Gcalctool devolves

Received a great patch for the gcalctool calculator today (thanks Sebastien). It adds in a "Light" mode that is even more basic than the current Basic calculator mode.

Here's a snapshot. As the patch author points out, we would also need to add the Clr/Ce/Bksp buttons. But you have to admit that you can't get much simpler than this, and for quick-n-dirty calculations it might be useful. What do others think? Please comment as that will help us decide whether we should add this in for GNOME 2.9/10.

I also had to chuckle as [g]calctool has now almost devolved back to it's original 1986 form.

Here's a great quote from me:

I still think it's amazing how a little 300 line C program can generate a binary of about 1/2 megabyte :-)

[Technorati Tag: GNOME]

[Technorati Tag: software]

( Nov 08 2004, 09:14:56 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [11]

Going Postal

Very rarely, a book comes into the house which causes me to stop reading everything else (and I usually have 4-5 books going at once), and to immediately start in on this new one. A Terry Prachett Discworld novel is such an occasion. His latest is Going Postal and is the 29th (yes, that's right, the twenty ninth) in the series. After 29 Discworld books, you'd think he'd be getting a little stale and repetitive, but no. Far from it. This book was wonderful. (I do miss the Discworld cover artwork of Josh Kirby that adorned the U.K editions though).

Update: seems I ruined it for Mathrick, and he now has a contract out on me, so to prevent others suffering the same fate, I'll add Spoilers Ahead, and if this bothers you, stop reading now.

I also envy anybody who hasn't read any Pratchett yet. You are in for a great time. Recently I've noticed he's been doing more standalone Discworld novels (perhaps to become as popular in the U.S. as he is in Britain). If you've never read any of them before, you'll still have a fine read with this one, but you just won't pick up on all the clever nuances, subtle word plays and the background knowledge that you accumulate, like why did the werewolf wink, and why is the hospital called the Lady Sybil.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. What's the Discworld about? Well you can read the writeup on the official Terry Pratchett web site, but just think J.R.R. Tolkien Does Humour, English Style, With Life Observations. (Sorry Terry, but that's my summary in ten words or less). Wickedly funny and with clear well written prose that is just so easy to read. His world is populated with humans in amongst wizards, trolls, dwarfs and all the other creatures you'd expect to see in such a fantasy novel. Most of his stories centre around the city of Ankh Morpork, and this is no exception. His latest includes golems and a wild banshee. But apart from the sheer comedic genius of Pratchett, his knack is that he is able to parody the world that we know into his universe. I need to correct that, after reading his web site

Discworld stories aren't parodies, according to Pratchett. They're "resonances."

Okay, whatever. Going Postal is about the revival of the postal service at the time when the Discworld equivalent of the Internet (the "clacks") is the only other way to send a message. See here for the full editorial review from Amazon. Pratchett isn't afraid to try something new in his novels. This one has chapters. Plus nice illustrations of the special stamps created to go with the postal revival.

Some of my favorite moments are the parody (sorry resonance) of the Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry "I know what you're thinking" scene, but with stiletto heels, the golem equivalent of the Asimov robotic laws and the introduction of philately. As a kid I collected stamps, so I can painfully relate to Stanley here. We also get to find out what you were likely to collect before the introduction of stamps.

Anyway, that's enough from me. I strongly encourage you to go read some Terry Pratchett. You won't be disappointed.

[Technorati Tag: books]

( Nov 08 2004, 07:39:00 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [4]