Month: October 2007

Hacking TextMate

Hacking TextMate:

Hans-Jörg Bibiko decided he couldn’t wait for a real scripting API (i.e. allowing you to remote control TextMate) and wrote TMTOOLS, a shell command that works as a mini interpreter where the commands are all TextMate actions.

You can find the help file for TMTOOLS here and his latest mailing list letter about TMTOOLS here.

Speaking of hacking, Ciarán Walsh (maintainer of the PHP and SQL bundles, and contributor extraordinaire) recently started a blog with several TM hacks, for example to make the project drawer show Finder labels or Subversion status.

Also on his blog is a glyph input manager which add the functionality mentioned in the multi-stroke key bindings post but which does not require you to remember the arcane multi-stroke key bindings (Leopard users have a look at the release notes).

On his site, but not on his blog, is also a ReMate plug-in to disable the auto-updating of the project drawer (the feature that drives people working over network connections insane). Another approach to this problem is by Rob McBroom who recently announced a Remote Project bundle on the mailing list.

Disclaimer: With the exception of Rob’s bundle, the above is all based on undocumented functionality or using things in ways they were not supposed to be used, i.e. end user innovation.

[Nice work!]
Source: TextMate Blog

My own Oxygen story

I met Luke as I searched for work. I had just been offshored at a previous company, and was looking to continue working toward or in an Agile environment. I replied to a message on the XP board, and shortly, traveled down to the Market to meet Luke. We did the usual interview stuff, but I felt a connection to a kindred spirit that is usually a good sign. Despite a lengthy call back process that included an interview with everyone on the team from the CTO down to the newest hire, ultimately, I didn’t make it. At the time, I didn’t really understand why, but I shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

Many months later, coming off a consulting contract I saw a post from Luke looking for developers for a web project. I gave him a shout, and things worked out. I spent this past winter rebuilding Babynamerwith Evan, my pair, and despite some last minute whatever, the project was completed and went live. Sadly that meant saying goodbye to all these folks who I’d come to appreciate including Gerry, who was in the room at least every two weeks to review the products her teams were creating. That’s right, a busy CEO directly approving features, design, and involved in the implementation of her vision for the software.

I was expecting a break and relatively quiet spring and summer and had a couple of smaller projects lined up, when I get a shout from Luke about working on another site. But this time I stuck and I joined the team a month later.

Of course, this being me, the company has been sold, and the future of the team is unclear as I write this, but even if the worst happens and the team evaporates, it’s been a very rewarding year and change, and provided tremendous insight into the art of the possible in organizations, and some lasting friends.

Looking Back on Oxygen

Looking Back on Oxygen: I had no idea what I had gotten myself into or that the woman at the podium that night, Gerry Laybourne, would one day be a friend and personal inspiration to me.[It is amazing, and a credit to Gerry and the company she built, the folks who have stayed with the company, that so many have this to say about Gerry. I’ve barely met her, and she may barely know my name at this point, but I completely understand why people feel this way about her, and vice versa. A singularly incredible group of people.]
Source: Luke Melia

The first rule of career planning

Do not plan your career:
“The world is an incredibly complex place and everything is changing all the time. You can’t plan your career because you have no idea what’s going to happen in the future. You have no idea what industries you’ll enter, what companies you’ll work for, what roles you’ll have, where you’ll live, or what you will ultimately contribute to the world. You’ll change, industries will change, the world will change, and you can’t possibly predict any of it. Trying to plan your career is an exercise in futility that will only serve to frustrate you, and to blind you to the really significant opportunities that life will throw your way. Career planning = career limiting. The sooner you come to grips with that, the better.” [Nice.]
Source: Blog.PMarca.Com