Installing from an ISO file for OS X VM hosted XP - use Disk Mounter

This is fun, but geeky.

I run XP in a Fusion 3.1 VM so I can use PowerPoint 2007 (PPT 2008 for Mac is a disaster,my dept requires PPT)  and a few other ancient Windows apps (Quicken, Access) with no Mac equivalents.

Recently I had to install from an ISO file. There are lots of ISO mounting solutions for Windows (not needed for Vista/7?), but I didn't need to bother. OS X Disk Utility (Mounter) will mount an .ISO file, just double click on the file.

I mounted the ISO file in OS X 10.6, then in Fusion I shared it into the Fusion environment.

Sweet.

[1]  OS X .DMG files are a form of .ISO file, and the simplest form of .DMG will mount with a Windows ISO mounter if the extension is changed.

Update: Andrew W, clearly in a party pooping mood, points out that if I'd looked in VMWare under "CD" I'd have seen it will mount an ISO image itself.

Google, please fire the team that's working on Blogger's rich text editor

I've finally cracked. I hate Blogger's broken rich text editor. It's time ... Please fire the team that's working on the Blogger rich text editor - Blogger Help.

GV Mobile is back - wait for the reviews

GV Mobile has returned to the App Store, presumably due to FTC pressure on Apple. Is the Battle of Google Voice entering a new phase?

It's now GV Mobile +. I bought it, but you shouldn't until you read some reviews. There are already troublesome signs

• Sean didn't manage to update his web site prior to launch.
• It's not an update to GV Mobile, so you pay again. I'm actually fine with that, but it does mean GV Mobile customers should wait for reviews.
• It wasn't tested on the iPad.
• It apparently doesn't run on 3.1 -- and there's no mention of that in the iTunes description! (Bad form.)
• It's not compatible with Google's "Multiple sign-in" feature.

Basically the developer got caught out, GV Mobile + was not ready for launch. Give it time, read the reviews, and one demerit to Mr Kovacs.

Update 9/25/10: Working fine in light use. Probably coincidence, but the voice connections using this methods have been better quality than what I was getting dialing direct. It's faster and more reliable than setting up a long dialing sequence with pauses. I use it 3-4 times a week to call Canada.

Reeder vs Byline: Battle of the iPhone Google Reader clients

I've used the Google Reader client Byline. app on my iPhone for over a year. The latest version is the best to date, but it's still has synchronization problems. It continues to show me articles I've read.

Reader itself has problems of this sort, but Byline is significantly worse. So lately I've been trying Reeder. I wrote this quick review for the app store ...

Bad news first. It crashes more than it should, but not more than Byline. Secondly it needs a manual, and it desperately needs a "reset" button to wipe its local store and force a reload from Google Reader. Thirdly it get its sync state confused, but no more than Byline. Lastly it doesn't precache the source pages, so Byline has a big edge there. There's no support for creating a Google Reader "Note" status update (Byline doesn't either).

Now the good news. The under-documented UI is elegant -- once you figure it out. (Programmers raised on games think life is a role playing adventure.) Readability is excellent. There's an option to open source pages in Instapaper Mobilizer - a vast improvement over Google Mobilizer. Services and configurability is excellent. Performance is great, so stability is now a bigger issue. It shows Following (Byline doesn't) - but here it gets counts wrong.

Bottom line - definitely worth the money, currently the best of breed, room for stability and synchronization improvements and, for the love of Binary, please add a reset option.

I think Reeder is a better app than Byline -- for the moment. It's not perfect though. If the developer doesn't fix a few bugs soon I'll take a look at Mobile RSS next.

See also (reviews found by search on [Reeder Byline "Mobile RSS"]:

• Reeder vs. Byline – An Instapaper Addicted Mobile RSS App Review: He loves what I miss -- the caching of full pages in Byline. In the end, he's torn.
• Reeder 2.0: Finally, An Awesome iPhone Feed Reader Arrives
• iPhone’s Missing Feed Reader – Shawn Blanc: Likes Reeder, but wants more

Update 9/30/10: No contest. Reeder is much better. There are bugs (Followed count), and crashes, and I miss the original page pre-caching -- but it's still the clear winner.

The Cisco WebEx ARF Player for OS X - convert to MP4

Welcome to the world's only documentation on the Cisco WebEx ARF Player for OS X.

You have come here because you downloaded a WebEx ARF file. These are used by some training companies. You brought it home, and you want to put it on your Mac so you can convert the ARF to .MP4 and transfer it to your iPhone. Perhaps you know that the ARF Player for Windows will export to Flash, WMV and (takes @ 1 hour) to MP4.

You have downloaded the OS X version and completed the installation. Now you're ready to begin.

Except ... where's the application?

Sigh. I might as well tell you directly. The OS X version of the ARF Player has no conversion options. All it does is play the ARF file. The executables are installed in your User Library:

/Users/(user name)/Library/Application Support/WebEx Folder

There's no Application UI, but if you double click on an ARF file it will play. There's also a shortcut on your desktop

I suppose we should be grateful that they used an OS X installer with a log. I think the uninstall is deleting the Library Folder.

If you want to convert to .MP4 on a Mac, you'll need to run a VM.

Yes, Cisco does suck.

You can, however, play back the ARF file and use Audio Hijack to grab the audio as it plays and save it as an AAC or MP3 file.

Resetting permissions from the OS X 10.5 and 10.6 Installation DVD

The Installation DVD has the ability to reset permissions using, oddly enough, the "reset password" utility. CNET Fix-It describes this tool in the context of moving files between user account and resetting their permissions..

How-To: Migrating to a new user account in OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews:

Insert your OS X installation DVD (the gray restore DVD that came with your computer should work) and boot from it by restarting while holding the 'C' key down.
Select your language and choose 'Reset Password' from the 'Utilities' menu.
In this utility, you can reset the permissions on your home directory, so follow the instructions to do that on your new account.
When the permissions have been reset, reboot the system with the 'Shift' key held down (it boots to 'Safe Mode') and try logging in to your new account.
If everything is successful, then reboot normally.
Go to the 'Accounts' system preferences and remove your old account, choosing the option to delete the home folder for that account.

I'd never heard of this 10.5 (Leopard) feature. The utility can be used to cure a permission bug related to "apply to enclosed items" that afflicted me in 10.5. MacWorld describes the permissions fix, and the bug, best ...

... the permissions problem ...  can arise if you make a change to the Sharing and Permissions listings in the Finder’s Info window for a folder in your Home directory, and then select the “Apply to enclosed items” option from the Info window’s Action pop-up menu. You’re especially likely to see these symptoms if you do this for the Home directory itself, but I believe the issue can also arise if you perform the action on subfolders...

... sudo chmod -RN ~ ... removes all Access Control List (ACL) modifications from all items in your Home directory. These modifications can come from certain changes made to the Sharing & Permissions section of an Info window.

Next, start up from a Leopard Install DVD and select Reset Password from the Utilities menu. Here is where the new feature appears. This utility has been around for quite awhile, certainly prior to Leopard. However, the Leopard version sports a new option—Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs.

... it’s not clear (at least not to me, with my limited UNIX background) why the Terminal command is even needed, as the Reset Password action appears to include what the command does. I could not find any documentation for the Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs action, so I could not confirm this for sure.

Second, it is not clear whether the symptoms are due to a bug in how “Apply to enclosed items” works, which Apple will hopefully fix—or if you are simply never supposed to use the command with your Home directory.

Is this a good time to mention that I hate OS X Permissions.

I checked my copy of the Tidbits book "Take Control of OS X Permissions" but they seem to have missed this one. I'll send in a reference to this post so they can add it with the next update.

Apple's support glitch - .Mac (dotmac) accounts don't work properly

I tried Apple's new support system - Express Lane. It looked ok until I tried their Support Profile feature ...

Apple - Support - My Support Profile

... We're sorry, you are signed in with an Apple employee or contractor account that cannot be edited with My Support Profile...

I've seen this before. Old timers with .mac Apple IDs are incompatible with Apple's customer database. It's been years, but they can't make the conversion.

Apple is probably waiting for us to die.