This evening I was looking into the online services offered by the Inland Revenue as I believe I may have to file a tax return this year. I hoped I’d be able to do it online. As it happens this is possible, via the standard username and password combination.
More intriguing was a link to login using a digital certificate; a potentially far more secure authentication method than a username/password pair.
Two short lists of my most used Mac applications, in no particular running order.
Four applications so shiny and useful I’ve parted company with money.
1. [Coda](http://www.panic.com/coda/) --- an integrated website development tool, second to none.
1. [WriteRoom](http://hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom) --- a full-screen text editor I use to write all my weblog posts.
1. [Transmit](http://www.panic.com/transmit/) --- a top-quality FTP client.
1. [Hazel](http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php) --- a small personal assistant I use to do chores, such as keeping the mac mini's iTunes synchronised with the laptop's. I've bought copies of this for both my macs.
Both Coda and Transmit are from Panic, who really do make rather good software.
Apple are going to provide DVD rental through iTunes. Both the Financial Times and New York Times are carrying a story describing how Apple and Fox have signed a deal allowing Fox’s films to be included in the service; one presumes a single leak provides the bulk of both stories.
I’m not sure how I missed this post which describes a dozen or so suggestive strings inside the current iTunes package, given my previous musings on the topic of film rental via iTunes.
Looking back through the archives, I can see I used to post more often. In July 2003 alone I posted twenty-seven times, compared to around eight in a good month this year. Partly a function of time available, but also of posting more frivolous things.
I’d like to up the post-frequency here, so perhaps I should take a lesson from my past self and post more frivolous, personal items. As at least half my readership (that’s one of the two, for those keeping count) knows me personally, posts such as these may be of interest.
Form vs Function is an old debate, stemming from items being designed to be beautiful over being able to function efficiently. The quintessential example is a door concealong its use in favour of sweeping vistas of uninterrupted glass.
Form needn’t be in competition with function; indeed, form is an essential part of function in many cases. Well fitted, beautiful clothes are a tour de force in form, but the very form is part of function: to flatter the wearer. In a different sphere, the form and elegance in OS X has the functional aspect of making the system seem solid and well engineered.