Day: May 4, 2009

Maccyland

May 4, 2009
Inaria
5 Comments

Jules Winnfield: So tell me again about the disc images.

Vincent Vega: What do you want to know?

JW: They’re legal there, right?

VV: Hell, yeah, they’re legal. When you download an application you’ll usually get it as a disc image. And I’m talking about perfectly legit applications, not the Bittorrent stuff. You can write these images to a disc to make an installer, or you can just mount the thing straight on the Mac as a new volume and install it from there.

JW: They don’t consider disc mounting software a tool of piracy?

VV: Naw, man, it’s built into the operating system.

JW: Oh, I’m goin’! I’m definitely going.

VV: I know baby! You’d dig it the most. But you know what the funniest thing about Maccyland is?

JW: What?

VV: It’s the little differences. I mean, they got the same shit over there that they got here, but it’s just – it’s just there it’s a little different.

JW: Example?

VV: All right. When you launch a program – sorry, an “application” – from the dock, you don’t get another icon telling you that program is running. The icon on the dock just gets a white dot next to it. And if a program on the dock needs your attention, it doesn’t pop up and grab the focus. It just bounces the icon and waits for you to click on it. Also, windows in Maccyland are double-buffered, so you’ll never see the awful tearing that you see so often over here.

JW: That sounds cool. Anything you didn’t like?

VV: The one menu bar thing screwed me up for a long time. Since the menu bar is not connected to the app it represents, you can’t give an app the focus by clicking the menu bar. You have to click the app’s window or its icon on the dock. Plus, Ctrl-V doesn’t paste.

JW: What?

VV: I’m serious. Ctrl-C doesn’t copy and Ctrl-V doesn’t paste. Instead it pages down in your text file. That’s doubly bad because it looks like it did something when all it did was lose you your paste location. Plus the Home and End keys jump you to the beginning and end of the current document, instead of the current line.

JW: Aw, man. I usually copy a URL in my browser’s location bar by hitting Home, holding down Shift, and then hitting End to select the whole URL. How’m I supposed to do it now?

VV: Triple-click.

JW: What?

VV: You triple-click the URL. That’ll select the whole thing.

JW: Seriously?

VV: Yeah, man, that shit even works over here – at least in Firefox.

JW: Triple-click. Man, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a triple click. Does it work in Opera too?

VV: I dunno, man, I didn’t go into Linuxville.

PTFSD Update: Miracle Noodles

May 4, 2009
PTFSDUncategorized
1 Comment

Okay, so I went up to Whole Foods and got some shirataki noodles.

The product they offered wasn’t the zero calorie kind – it was this brand. Still, the noodles only have 20 calories per serving, which is more than low enough.

So what are they like?

Well, first, the come packed in water and they need to be refrigerated. They only last about three months, even in the fridge.

Second, they are two bucks a pack…but a pack has two servings. So they cost about ten times as much as normal ramen noodles…but still pretty cheap.

Third, while you do not cook the noodles, you must still prepare them properly in order to get the most out of them.

When you open the bag, you will be immediately hit with a very Asian, fishy smell. Do not panic. Drain the noodles in a colander and then rinse them very well under hot water. Drain them again.

Now comes the most crucial step – you must dry the noodles. Everyone who complains about these kinds of noodles has typically missed this step. Put the noodles in the microwave for one minute, then dry them well between layers of paper towels. You’re almost going to want to wring them out – only by getting the packaging water out of the noodles will they be able to soak up whatever sauce you’re going to put on them.

You’ll notice that the fishy smell is gone. If you taste one, you’ll notice that it…well, doesn’t really taste like anything. You’ll also note that the “unique texture” the web page touts is actually that of rubber. It doesn’t bother me much, but if you’re used to regular ramen noodles…

Add some protein (I use about four ounces of either shrimp or chicken), some veggies and a little soy or Worcestershire sauce and you’ve got a very filling meal for about 250 to 300 calories. I’ve heard they work even better in stir-fries, which makes perfect sense.

I’ll be eating these religiously for two meals a day for the next week. On Friday I’ll report my progress.

Demigod Update

May 4, 2009
The Game Biz
1 Comment

Despite Demigod’s absolutely disastrous launch, it appears to be selling well. Stardock’s policy of “No DRM” seems to be paying off yet again. I wonder when other companies will get with the program.