kdmurray.blog

The crossroads of life and tech

Monthly Archives: October 2007

Last Post from Tiger…

OS X UpgradeI’m just about to start my upgrade to OS X 10.5 “Leopard”.

I called around to a few London Drugs locations today trying to sort out where I’d make my purchase, and to see how many copies each had. It seems like most LD locations only got 10 copies though several, like Brentwood where I finally went, had put in orders for many more.

I got to the store about 5:20, and managed to be the first copy of Leopard sold at the Brentwood location! :) (yay me! :P )

So here goes nothing. If for some reason I go missing, at least you’ll know why… :P

Leopard Prep

I’ve decided to take the plunge tomorrow and pick up a copy of Leopard.  Hopefully I’ll have it all installed and ready by the time we record this week’s episode of the GGP.

I was trying to figure out how I can streamline the process of getting myself back up to speed as quickly as possible.  Of course the obvious answer is to do an ‘upgrade’ installation of Leopard over top of my existing OS X 10.4.  But I’ve always been a bit anal when it comes to OS installations, I hate upgrades.  It means that all the crap you’ve got on your machine now will still be there, so I prefer to ‘wipe and reload’.

The Process

  1. A few days before, I’ve done a full backup of the data which won’t change between now and ‘upgrade day’.  This includes my 26GB iPhoto Library.
  2. Tonight I downloaded the installers for several of the applications I use most regularly.  These include:
  3. Tomorrow right before I head out to work, I’ll start the final data backup, making a second copy of my most critical data onto a network share (in case disaster strikes).
  4. When I get home tomorrow, double check the backups to ensure everything’s kosher.
  5. Insert the brand new Leopard disc and begin the install…
  6. Once Leopard is set up, I’ll install all the applications that I have on disc, and in my downloads folder
  7. Transfer the data back to the Macbook
  8. Enjoy the newest commercial operating system in the world!  (for the next week until some fancy new Linux distro comes out…  :mrgreen: )

Now all I have to do is put this plan into action…

IMAP Coming to Gmail

Just saw a post from DownloadSquad about the advent of IMAP in GMail.  It’s only a few hours old, and by the sounds of things this is a really fresh feature… which probably explains why it hasn’t shown up in my account yet… But the new help docs are there so it’s just a matter of time.

For those who may not know, IMAP is the bi-directional email protocol which makes Outlook so successful in the corporate environment.  With this feature enabled, I think it won’t be long until we see an even tighter outlook-like integration of Gmail and Google Calendar.

Project “Gutsy Gibbon” — Adventures with Ubuntu

I’ve been running a Linux machine at the house for some time now, experimenting with trying to use it for a central file server where I can get at things like music and pictures from any of the computers in the house, and in some cases from over the Internet.

I’ve tried using various incarnations of Red Hat including the Fedora Core (5 & 6) series, but eventually I hit some kind of a wall and give up. After all the technology is supposed to be there to serve me, not the other way around.

'A Grid'
Photo Credit: IO_Burn on Flickr

Last week I listened to the second episode of the Knightcast. This was the continuation of the series “the Grid”. The main focus of the episode was getting started using Ubuntu as a “power-station” in a home or (very small) business network.

I listen to most of my podcasts in the car, so the first time I listened to this episode, I was driving around the city on my daily commute and it gave me lots of time to think about just how useful this type of “home server” might be. When I got home, I pulled the podcast up and went through the first part of it again, the bit that explains some of how the server could be put to good use. Most of it is pretty common sense stuff. The “power-station” server machine allows for a central place in your home where documents, media and other files can be stored and it provides a mechanism for making that data remotely accessible.

Knightwise also discussed a couple of options for remote administration, which is always a good thing. I’d much rather be able to addess and deal with my server by way of my MacBook from the deck (or the bedroom) instead of tromping all the way downstairs where the (very noisy) desktop machines have been relegated.

Almost immediately a few new possibilities began rolling to mind…

For some of the software development that I do, it would be very handy to have access to a SubVersion repository that I could use to manage the code from anywhere on the Internet. Oh sure, there are other services like SourceForge and GoogleCode which offer similar services, but it never hurts to be able to have full control over your machine, and your information.

With a built-in server, adding FTP (or better yet SFTP) capability makes it that much easier to share specific files or data with friends and colleagues. Again you could sign up for a service like X-Drive or Box.net for this, but why not take advantage of owning all your own data. If done correctly, the self-hosted model can be much more secure.

Add to this the fact that my router, by way of it’s spanky new DD-WRT firmware, supports several free DDNS services, and I have a new server set up to serve my content on the web or anywhere else. And I don’t even have to remember my IP address (which admittedly hasn’t changed in the over 2 years I’ve had my service… thank you Mr. ISP!)

It sounds like there are going to be some more great tips coming up in future Knightcast episodes featuring “the Grid”. I wonder what else my 6-year old P4 desktop will be able to do for me!

Microsoft Agrees to EU’s Anti-Monopoly Legislation… *sigh*

Since 1998, Microsoft has been in a battle with EU regulators over allegations that they have engaged in monopolistic business practices.  These allegations are similar to the anti-trust suit brought against the Redmond giant in the US Microsoft has now agreed to give up its battle against the antitrust legislation in an effort to stop the fines accruing against them at €3 million per day.

At the heart of the 1998 complaint: the bundling of Media Player with Windows, and the high licensing cost of information required for applications to work more efficiently with the Windows Operating System.

Under the deal brokered with the EU, Microsoft has agreed to license it’s intellectual property, with the exception of patents, for a one-time €10,000 fee.  This is in place of the nearly 3% in royalty payments Microsoft had previously demanded.  Patented material will be licensed for just under half a percent of the royalties.  This fee was previously priced at 5.95%.

As much as I want to applaud an action like this, the sentiments at the core of the action taken by the EU smack of government interference.  From what I can tell, aside from a very pricey operating system, Microsoft has done nothing to harm the consumer.  They have a company that has invested money to either buy or develop software technologies, and are now being forced to license that technology to competitors for a specific price.

In some ways, this is similar to regulations put in place by the CRTC in Canada which have fixed the price of telephone service that can be offered to customers by the large carriers.  The prices have been fixed in such a way that the carriers are not permitted to lower the price for fears that they will resort to pricing tactics that will eliminate any competitors.  This was done without any evidence that any of the major carriers like Bell or Telus were resorting to such tactics.

Will this type of legislation help software developers create new and improved technologies and programs?  Yes.  For Windows.   Will it help them to develop programs for other systems?  Not likely.  Will it help Microsoft sell more copies of Windows to people who want to use the new software?  Probably.  So tell me, EU: How does selling more copies of the most expensive server operating system in the world help consumers?

Next month, the review of the Google acquisition of DoubleClick is slated to complete.  We’ll see what they have in store for another technology giant.

Sources

Dreamhost PS – “Probably Stable”

About 6 weeks ago, I made some changes to my hosting service. I’ve been hosted with Dreamhost for over two years now, and for the most part it’s been pretty good value for money.

So recently I switched hosting packages to Dreamhost PS, a virtual private server configuration offered by DH.  And ever since acquiring my dedicated resources, I’ve had nothing but instability — which some of you have probably noticed.

Coincidentally, the provider has had some major network issues over the past few weeks.  As of yesterday, these should he corrected.  If not, I will be looking for a new hosting provider for the five domains I’m currently hosting.

Leopard Launch Date Announced: October 26, 2007

OS XApple announced on Tuesday that the long-awaited upgrade to its operating system, OS X version 10.5 code-named “Leopard”, will ship on October 26th, 2007.

For Mac addicts this is great news.  This new release has been delayed several times (a la Microsoft) with the most recent delay blamed on a transfer of resources to the iPhone project.

Will I buy it on release day?  We’ll see.  If I do, you’ll be sure to get an early review here… and on the GGP.  :)

Take it with you — Portable Apps

I realize that for some of you, this story isn’t exactly news.  To be honest, even I’ve known about PortableApps for quite a while, but I’ve never put it to use until recently.

PortableApps is a series of applications which have been built and configured for the sole purpose of running from an external device such as a flash drive, memory card or external hard drive.  This allows you to port not only your data from PC to PC, but your applications as well.  You can keep your email client (Thunderbird), web browser (Firefox) and many other tools and applications on the USB key and run them on any computer with Windows and a USB port.

How is this useful you may ask?  A recent example:

I have been doing some presentations at work last week we had a laptop whose Powerpoint application refused to open (read: Runtime error every time it started).  Admittedly a reboot probably would have fixed the probem, but I couldn’t take that chance.  I had to get another laptop, (wait for Windows to boot), and get it all set up.  This wasted about 15 minutes of everyone’s time.

A perfect solution to this would have been to use the OpenOffice slideshow application Impress and run the entire thing from my USB drive where the presentation was stored.  So over the past couple of days, I’ve been trying out my new setup (Firefox, KeePass and OpenOffice) in the office to see how it runs on various other computers.  So far, so good.

Have a look at the PortableApps suite.  There are tons of great applications for this technology, and I’ll probably cover some more examples in the coming weeks.

The Knightcast Returns

I’ve just finished listening to the latest episode of the Knightcast a podcast about integrating technology into your real life.  With its host Knightwise the podcast comes to you from “the edge of real and cyberspace”.  Technology, real life, soundseeing tours all mixed in with some kickin’ Euro-trance.

If you haven’t listened to the Knightcast before, give it a listen.

Mac Lab Rat – GGP #66: Pres my Dead.Licious Lobster Butan

Another week, another instalment of the GGP, and some more Mac goodness from the GGP Mac Lab.

The first application for the week dead.licious by Malarkey Software. This is an OS X application for validating the bookmarks stored in your delicious account. It provides an interface for reviewing and testing the bookmarks you have in your account, and identifies those that are broken or otherwise invalid. At that point it will allow you to either fix or remove the dead link. Dead.licious provides support for Del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia & Simpy.

The application is offered as Freeware, but there is a donation nag box every 5 times you use it. It’s important to note though that this isn’t criple-ware, and won’t stop working if you decide not to contribute.

You can download dead.licious from the Malarkey Software website.

The second application this week is Pres Butan from developer Brian Kendall. This is a little OS X application that will let you open files or applications by pressing the enter or return key. This is a feature that makes OS X behave more like Windows or Linux, and will undoubtedly help many of the folks out there who are switching from one of those platforms. After a quick installation, I tried it out and used it to launch Garage Band when I was recording this week’s segment.

One thing that did bother me is that the application requires the “Assistive Devices” setting to be turned on in the System Preferences panel. So anyone who installs it will have to turn on that setting manually. I’d like to see the system provide a mechanism for turning that feature on all by itself, or with a prompt to the user.

Download Pres Butan from the developer’s website.

Next up this week, I have an update on a product that I covered back on GGP #62. Moodblast is an application that allows you to update your ‘mood’ or status messages on IM applications like iChat or Adium and microblogging services like Twitter and Yappd.

The update is that FaceBook support is back for MoodBlast. The new version integrates with Facebook’s new “remember me” features and allows you to use MoodBlast to update your status message. It does make you log in about three times before it will successfully remember everything, however once that’s done it won’t bug you again.

A nice bit of silliness to end off this week.  Have a look at Lobster Petting.  I really can’t say much about this.  It’s a picture of a lobster.  You pet it with your mouse.  It squeaks.  ’nuff said.

Check out the Lobster homepage to download.
Enjoy!