Torbens blog

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It annoys me when stuff suddenly works differently for no obvious reason, and even more so when the result is a lot worse than before. (Here’s a tip, Microsoft: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!)

One such annoyance is Windows Explorer in Windows 7 and Vista. When you dive into sub-folders by double-clicking in the right-hand pane, the left-hand pane doesn’t expand to reflect where you are. That’s a pity, because that has been in there ever since Windows 95, a brief 14 year-long period of doing it right.

Here’s how to fix it: Continue reading this story »

After installing the new version of the iPhone OS this morning, I just found the best feature! It’s no the landscape keyboard mode in many apps, but rather the keyboard itself!

Continue reading this story »

So here’s an attempt at writing a blog post on the go. I’m on the morning commute to work and just trying out the new WordPress app for the iPhone. I still miss a proper keyboard but at least this way I can post minor stories even when I’m not near a computer. The app even lets me publish photos.

My plastic brain is dead. Long live my plastic brain! This post marks the official end of my “Age of Psion” that started eleven years ago, in November 1997. Over the course of the years I have “used up” three Psion Series 5/5mx PDA’s, and they have served me well.  But now the time has come to move into the Age of Internet and leave my Psions behind. With some sadness, I have just finished moving data off my beloved Psion. I am not going to use it anymore, and I will put all my Psion stuff up for sale soon. Continue reading this story »

Today I’m taking the opposite point of view — that a netbook is not all that useful. Ironically, I am typing this on my Psion PDA, and I notice that the space bar key is no longer working that well. Whatever Psion replacement I will eventually settle on, it better be soon.

Continue reading this story »

Two weeks ago I received a netbook from my father, and I’ve noted a few factors that make a difference. The most obvious observation is that it’s very nice to have a netbook and be able to surf the web during the daily commute. But if I am to buy a netbook for myself, what factors are important to consider? I’ll summarize my thoughts here. Continue reading this story »

While I consider buying an Asus Eee 901, my dad has offered to borrow me his super-cool netbook for evaluation. It’s a little bigger and a little heavier (1,5 kg with extra battery) but it might still be fine.

Perhaps I’ll just keep it?

IT news sites report that Google will launch a new browser today that will compete with Firefox and Internet Explorer. It’s going to be interesting to see what it offers. From a technical point of view it will probably be great as it is based on fresh young ideas and not on several earlier versions (which is a strength in other matters though). Continue reading this story »

This is officially the moment where the iPhone lost. I am not going to consider buying one anymore.

The factor that “did it” was that I just sat down and typed two blog posts for fun. It took a few minutes. Okay, so I just wrote those two posts on my Psion Series 5 which is not online, so I can’t actually post this until later. But I can write it now, and I like to write. I couldn’t type that much or that fast on an iPhone. I don’t deny that it’s a really cool device, but it’s not good for typing and that is what I want. Either I keep my Psion alive longer still, or I need to find some neat micro laptop. Stay tuned.

I am having significantly more time to read during the commute to and from work these days. I have nearly an hour of train time each way, and I can make good use of that. Today I read an article with a very interesting sentence:

If you’re trying to choose between two theories and one gives you an excuse to be lazy, the other one is probably right. – Paul Graham

Hit that link and read for a few hours. There are a lot of goodies (and oddities) in the articles.

I’m also dreaming of having a very small laptop (which are now called netbooks) to use on the commute so that I can surf and blog while on the road. It turns out to be difficult or expensive or both. The good netbooks are too big, the smaller ones have too short battery life, and the really nice ones run some special Linux-based operating system that doesn’t support my HSDPA USB modem, meaning no Internet connertion. And they are all still rather expensive. At the moment I’m hanging on to my Psion but as I’ve written earlier, this is a relationship that can’t last forever.

If someone feels like giving me a free Asus Eee 901 I’d be happy to accept it.