A few weeks ago I got a friendly reminder from Apple that my Developer license was about to expire. What I hadn't realized however was that should it expire my games would no longer be available to download on the store.

[![](https://www.mikecann.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/chrome_2017-02-28_07-11-33-1024x451.png)](https://www.mikecann.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/chrome_2017-02-28_07-11-33.png)

I can sort of understand this policy for paid apps, should you app earn anything, where does Apple send the money to? But for totally free apps such as [Mr Nibbles](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr-nibbles/id552109003?mt=8) or [Ectoplasm](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ectoplasm/id619071417?mt=8) why do this? Its frustrating that I have to pay £80 per year just to keep my free games alive.

To add insult to injury, shortly after receiving the demand for cash from Apple I receive this lovely email:

[![](https://www.mikecann.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/chrome_2017-02-15_07-56-10-1024x642.png)](https://www.mikecann.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/chrome_2017-02-15_07-56-10.png)

So not only do I have to pay Apple for the privilege of keeping my free apps on their incredible store I also have to continually update them even tho there is nothing wrong with them. Sigh. I have no idea if I can sill even build my old games for iOS any more. Mr Nibbles was built using Haxe which has no doubt moved on significantly in the intervening years.

In other news I decided to release a new version of [Mr Nibbles Forever](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr-nibbles-forever/id958818922?mt=8) this month too. I was kind of forced to do so as the highscores in the game relied upon [Parse.com](https://Parse.com) for its database and with that shutting down this month I thought that I would do an update to fix it.

While I was there I also decided to simplify things and bring them more inline with the PC version. With that in mind I ripped out all the IAPs and advertising and put a price of \$0.99 on it instead. To be honest its probably what I should have done for the start it would have saved me a bunch of time and headaches if I had done so.

Well thats is for now, not too much to report on. I have been busy [preparing for the next few months](https://www.mikecann.blog/travel/camping-australia-2017-the-plan/), researching, shopping and organizing. Hopefully ill have some exciting news to report on in that direction soon!

[![](/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/CropperCapture1.jpg "CropperCapture[1]")](/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/CropperCapture1.jpg)

Just got my new computer at work. First thing I did was chuck out the stock keyboard and replace with my favourite mac aluminium keyboard.



As usual when trying to get Apple hardware to play nice with Microsoft there is a little friction. In this case the keyboard doesn't come with any mapping drivers resulting in the fact that some of the keys are messed up and in wrong locations. So we get to the point of this post. As I have had to do this several times now I thought I would post my solution so I dont spend ages searching each time.

The solution is to use the Apple Pro Keyboard Layout from [parkernet.com](parkernet.com).

For convenience I have taken the details on how to use the file directly from the stite: [https://parkernet.com/applepro/](https://parkernet.com/applepro/)

**Download**

Download the installation package [Apple_Pro_KBD_v2](/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Apple_Pro_KBD_v2.zip) (250K)

**System requirements**

Windows XP or Windows Vista, 32-bit or 64-bit versions. Maybe Windows 7 RC but not tested. Apple Pro Keyboard or new aluminium Apple Keyboard. Untested with wireless keyboards but it should work okay.

**Installation**

After unZipping the Apple_Pro_KBD_v2.zip file, open the Apple Pro KBD v2 directory and run the Setup.exe installation file.

The installer will run and automatically install the keyboard layout .dll file into the correct location for your operating system.

To remove the keyboard layout simply run the installer again.

**Configuration**

Use the Windows XP Regional and Language Options control panel to select the new keyboard layout. Full details are included in the read me text file included in the ZIP download.

For those of you who want a step-by-step guide with pictures that you can print out, click [here](https://parkernet.com/applepro/installation.html).

Sorry there's no Vista step by step, but I have skillfully avoided Vista since it's release.

**Keystrokes**

All keys now operate as per the legends printed upon them.

Shift-2 = @

Ctrl-Alt-2 = €

Shift-3 = £

Ctrl-Alt-3 = #

So after reading my last blog post "A Week on The Mac" the family cat had something to say about the subject too.



[![cat1](/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cat1.jpg "cat1")](/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cat1.jpg)

Well its now a couple of weeks into using my shiney new MacBook Pro 15" and I have decided to do an early report on a few things I like / dont like about it. Its not an exhaustive list but just a small rant of my main pleasures / gripes.

**Like:**

The keyboard, I know you can get soft-touch keyboards for PC but I have never tried them before passing them off as "unnecessary" but having used this keyboard for a week now I am a changed man. Just the act of typing on the thing is a pure pleasure! Definately a plus if you are coding on the thing all day ;) One slight negative is that there appear to be some keys missing from it such as the # key and the end and home buttons, not a biggie, im sure there are shortcuts in there somewhere.

[![expose](/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/expose.png "expose")](/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/expose.png)The Expose show all windows feature is great! I have it activated on my middle mouse button right now. Right mouse button show all windows to get an overview of all the windows open then click on the one you want, simple, easy and less confusing that the Windows taskbar in my opinion.

The install / uninstall process. This one took a little bit of getting used to. At first I wasnt sure exactly what was going on, but now I understand that you just drag an application into the "applications" folder to install or drag it out to uninstall its a doddle, much better than Windows' add / remove programs or even worse individual application uninstallers!

**Dislike:**

Finder. I may not have got it setup totally correctly yet but so far this app has been pissing me off more than any other so far. I dont like the way you delete files and folders from it by either having to drag them to the recycle bin or by having to press cmd &amp; backspace, a simple backspace would have been better. Also copying files to and from folders is frustrating. In windows you select some files hit ctrl &amp; c then select the folder for the files to go to then ctrl &amp; v, do this in mac and your files and folders end up going in the root folder not the one you are navigating. The same goes for making a new folder, you would expect selecting a folder then going file -> new folder would create a new folder in the selected folder, nope, it goes in the root again :(

The cmd key. Why? What is the purpose of having control, alt and cmd? Im slowly getting used to using the cmd key for things such as cmd &amp; w to close windows and tabs and cmd &amp; n to open new things but I dont see why you couldnt just use ctrl for this purpose. Whats more, when I switch back to a windows computer at home I end up getting confused and hitting the alt key all the time :S

[![examplemenubar](/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/examplemenubar.png "examplemenubar")](/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/examplemenubar.png)

The lack of right-click functionality on menu bar items. This is frustrating in some situations, one of the primary being GMarks for firefox. In the morning I like to check a few sites for news and see whats going on in the world. On windows I do this using the GoogleBookmarks plugin for Firefox called Gmarks. I normally right click my "Check Daily" GMarks bookmark folder then select "Open All in Tabs" button. Unfortunately however as you cant rightclick on menu bar items on the Mac you are unable to do this. My only solution so-far for this problem is to fireup parallels and then perform my morning ritual from within windows xp, hardly ideal.