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I stumbled on quite a find the other night with the SmartPHP template library. This library supports the normal features for a template library such as:

• Simple Scalar Substition (strings, variables)
• Block Iterations (nested Arrays / BEGIN..END)
• Basic Control Structures (IF..ELSEIF..ELSE)
• Custom Extension (Output filters, uppercase, sprintf, etc.)
• Template Compilation (HTML templates are converted to executable PHP Code)
• Output Caching (Accelerates your applications by reusing page output)

While there’s nothing in this library that hasn’t already been done before, it’s very fast and includes a powerful plugin / extension system. Extensions are easy enough to create and add another dimension to this library.

I’ve used bTemplate in the past because it handles block control structures in a much more intuiative manner then most template libraries. SmartPHP shares a very similiar approach, which coupled with the other enhancements, makes this a very powerful template library.

I’ve had my Tivo for about a year and a half and it’s one of the more innovative pieces of equipment that I’ve ever owned. Unfortunately, when I switched from DirecTV to cable service, my Tivo never recovered from the channel switch.

For anyone that is interested in a good deal on a starter Tivo, Computer Geeks has a special on an 80 hour upgraded Tivo. Normally, 40 hour units sell for $199.95, so an 80 hour unit for $164.95 is a great deal.

I’ve spent alot of time reading “Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby” lately, even though I can’t say that I’m interested in learning Ruby. The sheer brilliance of the writing style has lead me to spend alot of time reading and re-reading the chapters of the guide. If all programming references were this good, then there would be a whole lot more programmers in the world. The entertainment value of this guide is great!

Yet another utility post for the night. I stumbled on this PDF Creator about a year ago when I despirately needed to create a PDF but I just couldn’t justify paying $300+ for Adobe’s Distiller. If you’ve been looking for a way to create PDF’s then look on further.

This program installs as a Windows printer driver on your computer. The beauty of the application is that it allows you to create a PDF in MS Office, Open Office, or any Windows application that supports printing. Upon printing to the “virtual printer,” your prompted to save the PDF to disk or email a copy to the destination of your choice.

I’ve been playing around with another utility tonight called aMSN. Basically this is an open source MS(N) Messenger clone written in Python. The cool thing is, not only is this program open source, but it also runs on Linux and on Mac. The program weighs in at under 4M which isn’t bad at all considering it’s scripted in Python.

I’m a firm beleiver that if you spend most of your professional time working on a computer that the more displays / desktops that you have, the more productive you can be. While I use a dual displays at work, I use three displays on my home system. While catching up on some of my favorite blogs, I stumbed on MaxiVista. MaxiVista is an innovative program that allows you to turn a spair PC, laptop, or tablet pc into a second monitor. The program is similiar to Terminal Services or VNC but it allows your spare machine to seemless act like an additional monitor.

I’ve tested MaxiVista on both my work computer and my home pc effectively using my laptop as both a 3rd and a 4th monitor. To my suprise the utility worked flawlessly on all three machines. Even changing from my work machine to my home machine didn’t confuse MaxiVista in the least bit. If you have a few machines and you’d like to use the extra monitor space then I’d recommend trying this utility out.

I’ve owned my Via Mini-ITX machine for about six months now. My intentions were to buy one and build the ultimate PVR machine from it. However, my quest has been deferred for many moons because I’ve struggle to find an adequate operating systems / distrobution to host it. MythTV has every feature that I would like to have, but it’s been quite a struggle to get it installed correctly. Alas, I’ll spend another day working on it and hopefully, I’ll watch TV on a PVR by nightfall.

My latest attempt has been try out a distrobution called KnoppMyth. Within 10 minutes of booting the CD and performing a default install, I had a working Linux machine which downloaded my local cable channels. So far so good. I did this from work so I’ll have to test it from home to see how the DVD and my cable connection works.

For any Linux jukies who desire a good multi desktop manager for windows, but have never been successful at finding one, take a look at: Virtual Dimension. Not only does it handle multiple desktops, but it works well with multi-monitors. Sometimes the best products are free.