Lexar Media
A nice set of readers, including a firewire reader that sells for $50 and is very fast.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
How to restore an iPhoto Library from and iPhoto Disc and recover from a corrupted iPhoto Database
Apple Discussion Posting
To restore a library from an iPhoto Disc open the disk in the Finder. You'll see a folder called iPhoto Library. Copy it to your drive. Rename it what you want and put it in Pictures.
Now you can use iPhoto Buddy, or iPhoto Library Manager, or iPhotos 'find library' function to open this. iPhoto will treat it as a standard library.
Here's how we're using this technique to restore a trashed iPhoto Library [1]. In this case the trashed Library shows only a single image in the Library view, but the Albums are intact.
1. Burn albums to CDs. Since the library is 1GB we'll split it between 2-3 CDs. Each will become a future new library to be managed by iPhoto Library.
2. Rebuild the library (Option-Shift click iPhoto, hold Opt-Shift until see rebuild dialog. Create new rebuilt library. This rebuilt library has a FULL library, but there are many duplicate images (with import date = time library is rebuilt) and some images have incorrect attributes (dates, names, etc). All the role information is gone of course.
3. Run the 'find unassigned' AppleScript against the rebuilt library. [2] Sort this and delete duplicates. When ready burn the 'Unassigned' album to CD
4. Using the restore technique outlined above, create hard disk based iPhoto Libraries from the CD iPhoto Library. As needed, open these and then insert the 'Unassigned' CD. Copy images to the appropriate Library.
iPhoto: A Potemkin Application?
Apple - Discussions - Restore from iPhoto Disc: Not Truly Possible?
iTunes is a very good application. I can't comment on iMovie. iPhoto 2 is infuriating. It has aspects of genius outweighed by great flaws. Database corruption is commonplace and hard to detect. Performance is laughable. (I overheard an Apple store employee trying to claim that 1000 records was a lot to handle, thankfully he was not a "genius bar" worker.) Then this -- the primary "backup" modality for iPhoto doesn't support a full restore of the work done. It's primarily a modality for sharing individual images.
Bottom line: iPhoto 1 shipped 6 months too soon, iPhoto 2 shipped 4 months too soon.
I'd naively assumed that when one burned albums to an iPhoto Disc (CD/DVD) one could then restore the albums to iPhoto.
Today I actually tested that. I was stunned by the results, so I turned to Adam Engst's excellent book and a number of web searches. They all tended to confirm my fears.
Yes, one can drag and drop images from an iPhoto Disc into an iPhoto Library. But one can't drag and drop albums. If you drag and drop the SAME photo from two iPhoto Disc albums (one photo appearing in two albums), iPhoto stores TWO photos. The data relating a photo to an album is not transferred.
Please tell me I'm wrong. I've reviewed help files and online references and my iPhoto books. They all point in the same direction. The iPhoto help file suggests one can restore albums, but it doesn't say how. I suspect this functionality was scheduled for the release but didn't make it in.
Burning a CD from iPhoto 2 apparently does not, contrary to common perceptions allow one to restore an iPhoto Library. It's commonly known that one cannot restore roll information, but it is not widely understood that one cannot restore the relationship between a single photo and one or more albums that 'reference' the image file.
Backups of an iPhoto Library must be done using standard methods, such as Retrospect and Backup. Given the very high frequency of occult corruption of iPhoto databases, and the size of the Librarires, these are not ideal solutions.
iTunes is a very good application. I can't comment on iMovie. iPhoto 2 is infuriating. It has aspects of genius outweighed by great flaws. Database corruption is commonplace and hard to detect. Performance is laughable. (I overheard an Apple store employee trying to claim that 1000 records was a lot to handle, thankfully he was not a "genius bar" worker.) Then this -- the primary "backup" modality for iPhoto doesn't support a full restore of the work done. It's primarily a modality for sharing individual images.
Bottom line: iPhoto 1 shipped 6 months too soon, iPhoto 2 shipped 4 months too soon.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
SimpleSpeaker for iPod Alarm Clock
MadsonLine Portable Power Devices
This sells for $10, probably cost $2 to make. Authentic Chinese packaging, I think this was made for the Chinese marketplace. Horrid tinny sound. Comes with two speakers, one would be plenty. At maximum iPod volume this unpowered speaker puts out just enough music to awaken a light to medium sleeper. It is compact, though the sound jack always protrudes.
For the price, weight, and size it's worth sticking in luggage so the iPod can be a travel alarm. There are much nicer speakers for a bit more money and heft. I think for this purpose a "Lollipop" mono speaker of a bit better quality with sound jack that rotated internally would work better and could sell for $12.
Piped music with SimpleSpeaker for iPod.
SimpleSpeaker is a very small and light stereo loudspeaker which works without batteries. It can be connected directly with the headphone jack of your iPod without using any audio cable.
The foldable design of SimpleSpeaker allows it to use the ipod both in horizontal and vertical position.
The SimpleSpeaker packs and travels easily and enables to use the iPod even as a travel alarm clock.
This sells for $10, probably cost $2 to make. Authentic Chinese packaging, I think this was made for the Chinese marketplace. Horrid tinny sound. Comes with two speakers, one would be plenty. At maximum iPod volume this unpowered speaker puts out just enough music to awaken a light to medium sleeper. It is compact, though the sound jack always protrudes.
For the price, weight, and size it's worth sticking in luggage so the iPod can be a travel alarm. There are much nicer speakers for a bit more money and heft. I think for this purpose a "Lollipop" mono speaker of a bit better quality with sound jack that rotated internally would work better and could sell for $12.
Monday, December 15, 2003
macosxhints: Eject stuck CDs using open firmware or muouse
macosxhints: Eject stuck CDs using open firmware
I had a CD get stuck in my slot-loading superdrive Aluminum Powerbook, running 10.3. The CD became unresponsive and not recognized by my computer at all! Here is the fix.
Hold Control-Command-Option-Eject Button; this will shut down your computer. Turn the power on with the power button and hold Command-Option-O-F -- this will boot you into open firmware. Now type eject cd and wait until the CD pops out. Type mac-boot and you are ready to rock!
[robg adds: As mentioned elsewhere on the site, you can also try holding the mouse button down during boot to force the system to eject any inserted CDs.]
Sunday, December 14, 2003
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