Can you do a Time Machine backup to a USB flash drive (thumb drive)?

 I'd wondered if it was possible to do a Time Machine backup to a cheap Flash Drive. My daughter is going to college and probably doesn't have a great need for backup (iCloud Document/Desktop, iCloud Photo, Google Docs, etc) but I'd still like to do something.

So I wondered about a compact Flash Drive. In the twilight of the web Google couldn't find me an answer, so I ran my own test. I used an old San Disk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive in an old USB 2 MacBook Air running High Sierra. I formatted the Flash Drive as encrypted HPFS and let Time Machine run the backup.

It took about 4-5 hours to do the initial 80GB backup but it seemed to work fine.

I doubt these Flash Drives are super reliable, but I think this is an option. I can see taking advantage of it while traveling for example. Unfortunately her 2020 Air doesn't have an open USB slot where an Ultra Fit could live, but it could be a part of her Anker 7-1 USB-C docking station. A modern San Disk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 is $33.

Chrome malware: Managed by your organization

I think my son installed a "managed by your organization" chrome malware extension when he was trying to find Flash. This one showed in Chrome as "searches.network"

The obsolete Federal government website required for his US census enumerator job probably directed him to get Flash. I wouldn't be shocked if he got the malware directly from the Federal site. US government web sites are notoriously insecure. [1]

This class of malware now works by installing an unsigned profile on the user's Mac that activates Chrome's "managed by your organization" mode. It locks the home page and search page so traffic is routed through the malware's server and it prevents a Chrome reset. (It may do other things as well of course.)  For some reason it locked him into Bing, which was a dead giveaway. Smarter malware wouldn't have changed the default search engine.

Once upon a time a quick Google search would have explained how to remove the malware. This is 2020 though, so Google's search results on this topic are mostly garbage. I found one result on a garbage site, however, that must have been partly based on a real site. That clued me to the profile. Once I deleted it then I could do a full Chrome reset. Once I knew the fix I found this guide, which covered the territory. (I can't tell who manages the site, I hope they make money by malware app referrals rather than anything more ominous.)

Before I did this I followed advice from a trusted source and installed the free (but suspiciously marketed) Malwarebyte antiviral. It found nothing. I'll try running one or two more antivirals (AVG, Sophos). Malwarebyte is an easy uninstall, so points for them.

[1] I am the solo family geek, my digital-age children seem to prefer the 18th century. My theory is the latest generation has the same take on computers that, at the same age, I had on automobile engines. It should just work, and if it doesn't work an old person might understand it.

Blogger (draft) supports mobile

If you are using Blogger Draft you will find that it works fairly well in Safari.app and Chrome.app for iOS.

The new interface is responsive. 

I’d prefer a different font for writing on mobile but it’s very doable. Competitive with WordPress mobile app but expect some rough edges.

(Eons ago there was a mobile app for Blogger, but it was discontinued. I doubt it will return.)

Carbon Copy Cloner was quietly excluding 1Password stores from backup (Corrected: app, not data stores)

This morning's heart attack:

"CCC no longer excludes 1Password by default."

What the fork were they thinking?!

-----------

Update: OK, looks like they did this briefly in 5.1.18 and, even though their language is sadly unclear, it was the the 1Password app rather than the 1Password credentials that were not being backed up. That link lists all the files not backed up, though as of today it's not been corrected for 5.1.19.

So I still have chest pain, but not a heart attack.

Python macOS environments for learners in 2020

My daughter is auditing Coursera's Intro to Python class. It's pretty standard stuff, but I was surprised by the development environment. For macOS there's a non-trivial Python install that requires some unix knowledge, use of the Homebrew package manager, dealing with admin vs non-admin user issues, consideration of pyenv, editing the path, and finally installing Python.

That's a long way from the ease of, say, TurboPascal circa 1983.

I figured there had to be a better way, but Google only found me some pro-level IDEs. It fell to Twitter to clue me in to the modern scene. The 4 good modern options turn out to be:

• Google Colab: absolute easiest and least painful. I believe the Python code executes in the browser, so it's substantially slower than execution directly in macOS.
• Microsoft Visual Studio Code for macOS: this does require the traditional Python install with Homebrew, but it's a very beginner friendly environment. The Python plugin provides Jupyter support.
• Homebrew Jupyter: similar to Colab but like Visual Studio is part of the Homebrew/Python path.
• Azure does Jupyter Notebooks (via @jhovland) at notebooks.azure.com.

Years ago I ran into iPython as a novice environment; turns out it morphed into Juypter.

It's a sign of the times that Google search didn't turn up a blog post with these options. (It won't find this one either, I'm way off Google's radar now.) Once I'd identified the above options however I could do a Google search to find an educational resource that did mention then:

There are many ways to write and execute Python code:

Python tutor (online, visual debugger)

Python interpreter (command line)

Visual Studio Code (editor, good debugger)

Jupyter (notebook)

Google Colab (online, collaborative)

 

During this lab we see all of them and familiarize with the exercises format. For now ignore the exercises zip and proceed reading.

That site is the University of Trento's data science lab course, updated 2019/2020.  The U of Trento was founded in 1962. Reading the wikipedia page it seems to have started out focusing on sociology (and, given the era, was likely a wee bit Left) but now seems to be very tech.

The course material is presumably translated from Italian. It's quite readable though it would benefit from a native speaker updating the GitHub content. Judging by my little test it may be one of the best resources of its kind.

See also:

1. Learning Python for middle school - from 2013

Update 2/19/2024

I came back to Python for course on working with the OpenAI ChatGPT LLM. This time around I used Visual Studio Code with the Jupyter support. I use the default Python PIP package manager but I think Microsoft favors Conda. As of 2024 CoPilot is an option but it is not free.

Facebook still has RSS (iCal) feed for Calendar Events but it is insanely obscure

I thought Facebook had removed the link we used to have to see the feed URL for a Facebook "calendar". (A Facebook calendar is the set of all Events one has responded to as "going" or "maybe".) I couldn't find it anywhere even though I was pretty sure I'd use it as recently as 6 months ago.

Facebook only documents exporting a calendar file. (In the mobile app there's a simpler way to add a single Event to a system calendar.)

I couldn't even find any mention online of the Facebook calendar feed. Just sad comments on Facebook's removal of RSS feeds about 7 years ago.

I was just about to give up when a last search found a Business Insider article from Dec 2019. Some Facebook dev has kept it alive in the most obscure location possible.

You can't find it by looking your Facebook Calendar: https://www.facebook.com/events/calendar
You can't see it by looking at your Facebook Events: https://www.facebook.com/events/

The only way to find them is to use the web UI and inspect the ... context menu for any single Event.

Beneath that you will see "Export Event":

Do not be deceived. Export Event is a form of misdirection.

In fact the resulting dialog, in addition to allowing saving of a single event, also provides the secret URL for a Calendar feed (RSS, iCal) including the Facebook UID and a "key" for access:

In Google Calendar web here's where that URL goes:

It can take hours for the feed content to appear and updates are likewise slow to show.

Sooner or later Facebook will expunge this last vestige of usefulness, but I do want to thank the dev that hid it away and let it survive for so long.

PS. I do appreciate so many Facebook page URLs are readable, persistent, and meaningful. I rely on that given the ever changing menu and navigation structures.

Canon's dSLR lens -- upgrade program for out of service lenses

The Canon EF 28-135 lens I bought in 2006 (!) for $420 died recently. The autofocus stopped working.

I can't complain too much -- I got a lot of use from it. The EF series is Canon's low end and it's not a great lens. (My Canon 50mm 1.8 is a famously cheap and great lens. With modern sensors it works very well for both portrait and for things I'd have used a 100mm zoom for. It's not image stabilized though.)

It turns out Canon doesn't service EF lenses of that generation. They will give 15% off a new similar lens (not sure what qualifies) or 10% off a refurb lens. Amazon's Canon prices are the same as Canon's list prices.

I think their modern equivalent of the old 28-135 is the Canon EF-S 18-135 (list $600, refurb $440) and EF-S 18-200 ($700). The 28-135 was a full frame lens on my 1.6 EOS body, these are S type lenses so the ranges are quite different. My old 28-125 was equivalent to a 45-200 S lens. After quick scan of review sites the 18-135 might be the better lens.

So a bit more money but a refurb with a 15% discount isn't too bad.

Would be nice if they still serviced old EF lenses. Maybe they do service old L lenses. Given the time it lasted the discount is nice (esp. on refurb) but not sure it's worth the hassle compared to an Amazon purchase. (If I buy I'll use KenRockwell.com referral link.)

Update: I did end up ordering the 18-135 EF-S as it has had a recent upgrade and sounded generally better than the 18-200 for my uses. So less zoom, but lot more wide angle. I took the 15% discount. Canon didn't want my old lens, only the serial number. They didn't have a refurb in stock.

Canon has the worst voice routing system I've used in years -- I had to keep repeating "representative" and on one attempt was booted off with a tedious and even condescending dialog. The automated system couldn't handle lenses.