The whole Mac vs PC is a discussion I experience almost every day. Ever since I started working as the internal IT in a consulting firm (with some really fantastic people), the discussions are usually about usability.

It's like a tennis game, every feature played like a ball being hit back and forth between the PC and the Mac guy. So when Quicksilver was mentioned, my reply was Launchy. Although not as powerful, it still remains a decent tool to run applications (I'll be trying another one called Skylight). When I want to open Word, I just hit the shortcut combination, the box opens and I start typing W, O, R... and hit enter when the app I was looking for shows up. The same goes for Microsoft Expression Design: D, E, S, I... and there it goes.

The app is Open Source and I have to contribute to the project considering that I don't even let their ADs show up thanks to Add-Art and NoScript in Firefox and they know it, judging by the message in the AD placeholder...


I am happy that the keyboard is being given a chance to make work/life with a computer a liiiittle bit less annoying.

n.-

stitch the world a little bit tighter

Australia
My big trip to Aussie-land is getting closer and closer, there are still so many (little) things left to do.

• Having somebody stay at my place (and pay the rent) while I am away would free me from that nasty bill - let the search begin!
• The last banking and legal details should be setup in order to not become an issue while I'm on the other side of the globe - It's awful to have so many dependencies...

Meanwhile, some other details are clearing up. I recently met through Ozzie, our favorite Munich Tour guide, an aussie from Perth. He's currently crashing at my place until I leave to Lyon. This fellow, although being loaded with cash, prefers to backpack and stay at hostels and actually meet people and get to know the city. He kindly offered to host me in that aussie western city, this way I will not be abusing of Bron's folks' hospitality and will also avoid having us (me and her) from getting on each other's nerves.
As a sidenote, it's really funny to see how people think we and Bron are a couple. We just get along really well, which does not mean we don't get pissed off at each other:) That situation type can be a fuck-blocker, but after clearing up that detail, the individual runways are back to a clear and open state.
Even with available places to stay, Couchsurfing and/or hostels are not out of the scheme, at all!!!
Before reaching Perth, we're staying 9 days in Brunei, which will be a great opportunity to get some tropical fun and organize a CS meeting with the half-dozen members living there!

Music
Radar was playing a decent musical choice this morning (quite usual for Lisbon's best radio station) but I am currently looking for a stream of Smashing Pumpkin's latest Zeitgeist.

Techie
Yoohooh!!!... MacOSX's Leopard is so much secure, or as we could call it "HOWTO: use long-worn keywords to fill out Security Bullshit Bingo". It's an effort anyway, I am not complaining. Let's just say that marketing people use whatever they can put their polished hands on to pack a webpage with juicy details.

Techie II
I can't stop looking at the OLPC XO laptop. There's a fun review (direct link: Geeksugar -> New York Times) from a well known tech reporter. Here's the video:


n.-

the techy challenge of checking how greener the grass is on the other side

I like to give back, to friends, non-friends, people I don't like and mainly people I like a lot. Love is the (only) one I have been failing to do so with.

(music) Artists are the valid targets of a payback too. I am a music downloader, I confess, but it's all in a try-before-you-by philosophy. I know people who (seem to) follow the same mind stream and thus deserve to get the best means to reach the music.

MySpace is excellent but you need to be online.
Triple J actually has some MP3s available, but they're all from aussie (new) bands (nothing wrong about that though).
Stereogum has regularly some good MP3's, considering it's an indie-oriented site, some of the tunes are quite... hum... alternative:p

So a combination of magazines and friends giving band names and/or track titles, myspace for an initial listening, allmusic to get a comprehensive discography/Bio, a decent p2p software and the seek&enjoy can start.

As some of my friends are (moving) into MacOS, my best source of songs, soulseek, does not seem so easy to setup, so today I found one and it worked really well, ssX (mind the subliminal message).
Download, install, setup and download. Bang, there you go!
I made a happy puppy out of my friend Bron. I know she spends money on artists and actually buys the albums of her favorite ones.

It's not that ethical to actually influence somebody into music downloading, but considering that she would get into it anyway, I prefer to supply her with decent and "safe" tools. Fuck emules, edonkeys and other kazaa-like shit, they're all only good to download viruses, not to forget the immense exposure to the public and supposed artist copyright protection organizations.
So we spend a couple of hours on my couch this morning, connecting her nifty MacBook to my home network and exchanging/learning stuff on MacOS.

A mental post-it to Mac obsessed:

• whoever gets an iJesus (aka iPhone) just because it's new (and promises to change the world), is definitely a religious zealot;
• never mind the bullocks, updating a new MacOS required 2 reboots;
• updating iTunes, now bundled with Quicktime, can involve reboots (on Windows) and a 30MB download each and every time; Don't get me wrong, the automatic detection of updates is a must and very welcome. I don't feel a false sense of security anymore, like Apple products are frequently supplied with;

enough for today's rants (while listening to Morphine on Radar)

n.