David Vielmetter

Adventures in stupid technology

  • Macbook pro palm rest discoloration

    A few months ago I noticed that my brand new Macbook Pro had developed some permanent stains on the palm rest. A trip to the Apple store “genius bar” ended in a 45 minute wait session followed by an interrogation about my palm moisture levels. Finally I felt I needed to make the following concession:…

  • Streaming HD content over WIFI

    SageTV Media Center can stream shows effortlessly to any SageTV Client in your house, but if you want to stream HD content you’ll need to step up to Wireless N for additional bandwidth. I’ve configured SageTV Client on my VAIO notebook in the bedroom and it now plays streamed HD content on an external 24″…

  • My MacBook’s trackpad clicks aren’t registering

    I recently got a 2009 MacBook Pro. I wrote about my experience with it a few months ago (generally positive), but now six months in I’ve got a really annoying problem. My trackpad (or touchpad) doesn’t register some clicks. The most annoying part about it is that the problem isn’t consistent. It just happens sometimes…

  • Serial commuications on a MacBook Pro

    Connecting to a device using via a rs232 using a MacBook is not straight forward, but possible if you have one of the more popular USB-to-Serial adapters. The PL2303 adapter is sold by a number of manufacturers under different model names. Luckily, however, most of them run on the same basic chip for which an…

  • Making thin burger patties

    My ideal hamburger is like those you find at In-N-Out. It has a relatively thin seasoned patty cooked medium well, onion, lettuce, tomato, thousand island dressing and ketchup all on a soft white bun. I never understood the appeal of those thick rare in the center burger patties advertised in restaurant burgers. To me a…

  • Extend your desktop to a notebook

    Want to add your notebook to an existing display environment? Then Synergy is for you. It’s a cross platform open source application that lets you control a systems mouse and keyboard through the network. Its server/client architecture let you extend the reach of your mouse and keyboard to other computers. Here’s how I configured Synergy…

  • Snow Leopard a few months later

    It’s been about five months since I got my MacBook Pro and I’ve gotten much more comfortable with both the new hardware and operating system. Like most reviews this post will boil down to a list of features I like and ones I don’t. It’ll be a cliché in the sense that this is yet…

  • VIM quick reference

    This custom VIM reference chart is organized for me – but you can borrow it. There are lots of quick VIM reference charts, but this one is mine. It has the stuff I’m always looking for and none of the crap I don’t need. VIM quick reference cheat sheet (from ViEmu.com) David’s frequently used &…

  • My ShowAnalyzer settings

    I’ve been fine tuning my ShowAnalyzer settings for a while now and think I’ve gotten them pretty close to ideal. ShowAnalyzer is the software I use to batch analyze DVR recordings and mark ad segments within so that SageTV can automatically skip them during playback. It has a built in tool for fine tuning called…

  • SATA to USB adapter issues on the Mac

    I had an extra Western Digital SATA notebook hard drive lying around and figured I could use it as a time capsule for my MacBook. So I hopped on eBay and bought a $5 USB enclosure for it. I had no sooner plugged the thing in than my problems began. First I had issues copying…