Gmail - Inbox
I got my first spam on my beta gmail account. The address has never bene published, so this was a dictionairy attack. It was a "phishing" spam for a fraudulent eBay account. GMail put it into my spam box, from which there's a convenient "delete forever" option.
Soon the deluge will begin. I'm curious to see how GMail will handle this.
We know how to fix spam, now we're waiting for things to get bad enough to enable the fixes. Unfortunately I think the overkilll (Microsoft/Intel's Passport/DRM/"trusted computing") solutions will be the winners.
Sunday, May 02, 2004
iPhoto Not enough disk space bug - it's still there. A deeper problem with the OS X cache and file system?
Apple - Discussions - Not enough disk space bug -- it's back!!
An old bug is still there -- but now I don't think it's truly an iPhoto bug (the iPhoto glitch is the meaningless error message). See my other blog postings on this topic!
An old bug is still there -- but now I don't think it's truly an iPhoto bug (the iPhoto glitch is the meaningless error message). See my other blog postings on this topic!
The "not enough disk space" iPhoto bug has cursed many of us over the years. This is the misleading error message iPhoto produces when something goes wrong during image exporting to the file system or to a client application (Quicktime moviews, etc). (Usually there are GBs free and the export size is a few hundred MB.)
It just means "Something has gone wrong, I don't know what".
iPhoto 4.01 was thought to have fixed this problem, but it just recurred in a new iPhoto 4.01 album of mine that contains only a few hundred images.
There are several workarounds that are thought to help [1].
In the past I've used the approach of dividing up the image set into smaller and smaller exports, until I find the one image (it's always been one image) that causes the problem. I then crop it and undo the crop and the problem resolves.
This time I tried the approach of deleting the "thumb" files in the iPhoto Library (see [1]). It didn't work.
Based on the theory that the most common cause is corruption in an iPhoto cache, I tried out the $10 Panther Cache Cleaner's "deep clean" option and rebooted. The problem resolved.
In the past I've blamed iPhoto for this problem. Now I suspect it's a deeper problem with OS X that just shows up more often in iPhoto because of its heavy use of the OS X caching subsystem. Power user forums, such as OS X Hints, now consider cleaning the cache subsystem to be the modern equivalent of rebuilding the Classic desktop -- the first solution to most problems (even before repairing privileges, which in 10.3.3 seems to rarely make a difference).
A cache subsystem problem may represent trouble in the cache code itself or in the underlying OS. There are lots of nasty interacting layers down there, where BSD Unix meets OS X. I wonder if tracking down those nasty problems is part of the task assigned the file system gurus that came to Apple from BeOS.
This is an annoying problem from iPhoto, but in my experience either tracking down the bad image or using deep cache cleaner will fix it for a while. It may, however, be a bigger problem for the OS.
[1] http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?128@6.XeoZaJQWlc5.8@.688eb0a2
lists many of the theoretical solutions.
Review: Edmund Scientific Astroscan telescope (DansData)
Review: Edmund Scientific Astroscan telescope
Dan does a wonderful review of this scope. They key concepts are portability and wide-field viewing -- nebulae rather than planets. There's much to marvel at in the universe at very large scales; match your interests to the accessible!
I'm seriously tempted to buy one. I'm also happy to learn that Edmund is still around, it's been 25 years since I admired their catalogs.
Dan does a wonderful review of this scope. They key concepts are portability and wide-field viewing -- nebulae rather than planets. There's much to marvel at in the universe at very large scales; match your interests to the accessible!
I'm seriously tempted to buy one. I'm also happy to learn that Edmund is still around, it's been 25 years since I admired their catalogs.
An older but interesting digicam review
Review: Canon EOS D60 digital camera
An older but typically Dan-like review, with many asides of interest.
An older but typically Dan-like review, with many asides of interest.
WordPerfect Office for $99
Eudora Premium Services Directory
WP office is $100 for "Eudora Users". Since Eudora is free to use in ad supported mode, WP Office is $100. Much less costly than Microsoft Office, I doubt it can be a significantly worse experience. OpenOffice would probably be my prior choice though.
WP office is $100 for "Eudora Users". Since Eudora is free to use in ad supported mode, WP Office is $100. Much less costly than Microsoft Office, I doubt it can be a significantly worse experience. OpenOffice would probably be my prior choice though.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Hidden URL for direct download of Palm Desktop
palmOne formerly Palm, Inc., Your Destination for Handhelds, Smartphones, Accessories and Over 20,000 Software Titles
The hidden url is: http://www.palmOne.com/us/support/downloads/windesk414_legal.html
The hidden url is: http://www.palmOne.com/us/support/downloads/windesk414_legal.html
Friday, April 30, 2004
Resolving OS X slowdowns following an update
Apple - Discussions - The latest Mac OS X update runs slowly...: "This new update is too slow !
Hi !
From time to time, users post on the forum asking why the latest Mac OS update caused their computers to run slower... At the same time, other users post to describe the amazing speed improvements that this update provided...
This FAQ explains why a small number of users may experience a slowdown after having installed an OS update and provides some troubleshooting tips.
You may also want to follow these steps to boost the speed of your current installation, especially if you write and compile applications on your computer.
I - What may cause this slowdown ?
The previous installation wasn't stable Your previous installation may have encountered minor issues. Installing an update on an installation that already experiences problems is unlikely to solve them and may in fact cause some of them to be more visible. That's why is is important to solve any issues before applying any upgrade.
The installation wasn't optimized Before the 'Installer' quits, Mac OS X optimizes the update. That means that it makes sure that all the files are linked together and prepares them to be used efficiently and quickly. Would this process be interrupted, the installation won't run at full speed.
II - What should I do ?
The first thing to do would be to perform a few maintenance tasks.
1. Backup your data
2. Boot from the 'Mac OS X Install CD 1' and use the 'Installer' menu in order to open the 'Disk Utility'. Then, click on 'First Aid' and repair the hard drive.
3. Restart your computer and use the 'Disk Utility' located in your 'Utilities' folder in order to repair the permissions on the Mac OS X partition.
4. Disconnect your computer from the internet and follow the steps described in the Knowledge Base article n�107388
5. Restart your computer
III - This is still not working !
In that case, you may want to 'optimize' your installation. It is a good idea to do so if your installation wasn't optimized or if you have used lots of third-party installers.
1. Backup your data
2. Disconnect your computer from the internet
3. Open the 'Terminal' located in your 'Utilities' folder
4. Type sudo update_prebinding -root / -force
5. Hit Return
6. Type your administrator password and hit return again
7. Wait until the process completes
8. Restart your computer
You should then notice a speed improvement. Of course, do not hesitate to post on these forums. We would all be very glad to help you ! "
Hi !
From time to time, users post on the forum asking why the latest Mac OS update caused their computers to run slower... At the same time, other users post to describe the amazing speed improvements that this update provided...
This FAQ explains why a small number of users may experience a slowdown after having installed an OS update and provides some troubleshooting tips.
You may also want to follow these steps to boost the speed of your current installation, especially if you write and compile applications on your computer.
I - What may cause this slowdown ?
The previous installation wasn't stable Your previous installation may have encountered minor issues. Installing an update on an installation that already experiences problems is unlikely to solve them and may in fact cause some of them to be more visible. That's why is is important to solve any issues before applying any upgrade.
The installation wasn't optimized Before the 'Installer' quits, Mac OS X optimizes the update. That means that it makes sure that all the files are linked together and prepares them to be used efficiently and quickly. Would this process be interrupted, the installation won't run at full speed.
II - What should I do ?
The first thing to do would be to perform a few maintenance tasks.
1. Backup your data
2. Boot from the 'Mac OS X Install CD 1' and use the 'Installer' menu in order to open the 'Disk Utility'. Then, click on 'First Aid' and repair the hard drive.
3. Restart your computer and use the 'Disk Utility' located in your 'Utilities' folder in order to repair the permissions on the Mac OS X partition.
4. Disconnect your computer from the internet and follow the steps described in the Knowledge Base article n�107388
5. Restart your computer
III - This is still not working !
In that case, you may want to 'optimize' your installation. It is a good idea to do so if your installation wasn't optimized or if you have used lots of third-party installers.
1. Backup your data
2. Disconnect your computer from the internet
3. Open the 'Terminal' located in your 'Utilities' folder
4. Type sudo update_prebinding -root / -force
5. Hit Return
6. Type your administrator password and hit return again
7. Wait until the process completes
8. Restart your computer
You should then notice a speed improvement. Of course, do not hesitate to post on these forums. We would all be very glad to help you ! "
iTunes 4.5 troubleshooting guide | MacNN News
iTunes 4.5 troubleshooting guide | MacNN News: "FJZone.org has published a free iTunes 4.5 guide (119KB PDF) that provides answers and suggestions for 15 problems users have reported with iTunes 4.5, QuickTime, and updating their iPod. "
Downgrading from iTunes 4.5
MacInTouch Home Page: "[Mathew] I upgraded to iTunes 4.5, and discovered that it would no longer connect to my jukebox machine, which has my entire music collection on it. The machine is a Linux box running the open source daapd software, which implements the daap protocol iTunes uses. The server also broadcasts via Rendezvous, so it works exactly like a Mac sharing via iTunes.
Fortunately I had purchased iLife, so I had the iTunes 4.2 installer on CD. I tried to downgrade, and discovered that the iLife installer wouldn't let me, even if I trashed iTunes from the hard drive. The solution to that problem was to go to /Library/Receipts and remove the iTunes.pkg and iTunes4.pkg directories using sudo rm -rf iTunes*.pkg in terminal; having done that, I was able to install iTunes.
The next snag was that iTunes 4.5 had silently upgraded my music library and iTunes 4.2 wouldn't read it any more. Luckily, since I keep all my music on a central server, I didn't need the local library, and I just trashed it. There was a file called 'iTunes 4 Music Library (Old)', perhaps that was a copy of the old version?
So, it seems that iTunes 4.5 once again makes an unannounced change to MP3 sharing. For me at least, iTunes 4.5 is a no-go until someone fixes the incompatibility with daapd.
While I'm writing, my biggest gripe with iTunes is that I can't make playlists of shared music tracks.
"
Fortunately I had purchased iLife, so I had the iTunes 4.2 installer on CD. I tried to downgrade, and discovered that the iLife installer wouldn't let me, even if I trashed iTunes from the hard drive. The solution to that problem was to go to /Library/Receipts and remove the iTunes.pkg and iTunes4.pkg directories using sudo rm -rf iTunes*.pkg in terminal; having done that, I was able to install iTunes.
The next snag was that iTunes 4.5 had silently upgraded my music library and iTunes 4.2 wouldn't read it any more. Luckily, since I keep all my music on a central server, I didn't need the local library, and I just trashed it. There was a file called 'iTunes 4 Music Library (Old)', perhaps that was a copy of the old version?
So, it seems that iTunes 4.5 once again makes an unannounced change to MP3 sharing. For me at least, iTunes 4.5 is a no-go until someone fixes the incompatibility with daapd.
While I'm writing, my biggest gripe with iTunes is that I can't make playlists of shared music tracks.
"
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Monday, April 26, 2004
Beyond Megapixels: great series on digital photography
TheTechLounge - Beyond Megapixels - Part I
In the first few paragraphs it's obvious this is a cut above 90% of the writing about digital photography technologies either on the web or in periodicals.
This is the first of a three part series of editorial articles examining current digital photography hardware, as well as the author’s views of what is to come. Keep in mind that as this is an editorial, it does contain some opinion and bias, but I have attempted to be as fair and objective as possible.
In the first few paragraphs it's obvious this is a cut above 90% of the writing about digital photography technologies either on the web or in periodicals.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Gmail - First impressions - offsite backups and file transfers and much more .... It's not really email
Gmail - All Mail
Google opened the next level of the Gmail beta to blogger customers. So, I've got mine.
Very impressive. The UI is far snappier than any webmail I've used, faster in some ways than Eudora 6 (which is, admittedly, abysmally slow for a desktop app). Lots of JavaScript. Runs fine in FireFox. Very simple UI of course, but elegant. Very Googleish.
It will come in very handy. I may set up some of my email systems to routinely copy messages to gmail, providing an accessible archive of my email. It will also be heavily used for file transfers. If I want to move a file from one system to another, I'll just sent it to myself. Unlike conventional email, when I send a message to myself via gmail only ONE message is created (not a send and receive message). So Gmail will be a highly efficient mechanism for file transfer and for quick offsite backups.
update
This is exciting. I'm finding many uses for Gmail in combination with Google's usenet postings and blogger postings. I routinely bcc items to gmail, which is becoming a kind of router for files and messages between services. Everything sits in my inbox, where I can search and sort.
Gmail represents a hard data lock though -- Google owns all the data. If there's anything I do that I don't want to lose, I copy it to my own machines. Increasingly, however, I'm throwing data out in one form or another.
Once Google starts integrating GMail (really threaded messaging > traditional email) with RSS feeds (blogger, blogines) ... Well, it's great to have an exciting and innovative company other than Apple in the world. For all his wealth and power, I wonder if seeing brilliance in other places somehow bugs Bill Gates ... probably not :-).
update
It's not really email. It's more of a message oriented file system. There's really one container -- the "ALL" container. Instead of "folders" you have "labels" -- which are categories for items. Items can be messages or files with message metadata. Threading provides a secondary way to traverse the file system. Searches are combined with "labels". The quick keys provide a UNIX like experience -- Google's UI paradigm is a cross between UNIX command line and GUI across all their applications.
Very subversive.
Google opened the next level of the Gmail beta to blogger customers. So, I've got mine.
Very impressive. The UI is far snappier than any webmail I've used, faster in some ways than Eudora 6 (which is, admittedly, abysmally slow for a desktop app). Lots of JavaScript. Runs fine in FireFox. Very simple UI of course, but elegant. Very Googleish.
It will come in very handy. I may set up some of my email systems to routinely copy messages to gmail, providing an accessible archive of my email. It will also be heavily used for file transfers. If I want to move a file from one system to another, I'll just sent it to myself. Unlike conventional email, when I send a message to myself via gmail only ONE message is created (not a send and receive message). So Gmail will be a highly efficient mechanism for file transfer and for quick offsite backups.
update
This is exciting. I'm finding many uses for Gmail in combination with Google's usenet postings and blogger postings. I routinely bcc items to gmail, which is becoming a kind of router for files and messages between services. Everything sits in my inbox, where I can search and sort.
Gmail represents a hard data lock though -- Google owns all the data. If there's anything I do that I don't want to lose, I copy it to my own machines. Increasingly, however, I'm throwing data out in one form or another.
Once Google starts integrating GMail (really threaded messaging > traditional email) with RSS feeds (blogger, blogines) ... Well, it's great to have an exciting and innovative company other than Apple in the world. For all his wealth and power, I wonder if seeing brilliance in other places somehow bugs Bill Gates ... probably not :-).
update
It's not really email. It's more of a message oriented file system. There's really one container -- the "ALL" container. Instead of "folders" you have "labels" -- which are categories for items. Items can be messages or files with message metadata. Threading provides a secondary way to traverse the file system. Searches are combined with "labels". The quick keys provide a UNIX like experience -- Google's UI paradigm is a cross between UNIX command line and GUI across all their applications.
Very subversive.
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