Edward Vielmetti is inviting you to A2B3 lunch on Thursday at Eastern Accents in Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

Freedom, to go offline

Through some random chance encounter on the net - that is to say,
I don't remember why I found it - I'm offline right now.

The tool of choice for going offline is a little Mac application
called Freedom, which disables your Internet access for a specified
period of time so that you can get things done. Written by Fred
Stutzman at UNC.

Freedom enforces freedom; a reboot is the only circumvention of the Freedom time limit you specify. The hassle of rebooting means you're less likely to cheat, and you'll be more productive. Not rebooting is why we bought Apple computers in the first place. When first getting used to Freedom, I suggest using the software for short periods of time.

It's a great idea, especially for the times when you find yourself
overwhelmed by the 1000000000s of possible things to do when you
are on line, and when reducing the number of options is key to actually
accomplishing any one task.

(Obviously I'm back online to post this!)

Macbook flickery pixels - diagnosing and fixing a screen hardware problem

I have a Macbook, it's partially broken right now.

There is a stripe of pixels top to bottom on the screen, about 1/8 of the screen, running top to bottom that is flickering. It's not what Apple calls a "pixel anomaly", since it's not a single isolated spot; rather, it's a big stripe. It starts at the middle of the screen, and goes to the right from there.

I have Applecare (whew).

I ran TechTools Deluxe, their self-help diagnostic CD; all of the hardware that it tests checks out OK, including the video ram.

I double-checked the video issue at multiple screen resolutions, and it appears that the same screen stripe is fubar independent of resolution, which suggests that it's a problem with the screen itself and not the circuitry driving it. The external monitor looks fine.

@bdimcheff on Twitter noted that he had a similar problem which was "the bottom set of input circuitry on my LCD was falling off".

On hold to Apple Support right now (1030am EST), estimated wait 15min plus. I can still work. "Please continue to hold for the next representative".

I'm not going to fix it myself (did I mention Applecare)? But here are some people who did replace a Mac laptop screen:

Replace MacBook Screen - A Tutorial - Tweak OSX

A client of mine sent me a MacBook with a broken screen. It was his daughter’s computer, and she had accidentally broken the screen. I told him I couldn’t help him repair the screen, and he should look to Apple to make the repair for him. I turns out that the repair is 90% of the cost of the computer itself.

"Clear to me right now that it's a hardware issue; don't have to worry about it because it's a hardware issue. Need to send this one to our Apple Depot and have it fixed; the turnaround time is 5-7 business days. Genius bar doesn't have the parts to be sure and have it in stock, but you can ask them. Box delivered by DHL, just the computer into it; they will deliver it back to us; call them if it's ready for pickup. Box valid for 30 business days; always back up the files."

(sigh)

The next problem is to figure out a transitional period where I get a laptop for 5-7 days to work while my system is in the shop, and enough data and code on that laptop to make it work. Without going into an exhaustive search for rentals, it appears that the value of a machine for one week as a rental is in the $250 range.

Technorati Tags: hardware, mac, macbook, sad-mac

How to use Sprint / Samsung UpStage as a Bluetooth data modem on Mac OS X 10.4

For most of this, I followed the instructions at

http://www.nodrm.com/2006/03/22/how-to-use-sprintsamsung-a920-as-an-evdo-bluetooth-modem-with-mac/

UPDATE: more instructions specific to the UpStage at

http://www.nodrm.com/2007/05/12/how-to-use-sprintsamsung-upstage-as-an-evdo-bluetooth-modem-on-mac-osx/

It wasn't hard once I found that page, but there might have been a few steps I missed. Let me write down what I know I did, and then go back and fix any missing spots.

THIS IS A DRAFT. It really wants to have screen shots or even heaven help us a screencast of the whole thing. When I set this up the first time it was on the train - I bootstrapped the configuration using my Blackberry's browser to find the nodrm site above. I *think* I was stuck a few times along the way, and I doubly think that the missing step that changed between OS releases was the need to get the serial port configured (below, under Bluetooth / Sharing). Comments welcome.

1. Pair your phone with your computer. Turn the phone on; turn Bluetooth on on the phone; turn the computer on, and turn Bluetooth on on the computer. When you get a passkey on the Mac's screen, punch it in on the phone.

System Preferences / Bluetooth / Settings:
Bluetooth Power: On
[x] Discoverable
[x] Show Bluetooth Status in the menu bar

System Preferences / Bluetooth / Devices

Device Name: UpStage

Device Type: Phone
Device Services: Object Exchange, BTA_FTS, HSP Gateway, HFP Gateway, Advanced Audio source, Dialup Networking

Paired: Yes
Configured: Yes
Favorite: Yes
Connected: No
Serial Port: Yes

System Preferences / Bluetooth / Sharing

on key service name
[x] [ ] SerialPort-1

if you don't see a serial port, select "Add Serial Port Service" to add one.

2. Set up the phone as a modem. In the Bluetooth setup assistant, pick "access the internet with your data connection". Keep the user name and password fields blank, and use #777 as the phone number. Use "Sprint PCS Vision" as the modem script. Add the modem to you toolbar so it's easy to get to. I got error messages about not having a serial device when I did this the first time, and I had to go back and add the serial port in under Bluetooth / Sharing see above.

3. To connect, click on the modem toolbar and then select "connect". It will dial, and if you have service it will connect for you. Speeds will vary depending on cell coverage and the phase of the moon.

Technorati Tags: ambassador, bluetooth, mac, osx, samsung, sprint, upstage

My Mac Won't Start! A Tiny Guide.

Sad Mac from thomazito. all rights reserved.

Bored cocktail-party companions will know that I went through a two week period of enforced disconnection from my Mac (yet another logic board failure). Happily, the machine is back, and they even cleaned it up and gave me a new keyboard.

My Mac Won't Start! A Tiny Guide is a little eight page, single sheet of paper booklet folded in pocketmod style that gives you all of the basic troubleshooting tools you need to boot into safe mode, fsck the disk, or boot to Firewire mode so that you can mount the drive remotely.

This troubleshooting guide was co-created by two designer-friendly computer support firms: CreativeTechs in Seattle and Forget Computers in Chicago. Both companies have spent years helping creative teams stay productive with today's changing technology.

If tech origami is not your style, they also have a non-pocketmod format page.

Technorati Tags: howto, mac, osx, pocketmod

Interarchy 8.2 for OS X has Amazon S3 support

Interarchy (the program formerly known as anarchie) now has S3 support:

With Interarchy you can efficiently and reliably fetch, edit or SFTP/FTP transmit files to any kind of Internet server using FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3 or HTTP. Common uses include setting up web sites, long-distance transfer of data or remote server administration. Interarchy also supports other common Internet protocols including ping, traceroute, DNS lookup and packet sniffing. Because Interarchy is standards-compliant it will work with servers running on any operating system including Windows and Unix.

It's a $59.95 purchase via Kagi.

I wrote about Jungle Disk earlier, an Amazon S3 client for the Mac - Interarchy is miles ahead in the way of overall system maturity, since started out as an FTP client back in the olden days and expanded out from there.

Peter Lewis, the developer, wrote a tutorial on How Do I Make An Amazon S3 Hosted Website Using Interarchy - it's a start to finish description of using S3 as your backing store for a web server.

Technorati Tags: amazon, s3, amazonwebservices, aws

S3 browser for Mac OS X

Brian Kerr notes:

S3 Browser
S3 browser is a Mac OS X administration tool for the Amazon S3 storage service. My goal is to build a small application useful in itself for developers or users subscribed to the S3 service, but also to provide example code showing how to access S3 through the REST API in a OS X Objective-C client application, on top of OS X technologies (Keychain, URL loading system, ...).

While you're there on Brian's blog, check out his collection of information metaphors, from architecture and artifact to wave, weight, wealth and world.

Technorati Tags: amazon, s3, osx, mac, metaphor, information

Apple iBook, Powerbook battery recall

Apple and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Thursday announced a recall of 1.1 million battery packs made for Apple’s PowerBook and iBook battery packs. Information on the recall has been posted to the CPSC’s Web site. Users who have batteries affected by this recall are entitled to a replacement battery, free of charge.

More details on the Apple battery recall web page. Because that page is so slammed, I snipped out the appropriate graphics here.

Technorati Tags: apple, battery, exchange, ibook, mac, powerbook, recall

Calendar Swamp, Scott Mace's blog

Technojournalist Scott Mace writes Calendar Swamp, a blog which is an ongoing tribute to the pervasive non-interoperability of calendar systems and event data. Among many other things he notes that Apple's Leopard OS forthcoming release has a CalDAV-based iCal server bundled in. Scott notes

The mainstream tech media promptly ignored this aspect of Apple's Leopard announcements today. This speaks volumes about the work remaining to raise the profile of interoperable calendar technology in the popular press. Even if more and more users are clamoring for it.

If we're ever going to share calendars, we have to insist on interoperability between them all.
Let's drain the swamp!

(in addition this should go into "interoperability" and "standards")

Technorati Tags: interoperability, standards, calendar, ical, caldav

Subway shuffle

From the web site:

Subway Shuffle is a collection of puzzles set in a subway system. You have boarded a car on the Red Line, and your task is to reach your destination. The problem is, there are other subway cars in your way! Each subway car can move only on its own color line: the red cars on the Red Line, the blue cars on the Blue Line, etc. Can you shuffle the cars from station to station, eventually moving your own car to your exit station?

for Mac OS X, from Robert Hearn.

UPDATE: There's a version of Subway Shuffle for the iPhone out now (8/08). The MacRumors discussion of the popularity of iPhone apps says:

Originally Posted by bob_hearn Well, if you want to write an iPhone app, your mileage may vary. My $2.99 puzzle app Subway Shuffle sold 28 units three days ago, and it is among the highest rated apps on the store. But it has zero visibility, because it is not listed among Apple's favorites, best of puzzles, etc. However, that evening Apple finally posted the free, "lite" version of Subway Shuffle (8 days after I submitted it). The next day I sold 44 SS (9000+ free downloads); yesterday I sold 66 SS (7500+ free downloads). Well, I like the trend, anyway.

Technorati Tags: subway

Using Skype for broadcasting seminars

I was in a seminar at the U of Michigan School of Information the other day:

Dehyping Skype: on the future of the phone (and IM)

Steve Whittaker, U. of Sheffield, UK.

Voice over IP (VOIP) is a technology that has just reached maturity - in
particular with companies like Skype having more than 100 million users. In
this ethnographic study I look at the use of Skype in organisations. We find
(counterintuitively) that the commonly touted cost advantage of VOIP is largely
irrelevant in this setting. Instead we find that users combine VOIP with IM to
address some of the common problems with phone communication. This has strong
design implications for the future of the phone and IM and we conclude by
discussing these.

and fired up Skype naturally to see if there was anyone online who might
be interested in these results. I found Joe Cothrel, and we got to IM'ing
during the discussion. After I tried to annotate the talk for him for a little
while I got the bright idea that I could just send it to him, so I muted my iBook,
called him, got connected, and let the microphone on my iBook pick up
the room sounds for him to listen to. The report was that it sounded great.

Joe pointed me at a study he had done with Barry Wellman and Anabel Quan-Haase
on IM in business published in JCMC:

Instant Messaging for Collaboration: A Case Study of a High-Tech Firm

Anabel Quan-Haase, Joseph Cothrel, & Barry Wellman

The findings from this study show that while instant messaging leads to higher connectivity and new forms of collaboration, employees also use it to distance themselves from superiors.

which is relevant to the set of questions posed.

It was fun to do the teleseminar in such a low key, ad hoc, unannounced kind of way,
much more intriguing in many ways to set that up with a laptop than to do a huge
planned and scheduled event.

Technorati Tags: skype