Sometimes, a downgrade is an upgrade

My main desktop computer is my 12″ Powerbook with a G4 processor. Pretty outdated, especially since the G5 processor never made it into Apple laptops. With all the nifty software I installed, my Powerbook kept getting slower and slower until I could barely work with OpenOffice or NeoOffice anymore. That is, my laptop’s speed was okay when I had just freshly booted it, but having several applications open made it painfully slow, especially when I didn’t turn it off for a couple days and had it sleep mode only.

Now one of the sermons you get to hear from Apple fanboys is about how longlasting the hardware is how fast current software still runs on their ancient Mac. I was always a sceptic since applications simply tend to get bigger for numerous reasons.

Either way, last weekend I reformated my Powerbooks harddrive and reinstalled Mac OS 10.3 (Panther) instead of 10.4 (Tiger). I hardly use Spotlight and Widgets anyway. By means of Apple’s software update I get the current versions of most of the software anyway (e.g. iTunes) and most applications don’t require 10.4, so the downgrade brings no cut-back in terms of software. Especially easy was rebuilding my system; making a backup of my Library and all my important files and then paste the relevant folders into my freshly installed system was all it took to bring back my carefully crafted iTunes playlists and photo albums. And yes, it’s fast, a lot faster. I only reinstalled the most useful applications I use on a daily basis to trim the fat in my system and it perfectly worked. I thought about buying a new Mac for my desk soon, but now I feel comfortable with waiting longer – a lot longer. And yes, the propaganda about outdated Macs still doing remarkably well with current software are true.

For those of you who care, here’s my application listing to get the most of your G4 processor:

Mac OS 10.3.9 (Panther)
Adium (instant messaging, current)
Adobe Photoshop CS2 (not so current, but it has more than you need anyway )
Camino (webbrowsing doesn’t get leaner than that)
iTerm (the default Terminal would do the job, but iTerm is prettier)
NeoOffice (why install an outdated Microsoft Office?)
ScummVM (a must for every computer)
Skype (current)
SubEthaEdit (coding doesn’t get better than this)
Transmit (FTP client)
VLC (another must for every computer)

Together with the apps that come preinstalled with OS X there isn’t really anything left uncovered for an ordinary working computer. This one will do another couple years.

Torture me to make me tougher

So far I believed settings where the US military tortures its own troops to be the plot of cheap military movies, but the offiziere.ch-blogger talks about hints of “mild torture” of special forces in connection with the SERE program to ready them for captivity.

You really must love your country to let them torture you so you can actually do them a favor.

Time out

I had a lot of time lately for reading, so I took it to read some of the classics in literature I haven’t read yet. Among them were two works that were written basically at the same time (i.e. shortly after 1945), but with an entire ocean between them:

Draussen vor der Tür by Wolfgang Borchert

MÄDCHEN: Oh, Du bist tot? Und ich suche dich auf der ganzen Welt!
BECKMANN: Warum suchst Du mich?
MÄDCHEN: Weil ich dich liebe, armes Gespenst! Und nun bist Du tot? Ich hätte Dich gerne geküsst, kalter Fisch!
BECKMANN: Stehn wir nur auf und gehen weiter, weil die Mädchen nach uns rufen? Mädchen?
MÄDCHEN: Ja, Fisch?
BECKMANN: Wenn ich nun nicht tot wäre?
MÄDCHEN: Oh, dann würden wir zusammen nach hause gehen, zu mir. Ja, sei wieder lebending, kleiner kalter Fisch! Für mich. Mit mir. Komm, wir wollen zusammen lebendig sein.
BECKMANN: Soll ich leben? Hast Du mich wirklich gesucht?
MÄDCHEN: Immerzu. Dich! Und nur Dich. Die ganze Zeit über Dich. Ach, warum bist Du tot, armes graues Gespengst? Willst Du nicht mit mir lebendig sein?
BECKMANN: Ja, ja, ja. Ich komme mit. Ich will mit Dir lebendig sein!
MÄDCHEN: Oh, mein Fisch!
BECKMANN: Ich steh auf. Du bist die Lampe, die für mich brennt. Für mich ganz allein. Und wir wollen zusammen lebendig sein. Und wir wollen ganz dicht nebeneinander gehen auf der dunklen Strasse.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

We horsed around a little bit in the cab over to the theater. At first she didn’t want to, because she had her lipstick on and all, but I was seductive as hell and she didn’t have any alternative. (…) Then, just to show you how crazy I am, when we were coming out of this big clinch, I told her I loved her and all. It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it. I’m crazy. I swear to God I am.
‘Oh darling, I love you too’, she said. Then, right in the same damn breath, she said ‘Promise me you’ll let your hair grow. Crew cuts are getting corny. And your hair’s so lovely.’
Lovely my ass.

For one of them, love is a necessity for life. For the other, love is a lifestyle product. One is about being there for somebody, the other is about having somebody for oneself.

Hide-a-Pod

Finally, some iPod anti-theft protection has been invented. Via Vowe.

Black enough

Even if you cut away the campaigning fat, five minutes of this video make more sense than an entire eight year presidency: