Head On

I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard with my MacBook Pro - make that two, one at home and one at work. The function keys stopped working last week on the one at work which is a pretty big deal if you use Exposé as much as I do. I did the whole routine and could not find the problem. As the keyboard at home worked just fine, I started to believe that there was something wrong with the actual keyboard.

Then I came across this post which finally explained to me that I have a key right next to the F12 key named “F Lock” which makes the function keys do other things than I want them to do. A key stroke later all is good again.

The funny thing is that I have no idea how it got into this mode as I cannot turn it off again.

My name is Marcus Ahnve and I am an iPod addict.

My iPod died on me the other day. That is when I realized that I am an addict. I got physically cold and I immediately realized that my next subway ride would be iPod less. I cannot ride the subway without an iPod.

I had plans for this iPod. We were going to spend the fall and winter together, waiting for the iPhone to reach this dark corner of the world sometime next spring. Now I was left alone with no one to turn to.

There are currently two iPods on my desk. I still have the old one as I just can’t let go yet, the other one is a 8GB iPod Nano. No moving parts this time, and the option to buy the Nike+ kit, which isn’t available for the iPhone anyway. I feel better, I will be able to ride the subway again.

I signed up for a two year plan for mobile 3G internet from Telenor, which also happens to be my current cellular carrier. Their current offer is really good, SEK 200 a month, fixed price.

However, the link they provide to download drivers for Mac points to an old version which does not install on my machine. To get the latest and greatest. go to Option: wireless technology

Update: Never mind. Globetrotter Connect is truly useless. I gave up and purchased Launch2Net, very expensive but it just works.

I am seeing signs in the sky that Sun is making a comeback.

• Textdrive is switching from FreeBSD to Solaris
• Rumors that ZFS might be ported to Mac OS X
• Tim Brays presence and statements on the RoR podcast from Canada on Rails
• Sun makes smart moves like supporting PostgreSQL

And not one of them is related to Java.

As I am constantly on the outlook for power outlets, Pragmatic Andys post on Travelling with power was really funny.

Battery life: the new frontier.

So true

(Via /\ndy’s Blog.)

After getting the PowerBook, I’ve made quite a few additional switches in my digital life:

• Mac Mini instead of a PC with Ubuntu Linux at home. After a few weeks with a Mac at work, I could no longer live without one at home, so whoops, there it is: a Mac Mini. It is oh so quiet.
• NetNewsWire instead of Bloglines. I have not visited my previous darling Bloglines once since I started using NetNewsWire
• TextMate instead if JEdit, Vi, Emacs … it rocks.
• iTunes and iPod instead of rsync and iRiver. I’m not addicted - right

If you ever get a LG combined DVD/VCR and want to get it region free, look no further than LG RegionFree. Worked like a charm.

Wow. I am back in Mac land, which I left in 1996 when I started my career at IBM and turned into a PC drone. Now, after four days of pure Mac joy, it feels like I am never going back.

This also goes to show what a cool company Valtech is. I mentioned this to Jon who got really jealous. Apparently the Thoughtworkers get company issued Dells and all Mac stuff is paid for by themselves.

Some time ago I got a new IBM X40. It is now running Ubuntu Hoary and I must say that it is really an excellent piece of hardware. Everything but the SD card reader works out of the box, which of course also goes to show what a great distro Ubuntu is. Get’em both.

Lavalamps in action

Originally uploaded by mahnve.

We’ve finally got our act together and got ourselves a pair of lavalamps. They are controlled by CruiseControl and green equals all tests passed.

When reading about other people doing this, they say that these things need to be turned off every ten hours or so. The only warning notice on ours, bought at Clas Ohlson, says to not drink the fluid - duh.

My old 3Com Prism54 card for some reason did not work anymore on Linux. I finally gave in a bought a new MadWifi one which worked out of the box. Sweet!

I’ve got myself a SonyEricsson P900 which no doubt is the coolest gadget ever. I’m writing this sitting on the bus while at the same time listening to some ogg tunes. Awesome!

Jag har haft min Palm Tungsten i typ tre veckor nu. I f?rrg?r kom ljudpatchen som g?r att man kan anv?nda den som mp3-spelare. Ov?rderlig pryl.