DarkCopy is a web-based alternative to programs like WriteRoom and DarkRoom that lets you compose text files in full (or almost full) screen to eliminate distractions like instant messages, Flash games, LOLcats, etc.
You can type in a regular browser window, or go full screen to make most of your screen (except for the browser's toolbar) black with greenish text. When you're done writing, you can save the file to your computer as a plain ole' .txt file.
This is handy if you want to work on a blog post, business idea, school paper, or love note without your attention being lost to something less significant.
Looking for a powerful text editor for all your writing and coding needs? Look no further than TotalEdit 4.1, a multi-featured text editing tool created by Independence Software.
TotalEdit offers a wealth of programming features, including syntax-coloring, code-folding, line-numbering, and many other hyphenated features. TotalEdit also includes a number of one-click edits, so you can quickly switch upper case to lower case or swap tabs to spaces.
And yes, for those of us who never even placed in our school spelling bee, there is a spell checker.
The newly released version 4.1 adds the ability to install TotalEdit on a portable USB key for use across multiple machines and cleans up some character rendering bugs. To open TotalEdit from the USB key, simply double-click on TEditStd.exe, and away you go.
Total Edit 4.1 is free, as in air, and Windows only.
MacVim is a port of the popular open-source text editor Vim for Mac OS X. It supports tabs, full-screen editing, and transparent backgrounds. The toolbar is also helpful as it provides easy access to save files, run vim scripts, make a project, save/load sessions, and undo editing.
MacVim also has handy syntax highlighting to make editing/reading text files easier on the eyes. If you need to edit remote files, you can use the --remote switch.
Vim is basically an enhanced version of the vi editor that comes on UNIX systems. If you'd like a quick lesson on vi/vim syntax, check out this University of Hawaii tutorial.
First there was WriteRoom, which gave Mac users a very simple black interface in which to write. No distractions, just a black screen with glowing green letters, which probably appeals particularly to people that have been working with computers long enough to remember monochromatic terminals.
And it was a very cool idea, but there was nothing similar for Windows. Until Dark Room came along. Dark Room basically emulates WriteRoom's functionality on Windows.
So what's missing? A web-based version, of course.
Now, normally I'd say that doing a web-based version of a text editor when very strong versions offering identical functionality already exist on both Windows and Mac would not be worthwhile. But as much as Writer, the web based version, is simply replicated the functionality of these other applications, it still stands on its own merits.
Two things about it make it worth having in your bookmarks. The first is that you can use it anywhere. No memory key to carry around, no worrying about what OS you're using. It just works, wherever you are. The second is that if you create an account, all of your documents also follow you around.
So if you like the look and feel of Dark Room or WriteRoom, check out Writer.
Ever heard of Ruby? Rails? Ruby on Rails? If you don't know, Ruby is a newer very efficient programming language and revolutionary way to code applications. Rails is a web framework that makes coding in Ruby easier by adding a lot to it's innate functionality and suave style. After becoming jealous of the Mac users out there who had a great text editor to use when coding Ruby (at least in the video tutorials), I decided to find a good one for Windows. Enter SciTe, which is a great text editor that comes pre-packaged with "InstantRails." InstantRails is somewhat like a LAMP installation for Windows, but with Ruby on Rails instead of Perl, Python, or PHP. SciTe is also available apart from InstantRails, and does a great job of editing CSS, HTML, and many other types of syntax as well. I am now using it for most of my "quick-drop-and-give-me-20" programming tasks, such as downloading and editing a CSS file by hand from a web server. That's right, I still make hardcore edits oldskool style (I thought everyone still did, my bad), and SciTe makes it easy. Integrated with my favorite ftp client (FileZilla, also free) it makes shotgun edits simple, and almost fun. SciTe is a free download.
Venerable open source text editor Vim has reached a new milestone today with the release of Vim 7. New in version 7 are as-you-type spellcheck, document tabs, intelligent tab completion, branching undo/redo, and more. Linux.com has a nice overview of some of the new features, or you can head straight to the Vim web site to download it for just about every platform.
I guess since Wired has the story it must be all the rage. But the iPod has had hyperlink capabilities for a while, and there is no shortage of crazyuses out there for it. So besides tour guides and CSS references, what else can you do with the hypertext features on the iPod? Make your own games of course.
While there has yet to be a game with the wit of the old text RPG "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or even "Leather Goddesses of Phobos," it's technically feasible thanks to apps like iStory Creator. Last time I checked it out is was only for OS X, but now it's cross-platform. Think you can hang with the 21st century Kafka wannabes? Download it and get to typing, because that great American interactive novel isn't going to write itself.
Basically all you do is make little web pages, with just text and a link to go this way or that. I've tried more than a few interactive "stories" and haven't been that impressed. Lots of fan fic, goofy high school antics, and so on. Where is Stephen King when you need him? Anyway, iStory Creator is a GUI so you don't have to know how to make the links or the pages for the story. Just make the pages, connect the dots, and you're done. Now somebody please port Marathon to the iPod.
DarkCopy is a web-based alternative to programs like WriteRoom and DarkRoom that lets you compose text files in full (or almost full) screen to eliminate distractions like instant messages, Flash games, LOLcats, etc.
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First there was WriteRoom, which gave Mac users a very simple black interface in which to write. No distractions, just a black screen with glowing green letters, which probably appeals particularly to people that have been working with computers long enough to remember monochromatic terminals.
I guess since 
