Some things are so powerful merely as concepts that the fact that they physically exist is really superfluous. Possibly even somewhat offensive. The Eiffel Tower, for instance. I was in Paris a few months ago, and was somewhat unsettled by the fact that the Eiffel Tower was in fact just over there, clearly visible on the skyline, wherever you went. Everyone has such a clear concept of the Eiffel Tower that it is real enough already, without it needing to actually physically exist. Yet you go to Paris, and there it is. Creepy.

Similarly, Silicon Valley doesn’t actually need a physical manifestation. Just the concept is enough. And yet, here I am, going to an organic coffee bar hearing a live acoustic band with lots of long-haired laid back californians … who are wearing eBay t-shirts and texting on their Blackberry. Or checking email on their macbook. Or playing with their new iPhone. The biggest peril I face every morning is getting on the right employee shuttle bus. A mistake might accidentally result in me ending up not at Google, but at Yahoo!, or eBay, or Microsoft, or LinkedIn, or… you get the idea. Inicidentally, these companies are also things that don’t need to exist. I mean, we all use Google, or eBay, or LinkedIn, but the thought of them having massive office buildings, all near each other, with busloads of brilliant college graduates commuting every day to work there … well, why can’t I just stick to my nice fantasy that eBay is “just a website”?

Speaking of iPhones, there’s yet another thing that really doesn’t need a physical manifestation. The concept is so powerful that even had Apple never brought a single iPhone to market, people would be queueing to buy them. We all somehow *know* this thing is cool. (Just like we *know* that Apple’s marketing guys deserve an award. Or a long and painful death, depending on which angle you’re coming from. Regardless, they’re all geniuses, whoever they are.) And yet it exists, as if to insult you by saying “I don’t trust you to believe all our marketing, why don’t you just *try me* and see?”. And just because it is so very cool, and does in fact turn out to exist, I now own one.

I like vim. It is a wonderful text editor. It even comes in a GUI version for the Mac. It has a tendency to open every document in the same window, so the nice people at http://macvim.org/ provide a Mac app ‘gvim.app’ that opens vim via a script to make it open every document in a new window. But somehow, alone in the whole download, this simple little just-run-a-shell-script app wasn’t universal! For want of a nail, etc etc etc, so launching vim was remarkably slow. Well, we can fix that! This universal version of gvim.app uses almost the same launch script as the original, tweaked to play nicely with the current version of Platypus. If you’re using an intel Mac and want vim to start up in the blink of an eyelid (instead of an afternoon nap), download here.

Notebook RAM comes in various form factors, but the basic standard (which Powerbooks use) is called “SODIMM”. RAM also comes in various speeds; PC-2700 (also called DDR333) and PC-4200 (also called DDR533 or DDR2). All this I have known.

I am the proud owner of a new 1Gb PC-4200 SODIMM. Currently my Powerbook contains 256Mb of RAM soldered onto the motherboard (wonderful design decision Apple, thankyou!), and a 256Mb PC-2700 SODIMM that I installed when I bought it.

I have now learnt (by bitter experience) that a PC-4200 SODIMM is not the same shape as a PC-2700 SODIMM. Oh, yes, they have the same, ahem, “form factor”, but the little slot in the PCB that aligns the pins with the motherboard is in a different place. Out by a good 3mm, I’d say. Not sure how “form factor” is defined, but it obviously doesn’t mean “specific enough to be able to buy RAM according to it”. I have since found an Apple document (down the ladder to the basement, with a torch, behind a sign saying “Beware of the leopard”) that says that 12″ Powerbook G4 (the 1.33GHz processor type, but without Gigabit ethernet - man, how many models are there??) takes PC-2700 RAM. I guess this implies, although doesn’t explicitly state, that PC-4200 RAM is not OK.

You may let your imagination run wild when imagining my frustration. I guess I shall just put this SODIMM back on eBay, and start bidding for another one…

After some experimentation with the old Super 8 camera, and some watching of films etc, I think it would be quite fun to make an actual film with an actual plot. Since I can’t write stories to save myself, I should probably adapt a story. Probably one in the public domain. The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe is rather a good story, with no dialogue (perfect for silent film!) and not terribly many special effects to worry about.

Read more about it at the wiki: ockle.org/wiki/index.php?ThePitAndThePendulum

I suppose I should join in the meme-y goodness…

Knitting first. I have finished the back of my Harry jumper. (phew.) Now there’s only the front, and two arms left to do.

Crumpler second. I have decided it is time to replace the blue backpack/messenger bag crossbreed that has served me faithfully for the past five years, carrying my stuff around with me almost every day. Since I had enjoyed the messenger bag half of the crossbreed rather more than the backpack half, I thought a Crumpler might be a good investment — also because a Crumpler is probably likely to last the next five years under similar wear and tear. (I hope.) Because I want to be able to carry my laptop around, I went for a “Considerable Embarrassment”. (Who comes up with these names?) Because I want to ride with the bag, I went to the Custom Crumpler store in Fitzroy to get a “Third Leg” attached. Because I’m me, I went to the Custom Crumpler store in Fitzroy to get the bag, not in the pale blue or pale green that they usually come in, but in a design of my own, erm, designing. (Prose. Yeah. Go me.)

Photos follow. Of course.

(whoops!)

Nothing much happening… except going to Europe for four weeks For more on that, go read the blog of a much more dedicated blogger… http://www.drkellam.com. Meanwhile, let’s move to Martin’s Thought of the Day:

Why do electronic gadgets (a.k.a. toys) never come with charged batteries? What’s this “Before use, charge for 5 hours” or “charge overnight before use” crap? I’m sorry, when I’ve just forked out a fortune for a new toy, I want to play with it straight away, see what it can do… and charging it isn’t top of the list of things I want to try out! *grimble grumble*.

On the other hand, I now own an iPod which is nothing to be sneezed at. Even if I have to wait for it to charge up before I can use it. Grrrr.

(I shouldn’t really complain. I should go and do the ironing that’s still left over from tour that I’m putting off. I really should.)

Well, I’m $2300 poorer, but one Powerbook richer. And one AirPort Express. And a soft carry case. And extra RAM. In fact, the guy at the store wanted me to buy it so badly he just kept throwing things in for free. Well, I wasn’t complaining. And am not now. Am typing on the pb as we speak. And streaming mp3s from my desktop to iTunes on my powerbook into the AirPort express to the speakers behind me. Uber cool. Not to mention apt grinding away in the background courtesy of the Fink. So I am now one happy chappy.

I have a model train. This is not new news.

However, the model train now has an automatic level crossing. This is new news. This is also very cool: as the train approaches, the boom gates lower. When the train has passed, the boom gates raise again.

Model train also has a manual override switch for boom gates. Flick the switch, the boom gates stay down. Release the switch, the boom gates go up… unless there’s a train coming, in which case they stay down until the train has passed. Again, very cool

Model train now also has one set of electronic points. Flick the switch, track A. Flick the switch, track B. Flick the switch… you get the idea. No more ungainly leaning over the set to change tracks… almost. I am still short a bit of cabling to connect everything up.

How is it all done? By the magic of MindStorms. Woohoo. (oh, and eBay…)

I have today received a coffee grinder… Gaggia MDF. It now sits proudly next to my Gaggia Classic espresso machine. My own personal cafe is complete! Home Italia-style coffee here we come…