How working cats are different from lolcats — or why Caturday was not created equal for all.

I’ve seen Charlie’s Angels in broad — and harsh — Russian daylight! Yes, it is true. Walking — all goddamn foxy and daringly long-limbed — among all those frowning hurried Muscovites on the boulevard, they must’ve been on a dangerous mission.

There’s a secret passage between worlds, right after the eye, ear and invisible soul trio of ivy-covered columns. If the light bulb is lit you can pass safely, if it’s dim, open the door and you’ll be sucked into the void and your whole existence deleted. Don’t smoke — and don’t try to smuggle cigarettes to the other side — God hates that.

Subway station in Moscow, squeaky clean and completely deserted. The curved pillars look like they’ve been distorted by a a wide-angle lens. Or a gigantic force field. Uncanny.

Bug report

Problem ID: 5400784

Summary: TILDE and GRAVE ACCENT missing from Romanian keyboard of MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4 GHz.

Expected Results: On TILDE key three signs should be present. On the left side should be engraved “`” GRAVE ACCENT and below “~” TILDE. On the right side Romanian letter “Δ LATIN LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX should be engraved.

Actual Results: On TILDE key is present ONLY the Romanian letter “Δ LATIN LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX engraved in the center. No “~” TILDE nor “`” GRAVE ACCENT, were engraved.

Notes: The other keys containing Romanian letters are engraved correctly:

“Ă” key contains “[” LEFT SQUARE BRACKET and “{” LEFT CURLY BRACKET correctly, “” key contains “]” RIGHT SQUARE BRACKET and “}” RIGHT CURLY BRACKET correctly, “Ț” key contains “" REVERSE SOLIDUS and “|” VERTICAL LINE correctly.

“Ș” key contains “§” SECTION SIGN and “±” PLUS-MINUS SIGN correctly.

The error is limited to the TILDE key. I’m not sure it is limited to the MacBook Pro, though.

The good, the bad and the different

My story with Apple portables [see PowerBooks post on my old Kit.blog] begins in 1999, when I bought my first PowerBook Lombard. God, that was a sexy beast! In 2002 I switched to a PowerBook Titanium and last week I bought a new MacBook Pro, to which I’m still adjusting.

This is hardly a showdown — the title could be a little misleading — the PowerBook is to old to engage in such a competition. Apple portables improved much in 5 years and the new laptop is hands-down better than its five years old ancestor — in fact, it’s for sure the best Apple portable, but unfortunately I tend to be harsh with the ones I love, so I’ll go on and depict here a subjective yet merciless comparison.

Continue reading "MacBook Pro vs. PowerBook Titanium" »

Happiness is easy. Too bad we’re the over-talented masters of complications.

Apple MacBook Pro, 15.4-inch, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR2 RAM etc etc etc.

Weather goes berserk

In Bucharest the temperature dropped from 41°C a week ago to 15°C today. That’s a 26°C variation in a week. Many countries do not have such a contrast between summer and winter, let alone in a few days.

And the 41°C is the official figure measured just outside the city — while on Bucharest boulevards temperatures in excess of 45 were noted. That would mark a more than 30°C decrease.

Come on folks, we can do better than this! Now close the fridges and switch on the heaters to try this again.