Teich.Net :: All In

Installed the latest leopard update - 10.5.2 today. NOT a good idea.

Neither of my computers can now connect to my DLINK DIR-635 over wifi. Or at least, they connect, get an IP address, etc, but I can’t actually send any data. In fact, it’s really weird. At one point, I could ping external IP addresses just fine, but I couldn’t ping my router. Which is the default route. WTF?

I tried pinging my router - that didn’t work well:

PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=544.516 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=0.485 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=0.483 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=64 time=543.981 ms
^C
--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
28 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 85% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.483/272.366/544.516/271.882 ms

I changed my SSID, turned on WPA2 (really bad idea, now I get no route to host) turned it off, rebooted everything. No go.

In the middle of writing this, I even just lost ALL connectivity via Ethernet. I had to reboot my iMac just go get connected again. Something very very odd is going on here.

A warning and complaint to all:

Offline support in Mail.app in 10.5.1 (and 10.5.0) is a DISASTER!  Actions performed offline (filing) DO NOT get synced when you connect back up.  Further, every time you send a message it warns you that you’re not connected!  I lost 2 hours of email work on the plane.  Apparently only 50% of the 40 emails I sent actually found their way out, I can’t tell what is what, and who has seen whom.  It’s a disaster.  DO NOT USE mail.app for offline.

darn it.

Yes, it appears to be a bad deal for the developer. It’s a great deal for the user though.

The MacHeist software bundle takes 14 apps and sells them for 90% off - $49 total. And that’s a real discount - not some ginzu knife discount. I personally had purchased 1passwd in the past for the indicated price. I’ve already received my money’s worth - Snapz Pro X is a great way to do screencasts, and costs $69 alone.

Ensuring they are buzzword compliant, they also have a viral marketing aspect - refer people to receive additional software. Clearly they’re roped me in to it. Finally, it’s marketing genius that they give 25% of the order to charity - help you assuge your guilt somehow? Turn buying into a community action? Either way, it’s really worth checking out, and taking advantage of. The deal ends Wednesday.

Referral link - MacHeist

Direct link - MacHeist

I got a Kindle when it came out, and love it. Yes, the ID is terrible. And WTF is up with the back button? But it’s changed reading for me. I’ve been tearing through books again, and enjoying it all the time.

Being a geek, it’s not enough to just read, I’ve got to share too! So, I’ve added a goodreads widget over there on the right side. Take a look at the books I’m reading, and suggest some more! I’m running out of ideas - there are too many out there, I get overwhelmed.

I’m having some very weird issues with leopard. The dock seems to have rendering issues - the hover text boxes don’t always have their border, and the spring folders are totally messed up. Those gray round bars are supposed to be the files. No text, and no icons for the files.  Anyone have any idea what’s going on?

Upgraded to Leopard last night.  (BTW, drove by the Palo Alto Apple store on the way home, where there was a ~100 person line @ 6 waiting for the store to reopen.  For an OS.  Apple, please rub some juju on me too).  As you can imagine, there are thousands of people pontificating all over the web.  I haven’t seen anyone cover the one change that means the world to me:  Spotlight and mail.

Previously, searching for mail was tedious.  My standard M.O. involves remembering that Steve sent me an email with a presentation in it, but not really remembering anything else.  It used to be, I created a “smart folder” for email from steve, then searched that folder for emails to me or that contained a presentation.  Not exactly useful.Now, just type: “from:steve to:oren odp” (yeah, I use neooffice/staroffice) and I’ve got my results.  This is the way google desktop, MSN desktop, and even ancient Lookout search all worked.  It’s been the ONE thing I’ve really missed in my switch to a mac, and now it’s here!  I’m such a loser - but this made the $120 upgrade totally worth it.  Doesn’t hurt that spotlight is now blazing fast too.   

I’ve been looking for the perfect device for geotagging, and I can definitively say I’ve found one that ISN’T it. At first glance, the AMOD AGL3080 sounded like the perfect device:

• SiRF III chipset for best sensitivity and low speed tracking
• Standard USB 2.0 interface which doubles as an USB Flash Disk
• Works with Windows, Mac, and Linux based computers
• Long operating time - 15 hours with 3 x AAA batteries
• Large data capacity - stores over 256,000 data records

Too bad it doesn’t work well at all. Takes forever to get a lock, once it has a lock at walking speeds it’s worse than a drunken sailor on $2 rum, it’s huge and heavy. I can’t say anything good for this thing at all - just stay away.  On this map, I walked around the light white path through the green all around - you can see how poorly it tracked.I’m going to get a Wintec WBT-201 instead. It’s not SiRF III, but I know it works.  Semsons has been super cool, and a great vendor.  Definitely a good place to buy your GPS toys from.

UPDATE: Some comments have come up that I should review it again now that they’ve fixed the problems.  While I’d be happy to do so should someone send one my way, the form factor would still be a killer for me.  It’s just plain big compared with the WBT-201, and that’s the most important criteria for me, more important than accuracy.

As you may have noticed, things look a bit different. I upgraded to Wordpress 2.2 today. In the process I backed out all the changes I made in various theme and plugins previously, and tried to find as many plugins or widgets that provide the same functionality. For those who are curious, this site is now running the following:

• Akismet (of course!)
• FeedBurner FeedSmith
• Full Text Feed
• Google Analyticator
• Google Sitemaps
• Tag Cloud widget for UTW
• Tiger Style Administration
• Ultimate Tag Warrior
• WPG2

Check out video interviews with top Bay Area chefs and food writers talking about their favorite San Francisco dining spots. I felt some validation watching Thomas Keller, one of my food idols, coo over my personal SF favorite, Quince. And, I had never though of trying Campton Place for brunch!

As a side note: I actually found this site through a banner ad served by DoubleClick on Tastyr San Francisco Restaurant Reviews, a site I landed on from a comment about recommendations on a TechCrunch post. This is the first time I can remember clicking on a banner ad in ages. It’s not that I don’t like ads — I actually really appreciate the goods ones, they are just few and far between. American Express has done a pretty decent job with their My Card, My Life campaign, though I’m not sure how much the print ads or this Local Dish site contribute to my use of my Amex card. What this find does demonstrate is the value of real content in advertising and of matching little sites like Tastyr with truly relevant ads.

A funny new mashup for browsing local restaurants.