Man, I am getting warmed up to Leopard Server quick. Although I don’t think I’ll be replacing Simplelog just yet, the ability to use 3rd party apps to interface with the built-in blog system makes it that much more attractive.

From the Server’s help page:

To access your blog, use an applicatioin that works with the Metaweblog API. Use the following information to configure the editor:

RPC Access Point: http://serverDNSname/RPC2
Username or Blog ID: Your user name or the name of your group

I’ve managed to get SVN & Warehouse somewhat up and running on my server, and now that he’s online, I’m trying to get everything 100%.

Right now, I’m testing the following post-commit hook in one of my repositories to see if it works. The directory names have been changed to match my server, but otherwise this is just the basic suggestion from the Warehouse FAQ.

#!/bin/sh
cd /Library/WebServer/Rails/warehouse-1.1.6
/usr/bin/rake warehouse:post_commit \
     RAILS_ENV=production \
     REPO_PATH=$1 \
     REVISION=$2

to Love Safari

With one simple command, you too can force Safari to open all “new window” links as new tabs. Open up terminal and paste in this line. Don’t forget to restart safari afterward!

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

I wonder if there is a similar fix for WinSafari

[From Terminal Tip: Safari 3.1 brings true one-window mode – (TUAW)]

One step closer to getting my server up to production!

After several mis-steps, I’ve finally configured subversion in leopard server, and have mostly gotten Warehouse running.

I can’t wait to migrate all of my sites over to the server and get it live!

What kind of how-to would this be if I just sat around cooing about my own accomplishments? After all, I just stole the work from other people. And here it is:

Subversion

This page was instrumental in getting subversion up and running properly. A lot of other pages helped/got me started, but in the end I just wiped all of that other crap, and started over from the top of this page. When I finished, Subversion worked. That simple.

One gotcha, noted in the comments, is that for some reason OS X Server Admin seems to be fond of changing the line DAV svn to DAV off. Some vigilance in TextMate prevented this from bringing me down!

I’ll be posting more specifics about my Warehouse experience as soon as it’s actually working ;)

Filed under “Can’t Live Without”

I must have palm emulation on my iPhone! The mere thought of all those old apps I used to love on my Handspring Visor (the deluxe, translucent blue one) that I insisted on blowing an entire paycheck on (I was in HS at the time) makes me all giggly.

I still have a Sony Clie. It gathers dust on my dresser 99% of the time, but that isn’t the point.

I read the entire 5 book series of HHGG on my handspring.

Dope Wars, Space Trader.

What better death for the palm os?

Ok, thanks to my poor time management skills, I’ve had to re-start completely with the whole 1.1.3 upgrade to my iPhone. (Hopefully this wont mean doing a system restore, doesn’t look like it will.) I’ll pick up again where I left off when I get that far again.

Ok. The 1.1.3 iPhone Jailbreak software is out. I’m ready to try the upgrade on my phone. I’m currently running 1.1.2 jailbroken. A link in the comments on a post at Engadget led me to Nawaf’s site where he has a complete list of instructions for how to get your iPhone up to 1.1.3 and still have all your unofficial native apps.

Here’s a link to the original post on Engadget.

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I spent most of this evening screwing around with iPhoto, going through some of my older pictures & editing/arranging them. Feeling rather adventurous, I started playing around with iWeb & dotMac. When I posted the pictures from last week’s road trip, I had my first experience with the new galleries, today I decided to play with iWeb’s photo pages.

I’ve fiddled with iWeb before, and to be quite honest, I find it very simplistic-both in use and capability. I’ve always preferred hand-coding my web sites, but the integration between the iLife programs makes them very easy to use for those “less technically snobbish” than I.

So, without further ado, I give you my iWeb site.

In the never ending battle for hard drive space, the first place any sane person will look is media. Movies. Music. Photos.

Using an external disk for your iTunes library has one downside: If you use a laptop, your library and your computer might not be in the same place at the same time. You’ll be able to sync your devices and browse your library, but obviously you’ll be unable to partake in any media consumption.

This should be of little consequence as your iPod will probably be with you, and probably has some of your media on it. However, if you must have everything, all the time, consider getting a small external drive before abandoning this approach all together.

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About a month ago, my mom mentioned that her iBook’s startup disk was getting full, and that she had started to receive warnings from OS X about it.

Since my mom isn’t the most technically inclined, I told her that I would get some easy to follow tutorials together. Well that hasn’t happened yet, so I’m doing it now.

There will probably be a few articles in this series, as there are several things you can do to save yourself from a full startup disk.

Obviously, the easiest, fastest, and all around best way to alleviate this issue is to upgrade your internal drive. If that’s not an option for you, follow along.

Mr. Gruber points out that

The whole ringtones racket is predicated on the notion that ringtones are something different than songs. This notion is bullshit. You don’t turn songs into ringtones; you treat them as ringtones. They’re not even a different file format. It’s just a different context for playing the same song on the same device.

I couldn’t agree more. Paying for the same song twice is idiocy.

However, he also states that

Instead of the complicated, confusing mess of a ringtone policy that Apple announced last week, what they should have announced is this: Any song you can play on your iPhone can be used as a ringtone for no additional charge. Want a new ringtone? Just buy it from iTunes or rip it from a CD.

And this is where I disagree. I think, that Apple’s stance is good for everyone. They can have an “official” policy which kisses the ass of the RIAA fuckwads, while anyone with half a brain is going to roll their own anyway. It doesn’t take a genius to realize how easy it is to get their own songs as ringtones, and only those people easily duped out of their money will pay twice. I’m a firm believer that stupidity should be painful.

In this same article, John goes on to point out Apple’s history of doing right by consumers. I will say that this is probably the biggest draw Apple has had on my business. They have maintained, more or less, an personal attitude with their customers. Lately, however, they seem to be acting a little more corporately. And that isn’t a good thing. They run the risk of being associated with Microsoft , AOL, or worse yet: Dell.

If Apple were just another huge corporation that came across as not caring about its customers, why would we pay the Apple Premium? I wouldn’t.

Ok. What the fuck. Seriously. There have always been certain things about the iPods that I haven’t been 100% happy with, but for the most part I felt like Apple was bringing us the best experience possible.

Now, they’ve basically admitted [via Engadget] that they’ve purposely crippled the iPod Touch.

Why. Would… It just doesn’t make sense… Apple is supposed to be the champion of the customer, right? I mean, this just isn’t like them.

Some of the people I work with aren’t into the whole Think Different thing. They are die hard PC users. The kind of people that wouldn’t buy an Apple product if Microsoft went out of business. I can’t believe all the grief I’ve already gotten from these guys over the iPhone price drop.

I bought 2 4gig iPhones. One for myself, and one for the wifey. So I’m out 400 bucks, or so they say. My opinion is that I wouldn’t have spent the money if I didn’t think it was worth it. But, it still stings with the unprecedented price drop so soon after initial release. To paraphrase Steve, “shit happens.”

Apparently even Steve himself is no longer satisfied by that sentiment. In a letter released today, his Steveness has decreed once again that customer satisfaction is the number 1 priority at Apple.

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.

A lot of different iPods. A lot of different combinations. Where do you start?

In order to pick the right iPod(s) for you, you have to think about how you’ll use them. For instance, I purchased the smaller iPhone, since I planned on keeping the majority of my library on my 60 gig iPod + Video Classic.

The key issues are

• Price
• Physical Size
• Storage Capacity
• Connectivity

Price & Physical Size

If price is going to be the deciding factor in your purchase, then the iPhone and iPod Touch are probably out. The Shuffle is a good choice if you’re broke and don’t mind the lack of a screen. The size makes it ideal for listening to audio books, playing podcasts in your car, or rockin out at the gym.

If you’ve gotta have more storage, or a screen then the Nano is the way to stay cheap. Again, its compact design and flash based storage make it incredibly resilient and incredibly portable.

Storage Capacity

The iPod Classic is a clear winner here. 160 gigs? You can’t argue with that. This iPod is for the “I wanna have all of my music with me everywhere I go” people. Like me.

Connectivity

If you’ve been drooling over the iPhone since January, then there is no reason not to get one. Unless you’re stuck in a contract with another carrier. (Or maybe you don’t believe in cell phones?) If either apply to you, the iPod touch is equally amazing, with out the hassle of signing your wireless life away.

Upgrade or Mix & Match

If you’ve already got an iPod (or an iPhone) and you want to get a new device, there are a couple of options for you as well.

Again, you need to look at how you use the devices. I primarily keep podcasts on my iPhone, but I do have a few smart playlists that make sure I’ve got my favorites as well. I have 100% of my music on my iPod, and fill the remaining space with videos.

I use the iPod primarily in the car, or connected to my TV. I carry my the phone with me everywhere.

What I’ve done in the past is to simply upgrade my iPod by selling my current one, and using the money to pay (partially) for the new one. If you’ve kept yours in a case, and taken care of it, you shouldn’t have a problem finding someone who’ll buy it for a reasonable price.

Just mentioning it at work yesterday got me an offer of $100 for the wife’s 30gig photo, and an offer of $200 for my video. Obviously, YMMV.

Far be it for me to oppose the Daring Fireball, but I have to say that The Beatles in iTunes is a big deal. A very big deal. Perhaps it is the biggest news of the day.

Everyone knew there were new iPods coming.

We may have been surprised about the magnitude of the iPhone price cuts, but we all knew that was coming too.

The Beatles are coming innuendo was so thick at this press event it got everyone’s speculative juices flowing. It couldn’t have been an accident. Stevie J knew exactly what he was doing: promising us all exactly what we want. John, Paul, George, & Ringo.

Then he let us down.

What possible reasons could there be for such a blatant teasing of our musical emotions? I think the only possible answer is hype. Look at all of the attention the mere hint of an iTunes debut has gotten. What better way to get Apple Corps to see dollar signs than to get people in line to buy?

And when it does happen, people will buy. No other band has had such a profound affect on the face of modern music. The Fab Four set the stage for more than one generation of musicians and music lovers alike.

So, for now, we are all just pawns in an epic struggle to see our beloved musicians in their rightful place, and an answer to that eternal question: How can you call yourself a music store if you don’t have The Beatles?

Things I’d like to see on my iPhone:

Applications

1. Cha-Ching
2. Ecto
3. Adium

System

1. dotMac syncing via EDGE/WiFi

I’ve finally gotten around to adding an iPhone specific area to the site.

I’ll be using the space to put up info about how to abuse your phone, as well as maintaining a small repository of installer.app packages.

I’ll probably be reposting/moving my existing tutorials there, as well as adding a few new ones as new shits are added.

It is probably a great idea to change the default password on your iPhone, especially if you are using ssh or sftp (which I’ll get around to telling you how to set up) to install programs.

(Based on the info provided here)

From your local working directory, ie /Users/YOU/iPhone/, run (in Terminal, of course)
scp root@XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:/etc/master.passwd master.passwd

Where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is your iPhone’s IP address. This will download the password file to your working directory.

Before you do anything else, make a backup of this file. DO IT!!!!

Next, run the command
perl -e 'print "\n".crypt("XXXXXX", "YZ")."\n\n"'

Where XXXXXX is your new password, and YZ are two random characters. This script will output an encrypted string. Paste this string in between the first two colons of the rows root and mobile in the master.passwd file you downloaded. Then re-upload the file using the same command used to install applications. Modified, obviously, to change the upload directory.

scp -rp master.passwd root@XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:/etc

Reboot your iPhone. Any future SSH or SFTP connections will use the new password.

Ok. I know that OS X doesn’t normally require disk defrag. However, I have a sizeable external storage RAID (1TB) with hundreds of files in the 600 mb to 1.5 gb size range. These have all been added & edited & moved around at random over the last year or so. Not to mention the drive also houses my & my wifey’s iTunes libraries. I tend to use the internal drive in my MacBook Pro to create & organize the files, then store them on the external drive. Most, if not all, editing happens once the files are on the external drive.

Long rant. Short questions.

Is it worth paying money for a 3rd party defrag utility?

Are there any “better” programs?