November 30, 2011

Rob's World! is moving:
The last time Rob's World! moved was April of 2002. Back in 2002, I got sick and tired of the crap that Yahoo (after acquiring Geocities.com) was trying to pull. Despite the fact that I was paying for hosting, they insisted on putting their advertisement on my website! They also started charging me to use their previously 'Free' email service. Anyway the customer service was horrid, they were putting advertisement in my email, and adding beacons and links to my web pages... I moved my web pages to a friends hosting service.

I moved all my domain hosting services to Dale's business (Internet Marketing Services). Dale is a friend of mine from back in the mid 90s. We met back in Maryland, and we've been friends ever since. Dale is shutting down his hosting business at the end of December, and I need to find a new hosting service. This week (29th of Nov, 2011) I signed up for services with a new hosting provider. Host Rocket is one of the many (there are thousands of hosting providers out there). My search took approximately three months and several exchanges via email and twitter before I found what I was looking for. So what do I get for my $4.95 per month ($143.67 for 2 years + 6 months)?

It's a lot of stuff. Much of it is beyond my ability to manage, but I'll do my best to leverage these features. Hopefully I can improve the website by using all these new features. Hmmm, as a matter of fact... There are two web galleries in there (maybe I'll be able to use one of them). So; you will definitely notice some changes in Rob's World! in the near future. I'll be moving all my websites, my mailing lists, my email services and more. Stand by for change!
<http://www.hostrocket.com/>

Wisconsin Vacation - 2011:
The first true vacation since I started my new job. Saving up vacation since late April took some time. Kim and I took a short vacation (18-29 November, 2011), and drove to Wisconsin to visit our relatives. We drove for a couple of reasons. I was delivering a snow blower to my Mom, and we needed some room to ferry Christmas gifts back to Aurora. The drive went well - in both directions. No vehicle problems, the Volvo handled perfectly, and I'm glad we drove it instead of the Milan. Maybe we can save some gas money and drive the Milan next time we drive.

We left home on the 18th of Nov, and made it to a small town called 'New Liberty', just outside Davenport, Iowa, before we stopped for the night. We stayed at a hotel overnight, and resumed our trip in the morning. Heading north, we crossed the Mississippi in Dubuque. The trip across Wisconsin took us northeast along 151. Passing Madison and lake Winnebago, we made it to Valders before noon on the 19th.

Kim and I stayed in Valders until the 21st. Staying two nights we visited with my Mother and my older Sister. We had a good time, caught up on family matters, played some games and exchanged some gifts. On the 21st we packed up and headed to De Pere. Arriving in De Pere before noon, we surprised Kim's Mom while she was cleaning the house. We stayed in De Pere from the 21st through the 27th. We visited with Kim's family, and some of my old friends. I tried to visit a couple family members, but they must have been away for the holidays. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Ted & Sharon's place. All the children were there - Kim (and me), Kary (and Mark), Keith (and Yvonne). Keith and Yvonne brought Kaitlin. Keith's girls, Chantelle and Amber showed up later. The food was awesome and we all had a good time. The Packer's beat the Lions in Detroit. With a score of 27-15, I didn't think it was much of a contest, but the Kuchtas sure got fired up. It was a good game.

We packed up the Volvo - And that was no small feat of engineering - on the 27th of Nov, and made our way back towards Denver. We managed to drive until we made it to Grand Island. After 13 hours of driving, Kim and I were ready for a break. We checked into a Holiday Inn, and found a place to eat. Most places were closed by 8pm on a Sunday night, but we found the Sam & Louie's pizzeria open for business. Despite the lack of customers (and stools turned up), we found the food quite good. We hit the hay around 9pm and made an early start on the 28th. We were home well before noon and start the unpacking.

We spent Monday and Tuesday unpacking, cleaning, and catching up around the house.

While we were in Wisconsin, we had one good weather day. Most of the vacation saw cloud cover, drizzle, rain, and dreary overcast days. For approximately four hours on Thanksgiving, the clouds parted and we had a brief period of sunshine. The weather was a bit depressing, but we had a good time despite the dreadful weather. We didn't see the sun again until we were halfway through Nebraska.

During the vacation, I took a good number of photos with my new iPhone 4S. The flash didn't deploy in all circumstances, and it was challenged by florescent lighting, but overall, I found the camera excellent. It's certainly a lot more convenient than that big digital camera I usually take along on trips. Unfortunately, with MobileMe going away, I didn't post my photos using the awesome 'Gallery'. I used another product which Apple has decided to 'kill' - iWeb - in order to present the photos. The alternative; an iPhoto generated HTML page looks like crap, and BetterHTMLExport no longer works in iPhoto 9.2.1. Finally, in a bit of an experiment, I tried the catalog feature of GraphicConverter. None met with my approval. iWeb did the best job, but Apple's planning to let it simply die a slow death (like they did with AppleWorks).

I hope you enjoy the photos. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me:
GraphicConverter catalog: <https://www.robsworld.org/iphoto/wisconsin2011/graphicconverter/wisconsin2011.html>
iPhoto push to iWeb photo page: <https://www.robsworld.org/iwebpages/Wisconsin_-_Nov_2011.html>
The iPhoto HTML output: <https://www.robsworld.org/iphoto/wisconsin2011/index.html>

Tricare Data Breach:
Back in October of 2011, I wrote about a TRICARE data breach. A loss of computer tapes by an SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation) contractor has placed TRICARE patient data at risk. TRICARE is a health care program of the US Department of Defense. TRICARE provides civilian health benefits for military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents (including some military reservists). It's managed by TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) under the authority of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. The lost tapes contained the personally identifiable health information of appx 4.9 million TRICARE customer (Military members (active and retired) and their family members) records. According to reports, SAIC reported the breach on the 14th of Sep, but the didn't release details about the breach until the 7th of October, that's a lot of time. Giving any criminal plenty of time to use the records for nefarious reasons.

According to TRICARE spokesman Austin Camacho, the tapes may include Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers and personal health data such as clinical notes, lab tests and prescription information. According to the DoD news release, the missing data did not include any financial information such as credit card or bank account numbers. Despite the massive amount of data involved. TRICARE officials estimate the risk of 'harm' to patients to be relatively low. Hunh? What does that mean? 'risk of harm' is low. According to Camacho, the TMA does "not believe the tapes were taken with malicious intent". I hope he's right. According to the spokesman, the TMA planned to "notify everyone whose personal information may have been involved in the breach".

Kim and I received our 'notifications' on or about the 15th of November. According to the 'Urgent' letter, dated 3 November (received on/about the 15th of Nov); "This letter is to notify you of the loss of your personally identifiable and protected health information, and Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC) offer to you of free credit monitoring and restoration services for the period of one year." Later in the letter, SAIC indicates; "At this time, we have no evidence to indicate the data on the backup tapes has been accessed, viewed or used by others in any way. However, we know how concerned you may be and to assist you, SAIC is providing you with a free, one-year membership in Kroll Inc.'s ID TheftSmart™ service. You will have twelve months from the date of this letter to sign up for this service," The TheftSmart™ credit monitoring service is an 'off-line' monitoring service, but the letter also included a letter offering 'online' credit monitoring by accessing the IDIntegrity web site at: <http://www.idintegrity.com>

I signed up for credit monitoring services. It's free and I care about my credit. I certainly don't want to be surprised when I find out that I can no longer get a loan, buy a car or refinance my mortgage! TRICARE officials encourage people who suspect they were affected by this incident to take steps outlined on the Federal Trade Commission website to protect their personal information. They can also monitor their credit and place a free fraud alert on their credit for 90 days using the FTC website.
<http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/defend.html>
<http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65597>
<https://www.robsworld.org/tricaredatabreach.png>
<https://www.robsworld.org/tricaredatabreach.pdf>
<http://www.idintegrity.com>

Software favorites:
More updates for my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another batch of updates for a product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license (for the most recent version). If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GC updates, I also purchased updates (new versions were released) of my favorite cataloging applications (DVDpedia, CDpedia and Bookpedia by Bruji.com).

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on at least seventeen additional updates over the past few weeks. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 7.5 (b339), 7.5.1 (b353). GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price (~$40.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/162/new-functions-and-versions.html>

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 5.0.1 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 movies in full screen mode, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use DVDpedia to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… 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/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 5.0.1 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 CDPedia to generate HTML listings of my music.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemusiccollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymusic/index.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 5.0.1. 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 Bookpedia to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

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, 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 Version 5.1.2 (7534.52.7).

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), 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.

Some of the newest features include: The Reading List - A way to store URLs for late, Multi-Touch Gestures (under Lion) - more ways to navigate within Safari; Full-Screen Browsing (under Lion) - With a 30" monitor, I don't really need this; New privacy and security features; Resume - Opens windows and tabs right where you left off; Downloads popover (under Lion); Find option (updated); Better graphics (Under Lion - using HTML5 canvas capabilities); Internet account setups; New processing architecture - to keep your computer from slowing down when the browser starts choking on some pesky video or other heavy duty processing. Safari 5.1.1 includes support for iCloud, a breakthrough set of free cloud services. iCloud stores your Safari bookmarks and Safari Reading List and automatically pushes them to all your devices. Safari 5.1.2 fixes some excessive memory usage issues.

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. 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.
<http://www.apple.com/safari/>
<http://www.apple.com/safari/features.html>
<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>

Encryption and digital signatures on my Mac:
Spammers often assault my digital identity by forging messages to look like they came from me. As a result, I try to use pgp signed messages (whenever possible) with my email correspondence. Thankfully, there's an open source, free and reliable way to make that happen. There's a group of software developers who devote their time and effort in development of a product called 'GPGTools' it's a series of applications which enable digital signatures and encryption inside the Mac OS X environment. One of the primary components is GPGMail.

GPGMail (recently updated for Lion compatibility) is an open source plugin for Apple Mail. It brings the functionality to sign, verify, encrypt and decrypt mails using the OpenPGP standard. I use MacGPG2 (version 2.0.17-9) and the GPGMail plugin (version 2.0a4) with Apple's Mail.app Version 5.1 (1251/1251.1) for encryption, decryption, and message authentication. If you would like to correspond in secret, please take note of my Public Keys.

Why do I use signatures or encryption? Well, I don't use the encryption very often, but I have been known to send myself encrypted email containing passwords or private information (banking and medical information). I use pgp signatures quite often, as a way of ensuring message authenticity. I'm tired of spammers pretending to be me. By using these signatures (which uses the message content (upon signing) and a private key to create a signature which can be verified by using my public key) I can assure recipients that the message they received was actually sent be me, and it hasn't been tampered with in transit. In addition to my self published keys, my public keys are also available on various keyservers.

One of the best parts of this software? The developers! They're fantastic. Whenever I have a problem or question, they're eager and willing to help with a patch, troubleshooting or detailed instructions. The project/developers aren't working for a profit, they do it because they believe in the open availability of secure email.
<http://www.gpgtools.org/>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/projects.html>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/macgpg2.html>
<http://www.gpgtools.org/gpgmail/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/encryption.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/feedback.html>

iGotta new iPhone:
<rave>My 3rd iPhone. I bought my first iPhone back in 2007 (16 Sep, 2007), and I've been a fan ever since. I've owned other phones, but nothing that compares. The old (pre-iphone) paradigm of what defined a smart phone was shattered when Apple introduced that first iPhone, and I haven't found anything that really competes since. I keep up on the reviews, and occasionally consider the alternatives. I look at the features, the price, the carriers, the contracts, and I always come back to Apple. In addition to Apple, I've also stuck with AT&T since 2007. In my area (the Denver metro area) the coverage is great, and I've never had any billing problems (like I did with Sprint). Thankfully, I'm still grandfathered in with my unlimited data plan, so I don't worry too much about extra charges. On the 5th of Nov, 2011, I purchased a new iPhone (black, 32GB). After the necessary activation and data transfers, I found myself re-discovering that amazing breakthrough product.

The iPhone; well, just about every 'smart' phone puts the power of the internet in your hands. With the iPhone (and a GSM Edge or better cellular connection) I can surf the internet while I'm on the phone. Look up the location of a restaurant while I'm making a reservation. Add an appointment to my calendar while I'm talking to the dentist's receptionist. The eco-system integration and availability of applications makes the iPhone an awesome productivity tool, gaming platform, and all-purpose urban survival tool-kit. Clicking on phone numbers from a web page dials the phone. Paired with a blue tooth headset, the hands-free experience is awesome; especially when you leverage the power of Siri (Apple's new 'voice assisted technology'). Speak your query using natural language: "Where's the nearest gas station?" and Siri responds with an easy to understand answer: "Checking your location... I found a number of gas stations... 24 of them are fairly close to you." Siri presents a list of gas stations sorted by distance. Clicking on the results presents a map, and there's even a tab which calculates a route from your location. The route is displayed on the map, and pressing the 'Start' button tracks your progress along the highlighted route. Imagine trying to do that while you're driving. Forget about it. No other smart phone can compare! No typing necessary. Just talk to Siri, and press a couple of buttons. Amazing! I can see Siri being extremely useful for all sorts of tasks: "Where can I buy comic books?"... O.k. How about this - I just composed an email, dictated the message, and sent it to my buddy Rob. I did it all with Siri, hands-free! Talk about awesome!

The latest version of iOS makes the new iPhone a joy. The new camera is really awesome. With only 8MP of resolution, it manages to create truly awesome photos. Great color, excellent white balance, fantastic focus and great built-in editing. The iPhone 4S may seem to some like a minor upgrade from the iPhone 4, but the step up from my 3GS was fantastic. Kim is now using the old 3GS, and she loves that phone as well. So now we've both got iPhones. With email, calendar, contacts, web surfing, maps and more. Our AT&T plan is a bit pricey, but that's the cost of doing business. The iPhone does everything I want, more than I need, and things I never imagined possible. The Apple Care warranty was a bit pricey; ~$100.00, but it covers everything, including accidental damage. Hopefully, I won't drop my phone while jogging or hang-gliding!</rave>
<http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html>
<http://www.apple.com/iphone/>
<http://www.jawbone.com/headsets>
<http://www.apple.com/ios/>

Victory over Technology / Buffalo LinkStation configured for web access:
Another minor victory over technology. It's been many months since I purchased a new NAS. In May of 2011, I purchased a Buffalo Technology LinkStation Pro Duo 4 TB (2 x 2 TB) RAID Network Attached Storage LS-WV4.0TL/R1 (Black) as NAS (Network Attached Storage). This ethernet/network attached server is configured to serve up Music, Movies, Books, Television shows and other files to users on my network. I purchased this drive as a replacement to a crappy 'Seagate BlackArmor 110 NAS' which only worked properly for a month (purchased in July of 2010). For more info on the 'Crappy' Seagate drive, see my <rant> dated 31, Dec 2010).

I purchased the Buffalo LinkStation in May of 2011 and found it to be a reliable piece of hardware with an easy to use web interface. Unfortunately, the instructions on how to configure the server for 'web based internet access' were indecipherable. My initial attempts were thwarted by vague references and poorly described steps. I wanted to configure the device to serve as a web enabled file server. Based on the documentation that came with the device, I knew it was capable of serving up my files (music, movies, photos, etc) over the internet. The drive could definitely be configured to serve these files (at no additional cost) through a web interface. Unfortunately, the accompanying documentation was lacking in detail, and I couldn't figure out how to make it 'work'. After my initial attempts, I turned to other endeavors, convinced that I could eventually figure it out on my own. Well, after a couple more attempts, I realized that the provided documentation (and the Buffalo web page/faq and forums) was totally inadequate to the setup requirements.

After extensive web searches, I stumbled upon the key to my problem - Port Forwarding. I had to enable port forwarding on my Apple TimeCapsule. The TimeCapsule is acting as my Intranet (my home network) router, and it needed to be configured in order to route access requests to/from the internet (by way of a web interface). To complicate matters, the recommended port forwarding address (for UDP and TCP protocols) was port 9000. While this might work in a standard router configuration, I was already using port 9000 for my Squeezebox radio, so I had to pick a different port. Anyway, configuring the TimeCapsule (or an Airport Extreme) using my Airport Utility (under OS X Lion) was a five step process (Note the UPnP/automatic configuration option does NOT work with a TimeCapsule or Airport Extreme router (running ):

Step 1: Select the router in the list of devices (in my case I only have one router, a TimeCapsule)
Step 2: Select 'Manual' setup. Navigate to the 'Advanced' tab, select 'Port Mapping' and click the '+' symbol to add a new port mapping service to your network.
Step 3: Configure your new service (you don't need to select a pre-configured default service) by entering the appropriate port number in the Public and Private port settings. Buffalo recommends the default of 9000. Also enter the IP address of your NAS (Not the IP of your computer). FYI: Make sure you've configured your NAS to have a static/reserved IP under the 'Internet -> DHCP' settings (Note: I've obfuscated the port numbers in my illustrations to prevent unwanted attempts to hack into my network).
Step 4: After entering your port numbers, continue to provide a 'Description' (whatever you want), 'Service Name' (recommended), and 'Service Type' (mandatory).
Step 5: Click 'Done' and restart your router.

While this may seem rather straight forward - Now that I've provided the steps, the device's documentation, and the online discussions regarding this rather mystifying process were less than satisfactory. It took some effort, a few trials and failures and considerable experimentation in order to determine the 'correct' settings for my router. I created a separate 'public share' for the internet web sharing, and it mounts (to the desktop) by double clicking on the share in my finder.

Of course configuring port forwarding on the router is only part of the process. You also need to configure the NAS device for sharing services using Buffalo's web admin interface. That's an entirely separate process, but the explanations for that part are pretty well documented. Note: I don't expect this article to be a walkthrough on configuring your Buffalo LinkStation, but it just might provide enough info to help get you pointed in the right direction.

After registering my NAS/File Server with Buffalo's IP registry service, I found it easy to use their client software on my iPad 2 and iPhone. I tested the playback (of audio and video) on my iPad 2 (haven't tested it on the iPhone yet). The music and movies played back with no problems. I also noticed a 'Share' option. Which creates a URL/link that I can set to expire after a certain number of days. I haven't tested this sharing capability, and I don't plan to provide access to my purchased media to anyone else, but I like the fact that I can use the NAS to host other types of files and documents with others. I may need to use this capability when the iDisk goes away completely.

So, this article documents another victory over technology for me. I've finally got my Buffalo LinkStation configured as a fully functioning web enabled file server. It took some doing, but I managed. No thanks to Buffalo or their less than helpful documentation.
<http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/internet-networking-wireless/140545-airport-extreme-port-forwarding-4-nas.html>
<https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1915935?start=0&tstart=0>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whatsnew/wn2010/wn2010_apr.html#squeezeboxradio>
<https://www.robsworld.org/whatsnew/wn2010/wn2010_dec.html#seagaterant>
<https://www.robsworld.org/blackarmorupdate.png>
<https://www.robsworld.org/LS-WVL_R1_DS.pdf>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mycomputer.html>

November 13, 2011

D&D updates:
Our meeting on the 29th of October continued the party's adventure in a mountain valley. We were missing Sean and Micheal, and none of the candidates showed up. We got off to a slow start, but it didn't take long to figure out who was playing who. This meeting continued the party's quest for a missing crewman. The party found that missing crewman back on our 15 October meeting, and this meeting followed our adventurers on their way back to the Artarius (a flying ship). Recently, the party departed the cursed village of Deepwood aboard a flying ship (The Artarius) leased from J.F.K. Enterprises in Whillip. Soaring high above the dangerous landscape, they thought their troubles were far 'beneath' them, until they flew through an anti-magic zone, and crashed their flying ship! As the crew effects repairs, the party is trekking through the deadly serious environment of a hidden mountain valley. Filled with volcanoes, rivers of steam, monster ridden forests and lakes, this valley might be a nice place to visit, but living here is definitely no picnic. Just ask the Kuo-Toa villagers along big-lop lake. Stay tuned for the exciting and continuing adventures of the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights.

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting will take place on the 10th of Dec, 2011. We're skipping the meeting on 26 November. Too many players are spending time with family at that time. The "3eCampaign" 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.

Thanks to some input from Lee, I was able to post an update for our meeting on the 29th of October. The party has recovered that 'man overboard' - Surprisingly, he survived the fall. Apparently the crew of the Artarius were protected with feather fall in case of emergencies. The rest after recovering Zealot was short lived, as the party was attacked in the middle of the night by a Mageripper swarm. That minor nuisance was nothing compared to the dangerous journey ahead. Slogging through the dense forest and dangerous lakes of this mountain valley haven't been a walk in the park. So much for the party's hopes that their return to the flying ship would be less dangerous.
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#oct29_2011>

Monsters encountered:
From mystery shrouded town to veiled mountain valley - As the party enters new environs they will surely encounter some new creatures. Some of those creatures will attempt to eat or injure the party - These creatures we call 'Monsters'! During our most recent gaming sessions, the party fought a several new monsters and one old one. Creatures they'd never encountered before: Another spawn of Tiamat has been slain - The Greenspawn Razorfiend may have preyed upon the Kuo-Toa for many years, but it's days were numbered when it decided to attack our party of adventurers. The party has encountered it's fair share of swarms over the days, but the fetid waters of one swamp lake has flushed out another new species of blood-sucking insects. The Swamp Strider swarm was dispatched with relative ease. The Giant Crocodiles, on the other hand... Those might prove to be more of a challenge. As a result of all these new encounters, I updated the party's "Monster's Known" listings. 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 29th of October . You can keep up to date with our adventures by continuing to visit "Rob's World!" for all the latest campaign info. If you're enjoying the story of our adventurers, I encourage you to write me and let us know. Perhaps you've got an idea you'd like to share, some criticism or praise. Either way, it'll be earnestly appreciated.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

Big Fish Games is Garbage:
<rant>A game portal for the Mac; here's a perfect example of why Apple has 'taken control' of Apps for the Mac. This website/business has created a portal where Mac users (and 'PC' users) can download various games for their computer. The web page is a cluttered mess. Various icons, highlighted text, blinking, flashing, moving graphics, and colorful splashes of energy assault your senses. The poorly designed and laid out web portal is a perfect example of horrible design. Despite the websites confusing and crowded web design, my critique of this business has more to do with it's content than it's layout.

The content: Big Fish Games doesn't write theses games, they sell them. They've gathered together a vast collection of mediocre games, puzzles and entertaining pieces of crap from various developers. There are many old games here, developed for several different operating systems, the games are mostly flash based adventure games wrapped in Java front ends. The games are managed through a buggy 'Game Manager' that insists on 'Admin' permissions in order to download, add, install, run or remove the games purchased through their portal. The 'Game Manager' is so poorly written that it doesn't offer any form of admin 'Authentication', and one must log in as an admin user in order to properly run the 'Game Manager'. The code for the 'Game Manager' and most of the games is shaky, takes over your entire screen and may or may not work on your computer. Unfortunately, my wife had the misfortune of joining their 'Club' for $6.99 a month. More than two years later I find myself helping her to download something worth the money she's been spending. Unfortunately, the two games she most wanted 'Bejewled 2' and 'Dinner Dash' were written with PowerPC code, and they won't run on her Mac. I suppose it's her/our fault for not knowing whether the games would run on our Mac.

When the games crash, resize all her windows, run slowly and lock up her computer... I guess that's our fault too. We should have known better. We should have only downloaded the 'good' games. The ones that worked with our operating system and video card and memory requirements. These are all reasons to justify the strategy behind Apple's 'App Store' strategy. Consumers don't appreciate the ethic of 'buyer beware'. When they download a game for their computer, they expect it to work. When it wreaks havoc on their computer who's to blame? In this case it's partly our fault and partly Big Fish Game's.

We've cancelled her monthly membership, and I've downloaded a huge list of games that I hope will work on her laptop. I hope. O.k. I don't hope... I fully expect they'll crash, frustrate her, and cause me no end of headaches in the days and months to come. I would like to personally thank Apple for creating the 'App Store'. It's portals like Big Fish Games that make me appreciate the 'big brother' tightly controlled approach used by Apple.</rant>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Fish_Games>
<http://www.bigfishgames.com/mac.html>
<http://www.apple.com/iphone/from-the-app-store/>

MOG for Squeezebox:
Recently (8 Nov, 2011), MOG (MOG is an online music service, a blog network, and a social networking website where users can listen to, read about, and discover music. Music + Blog = MOG) announced the release of a new application for Logitech's Squeezebox player! After considerable problems getting my Squeezebox to run properly (and many software updates later), I find that I'm enjoying the portable music player in many rooms around the house. I use it to stream podcasts, my music library (on a media server in my basement), and now; Now I can enjoy MOG's music library anywhere I take my Squeezebox. MOG managers are thrilled to announce the that they've "made good on one of your most highly-requested new platforms for MOG: Logitech's Squeezebox player!" I was already able to access MOG on my Roku and now it's available on the Squeezebox too. This access (MOG on the Squeezebox platform) is available for ALL the basic and primo subscribers.

MOG subscribers can play any song from the catalog (over 11 million tracks) on their computer (through their web browser/web streams are 320 kbps mp3 files); on a mobile device (provided you pay $9.99 a month) through MOG's applications for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android platform; on your television/multi-media receiver, through MOG's Roku channel (included with the $4.99 service); and now the Mac desktop client. MOG also allows users to access aggregated editorial content from thousands of music blogs, user posts, and in-house editors. Awesome!
<http://www.mog.com>
<http://www.logitechsqueezebox.com/products/squeezebox-radio.html>

Watch Netflix on your eReader - Really?
In a surprising move, two companies have announced the addition of streaming video to their eReader appliances. On the 7th of Nov, 2011, Netflix announced the availability of Netflix 'Watch Instantly' streaming on the NOOK Tablet and updated NOOK Color. These Barnes & Noble e-reader devices are joined by the Amazon Kindle announcement on the 11th of Nov, 2011. Amazon announced that Netflix 'Watch Instantly' streaming would be available on the soon to be released Amazon Kindle Fire. Users will need to download a Netflix application (for free) to their respective device, and subscribe to the Netflix service in order to watch Netflix streaming movies and television episodes. The makers of these e-readers are doing their best to relabel them as 'Tablets', and this is part of that strategy. As Barnes & Noble competes with Amazon for the e-reader segment, they lust after the broader tablet market dominated by Apple. The introduction of Netflix streaming onto their e-reader platforms facilitates their efforts to rebrand the devices. These updates/announcements are good news for Netflix, as it does all it can to expand its presence on every available internet-connected platform. Would you watch Netflix on your e-reader?
<http://blog.netflix.com/2011/11/netfix-now-on-barnes-nobles-nook.html>
<http://blog.netflix.com/2011/11/netflix-on-kindle-fire.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/noqwikster.png>
<http://www.netflix.com>

Shredding our Credit Cards:
It's a day of celebration - Today (7 Nov, 2011) Kim and I managed to shred one of our credit cards. Those little plastic cards are a sign of our times. An indication of everything that's wrong with the American economy. A deadly, devious and poisonous necessity in today's world. When you get the opportunity to shred one, it's cause for celebration, a liberating experience, a joyous occasion, freedom from financial slavery! I'm not a financial advisor, and my experience with credit is likely different than yours, so please don't presume that I'm handing out advice or sage knowledge. I just thought I'd pass on a bit of good news.

Years ago, banks used to compete for your business. They used to offer incentives, give you perks, discounts, cash back! Those days are quickly slipping away. After receiving two letters from CitiBank, our credit card/account has been closed at the "credit grantor's request". Strange indeed. Kim and I used the card regularly, and ALWAYS paid the bill on time. With this particular gas card (A MasterCard for Conoco, Phillips 66, 76 gas stations), we earned 5% on all our gasoline purchases made using the card. We never missed a payment, and always paid our balance on time. The letter that we received didn't indicate that we had done something wrong. CitiBank simply decided to close our account. The card expired on the 31st of October, and CitiBank would not be sending us a new card. Hopefully, this won't have an adverse affect on our credit rating... A card being closed may, but does not always, damage a person's credit score.

Why is CitiBank closing our account and the accounts of many others? I and others can only speculate, as CitiBank hasn't offered an honest explanation for this/these cancellations. According to a CitiBank statement, CitiBank "decided to close a limited number of oil partner co-branded MasterCard accounts." The bank would not say how many cards were shut down or how much available credit they represented. Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research for CreditCards.com said: "It is kind of an extraordinary action, but these are extraordinary times," He noted that Citi is not the healthiest bank. In fact, Citi posted $8 billion in consumer credit losses for its third quarter (of 2011) last week, including both mortgages and credit cards. Like many banks with big consumer lending portfolios, Citi is expecting defaults on credit cards to rise in coming months. Credit card delinquencies typically track the unemployment rate, which is at 9.8 percent and is expected to top 10 percent soon.

Anyway, with little to explain why our account was closed, Kim and I gleefully marched into the office. With credit cards in hand, we fired up our shredder. We stood there gravelly silent, contemplating their demise. I hummed an impromptu funeral dirge. We, like most Americans, despise these necessary evils. The companies controlling our credit don't care about us, they don't wish us well, as a matter of fact, they probably hope we can't pay our bills on time. The only thing they care about is continued and ever increasing profits. If I remember correctly, the interest rate on that card had actually reached 29%. It's obscene I tell you. It's disgraceful how much they charge when you can't afford to pay the full amount of your balance. Gleefully we fed that pestilent plastic into the gnashing blades of our mechanical contraption. Hooray! The peasants cheered - Hoorah! cried the serfs! - No more credit fear exclaimed the indebted pair! A brief celebration dance ensued, and Robert and Kim spent the rest of the day with smiles upon their face. :-)
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/citi-closing-mastercards_n_328397.html>
<http://articles.businessinsider.com/2009-10-21/wall_street/30101529_1_citi-lowcards-com-default-rates>
<http://heraldsun.com/view/full_story/4491815/article-Credit-card-closings-come-by-surprise-for-some>
<http://cryptogon.com/?p=11769>

Dreamweaver disappointment:
I'm currently using Version 11.0.4 build 4993 of Dreamweaver CS5. It's been a go to application for some time. I upgraded from Dreamweaver CS4 to Adobe's latest version of Dreamweaver (CS5) in May of 2011. It's a great tool. I've been using Dreamweaver (various different versions) for at least seven years now, and I find it to be the best tool for my needs. I really like the ability to view and work in a WYSIWYG interface, while simultaneously having the code view available for any tweaking or hands-on coding. With my awesome 30" monitor, I can even display both views in a vertical orientation. Aside from the more powerful features (which I'm not knowledgeable enough to use), CS5 introduced some new features that might be useful to a more novice coder such as myself. Those new features include: 'Browser Lab' preview capabilities using side-by-side or 'onion-skin' overlay comparisons of browser rendering. It includes widget plugin capabilities (with HTML5 support). There's a bunch of simple site setup templates and CSS starter pages to jump start your efforts to create new web sites. I've been using Dreamweaver for some time now, and really appreciate some of it's more powerful features. It's a world class champ when it comes to editing HTML tables. With a tool box full of things I've yet to use, I'm sure I'll be learning more about HTML and CSS in the future.

<rant>With that said, I have some disappointing news... Adobe (the developers of Dreamweaver) have let me down. I love the application but I just can't understand why they hate Mac users. What am I talking about? I'm talking about Case Sensitivity and Dreamweaver CS5.

If you're developing, editing, authoring websites/html on a Mac, you should know that Dreamweaver CS5 (and 5.5) does not install or run on a volume formatted with case-sensitivity. That's Crap! Unix file systems (Mac OS X is based on Unix) have been using case sensitive file management since day one (more than 20 years now). Case sensitive volume formatting has been standard on Macs since Leopard came out, and case sensitivity on modern operating systems (including Windows) is an essential part of cross platform interoperability.

The only application (that I know of) that won't work on my case-sensitive volume? Dreamweaver CS5. Dreamweaver's original design (dating back to the late 90s/originally written (for Mac OS) by Macromedia) didn't include case sensitivity in it's library components, and that legacy decision has been carried forward into the latest versions of their software. Macs didn't use case-sensitivity back when Macromedia released the 1.0 version of the software. They didn't implement case sensitivity at that time, and their product was ported to Windows a year after releasing the Mac version. In order to maintain an unchanged code base and compatibility with the Windows operating systems, Macromedia chose not to implement case sensitivity. As a result, to this day Dreamweaver code execution fails to execute/launch on a case sensitive volume. Why does it fail? When application resources look for files with a different case name than the case of the actual file (or the path to its location) the application crashes or fails to launch with error messages.

For example, if an application is looking for a resource with a file path of: /frameworks/Xerces.framework/Versions/A/Xerces and the resource is actually located at: /frameworks/Xerces.framework/versions/a/xerces then the application will fail to launch or function. This is an easily correctable programing problem. Someone needs to re-code the calls for dynamic libraries and resources. The developers/programmers don't need to do very much in order to make the software work on a case sensitive volume, all they need to do is correct the resource calls so that they have the proper case. It is possible to manually fix the problem by renaming all the affected resources. I could manually create case appropriate symbolic links to all the affected resources, but that's not my job! It's Adobe's!

As a result of this issue (which is ENTIRELY adobe's fault and responsibility to fix), I must caution every Mac user who's considering a purchase of Dreamweaver CS5. This application is NOT compatible with standard Lion installations (or any volume that uses case sensitivity). There are many reasons to format your drive as a case-sensitive volume, and Adobe's refusal to update their code libraries in order to correct case-sensitivity errors is just another sign of a company that's failing their customer base.</rant>
<http://a-fink.blogspot.com/2010/06/adobe-and-case-sensitive-filesystems.html>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Dreamweaver>
<http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/>

Software favorites:
Another update for my favorite software application. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another batch of updates for a product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license (for the most recent version). If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GC update, I also purchased updates (new versions were released) of my favorite cataloging applications (DVDpedia, CDpedia and Bookpedia by Bruji.com).

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on at least ten additional updates over the past week. I recently saw/downloaded the following updates: 7.5 (b327), 7.5 (b329), 7.5(b330), 7.5 (b336). GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price (~$40.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/162/new-functions-and-versions.html>

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 5.0. 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 DVDpedia to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… 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/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 5.0. 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 CDPedia to generate HTML listings of my music.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemusiccollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymusic/index.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 5.0. 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 Bookpedia to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software (The new version only runs on Intel architecture machines and it requires Leopard or better as an OS). This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

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>

November 5, 2011

Software favorites:
Another update for my favorite software application. Another beta update for my favorite Graphics editor. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another batch of updates for a product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license (for the most recent version). If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GC update, there was also an update to XQuartz (a Unix windowing system that runs on the Mac).

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on at least 5 additional updates over the past week. I recently saw/downloaded the following update: 7.4.1 (b326). GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price (~$40.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/162/new-functions-and-versions.html>

X11 / XQuartz:
One of the best things about OSX? - it's really Unix!
I'm running X11/XQuartz 2.7.0, available from MacOS Forge

I've been using Unix longer than I've been using Mac's, so I knew about the power potential when I found out that OSX was going to be based on Unix. Some of the most powerful Unix applications (see The GIMP above) run on any OSX equipped Mac. In order to run all these fantastic applications you need nothing more than Apple's version of X11 (which comes free with OSX, or you can download and install other versions). If you want to get a bit more advanced, you can use Fink or Macports with your OSX equipped Mac. Once you get your X Windows environment running, you'll find thousands of Unix applications that have been a well kept secret for all this time.

What's the difference between X11 and XQuartz? - They're both 'X' (as in uniX) Window Systems. Computer software and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface for a networked computer running a flavor of the unix operating system. X11 was originally developed by MIT. It appeared in Sep of 1987, and it's maintained and distributed by the X.Org foundation, the free and open software is distributed (under license) by Apple with it' Mac OS X operating system. XQuartz is also an 'X' windowing system. Developed and maintained by Apple; XQuartz is designed specifically for the Mac OS X operating system. It's a more refined version of an 'X' windowing system than the X11 version shipped/distributed by Apple during major software updates. XQuartz is developed as an open-source project, and it's updated more frequently than the X11 version shipped/distributed with official Apple software updates. So, in brief X11 is the official build distributed with major software updates/upgrades, and XQuartz is an open-source, more refined version, distributed outside standard update channels.

While X11/XQuartz forms the basis of running Unix applications on your Mac (you really need an X Windows System), getting Unix apps up and running on your Mac isn't always as easy as downloading and double clicking. (see note above), but the following links should help you get started.
<http://developer.apple.com/opensource/tools/X11.html>
<http://www.apple.com/opensource/>
<http://xquartz.macosforge.org/trac/wiki/X112.7.0>
<http://www.macports.org/>
<http://www.finkproject.org/>

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>

Major Computer Malfunction Vexes Vaessen:
Apple has released a lot of new software in the past couple months and I've been busy updating all my computers, networks, and peripherals. We've got new OS (Lion OS 10.7), two new OS updates 10.7.1. and 10.7.2. A new iOS (iOS 5.0) and then there's the iCloud updates. It's a lot of software, and something was bound to go wrong... Thankfully, I was prepared (You may have read about my extensive back up methods in the past). I was prepared for the disaster which struck this week (fire week of Nov, 2011). The problems started when I couldn't access my MobilMe/Mac.com email through the Mail.app application. At the same time my iDisk was no longer mounting on the desktop. After checking the MobileMe status (online), everything was being reported as 'Green'. I had to delete my email settings (form my MobileMe/.Mac account) and re-add the 'iCloud' email account. This transition from MobileMe to iCloud is not going as smoothly as Apple had hoped.

I could access my email and iDisk through the online iCloud portal. My iDisk still wouldn't mount. That's when I started encountering some additional problems. I could no longer configure my iCloud settings (using the System Preferences application). Every time I tried to access the iCloud settings (including the Mail, Contacts & Calendar settings) the System Preferences application would crash! I attempted troubleshooting on the third of November for two hours before I finally attempted a reboot. That didn't help so I restarted on my Lion backup partition.

That's when I noticed that the Lion Startup disk (not the backup disk) wasn't 'Case Sensitive'. As this had been causing some issues with my iTunes and iPhoto library, I wanted to reformat the primary Lion drive to be case sensitive... It wouldn't let me reformat it?! O.k. That's not good. I couldn't reformat the drive. I attempted to build a new clone (from the Lion backup) ontop of the primary drive. This is getting a bit hairy! Once the cloning was done, I had to rename the disks (to avoid confusion/backup issues). Neither drive (Lion primary or Lion backup) would let me rename or reformat them. That's not good! What the hell? Things weren't going well.

With Lion boot up issues, I booted up my Snow Leopard disk (which was now quite dated). After running a bunch of updates on the Snow Leopard machine, I reconfigured some of it's boot/start up options. When I finished all that work I finally attempt to reformat and rename those Lion disks. I renamed the Lion clone to Lion (made it the primary boot drive). I renamed the Lion primary to Lion clone. I forgot to reformat... It was getting late. I finished updating all my Snow Leopard OS components, but not the individual apps (there were a lot of updates). I disabled many of the Snow Leopard login/startup applications. I restarted to the Snow Leopard drive (after the updates).

I'm still not sure what initiated or caused all the problems to begin with. My mac.com email account wasn't working with iCloud. I had to reconfigure the system settings to use my @me.com account in order to access any of the iCloud (formerly MobileMe) services. I was ready to boot on the Lion disk (the new primary Lion boot drive). I booted into the new Lion primary drive and reset my iCloud/MobileMe settings. With everything seemingly working properly, I did another back up. After approximately six more hours on the 4th, I finally had everything reconfigured. I had to reformat one of the drives, create entirely new images of the primary Lion boot drive and the Lion clone drive. Afterwards I had to rebuild my TimeMachine backup as it was utterly confused by all the changes. I repaired permissions on all the partitions (three disks (four partitions)) and rebooted into my primary Lion drive.

It took me another hour to reset all my preferences, but everything is working properly at this point. Holy crap a total of twelve hours (with breaks to sleep and eat) worth of troubleshooting. Someone really needs to pay me for all this hard work. In the end, everything is back in working order. My backups and clones are running properly and I didn't lose any data. Three major updates in one month has really caused issues with my computer set up.

Wake From Sleep issues under Lion:
Back in October of 2010 (at a Special Event), Apple announced the latest revision of it's OS X operating system. The 8th OS X version (OS 10.7), code named - Lion, was released on the 20th of July 2011. It took a while, but I've finally got it up and running on my Mac (On the desktop Mac (A Mac Pro Early 2009) and the laptop (A MacBook Pro 15" Early 2008). Lion brought us many new features, and improved U/I (user interface) in Mission Control, and simplified the HMI (Human Machine Interface) by integrating numerous 'Multi-Touch Gestures' and expanding the usability of that amazing product, the 'Magic Trackpad'. After introducing all those new features and improvements, they managed to introduce one bug that's plaguing me to this day.

An intermittent problem has been pestering me since the introduction of Lion onto my desktop Mac (It's not affecting the laptop). The problem is a bit difficult to explain... Occasionally, when my computer goes to sleep, the monitor will not wake up. The computer wakes up. You can hear some computer activity, the monitor gets slightly brighter, my peripherals wake up (iPhone, iPad2, iPod) the power button (on my Dell 30" monitor) changes from amber (standby) to blue (active), but the monitor doesn't fully illuminate, and you can't see the computer's desktop. Occasionally/after some period of time, you'll see a spinning beach-ball indicator, as if something is hung, trying to launch or run. Nothing I do will make the monitor wake up, and eventually the monitor goes back into standby. The light goes back to amber color. I've tried pressing the shift key, swiping the magic trackpad, moving the ball on my trackball, clicking the trackpad, clicking on of the keys on the trackball, unplugging USB cables, pressing various keys (and key combos) on the keyboard. I've even tried pressing the computer's power key. Nothing helps.

So far the problem has been rather intermittent, and it only happens after extended periods (5-6 hours) of sleep. After numerous searches on the internet, it's become apparent that there are numerous 'wake from sleep' issues with Lion. So far I've tried several of fixes that haven't helped. I tried removing the 'sleep cache' located at: /private/var/vm/sleepimage I've tried turning off blue-tooth, that seems to offer some relief, but doesn't seem to work every time. I've also noticed that my computer is disconnected from my home network when this issue is occurring, but there's nothing wrong with the network itself. I've tried to log in (to the desktop) using my laptop, but the desktop isn't available on the network. The only way to recover from this problem is a hard reset. Hold down the power button until the Mac powers off, wait a 30 seconds or so, then press the power button to restart the Mac. FYI: The 10.7.1 and 10.7.2 updates did not correct the problem. Perhaps my NAS is dismounting/going to sleep, which is causing iTunes to hang? I checked the sleep timers, they're all disabled and my firmware is up to date.

I'd like to disable the automatic 'monitor sleep' settings, so I can manually turn it off instead of letting it go to sleep. Unfortunately, the monitor sleep controls are slaved to the CPU sleep controls, and I can't decouple them... For the moment, I suspect that these 'Wake From Sleep' issues are a bit more complicated than I'm aware of. For now I'm quitting iTunes, iPhoto, Mail and Safari before I leave the computer for an extended period. iTunes and iPhoto are directly accessing my NAS (that's where I store my media (music, movies, photos). Maybe this will help. FYI: My Mac has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512 MB video card. What about you - Have you had any 'Wake From Sleep' issues under Lion?
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/whats-new/features.html>
<http://www.apple.com/magictrackpad/>

Winter will be here soon:
Autumn started just a little over a month ago, and it looks like Winter can't wait to get started. It's November, and the snow has begun. It won't be long before we're deep in the middle of winter. Uggh! On the 2nd of November, we saw our first actual snow storm. We woke up to heavy snow. It was falling and there wasn't any sign of it letting up soon. Despite the fact that non 'mission-essential' personnel were authorized a three hour delay, Kim and I decided to get to work as soon as we could, the snow wasn't going anywhere, and we left before the bulk of the traffic hit the roads. The roads were icy, but the Volvo didn't have any problem getting through the worst of it. We ended up getting to work 15 minutes late. That's when I found out that '3 hour delay' meant I would have gotten up to three hours of admin leave if I had shown up late. That's ridiculous! I worked eight hours and got paid for eight hours work. Others worked five hours and got paid for eight hours. Getting home was a bit easier. The roads were cleared, but I still had to deal with appx 9" of snow in our driveway. I broke out the snowblower (first time this season) and fought with it for about two and a half hours. It took considerable effort (even with the electric starter) to get it running (oh how I despise the gasoline powered yard equipment (snow blower, lawn mower, weed whacker, leaf blower)), and two plus hours to clear the extremely heavy snow. Of course, driving over the snow didn't make it any easier. That snow stuck around for... Well, I still have some of it in our back yard. It looks like we're in for another season of Crazy Colorado weather. I love it!
<https://www.robsworld.org/wintersquirrel1.png>

November's Music downloads:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? Well, I used to 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. Used to... Now? Now (As of Oct of 2010) I subscribe to an online music streaming service called MOG, and I've recently (as of Sep 2011) started using eMusic 'Radio' stations for music discovery. Combined together, these two services provide full-play access to more than 23 million tracks! (11m on MOG, 12m on eMusic) Two fantastic ways to discover music, and no need for illegal downloads or pirated tracks. I occasionally use a few of the other methods (music blogs and podcasts), but MOG and eMusic now serve as my primary music discovery sources.

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 or listen to all sorts of music for free. I download most of my music from a couple of commercial sources (eMusic and iTunes), but I occasionally download tracks (legally) from various websites, newsgroups and blogs in order to satisfy my craving for music.

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 from eMusic.com. This month (November of 2011) I managed to download 51 tracks at a cost of $22.54 (I'm paying a $19.99 monthly fee, so that makes the tracks even cheaper (~$0.44 / track). 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. At less than $.50 a track (I'm currently paying $19.99 for $22.99 worth of downloads per month). eMusic offers a really good value for your download dollar. 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.
* Live In Berlin - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark: (20 songs) aka OMD, a favorite band from the 80s. Still going strong. Really - OMD (aka Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) is one of my favorite 80s bands. The thing is... They live on, still putting out music. Not just 'Best Of' and 'Concert' recordings. Their Latest new release (History of Modern), was released in Sep of 2010. Live In Berlin is a series of live recordings providing a powerful example of their audience appeal and status as 'seasoned' professionals in an arena full of '80s' revivalists. The Live recordings were a great mix of the old and the new. For this 'old waver' the band is still vibrant and powerful, representing a connection between the traditions of the past (in the New Wave genre) and the evolution of electronic music in the present. This purchase (through eMusic) cost me $6.99 for 20 songs. At ~$0.35 each, that's a considerable savings (~30%) over the iTunes premium of $9.99 (~$0.50 each) for the same 20 songs.
* Fever To Tell - Yeah Yeah Yeahs: (12 songs) Crap - I downloaded the censored version. Why does the industry release censored versions of an artists work? Kids can always find a way to get the music they want, and these censored versions are a ridiculous way to placate the oh so holy lobby that insists on 'clean' lyrics. You're still selling the 'explicit' version, so how does this satisfy the wailing masses (I think it's down to the 'wailing crowd' now) who condemn the music industry for it's filthy lyrics. Ridiculous! I discovered this band by listening to some MOG recommendations. I like the energy, the guitar-gasms, the drum driven tempos, the lead singers sexy, sultry siren song.
* Arabia Mountain - Black Lips: (16 songs) I discovered and downloaded two tracks at 3hive.com, added the full album to my eMusic download list and now I'm back for the full release. Here's an alt-rock, psychedelic band that I've been enjoying since 2007. With four other single tracks, the strength of these two songs flipped the switch. Their latest album (Arabia Mountain) is a powerful Americana inspired Garage rock band. The bands sound here is a bit more controlled, slightly tamer than some of their previous works, still powerful and rebelious, it's a welcome refinement.
* Straight Back To You - Let's Say We Did: (3+1 songs) I already had one of theses tracks, but here I've downloaded the other three. Their slow paced, alt-folk sound is catchy, full of great hooks and excellent lyrics. Originally discovered and downloaded at 3hive.com. On the strength of a single, I added the entire EP to my eMusic download list.

iTunes New Music Tuesday download:
Sometimes I purchase music from iTunes, and sometimes I take advantage of their free downloads (check it out on Tuesdays). iTunes is the King of the Hill when it comes to the bigger names, so sometimes I find that I have to pay the higher prices. Here's a few of those free downloads from the iTunes store.
* Why Can't I Be Your Backdoor Man Instead - Eddie Kirkland: (single) Eddie Kirkland died in an auto accident this year (27 Feb, 2011). A legendary Blues musician, born in Jamaica. Toured Europe and the U.S. constantly, recorded with Otis Redding and John Lee Hooker. Here's a single from the late great blues legend last album.
* Public Enemy No. 1 - Megadeth: (single) Proving their 'Metal' once again. From the album Th1rt3en (their 13th studio album). Here's one of the first metal bands I ever listened to. A favorite from the 80s, still going strong. It's the instrumentals that draw me back to this iconic band. The sound is gigantic, unforgettable, undeniable. They're Unbeatable!

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>