Bruce Zimmer: Mac Pile

Elvis Has Left The Building

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 05:44:05 GMT

Let the word go forth to all my Radio weblog category sites. And let the word likewise be cast upon the RSS waters that those both near and far may hear the news.

This incarnation of Redwood Asylum has been retired. But let not the news weigh heavily upon thee. Know ye that nonsense and drivel spring forth anew in these TypePad locations:

Redwood Asylum: same old stuff with a new RSS feed
Random Analytics: web analytics and a new RSS feed

Oh, and the Elvis expression?

Upgraded TypePad Trial

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 07:24:54 GMT

Upgraded my TypePad trial account from Basic to Plus.

Spent a lot of time troubleshooting problems with Radio UserLand post exporting. Finally decided the issue was probably not in Bill Kearney's exporter tool, but in the Radio UserLand database.

Deleted several old posts from an unpublished category and deleted the category. Deleted several other old categories which were no longer needed. Ran the TweezerMan script to rebuild internal category story lists. Used the Radio application option to save a new copy of weblogData.root. Shut down Radio, swapped in the new copy of weblogData.root and restarted. Bill Kearney's exporter ran fine, dumping over 1700 posts into a Movable Type format file.

Re-worked the TypePad test site several times, dumping the earlier partial import and loading the full 1700 post file. TypePad isn't nearly as flexible as Movable Type, but I don't think I need extensive customization. However, I do have an account at Total Choice Hosting where I could test Movable Type.

Many have moved to (perceived) greener pastures after Radio UserLand. Will I follow The Shifted Librarian, TweezerMan and Phil Windley to Movable Type? I watched Ernie the Attorney move from Radio to TypePad. If my TypePad testing proceeds without major incident, maybe I'll buy the first year. If I don't like the Project Comet evolution, I can always jump to Movable Type later.

Time will tell.

TypePad Trial

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:06:12 GMT

After three and a half years with Radio UserLand, I'm testing something new. I opened a 30-day free trial TypePad account this evening, starting with the Basic version. Using Google, I located Bill Kearney's exporter tool for Radio UserLand. Although I'm having problems, I was able to export enough Radio posts to test the TypePad import feature. Time will tell.

Radio UserLand 'Slacker Bug' Not Fixed in v8.1

Fri, 08 Oct 2004 05:59:27 GMT

Based on the previous upstreaming test post, I know that the 'one-month slacker' bug was not fixed in Radio UserLand version 8.1.

Q: WTF is the 'one-month slacker' bug?
A: If you write a post, whether to the home page or one of your categories, on a day which is exactly one month after your last post, Radio UserLand gets sick. Although the new post is entered into the database with the correct date, it is rendered to the web site using the date of your month-ago post.

So, all you slackers, don't let the moss grow on your categories or your home page. My test post today (10/7/04) was one month after the last post (9/7/04) in my Items To Review category, triggering the bug. My test post from 10/7 appears on 9/7, along with my 'real' 9/7 post.

This second test post is also going to all categories.

These Are Not The Droids You're Looking For

Fri, 08 Oct 2004 04:09:39 GMT

This is not the post for which you are looking, but will test Radio UserLand upstreaming after the version 8.1 upgrade. This is the first post since returning from Gnomedex 4. Later, I'll test post back-dating (via Mark Paschal's unsupported Radio To The Past) for my Gnomedex comments. This test is posted to all categories.

Weekend Blogger

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 06:54:37 GMT

weekend mode.... [jenett.radio]

Mac OS X Fragmentation

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 06:46:32 GMT

Notes and Tips: Mac OS X Fragmentation. Here's the official word on Mac OS X file fragmentation from Apple. [MacInTouch] [dws.]

Salvaging MacOS files in a UNIX World

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 04:37:49 GMT

Salvaging MacOS files in a UNIX World. Abstract: Mac Users usually don't use suffixes such as .doc - after all, we've got resource forks! But what to do, if such a file (or thousands!) ends up on a *NIX machine (such as OS X Server!) without that ressource fork? O... [macosxhints] [dws.]

An overview of a generic UNIX filesystem hierarchy

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 04:37:21 GMT

An overview of a generic UNIX filesystem hierarchy. Did you ever wonder what exactly should be in the /usr/bin directory? Or maybe what goes inside the /usr/local/sbin directory? I found a great resource of the standards for UNIX describing all the directories in a basic UNIX ... [macosxhints] [dws.]

Report: Mac OS X 10.3.3

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 04:36:49 GMT

Report: Mac OS X 10.3.3. We've got a ton of advice again today about the Mac OS X 10.3.3 update. [MacInTouch] [dws.]

Mac OS X: Your Mac won't start up

Sun, 07 Mar 2004 03:54:29 GMT

Mac OS X: Your Mac won't start up.

Nothing can be more frustrating than turning on your Mac only to find that it won't start up. Instead of seeing the Finder, you see a blue or gray screen, an icon of a broken folder, a kernel panic, a flashing question mark, or a computer that just sits there. What are you going to do now? A million things could make your Mac act this way. Don't worry. It's usually just a simple issue you can fix yourself. [Apple Computer Top Mac OS X Documents]
[A Father and his two girls] [dws.]

Mac OS X: Keyboard shortcuts

Thu, 04 Mar 2004 07:40:28 GMT

Mac OS X: Keyboard shortcuts offers common Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts. By meryl@lockergnome.com (Meryl). [Lockergnome’s Technology News]

Aunt Tillie's OS X adventure

Wed, 03 Mar 2004 06:56:57 GMT

In a pair of recent essays, Eric Raymond tears into the open source community -- rightly so -- for its failure to deliver software that Aunt Tillie can use. He's spot on. One of his comments got me wondering, though:

If the designers were half-smart about UI issues (like, say, Windows programmers) they'd probe the local network neighborhood and omit the impossible entries. If they were really smart (like, say, Mac programmers) they'd leave the impossible choices in but gray them out, signifying that if your system were configured a bit differently you really could print on a Windows machine, assuming you were unfortunate enough to own one. [Eric Raymond: An Open-Source Horror Story]
As it happens, I'd never tried printing to a Windows XP queue on my home network from my Mac, and I wondered how well those Mac programmers Eric talks about handled that case. So here, for your Flash viewing pleasure, is Aunt Tillie's OS X Adventure. ... [Jon's Radio]

Apple RSS Feeds

Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:26:45 GMT

Apple has put up a web page of all the RSS feeds it offers. [FS Consulting Inc's Weblog]

10.3: Create bootable ISO Image CDs using Disk Utility

Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:12:44 GMT

This is simple - but I haven't seen it described quite this way before. I made a couple of coasters before trying this particular approach. Now that Disk Copy is merged into Disk Utility, this seems to work reliably if you ... [macosxhints] [dws.]

New Book - How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Panther

Wed, 25 Feb 2004 06:59:06 GMT

How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Panther is a thorough presentation of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther for beginners and intermediate users.

In this hands-on guide, How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Panther, Kirk McElhearn shows his readers how to get the most out of OS X Panther. Features such as Exposé, iChat AV, .Mac, iCal, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD are explained and illustrated in detail. The book provides easy methods for networking and customizing the Mac and important details about computer security, such as encryption solutions. [MacMegasite] [dws.]

Wed, 18 Feb 2004 09:29:50 GMT

Need to review this "external hard drive with Radio" thread:

Re: Utilize Apple iDisk for Radio?. Simone Bettin wrote a WebDAV Client Tool for Radio. This solution does not require you to mount your iDisk. Once I got it configured I never had to look at it again. In other words, it works beautifully.

http://radio.userland.com/discuss/msgReader$7026#7046 [Radio UserLand Messages]

RSS Feeds from Apple

Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:52:55 GMT

Apple has posted a very useful page listing all of their available RSS feeds including Knowledge Base articles & downloads. You can subscribe to any of these feeds in a news reader such as NetNewsWire to have the latest headlines delivered to your desktop. [MacMegasite] [dws.]

Still Catching Up

Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:05:00 GMT

Posting back-dated items in multiple categories. If items have scrolled off the home page, use the monthly archive links in the sidebar.

Another Apple Laptop

Mon, 18 Aug 2003 06:39:42 GMT

[Back-dated from 10/8/03 to 8/17]
Coming down the home stretch with the office cleaning. It now looks great.

Maria and Crystal looked at modular homes.

Maria bought a used Apple iBook at a 'potentially good price'. Picked it up from Nathan R, one of Nate's friends. This one is smaller than her PowerBook, somewhat faster, several years newer, and has a much larger hard drive. Nathan was glad he had the extended warranty, as the iBook has gone back to Apple several times for repair. He decided to finally switch to a PC laptop. We'll see how many more times it needs to be repaired by Apple.

We bought extended warranties with every Apple computer we've purchased in the last 7 or 8 years. Good thing, as we've needed them every time. Don't know why Maria likes Apple products so much. Their quality control is a joke. Prior to the iBook, we've owned two other recent Apple laptops and an iMac. Every one had multiple hardware failures under the extended warranty. Computers for the rest of us? Total bullshit. Our experience with three different recent generations of their hardware? A greater than 100% failure rate.

Apple brags about their ease of use. They don't mention their hardware reliability, because there isn't any. With the price premium Apple charges for their stuff, you'd think it wouldn't suck. You'd be thinking incorrectly. Apple's old 'think different' slogan? Maybe think about how different things would be if their hardware had less than a 100% failure rate. Be very thankful that they don't build cars, airplanes, or space shuttles.

Maria and I had dinner with Tom and Nanette. Sue and George's wife were also there, along with Bryan.