Hack of the Day
So I have an article due about Java 7 two days ago, and I discover that my Linux box has a bad Ethernet card (or port, or some such). I don’t have time to run out and buy a new one; but fortunately I have just purchased a new Intel MacBook so I grab a demo copy of VMWare Fusion and an Ubuntu 7.1 Gutsy Gibbon Image and install that. However, I don’t have the MacBook setup with all my files yet so editing, the keyboard is a little wonky, and the screen is small. I don’t really want to type on that system just yet. So instead I turn on terminal sharing in Ubuntu running in the VM and log in over the wireless network from my main desktop PowerMac using Chicken of the VNC. I’m now running Java 7 on my PowerMac G5 over the network! Shockingly this all works.
Unfortunately there’s a at least a two-second delay between when I type a character on my end and when it shows up on my screen. So install sshd on Ubuntu using Synaptic (all over the network from Chicken of the VNC). I do a quick “ifconfig -a” in an Ubuntu terminal to determine my IP address, and then login from the Mac terminal. Now I can do xtermish things from my regular monitor and keyboard, and performance is acceptable.
What a brave new world we live in. :-)
November 17th, 2007 at 3:19 PM
I checked out the MacBooks recently in a CompUSA, and I really don’t like what they’ve done with the newer style keyboards. They feel weird with the blocky keys and all the space between them. I miss the old style from my old iBook and the PowerBooks. I tend to think they gave the MacBook a weird uncomfortable keyboard to encourage us to instead purchase a MacBook Pro, with a significantly higher price.. :(
November 19th, 2007 at 2:23 PM
Tim, I also thought the new mac keyboards were weird at first. Then I was helping a friend with her MacBook and found that after a couple minutes I kind of liked the new keyboard. I actually ended up buying the new apple wireless keyboard for doing presentations, and when I go back to my wired USB mac keyboard (the previous gen) that came with my mac pro, I find myself having to lift my fingers higher to get over the key edges. It seems that the new keyboards actually allow you to type with less finger travel. They are also very much closer to the table top so you don’t need a wrist rest. So, maybe borrow one of the new keyboards for a day and see if you like ’em after some adjustment. I would be surprised if apple didn’t use the new style on the next MacBook Pro.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:24 PM
Another nice thing about the new keyboards is that the keys go flat, allowing for the E-Z cleaning. No more weird debris stuck living in between your keys.