the mac guy

50th post! Geektool, Butler, Applescript to do lists on the desktop!

2009-05-25T10:36:00.012+01:00

Hi,

I love using Geektool for system and network monitoring and other stats and things. I particularly like having my to dos and reminders visible on the desktop so there's less chance of forgetting them. However, although it's easy to set up Geektool to display a txt file, updating said file means having to launch TextEdit (or other text editor), making the changes, saving, closing ... So. I thought it might be simpler to make an Applescript program to enter the text I want to write, triggered by hot keys via Butler; so that's what I did. If you want to do this yourself you'll need Geektool and Butler installed on your mac, then use TextEdit to save a .txt file in your documents folder (call it scrible.txt) and finally you'll need the little Applescript program 'scribler' (which does require Leopard, I'm afraid, but if you'd like to use this in Tiger let me know and I'll do a version for you).

1. Once you've got Geektool, Butler and scribler installed, create a blank .txt file and save it in your Documents folder as scrible.txt (the next version of scribler will do this automatically, but for now you'll have to do it yourself).

2. Launch System Preferences, click on Geektool, and create a new entry like so:

3. Launch Butler, add a new file, and give it a key combination like so:

And that's it. hit your key combination, enter your text in scribler, press return, and you're done; your to do/reminder, etc., will soon appear on the desktop.

Cheers,

Kev.

Huddy featured in this month's Macworld magazine cd

2008-12-18T19:56:00.002Z

Hi,

Just saw this month's Macworld mag, and huddy's featured on the included disc; excellent.

Cheers Macworld,

Kev.

simple sync now at version 1.2

2008-11-30T09:47:00.002Z

Hi,

I've updated simple sync to include support for Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger).

Cheers,

Kev.

blue faced monkey

2008-11-18T19:56:00.003Z

Hi,

Just a bit of fun this, to help decision making ...

Cheers,

Kev.

Simple sync now at version 1.1

2008-11-14T08:56:00.002Z

Hi,

Just updated simple sync to version 1.1 (just added an activity indicator, so you know it's working).

Kev.

new program – simple sync

2008-11-12T21:04:00.006Z

I've been working on backup systems for a while now (mostly applescripts performing duplicate functions), which led me to start playing around with 'rsync'. Although there are a number of cloning apps out there, and the very good ARrsync program, I felt they were all to feature rich and complex. All I needed to do was to pict a source folder, and a destination folder, and have the first cloned to the latter. I thought being able to chose to have the program delete files from the backup when deleted form the source might be useful, as would an auto run feature; so both are included.

It's simple, useful, but like all scripts you have to be careful, as thre's no going back when a file's been deleted or overwritten. Although it's been well tested I'd say use at your own risk.

Hope you find it useful,

Kev.

huddy 1.3

2008-11-04T11:48:00.002Z

Hi,

Just made a few changes to huddy (smaller footprint, keyboard controls for the colour labels and file ratings). I think that's it now, I don't reckon I'll be making any more changes.

Cheers,

Kev.

New version – huddy 1.2

2008-10-06T14:34:00.002+01:00

Hi,

I recently saw a posting on Macscripter about applying file ratings (like the star ratings in iTunes), and thought that this would be an excellent feature to add to huddy. So, I did ...

Cheers,

Kev.

Hiyama – video preview number 2

2008-09-19T06:45:00.011+01:00

Hi,

We recently posted a new preview of 'Hiyama', our new graphic novel on YouTube. Like the last one (see below) it was made on a Macbook (Garageband and iMovie).

Cheers,

Kev.

New program – 'huddy'

2008-09-19T06:45:00.003+01:00

Hi,

Just knocked up a little Applescript program for making it easier to access the icon zoom function in Finder icon view, and for applying colour labels too. Great for browsing folders of pictures, etc. Pop it in the Finder window toolbar for quick and easy access. It's very simple, andcould do with a little polish, but it's quite handy.

Cheers,

Kev.

The end of the road ...

2008-09-15T20:51:00.005+01:00

Hi,

It's with mixed feelings that I announce the end of the road for 'the mac guy'. I'm afraid that family responsibilities and running Tabella Publishing are taking up an increasing amount of my time, and I'm finding it harder to stay up to date with all things 'mac'. To all my clients I'd like to say a big thank-you, and I can still be contacted for help and/or advice if you find yourself stuck.

Although I won't be taking on any new tech support work, my addiction to Filemaker and Applescript remains as strong as ever, and I'm happy to accept new challenges in these areas.

If anyone's interested in taking on the mantle of 'mac guy' I'd be happy to discuss transferring the business, and I've also put my domain – www.themacguy.co.uk – up for auction.

Cheers,

Kev.

Hiyama promo video

2008-07-27T19:28:00.005+01:00

Hi,

Just thought I'd post this promo video I made for our other company Tabella Publishing. The whole thing was made on a Macbook; using the keyboard to play the music in Garageband, and stills added to iMovie.

Great fun.

Kev.

RapidWeaver

2008-06-22T12:26:00.006+01:00

Hi,

Just had to make a mention of how easy it is to build a website using RapidWeaver. I've just spent a couple of days doing the website for my other company (www.tabella.co.uk). I've used Dreamweaver, GoLive, and iWeb in the past, but I have to say that RapidWeaver beats them all hands down. In terms of cost, ease of use, the variety of themes and usefulness of the plugins (particularly PayLoom and Collage by Yourhead Software) RapidWeaver really is excellent.

Cheers,

Kev.

New company – Tabella Publishing

2008-06-03T20:27:00.005+01:00

Hi,

Because of the interest we've had in our new publishing venture, we decided to set up a new, dedicated company to take care of that side of things. Tabella Publishing is now up and running: www.tabella.co.uk. We're keen to hear from anyone with an interest in graphics and/or art (traditional or digital) with a view to getting their work/ideas into print. We've still got a lot of work to do with the website, but we've made a start.

Cheers,

Kev.

cast off calculator available for download

2008-05-12T22:25:00.005+01:00

Hi,

Cast off calculator (demo version) is available for download (just click the post title/link). I've gotta make a few changes to the website for hosting the full version, but I'll get to that in few days. The full version costs £10, and you can pay via Paypal on my website (once payment has been received I'll send a download link for the full version).

Please send any feedback/bug reports/queries/etc., to info@themacguy.co.uk.

Cheers,

Kev.

2.8 gig imac power supply failure

2008-04-25T19:01:00.005+01:00

Hi,

Well, despite being only 4 months old, the power supply died on my new imac. I'd left the machine on all day while I was at work, and when I tried to wake it up later, it wouldn't. Powered it down, then up again using the power button, and it seemed OK, but really, really sloooooooow. Disc utility found no problems, tried rebooting again, but this time it got as far as the grey apple logo, and the spinning wheel, and just powered off again.

As it's only 4 months old, I phoned Apple and they agreed to have it repaired ... but only after I'd tried erasing my hard drive and reinstalling the OS. I'm particularly annoyed about that as the cause of the problem hadn't even been ascertained by that stage! However, the chap said that Apple wouldn't sanction a repair until I'd formatted the drive and tried a reinstall (needless to say, that failed, and Apple said OK to the repair). As the fault turned out to be the power supply, I really do feel that this 'policy' is incredibly cavalier and disrespectful of people's data. OK, I've got a backup (Time Machine, but I'll get to that in a minute), but I meet a lot of people who don't – they trust the myth Apple has created about the reliability of its products.

Anyway, I got the imac back after a week or so, reinstalled the OS, and set about transferring my data back from my Time Machine backup. This is where things took a rather odd turn. First off, one of the accounts on the backup (luckily it was my wife's and there wasn't much on there) was unavailable for recovery – the transfer assistant sat for about 4 hours calculating the size of the files (my 180gig was accounted for in less than an hour). Anyway, I had to cancel recovery of my wife's account and go ahead with everything else.

Once 'everything' was transferred and the OS updated, I started investigating the machine. First thing I noticed was that I had to re-enter lots of license details again (no worries, but puzzling, nonetheless). The next unexpected thing I found was that the 'new' imac didn't seem to recognize my Time Machine backup. It could see it, of course, but treated is as a new hard drive, yet to be set up. Basically, in order to use it as a Time Machine backup, I had to reformat it, then start again (losing the Time Machine 'history' of the past few months!).

So, the moral of the tale:
1. Make a backup (Time Machine if you have to, but at lease a clone of your mac).
2. If the Apple guy tells you he can't sanction a repair until you've erased all your data, lie to him/her. Protect your data at all costs.
3. When recovering from a Time Machine backup, keep your fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Kev.

New programme – cast off calculator

2008-04-21T21:31:00.005+01:00

Hi,

I've you're already employed in publishing then you'll know what a cast off is. For those who don't, then, a cast off is a calculation, based on the number of words and pictures in each chapter, for working out how many pages a book/magazine should have. 'cast off calculator' is a Filemaker runtime programme for doing just that.

'cast off calculator' will be available very soon (price to be confirmed).

Cheers,

Kev.

New widgets

2008-04-21T21:28:00.002+01:00

Hi,

I recently noticed that my Macscripter.net rss widget was not working under Leopard. There's a new version (1.1) available via the downloads page of my website. (I redid the Filemaker today one, too).

Cheers,

Kev.

Animals on the loose – available now

2008-04-21T21:26:00.005+01:00

Hi,

Marilyn Allis' book, Animals on the Loose is finally available for order from all the usual places (Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith, etc.). Alternatively, you can buy the book directly from us (www.themacguy.co.uk).

Cheers,

Kev.

Coming soon! Animals on the Loose – A guide to painting animals

2008-02-23T11:29:00.005Z

Our first book will soon be available. Animals on the Loose (ISBN 978-0955808807) is a step-by-step guide to painting animals in a loose, impressionistic style. Easy to follow projects, illustrated with dynamic images, guide and inspire the reader to creating their own vivid and exciting works of art.

Marilyn Allis, a professional artist working in mixed media, is the author of a previous book on painting people, and has produced a training DVD. Her work can be viewed at her studio at Mill Lane Gallery, Wimborne, and also at galleries throughout Dorset, Wiltshire and Surrey. She has had a number of articles published in Paint magazine, and was also published in the International Artists UK section.

See some of Marilyn's work on her website: http://www.marilyn.allis.btinternet.co.uk/index.htm

You can view sample pages and purchase Animals on the Loose from our website (www.themacguy.co.uk) via Paypal. The book is also available from Amazon and all good bookshops.

We've already got a number of other titles in the pipeline, but are keen to hear from artists/authors interesting in getting their work published.

Cheers,

Kev.

Triumph Bonneville – 3 months in ...

2008-02-07T19:04:00.000Z

Hi,

So, I've been planing to do a report on the Triumph for a little while. First off, I have to say that I still love the bike. I ride it nearly every day, and have done all through the winter (in rain, sleet, high winds, the lot – though not in snow). Mostly I just commute to and from work on it (about 10 mile round trip, more if I take the longer route – which I usually do). At the weekend, weather and time permitting, I take off for a longer ride, and I have done a long motorway trip (nearly 500 miles over a weekend). All in, I've done over 2000 miles in just over 3 months.

So, what's it like? Well, in no particular order:

Owning one of these (a black 2005 Bonneville SE) is brilliant just for the attention it gets. I've had lots of people coming up to me saying, "I've see your bike around from time to time, and I just wanted to say 'nice bike mate'". Sometimes, when waiting at traffic lights, people lean out of their car windows to say something complimentary, and I've also had a couple of people ask how old it is, thinking that it's a restored Meriden model! Basically, people are always checking it out, and everyone thinks it looks fab.

So, day to day? Well, It starts on the button every day, despite how cold it's been in the night, though it always needs full choke to get going. There's no adjustment on it, it's all or nothing. This does mean that the bike's revving pretty fast on cold startup! Once you're moving, though, and after about a half a mile, it's ok to knock off the choke. Regular basic maintenance is fairly straightforward, though a centre stand would make lubing and adjusting the chain less of a hassle. I use a car jack under the frame, on the right side to just lift the rear wheel enough for it to turn freely. Cleaning is a bit of a pain, there's just so much chrome and so many nooks an crannies to keep clean. I tend to take it to the local power wash and give it a bit of a light hose down, especially as the roads here are usually very wet and muddy and salty, and covered in crap!

I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with the tank range. This becomes especially annoying on a long trip. Usually, I get in the region of 120 miles before going onto reserve. On a long, motorway, 70mph plus run, this drops to 110 to reserve, so you have to plan your petrol (gas) station stops. To fill from empty takes about £12 (about 12 litres), so fuel economy isn't too bad.

Handling has stayed pretty good, as long as you keep an eye on tyre pressures. I seem to be losing about 2-3psi over the course of a fortnight, and you really notice the deterioration in handling that brings with it. I don't know why the tyre pressures drop like that, and no-one else has given me a good explanation, but there you go. I bought a digital pressure meter, and a foot pump and check the tyres every weekend. The front tyre was ok when I bought the bike, and it's getting close to needing replacement now, probably in a couple of months when its 8000 mile service is due. The rear tyre was new at time of purchase, and it's still absolutely fine now. Can't remember what the tyres are (standard Triumph recommendations as per the manual).

I haven't had to adjust the chain yet, but I have lubed it regularly (every hundred miles or so).

I do plan to change the oil soon, even though it's not due yet. I feel that because of the fairly short mileages I do daily, then it wouldn''t hurt to change more frequently than recommended in the manual. The oil filter cost £10, which is reasonable, but the oil was a bit of a shock: 4 litres of fully synthetic - £40! Anyway, the oil should last 5-6000 miles between replacements, but I think I'll try to do it every 2-3000.

I haven't had much trouble with the parts on the bike. One night, though, all the indicators failed, along with the brake light. Changing the fuse when I got home didn't fix the problem, so I checked the indicators looking for spent bulbs. I found that the plastic bulb holder in the rear right indicator had completely disintegrated! The bulb was fine, but all the reflective plastic bits fell out when I took the lens off! £32 for a fiddly, tricky replacement! On the subject of plastic bits, the indicator stalks are really cheap and nasty, it has to be said. I think I'll try to get some replacements.

I did have to replace the front right indicator too, as I dropped the bike one evening. Doing about 5 miles an hour, I just touched the brakes and the bike went over on the right. The only damage was a bent handlebar, scratched brake lever, and broken indicator stalk. I still don't know what happened – it might have been oil or diesel on the road, or a patch of ice, don't know. I haven't replaced the handlebar yet, as it's only slightly bent, and I've got used to it now.

As well as the indicator stalks being pretty nasty cheap plastic, as is the brake light shell, I think Triumph cut some corners on the quality of the chrome work. There are a few rust spots on the wheel rims, on the headlamp shell, on the oil pipe in front of and between the cylinders is pretty rusty now, and the mudguard stays, engine mounting bolts ... Basically, if you're going to get one of these, you have to keep it clean and polished, and ideally in a dry garage. Mine stays outside all the time, unfortunately, as I don't have a garage, and I just can't keep on top of the (necessary) cleaning regime. Bear it in mind – if you don't look after it, it'll start to look tatty fairly soon.

Although the bike is fantastic solo, adding a pillion – even a light one - does have an impact on the performance. Whereas it's normally pretty bright and nippy, with a pillion it does get a little sluggish. Handling isn't affected, though, and it's pretty comfortable for the pillion (I hear), but you will need a grab rail as pillions tend to slide about on the back.

What else ... Oh, I did have to get a new speedo cable (£20 fitted).

So, what's on the wish list? Well, I do plan to get a grab rail (Renntech, not Triumph - have you seen the price of genuine Triumph accessories!?). I would like to get a new set of indicators. Apart for a service in a couple of thousand miles, and a new front tyre, that's it, I think. I have thought that I'd like the noisier pipes too, though that's not really on the wish list. It would be nice if the Bonnie sounded a bit more like the originals. The price is a little (quite a lot, actually) off putting.

Anyway, that's all I can think of for the moment. Drop me a line if you've got any questions/points to make.

All the best,

Kev.

New widget available – theBookseller.com rss reader

2008-01-20T13:27:00.000Z

Hi,

The Bookseller magazine is the source of news and information for the book trade. Now you can keep up to date with the latest news on the magazine's site with this handy rss reader widget. You can download it via the downloads page on my web site (http://www.themacguy.co.uk).

Cheers,

Kev.

iTunes 7.6 problems accessing the iTunes store

2008-01-18T12:08:00.000Z

Hi,

Many people have had problems accessing the iTunes store after the recent 7.6 update. In my case iTunes just hung trying to connect to the store, then produced an error (-4 I think) and suggested I have a look at my network settings. Anyway, I thought I'd try getting into the store using iTunes 7.5 on my work mac. To my surprise, it said that my payment details had been modified outside of the iTunes store, and I would have to confirm them! So, I logged in to my Apple account using the link provided in the iTunes message, checked and confirmed my payment details (had to re-enter my security code!), and all was fine. (I got in to the store). I then ran software update and got iTunes 7.6 on my work mac, and am still able to get in to the iTunes store.

Not sure what's going on here, but at least I'm able to get into the iTunes store now. So, if you've got the same problem, try logging in on a different mac with an older version of iTunes and updating your info

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Kev.

quick highlight

2007-12-11T08:57:00.000Z

Hi,

It occurred to me the other day that colouring a file or folder in Mac OSX isn't as quick and straightforward as it might be. First you have to select the objects you want to label, then go to the Finder's File menu, then go right to the bottom to pick the colour label you want. There are alternative ways of doing it, of course, but all require a similar amount of user interaction. Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if you could select the colour labels from the Finder window toolbar?

'quick highlight' lets you do just that. The installation procedure copies a folder of Applescript 'apps' to your Applications folder from where you can drag some or all of them into the toolbar. That's it. Just select the object you want to label, and click the coloured button in the toolbar. Less clickage.

You can download quick highlight here:

http://www.axmt07.dsl.pipex.com/quick_highlight.html

Cheers,

Kev

Leopard tip #1 Partition your hard drive without erasing data

2007-11-25T08:57:00.000Z

Hi,

OK, so I've got a copy of Leopard. Problem is, I didn't want to just do an upgrade as I've read so many stories of blue screens, problems after installation, etc., and I didn't want to have to back up my data and do a clean install. So, I though the best thing to do would be to install Leopard on its own partition – but how to create a new partition without erasing all existing data? I had a look at iPartition which looks like a very good product, but I didn't want to have to pay for something (Leopard's expensive enough already). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I booted from the Leopard DVD, opened Disc Utility and selected my hard drive then clicked the 'Partition' tab. To my surprise, I saw that Disc Utility lets you create a new partition without erasing any existing data. Fantastic! It'll even let you resize an existing partition if necessary, and, as long as there's enough free disc space, won't erase anything.

There you have it – Disc Utility in Leopard lets you create and resize partitions without erasing data.

Cheers,

Kev.

remind-o-matic – new program

2007-10-28T06:55:00.000Z

Hi,

I recently had need of an alert scheduler. While there are lots of such programs out there, I found them a little over-the-top for my needs (too feature-rich). So, I set about creating a simple, unobtrusive alert/reminder program – remind-o-matic. Download it here:

http://www.axmt07.dsl.pipex.com/remind-o-matic.html

Cheers,

Kev.

New Triumph Bonnie SE

2007-10-19T14:35:00.000+01:00

Wow! I picked it up on Tuesday and can hardly bear to be parted from it. Honestly, this bike's got it all: great looks, fantastic handling, it's fast (0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds), comfortable ... So far I've only put about 110 miles on it, and am hoping to do a LOT more at the weekend.

It does mean that the VT has gone to a new home (via ebay) which I'm a bit sad about as I'd hoped to keep it as a project and do it up as a runaround hack. However, as I've got neither the time nor the space for it, it's just as well.

Back to the SE, though, if anyone has any experience of these bikes, I'd love to hear from you. I've not owned a Triumph before, so it would be nice to get some real ownership notes.

Cheers,

Kev.

2004 Triumph Bonneville SE

2007-10-06T15:37:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Well, just put down a deposit on a 2004 Bonneville SE (Black, 4000 miles, and beautiful). Picking it up in a week ... soooooo excited. So, I've got an F reg Honda VT500 for sale (54k, needs fork seals and a new rear tyre). It's a very reliable bike, but needs a little attention (will be reflected in the price).

Cheers,

Kev.

SMART Reporter

2007-10-01T07:11:00.000+01:00

Hi,

SMART Reporter is a little application that puts an icon in your menu bar and gives your an early warning of impending hard drive failure. I'd recommend that everyone use it.

I recently had a 1.5ghz PowerBook which was stalling at the grey screen with the Apple logo on during startup. I tried TechTool Pro, Mac Test Pro, Disc Utility and Apple Hardware Test, but couldn't get the machine to boot any further. I then did an 'Archive and install' of 10.4.6, whereupon the PowerBook booted up fine. A-ha! I thought, sorted. I left the machine on test for a couple of days, during which there seemed to be no problem. Finally, just before I contacted the owner, I installed SMART Reporter, and within minutes, it was reporting imminent hard drive failure. A little later, the machine was stalling at startup again.

Luckily, reinstalling the OS gave me the opportunity to recover data before the drive failled again, but this might not always be possible. SMART Reporter might just give you enough warning ...

Download SMART Reporter here: http://homepage.mac.com/julianmayer/smartreporter/

Cheers,

Kev.

the new aluminium imac

2007-09-15T19:48:00.000+01:00

Wow! We popped over to Bournemouth this morning, to check out the new imac in Solutions shop there. I've heard a lot of conflicting reports about the new reflective screens, and the new keyboards. The screens certainly are reflective, but they are fantastic! Bright, clear, sharp, vivid! Really nice – I really want one now. As for the keyboards, they're great too, very like a laptop keyboard, easy to type on (probably take a little while to get used to, but not too long). The 2.4 gig procesors are very fast, very snappy. Can't wait to get one.

Anyway, cheers,

Kev.

Coloido 1.1

2007-09-10T17:49:00.001+01:00

Wow,

I'm actually taken aback at the extent to which the coloido screen saver has spread across the internet (particularly big in Japan I see). It's even made it onto YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_6Keu8eE0U). Well, anyway, version 1.1 is now available. You can now control the speed of the two plasma elements that make up the kaleidoscope. Now with even more hoopyness ...

Cheers,

Kev.

Hooray for Apple Hardware Test

2007-09-10T09:49:00.000+01:00

Hi,

I actually thought I'd never be saying this, but hooray for Apple Hardware Test! That's the free utility that Apple ships with all new Macs. I've used it on a number of occasions in the past and, despite several hardware problems, it's never alerted me to a problem. Never. As a result, I've tended to forget about it recently, preferring instead Apple's Mac Test Pro, memtest or Tech Tool Pro if I wasn't sure about the exact fault.

However, the other day I had a 1.33ghz, 15in PowerBook with what looked initially like a hard drive failure. The machine wouldn't boot up at all, nor would it start in target firewire mode. It would boot from the Software restore disc (but Disc Utility failed to repair the disc, and it was impossible to reinstall the OS – the installation would only proceed so far, before the blue screen with the spinning wheel appeared).

Mac Test Pro and Tech Tool Pro both failed to boot the machine!

As a last resort I decided to try Apple Hardware Test (as this is included on the Software restore disc – and this was the only disc capable of booting the machine) and lo and behold, five minutes later the culprit was identified – a faulty RAM module.

A replacement from Crucial (very fast delivery!) is now in place and everything's fine.

Whodathunkit, eh?

Kev.

Macworld cd

2007-09-06T12:07:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Just received the latest edition of Macworld magazine, and discovered that they've included one of my screensavers (colobar) on the cd. Excellent! (bit surprised that they didn't get in touch to ask first - is this normal?)

Anyway, cheers,

Kev.

New screensaver – coloido

2007-08-30T22:30:00.000+01:00

Hi, managed to get to spend a bit of time on Quartz Composer recently, for the first time in ages, and made a new screensaver (coloido) – it's a customisable kaleidoscopic screensaver. Get it here http://www.axmt07.dsl.pipex.com/coloido.html

Cheers,

Kev.

date & time widgets

2007-08-26T15:06:00.000+01:00

Hi,

I've been contacted recently by a number of people asking if the UK date & time widget could be made customisable. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that yet, but in the meantime I've made a few variations for different time zones. Have a look here:

http://www.axmt07.dsl.pipex.com/date&time.html

Cheers,

Kev.

The Green Man festival

2007-08-26T14:54:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Haven't done any Mac stuff recently worth posting about – been very busy with the other thing (life). Anyway, went to the Green Man festival in the Brecons the other week. Excellent, despite the weather. Vashti Bunyan was a complete surprise (brilliant), and Robert Plant was fantastic. Also great were Tunng, Fridge, John Renbourn and Vetiver. I didn't get to see Devendra Banhart, unfortunately, but it was a great festival. I do think the organisers should take a few things on board for next time though.

• Somewhere to do washing up (sinks and that) as it's billed as a family festival.
• I think the area outside the Folk tent was so trashed by the weather because it was right next to the main entrance. If the entrance was behind the tent I think the ground would have survived better, as it wouldn't have had everyone traipsing past all the time.
• More stalls and shops.
• I think the camping area should have been better arranged, so that people weren't all walking past the family camping area to get to the general camping bit. We had people having a piss next to our tent in the middle of the night, and one drunk bloke actually tried to crash out in our tent! I think the famil area shold have been furthest from the entertainment area.

Anyway, great festival all the same.

Cheers,

Kev.

Neat folder backup script

2007-07-18T20:39:00.001+01:00

I wrote this script to provide incremental backups to a work in progress folder on my mac. It copies this foler to an external hard drive, then appends the date to the folder name. This means that every day you get a new backup (and when you get too many, you can just delete the older ones). Replace the file paths with your own:

-- This script will copy a folder of your choice to a destination of your choice, and then append today's date to the newly backed up folder. This means that you'll have a daily incremental backup of you're 'work in progress' folder, for example. --

-- If you save this as a run only application on your hard drive, then use iCal to open it at, say, 5.30 every weekday, it'll backup all your work in progress. You can then schedule your machine then to shut down at, say, 6pm using the 'Energy Saver settings in System Preferences. Obviously, if these backups build up you'll eventually run out of disk space, so you'll need to regularly 'clean out' the backup folder --

tell application "Finder"
activate
make new Finder window to startup disk
set target of Finder window 1 to folder "Hard_Drive:Users:Home:Documents:Workshop:" -- this should be the path to your work in progress folder --

ignoring application responses

-- duplicate your folder to your backup location --

duplicate folder "Workshop" of folder "Documents" of folder "Home" of folder "Users" of startup disk to "Backup_location:Backup_location folder"

-- Note: if you're backing up to a networked drive, you must make sure that you've connected to the drive before the script is run --

end ignoring

delay 120 -- set this to an appropriate number of seconds to ensure the backup is completed --

-- this next bit appends today's date to the newly backed up folder --

set theDate to current date
set todaysDate to ((the month of theDate & " " & the day of theDate & ", " & the year of theDate) as string)
if name of folder "Backup_location:Backup_location folder:Workshop" is not "" then
set name of folder "Workshop" of folder "Backup_location folder" of folder "Backup_location" to "Workshop" & " " & todaysDate
end if
end tell

cheers,

Kev

Fix to QF 1.3

2007-07-15T21:23:00.000+01:00

A reader on Macupdate pointed out a problem with QuickFind 1.3. Basically, the Yahoo.com button was returning results from Yell.com. Sorry about that, a silly mistake on my part. It's now fixed, and you can download the repaired version (didn't think it warranted a 'new' version) from my website: http://www.themacguy.co.uk.

Cheers,

Kev.

QuickFind 1.3

2007-07-09T20:30:00.000+01:00

Just released QuickFind 1.3. Now includes the ability to set the window transparency.

Cheers,

Kev.

The VT lives again ...

2007-07-07T21:22:00.000+01:00

I got my VT500 back from the bike shop (Tilleys in Weymouth) today. They'd had it for a fortnight and hadn't solved the problem. Basically, the bike had suddenly started running really badly, wouldn't idle and died when I opened the throttle. It had been going like that for a couple of days. Before I took it to the bike shop I checked the oil – the crankcase was completely full of petrol! The guys in the bike shop changed the oil and filters, put in new plugs, checked the carbs, faffed about with the petrol tap, and eventually gave up on the problem yesterday.

I managed to get it home today (at an average speed of about 5 miles an hour) £250 lighter. Gutted. I thought I'd have to put the bike on ebay for parts, mabey get about £50.

As a last resort, I decided to try cleaning up the ignition components, to see it they were the problem. Half an hour with some contact cleaner on the leads to the coils and the major loom connectors, and wow! It's running fine!

Wish I'd tried that in the first place ...

Cheers,

Kev.

10.4.10 problems

2007-07-01T08:58:00.001+01:00

Like a lot of people, I have experienced some problems after installing this update. Although the installation went OK on my imac G5, on my ibook G4 things were not so straightforward. Immediately after the update, I experienced a kernel panic (grey screen, with a window in the centre instructing me to restart my machine). I booted from the OSX installation disk and ran Disk Utility, which reported that everything was fine with my drive. When I restarted, the ibook seemed OK. However, when I restarted again later, there was another kernel panic. Ran Disk Utility again, all fine, restarted again, all fine, then when I'd restarted another time, kernel panic. This seemed to be a pattern.

I decided at this point to install the combo update, but as this had no effect, I decided to do an archive and install. However, I immediately ran into a problem with this in that the installer coudn't 'see' my drive! Eeeeek!

Anyway, to cut a long (nearly 2 hours messing around with this) story short, Disc Warrior sorted things out.

If you have similar problems with this update I'd recommend having a look at these articles (particularly the second one which has a good set of guidelines for installing updates generally):

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070628105254900
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1014792&tstart=0

All the best,

Kev.

the importance of OS9 system discs

2007-06-29T11:15:00.000+01:00

I've just finished working on a Power Mac G4 which wouldn't boot up. I could have just wiped the drive and reinstalled OSX, but the client wanted to recover a lot of data off the drive first (Disc Warrior had been running for three days and found 294474 overlapped files, but got stuck at that point!). The drive was so corrupted that it wouldn't even boot in Target Firewire Mode (TFM). I tried a lot of things to get this machine booting up again (Disc Utility, Techtool Pro, Disc Warrior) all with no luck.

The solution? First I booted the G4 up using an OS9.2.1 disc, then connected an iBook in TFM mode. The thing about booting from OS9 discs is that you still have access to the desktop. This meant that I could just copy the data from the G4's drive to my iBook, which appeared on the G4's desktop, whilst all the time booted from the OS9 disc.

I'd really like to know why Apple has removed this functionality from its OSX install discs.

Cheers,

Kev.

new website!

2007-06-24T11:50:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Just finished updating my new website – http://www.themacguy.co.uk. Content is much the same as before, but the look is much better (I think). Changed to a new web host as well, so there may be a few teething problems.

Anyway, have a look.

Cheers,

Kev.

Quickfind 1.2

2007-06-17T15:54:00.000+01:00

Just released a new version of QuickFind (1.2). New features include:

• Completely redesigned interface
• Much smaller footprint
• New icon
• New search options (thesaurus, news)

Cheers,

Kev

Can't access Adobe.com!

2007-06-11T13:40:00.000+01:00

I found the answer to this problem on the Apple/Support/Safari forum, and thought it was useful enough to share here. For ages I haven't been able to get onto Adobe.com to access any of the forums there, or download anything; Safari just sat there trying for a while then timed out. The problem it seems was down to my DNS addresses (System Preferences/Network). I replaced the ones I'd got from my ISP with two from Opendns.com (208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220) and everything seems to be working fine now! I'd recommend you take a note of your old dns addresses before you replace them, and even mention this to your ISP.

Cheers.

Kev

New Triumph Bonneville test ride

2007-05-31T15:28:00.000+01:00

Hello,

Just thought I'd share my thoughts about my test ride yesterday on the new Triumph Bonnie. I've been daydreaming about one of these for weeks now, and had to check one out (many thanks to Three Cross Motorcycles in Wimborne).

First impressions were : "Wow, that's beautiful! I want it!" When I was out on the road, I wasn't disappointed, it lived up to my expectations: it was comfortable to ride, powerful enough to pull out at 60 and overtake a couple of cars (up to 80 in no time), got lots of attention from car drivers and handled beautifully.

The demonstrator I rode had quite a high seat, and I felt a little 'on top' of the bike. However, when back at the shop I sat on another one with a slightly lower seat, and that felt much better, much more like I was 'in' the bike than perched on top.

Overall, the build quality of the Bonnie was fantastic, lots of chrome and thick paint and, apart from the switchgear, not too much plastic. However, it's with the latter that I have 'issues'. The switchgear looks really plasticky and cheap, and with bike gloves on, felt fragile and imprecise. I'd left the indicators on a couple of times, even though I was sure I'd cancelled them.

When idling, the sound of the Bonnie was pure retro Bonnie, expecially with the extra loud pipes fitted, but when moving there's just a quiet whirring sound, and the occasional backfire when you drop the throttle. And no vibration at all!

I'm still really interested in one of these, but the Black SE model I want isn't available anymore. Apparently, Triumph is bringing out a new model later this year, with fuel injection rather than carbs (the fuel injection system fitted inside fake carb bodies!). I'll have to wait until the new model comes out and decide then whether or not I still want one.

In the meantime, at least I still have the trusty VT500!

QuickFind update and news

2007-05-27T20:39:00.000+01:00

I haven't been able to post anything recently, and doubt that I'll be able to get much work done over the coming weeks (there's been a new addition to the family – baby Aran). However, I'm planning to keep revising/updating QuickFind, and hope to get a bit more done in a few days) if I can. Planned features include:

• Smaller footprint
• Ability to query more websites
• Organise websites better, with more drawers, etc.
• Ability to save queries/searches/results
• The ability to view results within the application itself, without launching your web browser
• Allow some degree of user customisation

If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks to all who have provided feedback and suggestions so far.

Cheers,

Kev

QuickTime content not displaying in Safari

2007-05-04T10:47:00.000+01:00

Recently, after an OS update, I found that QuickTime content wasn't displaying properly in Safari. Instead of the media content, all I was getting was a pale, faded out broken QuickTime icon. Anyway, too busy to look into it properly I soldiered on using Shiira. However, I soon got fed up with the problem and started looking into it. As Safari and Quicktime worked OK on another account on my machine, I had a look at the home/library/preferences folder for quicktime and safari preferences. Once I'd deleteed the following and restarted Safari, all was well:

com.apple.Safari.plist
com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
QuickTime Preferences
com.apple.quicktimeplayer.plist

3 new applescripts

2007-04-30T19:47:00.000+01:00

I've just finalised 3 new applescripts: a simple local backup routine, useful if you've got an external hard drive; a remote backup routine for storing your important files on your web space (this uses Drop DMG to compress and encrypt your files, then Cyberduck to upload them; and finally a script for business with online shops (the applescript automatically logs in to your web site, processes your orders and prints them out). The last one will need to be adapted for your needs, so if you're interested get in touch.

QuickFind 1.1

2007-04-30T16:49:00.000+01:00

I've recently updated QuickFind to version 1.1 and, following the initial rush of feedback, am working on further updates. QuickFind's kind of like a remote control for the web, saving you lots of clicking and retyping. Of course, it won't ever do everything you'd like, but if you've got some specific sites that you search all the time, then I'd be happy to customise it for you.