Setting up a new Mac

I've set up two MacBooks recently, and I thought it might be a good idea to gather all of my background research into one place. There's no magic or imposition here, just my personal opinion on some of the things to consider when setting up a new Mac.

1. Leopard

Tiger (10.4) is good, but Leopard (10.5) is better in some key areas - the ones that I found significant (and upgrade-worthy) were Time Machine (incremental backups) and the improved Quartz Composer (Which I would definitely recommend for anyone who wants to play with interactive graphics).

2. Security

The basic approach here is to create a 'Working' user account with no administrator privileges and to use that for everyday use, and to have an 'Admininstrator' user account with administrator privileges. Different passwords and some adjustments to the default settings should give you a pretty safe computer. I followed these intructions from MacGeekery:

http://www.macgeekery.com/tips/security/basic_mac_os_x_security

3. USB Boot Drive

It is possible to install a bootable (on Intel Macs) version of Leopard onto a 16 Gig USB Flash drive. It can take a while to install on slower drives, but the resulting portability and assurance is great. All I did was follow these instructions from Maciverse:

http://www.maciverse.com/install-boot-os-x-leopard-from-a-usb-flash-drive.html

Once done, you insert the USB drive, hold the alt button and power up, then select the USB drive.

4. Bootable Time Machine Drive

Time Machine makes incremental backup easy, but the default setup means that you have to do a restore when things go wrong. I'm much happier if there's the minimum to do when stressed by one failure, and so here's how to make the Time Machine drive bootable:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2008011623365026

http://www.thegraphicmac.com/create-bootable-time-machine-backup-drive

The one point of concern here is that when Time machine fills the drive, then there is no space for working files. One solution seems to be to store a sacrificial 1 Gig (or more) of files in a folder that can be deleted when required. Time Machine does not overwrite files, so this should help.

5. Applejack

When Mac OSX falls over, then probably the worst circumstance is when something is wrong during the Unix start-up, or if you don't get as far as the GUI starting up. Applejack provides a simple trouble-shoot or clean-up without requiring any knowledge of the Unix command-line at all.

http://applejack.sourceforge.net/

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2005041817191411

Note that you access Applejack by holding down Command+S (Command is that 'propeller' symbol) during a reboot, and then typing 'applejack' when the text prompt on the black screen appears. Then type 'a' for auto. I've only used it twice, but it rescued me each time!

6. Cocktail

Cocktail does all of the Unix routine maintenance jobs that should happen when a machine is left on all the time - but if you turn off your Mac then they never happen. It also does a lot more besides!

http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php

I'm told that a partial free alternative is Maintenance ( http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16790 ), but I've always used Cocktail and have no experience of Maintenance.

7. SuperDuper!

SuperDuper! makes backups easy - and once you've done that first backup, then only changed files are backed up, so it is much faster for the second backup (unless you have changed a lot of files in between the two backups!)

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

8. QuickSilver

Quicksilver provides a way to control applications on a Mac with the qwerty keyboard instead of the mouse. Once learned (and it isn't difficult) it can really speed up many common activities. Definitely worth trying out, and persisting with, especially on a MacBook.

http://docs.blacktree.com/quicksilver/what_is_quicksilver

http://vjarmy.com/archives/2004/03/quicksilver_a_b.php

http://www.blacktree.com/

9. Blogs

You will have noticed that there's quite a few links to Mac-oriented blogs in this post - you will find them an invaluable resource for finding out, keeping up to date, and more...

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Improve your joypad...

The 'Joypad' 'SixAxis' controller that comes with the first Sony PlayStation 3 models improved the L2 and R2 buttons from the 'Dual Shock2' PS2 controller. In fact, they turned from buttons into trigger-style controls as found in slot-car racing controllers - so instead of just moving inwards, they rotate slightly. This improves the control over how much pressure you apply, which then translates into better control over the speed, thrust, power etc in the game.

The more recently released 'Dual Shock III' controller adds vibration, and there are differing opinions as to whether or not the L2 and R2 buttons have changed: slightly softer/grippier plastic, or slightly rougher surface finish, slightly harder to press versus slightly easier to press. I'm not sure if manufacturing tolerances, different moulds or mould wear, account for the these differences in perception. They feel the same to me...

But the triggers do have one problem. They are convex (rounded outwards) rather than concave (dished inwards) and so it is quite easy for your fingers to slip off them, particularly when the trigger is used as the throttle/accelerator control in a driving game. Although the surface of the trigger is textured, this only partially helps.

So I was intrigued to hear about add-on accessories ('non-slip trigger enhancements' is how the manufacturer describes them!) for the PS3 controller that turn the convex surface into concave by adding little bits of extra plastic. The 'real triggers for PS3' just clip onto the existing trigger, and can be removed if required. The mechanical design is very good - once clipped on they are stable and it takes quite a bit of enthusiastic trigger pressing to cause them to come off in the middle of game play. Best of all, there's no glue and no drilling required, and once removed, the controller is as it was beforehand.

All in all, a bit of an unfair advantage!

The picture compares a PS3 'SixAxis' controller fitted the the 'Real triggers' on the left, with a plain PS3 'SixAxis' controller on the right.

The 'Real tiggers for PS3' are made by GioTeck. I got mine from Amazon.

Quotes that resonate with me. Number 1

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”

-Albert Einstein

Beans and Sauce...

Baked beans enjoy huge popularity at UK mealtimes. And yes, the name IS slightly misleading - the beans are actually 'simmered' rather than 'baked'. The familiar dark cyan can has been part of my pantry/larder experience since my age was expressed in single figures, many years ago. But recently, something strange and mysterious has happened...

It is one of those things that you notice once, dismiss as insignificant, but then with each successive instance, you gradually promote it in terms of importance. I'm now at the point where I'm intrigued enough to see if anyone else has noticed it.

Noticed what? Well, when you have opened a tin/can of beans, you then empty the tin/can into a pan or into a microwavable container (usually a pyrex bowl) and then heat them up (but not boiling them, since this allegedly 'impairs' the flavour - actually I love the flavour of overly enthusiastically-boiled 'beans that have gone mushy', but that's another story). And it is here, at the point of emtying them out, that the change has occurred. Previously, the beans and the sauce were one, and could be emptied out merely by inverting the tin/can - but recently, the sauce and beans are separate, with the sauce on top, and the beans in a lump ('en masse') underneath. Vigorous shaking is now required in order to remove the beans from the nether end of the tin/can.

I've tried opening brand new tins/cans, as well as those nearer the 'sell by' date, and the effect seems to be consistent. Once homogeneous beans and sauce have been replaced with sauce over beans 'en masse'. Now I know this is not the end of civilisation as we know it (although it comes a close second!), but I'd still like to know why this momentous change has happened, hence this blog post!

Great Mind 2009

Sometimes, you are surprised by recognition from an unexpected source. It provides a very warm and welcome feeling when your efforts are rewarded, and I was recently the recipient of just such an acknowledgement.

It was from the Advertising Research Foundation, and I was given a certificate of distinction as part of their 'Great Mind 2009' award for my work on advertising technology at Real Time Content (my day job). You can read more about it on the Real Time Content blog.

What is interesting about the award is that my work is all about disruptive change. I work with a highly skilled and hugely knowledgeable team of colleagues (who should really all be mentioned on the 'Great Mind' award) on changing the way that media is created and delivered. We are making media that is flexible and malleable, rather than a fixed 'recording' that can only be played back. Instead, we want to make the media of the future something which can change in length, rating, presentation, style, and more.

Turning media into something that is not constrained to a single 'instance' turns it into a form that is more like a live performance, where what happens next is not pre-determined, but is controlled by the reaction of the audience. Adaptive media might be one way of describing it, and the word 'adaptive' is very significant...

The great advances in technology are often based on a generic version of more specific solutions. The wheel turns a lever, from a one-shot method of moving a heavy load forwards, into a continuous form. The computer is a general purpose information processing device that can be used whenever you want to manipulate data. Perhaps making media adaptive is another of these fundamental changes...

Trains, Tube and Blobs

Some weeks ago, I sent a twitter 'tweet' pondering the reason behind the closure of Blackfriars tube station in London for three years, and got a fascinating tweet back that told me that there was no such tube station, and never had been. Nuff said, it seemed.

But I was recently able to talk to someone who is in the 'Trains' specialist group (known as a 'professional network') of the IET, the Institute of Engineering and Technology. The IET are the people who you talk to in order to reach the cream of the engineering profession - so you get straight answers from people who know. So I asked two obvious questions: why was Blackfriars closed?; and why do trains always seem to be replaced by buses at weekends?

Actually, the answers are pretty obvious once you think about them in the right way... This is probably because engineering is often about completely understanding the problem first...

Trying to completely rebuild a busy Tube station in situ in these days of very protective safety legislation seems like a recipe for accidents, or else is going to increase the duration of the work. With this in mind, then a few years seems less unreasonable.

Weekend 'rail replacement' buses seem strange given the apparent increases in the number of people who seem to want to use the train at weekends in our 24-7 'world in recession'. But given that the alternative is either closing down the rail network earlier at might, or doing the work during the week, then the weekend seems like the logical time to do it. But then, when you think deeper, you wonder why there's so much maintenance needed? Maybe the answer is to look beyond fixing the immediate symptoms and fix the underlying problem...

All of which wonderfully illustrates what I think engineering is really all about. It isn't necessarily about getting your hands dirty, or making the tallest, widest or longest something. Instead, it is more about thinking about how and why things work the way they do (or don't), and particularly about understanding how and why things interact (or don't interact) in the ways they do. Try searching for 'IET: Beware of the Monkeys' on YouTube for another example...

Which brings me to my final engineering question of this blog posting: Why do chefs always make the blobs of fruit coulis different sizes?

Apple do Care!

Despite the fact that I have AppleCare on my main G5 Quad Mac, I've never needed to us it so far. But recently, the hard drive on one of my offspring's MacBook decided that it had become a mere lump of metal rather than a useful piece of storage, and so AppleCare was used for the first time.

After a quick phonecall where it was quickly established that I had done all the things that one could reasonably be expected to do (check the PSU, check the battery, check if it boots with various keys held down, reset the PRAM, reset the power management, etc.), things moved rapidly to an appointment at the Apple Store on Regent Street in London.

The Genius Bar runs a queuing system even though you have timed appointments, and so I joined the set of people sitting on the wooden benches at the top of the stairs. After about twenty minutes I was called, and the Apple Genius rapidly established that the MacBook hard drive was indeed as dead as I had described. Once a repair form was filled in and signed, I left, expecting a 7 to 10 day repair time...

On my way back home (trains will be the subject of a forthcoming blog posting, so I'll say nothing now) my mobile phone took a message from the Apple Store telling me that the MacBook had been repaired and was ready for collection. Total elapsed time from leaving the MacBook to receiving the phonecall was less than three hours. Needless to say, I couldn't turn around, but I was still hugely impressed at being able to get such a rapid and relatively painless repair.

So, the MacBook is well again and I have a happy offspring once more. The experience was far less painful and much faster than I was expecting, and I have to give Apple 9/10 for a job well done. I deduct one point for the long queuing time at the Genius Bar, and for not having anything on the web-site that says that you don't need an appointment to pick up a repair...