Updated For Leopard! If you’re using Leopard there is a much easier way to do this.
While I’d love to have a MacBook Pro I’m stuck using my wife’s Dell Inspiron 1501 whenever I need something portable. After finally getting used to the similar functions of CTRL and ALT (er, that’s COMMAND, bucko) in Windows being pretty much reversed in OS X three years ago it can be a real mess now when I’m using Windows. I don’t want to get used to both. I’m not even sure if I can.
So what can I do? I can easily switch the key actions in OS X to match those of Windows. But I’m not doing that. CMD (er, ALT for Windows users) C/V/X/A to copy/paste/cut/select all is easier than CTRL C/V/X/A. So… how do I change the keys in Windows? There’s no easy method in the control panel. I could dig into the registry and mess with the scancodes but that can be an ugly mess.
What about a nice little application to do all of that messy stuff for me? Might such a creature exist? With only a little digging into Google I found something! AutoHotKey will switch CTRL and ALT around in Windows for anyone used to Mac OS X. It’s easy to install and it’s easy to configure. It’s also free. What more could I ask for?
AutoHotKey is capable of so much more than simple key re-mapping, so once you’ve downloaded it why not check out the documentation and add a few other extra Mac-like keyboard commands to your Windows system? The potential is great within this one.
Oh! Here’s the simple script (only 279 bytes) that I created to remap the CTRL and ALT keys. Just toss it somewhere on your system after installing AutoHotKey and run it whenever you want to switch your keys around. Hit WinKey-Q to exit the script.
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Imagine what a bully (or government) could do with this little device.
Silent Guardian is making waves in defence circles. Built by the U.S. firm Raytheon, it is part of its “Directed Energy Solutions” programme. What it amounts to is a way of making people run away, very fast, without killing or even permanently harming them. That is what the company says, anyway. The reality may turn out to be more horrific.
When turned on, it emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation – similar to the microwaves in a domestic cooker – that are tuned to a precise frequency to stimulate human nerve endings. It can throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile.
Because the beam penetrates skin only to a depth of 1/64th of an inch, it cannot, says Raytheon, cause visible, permanent injury. But anyone in the beam’s path will feel, over their entire body, the agonising sensation I’ve just felt on my fingertip. The prospect doesn’t bear thinking about.
This isn’t about being nice. It’s about being able to seriously hurt someone and not leave a bruise– torture without leaving any evidence. Any other use is merely a financial bonus.
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Tonight’s season finale of The 4400 was so surreal and beautiful. It didn’t hurt that it ended with the great Pixies song Where is My Mind.
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I was in BIrmingham for most of the past week visiting with my parents after my mother was in a horrible car accident last Monday. She was on her way up here to visit (that is, to see Aegwyn…) and then *wham* in just a few seconds her minivan was smashed into a ball of metal, plastics, etc. Somehow, amazingly, my mother escaped with only a small scrape and a little stiffness in her right shoulder. Really quite beyond comprehension since she was hit from behind at nearly 70 mph while at a full stop in traffic.
We had no plans to stay for so long. We knew before we got to Birmingham that Mom was alright but we just kept staying one more day. Tuesday came and went, then Wednesday. I was sure we’d be back here Thursday but nope… we pushed on to Friday. Friday we had to return. The kiddos would need someone to pick them up at school. And we were beginning to miss ‘em too much.
We pretty much spent the whole week doing nothing. Zip. Nada. Though, we did see The Bourne Ultimatum Thursday evening. Wow! Best trilogy ever! Other than that… it was a nice, quiet, week with the parentals. They had a chance to spend four days with Aegwyn and we had an almost vacation from the world for the first time in a very long time.
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There’s a really, really nifty trailer on Apple’s trailer page for The Spiderwick Chronicles. I’ve no other information to give beyond that it’s a Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures production.
Oh! The unseelie court says hi!
Popularity: 14% [?]
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