in8snotes

Hello Mr. Blue Sky

Its the same principle that makes the sky blue (when we're not having wonderful sunsets). Those longer wavelengths of light (the reds and oranges) pass right through the atmosphere, while the shorter wavelengths (blue) hit gas molecules in our atmosphere and scatter about. If we had no atmosphere, not only would we all be dead, but there would be no blue sky at all. A visitor in a space suit standing on the surface would look out at a black sky dotted by tiny stars and a bright white sun about the same angular size in the sky as the moon.

Last saved: 03/31/2008
Links: /science / bluesky.txt

International Characters in Mac OS X

from http://webct.pcc.edu/support/langmac.html

Some language classes at Portland Community College make use of WebCT to compliment their course. WebCT provides excellent tools for online communication. The mail tool, discussion tool, and chat tool can all be used by students and faculty to communicate using what they've learned in class.

One problem that these courses encounter is related to some of the characters in different languages that don't show up on our keyboards. Not to fear, there are ways around this using keyboard shortcuts and using tools built in to the Mac OS.
Keyboard Shortcuts

There are many keyboard shortcuts on the mac for inserting characters. To insert a character with an accent, type the key combination then the letter you want to insert.

For example, if you want to type á, you would press option-e (option and E at the same time), then press the A key.
For French

* ê -- accent circumflex (option-i)
* ü -- accent tréma (option-u)
* á,é,í -- accent acute (option-e)
* à,è,ì -- accent grave (option-`)
* ç -- accent cedilla (option-c)

For German

* ü -- umlaut (option-u)
* ß -- esset (option-s)

For Spanish

* á,é,í -- accent (option-e)
* ñ -- accent tilde (option-n)
* ü -- umlaut (option-u)
* ¿ -- upside-down questionmark (option-shift-/ )
* ¡ -- upside-down exclamation (option-1)

For Other

* ø -- option-o
* è -- option-`
* ñ -- option-n
* å -- option-a
* ü -- option-u
* ç -- option-c

To apply an accent to a capital letter, also hold down the shift key.

Last saved: 03/15/2008
Links: /computers/mac / intl-char.txt

Oops, my secret key expired!

http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Sysadmin/GnuPG

gpg --list-secret-keys
and note down (or copy) the ID of the key whose key expiry you would like to edit (e.g. '277FF772'). Then pass the key ID to gpg and enter its console mode:
gpg --edit-key 277FF772
Now select the first sub key (subkey 0):
Command> key 0
and edit the expiry options:
Command> expire

You can now set the expiry for this subkey (usually this is the public key part of the private/public key pair).

Changing expiration time for the primary key.
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
= key expires in n days
w = key expires in n weeks
m = key expires in n months
y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0) 1y
Key expires at Di 17 Jun 2008 13:26:24 CEST
Is this correct? (y/N) y

GPG will then show the updated key data.

Repeat the above steps for all sub keys. Start by selecting the second subkey:
Command> key 1

Finally, quit the GPG console and save any changes:
Command> quit

Last saved: 03/02/2008
Links: /computers / gpg-expired.txt

Select Behind

from http://www.illustratortechniques.com/stroke_091407.html
The Stroke September 14th, 2007 By Press Editor

To select an object hidden behind another object, select the top object, and then press Command-Option-left bracket ([) (PC: Control-Option-left bracket). That will select the next object, below the selected object. Keep pressing the same shortcut to select the next object down. To select back the other way (Select>Next Object Above), press Command-Option-right bracket (]) (PC: Control-Option-right bracket).

Last saved: 03/01/2008
Links: /media/graphics / illustrator-select.txt