Category Archives: uncategorized

An exchange I participated in on the RB NUG list today follows. Someone made reference to the Command Key/Apple Key debate, so I threw this comment in:

Actually, I think I’ve seen some references, in Apple documentation, mind you, to the Apple key. Perhaps they’ve given up, since every non-tech I know calls it the Apple key (or worse, the Open Apple key!).

Someone replied with this:

If you hear someone refer to the “Open Apple key” check their CV, they’ve probably been using Apples since 1976 … or at least well before 1984. Apple II’s originally had 2 Apple keys, one was an outline like the one we know on our Macs & the other was filled in. They were colloquially referred to as the Open Apple & Closed Apple keys. When the Apple II adopted ADB they also got Mac keyboards & the closed Apple was no more. From memory [my Apple II’s have been in storage a long time 🙁 ] the closed Apple equated to the control key.

My response:

Since the mid-1980’s. We had one in my sixth grade classroom. Everyone fought over the Apple II during inside recess because it had color. Meanwhile, the TSR-80 (complete with cassette drive) sat idle in the corner, so I had it all to myself. That’s when I taught myself BASIC for the first time. I’d print out the programs we had and then change the messages to sarcastic ones.

As I remember, the control key was its own thing. The “three finger salute” on those models was Control-Open Apple-Reset. I’m not sure, though, what function the Closed Apple Key had.

Most of the teachers I support still say Open Apple Key, even though many of them are running Jaguar on iBooks.

Strange that I wasn’t more popular in school…

Hot dogs. Breakfast of champions.

Gracie will be four years old on Sunday. I feel so old. How did this happen? How did I go from being the lazy, generic unemployed guy trying to make his band a success to the Assistant Director of Technology with a mortgage, a four year old, and a small shareware business? When did this happen?

This morning’s reading: Control Bindings in REALbasic, by Charles Yeomans.

Desktop Joe says: For me to be accused of corrupting the moral fiber of a person like rhino is absurd. Yeah, whatever, dude. In 1997, I asked him what a good format would be in which I could post some of band’s music on the Internet. His immediate response was MP3. I hadn’t ever heard of MP3. Sounded like another music video channel to me.

Then, in 1998, I started working with Joe. Suddenly, it all became clear. That’s all I’ll say on this matter for now. 🙂

Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet: The speech I’m going to give on Thursday is called “Ethernet vs. Godzilla.” The idea is that Ethernet has encountered a series of competitors out trying to kill it. The number is huge. The most famous is the IBM token ring. It was among the many Godzillas and the most formidable because it was backed by the dominant monopoly in computing at the time. I really enjoyed his column in InfoWorld. It hasn’t been the same magazine since he left. His wry humor was always great, from his very specific prediction of the Internet stock bubble bursting to his constant references to the “Open Sores” movement.

So, cialis it looks like the GPL may finally be tested in court. Should be interesting. Related discussion here.

Shocking fashion.

Crazy Apple Rumors: According to Yang, Lindquist repeatedly refers to his 1.42 GHz Power Mac as “an Apple” while dispensing handy advice on what corporate decisions “Mac” should make. Go, brother. I constantly come in contact with people who do exactly that. It’s maddening. They are often the same folks that think any machine running Windows is an IBM.

Just for my dear friend David, online two links on setting up MovableType on OS X. He already has it running on his hosted site, but I thought he might find these interesting. SuckEffect and Kirk SamuelSon.

Dave Winer: Right on. I’ve been using a desktop app to write Scripting News for years. The browser is not a great writing tool. What?? Last I checked, Dave Winer was the person saying that desktop apps were dead, that all writing should be done in the browser, becuase that’s a tool everyone knows. “Edit this page!” and all that. OK, maybe not quite that dogmatic. I’ve been surprised at two things. First, the number of people willing to pay $40 for Radio, a tool that really has no GUI. There’s no app that an average can interact with in a meaningful way. Second, the number of people who have contacted me about Frequency to ask, “When will it work with Radio?” Interesting.