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August 26, 2003

[Why] Are Macs Better?

This Daring Fireball Post pretty much sums it up.

Macs are better because they take less maintenance. PCs are more popular because IT staffs like job security.

I'm not saying that Windows sucks, or that there's nothing about Macs that sucks. Personally, I prefer MacOS X to Windows XP, except for two things: (1) I could get a Windows laptop with 1600x1200 resolution, and (2) I rarely need to take my hands off the keyboard to use Windows.

People who know me pretty well already knew that these are the two reasons that I have, and use (constantly) my Windows laptop. I dual-boot it occasionally, but most of the time it's running Windows XP.

More details below.

I use Windows mainly because I don't like using the mouse/trackpad/whatever. I like alt-tab. I like alt-f dropping down the file menu, and hitting 'x'. I don't like having to THINK when I'm using the computer, beyond whatever it is I'm trying to accomplish. I shouldn't have to ponder how to get the computer to do something (unless I'm writing code, which is an entirely different proposition).

I only use six applications regularly.


Beyond those programs, I play some games occasionally, watch DVDs/videos, keep notes (Notepad on Windows, vi or BBEdit on MacOS X, vi or emacs on Linux), and well, that's about it...

The basic criteria I have for all of the programs I use is that they should allow me to work with the keyboard (rather than the mouse) as much as possible. I also rely on the software I use to be stable and secure... This is why I won't use Outlook (getting back to the article I pointed to above).

Eudora on the Macintosh has key combinations for most of what I want, but not everything... Safari lets me work with little clicking, but occasionally I have to (specifically, "Open folder in tabs" requires a command-click or a control-click and menu selection). I haven't done much with Eclipse on the Mac, other than install it. JBuilder let me do about everything I wanted with the keyboard. Adium won out over AOL's OS X client because I could -almost- alt-tab to a particular conversation (I command-tab to Adium, and then command-arrow to the specific conversation. Clicking on the dock item brings the most recent unread message to me to the forefront, which is very cool as well.) Obviously the command-line applications (vi, emacs, mutt, etc.) don't require the mouse...

I have not yet taken the time to configure a Linux X Window system to be quite what I want, though I am confident that it's possible. The biggest blocking point for me is that I have not found a Linux GUI email application that I like, yet. I have not given Evolution or even Mozilla / Thunderbird a fair evaluation yet, mainly because since I've already paid for Windows, I can use it on my PCs and switch when the market has settled.

As much as I hate to say it, ASIDE from security, I'm reasonably happy with Windows XP. It doesn't crash much - specific applications might crash, but it's as infrequently as my Mac applications crash. The specific programs I want to use are available for Windows (other than NetNewsWire or Shrook - see my earlier blog entries for details about them). Windows allows me full keyboard control. The AOL client on Windows allows me to alt-tab to individual conversations, which makes me very happy. I like the task bar; it tells me what I'm in the middle of with a single glance to the bottom of the screen. I have other interface tweaks that I could do as well on the Mac, if I wanted to, but I haven't yet... But the biggest selling point for me is the lovely high resolution screen on the laptop...


I guess as far as a conclusion to the original premise, "Are Macs Better", I have to say this: I prefer Macs. I can do just about everything I want to on the Mac. But when push comes to shove, you're more likely to find me using the large screen on my WinXP laptop than the smaller-resolution screen on my Mac laptop. If Apple releases a 15", 1600x1200 (ish) laptop, I would love to switch -- of course I'd have to find someone to purchase my 15" 1152x768 G4 500MHz TiBook, at a reasonable price. Any takers? :-)

Posted by aland at 4:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 22, 2003

It's available (WiFi Detector)

WiFi Detector

I finally found somewhere that you can buy the silly thing. Of course, it's $40. but it's pretty cool...

Posted by aland at 2:15 AM

August 13, 2003

The most amusing hour of recent history.

I just had, in retrospect, the most amusing hour of recent history. All's well that ends, well, right?

Details below.

For those who don't know, which I assume is most everyone, I came down to NJ today to see a high school friend of mine and to meet his new family. I'm staying at my dad's house, despite his being out of town... It seemed like the thing to do. :)

So, I met up with Amy for lunch in the town where she works, which was nice. Then I had a fairly uneventful drive down this afternoon, and ended up going to visit my aunt in Westchester County, just a few minutes out of the way... I hadn't seen her (+ family) in far too long. We had a nice hour+ chat about nothing in particular, and then I finished the trip to NJ.

I got to the house, pet the cat, brought all my stuff in from the car, and sat for a few minutes. Then I left for dinner and some shopping (I wanted to get a new pair of shorts. Since I'd forgotten to bring my bathing suit, and there's a pool here, and it's supposed to be 90+ tomorrow). Ran my errands, and came back to find a strange car in the driveway. It turned out to belong to the girl my dad & step-mother had hired to cat-sit. I introduced myself to her & her boyfriend, and let them do their job while I ran through the email from the day.

Around 10pm, my father called to ask me to check something out back. I ran around the house, put some lights on, and walked outside, shutting the door so the cat didn't get out. I then proceeded to scream into the phone "I didn't just do what I think I did, did I?"

Yes, you guessed it. The door locked behind me. Of course I was wearing the new shorts. Of course my keys were in my jeans. Of course I'd already run around making sure all the doors were locked before I settled in for the night.

Meanwhile, I'm on my cell with my dad in California. I tell him what happens. He chuckles. He doesn't yet realize that my keys are in the house... We discuss that I'm locked out, and I suggest that they call the cat-sitter... As we're discussing the situation, the fire alarm sirens start going off in their hotel.

I tell them that I'm fine outside, no problem, we'll figure something out. I asked them to call the cat-sitter when they get back into the hotel, and proceeded to give Amy the biggest laugh she'd had in at least a day or two.

A few minutes later, my dad calls back. The cat-sitter (known hereafter as "L") didn't answer her cell. "We didn't leave a message." I asked politely that they call back, and leave a message this time. With my cell number, and that she should please call me if she gets the message tonight.

I then proceeded to leave my brother a message on his cell saying about the same thing. He's about 90 minutes away in upstate NY, working at a camp. He has no cell reception. I still need to call an Abort into his phone, so he doesn't laugh TOO long. sigh.

So at this point I've spent about 30 minutes bouncing between Amy, my dad, the local police, etc. discussing various options. I was going to call my aunt & uncle, but apparently, they don't have a key to the house. DOH. The cleaning woman who is coming here at 8-something in the morning couldn't come let me in. I'm not sure why, but since I think she's about 30 minutes away, I can't really blame her. My step-mother wanted me to call a locksmith, but it just didn't seem worth it. :-)

I've now resigned myself to sleeping outside. It's a nice night; not perfect camping weather, but perfectly reasonable. My cell phone was fully charged. I knew that the cleaning woman would be here in the AM to let me in. It might not be the most comfortable night I've spent in NJ, but it wouldn't be the worst either.... So I lie down in the deck chair, next to the pool, and relax. The stars were out, the moon was bright, and then my phone rings.

Salvation. "L" got the message on her cell, and was heading over to let me in. I made the round of phone calls to let Amy and my Dad know that I was going to be fine, and continued relaxing outside. I told my dad, "Since I'm NEVER going outside of the house again, is there anything ELSE you'd like me to check while I'm here?"

A little while later the door opens, and I call out "My Hero!" I came in, chatted with L and her boyfriend for a while, and then they leave me to my embarassment. I made the relevant phone calls to tell people I'm inside and safe, and now I'm going to sleep... Eventually... :) I still have email to read.

Posted by aland at 11:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 9, 2003

Nothing to say here

It's been a while since I posted anything to the blog. I figured I'd take a page from Seth's blog and make some random lists. Read the full entry for the updates.

Projects on the horizon:

* List Manager. Yeah I haven't forgotten about it.

* USB Ethernet Driver for Mac. I'm planning on getting some work done on that but I'd really prefer to kick someone over at DLink and get -them- to get their act together with Mac drivers.

* Job Search. I need to follow up on a bunch of resumes that I've sent out. I also have a few interesting leads that came up this past week. I need to follow up with the recruiter I was speaking to in Maine also.

* Reading. I've been doing pretty well; almost a book a day. It helps that the particular books I'm reading (Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series) are very quick reads. I'm getting a little concerned though, because Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is up next. Amazon pegs it at 1168 pages. That'll be at least a 3-day book. *grin* Unless I don't do ANYTHING else those days.

* Gaming. I finally got my XBox. Fusion Frenzy is a lot of fun. I thought there were 3-4 distinct games in it. It turns out there are (estimating) about 40! Check out the review at Amazon for details. I have other games my speed (Tetris Worlds, Pac Man World 2) on order. There are a good half-dozen other games I will want to own, and a few others that I'll rent for a bit (Hulk, Star Wars, etc.).

* Travel. I've gotten most of the side trips done. I still want to go see a few friends from NJ, and we have visitors coming here for most of the rest of August and the first week of September.

That's about it - there are a lot of things I'm doing and they take up my time pretty well. I need to start prioritizing them a little better, other than that I'm still enjoying unemployment.

Posted by aland at 11:42 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack