An Apple a day ...

... keeps Windows away. So they say. I ordered a 20" iMac (2.16 GHz, 256 MB graphics) last week-end, and with any luck it will be here by Friday.

With the Apple II (europlus and IIe) being the first desktop computers I´ve used, and with the amazing design and hardware facts, this was just the thing to blow this years bonus payment on. Well, that, and that now, with OSX my trusty HP715/100 under NeXTStep gets a worthy successor/neighbour.

I will not be Windows-free, however... I need it for the games. Which about sets things right, I can just about stomach it as the game console OS.


For the multiple-OS approach here´s a link (in German). The Mac will not boot a regular CD. Why? It´s got no old-style BIOS anymore, but a more recent and powerfull boot loader, and Apple BootCamp is the way around this. From what I´ve read the solution is elegant.

I´ll keep you posted.

Dirk Olbertz » Erste Schritte mit BootCamp auf dem iMac : The Blog that never sleeps

More bang for the buck

Well, something like that, anyway.

I happened upon this rifle 3 weeks ago, and it was a bargain, complete with a shiny barrel, scope mount and powerful RWS variable scope. The funny thing about this one is, it is significantly younger that my Mk. 4 (this one is made in 1967, same as me, the Mk. 4 is war-time produced in ´43), but it actually is the older model, SMLE. Then again, it is chambered for the newer , non-rimmed .308 Win aka 7,62x51 NATO round.

And another toy... vewy bwitish.

Bought this rifle today, a Lee Enfield Nr 4 Mk1, manufactured in Canada in 1943. The paratroopers bayonet was a bonus. I like the SMLEs, the peephole rear sight is a lot easier on the eyes, and even though it´s not as tough as the ususal Mauser, it´s a nice rifle, and I liked all the LEs I fired before, even the "Jungle Carbine".

(This is not my rifle, but a photo I got from I-have-no-clue-where-on-the-net. I just got the bayonet, but not the sheath)

Not quite yet forgotten...

I have to admit it, I still love NeXTStep. I keep a machine running at home to read netnews and do Unix work. It´s an HP Series 9000 715/100, (so called "green hardware", "black" being NeXT´s Motorola-based own, "white" being PCs and I think "purple" meaning SPARC.) running NS 3.3 developer with the y2k patches.

Why do I run an OS that´s over 10 years old on hardware that´s about as old?

Because I can.

Anywhere, if you want to have a look, go here :
NEXTSTEP and OPENSTEP Resource Page

And another toy

I have just enlarged my collection of computers by a venerable HP Kayak XU, with a 300 MHz PII. I will probably speed it up a bit, then decide whether to leave it on Linux or promote it to Solaris (Hiss, boo) or NeXTStep or Openstep.

This is what it looks like:

another toy

... albeit a more serious one:



Witness my trusty 1911 .45 ACP , frame made by Norinco, tuned up with Wilson replacement parts and lovely Pachmayr Signature grips, and amended with a change barrel in 9x19 mm aka 9mm Parabellum.

Needs a bit of trigger work but shoots ok, no trouble at all in the first couple-of hundred shots.

Keep your powder dry,
Yours truly