Chasing My Own Tale
This is the kind of control I’ve been looking for: uControl allows me to do lots of keyboard remapping. I can get a mirrored layout when using the space bar so that I can type with just my left hand (my tendinitus has been acting up again) and I might be able to make additional fn-keys like fn-` for delete and fn-tab for return which would allow me to get through my Mail with just my left hand too.
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS have confirmed details of a new album ‘NOCTURAMA’.
The album, the follow-up to ‘No More Shall We Part’ is released on February 3, 2003 via Mute. The album will feature 10 tracks, including the forthcoming single ‘Bring It On’, released on February 17.
The album has been recorded this year at SingSing studios in Melbourne by the Bad Seeds line up of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos and Warren Ellis.
What is this site? http://www.merchandiseinfo.com/. It’s just bizarre! There are tons of pages with clipings of actual text throughout it, but strung randomly together in near English manners.
Weird. It must be some GoogleBombing site. Take a look at this search and the domain for the results: google.com/search?q=%22contai[…]rs%22&filter=0
Whoa! http://www.CACert.org sends out free security certificates that are good for 180 days… 6 months.
So I can run a secure server as long as i renew every 6 months. It would be pretty easy to perl/shell/apple-script something that would do that aoutmagically even.
I’ve included the originial text I found on a mailing list this weekend under the Read more link.
Read the rest of this entry »
A few more pieces of software that I haven’t had to bring over to OS X:
One of the major helps for me in MacOS 9 was “Joliet Volume Access”, but I have not had to deal with Windows format CD-ROMs for some time. I don’t generally even mess with ZIP disks. Anything small enough to fit on an Iomega ZIP disc gets transfered via e-mail of ftp. So although I got help out of the Joliet Volume Access extention I find I no longer need it.
Control Stip Module: CDStrip
Now this would be nice to have back, although it’s there in a way. CDStrip played the CD that was in the drive. The only problem is that I rarely keep a CD in the drive! Everything gets ripped the instant it comes into machine. However the idea that there would be a quicker way to get some music playing would be great. iTunes is wonderful but a small MP3 player without the MP3 ripping or organization tools that could sit on screen and play at a moment’s notice.
Really, I’d love to have the Services menu come up to the top level of the menu bar, right next to the Help menu that could be used to start a playlist from iTunes. With only 128mb of RAM, it’s enough of a barrier to launch a new program the size of iTunes that I usually keep my music off.
Control Stip Module: FM Egg Timer
I’ve used this to set when it’s time to grab the laundry from the laundry room. It would be nice if the system clock could have a stop watch added to it, much like ye old SuperClock had way back in the System 6, System 7 days.
Okay, this takes the cake: Lego Models of Significant Mathematical Structures. I really like the Kline Bottle (the first Kline bottle that I’ve liked, ever) and the figure-8 knot. Tres Cool.
(Really, I will get back around to updating this more often. Right after the freelance work, the MCAI work and the Newton project and the mail are responded to. Stop laughing.)
I’m getting more acclimated to MacOS X each week. A tweak here and a tweak there has lead me to replace some of my ‘must haves’ with some of the stuff that X does out of the box. There’s a few tweaks heree and there, but I think I’ve kept my compromises to the minimum.
(Note: this is all in 10.1.5. I should move to JagWire some time, but I’m still fuming over the lack of upgrade pricing. Fry’s has it for $109 and change, the best price I’ve seen so far.)
Coming to X, I thought there were a number of system modifications that I couldn’t live without. I even had an entry about some of my Favorite Control Panels but I’ve found that I either don’t need them or I’ve found adequate replacements. TinkerTool X has been a major part of that, providing double headed arrows in scroll bars, and allowing more flexibility in my Dock placement.
Using a laptop has caused me to reduce my mouse useage even more significantly than on my desktop B&W G3. DragThing has been indispensible here in order to get certain high traffic apps launched: Web browser and Mail being the top two, both of which have Function Keys assigned to them, along with Terminal and iTunes.
I use DragThing since I can’t assign keystrokes to them within the Finder/Dock. In fact I have kept my icons in the dock to a minimum; I’ve taken out any icons that were there just for launching. Now in the last week I’ve turned off DragThing’s Process Dock (Which I had placed in the upper right hand corner ofthe screen). Where previously I kept the Dock hidden and on the bottom left side of the screen, I now have it on the middle right hand, fully visible with icons that are only a quarter inch tall.
(This also allows me to remove the other crutch that DragThing afforded me, a replacement, floating Trash Can.)
So it’s nearly a 1 for 1 replacement. I gain a few things: it’s easier to hide, it shows Apps and windows, and it shows the ‘live’ icons (like the number of new messages in Mail.). However I lose a few: I must show all processes (I’d prefer to hide DragThing and Stickies), and it doesn’t float over the Desktop icons. If I position it at the top of the right hand side, my Hard Drive icon moves down 3 or 4 icons lines down, which just tweaks me out. So I’ve pegged it to the middle of the right side where it doesn’t cover the scroll bar arrows and rarely interferes with my scrolling.
The bottom of me screen is still covered by a line of icons from DragThing: Internet Apps, Text Apps, Media Apps, Tools, Utilities and frequest folders.
LiteSwitch has been a life saver as well. It basically implements the standard Windows Alt-Tab app switching functions with a few tweaks. This is far more effective than the built-in Cmd-Tab.
I never really used WindowShade X and now its future looks even bleaker now that I’ve got the Dock on screen full time.
The only other non-standard thing I’ve done is a key remapper that chnaged my useless Enter key (next to the right hand Cmd key) to an additional Fn key so that getting to PgUp/Dn Home and End are much easier. It also added Shift-Delete to work like a Forward Delete.
Would someone please decide how much that gorilla weighs? Can’t we just pick one weight and stick to it?
This weekend a branch of my family had a reunion for the first time in 40 years. The Vasboe clan met in Federal Way, Washington about 40 miles south of the Space Needle. The activities of the day wrapped up by 9:30pm, so by 10:30 I was on the road, armed with my iBook, MacStumbler and a vague sense of direction.
I hit one of the major highways (HWY 99) and headed towards the bigger city. At about the ten mile mark and two suburbs later, I came across an intersection with an open access point. Most of the points you see are ‘tmobile’ which is the fee-based service offered by Starbucks.
The two access points I came across were both open pipes to the internet. After a bit of homing in I settled into a signal that was strong enough to maintain the connection.
Quick, and free, I was surfing along checking a few sites while my mail downloaded in the background. My sister-in-law checked in on an e-bay auction she had been interested in and I even checked in with my small Jabber roster to see if anyone was online.
It’s interesting that this scenario could occur: HIGH-SPEED, WIRELESS, FREE Internet connections, just sitting around, hanging out waiting for someone to use them…
(Of course, this is nothing compared to the amount of coverage that is available in Portland. Thanks PersonalTelco!)