Applepie

Gone on Safari

I am off on Safari until June 10th - this blog won't get updated until then.

I am hoping to have the trip of a lifetime, and to return with awesome photos.

All that is left is a 9.5h flight to the Netherlands, and an 8.5h flight to Kilimanjaro.

Tanzania here we go!

Foldershare - not yet

It looks like Search your computers is working again on Foldershare. From what I could tell, Foldershare was having system difficulties, preventing most, but not all, of my clients from logging on. Right now, I am logged on again from my MacBook Pro and I can once again search all of my machines!

I sure hope Microsoft will maintain full support for Mac OS as they enhance and integrate Foldershare with the rest of Microsoft Live services.

The end of FolderShare

I guess we knew it would happen sooner or latter after Microsoft's acquisition of FolderShare - Mac support was going to lack, and probably fade altogether.

You used to be able to search all of your computers via the Foldershare web client. Foldershare would use Windows Desktop Search and Spotlight to search each computer and return a combined search result across all of your computers. Today, I needed to find a file on one of my remote computers, I went to www.foldershare.com and selected "Access My Files". What do I find?

Not only it won't search with Spotlight anymore, but now I can't even use my mac's browser to search my longly Windows PC.

Bummer.

Last Minute Items - Satellite Phone

My safari to Africa is less than 48h away, and while I tried to do as much preparation up front as possible, there are a few items that I still need to secure for my trip.

Satellite Phone

I decided to rent a satellite phone to ensure that I have a reliable means of communication back to the USA. There are 2 major satellite phone system in operation: Iridium and Globalstar. But only Iridium covers Tanzania (Iridium is the world's only truly global mobile satellite telephone).

The rental itself is pretty inexpensive - $34.99/week, but the per-minute charges can add up quickly at $1.36 per minute. I opted to pre-pai for 20 min a day to secure a lower calling rate. All in all, the satellite rental and usage will cost me ~$450

I rented my satellite phone from AllRoadCommunications.

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor - where did it go"

"Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Microsoft released a beta of the Vista Upgrade Advisor yesterday only to quickly take it offline today. Oh well...

Parallels Workstation - Right Click with a 1 button mouse

The Release Candidate of Parallels Workstation is now available, and with it came a change to how you can simulating a right mouse click - a much needed feature for MacBook Pro users wanting to run Win XP.

The new key combination for a right click is now: ctrl+shift+click.

Windows Vista - Build 5381: Removed

I should have known better, especially since this is not the final Beta 2 public release. The current build 5381 of Windows Vista is not ready to be my primary work desktop.

- No support for my HP Officejet 7100 printer
- No support for the audio card in my HP M7167 desktop
- No support for my virus checker - Windows One Care

And more importantly, a constant stream of blue screens and overall system instability.

I will give Vista another try when Microsoft releases a public beta, and I will hold judgment until then as well.

For now, I am back to Windows XP on my work desktop (and OS X everywhere else).

A joke only a geek can appreciate: wife 1.0

The Furrygoat Experience blog led me to the Girlfriend 6.0 vs Wife 1.0 - Comparative Trial - it is worth a read, but I am afraid that only a tech guy can truly appreciate it!

Windows Vista Bld 5381 - Struggling with peripherals

I upgrade my office PC to Windows Vista build 5381 but it hasn't been a good experience so far. Maybe i should just wait for the official Beta 2 release.

Once again I choose to do a clean install instead of upgrading my XP installation. This time I had an HP Desktop available for my use.

Sound card - Vista was not able to detect and install the proper audio drivers.

Printers - Vista detected my HP Officejet 7100 printer and installed drivers for it but I am unable to print to it. Vista was unable to find my other networked printers.

Internet - IE 7 is struggling with various web pages. My own blog, for example, does not display well under IE 7 on Vista build 5381.

Foldershare - Foldershare is unable to recognize the new directory structure under Vista - c:\user\cris and it is not able to create a new directory under the My Pictures folder as an example. I have a feeling a lot of 3rd party apps will get tripped up by this.

Frontrow - Keyboard Access

I am sure this must be documented somewhere, if only I read manuals...

If you want to launch and use Apple's Frontrow but you don't have your remote control with you, you can invoke Frontrow by pressing Command-ESC. You can navigate around with arrow keys, use space bar to select, and press ESC to go back.

Handy... just in time for my trip down to San Diego. Time to catch up on 24 second season.

Windows Vista and One Care

"Windows XP required to install Windows Live OneCare"

I guess I need to find a different anti-virus software, as Microsoft's own OneCare does not yet support Vista - bummer.

Windows Vista - Build 5381: Setup Impressions

I finished installing Vista build 5381 on my Dell. Setup worked, but not without its issues:

Wireless Network - I use a Linksys WUSB54G usb wireless adapter, Vista does not have built in drivers for this wireless adapter. As a result, I was not online after installing Vista. I had to go download the drivers from Linksys and manually install it on Vista in order to go online. Vista connected to my wireless network but "had limited availability". It took 3 retries for it to establish a successful connection - weird.

Windows Mail - unable to connect natively to my Hotmail account, it asks for a POP3 or IMAP settings. I hope MSN/Hotmail will be supported natively by Windows Mail.

Windows Messenger - where is it? I can't find a native IM client. I suppose I could download one from http://ideas.live.com, but won't Vista ship with one by default?

• Printers - Vista failed to find my shared printer on my Kitchen Win XP machine. I had to go to Start Network and click on Kitchen and then manually select the shared printer. I wonder why the Printer Wizard could not find it on its own.

• HP OfficeJet 7400 Series - The print wizard did find my wireless OfficeJet 7400 printer, but it was unable to identify the version automatically - It identified it as "HP Ethernet Multi-Environment". I was able to manually browse for the correct drivers and they installed successfully.

• Virus Protection - no antivirus software was included with Vista at this stage - probably by design. But I found it weird that while there was no virus protection there was spyware protection - Windows Defender. I would rather have anti-virus than anti-spyware if I could only have one. I am off to http://ideas.live.com to install Windows Live OneCare.

• Solitaire - Cool visual effects, lots of cool sounds (it will get tiring after a few games), and I won the first game I played!

• User Account Control - whose idea was this? it is a joke right? I must have dismissed about 50 of these windows just in the first hour of exploring Vista. All I was doing was using Vista, not downloading 3rd party applications. I was just configuring Vista (custom background, adding printers, exploring). This needs to be re-thought before it is launched or it will drive people nuts.
• Photo Gallery Viewer - Awesome! Looks awesome! I haven't placed any of my own photos here yet, but just playing around with the sample pictures it was great - awesome user experience, great photo screen saver, great full screen mode! Congrats. I do wish it were a bit faster, i dislike the fuzzy picture that quickly fades into a sharp image as you navigate from photo to photo. I had to see what performance will look like with my 14MB raw files. Maybe my PC is not up to spec though -- Pentium D 3GHz (dual core), with 2GB of RAM, and ATI Radeon X600 video card.

Enough playing around. I am going to install an IM client (Windows Live Messenger), VOIP (Skype), anti-virus (one care), Office 2003 and then let my family use this computer for a few days to see how it holds up to our daily PC chores.

Windows Vista - Build 5381

I have been avoiding installing Windows Vista for 6 months now, but I told a friend today that I would take the time to install the latest official "friends and family" build this weekend and provide my feedback - privately.

Vista setup is currently at 27% "Copying Windows files" on a newly formatted Dell Dimension 5100C with 2GB of RAM, 250 GB HD, and an unknown video card (I never used this box before).

I must admit, I am kind of excited to be installing a new version of Windows for the first time in over 4 years. How will it compare to my Macs? Is this build close enough to a public beta? I will know soon enough.

I will post my overall impression here in the next few days - without compromising any confidentiality agreement.

Is my Mac Secure? Ask Apple - they know.

Apple has published its 3rd security update for 2006. There is no question that there are fewer (any?) viruses on OS/X and fewer security breaches on OS/X powered machines. But like any modern OS, OS X still has its share of security vulnerabilities. Apple's main saving grace has been the fact that fewer people are actively trying to exploit these vulnerabilities as a result of Apple's small market share (< 5%).

Check out some of the fixes covered by Apple's latest security update.

AppKit, ImageIO
Impact: Viewing a maliciously-crafted GIF or TIFF image may lead to arbitrary code execution

BOM
Impact: Expanding an archive may lead to arbitrary code execution
Impact: Expanding a malicious archive may cause arbitrary files to be created or overwritten

CFNetwork
Impact: Visiting malicious web sites may lead to arbitrary code execution

CoreFoundation
Impact: Registration of an untrusted bundle may lead to arbitrary code execution
Impact: String conversions to file system representation may lead to arbitrary code execution

CoreGraphics
Impact: Characters entered into a secure text field can be read by other applications in the same window session

Finder
Impact: Launching an Internet Location item may lead to arbitrary code execution

FTPServer
Impact: FTP operations by authenticated FTP users may lead to arbitrary code execution

ImageIO
Impact: Viewing a maliciously-crafted JPEG image may lead to arbitrary code execution

Keychain
Impact: An application may be able to use Keychain items when the Keychain is locked

LaunchServices
Impact: Viewing a malicious web site may lead to arbitrary code execution

libcurl
Impact: URL handling in libcurl may lead to arbitrary code execution

Mail
Impact: Viewing a malicious mail message may lead to arbitrary code execution

Preview
Impact: Navigating a maliciously-crafted directory hierarchy may lead to arbitrary code execution

QuickDraw
Impact: Viewing a maliciously-crafted PICT image may lead to arbitrary code execution

Safari
Impact: Visiting malicious web sites may lead to file manipulation or arbitrary code execution

How many different ways was there to accidently trigger a malicious code when simply viewing a web page or reading an email?

This should not come as a surprise to anyone in the technology industry, but I am sure it is a shocker to most consumers who have been bombarded with OS X "I am invulnerable" mantra.

Bottom line: always use common sense when browsing the web or read email messages - even if you are using a Mac.

FJ Cruiser: Gas Mileage

It is week 2 for my FJ Cruiser and another tank of gas was used. This time, with the same commuting routine, I got 2 extra miles per gallon, and my cost per mile was $0.06 cheaper.

Miles driven: 250.400 miles
Fuel Pumped: 15.787 gallons
Fuel price: $ 3.299 per gallon (92 octane)
Total cost: $ 52.08

Fuel Economy: 15.86 MPG
Dollars per mile: $ 0.21

OS X Tip: Safe Mode

To identify if incompatible Startup or Login items are causing problems, you can boot OS X in safe mode:

• Be sure the computer is shut down.
• Press the power button.
• Immediately after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key (but not before the startup tone).
• Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple and progress indicator.

To leave Safe Mode, restart the computer normally, without holding any keys during startup.

Photoshop for Digital Photographers Course

Scott Kelly has a 21 days, 5 minutes a day, online Photoshop course offered through Photoshoptraining.com. The cost for the Photoshop for Digital Photographers course is 69.99 for 21 lessons.

Might be something fun to do for when I return from Safari is early June with GB needing processing.

Bootcamp - second attempt

I am giving Apple's Bootcamp solution a second try. The main reason for the reinstall is that I want to compare the performance of Parallels Workstation VM against native Windows XP, as well as compare Bibble running on OS/X vs. Windows.

I noticed once again that my power management functions do not work under bootcamp -- the screen saver is never activated, the display never goes dark, the MacBook Pro never goes into sleep mode while running Windows. I wonder when a beta 2 of Bootcamp with updated Windows drivers will be available.

I should have the MacBook Pro performance tests done later on today.

Happy Birthday!

National Geographic Magazine - 50% Digital Photos

"More than half of the photographs in the past 12 issues of National Geographic were made with digital cameras." Chris Johns, editor National Geographic Guide to Digital Photography.

Blog - Digital Photography School

Digital Photography School -- interesting blog with common sense tips and suggestions for improving your photography.

Parallels VM - Tip: Full Screen Resolution

It is possible to set two different resolutions for your Parallels Workstation VM - one for windowed mode and one for full-screen mode. When in window mode I like to have a smaller screen so that I can more easily navigate to my other Mac applications. While in full screen mode, I like to maximize the screen real estate available.

Luckily Parallels Workstation enables me to set a different screen resolution for each mode, except they made it hard to find, and not very intuitive (maybe it is in the user guide, but who reads manuals?).

In order to allow for different screen resolutions for window vs. full-screen mode you must go to Preferences/User Interface and uncheck "Change Mac OS X resolution". Now go back to your VM and set a screen resolution while in window mode (1024x768), switch to full screen and set a different resolution (1440x900). You can now switch back and forth between window vs. full-screen and preserve the different screen resolutions for each one!

Parallels Workstation - No Windows Mobile Support Yet

I decided to give Parallels Workstation a try since I am back to carrying two laptops for work once again. Parallels Workstation beta 6 installation was smooth and performance is decent for normal office tasks (email, word, excel, IM, browsing).

However, in its current beta state I cannot use Parallels Workstation as a viable alternative to a Windows laptop. USB support is still very limited and I am unable to get a Windows Mobile device to be recognized by the VM. Until USB devices work reliably, I won't be able to use Parallels Workstation as my work laptop.

iSight also does not work with the beta 6 release, maybe because Apple has not provided Windows drivers for it yet (it also does not work with Bootcamp). Getting iSight to work would be very high on my list - as it would finally enable me to hold VC calls with my business colleagues (MS Messenger users).

All in all, I can see this product maturing into an essential tool for Mac users - giving us the best of both worlds. Can't wait for the final product.

Tanzania - What's in the bag: Video Equipment

While I am going to Tanzania on a photography safari I figure it would still be nice to capture some video while I am at it. My video plans are much simpler than my photography ones. Here is all that I am taking from a video equipment perspective.

• 1 Sony HDR-HC3 HD camera
• 2 NP-FP90 Batteries
• 1 AC-VQP10 Dual Charger
• 1 VCL-HG2030 30 mm 2.0x tele-converter
• 18 DVD Tapes
• 2 MDV-9 Mini DV Album Box (fits 9 tapes each)
• MP5 Camera bag

That's it.

Real Estate Market in King County

There is yet another article in the Seattle Times about the real estate market in King County, WA. Here are some of the highlights:

"A $2.5 million home drew two offers and sold in four days"

"We haven't had any inventory, so when something comes on, and it's considered well-priced and has a fairly well-thought-out floor plan, it goes," she said. "Prices have ratcheted up, too."

"scant inventory is taking a bite out of sales and helping pump up prices"

See the actual article for a complete coverage.

Tanzania - What's in the bag: Photo Equipment

After much deliberation here is the final list of photo equipment that I will be taking on Safari in 3 weeks. This equipment will be shared with my father, so it is not as bad as it looks.

Cameras:

• 2 Canon 5D Bodies
• 1 Canon 1Ds MK II Body

Optics/Filters:

• 1 Canon EF 500mm L
• 2 Canon EF 100-400mm L
• 1 Canon EF 24-105mm L
• 1 Canon EF 24-70mm L
• 2 Canon EF 1.4x II extenders
• 1 Canon EF 2.0x II extender
• 1 EF 12 II Extension tub
• 1 EF 25 II Extension tub
• 77" Polarizer filter

Flash System:

• 1 Canon 580 EDX Speedlight
• 1 Better Beamer FX-2
• 1 RRS B-91B Flash Bracket
• 1 RSS LCF-50 Lens Plate
• 1 Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord 2

Batteries:

• 8 Canon BP 511A Batteries for 5D
• 3 Canon NP-E3 Batteries for 1DS
• 8 NIMH 2700mAh AA batteries

Film/CF Card:

• 6 4GB CF cards
• 2 8GB CF cards
• 1 Epson P-4000 Storage w/ 80GB HD

Miscellaneous:

• 1 TC-80N3 remote control
• Lens wipes
• Lens brush
• Sensor Brush
• Blower for CMOS

Chargers:

• 1 5D CA-PCS 400 Charger
• 1 Canon NC-E2 Battery charger
• 1 NIMH AA Charger
• 1 Charger for Epson P-4000
• 1 APC Travel Power Inverter - 75W

Backpacks:

• MP3 Backpack w/ Laptop attachment
• Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II
• Kinesis L511 Long Lens backpack

What's the drawback of all this gear? No, it is not the weight, the major drawback is that when I return from Tanzania with a bunch of ordinary photographs, I won't be able to blame my equipment.

FJ Cruiser Gas Mileage

I have had my FJ Cruiser now for 1 week, and gas mileage is even lower than I anticipated. The EPA rating for the FJ Cruiser automatic is 17MPG for city, and 21 MPG for highway.

All my driving was city commuting, no highway driving and no off-road driving. The low gas light turned on when the odometer read 200 miles, and I drove for another 11 miles until I felt I should stop to fill up.

211 miles driven

15.43 Gallons of premium 92 octane gasoline

$3.259 per gallon

Total cost: $50.74

Fuel economy: 13.67 MPG

Dollars per mile: $0.27

That's the most I have ever paid for any full tank of gas on a car (boats excluded), and that's also the shortest distance I have ever driven on a full tank.

But all in all I love the car. Let's see how I feel after 12,000 miles and $3,234 later.

Moving Tips: Template your furniture

Lifehacker pointed me to a post by Josh Smith with a simple tip that will come in handy for my upcoming move.

"In the past we have had to work through fitting our furniture into a small room and having family members and friends all sharing their opinions on where the different pieces of furniture should go. This creates chaos and that is my number one enemy during a move. This move I used scrap paper to map out the proportions and taped together versions of our furniture."

See Josh's blog for more details and pictures.

Sounds like a fun project for the weekend!

Tanzania - What's in the bag: Clothing

We will be spending 16 days in Tanzania, we have a weight limit of 34 lbs for all of our luggage, and all of our clothing needs to fit inside of a single 30" x 14" duffel bag (per person).

Duffel bag (30" x `4")
Small Duffel bag for gifts to bring back
Locks for baggage

1 Rain jacket
1 Fleece Jacket hard wear wind-resistent
2 Convertible Travel Pants (w/ lots of pockets, w/ SPF 30-50 protection)

1 Pair of Shorts (w/ pockets, , w/ SPF 30-50 protection)
3 Long sleeve shirts (quick drying, wrinkle free, button down, roll-up sleeves, , w/ SPF 30-50 protection)
2 Short-sleeve shirts (quick drying, , w/ SPF 30-50 protection)
7 Pairs of underwear
7 Socks (light-weight, non-white, quick-drying)
2 Hiking shoes (non-white, trail running)
1 Hat (wide-brim, tie-on, neck and ear protection)
1 Photo Vest
1 Pair of Sunglasses
1 Pair of pajamas
1 Towel (thin, quick drying)

Travel Clothes

Rich Tong has a great review on ideal clothing for traveling. And REI starts their anniversary sale today - just in time for last minute shopping before my safari!

1080P and Mac mini - Solved!

Thanks to comments by Brian G and Billy I was able to quickly troubleshoot the problem I was having with my Mac mini and my 1080P LCD TV.

Most televisions have some overscan or cropping of the picture, regardless of the resolution. I've seen some LCD TVs have a special "mode" where the overscan "feature" is defeated specifically for computer usage.

...
the mini have an overscan option in the Display System Preference

I was able to turn off the "overscan" setting under the Displays in System Preferences. Once the overscan setting was turned off I was able to see the entirety of my Apple desktop!

There is a 3rd party utility that might help those without the "overscan" option in their Macs -- see DisplayConfigX for more info.

Thanks for the help!

P.S. I plan to connect an EyeTV 250 to the Mac mini as I continue to pursue a Mac based Media Center solution.

Tanzania - What's in the bag: Toiletries

Toiletries essentials for the safari trip (in addition to the medicine bag)

• Toothbrush w/ holder
• Toothpaste
• Dental floss
• Deodorant
• Soap w/ holder
• Shampoo (2 in 1)
• Hand sanitizer
• Cotton swabs
• Fingernail clippers
• Comb
• Tissues (travel pack)
• Hand wipes

No shaver - we are going to Africa after all!

Tanzania - What's in the bag: Medicine Chest

With just under 3 weeks to go before my safari to Tanzania it is time to prepare my final check list.

First category on my list is the medicine bag:

• 1" adhesive tape
• Advil
• Alcohol wipes
• Antacid
• Band aids
• Bug repellent w/ 30% deet
• Cipro
• Cortisone creme
• Decongestant
• Hydrocortisone
• Immodium AD
• Lip balm w/ 30 SPF
• Malarone/Larium
• Neosporin
• Pepto Bismol
• Senokot (lazative)
• Sudafed
• Sunscreen 30 SPF
• Thermometer
• Throat lozenges
• Tylenol

Almost enough here to start a mini hospital.

Bugatti Veyron

Probably the only perk of waiting in a doctors office is the chance to read some automotive magazines. It has been a few years since I really paid attention to sport cars (I drive an FJ Cruiser - nothing sporty there).

This months feature article for Automobile magazine is on the Bugatti Veyron. Here is my favorite quote from the whole article:

"Fact: If you drive a Veyron at its top speed, it will run out of fuels in twelve minutes."

The Veyron by the numbers:

• 1001 hp
• 922 lb-ft of torque
• Sixteen cylinders, sixty four valves
• Four turbochargers
• 253 mph top speed (governed)
• 0 to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds
• 0 to 124 mph in 7.3 seconds
• 0 to 186 mph in 16.7 seconds
• $1.3 million purchase price

Now that's a super car!

Yellow Fever Vaccine in King County

My family doctor is not able to give me a Yellow Fever vaccine, it seems that I need to go to a specialized clinic for some of the vaccines I need to take for my trip to Tanzania.

If you need to take some more exotic vaccines for an overseas trip, I found a place in King County/WA that can accommodate almost any vaccine needs.

Eastside Travel Medicine
1200 116th Ave NE, Suite D
Bellevue, WA 98042
(425) 455-8248

1080P and the Mac mini

My Intel Mac mini arrived the other day and I got a chance to hook it up to my 37" 1080p LCD TV. Image quality seems great but the TV is cropping the image. About 32 pixels are being cut all around, making it impossible to see the Apple menu at the top and most of the Dock at the bottom. What's weird is that I changed the resolution on my Mac mini to every resolution possible, including 800x600 and in every mode the TV is cropping the edges of the display, even when the resolution would clearly fit inside a 1920x1080 screen.

I bought a 1080P set exclusively to run my Mac as 1080P content is non-existent otherwise. I did buy a cheap TV set from Costco, a Sceptre 37" LCD HDTV. But reviews everywhere for this model had been great, plus it was nearly impossible to find a 1080P set 3 months ago.

I need to figure out what is amiss with my setup, it will be great to run the Mac mini on a 37" 1920x1080 pixel display.

750GB HD for your Mac Mini!

newertechnology has announced their new miniStack v.2 750 GB 7,500 RPM external hard-drive that is a perfect match to a Mac mini - same dimensions as a Mac mini.

The drive supports both fire-wire and USB 2 interfaces. Great addition to any Mac mini that will be serving the role of a media server, and perfect addition to my home network of Mac!

<Of course this drive would work just as well on any Windows PCs>

Why You Will Love a Mac

Apple has started a new TV campaign titled "Why you will love a Mac". They have 6 30 seconds TV commercials emphasizing key Mac strengths, the 6 videos are available for viewing or downloading online.

The "Why you will love a mac" web page lists 14 reasons why you will love a mac.

1. It just works.
2. You can make amazing stuff.
3. Design that turn heads.
4. 114,000 Viruses? Not on Mac.
5. Next year's OS today.
6. The latest Intel chips.
7. Instant video chats.
8. More fun with photos.
9. One-click websites.
10. Amazing podcasts.
11. Rock start tunemaking.
12. Hollywood-style movies.
13. No hunting from drivers.
14. Awesome out of the box.

I did get a chuckle out of reason #6 - who would have thought that Apple would ever be bragging about Intel Inside ;-)

And #13 is also funny - no need to hunt for drivers when only 1% of the hardware out there works on a Mac!