I was one of those people that pre-ordered Snow Leopard mostly on part of it's low price. I was surprised when it actually arrived on the day it was released. It really did feel nice to order something online and actually get it on the release date.
The packaging was what I've come to expect from Apple; a little white box with a colorful new features brochure and the actual disc. I popped it in and started the upgrade installation. I didn't clock how long it took but it was speedy, I'll tell you that.
When it loaded, I noticed a few of my apps weren't working. I thought, "No biggie." I'd probably just fix the problems as I came across them. This was on Saturday.
When I got to work today, I had a call that required a reliable RDC and both CoRD and TeamViewer are not ideal applications for that. So, I tried booting up my Parallels 3.0 virtual machine and wouldn't you know, it was one of the incompatible programs. I spent an hour downloading the new version of Parallels and converting my virtual machine to one that was compatible with Parallels 4.0.
Now, I don't want to start a rant on Parallels and how it's so slow on Snow Leopard but this newer version just isn't on par with the 3.0. I've read about two major issues, one being smart mount and the other being the native indexing that XP does. Although running the index manually as mentioned on their forums does help, it still ran no where near the speed 3.0 ran at. So, I dropped it entirely for VMware. I've heard great things about it for years now but Parallels worked so well, I never found the need or desire to replace it. So, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.
A few other apps that stopped working was an older version of Little Snitch and iStats.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Autosnap for XP
Windows 7 adds a few neat features that make doing work a lot more intuitive. Have you ever needed to use two applications at the same time? You probably re-sized both of the windows and placed them side by side. Well, Windows 7 lets you do these by using Windows shortcut keys or by dragging your application window to the border of the screen. Now, thanks to TrueTransparency, Windows XP users can share the experience.
Here's and example of what I'm talking about...
Check out the video below for a better picture on how TrueTransparency can help your work better and faster.
TrueTransparency - Download Here
Here's and example of what I'm talking about...
Check out the video below for a better picture on how TrueTransparency can help your work better and faster.
TrueTransparency - Download Here
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Being Thorough @ Work
Internal e-mail from boss:
If you have a salary job, than this might be common sense to you. I guess there must be transparency at all time internally so that ppl know you're on top of things. Basically, I did not tell my boss I worked until 7p, so he asked around and my co-worker that stayed with me must have told him. So, the lesson here is to be thorough.
If you were in the office late the night before...include that in the note. Better yet, while in the office late the night before send something like:
It's after 7PM and I'm just finishing up XX YYY files for MTG. I'll be working from home tomorrow from 8AM-10AM and will be in the office by 11AM.
My original e-mail:I'll be working from home until 10a so I should be in around 11a.
Regards,
Luis
If you have a salary job, than this might be common sense to you. I guess there must be transparency at all time internally so that ppl know you're on top of things. Basically, I did not tell my boss I worked until 7p, so he asked around and my co-worker that stayed with me must have told him. So, the lesson here is to be thorough.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Dynamic DNS
Call me ignorant for being a computer science major and not knowing a thing about how DNS (Domain Name System) records work, but today, one of my favorite torrent sites gave me a quick lesson on how it is key to the internet browsing experience.
As I mentioned, EZTV.it has been down for the past few months, but today, it's splash page claimed that it was up and running even though I had the page I was viewing was being on the downed server. They explained that the page was being displayed because my ISP had not yet updated their DNS records. My internet service provider is also my DNS provider and it doesn't update it's records often (a DNS record is the mapping of an IP address to a domain name). Anyway, they described a quick solution on how to point your router to a DDNS (Dynamic DNS) server.
The steps were pretty straight forward for most routers but since mine used open-source firmware, it took a bit longer and a few more steps to setup. After making the changes to my router settings and creating an OpenDNS account (optional) I made sure to use a special command one my router that would prevent a user on my network from overriding the current DNS provider with one of their choice (DD-WRT instructions here).
Below is the settings page for your OpenDNS account:
What followed simply amazed me since what I had just setup was big brother at it's finest.
Not a single social networking sites worked nor did most of the blog sites I usually visit. It was a complete lock down in parallel to all we experienced in high school and the simple command that was two lines long prevented any circumvention of this system. It's internet loving people worst fear! And it's free!
But in the end, the DDNS directed me to the correct webpage. The splash page was gone. So parents, porn-hating people and censor freaks, if you want to lock down your network, DDNS is the key.
As I mentioned, EZTV.it has been down for the past few months, but today, it's splash page claimed that it was up and running even though I had the page I was viewing was being on the downed server. They explained that the page was being displayed because my ISP had not yet updated their DNS records. My internet service provider is also my DNS provider and it doesn't update it's records often (a DNS record is the mapping of an IP address to a domain name). Anyway, they described a quick solution on how to point your router to a DDNS (Dynamic DNS) server.
The steps were pretty straight forward for most routers but since mine used open-source firmware, it took a bit longer and a few more steps to setup. After making the changes to my router settings and creating an OpenDNS account (optional) I made sure to use a special command one my router that would prevent a user on my network from overriding the current DNS provider with one of their choice (DD-WRT instructions here).
Below is the settings page for your OpenDNS account:
What followed simply amazed me since what I had just setup was big brother at it's finest.
Not a single social networking sites worked nor did most of the blog sites I usually visit. It was a complete lock down in parallel to all we experienced in high school and the simple command that was two lines long prevented any circumvention of this system. It's internet loving people worst fear! And it's free!
But in the end, the DDNS directed me to the correct webpage. The splash page was gone. So parents, porn-hating people and censor freaks, if you want to lock down your network, DDNS is the key.
The G1 as a PMP Device
For starters, the G1 is a great phone. The keyboard is useful, the on screen keyboard is decent, phone reception with T-Mobile is great as would be expected, and the ability to use Google Voice is just amazing (See previous post). But I digress, this post started when I woke up this morning wanting to see a show I had missed.
I started off by downloading latest episode of Entourage after which I thought it'd be a good idea to watch it on the train. I downloaded the necessary software and before I knew it, I had converted the video file into G1 compatible MP4 (Tutorial here).
On the train, the sound was pretty decent although not loud enough to combat the rails. Anyway, I started getting a few looks since I wasn't using any headphones so I decided to buy an adapter using the G1 browser. This is where the it really fails to impress me. It took me a little less time to buy the adapter off of Amazon than it took me to download, convert and load the episode of Entourage onto the G1. Some may say that browsing the web on your phone is a privilege and not a feature and I agree to an extent but it's the $25 price tag on this privilege that bothers me. $25 is a premium rate. There's a lot you can get for $25 a month so I expect to get decent performance out of it.
But in all fairness, I never expected much from 3G to begin with. I'm well aware that 3G didn't live out a calender year in Japan before being replaced with 4G. So, I'm not that disappointed, but I digress again! My point is that PMP device's have been mastered and I've come to expect a near flawless experience when it comes to viewing my multimedia content on devices. The G1 doesn't fail in this department.
One thing to note is that shopping on the iPhone is significantly simpler and faster. The next thing I'm going to try is make an RDC connection and just make the purchase from my home computer. It's probably not the most secure thing to do but it'll probably be smoother than using the browser. My theory is that there is a time and place for everything. The time is always right and if your not in the right place, use your device to get there.
If any reader has experience using VNC Connect, shot me an email or comment with your experience.
I started off by downloading latest episode of Entourage after which I thought it'd be a good idea to watch it on the train. I downloaded the necessary software and before I knew it, I had converted the video file into G1 compatible MP4 (Tutorial here).
On the train, the sound was pretty decent although not loud enough to combat the rails. Anyway, I started getting a few looks since I wasn't using any headphones so I decided to buy an adapter using the G1 browser. This is where the it really fails to impress me. It took me a little less time to buy the adapter off of Amazon than it took me to download, convert and load the episode of Entourage onto the G1. Some may say that browsing the web on your phone is a privilege and not a feature and I agree to an extent but it's the $25 price tag on this privilege that bothers me. $25 is a premium rate. There's a lot you can get for $25 a month so I expect to get decent performance out of it.
But in all fairness, I never expected much from 3G to begin with. I'm well aware that 3G didn't live out a calender year in Japan before being replaced with 4G. So, I'm not that disappointed, but I digress again! My point is that PMP device's have been mastered and I've come to expect a near flawless experience when it comes to viewing my multimedia content on devices. The G1 doesn't fail in this department.
One thing to note is that shopping on the iPhone is significantly simpler and faster. The next thing I'm going to try is make an RDC connection and just make the purchase from my home computer. It's probably not the most secure thing to do but it'll probably be smoother than using the browser. My theory is that there is a time and place for everything. The time is always right and if your not in the right place, use your device to get there.
If any reader has experience using VNC Connect, shot me an email or comment with your experience.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Using Google Voice on the G1
I've finally gotten around the Google Voice and let me tell you that *this* guy is impressed. The application for the G1 is simple and works. It does everything you'd expect. The online Google Voice interface is pretty simple as well. It didn't take me very long to navigate all of the features. I could easily imagine myself spending hours setting up personal voice mails for friends, family and co-workers. Just setting up groups seems a bit daunting although the added benefit of grouping contacts would provide personalized greetings, redirection to voicemail, and simple mass SMS. As of yet, I haven't exhausted all Google Voice has to offer and I'm sure there are a few features I'm still in the dark about but here are a few bullet points to cut your teeth on.
*Pros
Fav 5 + Google Voice = Free incoming and outgoing calls
Free unlimited texts
Single number to rule all phones
Ability to switch phones in mid-call *first attempt failed
Visual Voicemail + automatic transcription
*Cons
Three way calling
Call waiting
No number porting (slated for end of 2009)
Although I haven't fully tested three way calls, I did a few issues with one call I made. It is a bit of an outlier: I was talking to me dad as he was driving across the country. So, maybe it could have been an issue with cellular towers. So, the first two cons might not be cons at all. For now I won't strike them out; they'll be there for reference.
*Update: I've added a Call Me button on the right that'll connect you directly with my voicemail. Feel free to test it out.
*Pros
Fav 5 + Google Voice = Free incoming and outgoing calls
Free unlimited texts
Single number to rule all phones
Ability to switch phones in mid-call *first attempt failed
Visual Voicemail + automatic transcription
*Cons
Three way calling
Call waiting
No number porting (slated for end of 2009)
Although I haven't fully tested three way calls, I did a few issues with one call I made. It is a bit of an outlier: I was talking to me dad as he was driving across the country. So, maybe it could have been an issue with cellular towers. So, the first two cons might not be cons at all. For now I won't strike them out; they'll be there for reference.
*Update: I've added a Call Me button on the right that'll connect you directly with my voicemail. Feel free to test it out.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
H1N1
It's hard to really try and comprehend the situation I find myself in. I'm travelling in Puebla, Mexico. It's about 3-4 hours away from Mexico City, where people have been wearing masks since we arrived. Upon arrival, curiousity ran through all of us as we wondered why people were wearing surgical masks. A cab driver told us that it was simply a precation for people in the food serving industry, but as soon found out, we were in the middle of an influenza outbreak and people were dying.
To be honest, I still haven't come to terms with it. To my credit, I've at least had an interest in deadly flu outbreaks for a long time. It'll probably do me some good. I've read about how certain towns survived the deadly 1908? American influenza outbreak with hardly any cases of infection. One of the keys is to contantly wash your hands and be mindful of what you touch, including yourself. It sounds simple enough but there are some people that just can't control themselves, let alone their complusive actions.
Anyway, we've travelled to a few cities since the outbreak began. We knew the risks but did so anyway -- in public transportation. I really wanted to grab a mask early on but the naivity kept me from doing so. Unfortunately, masks are now sold out nearly everywhere and I worry about our commute to the airport.
It really is funny. You'd think that in the face of an influenza flu outbreak that people would grow up and start taking precautions. Not the case with me, and not the case with most people in this city, Chipilo. I'm glad that it hasn't had much of a negative affect on our vacation but I realize the responsibility I have to myself, my family and my country to come home healthy. I think that's the most important thing I'm going to get out of this ordeal.
To be honest, I still haven't come to terms with it. To my credit, I've at least had an interest in deadly flu outbreaks for a long time. It'll probably do me some good. I've read about how certain towns survived the deadly 1908? American influenza outbreak with hardly any cases of infection. One of the keys is to contantly wash your hands and be mindful of what you touch, including yourself. It sounds simple enough but there are some people that just can't control themselves, let alone their complusive actions.
Anyway, we've travelled to a few cities since the outbreak began. We knew the risks but did so anyway -- in public transportation. I really wanted to grab a mask early on but the naivity kept me from doing so. Unfortunately, masks are now sold out nearly everywhere and I worry about our commute to the airport.
It really is funny. You'd think that in the face of an influenza flu outbreak that people would grow up and start taking precautions. Not the case with me, and not the case with most people in this city, Chipilo. I'm glad that it hasn't had much of a negative affect on our vacation but I realize the responsibility I have to myself, my family and my country to come home healthy. I think that's the most important thing I'm going to get out of this ordeal.
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