Category: blog

Migrate to Macbook Air

I got the new Air after back from Beijing. I didn’t make the move for 11” and got an 13” eventually. It is the same resolution (1440×900) as my old MBP 15”, so my wallpaper collection can still be used, lol.

Somehow I decided to do migration in the clean way, which means I didn’t use the OS X migration tool but manually reinstalled/copied almost everything. The steps are fewer than I thought:

  1. Install a few apps from Mac App Store.
  2. Install Dropbox and all documents/scripts/vim configurations can be considered done.
  3. Copy over some large folders via an external hard drive, including code repos, iTunes music, photos, etc.
  4. Install dozens of software not available from App Store. This is the time-consuming part. I noticed I still need bit torrent for a few softwares. And the developer tools took the most time (Xcode, Eclipse, etc).
  5. Install homebrew and a bunch of command line tools from there.
  6. Miscellaneous system configurations. As the new laptop comes with Mountain Lion, I did these configurations while exploring the new system.

Overall it was pretty fast. The SSD harddisk dramatically accelerated the process of installing softwares. And the network speed in US office is sweet.

I also picked up a few new tools in this transition. I used iTerm2 to replace TotalTerminal, tried PathFinder and decided not to use it, replaced Cocoa VIM with MacVim, started to use some apps in full screen mode. All in all the new environment is satisfying so far.

 

Considering to Get A 11” Air

Really attracted by this article http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3237-a-few-product-recommendations

Any suggestions? I think 11” is big enough for vim.. Will check it out in Apple Store.

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Checked the actual machines in an Apple store yesterday. The width of the screen is actually more than necessary at most times, so the height matters. 11” has 15% less height than 13” (768 vs. 900). With 14pt font, the size I’m used to, in maximized Terminal 11” can show 42 rows while 13” can show 49 rows.

Not sure if the further portability of 11” really matters to me, who just carries the laptop for commute and has been carrying 15” MBP for years. So probably I will go for 13” for this time.

Here is a reference link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_displays_by_pixel_density#Apple

It’s Summer

Went to Jamaica Bay in Saturday. It’s interesting that you jump onto a subway, after 30 minutes you’re at the beach. Surely it would be nicer if I use a car, because some places are still not very accessible by subway, for example the Wildlife Refuge I wanted to go at first. However the beach is close enough to the station.

The Rockaway beach is for surfing, so lots of people were surfing there. Waves are not strong when we were there, so most people were just playing with the surfing board for fun, not really “professional” surfing. That made us think maybe we can get a surfing board and play a bit.

Went to Whitney Museum today, for the “Fireflies on Water” special exhibition. We arrived there at 1pm and saw a long line at the gate… And today’s special exhibition tickets were sold out already. This museum opens at 11am. I was quite impressed by how popular it is. Before going I guess there wouldn’t be many people because most tourists go to MET and other famous museums. Well, seems I was wrong. Need to go to this place at an earlier time.

So we ended in MET for the afternoon. MET was also crowded but at least we could get tickets and enter in 5 minutes. After that we had Japanese BBQ at Gyu Kaku. This BBQ is pretty famous and really good, especially in happy hours. Beef tongue is the best I’ve ever had.

I switched to unlimited ride metro card a few weeks ago. It indeed help push me to go outside and visit the city. That’s the way to enjoy summer time. Maybe I should buy one for xw too.

Story Telling

一位青年想看星球大战，尤其想在家里电视上随时看。

买盗版DVD/正版蓝光，这是中国/美国普通青年。

找怀旧电影院/酒吧看，这是文艺青年。

创办一家科技公司，管理广告投放播放权等等一堆乱七八糟的事儿，然后把服务卖给各大媒体公司和各大视频网站，最后可以用X种交费方法在Y种设备上免费看带20分钟广告的版本。。。这就是贵司的story，什么青年我就不说了。

 

Took another wisdom tooth out

Yesterday, at Garden Dental Arts again. Surprisingly cheap, 16.80$.

Then I realized my teeth count is less than my age now…