So here it is... a near-comprehensive listing of all the apps and tools I can't live without on my Mac.

• Arduino IDE
• Coda
• Django
• Django Textmate Bundle -- not the official one
• Dropbox is indispensable!
• Evernote
• ExpanDrive
• FamFamFam Icons
• Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Google Earth
• Google Quick Search Box
• Growl
• iPhone SDK
• iStat Menus
• MacPorts
• MonoDevelop
• MySQL
• OpenSCAD
• Pandora Desktop
• Navicat
• NetNewsWire
• NeoOffice
• Qt SDK
• Skitch
• Skype
• TextMate
• Transmit (though I just bought Flow through MacHeist and am looking forward to trying it out.)
• Twhirl
• VideoLan - VLC media player
• VirtualBox
• Xmarks

The report generator wrote the reports to a temporary folder, then we used something like the following in a view to download the file:

filedata = open(settings.TEMP_FOLDER_LOCATION + '/' + filename,'r').read()
response = HttpResponse(filedata, mimetype='application/ms-excel')

That worked. Sortof. On some browsers the file was saved without the .xls extension. A little research turned up the Content-disposition header.

Now, all I had to to was add that header to the Django response. Turns out, that's pretty easy. The Django HttpResponse object accepts headers as if it were a dictionary. I broker the above code out into a method I could reuse, and ended up with this:

def tmp_file_response(filename):
    filedata = open(settings.TEMP_FOLDER_LOCATION + '/' + filename,'r').read()
    response = HttpResponse(filedata, mimetype='application/ms-excel')
    response['Content-disposition'] = 'attachment; filename=' + filename
    return response

Which does exactly what I wanted.

As I've read the coverage -- the rumors, the predictions, the "leaks," the often wild speculation -- I've wondered if anyone is keeping track. Which bloggers have a track record of publishing accurate predictions and which are just blowing smoke.

In order to scratch that itch, I've been working on a database and a website, http://RumorScorecard.com. The idea is, in the weeks running up to an anticipated big announcement, I'll keep track of who's publishing what predictions. Then when (if?!) the big day comes, I'll tally the scores and see which sources knew what they were talking about.

I'm just getting started, but I'm planning to put a few hours in every night over the next week so that the site is ready to go for the potential Apple event the 26th or 27th.

Check out Rumor Scorecard and give me your feedback!

Update: Feb 4, 2010

I didn't make it very far on the rumor site, mostly because the week after I wrote that the organization I work shifted our Haiti response operation into full gear. I'll keep the site around though, and very possibly put it into action when the rumors start flying about the next big thing.