QuickSilver now even cooler

Actually it’s as cool as it ever was, but I now know a little more about just how chilly it is. TUAW has a tip for setting an alarm using QuickSilver. Be sure to read the comments, as they simplify it down even more than the original tip. This allows me to get rid of the excellent TinyAlarm, which is great as it’s the only program that requires Rosetta on my MacBook. I understand that Rosetta slows down everything a little when it’s running, so while I rarely notice any slowness I’ll feel better on the inside knowing it’s not there.

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Macbook update redux

OK, that’s a bit of a happy letdown for my campaign to extract recompense from Apple – the Macbook is ready for collection, and all is well. Even the repair guy was surprised at the speed of the turnaround (and here’s to iSupport of Portsmouth and Southampton for doing their bit so quickly – the part arrived this morning, and by 2pm it was running).

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Macbook update

Still in for repair, and given that every other Macbook in the world is currently in for the same repair, it might take a while. So I thought I would try to make the best of it by getting an extension to my warranty to make up for the month or so it looks like I will be without the machine.

Sorry, back now, just had to go for a lie down after writing that I’d be without the Macbook for a whole mon…

OK, I’m not going to refer to it again. Here begins my quest to get a warranty extension. First stop was the Apple website, which of course turns up no contact information that doesn’t involve sitting on a phone waiting for someone from a foreign country to pretend to help.

Next time: Do I brave the phone system, or find an alternate way round the problem?

Right-Clicking in OS X

Following my recent traumas with our MacBook I’ve been sent my old Dell by work. It might have no battery life, a cracked case, a power supply that doesn’t work in the UK, a screen that’s fading to nothing, less memory than my iPod Shuffle, but it’s served me well for over 4 years so I’m happy. And hey, the hard drive and keyboard are both in good condition, as they’re newer than the rest of the machine.

Now Macs are often criticized for only having one mouse button. To misquote Peter Cook in the Pete and Dud Tarzan sketch, “I have nothing against your left mouse button. The trouble is, neither do you” I too thought this, and think it still for the desktop (that’s why I have a Microsoft Wireless Mouse with 5 buttons, which allows me all sorts of essential Expose goodness too). But on laptops I’m converted; the Mac way is better.

But, and it’s a but of J-Lonic proportions, only if it’s a newer Mac laptop, specifically anything with the special right-click feature. This interprets two fingers on the trackpad along with a click as being a right-click, and is so much better than having a separate button that, were such things in the line of being routinely funny, this wouldn’t even be funny. Combine it with two fingers moved up and down to indicate the desire to scroll (contrasted with the British signal of two fingers moved up and down to indicate your desire for someone else to remove themselves from your presence in a sexual manner) and the Mac wins hands (and indeed, fingers) down.

I still like my Dell though. It hurts so good.

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Mac Update

After a comedy of errors finding the service place (that included visits to two major cities, and the digital readout of miles left in the gas tank of my car reaching 0) I took my baby in for service. Unfortunately Apple haven’t yet started shipping the necessary parts, so it could be weeks before she comes back to me. I can’t talk about it any more, it’s too…

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