VIM tip of the day!

Ever wondered how to avoid VIM creating those annoying backup files like foo~ ?

Add the following to your vimrc:

" Don't backup files like foo~
set nobackup
set nowritebackup

ls -1

During my day job, I wanted to list files (filenames alone) in a directory, one per line. I tried multiple options,
$ls
$ls -l
$ls -C
$ls -x
None of them worked. I thought it will be simple enough for someone like me who has spent years with linux/unix.

Though the journeyer[1] inside me, instructed me to RTFM, the lazy, lethargic, egoistic developer inside me said - Ok, just try the options you know, it'll work or use `ls' with `cut'.

Wait, I thought for a moment, there should be definitely a simpler way. Suddenly, I decided to ignore the lazy developer and follow the journeyer[1].. It's when I figured out there is
$ls -1
that allows you to list one file per line.

So, extrapolating this, I think if you follow the journeyer, you will explore better, easier ways which will eventually let you do more in less time. This also reminds me that reviewing the tasks we do and see is there is a better, efficient, elegant way to do them is important and it makes us do our job better whatever the job it may be..

[1] - Journeyer - one who has the zest in a tech trip, who explores..

Character mapping in Linux

Ever wondered how do you use high ASCII characters such as £, ¢, ¥,. ° (degree) on your document or presentation. I wanted to use those special characters in one of my presentations. In Windows, I've used Character map utility. Strangely, on Linux I have never encountered a situation where I need to use these characters (IOW, I might have been too lazy and had used just words).

gnome-character-map utility allows you to copy those characters. Fire up your gnome-character-map utility, select the character you want to use, double click the character so that it appears on the "Text to Copy" text box, Copy and paste it where you wanted. It's so simple!