Small discoveries

January 28th, 2008

While I have been busy these past weeks, I was able to two things that really made me happy.

miau

I’ve always been sort of jealous of irssi + screen users, specially with their ability to stay connected to IRC and attach to/detach from that session anywhere. This is one of the only two reasons for me to prefer using irssi over Konversation (the other is having an IRC client even without a GUI). Not that I don’t like CLI apps, but I usually prefer to use GUI, particularly KDE, solutions whenever possible. Then I heard about Quassel, a Qt IRC application that uses a client/server setup. Since it’s a Qt app, it’s the next best thing to a KDE app. But since there were no public releases (even development versions) yet, I had to wait. Fortunately for me, Sho had an alternative: IRC bouncers/proxies. I’m currently using miau (pronounced as “meow”, which I initially chose because of its affinity to cats :P ) and so far I’m loving it. It allows me to stay connected on IRC even when no client is running (usually because Konvi or X crashed, or I logged out), allows me to connect multiple clients to a single daemon which shows me as a single entity, replays messages I missed when no clients are connected, etc. And best of all, I can use any IRC client that’s available, whether Konversation, irssi, or Opera’s IRC client (on Windows). All I need is to connect to my desktop, and voila! Now I can enjoy Konversation anywhere, anytime (as long as it’s installed of course)!

Ordering books

I’ve always had a problem with the lack of quality computer/programming books here in the Philippines. Most of the books here are either “for Dummies” types, 21 Days/24 hours types, very Microsoft-specific, or just plain old (but are still sold as if they were brand new). Ordering through Amazon or directly from the publisher is sort of out of the question, as I don’t have my own credit card/bank account, and my mom totally doesn’t trust online transactions. After months of trying to figure out the easiest way to acquire books, I came across a Special Order Service from the biggest bookstore chain in the country. Of course the price is a bit higher than the original retail price (around US$ 15 higher), but that’s the price I’m willing to pay in exchange for convenience. Of course, it’s not 100% sure that the books I want will be available for the service and I have to check with them everytime I want to make an order. Luckily for me, two of the books that I want are available. These are “Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture” and danimo’s “The Book of Qt 4: The Art of Building Qt Applications”. The latter is not a priority yet since I already have the Trolltech Qt 4 book, although, looking at the detailed table of contents, it seems that danimo’s coverage is a bit more in-depth compared to what I’ve read in my Qt book so far.

At the same time, though, I’m a bit hesitant to immediately order a book, since I’m quite low on funds and I’m stilling planning to buy a Nokia N810 ASAP. Now if only I had good news about that…

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7 Responses to “Small discoveries”

  1. Pharao Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 7:13 pm

    you could also check irssi + irssi-proxy.
    Gives you the power of irssi but the comfort of a GUI if you need / want one.

  2. EgS Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    And you’re always welcome to join #quassel on Freenode :)

  3. nnonix Says:
    January 29th, 2008 at 12:27 am

    You have officially earned the title of “GUI-Baby”.

  4. Jucato Says:
    January 30th, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    Pharao: Yeah I heard about irssi-proxy. While it is indeed an IRC proxy, it’s pretty much oriented towards irssi.

    EgS: Thanks for the invite. Who knows, I might try it sometime (when it gets released), but I’m still sticking to Konversation. :)

    nnonix: Thanks! That is such a compliment for me. :D

  5. nocti Says:
    February 1st, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    i didn’t know you were jealous of my irssi :D

  6. nocti Says:
    February 1st, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    i use http://www.johnnyair.com/ for my amazon orders. cheaper too (i order mostly used books). order by batch. get some people to order with you so you can keep shipping rates down. johnnyair has an office in the states, so local shipping rates apply to them from amazon. claim your books at megamall.

  7. nocti Says:
    February 1st, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    for your credit card paranoia, get a debit card instead. i use union bank’s eon card. i got it after 2 weeks. 350 bucks plus some identification. i use it for may paypal transactions (withdraw/deposit). keep your credit card off the net :)

    https://www.unionbankph.com/default.asp

    sorry for replying in installment :) this is the last one i promise ;p

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