Spreadsheets on Mac OS X

Excel is annoying to use (you can’t edit a cell without using the mouse), and OpenOffice still needs X11 to run (and don’t get me started on that set up guide). There has to be a better spreadsheet application for Mac OS X … doesn’t there? Or is the Mac software community petrified that Apple are about to release that spreadsheet product that’s been rumoured for years now?

iPod Repaired

Last week, I finally sent my iPod off for repair. It had been showing the dead iPod icon for quite some time, and the only advice I could get from Apple was “I’m sorry, but it’s cheaper to buy a new one.” I’m happy to report that I got it back today, and everything’s working hunky-dory.

If you’ve got an iPod that needs repair, I can heartily recommend Steven Svitek’s iPod repair service. The entire process cost me less than $80, and he’ll offer to buy your broken iPod from you if it can’t be repaired.

Living with a Hernia

Karma’s a bitch. After spending most of the previous few days giggling to myself while replaying the music video to Living with a Hernia to myself in my head, I did something odd to a muscle somewhere deep inside my gut. Don’t ask me which muscle it is, but it’s the one that you really need in order to get up out of a seat, roll over in bed, bend over to pick something up, sit down on the toilet … you get the idea. Doing any of these things result in incredible pain.

I think I got this injury on Saturday afternoon by getting into Rob’s car (an average-sized Subaru station wagon from the 1980s), but I’ve got no idea how. Maybe I was tense from listing to Rob and Sam bitch and bicker like an old married couple. Regardless, I’m well on the road to recovery now.

I’m hoping I’ll be close to 100% by Saturday, as I really want to go to The Tote to see The Bakelite Age’s CD launch. Fans of good time rock ‘n’ roll should do the same.

“Weird Al” Yankovic

Anyone else interested in coming along to “Weird Al” Yankovic on March 23rd at Hamer Hall? I’ll be getting my tickets later this week.

Running Impulse Tracker under Mac OS X

I’ve finally figured out a way to run Impulse Tracker under Mac OS X.

1. Download DOSBox and Impulse Tracker. DOSBox emulates the DOS operating system and some common hardware, including the SoundBlaster 16 and Gravis UltraSound sound cards.

2. Unzip Impulse Tracker and put it inside an otherwise empty folder. I created a folder named DOS inside my home directory, then copied Impulse Tracker into another directory inside of that.

3. Install and run DOSBox. Installation is as simple as copying DOSBox.app into your Applications folder.

4. Once DOSBox has fired up, you’ll need to mount a directory on your hard disk as your C drive. To do this, type MOUNT C /Users/craiga/DOS into DOSBox (where /Users/craiga/DOS is a folder that contains Impulse Tracker).

5. Switch to the C drive by typing C:, then fire up Impulse Tracker using the command line IT s7. This will force Impulse Tracker to use the emulated Gravis UltraSound (there seems to be some trouble with the emulated SoundBlaster 16).

6. Impulse Tracker will now be running and will be usable, though playback will be a little jumpy. To make it smoother, switch to full-screen mode by hitting Command-Option-Shift-Return. To switch back to a windowed view, use that same key combination.