Callum Macdonald

Callum — Sat, 25 May 2013 14:14:40 +0000

Touchscreen problem on the Nexus 4, painless call to Google and there's one on the way, mine to be returned within 21 days. Happy days.

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Callum — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:54:44 +0000

Just got a Logitech T651 trackpad for mac. Might be rushing back to the store in the next ten minutes to swap it for the Apple one… #fail

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Callum — Sat, 04 May 2013 19:52:51 +0000

Saturday night in Le Champ Martin, population 2, nay, make that 3 including me! It's warming up to be quite the evening!

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Callum — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:44:13 +0000

Onboard and sailing for Calais. Expected to land in just less than 90 minutes, 3 hours to Paris, unload the passengers, then 2 hours on…

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Callum — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:05:22 +0000

London in just over 8.5 hours, compulsory toilet breaks every 2 hours kept the boys in line! London to Paris fully loaded tomorrow…

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Callum — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:46:03 +0000

Thanks to Corstorphine MOT & Auto Centre I now know that the LPG distributor is leaking coolant, and no charge for the pressure test!

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Callum — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:47:28 +0000

Ladies touring bicycle for sale, 21 speed, v brakes, new tyres + chain + sprockets. Good condition. £190 http://go.cmp.sr/C

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Callum — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:31:14 +0000

Ceilidh tonight? Probably at the Counting House from 8pm. Call me if you're game…

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Callum — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:46:56 +0000

Composer has a url shortener right on the Compose screen. Read all about it (via our new shortlink!) here: http://go.cmp.sr/4

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Callum — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:11:09 +0000

Note to self, `rsync -a –size-only` copies timestamps on files that were copied without the timestamp. Handy.

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Callum — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:03:16 +0000

Composer now publishes to Blogger. Read all about it here: http://composer.io/site/2013/04/18/post-to-blogger/

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Callum — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:05:25 +0000

Taken a while, but I finally wrote it up. Unity drove me mac. Full story + one pic here: http://cal.io/R1

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Unity drove me mac

Callum — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:05:00 +0000

This post has been a while in the making. Bottom line, I bought a mac. I’ve had it for about three weeks now, and so far I haven’t looked back.

There’s something between Bangkok and operating system choice for me. I first converted to Linux in Bangkok, and I decided to buy a mac in Bangkok some 7 years later.

The decision was a long time brewing. It all started 5 odd years ago with John Berns. He converted from Ubuntu, and told me something that I shot down at the time (sorry John! ) but have long since remembered. He said, since he got a mac, he doesn’t spend time fixing his computer, he spends his time working.

As I fully come into my fourth decade, I’m entering a new phase. My late teens and twenties were defined by idealism, militancy, and fuelled by an unbridled fiery energy. As I settle into my thirties, about to turn 31, my focus has slowly shifted. My idealism has faded somewhat, some of my zest for life has faded, and I’m more focused on productivity.

The decision to buy a mac was a decision to get stuff done. I chose a 13″ MacBook Pro with a Retina display. It’s a phenomenal piece of hardware, and the software is close enough to *nix that I thought I’d survive the transition. My precious terminal is still just a hotkey away (thanks iTerm2). My expectation was that the machine would just work. It has almost completely lived up to my expectations. It’s phenomenal hardware, an acceptable user experience, and very, very, very productive. It simply works.

Leaving Ubuntu

Leaving Ubuntu was a hard decision. I’d been a dedicated convert and evangelist for some time. I’m still running Ubuntu on all of our servers. In general, I’m a big fan of what Ubuntu has done for the Free Software space.

However, the stumbling block for me was Unity, Ubuntu’s new desktop interface. Mark has spoken about his vision for Unity, and about not just competing in the operating system space, but leading, setting a new standard. I think that’s a noble cause. But all the chaos and confusion that comes with such rapid change has a cost, and an impact.

Personally, I reached a point where my laptop was a constant struggle to use. I didn’t want to use Unity, and I specifically didn’t want fancy 3d effects at the cost of speed. I wanted a fast, simple desktop. Ubuntu had not been that for some time. I considered Mint, which is apparently the second most popular distro behind Ubuntu. But in the end I was burned out. I’d had enough of fighting with my operating system.

I think the popularity of Mint is testament to the damage that Unity and the broader Ubuntu direction are doing to the Ubuntu userbase. I think a quiet exodus of long standing, core users is underway. I think the effects will be easier to see a few years from now. Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe Ubuntu will truly compete in the desktop space. I hope so.

Personally, I’d like to see a simpler version of Ubuntu LTS with much better backports. I don’t want to upgrade every 6 months, nor do I want 2 years to get the latest and greatest software. For now, I’m sticking to Ubuntu on servers, and if I had a desktop, I’d probably install Mint. But day to day, I’m now officially a Mac user.

Ctrl-left and ctrl-right on iTerm2

Callum — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:20:00 +0000

I couldn’t jump word at a time on iTerm2. Eventually, I found a beautifully elegant solution using BetterTouchTool (an absolute must have, couldn’t live without, fantastic piece of software). I set up a keyboard shortcut, only for iTerm2, where I mapped the alt-left to send a keyboard shortcut to a specific application. The shortcut is ctrl-left and the application is iTerm2. Then the same for right. Works like a charm. Elegance.

It works because when I’m in iTerm2, pressing alt-left, sends ctrl-left to iTerm2. While actually pressing ctrl-left switches desktops. The ctrl-left never reaches iTerm2, OSX picks it up first, but the BetterTouchTool workaround works, means I can use ctrl-left as normal, and use alt-left as normal on local and remote terminals. This has been bugging me for a couple of weeks now. Solved. Fantastic.

Callum — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:03:03 +0000

Just found a Facebook bug whereby we don't always get an access_token expires, bah humbug. http://stackoverflow.com/q/12246763/198232

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Callum — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:51:43 +0000

Composer now posts to Facebook pages: http://composer.io/site/2013/04/16/facebook-pages/

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Callum — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:31:23 +0000

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a sweet sense of satisfaction at winning an eBay auction in the last 4 seconds and staying on budget!

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Callum — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:15:21 +0000

Just pushed out an internal update to Composer that should make publishing posts much, much faster. http://composer.io/site/2013/04/10/updated-internals-faster-posting/

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Callum — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:00:19 +0000

Nice early start for an hour in the dentist's chair. Wish me luck!

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Callum — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 05:03:05 +0000

5am drive mum across town, 6am work, 4pm visit friend, 8pm ceilidh, 10pm nap, 12am club, 6am bed. Long day…

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Callum — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 05:31:15 +0000

Dropped mum for a week's retreat. Now I have to fend for myself for the first time in 5 months. Oh dear. Kitchen. Food. Cooking. I remember.

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Callum — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:50:38 +0000

Freshly ironed sheets, three boxes of my favourite cereal in the cupboard, there's nothing quite like coming home to mum!

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Callum — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:01:10 +0000

Car bought, paid for, insured, and I'm heading off for the 340 mile drive top Edinburgh…

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Callum — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:07:59 +0000

Buying the car was simple, getting an LPG car insured on a bank holiday turns out to be the hard part…

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Callum — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:38:39 +0000

About to have my first second hand cat buying experience. Any top tips for me in the next hour before I get there?

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Callum — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 07:53:49 +0000

Just tethered the Nexus 4 to the MacBook Pro thanks to Joshua Wise's HoRNDIS. Awesomesness, thanks Joshua. http://www.joshuawise.com/horndis

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Car hire in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Callum — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:06:54 +0000

If you’re looking to hire a car in Sri Lanka we had a great experience with Ocean Tours. At first we went to another place called something like carson. They told me on the phone they had a car for a price, when we arrived the next day it had apparently “gone”. We were given a choice of a much smaller car or a similar car for much more money.

Turns out Nirosh at Ocean Tours sorted us with a much better car, cheaper. We got a Mazda 3 for 20k a week. Bargain. Great car. Great service. I think it might have sweetened the deal that I told him I was standing in the car park of hist competitor and unless he gave me a price I was not coming to his office! Worked out great for us. The traffic was pretty mental though, best I could average was about 40km/h!

Callum — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:52:53 +0000

Standing by the Thames waiting for a couple of rowing boats to come past and it's snowing. Oh it's wonderful to be back!

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Callum — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:25:22 +0000

I'm in London!

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Callum — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:59:26 +0000

At the airport a whole two hours before departure, and I got an aisle seat, oh well. London about six thirty tonight…

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Callum — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:51:52 +0000

Apparently there is no air conditioned bus from Kandy to Negombo, so here's to three and a half hours in a sweatbox instead!

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Callum — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:05:30 +0000

Just rubbed a stalk of fresh aloe vera on myself hoping to turn this slightly pink colour into something resembling brown instead…

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Callum — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:58:28 +0000

Found a second hand clothes shop selling stuff imported from Canada dirt cheap. Two pairs of shorts for 400 LKR (£2/€2/$3), score!

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Callum — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:13:41 +0000

After a crowded 3 hour bus ride we've got a room right on the beach in Unawatuna, with wifi. Not the fastest ever, but it works.

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Callum — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:45:51 +0000

Clubbing in Sri Lanka, yeah baby, yeah baby, yeah!

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Callum — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 14:03:29 +0000

Got a sim card and sure enough after an hour, bingo, we're online with 3G in Colombo and on our way to run rendezvous with some locals!

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Callum — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 10:38:43 +0000

Woohoo, a second guest has arrived at the hostel, I am no longer the only resident! Now to find a 3G sim card while shops are still open…

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Callum — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:55:19 +0000

Arrived in Colombo, smooth trip to the hostel, only 2 other people here, quiet start to Sri Lanka…

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Callum — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:46:16 +0000

Onboard and ready to go for the three and a half hour flight to Colombo. Signing off Thai 3G and heading into the world of wifi only…

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Callum — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:29:26 +0000

Apartment left me waiting 40 minutes after my stated departure time, but I finally have my deposit back and am enroute to the airport…

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Callum — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:03:52 +0000

Getting my first ever pedicure after @guaka's glowing recommendation then heading for the airport in a few hours. Hostel and airport pickup booked. Arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka at 10pm local time…

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Callum — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 07:20:17 +0000

Rudely awoken at 8am by a drunken phone call, and now feeling lousy. Supposed to be a productive day of packing for my departure tomorrow…

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Callum — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:28:27 +0000

Spent the day at the beach Bang Saen beach. Weather was cloudy all day, very pleasant. First time in the sea since arriving in Thailand!

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Post on multiple social networks

Callum — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:56:55 +0000

This is my WordPress site. I also use Facebook, Twitter, Identica, Plurk, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and others. To be honest, I’m not a huge social network user. I don’t quite get it when people describe Facebook as an addiction, that ain’t me. I actually avoid the news feed. Twitter I was using more, but then the connection got wiped on my phone, so it’s been a while.

But I do publish on these social networks, and when I do, I want to post on multiple social networks. There are multiple reasons behind this. First and foremost, I want to own my own data. That means, although I want to post on multiple social networks, I absolutely want to post everything to this site. If I post something on Twitter, I want it on my WordPress site as well. I want to have my own record, on my own server, of what I posted when.

Back in the day, I used ping.fm to post to multiple social networks. It worked well enough, I could post by SMS or from an Android app, on their web site, even by email. But then Seesmic acquired ping.fm, and after a while, they shut the service down. I missed it. I mourned it. I stopped posting.

Bottom line, if I can’t post on multiple social networks, I don’t post. I wouldn’t send messages to twitter without also copying them here, and it was manual and laborious. So I decided to build Composer. It builds on the foundation of ping.fm, but takes on a bigger goal. I set out with the vision to create the best place on the internet to write. Full stop.

Composer is in alpha (that comes before beta!) testing right now. It’s live, it’s online, and you can sign up today. Right now you can post to WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Identica, and Plurk, with more in the works.

If you have any feedback at all, just let me know, in the comments below, by email, or through the help pages on Composer.

Callum — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:37:37 +0000

Train booked, arriving in Edinburgh on Monday 1 April at 21:24. Oh let spring be fully underway and the sun shine brightly!

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Callum — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:33:55 +0000

Had a couple of bugs with Composer's LinkedIn connection, those are now fixed. http://composer.io/

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Callum — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:29:17 +0000

Discovered a little live music blues bar just round the corner from Khao San. Feels almost like the rock'n'roll side of Bangkok!

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Callum — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:01:20 +0000

Composer now posts to LinkedIn, check it out here: http://composer.io/site/2013/02/15/publish-to-linkedin/

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Callum — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:33:47 +0000

I can feel it coming, Node.js is in my near future, it's just so elegant, so simple, and so … javascripty?

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Callum — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:40:45 +0000

So I went out and bought me a USB OTG cable, only to find that it doesn't work with my phone, I need a USB OTG + power cable. Off to ebay…

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Callum — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:25:42 +0000

Two shiny new Yubikeys have arrived, yay! I didn't expect them for ages! Now I'm not quite sure what to do with them!

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Callum — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 06:21:08 +0000

Landed and cleared immigration, miscalculated by one day so my visa is a day short for my flight, DOH! In a taxi on my wah home, yay.

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Callum — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 03:32:58 +0000

Boarding now for the two hour flight back to Bangkok. KL has been a fun few days, now back to reality…

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Callum — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:40:01 +0000

5am finish, I reckon we made a pretty good effort of it for a Monday night! One more night in KL then back to Bangkok on Wednesday…

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Callum — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:13:38 +0000

Sipping virgin cocktails on the 33rd floor of Traders Hotel at Sky Bar looking out at the Petronas Towers. Monday night in KL!

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Callum — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:21:16 +0000

Free buses with free wifi, what's not to love about KL?

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Callum — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:18:19 +0000

First night in KL 7am finish, Sunday write off, today Batu Caves and next KLCC, the mall at the base of the Petronas Towers, yeah baby!

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Callum — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:42:53 +0000

Arrived, checked into the hostel, met a few folk, heading out for what looks to be a fairly tame night in KL…

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Callum — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 05:44:38 +0000

Packing down and heading out for a short 2 hour flight to KL. Be there 4 days then back on Wednesday. Visa run and new country in one trip!

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Callum — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 05:21:31 +0000

Geek hilarity courtesy of www.schneierfacts.com There are no prime numbers. Only numbers that Bruce Schneier does not want you to factor.

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