While my aforementioned Rolex is a treasure, it doesn’t keep the most accurate time. ↩
I bought my Rolex fifteen years ago and am wearing it as I type this. What Apple gear from 1999 is anyone today still using on a daily basis? Apple creates some extraordinary products, but I wouldn’t use the word ‘timeless’ to describe many of them.
]]>If, as P. J. O’Rourke once quipped, giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys, then giving actual money and power to teenage boys (and girls) is as predictably disastrous as you would imagine.
Student government…where big government liberals are born.
]]>One big reason for the absence was last summer I learned about Steam, and their famous Summer Sales. I have dabbled with video games off and on over the years – Age of Empires and other RTS games. It was a discounted copy of Civilization V that I got in some Mac software bundle that actually introduced me to Steam.
So I was browsing around looking for other games that were Mac compatible and would run on my then-three-year old Mac Book Pro. And I stumbled upon Borderlands 2.
Turn out the lights, see you later. What an amazing video game. Terrific story, addictive and just fun to play. Huge game world with tons of stuff to do. It’s marketed as a co-op shooter, but I have played it for over 500 hours solo.
I have other reasons why I have lets this site go dormant for nearly a year, but Borderlands 2 is by far the best one.
]]>Well, the (murky) details of that case are not quite so indicative of institutional racism in Florida that some would have you believe.
Which shouldn’t be a surprise.
]]>First off, I doubled the RAM with 2 x 4 GB memory modules from Other World Computing for $83, replacing the stock 4 GB the system came with. This difference alone was noticeable.
My stock 500 GB hard drive is only about half-full, but this was as good a time as any to put in an SSD. Also from OWC, I ordered a 240 GB Mercury Electra 3G SSD ($220). I elected for the 3G over the faster 6G Extreme model since System Profiler says my MacBook runs at the lower speed anyway 1, and I saved about $70 in the process. Yes, there are cheaper SSDs out there, but I have never done wrong when buying from OWC, so they got my money.2
I also purchased a Data Doubler kit ($38) in order to remove the hardly-used Superdrive and put the old stock 500 GB hard drive in in its place for more storage. Finally, for $35, I got an external USB enclosure for the removed Superdrive in case I need it.
First, I re-downloaded Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store (since it disappears after installation). I then used a tool called Lion Disk Maker to easily make a bootable installer on an unused 20GB USB drive I had laying around.
I then made sure the critical software on the computer was up-to-date and made one last clone to my FireWire backup drive using Super Duper. I booted from both the installer drive and the backup drive to ensure that they worked. 3
The next step was to ensure important apps that can sync files with Dropbox did so: 1Password file, Text Expander snippets, Keyboard Maestro macros (in the new version 6), and manually added some for apps that didn’t, such as Hazel. How much you sync really depends on how much of a clean start you want on the new installation. I wanted to begin with a blank slate, so I didn’t copy over preferences/data files for every single app.
If I forgot anything, I would have the old hard drive installed in the optical bay anyway, plus the clone.
I also made a new note in nvALT where I just brain dumped anything related to setting up a new machine: critical apps, apps that are critical but easily forgotten because they run in the background, various settings tucked away in odd places, links to various guides/how-to’s, etc.
1. The SSD
Very straightforward, I just followed the video on the OWC site. When I was finished, I put the back cover back on, but left the screws out since I would be going back in shortly to install the Data Doubler.
I then booted from the Mountain Lion installer drive and installed the operating system. And behold the huge performance increase of a clean OS install on a brand new SSD. Once I verified that the the install went fine, I shut the machine back down and removed the cover again for the next step.
2. Install the old hard drive in the optical bay.
This was the trickiest part, and having the correct tools is important (like magnetic screwdrivers). I used three separate guides, all of which were specific to my computer model:
All the above were very helpful, but they differed slightly in one area. There are two black connector cables that have to be carefully disconnected from the logic board to get the optical drive out. In between these two there is a tiny silver connector cable, which I believe is for the camera. The OWC video did not remove this cable, but the other two sources did. I gave it a tug and it didn’t move. Not wanting to damage anything, I left it connected and just carefully moved its cable out of the way when I did remove the optical drive.
I then closed everything back up and turned the machine back on. Again, the performance increase is well worth the expense.
3. Removed Superdrive
The included instructions made installing this into the separate enclosure quite simple. It took almost as long to find an actual disc to test it.
With a 240 GB SSD and a 500 GB HDD in my MacBook Pro, this was as good a time as any to take a hard look at all the crap that has accumulated on my machine over the years and only install the apps and data that I really need. I purposely did not restore from my clone or use Apple’s Migration Assistant to move anything back over. Yes, this means this process takes longer, but I think it’s worth it.
My game plan with this storage setup was to use the SSD for applications, and keep the majority of my data on the old hard drive. Matt Gemmell’s blog post Using OS X with an SSD plus HDD setup had the perfect recipe for this, which is using symlinks to point folders such as Pictures and Music on the SSD to their equivalents on the hard drive.
The first set of apps I installed were Dropbox and nvALT, for reasons mentioned above, and 1Password, since I keep all my software licenses in it.
I then fired up the Mac App Store to install the next set of apps, and encountered a slight hiccup. I went to the Purchases tab and the vast majority of apps that I needed indicated Installed, when they obviously weren’t. Well, actually they were. The MAS app saw the apps on the old hard drive now sitting in the optical bay.4
Since I was going to do a format and erase of the old drive anyway before I moved any big hunks of data onto it, this was not a major issue. I wiped the drive and the MAS app showed all apps available for installation, and I had the FireWire clone available to copy my data back onto the hard drive.
I then copied all my data over, with working files going to the SSD and big folders such as Pictures, Movies, and Music, using the folder setup in Matt’s article.
Tip: One of the first things I did on the new machine is start a new note in nvALT that serves as an “install log”; a running list of apps installed, issues encountered, etc. I have a section that lists all the random Terminal commands that I use to enable/disable certain features of OS X. Here is one that enables copying text from a Quick Look window 5:
defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE; killall Finder
Lastly, in order to get this blog post up, I had to recreate my development environment on the command line. Since this site is powered by Octopress, which needs Ruby and Git, I followed Moncef Belyamani’s outstanding (and recently updated) tutorial, How to Install Xcode, Homebrew, Git, RVM, Ruby & Rails on Snow Leopard, Lion, and Mountain Lion. I followed his steps to the letter with zero errors. I then copied my blog directory over from my old backup, ran gem install bundler and bundle and everything was back to normal.
A new drive setup means time for a new backup clone. I’m keeping my old clone in a drawer–I never know when I may need something from it. I purchased a new 1 TB Firewire drive and partitioned it to match the sizes of my new SSD and the data hard disk. Now I run SuperDuper to clone each of those to their respective partitions on the new FW drive.
With two drives and their associated backups, I spent a fair amount of time coming up with names for the drives so their relationships to each other would be easy to remember. Dorky, yes, but somewhat necessary. The drives are called Overlord, Bodyguard, Ultra, and Enigma. World War II history buffs should get the reference.
I hope this has been helpful. I’m now off to reboot my machine one more time to marvel at the speed of the SSD.
Thanks to this TidBits article or I wouldn’t have checked.↩
The Samsung 830 is highly regarded and currently $175.↩
With a bootable drive plugged in, hold down option after the startup chime to be able to select it.↩
The same thing happened when the FireWire clone was plugged in.↩
For an excellent list of these, see Mathias Bynens’ dotfiles↩
First, a bit about about my “requirements”:
I have purchased accounts at most of the major alternatives and used them for the last couple of weeks to varying degrees.
Newsblur is getting the most use. Macdrifter is a fan. I like both the web app and the iOS versions. There are some issues, though:
Reeder app, for Mac and iOS, is one of my favorite and most used apps of all time. The developer has a plan to implement multiple new RSS syncing services across all versions of the app, and which service works the best with it will be a significant driver in my decision.
FeedWrangler has gotten a fair amount of good reviews, and is on the roadmap for Reeder. My folder organization disappeared when importing from Google, but I see that as an opportunity for a RSS reboot. I agree with Dr. Drang that having to choose between Instapaper and Pinboard as a send-to destination is kind of a drag. However, Reeder app does both seamlessly, and once it is implemented, I only need Feed Wrangler as a sync engine.
I’m also paying attention to ReadKit, an app that I use to manage my Instapaper articles and unread Pinboard links that has recently added support for multiple new RSS services. It has a long way to go to be my primary RSS reader (keyboard shortcuts for one), but I like the appeal of one app that accesses all the services I use.
I’ve had Fever installed for years on my server, but have rarely used it. The Sunstroke iOS app is excellent, but syncs take a long time–which is Fever’s (or my server’s) fault, not the app. Also, supporting the app is not the developer’s priority right now.
The iPad app Mr Reader shows a lot of promise, and the developer has an interesting post about why it won’t sync with Newsblur.
“It was humiliating,” he said, with a laugh that suggested he’d get over that humiliation somehow. “I would have done better if I’d closed my eyes and picked randomly. It’s pathetic to think that my three-year-old son could have done better than that.
“If you questioned about a hundred five-year-olds, they’d get five out of 10,” the Rays’ human highlight reel said, dejectedly. “And my dad and I got a three.”
I scored (read: guessed) a 5, beating 8 of 20 players, 3 of 7 sportswriters, and tying 2 of 5 managers.
I’m in the wrong business.
]]>“[He] called and said, ‘Look you have to get us involved,’” recalled the source. “I said, first of all, I don’t have to; second of all, we’ve tried; and third you’ve said you refuse to work for the rates we can pay.”
Then Capobianco said something that the source would never forget.
“He said, ‘I would just hate for anything to happen,’” recalled the source. Capobianco then rattled off a list of the source’s home address, his wife’s name, his kids and their current whereabouts.
Vote Union No.
]]>What doesn’t seem to be clear to our lawmakers is that we know all this, and we’re mad anyway. I’ll note briefly that this is the same government that couldn’t get their act together enough to avoid budget sequestration.
Well said.
]]>Fujimoto and Jong-yo were given a new apartment in Pyongyang. Soon after the two moved in, a family of six disappeared from their building. Though they lacked a common language, Fujimoto claims he and Jong-yo have always been good at understanding each other. She was the first person to explain the gulags to Fujimoto, telling him “when one person disappears, it is to a re-education farm. He will return someday. When the whole family disappears, it is to a labor camp. None of them will be seen again.”
Last year, the Guardian published a long excerpt from the book Escape from Camp 14, which is unfortunately no longer online. One of the more difficult and maddening things I had read in a long a time.
]]>Brutal. And especially galling from a president who was a constitutional law scholar.
You can almost hear the disappointment in Gruber’s voice, along with the (now lost) innocent belief that Obama actually cares about the Constitution. How cute. And somewhat sad.
]]>Here’s a thought experiment: Imagine a new note-taking app written by an unknown developer. It’s has a nice, clean look and is easy to use, but it has no syncing, no TextExpander support, and no URL scheme. Assuming the app got any attention at all, how much effort would Apple bloggers put into defending that design choice? How often would the phrase “data silo” be used?
Of course he is referring to the release of Vesper, a new iPhone note-taking app from John Gruber, Brent Simmons, and Dave Wiskus. And Dr. Drang is completely correct. The reason I know is the second unread item, by David Sparks:
I’m really enjoying Vesper. It does have limitations. There is no synchronization available and, for that matter, no iPad or Mac version of the app to synchronize with. In a recent interview at Macstories, John Gruber explains they wanted to focus all of their attention on the iPhone application first. I suspect we’ll be getting additional versions for the other platforms and syncing in the future. In the meantime, I really love this app and I will find use for it.
Interesting. I have been an avid listener of Mac Power Users for a while. David has said multiple times that if an iOS text editor doesn’t have Text Expander or Markdown 1 support, it’s a non-starter. I like David Sparks, but if Joe Nobody released this app, neither he, nor the plethora of other bloggers falling over themselves to heap praise in spite of the limitations, would give it the time of day.
Update (13 June 13): Kevin Whipps at Appstorm speaks truth to power:
Why would anyone release an app with this kind of use case without a syncing option? Arment chalks it up to balls, but I say it’s stupid. These are three high-profile men with incredible clout and knowledge of the industry. They all must know that sync is important, and even if the feature is coming in the future, there’s no sign that it’s on the horizon (unless they mentioned it in an interview that I haven’t read yet). Saying that they wanted to perfect what they have and then consider sync or alternate platforms is a cop out. And arguably their biggest competition in the notes genre — Simplenote — is free. It doesn’t matter how pretty Vesper is when your content is locked to your device forever.
John Gruber, the creator of Markdown, releases a note-taking app that doesn’t implement Markdown. Go figure.↩
“He eats lunch when he arrives at work at 2 p.m. Then, like clockwork, he goes to sleep with a cup of soda on the table and the straw in it,” said Marvin Robbins, a union vice president.
“Then he wakes up, looks at his watch and says, ‘I have to get out before the traffic gets bad.’ He’s usually out by 4 p.m. after being at the office two hours.”
Everything wrong with unions in three awesome pictures. Vote Union No.
]]>Kimberley Strassel in the WSJ: The IRS Scandal Started at the Top. Of course it did.
Stephen Hayes in the Weekly Standard: What About the Video? Yeah, that stupid YouTube video that was, according to the administration, the source of the Benghazi attack.
I feel like I’m forgetting something….right, the Department of Justice digging into AP phone records. I would expect press coverage of the other two to be a bit less conciliatory to the White House now.
]]>