Long time, no post

It's been a while since I've posted here, so I thought I'd catch up everything that's happened before I get myself back into the swing of posting random nonsense.

Chronos is running smoothly with its new PSU, no issues since the replacement, save for some bizarre incompatibility between my D-Link USB 802.11b/g+ WiFi adapater and the uTorrent BitTorrent client. I have no idea how they could even manage to be incompatible, but somehow, if I run uTorrent, after a few minutes Windows will lose my wireless, and I have to unplug and replug the USB adapter for it to get back on. This will let the connection stay up for another few minutes before the cycle repeats itself. It only happens when uTorrent is open; if I get disconnected, reseat the USB adapter, and close uTorrent, I can stay connected for days on end. I don't get it.

Also, I bought a MacBook (13" widescreen, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB DDR-667, 80GB HD, SuperDrive), and I love the thing to death. The old Dell Latitude D600 was a POS from the day I got it, and I rarely used it (it's a work machine - I didn't actually buy a $2k laptop and never use it.) The MacBook, on the other hand, has more CPU power than my desktop, it's extremely portable due to its size and weight, and the power adapter is far more portable than any laptop charger I've ever seen. The screen quality is fantastic, and I'm actually starting to get back into the swing of MacOS.

Five or so years ago, I had never used a PC. I used an Apple //c when I was five, started programming it in BASIC and assembly when I was 7, got a Mac SE at 10, a Mac Quadra 605 at 14, and a PowerMac G3 (Blue & White) at 16. Then I got a job doing tech support for an ISP, and had to get a Windows-based computer to be able to keep up with the issues experienced by our majority-Windows customers. So, at 19, I bought my first PC, and built it myself from parts, just to have the experience. I sold my last remaining Mac when I was 21, and now I'm nearing my 24th birthday, and I have a Mac again.

Why did I ditch the Mac in the first place? Mac OS X. I've used every Mac OS from System 4 on the IIgs to System 6 on the SE to System 7 on the Quadra to MacOS 8, 9, and eventually X on the G3. It kept getting better and better; every update was faster, easier to use, more feature-full than the last. With MacOS 9.1.2 my system was more responsive than it had ever been.

Then Mac 9.2 came out, designed to ease the migration to MacOS X, laying the groundwork for a whole new Mac OS. I tried the OS X public beta; it was dirt-slow, a total memory hog, and it eventually hosed my hard drive - but hey, it was a beta. I used 10.0 final, it was nearly as bad; 10.1 was a slight improvement, but I never got over how much the interface had changed; I still think Mac 9.1 was the easiest to use, and I think at this point Mac has come down to be roughly on-par with Windows in terms of intuitiveness; a significant fall from grace.

Now I'm using a Mac again, and it's taking some adustment, but it's not as bad as I remember it. Some of the more annoying issues have been fixed; others I suppose just don't bother me as much any more because it's been a very, very long time since I was used to the smooth effortlessness of Mac OS of old. Whatever the root, I'm taking a liking to this new OS.

Expose, which allows you to quickly view all open windows, all windows in the current application, or your desktop, with the push of a button, is very nice. Rather than icons representing each window, when you hit the button, the windows slide and shrink and move around so that you can see them all on-screen at once; these zoomed-out windows are still the real deal, however, and still update while you're looking at them in their miniature form; progress bars still update, and so on.

The Dashboard is handy as well; I'm using iStat Pro to keep an eye on CPU, memory, disk, and network use directly from the dash, as well as Sing that iTune, which automatically looks up the lyrics for whatever track is currently playing in iTunes (I can't help it, I'm a compulsive sing-along-er.)

I haven't used the iLife kit much (iMovie HD, iDVD, iPhoto, etc.), though I have tinkered briefly in GarageBand. Yet again, I find myself using iTunes even though it's a desperately sub-par product; it's become such a juggernaut that few are willing to attempt to compete - on Windows you're up against WMP, iTunes and WinAmp, not an easy fight to fight - and on MacOS, well, iTunes has a pretty significant stranglehold. There are a couple of alternatives, but nothing suitable. So iTunes remains my photo app. It also includes an app called PhotoBooth that uses the built-in webcam to let you take photos - I use it for my gtalk buddy icon, which I sign onto using iChat (works just fine, although it does require that I use a seperate app for gmail notifications - luckily Google has released a full-featured email and calendar notification pack for Mac that works extremely well for me.)

I've also got a Wireless Mighty Mouse, which works very well, aside from a small issue with the connection; it seems if I turn off the mouse, then later turn it back on (as I am likely to do quite often, what with it being a laptop - sometimes I have the room to use the mouse, sometimes I have to use the trackpad), it'll pair automagically, but it won't connect, even though the mouse as marked as a "favorite device"; every time I have to go into the Bluetooth panel and force it to connect by going through the entire pairing/connecting process again. A minor nuisance, but highly irritating when you want to just pull out the laptop and the mouse and get to work.

The Unix side of MacOS is just as one would expect; so far, the main difference between the Darwin base and any other *nix system I've used is the directory structure and a couple of missing apps, which I've since been able to easily install by compiling from source. I managed to install AMP (apache/mysql/php) with little difficulty, aside from some confusion which arose due to the apache 1.3 installation that MacOS comes with, which I didn't realise was there until it had already become a problem.

I've been able to use Automator to create a simple script which runs a bash script; I'm already using this on a daily basis, as it lets me put an item in a global menu to quickly execute a shell script. This is extremely handy; I only wish that, like under *nix windowing environments, I could run any file marked executable just by double-clicking it on the desktop. C'est la vie, maybe a future version will feature this; in the meantime, it's a relatively simple workaround to create an Automator workflow or AppleScript to trigger a shell script to run.

I'm already running jEdit (which has a very solid native Mac port), NetBeans (again, very solid Mac support), NeoOffice (a Cocoa port of OpenOffice.org; so far so good, though I've used it very little as of yet), MySQL GUI Tools (same functionality as it has on windows/*nix - but with a better interface!), FireFox (of course - I didn't use IE, and I'm no more enamored with Safari), I've got a BT client (Azureus - I don't like it, but it works, and I haven't had time to try out Transmission, which I've also installed), a Subversion client (ZigVersion, because I can't get svnX to work at all - it hangs as soon as I try to connect to my server), and of course the JRE. I still need to find a way to sync my Q to the MacBook, but that's not a huge priority for me right now.

I've loaded the thing with a sampling of my movie & music collection from Chronos (the full collection is about 60G, a bit much for the 80G disk the MacBook came with), and I find the display to be perfect for movie-viewing. The speakers are lame, but that's to be expected with a laptop; I just use the earbuds that came with my iPod, and I've got a pair of much better quality earbuds coming in the mail (look for a review shortly!)

All in all, the switch back to the Mac has been a positive experience so far; I've always appreciated Apple's attention to detail, and they haven't failed me with the MacBook itself (from a hardware standpoint), though I still find some shortcomings with MacOS as a whole. I suppose only time will tell how effective it is; if I run into critical usability or compatibility problems, you can be sure you'll see it mentioned here.

I've also upgraded from my old Palm Treo 650 to a snazzy new Motorola Q, on Verizon service. Aside from the fact that Verizon's service beats the pants off of Sprints (at least across the Atlanta area, western North & South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and western Virginia), the Q itself is far and away the better phone. Gone is the irritating touchscreen and easily-lost stylus; here is your clickable scroll wheel (thank god). Also, much to my surprise, Windows Mobile 5 is more stable, more responsive, easier to use, and has more and better software available than PalmOS ever did, in my experience. I've already got a pocket NES emulator running on the Q, with a mini-SD card loaded with every NES game ever made; for the cost of an SD card I now have over nine hundred games available on the go, compared to the $10 - $20 per game you pay to download a game from your provider (Sprint or Verizon, Q or Treo, the download prices seem about the same.)

The Q has better call quality (both due to improved reception, and improved mic & speaker), better speakerphone quality, better bluetooth support, and built-in voice-dialing and WAV/MP3 ringtone support (both of which were shockinly missing from the Treo.) Also, while the monthly service through Verizon is slightly more expensive than my service through Sprint was, the Q itself was only $100 with 2-year, while the Treo 650 was $300 with 2-year. I also thoroughly appreciate the Q's smaller, lighter form-factor; compared to the Treo, I barely notice it hanging on my belt, and I find it much easier to handle, particularly due to its thinner depth.

That's all from me for now - hopefully you'll be reading news of the fruits of a couple of new projects here in the near future, but until then, it'll be more mindless ramblings from me!

Click "I Agree" To Proceed...

Okay, this is just getting under my skin. I "sign" agreements all the time, every day. You do to. I agree to things I never read. You do that too. Everyone does it. All the time.

I'm talking about EULAs, ToSs, T&C's, and, of course, "privacy policies". What is this stuff? Well, the end-user license agreement, or EULA, tells you what you can and can't do with a piece of software you're about to install, and it probably mentions anything shady that the software is about to do. Why be so upfront? You're not going to read it, and it absolves them legally. Unfortunately, perfectly legitimate software has EULAs too, and it's too hard to figure out which is which that way.

Terms of Service, or ToS, are what service providers, like ISPs and web hosts and such, use to lay down the litany of things which are, should they unfortunately occur, not in any way their problem. It also likely details the things which you are not, under any circumstances, to do with the service in question, regardless of whether it might seem like a perfectly viable use to you or the general public.

Terms and Conditions, or T&Cs, are usually required right before you sign up for something, like internet or cell phone service. Again, this often outlines exactly what you're not to do with the service, and exactly how much it would cost you if you did.

Privacy policies are my favorite one of all. Why? Because most of the time, you aren't actually agreeing to the privacy policy. You're just required to read it. I find this odd - typically, a company requires their employees to know their policies, not their customers. I find this particularly frightening since the only reason I'd be required to know about it is if there's something shady in there.

Of course, just like you, I still check the box and click the button and make my merry way toward whatever courtroom doom might befall me.

Click "I Agree" to proceed.

Happy New Year!!

China heralds year of the fluorescent green pig
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16385433/

The Bill of Wrongs
http://www.slate.com/id/2156397/

2006 Darwin Awards
http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2006.html

Happy New Year!

More Googley Thoughts

I'm sitting here, right now, sending myself 7M of files on my Gmail account. Why? I left my thumbdrive at the office, I need to quickly port some files around, and I've got plenty of space available to do it. And it's got me thinking.

Sure, there are hacks out there to let you use your Gmail as a mounted disk in Windows, but they still have to save the files as email messages with attachments, and that's still a pain. Google needs to go ahead and start up some kind of Gdisk, letting you stash files online. Web interface, integration into Google Desktop and maybe a context menu option for Windows, and Samba/DAV support so you can mount it under Windows or Linux as a drive and use it that way. Give users direct access to their Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Picasa Web Albums, and Gmail attachments in subfolders. And, last but certainly not least, give each Google account a certain amount of space, and share that space between Gmail, D&S, and Picasa Web. It seems like that should be a relatively simple undertaking to me, but maybe I'm missing something.

Wii Sports (Wii)

Well, well, well. Look what we have here. I did Excite Truck, and failed to hit Wii Sports first. Wii Sports, that game which had me up for 6 hours after receiving my midnight Wii.

Wii Sports is a very simplistic party game, in which caricatures you create (Mii's) play, well, sports. You can play Tennis (by swinging the controller like a racket), Baseball (by swinging the controller like a bat), Bowling (by swinging the controller like you're throwing a bowling ball), Golf (by swinging the controller like a golf club), and Boxing (by swinging the controller and nunchuk like, well, fists.) If that sounds like a lot of swinging, well, it is.

The game also includes a Practice mode that offers 3 training modes for each of the 5 games, for a total of 15 training modes. Power Bowling is particularly entertaining, challenging you to see how many pins you can knock down with a single throw; each of 10 tries, a new row of pins is added, such that for your final toss, you're trying to knock down 91 pins at once. The practice modes have to be unlocked one by one, with only one mode for each sport available to begin with. However, no particular level of success is required to unlock the next mode - you need only play one mode once before going on to the next.

Last but not least, it includes Wii Fitness, which gives you a random sampling of 3 of the practice modes that you have unlocked, and uses your performance to judge your "Wii Fitness Age", on a scale of 20 (best) to 80 (worst). I'm 23. The first time I tried it I was 74 years old, the next time I was 78 years old, then 41 years old, and yesterday, 31 years old. I find it makes a big difference which events it gives you - I do particularly well at the tennis events, so when I get all 3 tennis events for my test, I do very well.

The games are decent single-player, and allow you to increase your score in each game by defeating AI opponents. You start with 0 score, and work your way up to 1000 (Pro) and beyond. The real fun in the title comes from multiplayer; it's a great party game, for players and observers. One of the nice touches is in hotseat games like bowling or golf, the controller chimes when it's your turn - so if you take your controller with you to get a drink, you won't miss anything.

The games themselves are a little hit-or-miss. Personally, I find Tennis and Bowling to be highly addictive, Baseball to be mediocre, and Boxing and Golf to be downright lousy. Boxing has control issues; the motion sensing just never works like you expect it to, giving you little control of your on-screen avatar's actions. Golf, well - I'm not a big golf fan to begin with, but the way they used the motion control just doesn't work well for me. Maybe a "real" golfing title will make better use of the motion detection.

Baseball is fine, but too simplistic; you can bat and you can pitch, and everything else is handled automatically, making it purely a game of motions. It's fine as a motion-challenge game, but it's really not baseball.

Tennis and bowling are both excellent, and they're both games you can really get into with a group of 2 to 4, or even more. A particularly great game for company that's new to the Wii, and you want to introduce them to it with something simple and straightforward, but still fun to play.