Reverend Conehead
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Some computer hacks are great to do because they make you more productive. Others don't help the workflow to be better, but are just cool. Still others are there for emotional reasons.
I'll start with the latter. Back in my Windows days, I would hold down the Windows or "Win" button and type the letter D to minimize all programs and reveal the desktop. This was my Win+D or "Wendy" hack. However, I switched to Kubuntu Linux and that same button became the KDE button or the K button. So Win+D or was replaced by K+D to show the desktop. I dumped Wendy for Katie. Of course that really hurt Wendy's feelings, but she was a security liability and so I'm better off with Katie. Katie is a much better girl. I can only wish Wendy the best as I move on from her. I'm really sorry I had to hurt her.
Here are some other computer hacks. I run everything under Kubuntu Linux now. However, sometimes there's a Windows program you just can't let go of. Ultralingua is one such program. It's my collection of foreign language dictionaries. If I need to write in French or German, it's great to have those dictionaries at my fingertips. So I run that Windows program under WINE in Linux, and it runs. But there's more. I've used a hack to make my Linux OS look like Macintosh OS 9. I just get a kick out of it looking retro. So here's the Windows app, Ultralingua, running under Linux but looking like retro Macintosh:
Why would I do such a thing? Because it's cool, that's why.
If I need to write in French or German, there are characters in each of those languages that aren't on an American keyboard. I've therefore created in LibreOffice Writer a couple toolbars for easy access to those characters. I also assign each character a hot-key. For example, Alt+S types the German esszet character: ß
I can mouse over any character in my French or German toolbar, and it gives a little tool tip, telling me which hot-key I can use -- or I can just click on that character and get it. Here's my LibreOffice Writer hacked with my foreign language toolbars:
Also in my main toolbar at the top, I have icons of various country flags. If I click on the French flag, the language that gets spellchecked changes to French. The German flag switches it to German. The Swiss flag switches it to German with standard Swiss spelling, and the half British/half American flag switches it to American English.
Okay, more geeky stuff. Linux offers various basic text editors similar to Windows' Notepad. Two of them are named Mousepad and Gedit. I've hacked them so that if the focus is on Mousepad, it looks like Mac OS 9, but if the focus is on Gedit, then that one looks like Mac OS X. Here are a couple shots of what that looks like:
Finally, I can run the Windows' Notepad under WINE in Linux and make it look like Windows 7. Here that is:
Some of these hacks are super useful, like the language toolbars and being able to run a Windows program in a different operating system. Others are just fun and cool. I saw one dude who took an old broken-down Mac from about 1990 and gutted the insides so just the case was left. Then he bleached that case to make it look new again. He then took a Raspberry Pi computer and a 10- or 11-inch screen and set them up to run Mac System 7 on the Raspberry Pi with that screen. He then installed all that hardware into that old case, and had a running vintage "Mac" computer. I think he even got the retro keyboard and mouse to run with it. He set it up so that the 3.5" floppy drive port actually has USB ports, and so he could save from the classic Mac software he was running to USB ports. Maybe that's not a very practical computer to own, but it's definitely a cool one.
I've also heard that the author of Game of Thrones writes all the scripts for that show on something like a 28 year-old PC running WordStar. I used to use that very word processor back in the 80s. Way cool. I'm not sure how he prints the scripts. Maybe it's hooked up to a really old computer, or maybe he puts the files on a modern PC, reformats them, and prints them. In any case, that's pretty cool.
Your turn. What cool computer hacks have you done? Or if you prefer, you can say, "I never do imaginative or creative retro computer stuff because I'm a boring stick in the mud." This idea is best expressed via the clichéd sentence, "You have way too much time on your hands."
For everyone else, I would love to know what computer hacks you like.
I'll start with the latter. Back in my Windows days, I would hold down the Windows or "Win" button and type the letter D to minimize all programs and reveal the desktop. This was my Win+D or "Wendy" hack. However, I switched to Kubuntu Linux and that same button became the KDE button or the K button. So Win+D or was replaced by K+D to show the desktop. I dumped Wendy for Katie. Of course that really hurt Wendy's feelings, but she was a security liability and so I'm better off with Katie. Katie is a much better girl. I can only wish Wendy the best as I move on from her. I'm really sorry I had to hurt her.
Here are some other computer hacks. I run everything under Kubuntu Linux now. However, sometimes there's a Windows program you just can't let go of. Ultralingua is one such program. It's my collection of foreign language dictionaries. If I need to write in French or German, it's great to have those dictionaries at my fingertips. So I run that Windows program under WINE in Linux, and it runs. But there's more. I've used a hack to make my Linux OS look like Macintosh OS 9. I just get a kick out of it looking retro. So here's the Windows app, Ultralingua, running under Linux but looking like retro Macintosh:
Why would I do such a thing? Because it's cool, that's why.
If I need to write in French or German, there are characters in each of those languages that aren't on an American keyboard. I've therefore created in LibreOffice Writer a couple toolbars for easy access to those characters. I also assign each character a hot-key. For example, Alt+S types the German esszet character: ß
I can mouse over any character in my French or German toolbar, and it gives a little tool tip, telling me which hot-key I can use -- or I can just click on that character and get it. Here's my LibreOffice Writer hacked with my foreign language toolbars:
Also in my main toolbar at the top, I have icons of various country flags. If I click on the French flag, the language that gets spellchecked changes to French. The German flag switches it to German. The Swiss flag switches it to German with standard Swiss spelling, and the half British/half American flag switches it to American English.
Okay, more geeky stuff. Linux offers various basic text editors similar to Windows' Notepad. Two of them are named Mousepad and Gedit. I've hacked them so that if the focus is on Mousepad, it looks like Mac OS 9, but if the focus is on Gedit, then that one looks like Mac OS X. Here are a couple shots of what that looks like:
Finally, I can run the Windows' Notepad under WINE in Linux and make it look like Windows 7. Here that is:
Some of these hacks are super useful, like the language toolbars and being able to run a Windows program in a different operating system. Others are just fun and cool. I saw one dude who took an old broken-down Mac from about 1990 and gutted the insides so just the case was left. Then he bleached that case to make it look new again. He then took a Raspberry Pi computer and a 10- or 11-inch screen and set them up to run Mac System 7 on the Raspberry Pi with that screen. He then installed all that hardware into that old case, and had a running vintage "Mac" computer. I think he even got the retro keyboard and mouse to run with it. He set it up so that the 3.5" floppy drive port actually has USB ports, and so he could save from the classic Mac software he was running to USB ports. Maybe that's not a very practical computer to own, but it's definitely a cool one.
I've also heard that the author of Game of Thrones writes all the scripts for that show on something like a 28 year-old PC running WordStar. I used to use that very word processor back in the 80s. Way cool. I'm not sure how he prints the scripts. Maybe it's hooked up to a really old computer, or maybe he puts the files on a modern PC, reformats them, and prints them. In any case, that's pretty cool.
Your turn. What cool computer hacks have you done? Or if you prefer, you can say, "I never do imaginative or creative retro computer stuff because I'm a boring stick in the mud." This idea is best expressed via the clichéd sentence, "You have way too much time on your hands."
For everyone else, I would love to know what computer hacks you like.
