PanaGeek

Well, I committed my Documents folder to a Subversion repository on my network storage device and dutifully checked it out onto my laptop again yesterday. Today, when I went to sync Quicken, I found that I couldn’t open the data file. This web site thankfully had the answer. Quicken uses resource forks on OS X (resource forks were a big thing pre-OS X, I didn’t think anything still used them). After running through the commands as shown on the site, I was more-or-less happily broke to the last penny again. While this wasn’t meant to be a subversion bashing, it reinforces my desire to move to a DVCS – specifically Bazaar. More on that in the future.

Just a small thing, but why is it that the billing departments of magazine publishers are faster than the actual distribution departments? It never fails that, when I sign up for a magazine online, usually on one of those “get one issue free” deals, the bill arrives before my trial issue.

Well, I went out and bought the new Army jammies today. Maybe I’ll change my mind in a while, but I’m not impressed. The fabric seems very light, like it would last about half an hour in the jungle, less if I was in a hurry. Velcro is great for kids’ clothes, but it seems like the designer had a friend who owned a velcro factory. Final initial thought – if the jacket can use a zipper closure, why can’t the trousers? I’ll try posting again after I’ve worn these clothes for a while.

<title>As usual, a knife-wielding maniac has shown us the way</title> Thanks to Bart Simpson for that inspirational title. However, it is a <a href=“http://www.drunkenblog.com/drunkenblog-archives/000601.html”>Drunken Batman</a> who is showing us the way. DBM’s post on the sad state of the Mac, particularly Tiger, strikes a real chord with me. I <a href=“http://panalaska.org/blog/?p=6>got Tiger</a> as soon as it came out, and have been nonplussed by all of its supposed greatness. I disabled spotlight (which led to a problem with 10.4.2) and turned Dashboard off because it is a resource hog on my iBook. I have tried Automator, but haven’t found it useful except in extremely rare circumstances. Mail is OK, now that I have <a href=”http://www.andrewescobar.com/mailstamps“>gotten rid of</a> the ugly icon things, and Safari 2.0 renders pages pretty well (but I had to disable that RSS function – its incessant request for keychain access drove me nuts). In all, Tiger is OK, but not nearly the advance that I saw with Panther.

I feel better now.

I just had a popup (pop under maybe?) that started talking to me. It said that I have won an XBox 360. If popups weren’t annoying enough, noisy ones are just plain evil.

Well, articles like this and this have finally won me over. In spite of all of the millions of dollars lost to Windows users as a result of vulnerabilities, the three proof of concept exploits released over the past few weeks obviously demonstrate that OS X is completely unsecure.

OK, that was what we call sarcasm. Yes, any computer can be accessed, given sufficient time and resources. However, the time and resources required to compromise a Windows computer is a fraction of what may be required for the average OS X or any nix computer. The main difference that I see is that Windows is unsecure by design, where a nix computer is made vulnerable by the user making bad decisions – weak passwords are the achilles heels of most of these systems. Yes, this is a great oversimplification, but I grow tired of the pundits who are constantly claiming that OS X is vulnerable and Mac users are arrogant. Kind of reminds me of the fable of the sour grapes.

I decided to join Audible.com last month, mainly because of an ad that said “free iPod Shuffle with six month commitment.” The numbers seemed OK, so I joined. The next morning (maybe 12 hours later) Apple announced that they had slashed the prices on Shuffles. So, I called Audible to see if they were going to upgrade the offer in general, and if I could get an upgrade in particular. In my mind, the offer was based on a $100 Shuffle, and now the 1G Shuffle is selling for $100. The “customer service” representative told me that it wasn’t like I was buying the Shuffle – it was an offer. Well, that may be true, but it didn’t endear me to Audible.

Update – On a positive note, I have received my shuffle and really enjoy it. I doubt that it will ever fully replace my iPod, but it may been the tool of choice for yard work and the like. I thought that I wanted the 1 Gig shuffle, more for data storage that anything else, but I’ve got a couple of memory sticks for work stuff, and a half gig of random music is plenty for now.

This story caught my eye via SlashDot . The short version of it is that Mac users are “too smug” about security, believing that their computers are invulnerable. I think the attitudes in both articles boil down to “just because your computer is invulnerable today doesn’t mean that it won’t be vulnerable tomorrow.” Sounds like a lot of envy going on here. If you’re OK with spending $100/year on anti-spyware and anti-virus programs then that’s fine with me, just let me be me.

It probably stuck a chord in my little mind after I read this yesterday. Same basic thing – envy (although in this article it is cloaked in the assumption of a moral high ground). If it suits your needs to drive a hybrid – great! If, however, you need features only found in an SUV, then that’s OK too. When I lived in the DC area and had a 40+ mile commute, a hybrid sounded fine. Here in the Last Frontier I need four wheel drive and room for stuff

All said, I still laugh at folks driving $50K+ trucks/SUVs that have never and will never leave the pavement – but, if it works for them then it’s fine by me.