Starting out with Numbers

I managed to hold out for quite some time (for me some time is past the launch date) before splashing out on a copy of iWork.

I have been using Excel on my Mac but wanted to know if Numbers (part of iWork) gave a fresh perspective on how a spreadsheet should work.

I have to confess I have not spent a lot of time with Numbers yet but so far I have not been disappointed.

Key features that work for me

• Column and row headers as explicit items but still addressable
  
• Inline computation of results as a formula is filled into other columns
  
• More intuitive insertion of newlines in cells (got it on the 2nd try)
  
• Simple menus and text wrapping as an option on the toolbar
  
• Sheets start small and grow as the data grows.
  
• Easy import of my existing spreadsheets
  

It is still early days but so far very pleased :)

Essential Software for a Cooler Mac

I moved over to a Mac early in 2006 and have been impressed. It has done everything I have asked of it and more. It has become an essential part of my life both as a work tool for software development and in my personal life for music and photo management.

But one irritation is how hot it runs. I know that this is a generally a problem with laptops but I had hoped that my MacBook Pro would have solved this issue.

So after a couple of years of having a warm lap a colleague of mine put me on to smsFanControl which allows control over the system fan's minimum speed. The default 1000 rpm means that I get a hot lap. Pushing this up to 2500 or 3000 rpm really makes a difference and to my ears does not make that much more noise.

One very happy chap and would really recommend giving the app a try.