AutoHotkey Takes Names, Kicks Ass

Just wanted to take a moment to give props to my new favorite open-source program, AutoHotkey. It's basically a scriptable global macro program. You can set it up so that it sends certain combinations of keypresses or mouse-clicks to other programs, and the scripting features make this even more powerful. I use it at work when I have to type out long, repetitive strings of text, and to type in the current date quickly. It's great. I hold the Window key down and hit N (for "now"), and out comes the date: 03/11/2006. Basically, this is the sort of thing you're either going to think is entirely useless, or the most useful thing ever invented by anyone, ever. I'm of the latter opinion. (Well, okay, that may be overstating things a little. But only a little.)

Bienvenidos a Miami

Well, Thursday morning I returned home from a three-day vacation in beautiful South Beach area of Miami, Florida. The downside of the trip: I came down with Laura's cold about a day into it, and now my ears are kind of messed up (thanks a bunch, airplane); also, it was a little expensive. The upside: blue skies, warm sunshine, 75-degree weather, sandy beaches, good food, and the conspicuous lack of any need for me to work. Oh, and topless sunbathers. Yeah, it was a compromise worth making. ;)

-Will