Game Satellite

Seriously?

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:22:58 -0700

Today, I walked into the office to do some emergency repairs, and came across an out of place ethernet cable. I decided to trace it back to its source. I started at the wall jack that it was connected to:

Wall Jack

And kept tracing it back:

Tracing

Until I finally found the source; a new "server":

The Source

And then I looked directly next to it:

The source

Yes, it is connected to that same switch, via a loop around the entire office. *sigh*

A Teacher, a Student and a Church-State Dispute

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:36:46 -0600

Below is a snippet from Neil deGrasse Tyson's website. It brilliantly makes a point.
New York Times
December 21, 2006
To the Editor:

People cited violation of the First Amendment when a New Jersey schoolteacher asserted that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific and that Noah's ark carried dinosaurs.

This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it's about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
New York, Dec. 19, 2006

Time machine woes

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:42:39 -0700

I recently had my poor MacBook pro die on me. It took a few tumbles in the shoddy bag that I got from work, as well as got "crushed" on the CDRom. I can see why they redesigned the entire line.

In any case, I had over a years worth of time machine backups that I really did not want to lose. After googleing, I found 10.5: Repair Time Machine after logic board changes, which I though was going to solve all of my issues. Suffice it to say, it did not. It had the general principal correct, but didn't actually solve the issue. So, here is my guide that will ensure you get your backups back.

First, start as he did and get your mac address. Since you will be doing almost everything in the console, you should just use:
ipconfig | grep -A 1 en0

Next, change directory to the time machine disk. This should be /Volumes/«DISKNAME», where DISKNAME is the disk name. You will find the .001122334455 file of your old machine's mac, as well as your new machine. If you backup multiple macs to the same time machine drive, then you will find several of these files. Your next step is to disable filesystem ACL's on the time machine disk.
sudo fsaclctl -p /Volumes/Time Machine -d

Then you will need to find the old mac address, then write the new mac address (from above).
sudo xattr -p com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress MyMac
sudo xattr -w com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress MyMac

You will need to move the old hidden file to the new mac address name. The filename is the mac without the colons, and preceded by a decimal (standard unix hidden file).
cd ..
mv .001122334455 .998877665544

Lastly, enable filesystem ACL's again.
sudo fsaclctl -p /Volumes/Time Machine -e

Now "Safe" eject the drive (right click and eject), then reinsert it.

Now, if you are a "defaults only" user, this will work. However, I am not a defaults only user.

Personally, I found that deleting the hidden file, then retargeting time machine with "Change Disk" seemed to work a little better. But, it wasn't actually finding my data. Everything was locked, and it only had a folder called "MacBurger" with all of my data in it, which was a pain since I couldn't get to them with iCal/Address book. As it turns out, you should rename your new hard drive to the name of the old hard drive to get a proper backup. Unplug it and plug it back in, everything will work.

Creation Science

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:19:01 -0600

The worlds biggest oxymoron now has its own museum! I refuse to link directly to it, but it is in Big Valley. I intend to take a trip down there this summer and listen (genuinely) to what they have to say.

How to not be a douche bag client

Wed, 21 May 2008 10:32:45 -0600

When you ask for computer advice, then don't take it, it is not the computer guys fault for not pushing it.
When you get advice from your computer guy, he is not trying to sell you something.
Do not lie to the computer guy. If your machine is slow, say so. Yes, you need a new computer. No, he's not just trying to make a buck.
If you have a long history of complaining that computer service costs money, your computer guy will stop recommending the best solution, and will switch to the cheapest solution.
No, I cannot fix a broken hard drive/virus scanner/etc over the phone.
Moving your OS from one hard drive to another, is not a 20 minute task. Do not stand around and expect it to happen before your eyes.
Recovering all of the data you refused to backup from a dead hard drive, is NOT a free service, nor will the hard drive manufacturer pay for said service.
My time is not free. Get over it.
Don't send your young attractive female employee to flirt with the computer guy in the hopes of getting a discount. It is insulting, and considered harassment.
Computer guys make mistakes. We do the best we can, but we are human. Remember, the number of mistakes we make pale in comparison to the number you make, and how many times have we saved your bacon and understated your stupidity.
Most importantly, if you are not backing up, and your computer guy has told you to back up, you should step away from the computer, and go back to an abacus/drafting table, because you are too stupid to use your computer.

OS X and Extended Attributes

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:23:52 -0600

After copying a few thousand files from one drive to another on an old Panther server, many of the files didn't act the same. That is, they didn't open with the same program. File associations don't matter in this case, because there is several versions, each needing its own version, so a blanket change won't help. So, after some research, I was unable to find a good solution, so instead, I wrote a xattr copy python script. I have posted it here for everyone to have and use. Its simple, but its all thats needed.

Youtube Music

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:03:59 -0700

This is the playlist I have been adding new music to. Mostly trance.