Software update

Type-setting my texts

I made a switch to particular software running on the Unix foundations of Mac OSX. This software is highly manipulable and utterly trustworthy! The following fall into that category:

LaTeX (I finally did away with MSWord.)
BibTex (This is exactly the bibliography software I need)
TeXShop (to work with LaTeX and BibTex)
Excalibur (as a LaTeX spell checker)
i-Installer (to install LaTeX packages)
FinkCommander (to install Unix software)

There is abundant support for the use of this software on the internet, for starters: The TeX Users Group. Many extra software enhancements (so-called packages) are available at CTAN.
This is all Open Source, free and much, much better than Big Brother’s products.
LaTeX, etc. is not a text-processor though, it is much more: it is typesetting software enabling you to produce print-ready pages that look marvellous. LaTeX can produce PostScript or PDF output files.

XHTML-editing (including CSS2)

I have decided to introduce one JavaScript at the top of all my web-pages directing MSIE to MSIE-specific CSS-stylesheets, to stop my suffering. Now I can develop my web-sites the way I want to (complying to web-standards) and leave MSIE-browsers with a dressed-down version of them.
Last, but not least: I use Apache‘s Server Side Include’s (SSI), for easier site-maintenance. SSI enables me to make changes to the specifications of many pages, by changing those of a single, included, part of these pages.
I have upgraded to newer versions of the browsers I use to my satisfaction, such as Mozilla 1.6, Safari and Camino 0.7, adding to these: Firefox 0.8.
As the favourite text-processor for XHTML-editing, I have upgraded to BBEdit 7.1.2, and for SFTP site maintenance: to Interarchy 7.0.
4096 Color Wheel (a fascinating utility to pick web-savvy colours for your website).
Connectivity
For reading RSS-feeds of weblogs all over the internet I use NetNewsWire Lite 1.0.8.
Nisus Thesaurus is an online thesaurus which helps me out through a very neat clickable interface.
SSH Agent, my trustworthy companion, absolutely crucial for creating that safe tunnel from my home-situation to my departmental harddisk and website host.
To synchronize my harddisks over this tunnel, I use Synk 4.2, now free-ware. Works flawlessly.
Terminal, what can I say? I am getting the knack of Unix-programming! I love it and the love is growing with the days.
OS X, 10.3.2
Above all, Mac OS X makes it all possible! The operating system that makes computing fun and trustworthy.
Lastly, most thanks are due to that bunch of system operators who help me whenever I get stuck. Cheers.