IBM Model M Keyboard & OS X

I just got a new Macbook Aluminum unibody. I'm loving this machine so much. But when I'm at home, I like to plug into a 24 inch screen and I love to type on the IBM Model M keyboard, probably the best keyboard ever built. I have 3 of them. Anyhow, I did some googling around to try to find a solution to remapping the Mac Command key to the right control key on the M. Most of the key remapper programs out there do not appear to support OS X 10.5.x or Leopard. Anyhow, I found a little program called PCKeyboardHack that did the trick. It allowed me to map the right control key to the Mac Command key. Obviously you could go into the preferences -> keyboard & mouse and under "modifier keys" you could map the cap locks key to command for all keyboards. Personally, I use that key. So, that wasn't a solution for me. Anyhow, download PCKeyboardHack here if you think it might be useful to you. Update: PCKeyBoardHack works with all current versions of OS X including Lion.

Copernic Desktop Search 3.0 Home (Free) Version gone to the dogs!!

I loved Copernic Desktop Search v2.3. It was better than Google, or Windows, or even X1. Anyhow, they've just released version 3.0 and they've taken back what has been given for free in previous versions. No more search as you type, or saving searches, for instance. And the biggie is that they're making the free version adware! Absolute Nonsense! Anyhow, I would suggest finding version 2.3 on one of those old version download sites and downloading that until something better comes along. Copernic, you're on the wrong track. Taking back features in an upgrade is pretty bad practice. Obviously greed is overtaking common sense. Why not just make the Pro version so much better that previous Home version users will gladly shell out the $50? It puts a bad taste in user's mouths and makes you not want to go Pro even if you might otherwise have. Anyhow, sticking with version 2.3 until something better comes along. Copernic Desktop Search 3.0 Review

Your electronics can be re-used; So, don't cut the cords!

I was walking along the street the other day and saw an old vcr. My girlfriend is looking for one. So, I stopped to investigate. On closer inspection I noticed that the person who threw it out had cut the power cord off, rendering it all but unusable! Why on earth do people do this? I've never understood this. I can also recall seeing an iMac on the street one day. It looked in perfect condition, but someone had cut the power cable from the machine, again rendering it all but useless. What a shame. What are people thinking exactly? Is this malice? Or are they worried someone will hurt themselves? It seems completely senseless and wasteful. Please spread the word.

Another thing I've noticed is that whenever people throw away appliances, like fridges and stoves they ruin the machine by prying the door off of it. Now, if you're old enough, you might recall the advertisements on the TV about not disposing of a fridge with a door in tact. But this was because those old fridges had a latch that locked and couldn't be opened from the inside. So, if a child climbed in and closed the door behind them they might die inside. Indeed, this happened a few times and got the media into a frenzy. But we don't have fridges like that any more. And stoves never were air tight nor do their doors lock shut, unless they are some sort of industrial stove. So, please don't pry the door off of your appliances. You see this even with driers and washing machines. This means nobody can re-use them and they will end up in land fill, which is wasteful and is frankly quite irresponsible. Even if we're not careful about our own consumption, at least we can not ruin our electronics preventing someone else from making use of it once we're finished with it.

My next post is going to be on disposable highlighter (hiliter) pens. I can't believe we throw these away. There are alternatives.

How to fix Service Control Manager Error 7000 Win Common module service failed to start

This is a bit of a technical post that I wanted to just put out there in case someone else was having this issue. Anyhow, it's an error that shows up in the XP Event Viewer with the following details listed above:

Service Control Manager Error ID 7000

The Win Common module service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified.

So, here's how you fix it. It seems that Service Control Manager is trying to load a service module called Win Common. This is probably referring to something that was removed from my HD and so is generating this error. What I did was to run HiJackThis using the /ihatewhitelists mode. You can look up how to do this by googling it. I then found the service entry referring to this problem and removed it. Simple as that. Apparently these Service Control Manager Errors can be a nightmare. I hope you solve it.

Why I hate Lifehacker.com

Lifehacker.com is one of those sites that I have permanently blocked. The problem I find is that it's so addictive, especially if you take to posting on the site. I found I was just checking the thing all the time for the latest software releases and tips. It makes you feel so empty. So, I blocked it, and firewalled my mind against it. It's a time leech. That's my 2 cents on Lifehacker. Steve's tip is to block Lifehacker.com and get your life back. I personally use Leechblock, which is a Firefox Addon to block it. Love the addon. You can read all about it on Lifehacker.com or not.