Vermyndax vermyndax

Apple‘s Snow Leopard Server product is one lovely implementation of UNIX.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using it for the power and simplicity that it offers.  I’ve loved using Apple’s operating systems thanks to the combination of UNIX power and elegant design.  Snow Leopard server is no exception to this rule.

The barrier to entry with Snow Leopard server was lowered when Apple reduced the price of the product to $499 USD and offered an unlimited client version only.  It was even more palatable when the Mac Mini server version was introduced at $999.  Previously, you could build your own Mac Mini server for about $1300 USD, but this new model allows small developers and workshops to get into the product at a very low price point.

For those of you who follow my adventures here, but not necessarily my adventures over there, you should be aware that we’ve posted NO CARRIER Episode #11.  This episode is very special to my heart because it’s the first show we did in our new studio (Whitey is still over Skype though).  I think the audio quality is MUCH better.  Of course, we’ll be tweaking as things move on, but the new studio and the new processes we’re using to lay down the audio sound damn fine if I do say so myself.

  <dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">
    Image by <a href="http://www.daylife.com/source/Getty_Images">Getty Images</a> via <a href="http://www.daylife.com">Daylife</a>
  </dd>
</dl>

One of the industry buzzwords that needs to go to the grave is the user “experience.”

Don’t quote me here, but I recall this buzzword being developed by Microsoft as part of the marketing campaign behind Windows XP.  XP was supposed to be “experience” or “expert” or “Xtra stuPid marketing,” I’m not sure.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an XP hater.  But I’m definitely a hater of the term “experience.”

  <dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">
    Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com">CrunchBase</a>
  </dd>
</dl>

A coworker sent this along.  I’ve had this issue on a few contacts and didn’t really have time to delve into it.

Name removed to protect the innocent and good intentions.  Be very careful with this and make sure you have a backup of all data that you plan to manipulate.

If you’re having stupid amounts of trouble with your plugins loading in Safari 4 on Snow Leopard, go to your Finder and open /Applications.  Right-click on the Safari app and choose “Get Info.”  On that screen, you’ll see a checkbox to run the app in 32-bit mode.

  <dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">
    Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com">CrunchBase</a>
  </dd>
</dl>

At WWDC 2009, I stood up in a session on Snow Leopard server and lightly rattled Apple‘s cage about its poor scaling guidance for the product. They were spending a great deal of time talking about the benefits of Wiki Server 2, but there was little to take away from the session on what to tell any prospective customers regarding cost.

  <dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">
    Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com">CrunchBase</a>
  </dd>
</dl>

When NetNewsWire went with Google Reader syncing, the hair stood up on the back of my neck.  I swore off Google Reader quite some time ago.  Indeed, I was using NNW to avoid Google Reader.  Now I’m being forced back?

I’m back from WWDC 2009.  What a wonderful time!  Sorry I didn’t update much about it, I was just too busy with my head buried in all the Apple goodness.  Oh my, do they have some good stuff in the pipe for you.

One of the greatest things about WWDC is the fabulous music they play before each and every session to keep the devs jazzed up.  There was a thread about collecting the songs that were played before each session because Apple wasn’t posting a playlist.  Fortunately, thanks to the iPhone, devs were walking into the sessions with Shazzam running and collecting information on any songs that weren’t recognizable and posting it to the thread.

Hi, just dropping in from raiding the lands of healthy heroes and creamy young virgins to let you in on a quick Apple Mail tip.

Do you use Apple Mail in an environment with Outlook?  In particular, do those Outlook users prefer HTML mail?  Do you receive mail from them with a microscopic font size?

Thanks to the tip I found here you can correct this issue.

1. Close down Apple Mail (command-Q)
2. Open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
3. Type the following command: “defaults write com.apple.mail MinimumHTMLFontSize 13” (note: without quotes)
4. Restart Apple Mail
5. Squint no more.

Hope this helps.  Flying back out to meet up with my sister Vermithrax and raid a few kingdoms today.  Wednesdays are always fun like that.

  <dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">
    Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7992161@N04/546086117">tom ferris</a> via Flickr
  </dd>
</dl>

Apple finally announced the WWDC 2009 dates and they couldn’t have targeted a better week.

It looks like I will become a representative for my agency on the Calconnect standards organization.  They happen to be having a meeting at Oracle in Redwood Shores, CA the week prior to WWDC.  With the wife’s permission, this means two weeks in the wide and crazy world of San Francisco.