Machttp://rarepattern.com/taxonomy/term/26/atom/feed2006-08-27T14:41:15-05:00Stuck with StickyWindowshttp://rarepattern.com/nodes/2008/stuck-stickywindows2008-08-22T16:35:34-05:002008-08-22T16:35:34-05:00Laura ScottFollowing up on my previous post on trying to remove StickyWindows, it apparently did not work. Upon rebooting, the f***ing application was there again in the preferences panel.
I am really hating StickyWindows. What kind of application embeds itself permanently into your computer? Malware, spyware, rootkits... WTF!
Donelleschi, you have worn out your welcome.
Do not install StickyWindows unless you know for sure that you will never ever want to uninstall it, because you won't be able to.
When I have time, I'm going to do some deeper digging to remove this stinger from my computer. But I have work to do.
StickyWindows is an app I thought I would like, but after nabbing and grabbing windows and generally distracting me from my work, I decided to uninstall it....
...except that I couldn't. Searching through the Applications folder yielded nothing. Searching through Applications Support in the Library yielded nothing.
The app was there in the Preferences Pane, so what I did was find the file in the Preferences folder and delete that. I'm not sure if there are other pieces lurking around my hard drive still, but I found that experience supremely annoying.
StickyWindows is an app I thought I would like, but after nabbing and grabbing windows and generally distracting me from my work, I decided to uninstall it....
...except that I couldn't. Searching through the Applications folder yielded nothing. Searching through Applications Support in the Library yielded nothing.
The app was there in the Preferences Pane, so what I did was find the file in the Preferences folder and delete that. I'm not sure if there are other pieces lurking around my hard drive still, but I found that experience supremely annoying.
Bad on you, Donelleschi!
]]>Me not availablehttp://rarepattern.com/nodes/2008/me-not-available2008-06-13T15:22:01-05:002008-06-13T15:22:01-05:00Laura ScottWhen the Apple Store came back up after revamping, somewhere around the WWDC this week, I went to http://me.com and was redirected to the Apple MobileMe page.
But for the past 2 days now, me.com has been down. DNS is hell.
]]>When the Apple Store came back up after revamping, somewhere around the WWDC this week, I went to http://me.com and was redirected to the Apple MobileMe page.
But for the past 2 days now, me.com has been down. DNS is hell.
Alas I don't have an answer. I gave up and signed up for the .Mac service, despite their claimed "right" to snoop through or destroy whatever I put there. I'm using much more encryption on my entries now, that's for sure (and probably a best practice anyway).
Alas I don't have an answer. I gave up and signed up for the .Mac service, despite their claimed "right" to snoop through or destroy whatever I put there. I'm using much more encryption on my entries now, that's for sure (and probably a best practice anyway).
I wish there were another answer. Alas....
]]>EULA blues: How can I synchronize Yojimbo without .Mac?http://rarepattern.com/nodes/2007/07/eula-blues-how-can-i-synchronize-yojimbo-without-mac2007-07-31T12:25:18-05:002007-07-31T12:26:36-05:00Laura ScottAfter comparing many programs for my regular note-taking, I keep returning to Yojimbo. The tagging system and spotlight support are enough for me to find my misc notes. Syncing via .Mac has a nice wrinkle in that it will merge changes to individual files, so if you update a file on one computer, and another file on the other computer, when you sync them both changes are reflected on both machines. Still, while the tagging approach can be fast, creating more complex relationships is difficult, if not impossible. In the end, Yojimbo is not ideal, and I'm still planning on trying alternatives, but this is what I have.
This means that, out of the box, the only way to move files or back up your notes in Yojimbo is to use .Mac ... which is not ideal, when you consider the rather objectionable .Mac EULA, that includes such lovely items such as:
Subject to any specific license agreements for various .Mac software
features (including third party software), Apple may change, suspend or
discontinue any (or all) aspects of .Mac at any time, including the
availability of any .Mac feature. Apple may also impose limits on the
use of or access to certain features or portions of .Mac, or restrict
your access to any part or all of .Mac, in all cases without notice or
liability.
In other words, they can just kill your stuff without consequence. Oh sure, they would never do that! But if not, then why do they claim the right in the agreement?
And:
Apple reserves the right to terminate your access to .Mac at any time,
with cause or without cause, in the event of any breach of this
Agreement by you (or anyone using your account or any sub-account),
your infringement of Apple's or .Mac's or others' intellectual
property, or any other circumstances which, in Apple's sole discretion,
merit termination. Any such termination may, if Apple elects (and
subject to applicable law), be without any refund to you of any prepaid
fees or amounts.
Translation: Apple can arbitrarily cancel your account and keep your money, and you have no recourse.
And:
APPLE RESERVES THE RIGHT (SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE LOCAL LAW), IN ITS SOLE
DISCRETION, TO MONITOR ALL .MAC FEATURES AND CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO A USE OF A USER'S MAIN ACCOUNT AND ANY SUB-ACCOUNTS, FOR THE
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATING VIOLATIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
Translation: Apple can look at all your private files.
Why would I pay $99 a year, or more, for service under such terms? So this is now what I'm trying to avoid.
So does anyone out there know of a way to synchronize Yojimbo between machines without .Mac?
]]>After comparing many programs for my regular note-taking, I keep returning to Yojimbo. The tagging system and spotlight support are enough for me to find my misc notes. Syncing via .Mac has a nice wrinkle in that it will merge changes to individual files, so if you update a file on one computer, and another file on the other computer, when you sync them both changes are reflected on both machines. Still, while the tagging approach can be fast, creating more complex relationships is difficult, if not impossible. In the end, Yojimbo is not ideal, and I'm still planning on trying alternatives, but this is what I have.
This means that, out of the box, the only way to move files or back up your notes in Yojimbo is to use .Mac ... which is not ideal, when you consider the rather objectionable .Mac EULA, that includes such lovely items such as:
Subject to any specific license agreements for various .Mac software
features (including third party software), Apple may change, suspend or
discontinue any (or all) aspects of .Mac at any time, including the
availability of any .Mac feature. Apple may also impose limits on the
use of or access to certain features or portions of .Mac, or restrict
your access to any part or all of .Mac, in all cases without notice or
liability.
In other words, they can just kill your stuff without consequence. Oh sure, they would never do that! But if not, then why do they claim the right in the agreement?
And:
Apple reserves the right to terminate your access to .Mac at any time,
with cause or without cause, in the event of any breach of this
Agreement by you (or anyone using your account or any sub-account),
your infringement of Apple's or .Mac's or others' intellectual
property, or any other circumstances which, in Apple's sole discretion,
merit termination. Any such termination may, if Apple elects (and
subject to applicable law), be without any refund to you of any prepaid
fees or amounts.
Translation: Apple can arbitrarily cancel your account and keep your money, and you have no recourse.
And:
APPLE RESERVES THE RIGHT (SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE LOCAL LAW), IN ITS SOLE
DISCRETION, TO MONITOR ALL .MAC FEATURES AND CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO A USE OF A USER'S MAIN ACCOUNT AND ANY SUB-ACCOUNTS, FOR THE
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATING VIOLATIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
Translation: Apple can look at all your private files.
Why would I pay $99 a year, or more, for service under such terms? So this is now what I'm trying to avoid.
So does anyone out there know of a way to synchronize Yojimbo between machines without .Mac?
]]>RIP Microsoft?http://rarepattern.com/nodes/2007/04/rip-microsoft2007-04-08T18:03:32-05:002007-04-08T18:03:33-05:00Laura ScottA few weeks ago, I started telling friends my wild and crazy prediction that Apple will own a majority share of the personal computer market within three years. Apple's biggest weakness is in their vertical monopoly over their own hardware. OSX is fabulous, but their hardware is crap, let's face it. You simply have to figure the cost of Apple Care into any Mac purchase because you can count on some sort of hardware problem.
Despite this -- and who's to say Apple won't change its tune regarding hardware? -- Apple's star is definitely rising, while Microsoft's is in a self-inflicted crash and burn.
Paul Graham, in is post, "Microsoft is Dead," has the quote of the month:
Microsoft's biggest weakness is that they still don't realize how much they suck.
The same could be said for a number of companies. Graham recognizes that a number of folks will scoff at these assertions.
Half the readers will say that Microsoft is still an enormously profitable company, and that I should be more careful about drawing conclusions based on what a few people think in our insular little "Web 2.0" bubble. The other half, the younger half, will complain that this is old news.
Graham still succumbs to the notion that all "applications will live on the web—not just email, but everything, right up to Photoshop." Such black-and-white thinking may provide a poetic flourish, or add drama to pronouncements on the future, but my own sense is that the general public is going to start noticing the pound of privacy flesh web companies, like Paul Graham's employer, demand for the convenience of the services they offer.
The desktop is not dead, but it is changing. So is the web (duh), and just as desktop übercompany Microsoft is feeling the heat for their business practices and strategic decisions, we might see the same thing happening to the übercompanies of the web before too long.
]]>A few weeks ago, I started telling friends my wild and crazy prediction that Apple will own a majority share of the personal computer market within three years. Apple's biggest weakness is in their vertical monopoly over their own hardware. OSX is fabulous, but their hardware is crap, let's face it. You simply have to figure the cost of Apple Care into any Mac purchase because you can count on some sort of hardware problem.
Despite this -- and who's to say Apple won't change its tune regarding hardware? -- Apple's star is definitely rising, while Microsoft's is in a self-inflicted crash and burn.
Paul Graham, in is post, "Microsoft is Dead," has the quote of the month:
Microsoft's biggest weakness is that they still don't realize how much they suck.
The same could be said for a number of companies. Graham recognizes that a number of folks will scoff at these assertions.
Half the readers will say that Microsoft is still an enormously profitable company, and that I should be more careful about drawing conclusions based on what a few people think in our insular little "Web 2.0" bubble. The other half, the younger half, will complain that this is old news.
Graham still succumbs to the notion that all "applications will live on the web—not just email, but everything, right up to Photoshop." Such black-and-white thinking may provide a poetic flourish, or add drama to pronouncements on the future, but my own sense is that the general public is going to start noticing the pound of privacy flesh web companies, like Paul Graham's employer, demand for the convenience of the services they offer.
The desktop is not dead, but it is changing. So is the web (duh), and just as desktop übercompany Microsoft is feeling the heat for their business practices and strategic decisions, we might see the same thing happening to the übercompanies of the web before too long.
]]>My 5p4m-less lifehttp://rarepattern.com/nodes/2007/04/my-5p4m-less-life2007-04-02T17:35:18-05:002007-04-02T17:36:09-05:00Laura ScottI have a new technological love affair: SpamSieve. 200+ fewer love notes in my in-box every day.
Alas, I'll just have to do without all that helpful unsolicited information. I'll miss notices that I need to go tell my bank my bank account number. I'll not see all those customer inquiries about my eBay items I didn't realize I'd put up for auction. I'll be oblivious to the fact that I've been approved for a $347,978 mortgage. Warnings to avoid enhancement pills will escape my notice. Forget about cureall [sic] stores and veiny illustrations of male appendages. And the Nigerian Minister will just have to find another lucky soul.
I never realized just how much baseline stress receiving so much useless and offensive crap was causing me. My email is clean, and it's quite a lovely day today.
]]>I have a new technological love affair: SpamSieve. 200+ fewer love notes in my in-box every day.
Alas, I'll just have to do without all that helpful unsolicited information. I'll miss notices that I need to go tell my bank my bank account number. I'll not see all those customer inquiries about my eBay items I didn't realize I'd put up for auction. I'll be oblivious to the fact that I've been approved for a $347,978 mortgage. Warnings to avoid enhancement pills will escape my notice. Forget about cureall [sic] stores and veiny illustrations of male appendages. And the Nigerian Minister will just have to find another lucky soul.
I never realized just how much baseline stress receiving so much useless and offensive crap was causing me. My email is clean, and it's quite a lovely day today.
]]>OSCMS connectivity tip (for Mac)http://rarepattern.com/nodes/2007/03/oscms-connectivity-tip-for-mac2007-03-22T15:47:13-05:002007-03-22T15:47:14-05:00Laura ScottAfter fighting to get back online after persistent connectivity problems, I've stumbled across the dummy solution: Network Diagnostics. Apparently that resets the connection more completely than simply trying to renew the lease within the Network settings. (One easy way to get it is to use Safari to call up a page. I know I know....)
Of course, if you're reading this, then you're online and not having any problems. Maybe you can pass this along to anybody finding themselves suddenly locked out.
(I'm sure there are more geeky ways to reset connections using *nix. Alas that's beyond me.)
]]>After fighting to get back online after persistent connectivity problems, I've stumbled across the dummy solution: Network Diagnostics. Apparently that resets the connection more completely than simply trying to renew the lease within the Network settings. (One easy way to get it is to use Safari to call up a page. I know I know....)
Of course, if you're reading this, then you're online and not having any problems. Maybe you can pass this along to anybody finding themselves suddenly locked out.
(I'm sure there are more geeky ways to reset connections using *nix. Alas that's beyond me.)
]]>War of the Gargantuas! (the animated web 2.0 version)http://rarepattern.com/nodes/2007/02/war-of-the-gargantuas-the-animated-web-2-0-version2007-02-15T11:27:21-06:002007-02-15T11:27:39-06:00Laura ScottThis is hysterical!
]]>More on the Project Management hunthttp://rarepattern.com/nodes/2006/08/more-on-the-project-management-hunt2006-08-27T14:41:15-05:002006-08-27T14:41:15-05:00Laura Scott
Since I wrote about it a few days ago, I've been spending what is starting to feel like way too much time searching for, researching, downloading and evaluating project management applications for OSX. One thing I find rather surprising is the virtual dearth of project management applications that can actually manage more than one project at a time.
FastTrack Schedule seems to have this capability, but only in a sort of one-way summary mode. You cannot change anything on the multiple project view that will carry back into the individual projects.
Meanwhile their GUI is a little stiff. I find myself repeatedly clicking on things, expecting to be able to edit or manipulate them, only to find out I can't. I realize this is a learning curve issue, and since FastTrack Schedule is up to version 9, I'm sure they are quite clear in their own minds as to appropriate work flows we're supposed to be using, but still I'm left a bit frustrated.
What's more, their help screen is a kludgy stale old browser thing that keeps popping open new windows -- and with my workflow in Firefox, that means a long array of tabs. If they can't even integrate that content into Mac help, I really wonder what their commitment is to OSX anyway.
I was hopeful of xTime, which is put out by a company that actually does develop directly for Mac, but their current version is a buggy affair, with incomplete line displays and frequent lock-ups, that hasn't been updated since March. I've had to force quite xTime more than I'd care to.
Now xTime does have a new version 4 coming out next month, but their current beta is available only for existing customers, and I don't have the luxury of waiting over a week just to try it out. When I wrote to ask whether I could evaluate their beta, I got a terse slacker-style response (no caps, no punctuation -- very professional, dudes!) that only existing customers get to try their new version's beta. So much for their wanting to draw in new customers. So xTime is going off the list.
Merlin2 is still on the list. It's relatively easy to use, but doesn't do all I want. Even though the beta I have has crashed a few times, which is frustrating, to say the least, the feature set seems to offer ease of use, and that counts for a lot. So I'm still evaluating there.
iTaskX shows some promise, but again fell short in the crucial area of multiple project management. Still, I love the clean nature of its Gantt -- very clean, with minimal (and optional) 3D effects (though I don't care for the squared-off path lines). The task list, though, is on the dry side, with few visual cues as to dependencies and hierarchies. The program seems to have an easy ability to share projects to a designated webserver, which is something that I'm sure will come in handy in the near future. Still, I'm not sure this is the one.
Which takes me back again to OmniPlan, which is by a company I admire. OmniPlan is on the basic side, and does not do what I need. But at least it's easy, and maybe I can just find some sort of workaround using iCal or something to actually try to coordinate our various projects into one time management workflow.
Since none of these programs actually does what I need, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I am evaluating for, except for finding some way to work one of them into a minimally complicated patchwork of programs so that I can manage more than one project at a time.
But this leaves me very frustrated. Why the hell does this capability not exist? What am I missing? Am I the only person in the world who needs to manage more than one project at a time?
]]>
Since I wrote about it a few days ago, I've been spending what is starting to feel like way too much time searching for, researching, downloading and evaluating project management applications for OSX. One thing I find rather surprising is the virtual dearth of project management applications that can actually manage more than one project at a time.
FastTrack Schedule seems to have this capability, but only in a sort of one-way summary mode. You cannot change anything on the multiple project view that will carry back into the individual projects.
Meanwhile their GUI is a little stiff. I find myself repeatedly clicking on things, expecting to be able to edit or manipulate them, only to find out I can't. I realize this is a learning curve issue, and since FastTrack Schedule is up to version 9, I'm sure they are quite clear in their own minds as to appropriate work flows we're supposed to be using, but still I'm left a bit frustrated.
What's more, their help screen is a kludgy stale old browser thing that keeps popping open new windows -- and with my workflow in Firefox, that means a long array of tabs. If they can't even integrate that content into Mac help, I really wonder what their commitment is to OSX anyway.
I was hopeful of xTime, which is put out by a company that actually does develop directly for Mac, but their current version is a buggy affair, with incomplete line displays and frequent lock-ups, that hasn't been updated since March. I've had to force quite xTime more than I'd care to.
Now xTime does have a new version 4 coming out next month, but their current beta is available only for existing customers, and I don't have the luxury of waiting over a week just to try it out. When I wrote to ask whether I could evaluate their beta, I got a terse slacker-style response (no caps, no punctuation -- very professional, dudes!) that only existing customers get to try their new version's beta. So much for their wanting to draw in new customers. So xTime is going off the list.
Merlin2 is still on the list. It's relatively easy to use, but doesn't do all I want. Even though the beta I have has crashed a few times, which is frustrating, to say the least, the feature set seems to offer ease of use, and that counts for a lot. So I'm still evaluating there.
iTaskX shows some promise, but again fell short in the crucial area of multiple project management. Still, I love the clean nature of its Gantt -- very clean, with minimal (and optional) 3D effects (though I don't care for the squared-off path lines). The task list, though, is on the dry side, with few visual cues as to dependencies and hierarchies. The program seems to have an easy ability to share projects to a designated webserver, which is something that I'm sure will come in handy in the near future. Still, I'm not sure this is the one.
Which takes me back again to OmniPlan, which is by a company I admire. OmniPlan is on the basic side, and does not do what I need. But at least it's easy, and maybe I can just find some sort of workaround using iCal or something to actually try to coordinate our various projects into one time management workflow.
Since none of these programs actually does what I need, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I am evaluating for, except for finding some way to work one of them into a minimally complicated patchwork of programs so that I can manage more than one project at a time.
But this leaves me very frustrated. Why the hell does this capability not exist? What am I missing? Am I the only person in the world who needs to manage more than one project at a time?
