Dave Nicoll's blog

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  Dave 10:04 pm on July 30, 2008 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

  Web sites I visit regularly 

  The internet is hoooj, so I use Update Scanner for Firefox and RSS feeds to keep track of what’s going on around the web. In my subscriptions are a couple of sites you might not have heard of, so I thought I’d post them up…

  • Smashing Magazine – ok, this is a fairly well known site now, but I still bump into people who’ve not seen it. A great resource for anyone interested in design.
  • Tech Radar – a fairly new tech site owned by Future Publishing, the published of some of the greatest computer magazines over the last couple of decades.
  • BBC Internet Blog – up-to-the-minute news about what the Beeb is doing online (and they do more than you’d first think!).
  • ReadWriteWeb – for when you need to kick it with the web 2.0 crowd. Sorry, “the semantic web” crowd.
  • TED: Ideas Worth Spreading – seriously, I could spend all day watching their videos of inspired thinkers who give talks on a variety of subjects.

  (Most visited sites in my subscriptions are the ones you’ll undoubtedly heard of – digg.com, theregister.co.uk, iGoogle, BBC iPlayer)

   

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  Dave 1:30 pm on July 28, 2008 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: download, fix (3), keyboard, layout, macbook, macbook pro (2), map, mapping, parallels, solution, uk, vmfusion, windows (4)   

  Windows keyboard layout for MacBook Pro (UK layout) 

  If like me you’re using a MacBook Pro with a UK keyboard, and you’re running a Windows virtual machine in VM Fusion or Parallels, you’re probably getting a bit hacked off finding the # (hash) key, and the backwardness of the ” and @ keys.

  Here’s the solution (based on the information from here) – download my custom layout, install, choose it in Control Panel » Regional and Language Options » Languages Tab » Details button » Default Input Language selector and you’re all set. Unlike other apps, you don’t have to run a program the whole time, and it’s free! Oh, the # is mapped to § (to the left of 1).

  MacBook Pro (UK) keyboard layout (256KB)

  (Need help with the MacBook Pro keyboard shortcuts? See this post: Tips, tricks and tools for the Windows / Mac switcher)

  Update: VMWare Fusion Beta 2 RC fixes quite a few keyboard issues. You can get it here.

   
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  Dave 12:26 pm on July 18, 2008 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: evernote (2), free (2), note, software (2), Technology - Mac (4), windows (4)   

  Evernote 

  I’ve been using this application called Evernote for a couple of weeks now, and I’m completely blown away by it. In a nutshell it’s a place to keep your notes, but it’s actually waaaaaaaay more than that. Check out the “ninjas & sake” video…

  Evernote.com (PC/Mac/Web/iPhone)

   
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  Dave 1:32 pm on July 8, 2008 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

  Movie reviews: Wall-E, Chaos Theory, Be Kind Rewind, Cloverfield, Futurama, The Ruins, The Happening, The Spiderwick Chronicles, War Games, Shutter, 10,000 BC 

  • Wall·E 4/5 – It’s a big Pixar movie, so you know it’s good value
  • Chaos Theory 4/5 – Slightly cheesy, but enjoyable
  • Be Kind Rewind 4/5 – Feel good movie for Jack Black fans
  • Cloverfield 4/5 – I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this
  • Futurama – The Beast With A Billion Backs 3.5/5 – Yay, a longer episode of Futurama!
  • The Ruins 0/5 – Stoopidest movie I’ve ever seen
  • The Happening 0/5 – Second stoopidest movie I’ve ever seen
  • The Spiderwick Chronicles 1/5 – The kids’ll love it, I thought it was bollocks
  • War Games (The Dead Code) 1/5 – Not a patch on the original, avoid
  • Shutter 1.5/5 – I only really watched it for Rachael Taylor
  • 10,000 BC 2/5 – Dull, dull, dull
   
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  Dave 9:52 am on July 1, 2008 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

  MacBook Pro in da house 

  

  Death to PCs! Long live Macs!

  Yes, I finally switched to a MacBook Pro and flipped Vista the finger. And it feels good. My laptop actually does what I want it to, my productivity has increased, and I now understand the warm, fuzzy feeling Mac zealots rave about.

  As someone who was brought up on Microsoft technology (DOS, Windows, Visual Studio, SQL Server), it’s maybe hard to understand why I switched. I could list several reasons, but the bottom line is I just want my laptop to work. I use my laptop every day, at some point, for a variety of tasks – anything from creating a web application, to playing some music. No faffing with spyware, bad drivers, freezes, blue screens, etc. Capiche?

  Over the next few weeks/months, I’ll be blogging my experience and hopefully offering some tips to other people in similar circumstances making the switch.