Dev Life with the new 2017 MacBook Pro - a résumé

As chance would have it, a new computer was due just when the new MacBook Pro 2017 came out. Got one in July 2017, these are the specs:

• 13'' MB Pro (2560 x 1600, 2016)
• 3.1 GHz i5
• 16 GB RAM DDR3
• 500 GB SDD
• Intel Iris Graphics 550 1536 MB

I use it primarily for software development within the SAP mobility stack (hint: UI5, Fiori, node, SCP(ms), GW, ADT, iOS). Some Virtualization (VMWare). GUI Tooling ~ WebStorm, XCode, Eclipse, Visio. Terminal.app a lot.

Control-Strip/Tab-Bar/$Whatever-its-called

Generally I'm open to all kinds of improvements to the Human-Machine-Interface. Who wouldn't want to break out of the dreaded 2D-way of pushing the mouse to operate a computer?
So the Control-Strip/Tab-Bar/$Whatever-its-called (let's call it TouchThing for now) is worth a try.

In situations where the TouchThing complements interaction, it's really nice.
 E.g. quick access to a man page when typing a command in Terminal:

 Or using autocomplete when typing in text-centric input areas:

But during programming, I've yet to see a useful UX feature.
Dropping the F*-Keys in favour of the TouchThing has reduced the value of the MacBook as a tool. There's just too few haptic feedback on the TouchThing when reaching out for a LED F*-Key. Working with WebStorm a lot with utilises the F*-Keys a lot - so having the TouchThing is really cumbersome during coding.

USB-C periphery

There are no more ports on the new MB Pro other than a headphone line-in jack and USB-C ports.
(BTW: why, Apple, is there no adapter for the iPhone X lightning headphone cable -> regular headphone jack?!?!?!?!)
For USB-C, there are still too few devices out there. No more quickly using a USB-Stick. Always have to carry around (another) adapter, in addition to the ones for DVI, VGA and DP.
Please let USB-C-sticks hit the market in masses soon. Please.

Keyboard

A step back.
Plain and simple.
Compared to an older MacBook Air model that has the standard keyboard Apple outfitted MacBooks with for years, the keyboard on the new MB Pro is simply worse. Plus the occasional jamming/sticking/clamping of the Space Bar. Meh.
I don't care so much about the bigger TrackPad - use it only for navigating Spaces and uncluttering the Desktop (Five-Finger-Spread). No need for Force Feedback during development work.

Fingerprint Sensor

...for unlocking the Computer. Nice.
Even nicer: for Authorisation, e.g. when installing/upgrading Apps.
Comfort gain right there.

MagSafe power connector

Get outta here.

Various observations/remarks

• no use for Siri what-so-ever
• no more telnet on High Sierra - seriously?!?
• battery lifetime has (subjectively) decreased plenty - might be something with my local configuration; though generally I try to use as few custom settings and tools as possible in order to remain as "standards-compliant" as possible (hey, it's the SAP world after all I'm working in)
• overall performance is very good; but in MacVerse, we're spoiled anyway
• closing the lid leaves some not-so-nice spots on the display; can be wiped clean, but still
• iOS integration still awesome (e.g. make calls from contacts.app to regular phone numbers via Facetime Audio on the iPhone)

Code completion for UI5 in WebStorm

Just published an npm module for plugging SAP's UI5 code completion (*.js) into WebStorm:
https://github.com/vobujs/ui5-codecompletion

Some more words: https://blogs.sap.com/2017/09/08/ui5-code-completion-in-.js-files-for-webstorm/

dynamic image manipulation with UI5 and Promises

Wrote something about how to manipulate images at runtime from a UI5 (web) application with the help of Promises. And canvas, of course.
http://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/front-end/blog/2016/01/06/dynamic-image-manipulation-with-ui5-and-promises

Sample code over at GitHub: https://github.com/vobujs/UI5_img_manipulation_Promises

Merging JSON models in UI5

Wrote something about merging JSON models in UI5 over at scn, including a sample app over at github: https://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/front-end/blog/2015/04/28/merging-json-models

bye bye Dropbox, hello Google Drive

I'm on the road a lot, working at many different locations. Those locations have substantially different technical infrastructure - one place leaves you all your freedom (aka full LAN and Internet access, no closed ports, no MAC security, etc), another place gives you no leverage what-so-ever (no network access with a laptop, Internet access with your own equipment only via smartphone tethering, etc.)

Thus I rely on some sort of online storage to have relieable access to important work documents, apps and programs.
For many years, my requirements were ideally fulfilled by Dropbox: cross-platform client with great UX integration, quick syncing, history feature, BoxCryptor support.

As of now: no more.

Why?
Because their support of extended file attributes is completely out of control!
Around beginning of November 2014, "com.dropbox.attributes"-files began to show up at random in my Dropbox.
Sometimes for a file, sometimes for a folder.
And always composed of the format $file:com.dropbox.attributes or $folder:com.dropbox.attributes.

It got to the point where I had com.dropbox.attributes-files in the six figures. Deleting them on the command-line became an awkward yet necessary task. Necessary, because I rely on cloud storage - see above.

Mind you, there was no change to my working environment: same laptops (Win 8.1, NTFS; OS X, HFS), no re-installations, no moving of Dropbox location, no nada.

Dropbox support kept insisting that the cause is a Dropbox folder residing on an incompatible file system. Which simply isn't the case (see paragraph above).

To prove my point, I even recorded screen casts showing how those pesky "com.dropbox.attributes"-files appear the moment I create or modify a file in the Dropbox, no matter whether it's on Win 8.1 or OS X.
But still: Dropbox support: no believe.
And no, my Dropbox wasn't compromised. Logs show the expected devices. I have two-factor authentication on.
And no no, reinstalling the Dropbox client on both OS didn't change a thing.

So I had to bite the bullet and give up Dropbox.
"com.dropbox.attributes"-files cluttering my cloud storage, rendering it unusable for me for every day work.

Hello Google Drive.
A day of testing proved, that Google Drive can do all of the things that I rely on for cloud storage.
I loose Dropbox inegration in many iOS apps.
Sigh.
But at least, I can store files the way it should be. Uncluttered.

CORS with Gateway (and Chrome)

Wrote something about enabling CORS with SAP Gateway on the server-side and disabling SOP with Google Chrome on the client side over at SCN.
Which will give you cross-domain requests and hopefully make you a happy developer.

Vergleich: BPMN Designer/Modeller (OS X)

Dieser Post begann bereits Mitte 2013 im Rahmen des extensiven Modellierens von Geschäftsprozessen mehrerer Unternehmungen; er wurde aber nie fertig gestellt - ist aber zu schade, um auf der digitalen Müllhalde zu landen. Daher hier as-is in quasi Rohversion.

Oftmals sind die Modeller ja nur das Extra, das mit einer BPMN-Engine mitkommt.

Auf der anderen Seite ist die reine BPMN-Visualisierung eine perfekte Mischung aus formaler Notation, intuitivem Verständnis und visueller Dokumentation.

Sowas wie die Mutter aller BPMN-Editoren: die verschiedenen Editionen von Visual Paradigm, z.B. http://www.visual-paradigm.com/product/bpva/provides/bpmodeling.jsp

Auswahl:

• Billfish BPM Studio http://www.billfishsoftware.com/studio.html
• Yaoqiang BPMN Editor http://sourceforge.net/projects/bpmn/
• Aris Express http://www.ariscommunity.com/aris-express/
• (doch nicht betrachtet) Intalio BPMS Designer http://www.intalio.com/bpms/designer
• (doch nicht betrachtet) Bonita Open Solution http://www.bonitasoft.com/products/bonita-open-solution-open-source-bpm

Alltags-Features:

• "stickiness": Elemente müssen in Lane haften bleiben, damit Verschieben der Lane alle Elemente mitnimmt
• assisted modeling: Vorschlag für nächste shape samt Konnektor dorthin
• semantic check: Verbindungen dürfen nur zwischen erlaubten Elementen möglich sein

Yaoqiang BPMN Editor

• speichert in eigenem Format (.bpmn), Export nach PNG möglich
• validate-as-you-model
• awkward: Tastenkombinationen sind mit ctrl/Steuerungs-Taste belegt...
• "Snippets": vorgefertigte Prozessschritte (XOR Gateway - split & Zusammenführung)

Billfish BPM Studio

• Speichert in eigenem Format (.bpa) 
• Bedienung der Modellierung gewöhnungsbedürftig, kein Drag'n'Drop: zuerst Notationssymbol wählen, dann auf Modellierungsfläche klicken
• Validierung auf Knopfdruck
• assisted modelling: Klick auf Pfeilsymbol, weiterer Klick öffnet semantisch mögliche Anschlussnotation
• quick modelling (ctrl + N): schmale Prozesse "batch-input"-mäßig erzeugbar
• keine Lanes verschiebbar
• Activities fehlen

Aris Express 2.3

• massive Nacharbeiten für die Installation notwendig: die hosts-Datei (/private/etc/hosts) muss um einen Eintrag für das CDN der Software AG ergänzt werden wie hier beschrieben: http://www.ariscommunity.com/aris-express/installation-faq#pac - Ansonsten startet "Aris Express 2.3.app" bei jedem Aufruf einen erneuten Download aller Programmdateien, was eine Offline-Nutzung des Programms unmöglich macht

• ähnlich wie bei Billfish erfolgt die Modellierung nicht per Drag'n'Drop. Zuerst muss das Symbol ausgewählt, dann auf die Zeichenfläche bewegt und per Klick positioniert werden
• Beschriftungen von Verbindern (hier: "Kanten"), Start- und Endevents sowie Gateways nur über extra Klicks in den Eigenschaften des Symbols möglich. Lästig und zeitraubend.
• Unter Java 1.6.0_33 ist während der Beschriftung eines Objekts kein Text zu erkennen, nur eine dünne Linie erscheint. Sobald die Eingabe mit Enter bestätigt wird, erscheint der Text aber.

Primer on sap.m.table

I've written about the Visual Design Patterns and programming capabilities of UI5's sap.m.table over on SCN.

tl;dr: use .setMode() and attach*-functions to utilize m-tables interaction spectrum.

working with JSON model dates in UI5

Update 2: Article now also available on SCN.
Update: included binding example.

Let's say you've designed an OData Service that returns an Entity with a Date-/Time-value (Edm.DateTime).
Let's also say that you're consuming the service with SAP UI5, particularly with the JSON Model (sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel).
And to top things off, you're binding that to a DateTime UI control (sap.m.DateTimeInput) to display a nice mobile datepicker.

Then you might have gone through a hell of a time already :)

No, seriously - making those three things play together nicely isn't difficult, but provides some obstacles. John Patterson has written an excellent article explaining the handling of OData DateTime with Gateway and UI5.
What didn't make it into the article was handling Edm.DateTime in the UI5 JSON model explicitly.

So off we go:

First, Gateway's Edm.DateTime are represented in the UI5 JSON Model as Strings à la

 /Date(1402166783294)/

This seems to represent a JavaScript timestamp object.
Strange?
Me thinks too.
But that's the way it is (with UI5 version 1.20.4 as of this writing at least).

Next, if you're trying to bind this to the DateTimeInput, this will fail - the UI control expects a JavaScript Date object: "Type Error: Expected JavaScript Date Object".

So the JSON model Date strings needs to be converted to a Date object at runtime in order to be usable in UI5 controls.

I've found two ways to do that.

The first extracts the numbers from the string, using them to construct a new Date object.

// this comes from SAP NW Gateway
// and is in the JSON model
var sJsonDate = "/Date(1402166783294)/";

var sNumber = sJsonDate.replace(/[^0-9]+/g,'');
var iNumber = sNumber * 1; //trick seventeen
var oDate = new Date(iNumber);

Attention: JS String.replace method returns a string that can't be used directly to construct a Date object. Multiplying it with 1 causes an implicit type cast to Integer - the latter goes directly into new Date() then.

The second way uses the RegExp object. With its exec Method, all content between the two "/" of the Date string are extracted - the resulting Date(1402166783294) is auto-assigned to RegExp.$1 and subsequently used for a new call.

// this comes from SAP NW Gateway 
// and is in the JSON Model
var sJsonDate = "/Date(1402166783294)/";/\/(.+)\//.exec(sJsonDate);
var oDate = eval("new " + RegExp.$1);

Clue here is, that exec returns an Object - Date(1402166783294) resides in RegExp.$1 as an object representation. So with the help of eval(), it can directly be used with "new" for instantiating a Date object.

Both methods work: they result in converting the Gateway-JSON-Model "/Date(1402166783294)/" into its Date object representation, that can then be used for the sap.m.DateInput control.

var oDateTimeInput1 = new sap.m.DateTimeInput({
   dateValue: oDate,
   displayFormat: "MMM yyyy",
   valueFormat: "yyyy-MM-dd"
});

Let's combine this with the proper DateInput "type" property and UI5's binding and formatting API.
The dateValue property of the UI control is bound to the path "/date" of the JSON model. The value the JSON model injects then gets formatted with one of the above two snippets.

        var oData = {  
                date: sJsonDate 
        }; 
        var oJsonModel = new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel(); 
        oJsonModel.setData(oData); 
        var oDateTimeInput3 = new sap.m.DateTimeInput({ 
            type: sap.m.DateTimeInputType.Date, 
            displayFormat: "dd - M - yy", 
            dateValue: { 
                path: "/date", 
                formatter: function(sDate) { 
                    if(sDate) { 
                        /\/(.+)\//.exec(sDate); 
                        return eval("new " + RegExp.$1); 
//                        var sNumber = sDate.replace(/[^0-9]+/g,''); 
//                        var iNumber = sNumber * 1; //trick seventeen 
//                        return new Date(iNumber); 
                    } 
                } 
            } 
        }); 
        oDateTimeInput3.setModel(oJsonModel);  

And that's it - a working DatePicker UI control, bound to a JSON model that holds values from a Gateway OData call.
Good karma all around.

Hint: both ways take < 1ms in execution time - so no performance gain possible here, use the possibility of your liking. 

A working example can be found on GitHub.

 

Apple Magic Mouse in Windows 8.1

Out of the box, pairing the magic mouse via bluetooth with the Windows 8.1 box works.
But scrolling by touch is missing.

So:

• Download both Mouse Driver Installer and Mouse Utility Setup from http://trackpadmagic.com/magic-mouse/download
• Run the Installer -> atencíon: the installer will download the 303 MB (!) Bootcamp 3.3
• installer automatically extracts the magic mouse driver from the bootcamp exe 
• Run the Setup -> will launch a GUI config utility also showing the battery status for the magic mouse
• Pair magic mouse with Windows box via bluetooth (if paired previously, de-pair and re-pair)

Phonegap 3.2 + Windows Phone 8

Locally building Win Phone 8 apps in PhoneGap 3.2.0 with a non-English Windows version will currently always fail and deliver the following error:

>phonegap install wp8
[phonegap] detecting Windows Phone 8 SDK environment...

>phonegap local build wp8
[phonegap] adding the Windows Phone 8 platform...
<snip />
[error] Error while checking requirements: The command `msbuild` failed. Make
 sure you have the latest Windows Phone SDKs installed, AND have the latest .NET
 framework added to your path (i.e C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319
).

This is due to an insufficient regex in line 82 of
<$home>\.cordova\lib\wp\cordova\3.2.0\wp8\bin\check_reqs.js

var msversion = output.match(/Microsoft\s\(R\)\s+Build\sEngine\s[a-z]+\s4\.0\.30319/i);

The regex will match the string "Microsoft (R) Build Engine, Version 4.0.30319" - which is the output of msbuild from the command prompt on Windows Systems (with .NET 4 framework installed) with English locale only.
With German language setting, msbuild says:
Microsoft (R)-Buildmodul, Version 4.0.30319.33440

And that string the above regex will never match and always report that msbuild is missing - no matter whether .NET is installed or not.

Quick Fix: replace the above line with 
var msversion = output.match(/.NET\sFramework\,\s\w*\s4.0/);
This will at least match an installed .NET Framework in Version 4.

Proper Fix: I've reported both to the PhoneGap forum and community.phonegap.com (where they didn't want to see it). 

Registration of phone number not possible for iMessage & Facetime

UPDATE: as of now (Jun 21, 9:00 am CET), phone# activation works again for both iMessage & Facetime. Didn't even have to re-enable any settings.

Just to jot this down, for Apple support or anybody else twisting their heads on the problem:

Currently (at least since 2 days ago, June 18, 2013) there seems to be a global issue with registering an iPhone's phone number for use in iMessage and Facetime: both screens remain in status "waiting for activation..." (German: "Auf Aktivierung warten...").
But: iMessage & Facetime both work fine with the Apple-ID.

Many similar complaints currently in the Apple Support Communities confirm the issue.
(Hint: this is on the latest and greatest iPhone 5 16 GB & iOS 6.1.4)


So...what gives?!?

Here's my chronology (all Pics in German, sorry):

Switching on iMessage & Facetime including Apple-ID usage shows the information expected:

But both status screens remain in "waiting for activation..." (German: "Auf Aktivierung warten...").

Also strange: since I switched SIM cards some days ago, my old phone number is still shown in the status screens, even though the phone itself works fine with the new number (both calls and SMS/text messages)!

Story gets even more funny: after yet another registration attempt on my side, I keep receiving text messages from the UK Apple Activation numer +44 7786 205 094. Not only 1, but at the time of this writing already 16 :)

Hint: the iPhone sends a silent SMS/text message to the above number on every activation try of iMessage and Facetime. This is not unusal. But receiving back not only one but many text messages is.

And by looking at the content of the message (hey, I'm a tech guy after all), it seems clear that it is a reply to an activation request:

And just for the record:

• yeah, I know of the Support Documents on how to associate your phone number with your Apple ID. Tried that manyfold: nada.
• yeah, I know of the Support Document on how to troubleshoot iMessage & Facetime, including the part on problems with activating the phone number. I tried that, including the suggested patient 24-hour-wait for activation. Guess what: nada.
• yeah, I called T-Mobile. All settings on my account are correct. I can receive and send SMS/text message, I can make calls. The iPhone really works fine - except iMessage and Facetime via the phone number.
• yeah, I called Apple Support. Yesterday, June 19. And they confirmed that there currently seems to be an issue with activating phone numbers for iMessage and Facetime. Yet the status support pages are all green - were yesterday, still are. Go figure.

ZF2 with macports' ZendFramework2 port

Quick Handreichung how to set up the skeleton application Zend Framework 2 (ZF2) on OS X, using macports' distribution of ZF2. Otherwise you'd have to download/install ZF2 every time for every project - redundancy and version confusion ahoi.
The ZF2 skeleton application is a good starting point for your own ZF2 development.

Quick facts:

• OS X 10.8
• ZF2 2.0.6
• PHP 5.3 (from macports - hint: will be installed anyway with macports' version of ZF2)
• Apache 2.2.23 (from macports)

$> cd /opt/local/ww
$> sudo git clone git://github.com/zendframework/ZendSkeletonApplication.git zf2.git

$> tree zf2.git

zf2.git
├── LICENSE.txt
├── README.md
├── composer.json
├── composer.phar
├── config
│   ├── application.config.php
│   └── autoload
│       ├── README.md
│       ├── global.php
│       └── local.php.dist
├── data
│   └── cache
├── init_autoloader.php
├── module
│   └── Application
│       ├── Module.php
│       ├── config
│       │   └── module.config.php
│       ├── language
│       │   ├── ar_SY.mo
│       │   ├── ar_SY.po
│       │   ├── cs_CZ.mo
│       │   ├── cs_CZ.po
│       │   ├── de_DE.mo
│       │   ├── de_DE.po
│       │   ├── en_US.mo
│       │   ├── en_US.po
│       │   ├── es_ES.mo
│       │   ├── es_ES.po
│       │   ├── fr_CA.mo
│       │   ├── fr_CA.po
│       │   ├── fr_FR.mo
│       │   ├── fr_FR.po
│       │   ├── it_IT.mo
│       │   ├── it_IT.po
│       │   ├── ja_JP.mo
│       │   ├── ja_JP.po
│       │   ├── nb_NO.mo
│       │   ├── nb_NO.po
│       │   ├── nl_NL.mo
│       │   ├── nl_NL.po
│       │   ├── pl_PL.mo
│       │   ├── pl_PL.po
│       │   ├── pt_BR.mo
│       │   ├── pt_BR.po
│       │   ├── ru_RU.mo
│       │   ├── ru_RU.po
│       │   ├── tr_TR.mo
│       │   ├── tr_TR.po
│       │   ├── zh_CN.mo
│       │   ├── zh_CN.po
│       │   ├── zh_TW.mo
│       │   └── zh_TW.po
│       ├── src
│       │   └── Application
│       │       └── Controller
│       │           └── IndexController.php
│       └── view
│           ├── application
│           │   └── index
│           │       └── index.phtml
│           ├── error
│           │   ├── 404.phtml
│           │   └── index.phtml
│           └── layout
│               └── layout.phtml
├── public
│   ├── css
│   │   ├── bootstrap-responsive.min.css
│   │   ├── bootstrap.min.css
│   │   └── style.css
│   ├── images
│   │   ├── favicon.ico
│   │   └── zf2-logo.png
│   ├── index.php
│   └── js
│       ├── bootstrap.min.js
│       ├── html5.js
│       └── jquery.min.js
└── vendor
    ├── README.md
    └── ZF2

Note the vendor/ZF2 directory above - comes in empty.

$> sudo port install ZendFramework2
--->  Computing dependencies for ZendFramework2
   <snip />
--->  Cleaning ZendFramework2
--->  Scanning binaries for linking errors: 100.0%
--->  No broken files found.

Now comes the the important part: linking macports' ZF2/library to the actual ZF2-directory of the git repository.

$> cd /opt/local/www/zf2.git/vendor/ZF2
$> sudo ln -s /opt/local/www/ZendFramework/library
$> ls -al

total 8
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  admin  102 23 Jan 16:04 .
drwxr-xr-x  5 root  admin  170 23 Jan 16:02 ..
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  admin   36 23 Jan 16:04 library -> /opt/local/www/ZendFramework/library

Configure /opt/local/www/zf2.git/public to be the DocumentRoot of your local webserver and you should see ZF2's starting screen.

Ta-Ta!!!

OS X 10.8: remove HTML formatting in messages.app for ICQ/AIM

Handlungsanweisung on how to remove the awkward HTML formatting that messages.app on OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) produces for ICQ or AIM accounts:

1. quit messages.app
2. open terminal.app
3. if ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iChat.AIM.plist.lockfile exists,
   rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iChat.AIM.plist.lockfile
4. in terminal.app, 
   open ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iChat.AIM.plist
5. (XCode will start)
6. Locate ICQ Account under root -> Accounts and set 
   ForceICQPlainText to YES
7. File -> Save
8. Reboot!
   Yes, seriously, boot your box. I know, feels strange on OS X.
   But if you start messages.app before rebooting, the setting above will not be saved. And you have to start over (-> goto 1.) again.

Now, happy plaintext ICQing.

LyX missing shortcuts

Update:
#insert Lyx note is also quite helpful

#⌥⌘n
\bind "C-A-n" "note-insert"


Here are my top 3 keyboard shortcuts that are missing in LyX's standard settings:

#insert reference (de: "Einfügen -> Querverweis")
#⌥⌘R
\bind "C-A-r" "dialog-show-new-inset ref"

#insert label (de: "Einfügen -> Marker")
#⌥⌘M
\bind "C-A-m" "label-insert"

#citation (de: "Einfügen -> Literaturverweis")
#⌥⌘Z
\bind "C-A-z" "citation-insert"

Being on a Mac, place them as user.bind in  ~/Library/Application Support/LyX-2.0/bind/
Restart LyX and off you go, saving yourself them awkward mouse-clicks.

"i.e." vs "e.g."

another one in the note-to-self series:

what abbreviation to choose when in doubt: "i.e." vs. "e.g."?

• "i.e." -> id est -> à la "in essence"
• "e.g." -> exempli gratia -> à la "example given"

I'm a classical dichotomy, i.e. dive instructor, IT architect and wanna-be chef, all in one person.

You say: drink? I say: yes, potatoes, e.g. tequila.

macbook pro: HDD -> SDD

just replaced the internal 320GB HDD of my mid-2010 macbook pro (13'') ...

 ...with a 256GB SDD from Samsung:

maceinsteiger.de's article (sorry, German only) provided a good guide on how to do this.

Two caveats though:

1. you'll need a size 16 tork screwdriver. Otherwise you won't get the attachment screws of the HDD frame.
2. after booting from DVD, the system didn't recognize the SDD as a volume to install OS X on.
   Don't freak out: it's because the drive simply isn't formatted and partitioned yet.
   There's access to the Hard-Drive-Utility (funny...) from the install screen top menu. So just start, format, and -voilà- you'll see SDD as a possible install target.

hth again. someone. somehow.

FYI: RAM in mid-2010 macbook pro

just a quick FYI because I searched for it without any relevant result on the internetz:

the original RAM in my mid-2010 macbook pro (13'', MacBookPro7,1) was manufactured by hynix.
part no is HMT125S6TFR8C.
it is labeled with
2GB 2Rx8 PC3 - 8500S - 7 - 10 - F2
(part no) - G7 N0 AA - C

I replaced it with 2 x 4GB from Kingston, and now OS X shows "0x0198" as the manufacturer in "about this mac".

hth. somehow. someone.

excel mac:2011 "edit cell" keyboard shortcut

note-to-self: to edit the content of a cell in excel mac:2011, hit ctrl + U.
⌃U
(comment: that's the equivalent to F2 in Windows land)

SAP Passport on OS X / iOS

note to self: since it's nowhere to be found how to operate the SAP marketplace, support portal or SDN with a certificate in Safari (OS X) or an iOS device:
when receiving another of them SAP S-User, do the following to make the SAP passport (aka public & private key) work on OS X (Safari and the like) and iOS:

• use Firefox (here: 8.0.1), open the Support Portal and log in a subsequent fazillion times with your S-User-Id and password
• (sorry, German coming up) mein Profil ➔ Single-Sign-On Zertifikate verwalten
• put your password in the fazillionst time and generate your passport 
• Firefox will install your new SAP passport (aka public & private key) in the background and notify you upon completion (ignore the notifications about invalid Certificate Authorities and bla; it's all a big useless bloat of shady issuer-companies anyway)

Now in Firefox Advanced preferences, (you guessed it, German again) Zertifikate anzeigen. Locate your S-User-Id in (yep, German) Ihre Zertifikate, highlight and backup.

This will export your SAP passport (aka public & private key) in PKCS12-format - not so easy to do with any other browser, including the MS cripples. Because usually your private key remains hidden in binary wonderland somewhere in the proprietary niche of the browser. But you'll need both public and private key for use with the OS X / iOS keychain.

Launch the latter and import your newly exported .p12 file. 

Now happily browse the SAP marketplace, support portal or SDN via SSO with your browser certificate in Safari or your favorite iOS device.

q.e.d