I should probably have that looked at

’tis the season for broken laptops.  Last month, I took in my laptop-turned-server with the broken video chip and expired AppleCare.  Fortunately, it was a known defect and they covered it, even with the expired warranty.  My main computing device, an older-model (Rev. B) MacBook Air (also with expired AppleCare) has been slowly deteriorating over … Continue reading I should probably have that looked at

My reverse iPad/Moleskine hack

I have seen plenty of “iPad Moleskine hacks” out there that all boil down to attacking a Moleskine with an X-Acto blade and inserting your iPad inside, rendering the Moleskine’s quality as being a blank book useless.  The DODOcase is a professionally made iPad case that has perfected the Moleskine-like look.  I really like the … Continue reading My reverse iPad/Moleskine hack

One week with the iPad

Please bear with me as I type this review directly on the iPad — on Pages to be copied into WordPress — while reclining on the sofa. Although I have used it in a number of other ways, my intent right now is to get a good feel for using it in this particular real-life … Continue reading One week with the iPad

My harrowing adventures with Mozy, TechTools, and Jungle Disk

I have experimented with online backup solutions over the past few weeks.   I keep local backups, but the saying goes that any important digital data should exist in three places or you should consider it nonexistent.  In fire, flood, or EMP, the backup drive across the room is not going to help. What I have I have … Continue reading My harrowing adventures with Mozy, TechTools, and Jungle Disk

The Apple keyboard under Linux, revisited

Since I made my original blog post about using the Apple keyboard under Linux two years ago, did a bit more refinement to the process. I don’t think I blogged about it, but did post a few instructions and configuration files to my “notes to myself” wiki at StackOverflow (no, not THAT StackOverflow). To this … Continue reading The Apple keyboard under Linux, revisited

In which I rant about the sorry state of tabbed documents under Mac OS

One of the things the Mac is known for is its consistency in keyboard shortcuts. Obviously, the cut, copy, and paste shortcuts are the same across apps. Cmd-comma always brings up preferences, when available. Cmd-W closes the current window. Cmd-P is print. Cmd-Shift-P is print settings. The Cmd-whatever list goes on and on: N for … Continue reading In which I rant about the sorry state of tabbed documents under Mac OS

My Hacked-Together IP5 iPhone/iTunes Videos Feed

The official videos for Ignite Portland 5 have been up for a while, as have the unofficial ones from #linuxaid. They are both on Blip.tv, and I would really like to be able to carry the videos around on my iPhone to show to people as well as view them on the TV with the … Continue reading My Hacked-Together IP5 iPhone/iTunes Videos Feed

Ummm… Apple? Not so much with the Comic Sans, mkay?

Ummm… Apple? I realize this is a debug USB driver for developers. The average end user won’t ever see it. But knock it off with the Comic Sans MS, mkay? It is in both the readme.rtf and the installer, but should be in neither. Comic Sans has been known to cause involuntary convulsions and has … Continue reading Ummm… Apple? Not so much with the Comic Sans, mkay?