Author Archives: And I'm an Elf

capslock

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Using Caps Lock as a Control key

One the most useless keys on a keyboard is the caps lock key. I have never had any use for this key. For me it is a complete waste of real estate. Some keyboards, in particular compact keyboards like the The Happy Hacking Keyboard Lite, have gotten rid of this key. It is still available by pressing the Function + Shift key (should I would want to go on a rampage shouting in a forum), but the key above the shift key is the control key.

I have now gotten so used to the Control key being in the place of the Caps Lock key, I have tried to reconfigure the Caps Lock key on standard keyboards to be mapped to the Control key. Luckily this is straightforward in most operating system.

On the Mac you can disable the caps lock key in the keyboard using the Keyboard Control Panel and change the modifier keys. Here you can set the caps key to have no action or in fact the action you would like to map to. How To Geek has a nice explanation with screen shots if you need details. You then can go on to map the key to the control key instead or leave it as a dead key instead.

On Linux you have several possibilities. The simplest in to issue the command

    xmodmap -e "keycode 66 ="

at the startup of your GUI session. It has the advantage that it is independent of the flavour of Linux you are using. Depending on your flavour of GUI you are using there may be settings in your control panels to have the same effect, but this can change if you change your desktop  manager.

Finally, on Windows 7 things are not as easy, as they requires you to change the registry, that is you will need some admin rights to do so. Again How To Geek as a writeup on how to do this.

Apple

The small apple tree in our garden provided a total of 8 apples this year. This is an increase of 33%. I’ll will soon be able to stop working and live off the produce of my lands. The photo shows one of the 8 which soon after were converted into an apple crumble.

Pink chairs rotting in the autumn weather

 

Some pink wooden chairs slowly decaying in the open. Gives a nice contrast with colourful foliage of this beautiful autumn morning.

 

Albert Camus 100th Birthday

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Camus Google Doodle

Today is the 100th birthday of one my favourite philosophers and writers: Albert Camus. Google is honouring the event with a Google Doodle showing the myth of Sisyphus, which is a powerful piece on the absurdity of man’s existence. It ends with:

I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Some random pages I visited recently and which caught my attention:

I am trying to make the most of my Canon gear to be used with my new Olympus OMD:

I am trying to write some AppleScript to automatically tag pictures in Aperture. So here are a few links on python, AppleScript and Aperture:

Nice quote:

I don’t think I’ve ever been more let down by technology than the first time I tried out “Airplane Mode” on my cell phone.

Sean Sinha

Great piece on fraud in science: Epic fraud: How to succeed in science (without doing any)

Unfortunately, data has somehow managed to become the foundation of modern science—so you’re going to need to get some from somewhere if you want a career. A few brave souls have figured out a way to liberate data from the tyranny of experimentation: they simply make it up.

The Lowepro Exchange Messenger Bag

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The Lowepro Exchange Messenger bag is, as the name suggests, a messenger style shoulder bag for camera gear. It is relatively low-key and does not attract a lot of attention as it does not advertise itself as a bag containing expensive camera gear; something I generally like. Available in black and grey, it is a simple yet effective bag when moving around with a limited amount of gear, such as for street photography or when enjoying being a nimble photographer à la Derrick Story.

The bag consists of a main pocket which holds the majority of the gear. The green interior makes it easy to find small items lurking around inside. The main pocket is customisable with two dividers, which you can use to subdivide the pocket. I often do not use them or only use one to separate my camera from an additional lens. When not used I put the dividers in the bottom of the bag which creates extra padding. Being relatively thin, the Exchange Messenger is prone to taking shock, in particular when putting the bag down and the extra padding provided by the unused dividers helps giving a little extra protection.

Besides the main pocket, there are two thin pockets on the front and an additional one at the front with a zip for items needing more secure storage, such as keys or a wallet. The bag is soft and can be rolled up when empty and easily put into a suitcase when travelling. The allows to take a larger bag while getting to your destination and using the Exchange Messenger when at the final location using just the gear you need.

For me the main disadvantage is the fact that it does not have a separate pocket to place an iPad. S I often have to compromise on what I want to take along and I admit it now has often become more of an accessories bag than a camera bag. Still given the low price I can recommend this bag as a useful addition to your arsenal of camera bags.