What Windows Does Better Than OS X

I like long file names. 8.3 filenames are a thing of a past so remote (and only for some OSs) that by all rights they should have long ago been dead and forgotten.

So, I like to rename my PDFs after I download them. My usual method is this: I open the PDF, copy the title, edit the file name and paste. Then I curse roundly, because I'm told the filename contains illegal characters (colons are an all-time favourite), at which time the file name reverts, and I lose all my typing. It all goes away because of one silly illegal character.

Enter Windows (I have to work on a Windows machine at my job). I open the PDF, copy the title, paste it in the file name, and one of those speech bubbles pops up, and tells me, such and such characters are illegal in file names.

I check the file name. Windows has removed the illegal characters from my file name, I'm still in edit mode, I have lost nothing. That is the way it should be done.

Then I hit enter, a warning window opens and tells me that the file is in use by Acrobat Reader, and can't be renamed, the file name reverts, all my changes are lost.

But still, you know what I mean, right?

Star Wars: Clone Wars

I've just discovered Star Wars: the badly animated series.

It seems to be an attempt to emulate the Animatrix series, and to flesh out the Star Wars universe. I really hate the drawing style.

It's not all bad, though. I kind of dig the universe Star Wars is set in. The spaceships look cool, the uniforms are nice, and the background story's not too bad either. It's nice to see that universe some more, even if only in that watered-down TV show way. What is actually original is the way violence is depicted. Even though no blood flows, it's clearly apparent that people die. Sometimes they even lose limbs or are decapitated. It's interesting that cartoon shows don't shy away from explicit violence any more.

It also helps explain why Part Three sucks. The movie is in exactly the same style: cartoon TV show. Nice on television but unsuited for feature length.

At Long Last, the Networking Rules!

I love the way the 10.4.1 upgrade improves the handling of SMB network disconnects.

Yesterday, I walked out of work, not noticing that I had not unmounted an SMB volume. On the train, I opened up my iBook to watch the beach ball spin for five minutes before giving up and rebooting.

That evening, the upgrade came along.

Today, I walked out of work, and guess what, I again forgot to unmount the volume (I'm not the fussy type who always needs total control over what they mount/share/read/write/open). On the train, I opened up the iBook and started typing in my favourite text editor. A minute or so later, a very small alert panel opens and says something along the lines of 'Network connection lost. You have a share mounted.', and presents a 'Disconnect' button for me to click. Bam. That easy.

This is exactly what I wanted. It's like saying "Yeah yeah, whatever, close it already" and the system goes away and doesn't bother you any more. I especially appreciate the way the window gently fades in, instead of POPPING UP screaming at me "You disconnected me! AARGH! You're going to lose data!" and then blocking the Finder for the entire two minutes of the network timeout.

Thank you Apple. Finally.

Tiger

My first impressions of Tiger were mixed, but I installed and set it up in an outlandish way, so I was prepared for some strageness.

What caught me unprepared, however, was the condescending way it talked down to me when I could not get a network connection


mbo's opinion is that it was right to ask me that, considering the kinds of network support requests that come up, but I still don't see why it should be so snotty about it.

I expect an apology, Tiger.

Musical Baton

Ouch. I've been tagged twice with musical batons, by Martin and Martin.

Total Volume of Music On My Computer:

Five gig

Last CD I bought:

"Republica" by Republica

Song playing right now:

Smashmouth, I'm a Believer

Five Songs I am listening to a lot:

All songs are more or less placeholders for the respective band. The ones I selected are good examples of what I find great about the band.

Rage Against the Machine, Year of tha Boomerang
This song exemplifies what I love about their music: atonal squeaks and screams alternating with strong, rythmic guitar chords, with the occasional slight brush against harmonies that are all the more beautiful for being preceded (and followed) by awful noise.

Tom Waits, Dirt in the Ground
The gloomy, dirty mood of this song is what I especially like about Tom Waits. Also, I admire his absolute disrespect for his own music. When there is a choice between sugarcoating a song with sweet melodies and grinding it into the ground with a grating singing voice or squeaky harp solo, he always chooses the mean alternative. And, the subject of the song is death, frequently on my mind.

Tom Jones, Mama Told Me Not To Come
Great Album.

The Rolling Stones, It's Only Rock'N'Roll (But I Like It)
There had to be something by the Stones.

Die Ärzte, 3-Tage-Bart

Who's next:

dom and tuxtina, to add some more tangle and lateral references.

Stefan
Norbert
(Neither has a blog, but I'll think of something)

Incidentally, did anyone notice that we're on a bastard subtree of this chain letter?

More Non-German

Apple still doesn't speak German

From the German Apple Store:

Ihr, nicht ich

German Connectors

Four weeks ago, I started at my new job. We build KVM switches, that is, boxes that allow you to control multiple computers from a single console or terminal (monitor, keyboard, mouse).

It's fun, especially because I get to fiddle around with all this low-level, hardware-dependent stuff, something I don't normally have any opportunity to do.

Here's a photo of an RJ45 to 9-pin SUB-D adapter. We call those "German" connectors.



(Actually we don't. I just thought it was funny.)