Idle Time

• The name of your application
• What it does
• How to configure the application, if necessary (note: does not include installation)
• Simple overview of how to use the software, once it’s configured (detailed manual should be in the Help menu)
• How to uninstall the software, if necessary (i.e., if it isn’t an application)
• FAQ
• What it costs, if it’s not free
• How to register it
• A link to your website (in case a magazine distributes your app on its CD)
• Contact information for support questions
• Contact information for sales (registration/pricing/currency) questions

Things that you may want to include, but aren’t necessary

• Screenshots
• Troubleshooting information

Things that you shouldn’t include

• Installation instructions: If it’s a plain app, you don’t need an installer; otherwise, make an Installer .pkg. In either case, you shouldn’t need instructions.

Formats I approve

• RTF or RTFd
• HTML or webarchive
• Plain text

You may also want to provide a trampoline application to open a localized version of your ReadMe (for example, see the ReadMe on the Mac OS X DVD). Bonus points if you create a kit to make these, for the benefit of other developers.

Formats I disapprove

• Word or OOXML format: Many people don’t have Word, and everything else handles these documents imperfectly. Use RTF instead.
• OpenOffice format: Many (probably most) people don’t have OpenOffice. Use RTF instead.
• PDF: Use PDF either for vector graphics (inside your app) or for documents you expect someone to print. If the user is going to have to print your ReadMe, you need an interface overhaul.

As usual, I invite suggestions, rebuttals, and amendments.

UPDATE 2008-05-24: Recommended including contact information, as suggested by ssp.

I want a plug-in for WordPress that will do two, or maybe three, things:

1. Put a “flag as best of” button on any post that I’ve authored. (I would have to be logged in.)
2. Provide a function to insert a div containing n=10 random best-of posts. I could then call this function from the sidebar.
3. (Optional) Provide a single public page containing a link to every best-of post.

Does a plug-in like this exist already? If not, I’m not afraid to write it.

Last week, John Gruber and Dan Benjamin released episode 20 of their podcast, The Talk Show. It was devoted to the Apple Extended Keyboard (the Saratoga) and Apple Extended Keyboard II (the Nimitz). This renewed my interest in bringing my own Nimitz back into service using a Griffin iMate.

The Nimitz is the greatest keyboard ever made for the Macintosh. It has the best keys, the best height adjustment, the best Caps Lock key (it physically locks down!)—everything.

One of its distinctive features is a couple of pegs near the top of the keyboard—one near the Escape key, and another near the Power key.

The Saratoga had, printed under the F1 through F4 keys, the words “undo”, “cut”, “copy”, and “paste”. Because these definitions were useless (not to say confusing) to most Mac users, the Nimitz moved these labels to a plastic overlay that came with the keyboard. Those who actually needed it could put it on, which they did by hanging it on those two pegs, and everyone else could simply leave it in the box.

That overlay is even more useless today. But I think the idea of an overlay defining the function keys is a good one, especially as Mac OS X has made the function keys actually useful.

So I decided to make a new overlay.

Apple Extended Keyboard II Overlay Generator.

I’ve included with the application two ready-made overlays: a replica of the classic Apple overlay; and my Mac OS X overlay. You also have the option of editing them or creating your own from scratch.

Assembly instructions (among other information) and the download are on the webpage.

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