MacInTouch Home Page: "used Apple computers are apparently being sold as new ones"
Sounds like the problems were not subtle. I wonder if this is legal. Macintouch is collecting stories.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Monday, October 11, 2004
Limitation of Apple's OS X setup Assistant system migration utility: Kernel Extensions
MacInTouch Home Page
Following up on issues with Apple's new Setup Assistant (included with the iMac G5, Power Mac G5, and other new Macs), we realized that it has at least one critical limitation: When you use it to migrate from another Mac system, even one that's up to date with the latest Mac OS X software, Setup Assistant apparently excludes kernel extensions ('.kext'), causing certain applications to fail. A perfect example is PGP Disk, which needs /Library/Extensions/PGPdiskDriver.kext to function. Another is Kensington's MouseWorks.
You'll have to manually re-install these applications, but it's not obvious which they are. You can search for 'kext' in the Finder, which is a start. You can dig deeper using Terminal to issue Unix commands. For example, you can type
kextstat -k
to list active kernel extensions. ('kextload' and 'kextunload' provide dynamic control over the loading and unloading of kernel extensions, but dependencies among extensions could create technical issues that may be very tricky to navigate.)
Digital Photo Copy Cruiser Plus: Burn CDs of images
Digital Photo Copy Cruiser Plus
One of the big fears of traveling with a digital camera is losing images -- especially if one doesn't also travel with a laptop, or one doesn't have a CD burner in the laptop. (The latter is rare now, but sadly I bought my G3 iBook without a CD burner. I really ought to start looking for used G4 iBook or even another G3 with a CD burner ...)
There are several products like this emerging -- probably all using innards for the same Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers. They make it possible to travel with a digital camera and without a laptop. They are particularly appealing because they have their own internal LiOn battery.
The idea is that every few days one burns two CDs from every memory card, then erases the card. Mail one CD home and keep one with you. (Distributing images to friends at parties/etc is probably another "feature", not sure how well that would work in practice.)
Next best thing is to have an iPod to backup images on -- especially if one travels with an iPod anyway. Problem is current iPods require an expensive, bulky, and kludgy add-on to pull in digital images. I hope the next generation iPod will work with any memory card reader or mini-USB camera connector. We'll see -- Apple has has had a surprising amount of trouble figuring out digital images (witness their underfunding of iPhoto development).
There are other hard drive image stores, analogous to the iPod, but like the iPod they are not as safe as mailing CDs. Luggage does get stolen.
This is going on my "to consider" shopping list. I may wait until the price competition gets fierce -- or until they incorporate a DVD burner as well. I will also look for a manufacturer who gets the "power brick right" including. They key thing will be either:
1. recharge via USB 2 cable (there are lots of compact USB 2 charging devices on the market).
2. have a very compact and elegant power brick (but #1 is better).
Most vendors of these sorts of devices mess up on the power brick/adapter/charger.
So things to look for:
1. replaceable or standard LiOn battery (such things exist - as in digital cameras. Wouldn't it be radical for such a device to use the same LiOn battery the camera used? Nahhh.).
2. external compact LiOn charger or USB 2.0 charger
3. DVD burning support (futuristic, takes more power, more complex, etc.)
One of the big fears of traveling with a digital camera is losing images -- especially if one doesn't also travel with a laptop, or one doesn't have a CD burner in the laptop. (The latter is rare now, but sadly I bought my G3 iBook without a CD burner. I really ought to start looking for used G4 iBook or even another G3 with a CD burner ...)
There are several products like this emerging -- probably all using innards for the same Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers. They make it possible to travel with a digital camera and without a laptop. They are particularly appealing because they have their own internal LiOn battery.
The idea is that every few days one burns two CDs from every memory card, then erases the card. Mail one CD home and keep one with you. (Distributing images to friends at parties/etc is probably another "feature", not sure how well that would work in practice.)
Next best thing is to have an iPod to backup images on -- especially if one travels with an iPod anyway. Problem is current iPods require an expensive, bulky, and kludgy add-on to pull in digital images. I hope the next generation iPod will work with any memory card reader or mini-USB camera connector. We'll see -- Apple has has had a surprising amount of trouble figuring out digital images (witness their underfunding of iPhoto development).
There are other hard drive image stores, analogous to the iPod, but like the iPod they are not as safe as mailing CDs. Luggage does get stolen.
This is going on my "to consider" shopping list. I may wait until the price competition gets fierce -- or until they incorporate a DVD burner as well. I will also look for a manufacturer who gets the "power brick right" including. They key thing will be either:
1. recharge via USB 2 cable (there are lots of compact USB 2 charging devices on the market).
2. have a very compact and elegant power brick (but #1 is better).
Most vendors of these sorts of devices mess up on the power brick/adapter/charger.
So things to look for:
1. replaceable or standard LiOn battery (such things exist - as in digital cameras. Wouldn't it be radical for such a device to use the same LiOn battery the camera used? Nahhh.).
2. external compact LiOn charger or USB 2.0 charger
3. DVD burning support (futuristic, takes more power, more complex, etc.)
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Google AdSense - Preview Tool FAQ
Google AdSense - Preview Tool FAQ
AdSense providers aren't allowed to click on AdSense ads; this preview tool does get around that. Unfortunately it's IE only (yech). Google needs to get away from all these IE only solutions.
The Google AdSense preview tool is an addition to the right-click menu for Windows Internet Explorer 6.x, allowing you to preview the ads that may show on any web page. With just a few clicks, you can see what ads may appear on your new web pages, or make an educated decision on whether to add AdSense to your existing site pages.
Other features include:
Check the destination of ads that are on your page: ads displayed in the preview tool are in a test state, so you don't have to worry about accidentally clicking on an ad. Clicks and impressions are not counted against the ads that display within the preview tool.
View sample ad formats and colors: create previews of formats and color combinations within the preview tool. Choose from 2 different preview formats, plus a 12 ad spread that allows you to view more available ads at once.
Preview colors on your page: the 'Preview' feature of the Color Options menu allows you to see what new color combinations would look like on existing AdSense standard ad units, right on the page. By simply selecting new border, background, or text colors from the preview tool, and clicking "Preview," the new colors will be temporarily applied to the standard ad unit currently on your page.
Geo-targeted locations: select the geo-targeted location from which to view ads, allowing you to see what users in Canada will see, even if you live in Japan.
AdSense providers aren't allowed to click on AdSense ads; this preview tool does get around that. Unfortunately it's IE only (yech). Google needs to get away from all these IE only solutions.
Review: Xitel INport - Dan's Recommendation for sound input
Review: Xitel INport
Digitizing tapes and LPs, a relatively good solution to sound input. (Years ago I bought a high end sound card that was supposed to allow good sound input -- awful interference problems!). USB input. An industrial version of the Griffin iMic.
Digitizing tapes and LPs, a relatively good solution to sound input. (Years ago I bought a high end sound card that was supposed to allow good sound input -- awful interference problems!). USB input. An industrial version of the Griffin iMic.
Quicken -- the LAST straw
Quicken.com - Quicken software Official Site Home, See Your Complete Financial Picture in Minutes
When I download my US Bank information into Quicken 2002 it creates split transactions for every item based on an old memorized paycheck transaction. No matter how many times I mess around with memorized transactions, I can't make QKN 2002 stop doing this.
I've used Quicken since version 2.0 for DOS. Over the past 15 years or so it's, in general, become more complex and less reliable. (Exception: For about 4-5 years in the middle of that interval Quicken routinely corrupted data files. That got fixed.)
It's just a crummy piece of software junk now.
I'm back to spreadsheets.
When I download my US Bank information into Quicken 2002 it creates split transactions for every item based on an old memorized paycheck transaction. No matter how many times I mess around with memorized transactions, I can't make QKN 2002 stop doing this.
I've used Quicken since version 2.0 for DOS. Over the past 15 years or so it's, in general, become more complex and less reliable. (Exception: For about 4-5 years in the middle of that interval Quicken routinely corrupted data files. That got fixed.)
It's just a crummy piece of software junk now.
I'm back to spreadsheets.
The Celestia Motherlode: Holy Cow.
The Celestia Motherlode: Home
Unbelievable. A repository of celestial data sets that drive a virtual universe explorer -- Celestia.
Unbelievable. A repository of celestial data sets that drive a virtual universe explorer -- Celestia.
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