September 30, 2010

D&D updates:
We played our last D&D session on the 18th of Sep. Everyone but Lee was able to attend. Todd played Mutteran, and Kevin's friend Billy played Belt. Here are some of the updates from that meeting on the 18th. With the conclusion of our 8 August, 2009 meeting, the players have moved into an entirely new phase of the game. Gone are the S.C.R.E.W.O.F.F.S. - Existing now as a group of non-player characters. The player characters are now members of an entirely new group. The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights. This new group of adventurers have struck out from Whillip. In search of glory, fame, and justice. They seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint; this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name both feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms.

Note from the Campaign Master
As of 20 February, 2010, one of the players (Mark) has taken over the duties of DM. Mark and I have been planning this change for some time. It's something I like to do, when possible. Unfortunately, the opportunity doesn't present itself too often. Once the campaign has been established, and the players familiar with "Rob's World", I like to encourage full participation by sharing the duties of DM. Mark has written the adventure that the characters are currently engaged in, and I will relinquish DM duties while Mark makes all the big decisions. With Mark behind the podium, I'll do my best to enjoy the mystery, and keep Solmar alive. So, Mark and I have switched places. He'll be running the show, and I'll be playing Solmar. What fun! I'm certainly enjoying this change of pace, the opportunity for adventure, and the mystery of Deepwood. - Robert

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting (not counting tonight's meeting - 02 Oct, 2010) is 16 October, 2010. This page (The "3eCampagin" page) is the first stop for information on the campaign that I'm currently running. Here you'll find information regarding our next meeting, some notes, and an index of web pages and documents that are important to our campaign. You can also check out the latest group photo.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

The Adventurers journal:
The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands. One update was submitted by Todd - With Todd playing Lee's character, Todd wrote Mutteran's journal entry. I think he did a pretty good job - Be sure to check it out when you get a chance. The party is still on their way to the location of the next challenge, during this session, they made their way to the city of Lheshayl.
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#sep18 2010>

Where Now?:
With the party out on the road, on their way to their next adventure, they're bound to learn about some new places. As the party well knows, being out on the road can be an adventure all it's own. During our last session, the party finally made it to the city of Lheshayl. As Mutteran describes it 'a podunk Cow Town'. "Where Now?" is a listing of various places the party has visited or researched.
<https://www.robsworld.org/wherenow.html>

Who's Who?:
The meeting on the 18th saw an interesting turn of events for one of the characters. Belt is on his way out. Summoned to due duty for his church, he'll soon be leaving the group. When he does, I'll remove his character entry from this page, and I'll probably create a page for him. After the meeting on the 18th, I update a link for Perl, and fixed some broken image links. The "Who's Who?" page is a listing of characters, both player characters and non-player characters.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ewhoswho.html>

These updates follow our meeting on the 18th of September. These sessions represent the early days of a new adventure. The eighth adventure for our group. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. Departing on the 1st of Mavis, the party has decided to help the citizens of Deepwood in their quest to vanquish a Blue Dragon from their backyard. After picking up supplies, horses, and some information in Westgate, the party has taken to the open road. The road has proven dangerous and long. The party has fought many foes along the way, lost two of their own (Gregor and Jusarian), and recruited two new companions (Pyrceval and Azura) to strengthen their numbers. Continuing their quest, the party has taken a short break from the dusty road. A quick stop in the city of Lheshayl provides many opportunities for resupply, magic item identification and a bit of R&R. On a rather surprising note, Belt has learned of an urgent church matter, and he's informed the party that he must depart with a group of fellow travelers. So, as Belt prepares to part ways with the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, the party retires for the evening. Tomorrow will surely bring another new challenge - Sharpen your blades and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!

Netflix News - Netflix to get NBC shows and Netflix Watch Instantly gets bigger:
Netflix and NBC Universal signed a new content deal. On the 24th of September, Netflix and NBC Universal announced a content streaming deal. As part of the deal, Netflix will stream the prior season of cable and broadcast shows. Episodes from NBC, USA, and the Syfy channel. Shows include Saturday Night Live (with day after broadcasts), 30 Rock, The Office, Law & Order: SVU, Friday Night Lights, Psych, In Plain Sight, Monk, Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, and others. It's a significant addition to the NBC Universal line-up, and it continues the strong relationship between Netflix and NBC Universal. There was no mention of the price that Netflix paid for this deal. Hopefully, Netflix will wrangle more network shows under their umbrella; making it that much easier for consumers to cut their cable subscriptions.

It's great news for those who love Netflix. Speaking of great news; The folks who run the Feedflix website (which offers enhanced statistics, tracking and management of Netflix collections) recently announced the results of some analysis on Netflix titles. According to their analysis, The video giant Netflix now has more than 130,000 DVD titles, approximately 28,000 Watch Instantly titles, and 4,315 streaming HD titles. Those are some awesome numbers, and considering the fact that Netflix hasn't released any 'official' numbers for quite some time, we're very grateful to Feedflix for sharing the results of their analysis.
<http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=369>
<http://feedflix.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/netflix-rapidly-increasing-dvd-and-streaming-selection/>

Updates to the Tollgate Crossing Website:
My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, and supporting our community by maintaining the Tollgate Crossing website and mailing lists. The Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with a few links to the Neighborhood Watch website. Over the last few weeks, I made several updates to the community website:

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I removed the banner for the pool hours/notification. I removed a banner for the Ward VI meeting. I added a banner (which links to the SoutheastAurora-NeighborhoodWatch website) for an upcoming Neighborhood Watch meeting (7 Oct). I updated the date for our next HOA meeting (Oct 12), and MD meeting (26 Oct, 2010). I also posted a link to a Metro District agenda (for a meeting (28 Sep) that's already come and gone).
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I removed the info for the Ward VI meeting. I updated the dates for our next HOA (Oct 12) and Metro District meetings (26 Oct). FYI: This upcoming MD meeting will be our annual budget meeting.
* Info: A page of links, phone numbers, email addresses and other information pertinent to the residents/community of Tollgate Crossing. I updated the Metro District meeting minutes. I added minutes for May, July and August of 2010. I also added info and a link regarding the Metro District's stand on ballot measures 60, 61 & 101 on the November ballot.

If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website. It's loaded with information about our community and you can even sign up for some of the email mailing lists that serve our community.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>

Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website:
My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those things are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website over the last few weeks:

* eMail lists: A web page containing details about our mailing lists. The Neighborhood Watch runs numerous email mailing lists, and this page contains details regarding all of those lists. I added some information about the mailing lists, and why we need the residents to sign-up for electronic delivery of the Neighborhood Watch flyers. If you're a member of our community (the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch), I encourage any member of NW area to provide their local Area Coordinator with contact information, so we can keep you informed and up to date on all the latest NW news and information.
* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. I removed the Summer Safety tips from Officer Cassell. I removed the banner for the Household Chemical round-up. I added a banner/note regarding contact information and residents who sign-up for delivery of NW news via email. I added a banner for the upcoming Neighborhood Watch meeting (7 Oct). I added a new message - "Keep The Lights On" - from Officer John Cassell.
* Alert Me: A web page where residents can learn about and link to Aurora's 'Emergency Citizen Notification System'. It's a type of reverse 911 mechanism. Thanks to an eagle eyed resident, I updated some of the links on the web page.
* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I removed the summer safety walk info. I removed the information regarding the household chemical round-up. Information for door-to-door disposal/pick-up remains on the website. I removed info about the Ward VI meeting. I added event info for our next Neighborhood Watch meeting (Oct 7th). This next meeting will take place at the Fox Ridge Middle School (instead of the Buffalo Trail Elementary). I also update the info for our upcoming NW meetings (upcoming meetings will be held at Fox Ridge Middle School).
* Info: A page of links and information pertinent to the safety and security of our communities. I added some of the contact info for the Wheatlands and Saddle Rock-North communities.

If you are a resident of Southeast Aurora, you might want to check out our Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website (Serving the following communities: Tollgate Crossing, Sorrel Ranch, The Wheatlands, Beacon Point, Southshore, Tallyn’s Reach, Saddle Rock - North, Serenity Ridge, Black Stone, Heritage Eagle Bend and Rocking Horse). If you're concerned about the safety and security of our community, you might want to join our group, or subscribe to one of our mailing lists to receive periodic alerts, updates and information.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>

Software favorites:
One more release for one of my favorite software applications. Transmit is improved again. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. The best FTP/File Transfer client that I have ever used. It's a free updates for those who own a license. If you need a powerful file transfer client, grab a copy of Transmit - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the Transmit update, a trio of my favorite apps (all from Bruji.com) have also seen an update in the last week. One of the problems I've been experiencing (application won't send email reminders) has finally been fixed.

Transmit:
An FTP tool that does it all. Anyone who publishes web pages eventually needs a way to upload their pages to a web site. I've found that stand alone FTP tools are the best for this task. Transmit has a clean and easy to use interface, and some really nifty features, like the ability to resume a transfer that's been interrupted, advanced site synchronization capabilities (with simulation mode and reporting capabilities), iDisk and Amazon S3 integration, drag-to-dock sending, creation / use of transfer droplets, column views, quick navigation side-bar, multi-connection transfers, built in compression, a built in text editor, remote file editing using local editors, and secure transfer (in various different flavors) capabilities. This latest version (4.1.2) delivers a a slew of corrections and fixes necessary after a big upgrade (from 4.0.6 to 4.1.1). Check out the Panic.com Release Notes for Transmit.
<http://www.panic.com/transmit/index.html>

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 4.6.2. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the movie or you can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the movie box (it then searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, the ability to play movie in full screen mode, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use it to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews. Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemoviecollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymovies/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/reviews.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/>

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 4.6.2 It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the artist, album, or track. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off a jewel case (it then searches the internet, and displays choices), or you can import lists of music from iTunes. It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use it to generate HTML listings of my music. Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymusic/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemusiccollection/index.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/>

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 4.6.2 It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the author, book, or isbn number. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the book cover (the application searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use it to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/>

With these software updates, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>

September 22, 2010

Death to spammers!
<rant>You just can't escape from this scourge of the internet era. So, it's a good thing that I own my own domains, and I can create and delete email addresses at my whim. Recently (during the month of Sep, 2010), Spammers have managed to get a hold of three of my email addresses. Where did they get them... Well, I made a mistake and posted one (genealogy at vaessen dot name) on my website. Spammers managed to scrape that bad boy, and start spamming me within a matter of days (6 days to be exact). Another (dungeon dash master at robsworld dot org) was used by several people in correspondence on the subject of D&D. That person no longer responds to email, and I believe his computer has been taken over by spammers - Or, maybe he's the Spammer. Finally, a third email address (roleplay at robsworld dot org) was compromised when some spammer managed to log in to an old forum and scrape all the email addresses where the website didn't shield the actual email addresses. While a password might deter some spammers, once they're in, they can scrape thousands of email addresses if the forum operator doesn't mask the email address on messages posted to the forum. So, what did I do? Well, I disabled all three email addresses. Like I said, I'm glad I own my own domains, and I can create or delete any address at will. Oh how I hate spammers!</rant>
<https://www.robsworld.org/index2.html#fightingspam>

Apple Security update 2010-05:
Apple is hard at work, making sure that Snow Leopard is running on all cylinders (in my case 8 - or 16 if you count the virtual threads). Finding security flaws, patching annoying bugs, improving the user experience. This particular update brings us one update. A singular patch, for something that must be quite important. Apple didn't waste any time updating this hole. An error handling issue existed in Apple's AFP protocol/implementation. A remote attacker with knowledge of an account name on a target system could have bypassed the password validation and accessed AFP shared folders directly! Thankfully, File Sharing is not enabled by default. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.6.

You can read all about Apple's upgrades, bug fixes, security updates, and more by following the links I've provided below. I upgraded to Snow Leopard during August of 2009, and I have to say, the tweaking, enhancements and multi-core refinements have resulted in considerable speed improvements on my machine.You can read more about the update at Apple's website. Keeping my Mac safe from malicious hackers and such.
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/security/>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4361>

Blurry icons are back:
<rant>It's a problem which has been plaguing me (and others) of late. Recently; just this year, going back three months or so, I started to notice the onset of a particular problem plaguing my Mac's desktop. While I love the Mac OS, no operating system is without it's issues, and this is just one of those perplexing problems that seems to bother people in our age of super-computers and sophisticated communications devices. If you're familiar with my battles in the land of network connections, you know I don't give up easily when confronted with a technological challenge. This desktop dilemma is just the latest of those challenges.

A bit more detail - So the problem started occurring a few months back, and it's been getting progressively worse. This problem involves the icons in my Mac's Dock and the Application Switcher panel (invoked when you press command-tab). The Mac OS (In OS X v10.5 and later) uses 512 x 512 pixel images for the dock, application switcher and Finder in general. Each application and document has appropriately sized images embedded in the code for smaller sizes (for various reasons), but the 512 x 512 resource is supposed to be used when displaying icons in the Finder. Unfortunately, the problem plaguing me was slowly beginning to affect all the icons in my dock and application switcher (I hadn't noticed it affecting the Finder in general (finder windows)).

The effect I'm talking about? Instead of the typical, sharp, high-resolution (512 x 512) icons, I was starting to notice some incredibly low resolution icons (32 x 32?) in my dock and application switcher. It's nothing critical. It wasn't causing crashes (in my case), but it certainly was annoying. Being used to these magnificent 512x512 icons, I really didn't appreciate these blurry low-res icons. When these low-res icons are scaled up to 512 x 512 or 128 x 128 size (with a mouse over or other magnification effect), they appear blurry, out of focus or fuzzy. It's irritating, not at all Mac-like and quite annoying. Not one to let the problem persist, I began my quest to quash these blurry icons.

My first stop was the Apple Forums. While I found plenty of discussion regarding this 'issue', I couldn't find an 'Official' answer - Despite the claims in Apple's Forums, there really doesn't appear to be any 'answer'; a fact noted by several posters. I'm not sure why this problem hasn't been tackled by Apple's software engineers/experts. According to the forums, the problem - which may have been around as early as 2007 (Release of Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5) - seems to affect all models of Mac. It doesn't appear to be a hardware issue, and it's affecting those with Mac OS 10.5 and later (when the 512x512 icons were introduced). While some have reported the issue affecting icons in the Finder (Apple's file browser application), I've only noticed it in my Dock and Application Switcher.

I tried a couple of the remedies suggested in Apple's forums: Logging out/in, restarting the computer, repairing permissions, deleting various .DS_Store files, resetting preferences for the dock, the finder, and various other system level settings. Escalating the research beyond Apple's official forums, I find that the problem is being reported beyond the Apple website(s). It's even been reported on by 'cnet' and various other websites. Still the problem persisted... After reading numerous posts, troubleshooting efforts and observing the effect up close, I began to formulate my own 'solution'. Noting that it only appeared to affect my Dock and Application Switcher (If you're experiencing similar problems in the Finder, my 'fix' may not help you), I reasoned that the computer was looking in the wrong place (resource path) for the appropriate image resources. For some reason, it was displaying the lowest level of image resolution. Once it started displaying the lower resolution image, it wouldn't revert with a standard reboot, permissions repair, etc. It needed some serious resetting in order to make it access the appropriate resource(s).

Here's how I 'fixed' things: Open a Finder window. Select your Home Folder (folder/icon with the House badge/image), then open your Library folder. Navigate to the Preference folder. Locate and move the following files to the trash: 'com.apple.dock.plist' and 'com.apple.dock.db' (I believe you might not need to delete this later file). Once you've deleted the preference files, you should restart your Mac. Your Mac will create new preferences for the dock. Deleting the db file will delete all your dock settings, so you'll probably want to create a back-up, just in case (as with all troubleshooting, creating a backup/backing-up your system is always a good idea). While this action seems to have corrected the problem (for me), your mileage may vary. According to some reports, this fix may be temporary. I implemented this fix back on the 15th of August, and I didn't have any problems until the 14th of Sep. Once again, the blurry icons are back. This time I didn't attempt a fix (as listed here), I simply rebooted and repaired permissions. While that seemed to clear things up, I fully expect the effect to recur yet again. As far as I can tell, Apple hasn't corrected this problem - Yet.</rant>
<http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGIcons/XHIGIcons.html>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2132399>
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10402811-263.html>

My resume:
It's about that time. Time to update my resume. Despite an update back in 2007, I hadn't updated some of the information since I retired from the Air Force in 2005, so it was a little bit out of date. This most recent update (in Sep, 2010) comes at the time of a change in my career. My current job is going away. The time lines are a bit sketchy, but the job could be gone as early as this Oct (FY-2010). Or, if I'm reading the clues properly, it may be as late as mid 2011. In either case, I'm looking for a new job. I've already had one offer, and this resume update comes at just the right time. My current employer already knows that I'm looking for a new job. For that matter, a lot of people (where I work) are looking for new jobs. This update includes some updated skills, dates, and some security details. Yes, it was cleared by the security offices where I work (both my company and the government security offices reviewed the resume). If you need a copy of my resume, or you're just curious, just send me an email and I'll forward the password.

When I first posted the resume (back in 2004), it was very accessible and easy to download. Security and privacy concerns have since forced me to take some precautions regarding the posting of my resume. I've marked the resume, and the resume page, as off limits to web spiders, and I've password protected the resume. In addition to posting the updated resume, I also updated some old copies of my resume.

Password protected? That may sound sketchy, but I assure you it's not all that bad. The document is a pdf (Adobe's Portable Document Format), and thanks to the folks at Adobe, it can be password protected. If I haven't already provided you with the password, you'll have to contact me in order to obtain it. Sorry about the password, but it's the only way I could satisfy concerned parties, protect my privacy, and still provide an easy way for people to view/download my resume. If you'd like to contact me regarding a job offer, please use this email address:
<https://www.robsworld.org/resume.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/resume_mostrecent.pdf>

Vaessen Family Genealogy:
I recently updated my family genealogy pages (in Aug of 2010), and the updates have generated some interest in the Vaessen family history. As a matter of fact, the updates generated a few corrections to some genealogy information and some keen observations from some of my relatives. Thanks to Louise S. from Illinois, I was able to find and correct two broken links. The links were on a couple of pages that I don't update very frequently. My BIO page, and Index #2.

Thanks to some considerable assistance from some Dutch Vaessen's, I've been able to trace my family history back to 1580 (or earlier). If you're interested in the history of the Vaessen name, check out my Vaessen family genealogy pages. The information was compiled and posted using 'MacFamilyTree' software. The software is capable of importing or exporting genealogy data in various different formats, including HTML and GEDCOM standard .ged files.

If you are a member of the Vaessen family, or you're interested in the Vaessen family history, I welcome any corrections, additions or elaborations. Please feel free to write me with any relevant information.
<https://www.robsworld.org/genealogy/vaessen_family/vaessenfamily/index.html>
<http://www.syniumsoftware.com/macfamilytree/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/wapen.png>

September 14, 2010

Software favorites:
One more release for one of my favorite software applications. Transmit is improved again. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. The best FTP/File Transfer client that I have ever used. It's a free updates for those who own a license. If you need a powerful file transfer client, grab a copy of Transmit - You won't be disappointed.

Transmit:
An FTP tool that does it all. Anyone who publishes web pages eventually needs a way to upload their pages to a web site. I've found that stand alone FTP tools are the best for this task. Transmit has a clean and easy to use interface, and some really nifty features, like the ability to resume a transfer that's been interrupted, advanced site synchronization capabilities (with simulation mode and reporting capabilities), iDisk and Amazon S3 integration, drag-to-dock sending, creation / use of transfer droplets, column views, quick navigation side-bar, multi-connection transfers, built in compression, a built in text editor, remote file editing using local editors, and secure transfer (in various different flavors) capabilities. This latest version (4.1.1) delivers a huge number of new features, improvements and bug fixes.

The application is now 64-bit native for those who've got one of the newer Macs (with a 64bit chip architecture). The .DS_Store files are no longer created on servers when transferring Mac folders. Item deletion is now instantaneous - no more need to 'Empty Trash'. Custom icons can be pasted onto the Transmit Disk volumes. Added a new Finder Refresh command. No longer uses 'MacFUSE' (remove it from your preference pane if you only used it for Transmit). Far to many to list here. Check out the Panic.com Release Notes for Transmit.
<http://www.panic.com/transmit/index.html>

With this software update, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>

D&D updates:
We played our last D&D session on the 4th of Sep. Kim and I missed that session, but the game went on. Mark (as DM) and the rest of the group met at Micheal's house. Thanks go out to Micheal and Rebecca for letting our group game at their home. I heard that the food was excellent, and we really appreciate your acceptance of our gaming habit. Kim and I were off on vacation in Wisconsin (visiting family). With all our busy schedules, it's sometimes difficult to get everyone together for our D&D meetings. This time (thanks to Micheal and Rebecca) we didn't have to cancel the meeting. Below are some of the updates from that meeting on the 4th, and an earlier meeting on the 21st of August (I know, I'm a bit behind with the updates). With the conclusion of our 8 August, 2009 meeting, the players have moved into an entirely new phase of the game. Gone are the S.C.R.E.W.O.F.F.S. - Existing now as a group of non-player characters. The player characters are now members of an entirely new group. The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights. This new group of adventurers have struck out from Whillip. In search of glory, fame, and justice. They seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint; this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name both feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms.

Note from the Campaign Master
As of 20 February, 2010, one of the players (Mark) has taken over the duties of DM. Mark and I have been planning this change for some time. It's something I like to do, when possible. Unfortunately, the opportunity doesn't present itself too often. Once the campaign has been established, and the players familiar with "Rob's World", I like to encourage full participation by sharing the duties of DM. Mark has written the adventure that the characters are currently engaged in, and I will relinquish DM duties while Mark makes all the big decisions. With Mark behind the podium, I'll do my best to enjoy the mystery, and keep Solmar alive. So, Mark and I have switched places. He'll be running the show, and I'll be playing Solmar. What fun! I'm certainly enjoying this change of pace, the opportunity for adventure, and the mystery of Deepwood. - Robert

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting (not counting tonight's meeting - 18 Sep, 2010) is 02 October, 2010 (Kim and I missed the last meeting - On the 4th of Sep - but the game went on without us). This page (The "3eCampagin" page) is the first stop for information on the campaign that I'm currently running. Here you'll find information regarding our next meeting, some notes, and an index of web pages and documents that are important to our campaign. You can also check out the latest group photo.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

The Adventurers journal:
The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands. Two updates were recently added. The party is still on their way to the location of the next challenge. It's going to be a long overland journey, and there will be many more days just like this one. These entries (21 Aug, 2010 and 04 Sep, 2010) feature two recaps from Mutteran. At the conclusion of our last meeting, the party had just completed a grueling 12 round battle (that's 72 seconds!). A group of undead boneclaws assaulted the party during the middle of the night, and the party had to pull out all the stops to defeat these nasty monsters. Check out the latest journal entry for a recap of that encounter and the previous days adventures. Thanks to Lee for his continued input and support. Lee won't be here for tonight's meeting (18 Sep, 2010), so hopefully someone else will step up and write a recap for our meeting.
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#aug21 2010>
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#sep04 2010>

Monsters encountered:
On the road - As the party takes to the open road, they find themselves to be the target for numerous hungry, belligerent, and simply curious creatures. During our most recent gaming sessions, the party learned about two new monsters and they updated their knowledge about two others. One of the new monsters was a red dragon. The party learned a few things about this mighty beast from a ghost! The other creature was a group of very dangerous undead. The boneclaw is an evil undead creature with really, really, really, long claws. One of the updates was made for a creature the party has encountered on a few occasions, we just never thought of it as a 'monster'. Skifander (Sean's character) has a habit of summoning creatures to help our party, and during the last few meetings, he summoned several rheks. Rhek are humanoids with a rhinoceros like appearance. The other update was made when the party encountered a group of earth elementals. Our party learned a little more about these creatures, so I updated their entry on the monsters page. The monsters page is a listing of monsters that the party has encountered, read about, or heard of.
<https://www.robsworld.org/monsters.html>

These updates follow our meetings on the 21st of August and the 4th of September. These sessions represent the early days of a new adventure. The eighth adventure for our group. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. Departing on the 1st of Mavis, the party has decided to help the citizens of Deepwood in their quest to vanquish a Blue Dragon from their backyard. After picking up supplies, horses, and some information in Westgate, the party has taken to the open road. The road has proven dangerous and long. The party has fought many foes along the way, lost two of their own (Gregor and Jusarian), and recruited two new companions (Pyrceval and Azura) to strengthen their numbers. Continuing their quest, the party is back on the road again - Fighting Air Elementals, Chimeras, Tall Mouthers, Gamorette the renegade Orc, an Orcish warband and many other monsters. Sharpen your blades and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

Fixing my Squeezebox Radio:
I purchased a Logitech Squeezebox radio a couple of months ago (ordered from Amazon on the 22nd of March). It arrived (via USPS) on the 1st of April, and I set it up immediately. What a fantastic appliance! With Wi-Fi running throughout the house, the Squeezebox stays connected* everywhere in the house. It even works in the garage, on the front porch, and out back. I guess I put my Wi-Fi router (Apple's TimeCapsule) in the right place. Thousands of audio channels are now available on demand, or streaming live. The radio is highly programmable, and customizable. With the Wi-Fi radio, I've got instant access to free local stations from every corner of the internet. Access to music services such as Pandora, Slacker and Rhapsody. You can even connect and stream your music library to any room in your house. This little gem even has a (highly customizable) 7 day programmable alarm, line in for your iPod, ability to play XM/Sirius (with a paid subscription), media streaming software and a big enough speaker to fill any room. It works with Mac, Windows and various Unix varieties. Check it out. If you're looking to liberate your internet audio, this device should satiate your appetite.

<rant>*O.k. So, I've been listening to my squeezebox for some time now, and I've encountered - as with any Wi-Fi appliance - problems... If I reboot my computer, the Squeezebox is completely unable to find my personal music library. On a few occasions (I don't reboot my computer very often. Only rebooting as necessary means once or twice a month) I rebooted my computer, only to discover that my Squeezebox could no longer connect to my music collection. Here's a few particulars: I keep my music collection on a NAS (Network Attached Server) separate from my computer. The music, podcasts, and many videos, are stored on this NAS. The NAS is connected to my network via ethernet. It usually runs without a hitch... Unfortunately, whenever I restart the computer, the Squeezebox is unable to reconnect to my music library. The server software can't locate my Squeezebox radio, and the Squeezebox radio can't connect to my music library. It doesn't have a problem getting re-connected to my network, and I can still use it to stream internet audio/content. Unfortunately, I want to listen to 'my content' - Podcasts and music. I want to stream this content through the Squeezebox Radio.

The first time the problem occurred, I didn't know what had happened, and it took me a day or so to get it working again. Unfortunately, I didn't know what it was that I did in order to get it working again. It just started working again! Great - Next time it happened, I struggled for three days before I was able to get back to my music. Troubleshooting from those three days are listed below.

• Unplug the Squeezebox radio.
• Shutdown the Squeezebox server running on my computer.
• Perform a shutdown of the computer.
• Shutdown the NAS/power it off.
• While the computer is shutdown, unplug the cable modem.
• Then unplug the router (I use a TimeCapsule).
• After a sufficient wait (a minute or so for each device), plug the modem back in. Wait for it to boot up.
• Restart the router by plugging it back in. Wait until it's completely booted (green light).
• Restart the NAS by plugging it back in. Wait for it to restart completely.
• Power up the computer (Might take the opportunity to run diagnostic routines/rebuild permissions, etc in single user mode (I use 'AppleJack' for this)). Wait for it to reboot.
• Log in to the computer. Wait for all applications to start.
• Restart the Squeezebox server software.
• Plug in the Squeezebox radio.
• After the Squeezebox radio reconnects to the Wi-Fi network (I haven't had a problem here), connect to the Squeezebox.com server/service.
• Play a radio station/live audio stream to confirm connectivity with Squeezebox.com.
• Return to the SBR home screen. Now select 'My Music'. At this point I should be connected to the SBS running on my desktop. This will allow access to my music on the NAS.
• On the SBS web page (port 9000), choose player 'Squeezebox Radio'. Confirm ability to control the radio through the web interface.

Unfortunately, with the problem recurring, I had to find a less intensive way to get things working again. So after my latest reboot, I was once again back at the drawing board. Thankfully, I'd had this problem before, and was better prepared during this round of troubleshooting. After approximately two hours of troubleshooting, I've revised the steps necessary to restore full connectivity. After a computer reboot follow these procedures:

• Provided the Squeezebox connects to my network (Note the white wi-fi icon in the bottom right hand corner of the display), select 'Internet Radio', navigate to any audio stream and play the stream.
  • If the wi-fi icon is red, there is no connection to the network. Unplug the device, wait a minute, then plug it back in.
  • If the wi-fi icon is blue, there is no connection to the squeezebox server... I wonder if this is the source of my issues? Perhaps some additional troubleshooting is in order.
• Once you have streaming audio via internet, pause the stream.
• Go back to the 'Home' menu.
• Select 'My Music', navigate to any audio/music in my collection.

For some reason, connecting first to an 'Internet Radio' allows me to then connect to 'My Music'. This is much easier than the previous steps. Far, far, easier. It initially took me several days of searching through online forums (no one had my exact problem), troubleshooting network issues and dealing with firewalls in order to come up with the previous solution. Fortunately, I was able to find a simpler solution (that wasn't published anywhere online (as far as I could find). Unfortunately, I don't know whether this will work the next time I have a problem. I certainly hope that anyone with similar problems might find this article/posting useful. Until next time...</rant>
<http://www.logitechsqueezebox.com/products/squeezebox-radio.html>

Printer won't print - Round Two:
<rant>Another computer problem continues to vex me, and it makes me angry. I originally wrote about this problem back in August of 2010, and I thought I'd finally fixed the problem. Thankfully it's relatively easy to fix (if only temporarily), despite the difficulties noted in various online forums. This particular problem has struck numerous times on my Mac. While I love the Mac OS (No operating system is without it's issues, and this is just one of those perplexing problems that seems to bother people in our age of super-computers and sophisticated communications devices). If you're familiar with my battles in the land of network connections, you know I don't give up easily when confronted with a technological challenge. This desktop dilemma is just the latest of those challenges.

A bit more detail - So the problem started occurring a few months back, and over the last week it struck again!. It's hard to pin down the exact date that this problem first started cropping up. Online forums suggest a date as early as Sep of 2009. That could indicate that it came about with the release of Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6 - Released Aug 28, 2009). The problem involves my Epson printers, and it seems to only affect other users of Epson printers. So far I haven't narrowed it down much further than possible problems printing PDF content. It affects prints when I'm using the Adobe Acrobat and Reader Plug-in (version 9.3.4), and I think it may affect The Mac OS Preview application. I know for a fact that it definitely affects prints when viewing PDF forms using the stand alone Adobe Reader - I think... It happens so sporadically that it's really difficult to troubleshoot.

The following error is noted when printing fails:
Error: /Library/Printers/EPSON/InkjetPrinter2/Filter/rastertoescpII.app/Contents/MacOS/rastertoescpII failed

Once this error appears, nothing will print, and it affects both my printers at the same time. Both my printers are Epson printers, so the problem may be common to drivers for both my printers (I have different drivers for the Epson Stylus Photo R200 and Epson Artisan 800). After a bit of online searching, I found a solution (although temporary). I have to re-install my print drivers. Here are the steps I take to reset my printing system. Re-install print drivers and reset printing. Other searches (online) indicate this problem affecting those attempting to print from Apple's iPhoto application.

• Turn off all printers (I've got two).
• Remove current printers from 'Print & Fax' preference pane (click the minus button under list of printers). Click OK to confirm.
• Position your mouse cursor inside the empty pane where the printers were listed (in the Print & Fax preference pane). Press and hold CTRL key, followed by right click.
• When menu/option appears, select 'Reset printing system'. You may be prompted to enter an administrator name/password to confirm.
• Turn on your printer(s). Printers/drivers should be automatically re-added to your list of printers. If not you may need to reinstall the drivers from the Epson support site (if you install from disc they'll be pre-snow leopard drivers). You may also need to re-enable printer sharing.

So far, this has worked for me. Sometimes I have to do it multiple times to make it work, and sometimes I'm forced to print PDF documents using the 'Print as image' option under Adobe Reader's 'Advanced' options. The technique above usually restores my ability to print. Unfortunately, it only works until the error happens again... Apple/Epson have some problems that need resolution. This problem's been around since the introduction of Snow Leopard (I think). It's quite annoying and I wish I knew how to solve it for good. Despite their claims to the contrary - Epson has NOT solved this problem by releasing updated drivers for Snow Leopard. So far, it appears as if this problem is only affecting Epson printers. Epson - Fix This!</rant>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2160662>

September 08, 2010

iOS 4.1 - Perhaps this will do it:
<rant>I'm a bit of an Apple Fan Boy, and that's no secret. I have to admit that I like Apple's products. They usually meet or exceed my expectations, and based on my experience, I'll turn to them for before I pick a competitor's product. Even if they cost more... With that said, I've recently experienced a disappointing incident when it comes to my iPhone. Starting on the 24th of July; possibly sooner, I started encountering a troubling number of problems (see 'iPhone Troubles' entry from August of 2010) with my 3GS iPhone (the 16GB model). While I'd recently upgraded to iOS 4.0 and more recently to iOS 4.0.1, it's hard to say which of these updates may have caused the problem. As I said, I started to notice the problem on the 24th of July. I don't use my iPhone every day. So tracing the problems back to a specific incident (iOS install) is a bit problematic.

Installing iPhone update (iOS 4.0.2) didn't help. That particular update was primarily intended to patch a particular pdf vulnerability. A vulnerability used in a JailBreaking routine/technique. Now there's another update (iOS 4.1). This time it's a legitimate update, with purposeful updates to various OS level problems. So, will this particular security patch help resolve my problems? I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it. It seems as if Apple is ignoring this problem, as far as I can tell, they haven't addressed this problem yet. Keep in mind that I'm not the only one having OS related (what appear to be OS related) problems. The reports are finally beginning to blanket the tech community. Apple - We have a problem here!

So - What's new with this latest update? Well, there's plenty of stuff for iPhone 4 users. This update contains numerous improvements, including the following:

• New HDR photos on the iPhone 4 (This promises amazing pictures for users of the iPhone 4).
• Support for TV show rentals in the iPhone iTunes application.
• Adds the ability to upload HD videos (Via wi-fi from an iPhone 4) to YouTube and MobileMe.
• Increased support for AVRCP (Audio Video Remote Control Profile) supported accessories, to include next & previous track controls.
• FaceTime calling directly from Favorites (for iPhone 4 users).
• Various bug fixes, including:
  • iPhone 4 proximity sensor performance.
  • iPhone 3G performance.
  • Nike+iPod fixes.
  • Bluetooth improvements.
• The addition of Game Center, with the following features:
  • Send and receive gaming requests to your friends.
  • Invite friends to multi-player games over the Internet.
  • Play multi-player games by auto-matching with similar skilled players.
  • View leaderboards and game achievements.
  • Discover new games from your friends.
    

That's a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, most of it's limited to users of the iPhone 4. It almost seems as if Apple left some work unfinished on the iPhone 4, and now they're catching up by releasing features that didn't make it into the original iPhone 4 release. Why so many new features for a phone that's less than a year old? What about the 3GS? My 3GS is just over one year old, and Apple's already treating it like a an orphan. If the Apple product cycles is going to be one year, I may stop buying their products. I can't afford a new phone every year.

All these updates are great, but you know what? They didn't address my problems. I still have the problem. It occasionally crops up, but it isn't happening all the time - Thank goodness. I'm now taking proactive measures to 'quit' every application after switching to a new one. I'm currently under the impression that 'multi-tasking' is the problem. When Apple introduced multi-tasking on the iPhone, they didn't wait for all the developers to update their apps to play nice with the new multi-tasking capabilities. As a result, some apps just don't multi-task, and I'm afraid, there may be some apps that are tying up processor resources, even after I've switched to a different app... Unfortunately, I have no way to figure this out, and Apple simply blames the issue on 'corrupt data'.

Blaming my iPhone problems on 'corrupt data' (that's essentially what the AppleCare technicians did) is a pretty sucky way of saying "we've got a problem with iOS 4". I explained all my symptoms/issues to the Apple Care technician - Call 1-800-Myiphone. I had already tried most of the things the technician recommended, and he eventually indicated that the new iOS update 'may be more sensitive to corrupt data on the phone'. He recommended that I restore the phone as if it were a new iPhone, as the problems persisted despite my attempts to restart and restore from backup. After I restored the phone, I was supposed to load my data back onto the phone - a little bit at a time, until I'm able to identify the 'corrupt data'.

I had to restore the phone twice. The first time I restored I encountered problems when I enabled 'MobileMe' 'over the air' syncing. I disabled that, and restored the phone a second time. Since then I've been slowly adding data back onto the phone. Piece by piece, trying to locate any 'corrupt data'. At the moment, I've added everything except MobileMe 'over the air' syncing, and I'm still encountering the problem. It only happens occasionally (twice in the last month), and I'm still not sure what's causing the problems. I think it's a multi-tasking problem. I don't think the 'multi-tasking' code was properly written/implemented. In particular background audio seems to be the root cause of problems on my phone. While audio may stop streaming (to the speakers) when an audio application is placed in background, it seems as if it isn't releasing RAM/resources properly. Eventually the phone becomes non-responsive, or the audio starts skipping. Thankfully, since restoring my phone a second time, I've only encountered the problem twice.

This sucks! I may never figure out what/where the 'Corrupt Data' is. I don't have all day to do troubleshooting. I may get paid for troubleshooting at work, but I don't have time for that at home. I expect that Apple should have run a vigorous beta testing program prior to the OS release. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that they're so secretive about the upgrades that they refuse to seed a large beta testing group. I'm not the only one with these problems. Thousands of people are having problems like mine. Just check the Interwebs, you'll see what I'm talking about. This iOS update (4.0) really had some bad code in it, and Apple is acting as if every one of us has 'Corrupt Data' on our phones. Yeah, we've got 'Corrupt Data'. It's the iOS update that's corrupt. Apple really needs to troubleshoot this themselves, and push out another update. They need to fix their update.

In the meantime, my iPhone is partially crippled. I'm not able to use it as I'd like. I paid plenty of money for this shiny glass and aluminum phone, and I expect it to perform in the manner advertised. Right now it's not living up to it's hype!</rant>
<http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/07/28/apple-investigates-reports-of-problems-with-ios4-on-iphone-3g/>
<http://www.anandtech.com/show/3777/newest-pandora-in-ios-4-results-in-audio-skipping>
<http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2491310&tstart=-3>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1061>

Versiontracker.com absorbed by CNET:
<rant>One of my favorite websites 'VersionTracker.com' has been absorbed (Go there now and you'll be redirected to Download.com). It was bound to happen sooner or later. CNET acquired VersionTracker.com, MacFixit (now relegated to the 'Reviews' section at CNET) and iPhone Atlas (also wedged into the CNET reviews corner) back in 2007. About 2.5 years ago, the Mac section of Download.com started featuring the same Mac updates as VersionTracker.com, but the websites/services remained separate. About two years ago, CBS acquired CNET, and now (7 Sep, 2010) VersionTracker.com has finally been shut down.

There are a few download sites that cater to the Mac user. VersionTracker (1995-2010), MacUpdate, Apple's website, and a few others. Today that group just got a bit smaller. While CNET's 'Download.com' has always offered a 'Mac downloads' section/service, they've never catered directly to the Mac User. With their acquisition of VersionTracker.com, I worry that we may lose some diversity in the ability to find new software for the Mac, and the changes they've brought about do not thrill me. There's far too much advertisement on their websites. I find it difficult to find what I'm looking for because the ads are constantly distracting me from the content.

I used to grab daily news about the latest updates (in Mac software) from VersionTracker.com. The news arrived in my email client (Apple's Mail.app) via RSS. CNET's Download.com offers RSS feeds, but the title of each new software announcement doesn't include much information. They eliminated my ability to determine whether a download is freeware, shareware, or a demo. I used to know by reading the title. VersionTracker's titles (for each RSS news item) used to include a wealth of information. All I get now is a extremely limited subset of that information. So little in fact, that I am forced to go to the Download.com website in order to learn anything about the software updates being announced. Some titles include only the name of the software being updated. Until they improve the titles (in their RSS feed), I'm unsubscribing from their RSS feed. I'll miss Versiontracker.com.</rant>
<http://support.versiontracker.com/cgi-bin/cnettechtracker.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1988&tag=StickyWin_1283962890858;vtWelcomeModal>
<http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/08/versiontracker-com-officially-absorbed-by-cnet/>

Software favorites:
More software updates. These are productivity apps I use on my Mac. They're tools I use to publish my web pages, support my work with Neighborhood Watch, my D&D campaign, and other projects I'm involved in. Updates to Apple's suite of productivity software. Moving the suite up to version 9.0.4. iWork '09 consists of three applications: Pages (word processor/page layout), Keynote (presentation) and Numbers (spreadsheet). In addition to Apple's updates, I also downloaded another full release for one of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another update for the product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license. If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed.

iWeb:
iWeb is Apple's entry into the HTML authoring/editing arena (a few years old now). It's powerful, easy to use and well polished. I've been using it more and more in order to create web pages for specific purposes. I don't use it exclusively, but I am starting to use it more and more. As a matter of fact, I'm using it exclusively on two particular web sites that I manage. The best parts of iWeb are the integration with other Apple applications, the WYSIWYG interface, and the highly professional appearance of the web page outputs. The drawbacks are lack of control in web page export/output, controlling placement of some code/items can be very difficult, and there's no way to view or edit the HTML code from within the application. This latest update (version 3.0.2 (489)) refines comment and search support for blogs and podcasts published to MobileMe. It also resolves some issues related to publishing sites to MobileMe.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1104>
<http://www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/>

Safari:
Apple's default web browser for OS X (also available for Windows!), is way ahead of the pack. Apple's browser contains a plethora of incredibly powerful features (over 150 features), and this release moves the browser forward for everyone (there's even a Windows version! - Microsoft stops developing IE for Mac, and Apple makes a Windows version of Safari?). I'm currently running Safari Version 5.0.2 (6533.18.5).

Battle of the browsers. Internet Explorer vs FireFox. Those are your choices right? Wrong! Think different! Think Mac! Choose Safari, the new kid on the block. A fast (The fastest available for Mac) but full featured browser, which performs like a pro. The full release version is a powerful workhorse - Featuring tabbed browsing, URL snap-back, a powerful but elegant bookmark implementation (with built-in import capability), Google, Yahoo and Bing search integration, built-in pop-up blocker, multiple standards (HTML 4.01, HTML 5, XML, XPath, XSLT, XHTML, DOM, CSS, RSS, ECMA Script, Proxy Support, SSL, TLS, JavaScript, Java, plus QuickTime, Flash and Shockwave plug-ins), and a host of other features. The beta boast a bevy of new features that will certainly enhance future versions of the browser. New features: Top sites - A visual representation of your top visited sites. Cover Flow - A fantastic new way to visualize your bookmarks. Safari Reader mode - banish all those annoying sidebars and adds. Expanded support for HTML 5. Nitro Engine - Makes Safari the fastest in the pack. That's just a small taste of Safari's features. Check out the website for more info. Safari is just one more reason to Switch! It's won a place as my default browser, give it a chance and it'll soon be yours.

This recent update (v5.0.2) contains improvements to compatibility and security. Fixes an issue that could prevent users from submitting web forms. Fixes an issue that could cause web content to display incorrectly when viewing a Google Image result with Flash 10.1 installed. Establishes an encrypted, authenticated connection to the Safari Extensions Gallery.

By the way, Safari is fully compliant (it was the first Browser to meet that bench mark) with the advanced Acid 3.0 test. So, if you're concerned about standards and compliance, you've nothing to worry about. Develop your web site using the Safari webkit and you won't have to worry about rendering problems or sticky browser compatibility issues.
<http://www.apple.com/safari/>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1070>
<http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid3>

With these software updates, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>

Our trip to Wisconsin - 2010:
In September of 2010 (3 - 7 Sep, 2010), Kim and I took a vacation in Wisconsin. The occasion was Ted & Sharon's 45th wedding anniversary. Kim and I flew into town to surprise Ted & Sharon for their anniversary. A short vacation that left us feeling refreshed, happy and a bit behind schedule. We spent most of our time in De Pere, but we also managed a short trip up north to visit my Mom. We didn't have time to visit with all our friends or family, so don't feel left out if we weren't able to stop in and say hi. Here are some of the details from our recent vacation...

• Day 1/3 Sep: Left Aurora, Flew to Wisconsin
  • We left Aurora, Colorado at approximately 0400 in the morning. We had a limo service pick us up. Kim's idea. I have no idea how much that cost... The trip was scheduled on our time. We didn't have to wait for a shuttle bus to pick up three other couples first. We didn't have to bother our friends for the trip to the airport, and we didn't have to pay any long term parking fees.
  • Checked in with no problems. Getting through security was a snap. In no time at all, we were on our way to Wisconsin. We flew on Frontier/Midwest and didn't have any problems with our flight.
  • We flew in to Milwaukee, picked up our luggage and called the car rental place (Mayfair Rental). Ten minutes later we were renting our car. Thanks to Mark & Kary, our car rental was significantly discounted, and we were able to upgrade a bit. We drove away with a 'Premium' rental. A Chevy Impala - Not exactly my idea of 'Premium', but it's a hell of a lot nicer than many of the other options.
  • Followed our GPS to De Pere - Ha! I laugh at the $10.00 a day GPS rental offer. We brought our own. Really? $10.00 a day? You can easily buy a used GPS unit for under $50.00. These rental places are still charging $10.00 a day? No problems encountered in our drive.
  • We stopped at the grocery store before arriving at Kim's parents place. Since we had told Kim's parents to expect a delivery on the 3rd, we picked out some flowers and drove to their house. Boy were they surprised by that flower delivery! The rest of the day was spent unpacking, relaxing, talking and watching slideshows of recent vacations.
• Day 2/4 Sep: In Wisconsin, at the Kuchta home.
  • Kim and Sharon spent most of the day shopping at the Farmers market, and I took a walk around De Pere. I took a bunch of photos, walked all the way down to the river and walked across the bridge into East De Pere.
  • In the evening we took Ted & Sharon out to eat. We had reservations at the Republic Chophouse on N. Adams St. The restaurant has been there since 2008, but Ted & Sharon have never been there (neither had we). Kim selected it based on user reviews she read online.
  • After we arrived, we checked in with the maître d' and met the rest of our party - Another surprise! Ted & Sharon didn't know that we had arranged to have dinner with Bill & Greta (Bill is Ted's brother). Ted & Sharon were completely taken by surprise. They stood their gawking as we hugged these strange people. The restaurant was dark and it took a few seconds before they realized who we were greeting. After a few hellos we headed for our table. Kim had reserved 'the Glass Room' a private dining room next to the bar.
  • We had some drinks, then ordered our meals. Most of us had steaks - it was a chophouse!, but a couple people opted for chicken and shrimp. I don't think they knew about the next surprise. Kim & I picked up the tab. For six people, the price wasn't all that bad. I was expecting a much higher tab for such a nice place (w/tax and a tip it came to $365.00). The food was awesome. We had Tuna & Avocado Tartare and Bruschetta for appetizers. I don't usually eat steak so I ordered Moroccan Lamb Rib Chops. Wow! That was so good. Everyone enjoyed their food and the desert afterwards. Bill & Greta presented Ted & Sharon with a bunch of gifts while I picked up the tab. Ted & Sharon had a really good time.
  • We got home around 9pm, and relaxed with a movie before calling it a day.
• Day 3/5 Sep: In Wisconsin, at the Kuchta home.
  • In the morning, we all pilled into the rental and drove out to Howard. We spent the morning drinking coffee, iced drinks, and chatting with some of Kim's relatives. Bill (jr) & Kay Kuchta own the 'At My Express' coffee shop on Lineville Rd. They were busy painting the exterior of the place, so we didn't stay too long. My coffee was good, but I wish I'd have known that they had authentic U.P. style Pasties, I would have ordered one of those bad boys. I haven't had one in ages.
  • Later that day, Kim and Sharon did some more shopping while Ted and I worked on his computer. We worked on the photos on his computer. Rearranging things, cleaning up some folders, straightening out his iPhoto collection. We also added a bunch more photos to the photo frame Kim & I gave them for Christmas. I even took the time to program a little photo viewer keychain for Sharon.
  • As usual, the day ended with us relaxing in the den. We watched a movie before calling it a day.
• Day 4/6 Sep: In Wisconsin, visiting with my Mom
  • After working on the computer for a bit (setting up some DNS services, configuring 'Back to My Mac', writing a script to correct a print queue issue), Kim and I stopped at a grocery store to buy some flowers. Then we drove up north to visit with my Mom.
  • We spent the afternoon with my Mom. By the time we arrived, Kim and I were quite hungry, so we all went out to eat at "Brad's" aka Brad's Wouters Front II (a pub/tavern up north, on the shore of White Potato Lake). It's a favorite place for my family. Our family has visited this tavern since the early 60s, and my mother is keeping up the tradition. The food was basic, but good. I had the fried smelt basket. Can't get smelt fry in Colorado!
  • After eating, we went back to Mom's place. I took a short walk around the property, and we spent a short amount of time outside around the campfire. Unfortunately, it was too hot to stoke up a fire.
  • We went back inside and spent the rest of the afternoon in the den, relaxing, chatting and watching a bit of television. After our visit, Kim and I drove back to De Pere. Once again we ended the day relaxing with Ted & Sharon; watching a movie in their den.
• Day 5/7 Sep: Left De Pere, back to Colorado
  • On the morning of the 7th, Kim and I packed up our stuff, and had a nice breakfast at the 'Oak Street Cafe'. Ted & Sharon picked up the tab, and we were ready for a long day of travel.
  • After packing up the rental, we said our goodbyes to Ted & Sharon. We headed out well before noon and drove back to Milwaukee.
  • We returned the rental car and got a ride to the airport. The folks at the rental place sure were helpful.
  • After making our way through security and such, we were back on our way to Colorado.
  • We got back to Denver in the late afternoon and spent the rest of the day unpacking, unwinding, and tracking down that nasty smell in the 'fridge. We had a great vacation. It wasn't hectic or hurried, we relaxed, didn't have a heavy schedule and spent plenty of time with Kim's parents. Happy Anniversary you two! We hope you have many more.

No trip would be complete without a load of pictures to document our journey. This time around I took pictures with my iPhone (3GS) and the Panasonic DMC-FZ35. There's even a neat little video (taken w/iPhone) of Kim and her mom doing a little dance. You can check out the video and all the photos at my MobileMe photo gallery. I also posted some of the photos on my FaceBook page.
<https://www.robsworld.org/photos/wisconsin2010/index.html>

September 02, 2010

The new Apple TV - Makes me happy, makes me sad:
<rave>Another new product announced by Apple. On the 1st of Sep, '10, Apple announced several new products. One of those was a new Apple TV. It's pretty awesome. A little black square - just under 4"x4"x1", this little puck packs a powerful punch. With plenty of built in features, it's sure to be a contender in the set-top media category. The new device features HDMI output, with resolution up to 720p. I've found that this resolution is the sweet spot for me. Anything more and I'd quickly max out my broadband providers bandwidth cap; and I'm not thrilled by the thought of losing my internet access for exceeding their bandwidth cap. Most programs are still presented in standard definition, and it'll be a while before 1080p is accepted as a de facto standard for broadcast (whether we're talking cable or broadband internet). Eliminating the composite and component outputs removes some flexibility in connecting to older equipment, but the form factor demands some concession in the number of input/output options. The processor is much snappier (than the previous generation of Apple TV). With Apple's A4 chip, this little puck should have no problems handling all the media demands at hand. Connectivity is wired (Ethernet 10/100mbps) or wireless (802.11b/g/n). Another notable change - No hard drive. Now that I think about it, this isn't that big of an issue. The A4 chip shouldn't have any problem syncing and streaming content (up to 720p) from my computer/home network, and delivery of content through rentals hasn't been a problem (for me) on the original model. Keep your purchased content on the computer or your iPod, iPhone or iPad (If you've got an iPod touch you can load it up with purchased content and take the show on the road for big screen entertainment - Using AirPlay coming to iOS 4.2 devices).

The on screen interface has been somewhat reworked, but the biggest change is the addition of Netflix - my favorite movie streaming service. Watch Instantly is now available on the Apple TV (<rant> Unfortunately, the addition of Netflix won't make it's way to the previous generation of Apple TV (that's the one I own). Apple has confirmed that the old Apple TV will not be getting a software update to upgrade it's capabilities or interface. Damn! That blows. No update for my good old Apple TV. It still works for now, but this announcement makes me think that this thing will soon be an anchor. Will it ever get an update? I've owned it for a little more than one year (purchased the 160gb version in June of '09 for $326.79 (w/tax)), and now it's obsolete!</rant> This confirmation comes with something of a silver lining. If Apple isn't planning any further upgrades to the original Apple TV, I may eventually hack my Apple TV, installing Boxee or the XMBC interface to increase it's capabilities. Other changes to the interface include the addition of MobileMe Gallery access. Not only can you access your own galleries, you can even access galleries of family and friends. The new Apple TV also has full iTunes store integration, the device has changed from that of a synced device (like a big iPod) to a standalone device. It no longer needs access to a computer running iTunes. The new device acts as an iTunes client on it's own. Unfortunately, without a hard drive, what happens if you 'purchase' content? Presumably, you can download it later (to a PC or Mac running iTunes)? Or maybe (my speculation) you can store the content in your MobileMe bit-locker? Storing the content in the cloud would make the content available to any iOS device you own, without the need to have a hard drive on every device!

This new device will definitely be a contender in the digital media/set-top streaming category. Competing with devices like the Roku Player, the XBox 360, PS3, WD TV Live plus, Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV (wow, that's a long name), Google TV (announced not yet available), TiVo, Vudu (built in to other devices), and others. The Apple TVs new price $99.00 makes it a serious contender for the holiday season. I predict that it'll be showing up in a lot of living rooms. I wouldn't mind owning one myself, but I just can't justify a new purchase so soon after I purchased the previous generation.</rave>
<http://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/02/apple-confirms-no-software-update-for-original-apple-tv/>
<http://www.apple.com/appletv/>

The Magic TrackPad has arrived:
<rave>Why am I excited about a new input device? For many years now, Apple's been developing the multi-touch paradigm. Interacting with your device (laptop, iPhone, iPad, now desktop) was originally confined to type, point, click. Users had to rely on pull-down menus, pop-up menus, and dedicated buttons for some of the more sophisticated ways to initiate computer actions. The desktop Magic TrackPad brings this new input paradigm to the desktop. Swipe, swirl, swish, tap, double-tap, drag, scroll - Do it all with no apparent buttons, no knobs, no wheels, no balls, no clickers. When you set your fingers down on this gray glass surface you immediately get the idea. You hand becomes the input device, the Magic TrackPad is simply there to convert your hands motions into actions. Tapping your fingers becomes the equivalent of pressing buttons. Swiping, swirling scrolling, pinch and zoom, all these motions are intuitive, easily executed and far more natural.

The Magic TrackPad connects wirelessly - via bluetooth (<rant>and I've encountered some problems in that regard - Why wireless? It still suffers from interference in the home, and there's no easy remedy for these interference issues. I usually resort to picking up the TrackPad, shaking it a bit, waving it around in the air, then placing it back down on the desk. Sometimes this helps - resetting the connection or forcing a channel change - sometimes it simply helps to relieve some stress.</rant>)

The Magic TrackPad brings multi-touch to the desktop computer (it only works with Macs (for now)). I've found it to be far less stressful on my hand. The motions are more fluid, the level of control quite satisfying, and the amount of effort less taxing on both my hand and the device. With no apparent moving parts (the entire surface is one button), the Magic TrackPad seems poised to last longer than any mouse I've ever owned. The surface so far seems resistant to stains or scratches (from my fingers), and the size is great. Far bigger than any laptop trackpad, this trackpad is large enough to accommodate my man hands. It's also quite sturdy, weighs enough to keep it stable under use (<rant>Unlike the 'Magic Mouse', I can easily execute swipes and multi-touch gestures without having to hold the thing down.</rant>), and it's engineered to the usual laser-like tolerances we've come to expect from Apple.

It's great. Swiping through web pages and pdfs has just become so much easier. The inertial scrolling is outstanding, and the multi-touch potential leaves plenty of room for improvement. I'm planning to expand it's capabilities with the use of a second party preference pane (Apple's initial preference pane doesn't allow enough customization). I'm going to keep my Logitech TrackMan wheel mouse around for shooters and other games, but the Magic TrackPad has already become my de facto standard for input. One of the main reasons is the reduced hand strain. When you're typing and maneuvering a mouse all day long, any strain can easily become debilitating injury, and this TrackPad has already reduced the strain on my hand by a considerable amount. Thank you Apple, for another great product!</rave>
<http://www.apple.com/magictrackpad/>

Music Downloads for September - 2010:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? I find/discover a lot of free (actually free) music by visiting several of the new music web sites (Pandora, 3hive.com, musicalfamilytree.org) and several other music blogs (Analog Giant, Brooklyn Vegan, Fluxblog, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc) out there, and listening to a few different music podcasts. Artists want you to hear their music - If you like it, you'll buy it, or maybe you'll buy some concert tickets. The major labels want you to pay for their product - letting you hear it for free is contrary to their business model. Well, guess what? I won't buy it unless I can listen to it first. The major labels are killing themselves with their restrictive distribution and dissemination policies. If you like new music, you can do a web search to find your favorite artists web site, a new music web site, or an archive of free music. Free music is available - Legally! Don't believe the major labels propaganda - Not all free music is illegal. You can legally download music for free. I download music from websites, newsgroups (when I already own rights to the music), and a couple of commercial sources (iTunes and eMusic). Here's a listing of some of the music I legally downloaded - and in most cases - paid for!

eMusic monthly downloads:
Every month I download 50+ tracks (50 download credits) from eMusic.com. This month (September of 2010) I managed to download 58 tracks (due to their 'download deals'). Unlike some music outlets, eMusic doesn't have any DRM and they don't insert unique track id's into the ID3 tags. Their terms of service are consumer friendly; eMusic allows you to burn as many CDs as you like and copy downloads to an unlimited number of your computers and portable MP3 players, including the iPod and Zune (really?). At less than $.40 a track (I'm paying $19.99 for 50 downloads/month), it's a really good value. iTunes and Amazon still charge more. eMusic offers more music for your money, and the variable bit rate recordings make for exceptionally high quality recordings.
* Bee Thousand - Guided By Voices: (20 tracks) A favorite from the 80s. Here's one of their best albums - Or so say the fans. Oddly, I remember them as being better than this. Perhaps I'll need to listen to this album again... After listening to it once through, I'm less than impressed.
* No Wow - The Kills: (12 songs) A favorite since 2008. Here's an album that eMusic didn't have until recently. I really enjoy the dark, tight, spiraling depths of this percussive, dramatic work. The lyrics tell dark, cautionary, stories. The drum machine adds some awesome atmosphere.
* Oh No! Oh My! - (9+2 songs) I first discovered this band back in May of 2006. A 3hive discovery, I really enjoyed the poppy, quirky, melodies of the two tracks I downloaded. So much so, that I decided to download the rest of that album (the premier). Still in the junior stages, this band seems to be exploring the depths of it's strengths. My favorite from this band is still the ballad 'Oh Be One' (A ballad/sonnet about/to Obi-wan from Star Wars). FYI: That song is featured on a different release.
* On the Sleeve - New Roman Times: (10 songs) I discovered this band by listening to some free tracks over at 3hive, back in Jun of '07. It's my second album purchase, and I must say, this album is slightly better than their previous effort (International Affairs). The mood on this album is a bit melancholy, but it seems like they're pulling the punches. I can sense a greater potential, but it hasn't risen to the surface yet.
* Reason - The Fray: (7 songs) The Fray is a local band (from Denver), and here is an early EP release. Unfortunately, this EP is nowhere near the level of there later works. I snapped it up because I wanted to hear their sound developing. I'm looking forward to the release of their 2009 self titled release (on eMusic).

These are some of the items I added to my music collection during this month. Since revamping my music collection back in September of 2005, I've been slowly adding, revising and updating the collection. If you have a comment, question or correction regarding my music collection, please don't hesitate to send me an email. Please keep in mind that my collection isn't for sale, and I'm not interested in giving you any copyrighted materials. I'd rather not go to jail for music piracy. :-)
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<http://www.emusic.com/>