in the form of .chm (HtmlHelp) files. I noticed that said files seemed to not work when I downloaded them and ran them from the Desktop.
Turns out the culprit was security update 896358.
At KB 902225 describes, there are two solutions:
Turns out the culprit was security update 896358.
At KB 902225 describes, there are two solutions:
- When you double-click the .chm are prompted to open or save the .chm file, uncheck the "Always ask before opening this type of file" box.
- Right click the chm file and click Properties. Click Unclock, then double-click the .chm file to open it.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Video iPod to obsolete audiobooks?
Ever a fun place to read Video iPod rumors, Engadget posted a story about how it appears the work-in-progress Video iPod (which I originally discussed almost a year ago) may use its larger video-capable screen for reading eBooks.
"... according to a source at a major publishing house, they were just ordered to archive all their manuscripts -- every single one -- and send them over to Apple's Cupertino HQ"
I find this interesting on two levels:
What if the read-back is actually intended for reading back electronic books?.
If you have ever listened to an audio-book (as I do all the time in the car), you'll know its a great way to catch up on your reading when you have a busy schedule. The problem is the lack of choice, as audio-books are typically only made for best sellers.
If Apple could make an eBook audio reader, you could download even some old or unpopular book in text form, and have your iPod read it to you verbally as you go about your business.
The "famous actors' voices" thing is especially poignant when it comes to audio books, as they are often read by actors/actresses (I assume because they have often been voice coached, and enunciate properly).
And because text compresses so much more than audio, you could get quite a few books even onto something like that next-gen eBook-reading iPod Shuffle.
The interesting thing about this is it really gives them a disruptive technology, allowing them to break their way to into the book market in a new way - something very impressive considering how Amazon.com and BN.com pretty much have the online book market sown up today.
"... according to a source at a major publishing house, they were just ordered to archive all their manuscripts -- every single one -- and send them over to Apple's Cupertino HQ"
I find this interesting on two levels:
- The Sony eBook reader and also the iRex reader both use e-Ink technology, which does not require any power to keep text on the screen between page turns, meaning really good battery life. I don't believe there is a color e-Ink technology yet, and certainly not one that could also display movies...
- There was another rumor that the next iPod would be able to speak using "uses famous actors' voices to perfectly pronounce even the weirdest song titles and band names", which folks at the time took to mean it would read album/band/track names to you
What if the read-back is actually intended for reading back electronic books?.
If you have ever listened to an audio-book (as I do all the time in the car), you'll know its a great way to catch up on your reading when you have a busy schedule. The problem is the lack of choice, as audio-books are typically only made for best sellers.
If Apple could make an eBook audio reader, you could download even some old or unpopular book in text form, and have your iPod read it to you verbally as you go about your business.
The "famous actors' voices" thing is especially poignant when it comes to audio books, as they are often read by actors/actresses (I assume because they have often been voice coached, and enunciate properly).
And because text compresses so much more than audio, you could get quite a few books even onto something like that next-gen eBook-reading iPod Shuffle.
The interesting thing about this is it really gives them a disruptive technology, allowing them to break their way to into the book market in a new way - something very impressive considering how Amazon.com and BN.com pretty much have the online book market sown up today.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
iComic source, including Dashboard edition
I'm making the full iComic source available, including the Dashboard version, which was not published previously.
For those of you that are into Objective C and want to tinker with it, you can find it here:
http://www.ruxp.net/bits/code/iComicSrc.zip
I confess to being a beginner when it comes to Cocoa and Objective C, so the gurus out there may find a million things wrong with what I did here.
I even had big plans after the Dashboard version to make a version that looked/behaved like iPhoto. I also toyed with making the plugins support auto-update off the server, so a server would support an available plugins list, and have the list of possible subscriptions be pulled from that list. At that point, moving to a full server-based subscription model becomes trivial (where the plugin runs on the server, and for any given comic on any given day, we figure out the image url one time).
Alas with all of this, my ambition and product vision was in no way matched by my ability to translate it into Cocoa code. I guess that means I'll have to stick with .NET after all.
For those of you that are into Objective C and want to tinker with it, you can find it here:
http://www.ruxp.net/bits/code/iComicSrc.zip
I confess to being a beginner when it comes to Cocoa and Objective C, so the gurus out there may find a million things wrong with what I did here.
I even had big plans after the Dashboard version to make a version that looked/behaved like iPhoto. I also toyed with making the plugins support auto-update off the server, so a server would support an available plugins list, and have the list of possible subscriptions be pulled from that list. At that point, moving to a full server-based subscription model becomes trivial (where the plugin runs on the server, and for any given comic on any given day, we figure out the image url one time).
Alas with all of this, my ambition and product vision was in no way matched by my ability to translate it into Cocoa code. I guess that means I'll have to stick with .NET after all.
