Freeverse : Bumpercar 2.0 OS X WebKit Child-safe browser

Freeverse : Bumpercar 2.0

via Macintouch:

Freeverse Software's BumperCar 2.0 is a web browser for children. The browser filters objectionable web content, limits the sharing of personal information, forces Google to use a "Safe Search" mode, includes parental controls, and more. This release has been completely re-written using Apple's WebKit for enhanced stability, speed, and compatibility. It also adds new home page options for a wider age range of children, safety settings available across all accounts on the computer, and other changes. BumperCar is $29.95 for Mac OS X 10.3.

I want this. I also want the old, long lost, aftermarket shell that put a fun and childproof wrapper around Mac Classic. Alas, that company went under.

Home PBX: Asterisk

Asterisk

Jacob Reider directed me to this one:

Asterisk is a complete PBX in software. It runs on Linux and provides all of the features you would expect from a PBX and more. Asterisk does voice over IP in three protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware.

Asterisk provides Voicemail services with Directory, Call Conferencing, Interactive Voice Response, Call Queuing. It has support for three-way calling, caller ID services, ADSI, SIP and H.323 (as both client and gateway). Check the Features section for a more complete list.

He's put a home PBX in his basement. This is one of the more astounding Linux developments I've come across; it feels like the start of something quite interesting. I wonder if we'll see an array of low cost embedded Linux capabilities of this sort.

No wonder the phone companies are working hard to destroy VOIP telephony.

PowerPoint crash when attempt to insert an image from the desktop

When I attempt to insert an image into a PowerPoint 2003 file and navigate to the desktop, PowerPoint crashes with this lovely message:

Runtime Error!

Program C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\POWERPNT.exe

This application has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.

A few google postings seem to point a finder at Adobe Acrobat and its infamous spyware like installation of an array of Office extensions.

This Acrobat article doesn't mention the bug but I'm going to try some of its suggestsions ... PDFMaker is unavailable in a Microsoft Office application (Acrobat 7.0 on Windows) - Support Knowledgebase.

I'll post an update when I figure this out.

Update: When I examine the Adobe certificate VeriSign certificate used by PPT it's listed as having expired over a year ago. Interesting.

Update: I rebooted and found that trying to open ANY file from the Desktop (ONLY the desktop) caused this error. This time I was asked to send a report to Microsoft, and on doing so was directed to a web form asking for my name and phone number. Curious! I also discovered that I'd somehow set my PPT open dialog box to the "Preview" mode. I switched it back to "Details" and the error went away. So it's something about the code used for "Preview" by Microsoft Office 2003. THAT makes me wonder not only about Acrobat, but also about Yahoo Desktop Search (YDS), a product licensed from X1 that includes a variety of file viewers. Sometime I'll look at my XP error logs ...

Update: I'm increasingly suspicious that this bug is from Yahoo Desktop Search and it manifests when using the preview mode of the Office 2003 open file dialog box. YDS is in beta and I checked the filename for the current download -- I'm many versions behind. I'll update.

Plug-ins and Extensible Architectures - the view from Eclipse

ACM Queue - On Plug-ins and Extensible Architectures - Extensible application architectures such as Eclipse offer many advantages, but one must be careful to avoid

I've long wanted to see some of the products I've worked on launched as platforms rather than applications. This discussion is very relevant.

TCP and UDP Ports: Apple's view

"Well Known" TCP and UDP Ports Used By Apple Software Products: "'Well Known' TCP and UDP Ports Used By Apple Software Products"

This is a good list for all platforms, but it also covers apple products and their special ports.

PictureSync for OS X

Holocore / Mac OS X Software / PictureSync

Via Macintouch.

PictureSync is a convenient utility that simplifies batch uploading your photos and video clips to online services, - directly from your image-management application or files, and without losing your own valuable annotations and metadata.

Features :

» Image resizing
» Suports most file formats and movies
» Customise annotations used online
» Upload directly to albums
» Specify image upload order
» Automatic rotation (with EXIF)
» sRGB conversion (with ICC profiles)
» Use multiple services

Services:
Webshots FotoTime
Flickr Smugmug
Vimeo Buzznet

Applications:
iPhoto
iView Media Pro
IPTC annotations
Drag and drop (IPTC annotations)

It's $10 donationware. If it actually does what the author claims it's worth more than that for me. I'll try it out.

Update 8/31/09: I used PictureSync for several years and I got my $10 out of it -- but it died.

Sharing an iTunes library between multiple users

macosxhints - Use two iTunes libraries and one Music folder

I prefer the techniques that use an alias to the music library (see comments). I've done something similar for years. The trick is having the file paths match in the xml files.

GoodPage HTML editor and site manager - supports WebDAV

GoodPage

I'll try it.

Best advice ever on Macintosh RAM (via Macintouch)

Bad RAM (Part 4)

This is way better than anything I've ever read. Thanks Trevor and Macintouch.

Trevor Inkpen CanadaRAM.com

Apple does not manufacture RAM, they purchase RAM wholesale from companies like Samsung, Hynix, Micron, IBM and Elixir. They do not and have never used Crucial RAM. (Crucial bases their advertising on the fact that Crucial is owned by Micron, who does sell Apple some RAM). You really can't say that a particular brand, 'Kingston' for example, does or does not work in Macs. Each company has hundreds of models, only one or two are correct for a given Mac. Kingston only guarantees their KTA- series memory for use in Macs. Their PC-generic KVR- series are specifically not guaranteed for Macs. Most bad reports result from using the wrong model RAM in a Mac.

One poster alluded to third-party RAM meeting or exceeding Apple's specs. There's a problem with this. A given RAM module that works in the PowerMac G5 may fail in the iMac G5 - despite having the same paper specification, in practice the two Macs have different tolerances. 'DDR PC3200 CL3 JEDEC compliant' does not adequately describe the criteria for compatibility. The RAM's internal organization and the programmable logic make the difference. It's like saying that a wheel for a Ford has to be 'steel, 14' diameter and 12' wide', without specifying the bolt pattern.

There is no way to look at specs and determine accurately if the RAM will be Mac compatible, the only way to be sure is to test it. Buy RAM only from a seller who guarantees that the RAM has been tested and is compatible with your model Mac.

Choosing PC Generic RAM (including Kingston KVR-, Crucial non-Apple models and any number of other brands) has a problem - the brand of chips used, and the design of the memory board sold under that part number, is liable to change without notice. And these changes can make them fail on Macs, especially 'sensitive' models like the Mini, iMac G5 and 1st gen. Aluminum PowerBooks. So, if your buddy buys RamCo ABC2345 memory and it works, you could buy the same RamCo ABC2345 part next month and it wouldn't work because it was a different design.

So it is impossible to predict whether a RAM part will work in a Mac UNLESS the seller provides a written guarantee that it is compatible in your Mac. (Auction sellers, PC shops and big-box and online discounters are less likely to provide reliable compatibility information). It's also impossible to make a blanket statement that 'Brand Y' is good, or bad - because it is down to choosing the correct model.

Finally, keep your Apple RAM so you can reinstall it when you send the Mac in for warranty repair.

More on the great capacitor scandal -- Nichicon

MacInTouch Home Page

Macintouch has been tracking capacitor and motherboard failures on Apple's G5 machines. Now they expanded to reporting on Dell issues. Macintuch really does journalism. They use their readers as reporters and deploy their own editors and investigators. An interesting and underappreciated model!

Ron Royer reports that the current rash of iMac G5 failures may be caused by a bad batch of Nichicon capacitors that is also causing Dell computers to fail:

I don't know if you have seen this, but other manufacturers seem to have this issue too... Postings from Badcaps.net:

"I work as a network engineer/administrator at a company in Washington DC, with about 600 installed workstations. As many as 200-300 of those are the GX270 models, which are 2.4-2.8GHz P4 machines.

We've had a rash of motherboard failures on these machines. I only recently had a chance to inspect a dead board before it was returned to Dell, and it turned out to have swollen Nichicon caps.

I finally had a Dell tech admit that they were aware of the problem and were replacing boards under warranty (the corporate machines usually have 3-year extended service plans). As of today we have 7 new boards on the way to us and at least 15-20 more have already failed. (I'm pretty sure that the GX270 boards are OEM-built by MSI.)

I'm just posting this for information, and to see if anyone else has seen this in a large-scale IT operation, especially with Dells."

"Well, we did 12 boards today, and we have 6 more to call in. I spot-checked some of the bad caps, and they all seem to be Nichicons with the same lot numbers and about the same date range (early 2003). All the replacement boards that were installed had Rubycon caps instead.

I did notice a few boards where, while the caps looked identical, not all of them were bulging. There is a picture of this here: [Dell Motherboard Capacitor Failures]

I'm starting to agree with the idea that this is Nichicon's own quality control problem, rather than the same batch of bum electrolyte as last time. I also think that the lousy ventilation inside the Dell small-form-factor case speeds up the failures, since they don't like to waste money on things like fans."

The G5 interiors run hot -- as do small-form-factor Dells. I think the Mac Mini is quite a bit cooler. This problem may be a combination of high temperatures and manufacturing problems. Are computer manufacturers running at temperatures that exceed manufacturing specs for their components?

I also wonder if setting the iMac to 'full performance' mode might accelerate this problem.

Login Delays and Damaged Font Caches on Mac OS X 10.3

Daring Fireball: Login Delays and Damaged Font Caches on Mac OS X 10.3

One of the great weaknesses in OS X is the propensity to "corruption" of caches, preferences and other items. I makes me wonder how strong the unix underpinnings of OS X really are.

I've been experiencing login delays, so I'll check this out. I'll also see if Panther Cache Cleaner or its ilk deal with this. (ONYX has been having bugs recently.)

Apple recommends monthly full charge and discharge cycle for LiON battery products

Apple - Batteries

Both iPod and laptop:

Exercise Your Machine

Lithium-ion batteries need to be used for maximum performance. If you don’t use your device often, be sure to complete a charge cycle at least once per month.

ChronoSync for backup

Econ Technologies, Inc.: "ChronoSync also makes an excellent, lightweight file backup utility, making it easy to keep duplicate working copies of your precious files. Using the scheduling capabilities, you can devise quite sophisticated backup strategies. Hourly, daily, and weekly synchronizations can be scheduled to make sure that, at any instant, you have a working copy that you can revert to for any reason. Backup to external storage devices or other computers including Mac OS 9, Windows, Linux, or any operating system Mac OS X can mount to."

- supplement to Retrospect, backup user folders to mounted image over network

One person's view of digital camcorders

Using the Sony TRV900

This page represents my collected knowledge about the TRV900, some other cameras, the latest models, and digital video in general.

I love this type of page. One person's view based on their own experience. The TRV900 is a legend, the lessons here are generalizeable.

SimplyDV: Canopus ADVC-100 Analogue to Digital Video Converter

SimplyDV: Canopus ADVC-100 Analogue to Digital Video Converter

A well regarded A/D converter. An alternative to replacing my Hi8 with a digital camera.