Development and technology commentary

Keyboard commands in Apple Mail

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:05:02 -0400

Using keyboard commands in mail applications may not be immediately obvious short of opening a new message or perhaps deleting them, but Apple’s Mail has some keyboard shortcuts for navigating around the message list too.

With the cursor in the message list:

Arrow-up to move to the previous message in the list (obvious).
Arrow-down to the move the next message in the list (naturally).
If the selected message item is a thread, Arrow-right or Space to expand the thread.
If the selected message is one in a thread, Arrow-left to collapse the thread.
Start typing to jump to the next message that matches the characters as they’re being typed.
Home will jump to the top of the message list.
End, will of course, jump to the bottom of the list.
Page-down will jump through chunks of the selected message.
Page-up will then move back up that chunk of message content.
The Space key will also page through a message.
Conversely, the Shift + space key will page up through the message.
Pressing the Return or Enter keys will open the message into its own window.
Command + Option + F will put the cursor in the message search box (available outside the message list).
Shift + Arrow-up or Arrow-down will select a range of messages.
To be arrant, the Delete/Backspace or Del/Delete-right keys will delete the selected message or messages.

HP webOS interface kudos

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:21:56 -0400

While quite obviously a piece rooted in opinion, a subtle nod is offered to Palm for the excellent interface work it did with webOS. Since it’s initial release with Sprint in June 2009, Palm quickly slipped into relative oblivion. With the recent purchase of the company by HP coupled with new product releases set for the summer, webOS may become relevant once again. If so, then perhaps a whole new lot of users will come to appreciate the consideration that was taken with the webOS user interface (UI).

An example is the popular webOS application for the even more popular Pandora Internet radio service. And as it turns out, the company has a collection of screen captures for the various mobile platforms that have native applications for the service. This happens to double as a quick way to compare the interface elements of other platforms by using the same application as a benchmark.

You can find it here: http://www.pandora.com/on-the-go/

A couple of things to note about the webOS version are that the album cover screen doubles as a way to track back through your played tracks. This, in itself is not unique, as at least the iOS version allows this as well. However, it does include the ability to rate those tracks as well. And unlike several of the other platform versions, the webOS version makes use of eye-pleasing gradients and color for a refined fit-and-finish. Compare this to relatively drab screen captures for the Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile versions.

Admittedly, drawing attention to features of an application like scrolling over past tracks is more of an application review type point. It still showcases the suite of tools available to developers. Take this as a tip of the hat to the ones responsible for the effort put forth with this UI. Especially, when considering that for the most part webOS users are still on version 1.x and are already enjoying a level of refinement that paces that of much older competitors.

Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio run selected text feature

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:33:37 -0400

While most likely a trivial bit of information for those initiated in the Management Studio way, the hope is that this will alleviate some frustration of those who might be plagued by what seems like a fantom error with his or her queries. Management Studio, and presumably, the earlier version called Enterprise Manager, has the ability to execute portions of a query simply by selecting the part of the query to be run. Take for example the following code:

SELECT *
FROM Users
WHERE userID = 12

Now, suppose the query author just wants a quick look at all the records. One could simply select the first two lines of the query, the SELECT and FROM lines.

SELECT *
FROM Users
WHERE userID = 12

Now, when the query is executed, SQL Server will return all of the Users table. Once one is aware of this feature it can be quite useful. For example, it can allow one to have multiple queries in the same file with the ability to run any of them just by selecting the text. However, if one is not aware of this feature it can prove to be a quite troublesome. Assume that only a portion of a query is selected when the query is executed. There will be a conflict between what the author is expecting to be run and what SQL Server is being told to run. Management Studio will “see” a partial query and will report a error when trying to parse it.

Like this tip began, there’s no shortage of users who have known this since electrons were first formed, but for the SQL Server greenhorns, perhaps this will save a little scalpal epidermis.

Retailers unable to secure payment kiosks

Fri, 8 Oct 2010 18:01:08 -0400

News broke yesterday (10/07/2010) about a payment security breach by cut-rate retailer ALDI. Details about how the failure happened or even what stores have been affected are sparse. What is known is that the information leak came by-way-of physical card swiping devices. Now, according to a teaser for the upcoming news there’s some mention of a second outfit that may have dropped the proverbial ball.

So, if the question to be asked is, “what now then?” it sort of depends on if you’ve been, or will be affected (read are a victim of) this [these?] gaffe[s?]. If not, it may be a good time to transition your payment reflexes to use cash. And if you’re a frequent online shopper, then maybe get a low-value or replenish-able debit/credit card. Though it’s been losing popularity ground to debit cards over the years, this all may very prove once again that cash is king.

Shifting away from calling Palm, HPalm (updated)

Thu, 7 Oct 2010 21:46:47 -0400

Since HP bought Palm, and even since the announcement about its intent to buy Palm, waggish tech consumers have been referring to the paired companies as HPalm, H/Palm, or any number of other morphations of the two names. Now, at two or three months past the official transition of Palm into the fold, it’s clear that HP is not disbanding the company or even dispatching the brand.

Accordingly, it’s reasonable to put to rest all these superfluous references. The company is Palm. HP owns it, and has gotten behind it’s new toy wholeheartedly. Kudos go to HP, to be sure! Consumers are even getting hints of new hardware along with the scent of webOS 2.0. And none of this is expected to roll out as HP-branded tech. So, given the way the acquisition has unfolded and looks to be continuing, coupled with the Palm brand needing as much attention as it can get, it may be time to just call it Palm again.

UPDATED (03/14/2011): By now, anyone paying even remote attention to webOS knows that HP has retired the Palm brand. Based on early expectations after the merger, HP was going to let Palm continue under it’s own name. Even as organizational shuffles where transpiring, current references to Palm could still found around the Web. Now, webOS users have to adjust to using terms like “HP webOS” and “HP Pre,” and so the pendulum has swung fully in the opposite direction. And rather than a push to just call it Palm, perhaps it should just be called HP.

Paste bug in Safari’s address bar (updated)

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:50:01 -0400

It would appear that there is yet another bug in Apple's browser for Windows.
This time it's with pasting a URL into the address field.

Safari 5.0.1 for Windows XP SP3 has a bug that won't allow a URL to be pasted
into the address field via the paste command as invoked through the
application's menus. The steps below identify how to reproduce the error.

Click in the address field to select the contents
Right-click | Paste or choose Edit | Paste to paste in the new URL
Press the Enter key on the keyboard or click the reload icon in the address
field
Nothing

If the URL is pasted into the address field via the keyboard command (Control+V)
the page will load as expected.

UPDATE: This bug affects Windows 7 as well.

Palm Pre inventories may be dwindling

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:16:46 -0400

Ever since the acquisition of Palm by HP a couple of months ago, the discussions at sites like PreCentral and webOSRoundup have been buzzing about new Palm hardware. Take the two articles below as examples of speculation and rumor.

Palm Pre Plus out of stock on Verizon and AT&T online
Rumor: Palm Pre successor to hit Verizon in October?

So, not to be left out, we have our own bit of speculation. Though to be honest, we’re not exactly sure about how to interpret the news. Our Pre needed to be taken in for service to address a problem that was preventing it from booting. After examination by the Verizon rep, it was determined that the unit needed to be replaced, but there were no replacements in stock. Given that we’re expecting the replacement to be a refurbished unit, there’s no assumption that Verizon is sold, or is selling, out of new devices.

Still, a lack of refurbished units did lead us to these three quick assumptions. A shortage like this could be due to a limited number of items being returned, which means there are a limited number of units being put back into service as refurbished. Given the reception webOS has gotten, this may be a reasonable conclusion. The shortage may be due to a limited number of items being replaced, but based on the amount of whining all over the Web about build quality, this assumption is easy to pass on. Perhaps the most promising to those longing for new hardware though, is that the total supply of Pres may, in fact, be dwindling. In which case, we may be very near to a new Palm rollout.

webOS leads in anticipation for next release

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 12:47:36 -0400

First published a few days ago, a poll posted by Boy Genius Report shows Palm webOS as leading in user interest in the next major release of mobile operating systems. The question is, “What operating system update are you most looking forward to?” And the options are:

Android 2.2
BlackBerry 6
iOS 4.1
webOS 2.0
Windows Phone 7
Other

webOS leads the way at 34.1% of the vote, while the second and third positions are Android 2.2 (25.8%) and Windows Phone 7 (21.1%).

It’s not immediately clear as to why a system that has largely lived in the shadows of the iPhone and the host of Android-based phones would place so well in this poll, other than there’s no limit as to how many times one can vote. This doesn’t explain however, the impulse to jack the numbers for webOS so high. It may just be that the recent acquisition of Palm by HP has drummed up a lot of curiosity about what may be in store for the system.

Find field in Safari for Windows loses focus

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:47:34 -0400

A rather frustrating behavior has been encountered in Safari 4 and 5 for Windows. The problem is that while searching for a string in page content, the focus can suddenly be removed from the search field. As is usually the case, no extensive troubleshooting has ben done to isolate the issue. And it's doubtful that any will be done. The find feature is pretty straightforward and there's no real reason that the focus should be stolen. There are however, some factors that may come into play.

The problem seems to be encountered with pages with lots of content and search results numbering perhaps 75–100 or more. To give it a look, here's what you try:

Load a page with a good deal of content.
Open the Find banner [Edit | Find ⌘] and start typing a string.
Safari will starting matching string in the page content as the search string is entered.
At some point the focus will be removed from the find field.

Overall, the find feature in Safari is pretty slick and so dealing with this bug may be worthwhile, but it can become quite tedious, real quick.

Microsoft re-extends XP downgrade option

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:38:17 -0400

This tidbit comes straight from the “give it a rest already folks” department. The word around the Web is that Microsoft is backtracking on its previous promise to terminate the XP downgrade option. It sounds like Microsoft is going to make some versions of Windows 7 eligible for a downgrade to Windows XP for a while yet.

It was laughable when the downgrade option was so popular when Vista was rolled out some three-and-a-half years ago. Now it just seems “sad.” It's sad in that we're two major releases past XP and companies are still fighting migrating to a newer version of Windows. And while the sadness blame fell on Microsoft for the troubled Vista rollout, now it's falling on the businesses that are still fighting the switch.

Windows 7 should prove to be a smoother transition than the one to Vista. So, the arguments cited for bucking the Vista transition should have been mitigated. Now, the resistance can really only be blamed on laziness and penny-pinching. It's the bottom of the 15th inning for XP, and companies should count themselves fortunate that they've been able to skate by for as long as they have with this system.

Microsoft needs to realize that until it pulls the plug on XP for good, there are always going to be those companies that will clamor for support. For all parties, it's time to put it to rest. And in fact, to start making arrangements for Vista too.

Computerworld Microsoft extends Windows XP downgrade rights until 2020
Ars Technica Support for Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 comes to an end