17" MacBook Pro Backpacks

I've got a new MBP for work and I'm now looking for options.

• minimal commute - I don't expect to bring my laptop home very often, I mostly need it to move my computer from place to place in the Outreach Building
  
• limited travel - I might go on may be one or two business trips a year
• less than normal capacity - I'd be fine with only about 1000 cu in of additional storage, I don't need a lot of organization pockets--I never used them much anyhow
• black - I don't want anything flashy, I need something relatively professional-looking
• cost - my department is buying one for me, but I should keep it less than $125
• build - relatively high-quality and refined
• alternative - would be nice to have PV cells, but they're expensive; CCW would be interesting, but not practical
  

Possible styles:

1. Messenger bag - a solid possibility since I probably won't be carrying around my laptop very much
2. Backpack - good all-around choice, more comfortable with heavier loads
   
3. Sleeve - great if the 17" MBP fits in my panniers for biking, not my first choice since I don't have a bag now that's big enough for the MBP on a daily basis
   
4. Briefcase - classic, but lame

Possible choices:

1. Timbuk2 Commute 2.0 Messenger Large - $120, 3.2 lb, 17 x 11.5 x 6, great carry-all
   
2. Bumbakpak Hamptons - $95, 1386 cu in, cool carrying options for a messenger bag, might be heavy
3. STM Large Convertible - $60, 17.1 x 12.6 x 3.5 inches, backpack to shoulder strap, great design although it uses velcro for the flaps, minimal storage space
4. Northface Hot Shot - $89, 2 lb 2 oz, 2000 cu in, doubles well for the trail
5. Brenthaven Pro - $179, 3.75 lb, 1975 cu in, excellent protection
6. MacCase Combo - $80, pretty basic, includes a nice sleeve
7. Targus Groove - $40, 2.75 lb, the price concerns me, looks pretty standard, better than some I've seen
8. Northface Surge - $115, 2 lb 10 oz, 2150 cu in, kinda large, but fully featured
9. AXIO Tekno - $180, 5 lb, 18.5”H x 13.5”W x 9”D, cool design, but expensive and very heavy
10. Incase - decent neoprene sleeve, but nothing else
11. Booq - nothing
12. Crumpler - nothing
    

Video Streaming Server

What I'm looking to do is transfer recordings from my TivoHD to a streaming server so that I can watch videos on my iPhone organized by directories.

I have been using Roxio's Streamer with great success except:

• I cannot organize the videos into directories
• it's sometimes buggy and doesn't let me stream certain videos (it's happened twice)
• I keep getting an incorrect dialog box asking me if I really want to open an application downloaded by MS Entourage

I have a version of the Apple Darwin Streaming Server and that's been running well except:

• I cannot convert .tivo video files on my mac into a streaming format
• I cannot create iPhone streaming formats yet, it doesn't look easy
• I can only convert programs if they are still on my TiVo

I'm really looking for the best of both worlds:

• the easy of Roxio's Streamer
• viewing on an iPhone
• folder organization
• and being able to work with .tivo files I've moved to my Mac

Google Search: "mac .tivo transcoding"

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/StreamBaby.shtml
http://www.samuelmcconnell.com/projects/tivodecoder/
http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/showcase/details.php?wid=281
http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/08/11/how-to-install-and-setup-jinzora-streaming-media-server-in-os-x/
http://developer.apple.com/opensource/server/streaming/index.html
http://en.jinzora.com/downloads/jinzora_releases/28

Ripping Wii games on a Mac

For educational purposes only!
Google: "mac ripping wii iso"
http://wiinewz.com/forums/faqs-guides-tutorials/69742-rip-wii-games-mac.html
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/482844

Doing reserach into iMovie 08 and 09

I've been looking into editing for newer format camcorders. I found a good blog about iMovie '08 that might help to clarify things for me.

Netflix

It's unexpectedly awesome in the first two days of trying it out. After spending over $10 for movie rentals at Blockbuster, I realized that we might be able to do better using Netflix.

I chose the cheapest unlimited account for around $9 a month. The real plus is that we can view movies almost instantly using our TiVo. I decided not to add the Blu-Ray feature even though we can watch Blu-Ray discs on my new Playstation 3.

We rented Hancock on Blu-Ray and even though it looked great, it wasn't a huge difference than watching a DVD up-scaled for HD. At least not for another buck a month. Talk about a cheapskate!

Signing up for the service only took a couple of minutes and it was only another minute or so to link our TiVo to the service.

I went on the computer and created a couple of queues for DVD's and for instant viewing. We're still waiting on our first movie, but we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as our first on-demand flick. The quality was very good. I'll be curious to see how good action flicks look.

I've installed one Netflix app on my iPhone and activated the feature in another and between the two I can search, add movies to our queue, reorder the queue and other functions... all from the iPhone. Kickass.

I can already tell this is going to have a huge effect on our movie watching habits.

UDF to burn troublesome DVD's

Microvision SHOW WX Pico Projector

I don't have a pressing need for one of these, but damn! What a cool concept. I don't even have a laptop for work right now, but how cool would it be to hook up my iPod or iPhone to this thing to give on-the-spot presentations or training sessions?

Installing a Custom Firmware on my PSP

For educational purposes only!
I'm still not sure what the procedure would be for me.

First off, I have an older PSP and I just installed the newest firmware 5.02 from Sony.

• http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/SystemUpdates/PSP

I want to play backup games on my PSP and from what I've read, I need to install custom firmware CFW to do so.

• http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/f133/the-new-hack-your-psp-thread-t227349/
  
• http://pspcustomfirmware.com/
• http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061215080237AAW1qWE

In order to do this I believe I need a Magic Memory Stick and a Pandora Battery.

• http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/f133/unbrick-downgrade-install-cf-on-your-psp-with-t186757/

What is a Pandora Battery?

• http://www.noobz.eu/joomla/news/pandoras-battery.html

Making a Pandora Battery

• http://www.pspmod.com/forums/psp-hardware-guides/28839-easy-use-pandoras-battery-guide-3.html
  
• http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/572482

It took a while to get the battery case pried open. Some guide make it seem like a pretty easy process, but you really need to work around the entire battery with a box cutter. Take your time and be careful! I nearly cut my hand doing this. I don't have a soldering iron, so I tried the safety pin method. I worked the pin until it broke off. I don't know if that was a good idea or not, but no turning around now. Another thing, I was really surprised how small those chips really are. Some folks have some really nice macro lenses to make the chip look big, but the pin you're working on is quite small. I didn't have the slim motherboard in my 1800 mAh original battery, so my only option was to lift/break the pin.

Using a Pandora Battery

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqMF622NpY4

To install backups, I think I need an ISO directory in the root of the memory stick. It is this directory that I copy the ISO or CFO? file. From there I should be able to access and play games from memory stick and not UMDs.

Portable Wiki?

I'm still trying to figure this one out. The product is called TiddlyWiki and they are trying to differentiate their product from other wiki's in that they are portable as a single page document. I guess I'll just have to download the software and give it a try to figure out what it can do.

UPDATE: I just downloaded the template page and I immediately got the gist of it. It's great. You can make all your edits within your browser and if you ever need to publish it online, it's just a single file html doc that easily integrates into your server setup.

I don't know what I'll use it for, but I can immediately see it's usefulness. I'm curious about how to secure the file and will have to look into this more closely.

Interesting manufacturing website

Ponoko offers an interesting service. They will create almost anything you can dream up that can be cut out of relatively flat sheets of material using their laser cutter. You design the templates, they cut the material and send it to you. I've seen lots of stuff from jewelry to furniture on their site. Their pricing is a bit mysterious, but what you can easily see are other people's products and designs for sale. Most seem over priced to me by about 40-50%, but they're interesting. Some folks have definitely put a lot of thought into their designs.

Twitter hashtags

Great way of tracking events:

• http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Hashtags
• http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2007/10/22/twitter-hashtags-for-emergency-coordination-and-disaster-relief/

Wii Modchip

I tried to order a D2Sun V3 SPI pre-soldered to a Wii-Clip V12. It sounded like a good deal for a little over 80 euros and included a tri-wing driver. Unfortunately, the Polish company, console24.com, is less than reliable. I never got my order. Currently, I'm waiting on the refund they've promised. I'm crossing my fingers.

So, back to the drawing board.

What to order?

• Wasabi V3 or Zero

Where to order?

And cross the fingers again.

UPDATE 1/7/09: I was hoping the chip would have arrived by now. We left for the holidays and I was desperately hoping that it would arrive in the mail. It hasn't come. I only hope that it will either come soon after I email the company or that they will refund me. Why the hell is it so hard to get a chip sent here?

UPDATE 1/9/09: Looks like my chip got sent to Maui. The seller sent the chip to the address I had in Paypal for security reasons. Since my parents are in Maui, they are having their mail forwarded from Princeton. I talked with Dad last night and he confirmed that he had an envelope from Canada with something lumpy in it. Nice. Looks like they got it! I hope I have a tri-wing driver bit somewhere.

Updating Resource Docs in ANGEL Presenter Instances

I'm an editor for an ANGEL Group that features a number of Adobe Presenter files. I was asked to update a DOC file that was consequently used in a number of presentations. I tried to re-publish ZIP files of those presentations, but realized that when I uploaded the updated ZIP the docs were the old files. I didn't even bother to try to figure it out since I'd have to go back into Parallels. So, I went into ANGEL's "Group File Manager" in the "Manage" Tab and began to manually add the updated versions of the documents directly into the "resources" directory of each presentation.

At one point, I had an empty directory in the Group File Manager and realized that the only way to delete it was to convert it into a ZIP and then delete the ZIP file. Kind of silly, but it works.

MKTG 301 Presentation w/ Video Preparation

These are the steps I need to take with Darren's presentations:

1. Create PDF Notes for the presentation
   
2. Copy the PPT to Parallels
3. Put PPT into a new directory
4. Put Notes PDF into the new directory
   
5. Duplicate title slide 4 times
6. Paste "Presentation Instructions" on each of the four new slides
7. Import video through Adobe Presenter using High Quality (700 kbps)
   
8. Adobe Presenter: Slide Manager:
1. Presented By: None
2. Navigation Name: [name for each slide]
3. Advance by User: Yes
9. Adobe Presenter: Presentation Settings
1. Choose the charcoal-colored theme
2. Deselect Auto play
3. Duration: 0.0 sec.
4. Attach handouts
5. Include Slide Numbers in Outline
   
10. Publish
11. Check which images didn't survive
12. Save as picture... for each image
13. Re-publish presentation
    

Sharing Data between Windows and OSX Leopard

John the Ripper

Article: How can I reset the password?
Article: How to crack Mac OS X passwords
Article: Cracking Unix password files for beginners
Article: How Mac OS X Implements Password Authentication, Part 2
(Forum: Leopard Password Hash Files, semi-repeat of above)
Article: Mac OS X Single User Mode Root Access

Securing MAMP

I'm quoting this post to insure I don't loose this information:

Installing MAMP
To install MAMP, download the latest disk image file and mount the image and copy the “MAMP” folder to your Applications folder. Note that MAMP MUST be installed in the Applications folder to work properly. Once the copy is complete, the installation is complete and ready to use. MAMP in a freshly installed state is not safe to use in a production environment. The next few sections will explain how to secure your installation of MAMP.
Securing MySQL
If you are going to install a PHP/MySQL based application, the first thing to change is the MySQL root password. Open the terminal and type the following:
/Applications/MAMP/bin/mysql4/bin/mysqladmin -u root -p password NEWPASSWORD
Instead of NEWPASSWORD use the new password you want.
Afterwards, you also need to change the password for phpMyAdmin and other scripts which are running under MAMP. You can change the password for phpMyAdmin in the following file:
‘/Applications/MAMP/bin/phpMyAdmin-X.X.X/config.inc.php’
Be sure to edit this file in a plain text editor such as BBEdit or TextWrangler.
The password is set on line 86 of the document and by default is set to “root”.
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'root';
Change ‘root‘ to the password set previously in the terminal. Now you can close and save config.inc.php and phpMyAdmin is now using the new MySQL password you set.
The next script we will change is located at /Applications/MAMP/bin/mamp/index.php
$link = @mysql_connect(’:/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock’, ‘root’, ‘root’);
The second instance of root is the password the script is providing to MySQL. Change this to your new root password. Once that is changed, you can save and close the file. Thanks for the catch Alexandre!
The next thing we will change is the stop MySQL script MAMP uses to stop the MySQL process. The file we are going to modify is located at ‘/Applications/MAMP/bin/stopMysql.sh’. The contents of the file is as follows:
# /bin/sh
/Applications/MAMP/bin/mysql4/bin/mysqladmin -u root -proot --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock shutdown
You will notice that the script saves the MySQL user id and password in the file as -u root for the userid and -proot for the password. We are just going to change the password for the script so when we quit MAMP, MySQL will also quit.
In order to change the password, in the section that is -proot change this to -pNEWPASSWORD where 'NEWPASSWORD' is the password set previously in the terminal. Close and save this file.
If MAMP is running, go to the phpMyAdmin page and see if you can access the databases. If you are able to, then phpMyAdmin is configured correctly to use the new password. Now try to Stop the servers for MAMP, if successful, both servers should stop. If MySQL does not stop, check the stopMysql.sh script again and check the password.
Securing the Admin section of MAMP
You may have noticed that the ’start page’ for MAMP is located at ‘http://localhost/MAMP/’ and this is where you can administer your databases and other settings for MAMP. If anyone figures out you are running MAMP, (identifiable by the favicon), they would be able to go straight to the phpMyAdmin section and drop entire databases. This is a security hole that needs to be fixed. For this solution, we will use .htaccess and an .htpasswd file to secure the folder. The .htpasswd file is what will hold the encrypted password for Apache to authenticate. The .htaccess file is what tells Apache to look at the .htpasswd file to authenticate against. Go to Dynamic Drive’s online .htpasswd tool to create an .htpasswd file and corresponding .htaccess.
The first section wants a username that you will use to access the protected folder. This can be anything you want. The second box will want a password that is valid for the user you just input. This can also be anything you want. In the second section, this is requesting the path to the .htpasswd file. We will put these files in ‘/Applications/MAMP’. Once these file are in place if you try to navigate to http://localhost/MAMP/ you will be presented with a dialog box requesting userid and password. Type in your corresponding userid and password and you should then be granted access to the start page where you can then administrate your databases.
I hope you find this tutorial useful and if there are any corrections or additions you would like to see added, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
UPDATE 02-23-06
I’ve added Alexandre’s tip to the article and have fixed an encoding error which made the code bits messy and incorrect. Hat tip to Joshua! Thanks for the tips!

Drupaling

I'm just beginning to play with Drupal and have got one running in MAMP Pro, but I'm having some issues with setting up multi-sites.

• My Drupal Site
• Creating Multiple Sites On a Local Computer
• Creating multisites locally using mamp (mac os x)
• Running multiple sites on a local PC (localhost) from a single codebase, using Windows

Downloading Embedded Video

Legality of Recording Meetings

http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/

I've recently downloaded "Recorder" for my iPhone and was happy that I could shelve yet another electronic gadget: my digital voice recorder.

I'm often so busy in meetings trying to understand some of the high-level topics, that it's difficult to take notes on all the details. Using a voice recorder was great in this regard. To be honest, I would just turn it on during meetings and review my recordings later to see what I missed.

I'm not really sure what got me thinking about the ethics and legality of doing so, but there's a lot out there that really put the breaks on for me. There are a lot of issues out there that need some careful thought and the plethora of digital options only makes the waters murkier.

What about recording sessions with Adobe Connect?
What about recording meetings with a Pulse Pen?

I'm going to think twice before I hit the red record button the next time. And I'm going to go through and delete any of the recordings I had made previously.