Archive for November, 2005
November 20, 2005 at 9:53 pm · Filed under General
Here is a useful tidbit that I didn’t know about OS X.
They don’t like you linking statically….
So, if you want to create a single executable without any depenencies, you cannot. This is a minor bummer, and not unsurprising. The Apple engineering group must really believe themselves to be super smart, so I expect this. This is why their dynamic linking is still stuck in the early 90’s.
Anyways, if you try to use ‘-static’ with gcc and get the cannot find ‘crt0.o’ in the error log, then this is why.
Apple > Developer Connection > Technical Q & A QA1118
November 20, 2005 at 8:52 pm · Filed under General
It is done! I purchased a Mac Mini and received it last Tuesday. I turned it on that night, and played with it a tiny bit, but then had to let it sit until this weekend.
The big news is that I have returned to the fold previously known as NeXT via the Mac. This purchase doesn’t make me cooler or special, but it will hopefully create a more aesthetically pleasing productivity. For example, as I sit here making this post… the display is just so much nicer. What else? I’m finally, properly ripping my CDs… and it is too damn easy (as I knew it would be.) In the past I ripped using Lame on linux with a Perl script. This wasn’t nearly as good as what I have right now.
Anyways, one of these days I’ll post a timeline as to how I got here. Just recently I tried out Linux on the desktop briefly without really giving up on the PC. For the last 4 years I was a Windows guy, and my day job is still doing that hard-core 1995 C++ with the COM boogie (with a hands up in the air twist every now and then)… I don’t see that changing too soon.
Prior that that era, I was firmly in the Unix world and had made the switch off of Windows and NextSTEP. Unix never had the media part of the equation solved. Why did I leave NextSTEP 7 years ago? Well in contrast to now, things were looking bad and only getting worse. The Apple announcement was a huge deal, but then there was the chaos that followed for 3 years. I wasn’t going to suffer through that, and I’m glad I didn’t. The Apple machines looked good, BUT they were way too pricey and behind on the standards.
I think Apple really edged out the competition when they came out with G5 Powermacs and Tiger.
“So what are you saying here Dru?”
I think the Windows platform has lost a lot of its strengths compared to the OS X platform, especially after the transition to the Intel CPU occurs. I also think that OS X has a lot more for the developer than the Windows OS does. If that changes, then I’ll change. I will move to whatever platform gives the best experience.
“Ok, what does this really mean.”
So, in a nutshell, expect more posts related to OS X. I’ll still have a Windows box, but I’ll be moving off of it mostly. I just wanted to get those little stories out.
November 19, 2005 at 10:11 pm · Filed under General
I will have some time tomorrow, so I will be posting a lot of old posts that I’ve had backed up in my queue.
Lots of info. Stay tuned 
November 18, 2005 at 7:18 pm · Filed under General
Unfortunately, people still only associate the mouse with him, as seen in this post on scoble.
I remember the talk he gave at SRI on the anniversary of the DEMO. Really powerful talk. I wish more of his ideas and the ideas of his team were discussed more prominently.
November 13, 2005 at 1:57 pm · Filed under General
Politically Incorrect Link
(shout out to Hong for the content!)
November 10, 2005 at 10:44 am · Filed under General
Risk on Google Maps
November 7, 2005 at 10:40 am · Filed under General
Stop doing the “projector on the techie” shot. It is so tired.
November 4, 2005 at 1:55 pm · Filed under General
Quick blog up:
After using the X server with GNome for a while, I made a few theme tweaks. The appearance is a little bit nicer.
However, the screen tearing was bothering me so I decided to go for the Nvidia Linux drivers. I downloaded it and followed their instructions. Yeah, most people aren’t going to know how to bring the system to run-level 3, but for a Linux driver I have to say this:
The Nvidia linux driver was the smoothest driver install I’ve ever seen for linux. Wow. Fantastic job!
Well, after I started up with the new driver, I was promptly disappointed. Although it is using the new driver, the screen tearing persisted. X Windows is just fundamentally flawed in this respect. Also, even though they have a backing store system, it isn’t recommended for use since it has some serious design flaws.
So, kudos for Nvidia.
but.
I declare the best video system for any computer today to be Apple’s OS X. No other system avoids flicker or screen tear like theirs… as well as provide seamless OpenGL support.
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