Two Weeks and had to re-install OS on MacBook

Today I came accross a nice little problem on my MacBook that I have only had for 2 weeks. I had a bit of a crash and oh dear, I could no longer launch application after a Safari hang. On reboot, it just hung. So I ended up doing an archive and install, with no ability to transfer the user over to the new system :-(

So I'm now back with a clean system, albeit with only 8GB of space left on a 80 GB HD. Hopefully this isn't going to happen again.

So now I'm off to the time consuming task of pulling back all my old settings.

Google Spreadsheet doesn't support OpenDocument

It would appear that Google spreadsheet beta doesn't support the
OpenDocument format for spreadsheets. It kinda surprises me with some
of the things that have been going on in the corporate world.

See more about Google spreadsheet at
http://www.google.com/googlespreadsheets/tour1.html

MacBook loses battery life with single core

I've been trying out the MacBook on both dual and single core mode. With the help of CoreDuoTemp Utility and Apple's Developer Tools, I have found that it will always run at full processor speed of 2 GHz when you use the processor in single core mode. On the other hand under dual core mode it will generally run at 1.5 GHz, occasionally dropping to 1.333 GHz.

Even while it is compiling fink in the background, the processor is mostly running at 1.5 or 1.83 GHz in the lower powered parts of the compiler, slower than the 2 GHz max per core.

I do think that the power management could be improved to allow the processor to SpeedStep down to the minimum 1 GHz. Maybe someday Apple will produce a firmware update that will do this.

X11 Intel having same problem as PPC fixed in 10.4.3

It would appear that X11 Intel on my MacBook doesn't work due to a problem with the windows not coming to the front as expected. This was fixed in Mac OS X 10.4.3, and is now there in 10.4.6 Intel. Is anyone else getting the problem?

I need X11 for using OpenOffice 2, and it is a bit of a pain.

Google Mail chat now in localised languages.

Finally the chat in Google Mail now has been added to the various othere languages supported by Google Mail. It's just ashame that the web clips haven't been enabled in English (UK) as well. They are great.

why.openoffice.org

Is it any wonder people go about pirating MS product? Their licensing is so complicated I just take one look and run away, it's that complicated. Now there putting anti-piracy software into their MS-products. One week later and OpenOffice is starting a switch campaign. I have also added the getOpenOffice.org logo to my blog.

Did you that you can get nectar points at online stores

From http://www.nectar.com/dynamic/estores/nectar/home It appears that you can gain nectar points through some very unsuspecting places such as the apple store, direct line, iTunes, amozon.co.uk, dell, PC World.

It appears that you use the above page link to get into the store, then you have no reference whatsoever about the fact that you will gain nectar points thoughout your shopping experience. That is the most annoying and strange bit. It would be better if you could enter your netar card number at the checkout of the relevant store, with a confirmation that you will earn nectar points.

Java Help

In trying to create JavaHelp Documentation, I have found that the following software to be useful. http://sourceforge.net/projects/jhelpmaker It is a new Open Source project available on sourceforge, that looks like it has a lot of potential.

Move to BlogSpot finally worked

It appears that when I originally tried to move to blogspot, the blogspot servers were down. Publishing there is a lot faster, and produces better HTML.

Had enough of Lycos

I've had enough of Lycos, so I'm moving away from them. Their mail is so slow with irritating pop-up ads. The web space is OK, but produces bad HTML and irritating pop-ups. I'm migrating this blog over to the google space too.