Best way to use iDisk as working folder?

I want to have all my important and current files on iDisk (at least for now, since I'm already paying for it), so I can access them from various devices. However using iDisk directly on my Mac is very slow, especially in file dialogs. So my idea is to use the standard 'Documents' folder, and keep this (or better, parts of it) in sync with the local copy of iDisk. I'm planning to do this via unison and/or lsyncd. If any of the 2.5 readers of this blog have any ideas on this, I would be delighted to hear them. Also I'm not sure how to make lsyncd work on OS X, there doesn't seem to be macport.

Removing non-empty buckets from Amazon S3

I had an old bucket in S3 made by Jungle Disk aeons ago (about 3 years), when it was free and using S3. It contained thousands of files, some backups I used to make, and later abandoned. So I wanted to delete the bucket, in order not to continue paying the $ 0.02 rent every month. But, alas, you can only delete empty buckets on S3. And you can only delete 7-8 files at a time using Amazon's web interface. So I started looking around (i.e. googling), and came across s3cmd. Very nice and simple to use, and installable via macports, too. It has a recursive delete option, exactly what I needed. Let it run for about an hour (yes, many files to delete), and voila: the bucket was empty, and easily removable.
Optional listen while waiting: "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It".

Space Cake Break on the Titikaka Lake

I have enjoyed the music of the German combo De-Phazz - "the Godfathers of Lounge" - since I came accross their first album, Detunized Gravity, in the end of the 90s, and have been listening to them since then. I also had the good luck to catch their live act at the Babylon Club in Istanbul, where it became apparent to me that they had really been able to achieve the sweet feat of combining warm, mellow, groovy electronic samples with the immediacy and spontaneity of a live jazz band, something that many have attempted, but only a few have succeeded in doing. Almost all their albums have been great in their way, and they had many hits in the not too hardcore club scene. But the album BIG of 2009 is - in my perception - by far their greatest. Together with the Radio Bigband Frankfurt they have re-produced a well balanced collection of some of their biggest hits and some less well known songs, reinterpreting their ingenious melodies and grooves in a subtle but very enticing way. The music is very rich and multi-layered without being heady, always groovy and always jazzy, and the excellent recording and production quality make this a gem for all soul jazz and lounge music fans. Go out and buy it right now!

The ideal music library application

Here is what an application that organizes my music collection should be able to do (and that iTunes currently can't do):

• Import tags from MusicBrainz
• Normalize song volumes using Replay Gain
• Work well together with iTunes:
• Exchange selection and playlist info
• Access the files at their current location, i.e. the iTunes library
• Export low res versions to a folder
• Work on all platforms (or at least on the Mac)

I don't believe that I'll ever get around to implement all this, but who knows, hope springs eternal :-)

PS: For the export task, I have found this script

"Archive and Next" in Gmail

True timesavers among Gmail's keyboard shortcuts:
'[': Archive and move to the next newest message
']': Archive and move to the next newer message

Open MacVim tabs from command-line

Change the mvim script as follows to open files in new tabs instead of new windows when starting MacVim from the command line:

1. Add the following line to the top of the file, below the commented section:

   tabs=true

   
   
2. Replace the if structure at the bottom of the file with the following:
   

   # Last step:  fire up vim.
   if [ "$gui" ]; then
   if $tabs && [[ `$binary --serverlist` = "VIM" ]]; then
     exec "$binary" -g $opts --remote-tab-silent ${1:+"$@"}
   else
     exec "$binary" -g $opts ${1:+"$@"}
   fi
   else
   exec "$binary" $opts ${1:+"$@"}
   fi

Tip'o'the hat to Web Expose for this information.

Moving the shell cursor around

• ctrl-a: move to front of line
• ctrl-e: move to end of line
• ctrl-w: delete word before cursor
• ctrl-r: search past command history
• up/down arrow: page through previous commands
• alt-b / alt-f: move backward/forward one word (without deleting)

More details can be found in the bash reference.