Fear of Confusion

Show Hidden Files in Open or Save Dialog

2012-02-16T20:31:00.002Z

To see hidden files or folders in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (I don’t have Lion so I don’t know if it still works) from the Open or Save dialog within an application:

Click File > Open or File > Save then press Command Shift . to reveal all hidden folders and files.
Press same combination to hide them again.

This is the method I used to open a hidden folder using the Finder.

MobileMe Security Certificate Not Trusted

2012-02-15T22:22:00.001Z

Just when I think my MobileMe Mail experience is not going to get any worse, Apple manages to lob a new issue at me in the form of the mail server security certificate is now 'Not Trusted'.
I have not been able to access my MobileMe Mail account using Mail.app on OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) for months now, with password rejection issues. I was unable to use PostBox for the same reason. I had to make Sparrow my default mail client because it is the only Desktop application I have that is unaffected by the password issue.
On my iOS devices I needed to delete and reinstall my MobileMe Mail account once iCloud became active in order to overcome the password rejections. Now there is this -- Not Trusted Certificates.
I am trying to shift all my email connections and usage from Apple to Google Gmail. Apple's iCloud debacle has lost the love of this unhappy bunny.

Email this page on Chromebook

2012-01-11T20:31:00.000Z

Email this page (by Google) is an extension for Google Chrome. To make it work on a Chromebook, I have found I specifically need to set Gmail as my email client in options otherwise an email will be created but without any link included to the web page.

To get to options, either right-click the Email this page icon on the extensions bar:

Or click the Spanner icon on the extensions bar > Tools > Extensions

On the Options, click Gmail and close the page tab

Twitter Spammers Run Out of Avatars

2012-01-10T22:57:00.000Z

I have had a spate of very spammy-looking Twitter account following me. Whilst the names are always different the avatar photo ID is not.

Problems with Google Chrome

2012-01-08T22:41:00.000Z

Since version 15 update to Google Chrome I have been having problems with web pages freezing and needing to be killed.

Aw, Snap! Indeed.

So this could be an extension conflict problem or a corrupt user profile. Which ever it is, it will cost me some time to fix it.

Update:
I noticed that my Evernote Extensions were not updating using the Update extensions now button. I had to remove them and reinstall them to get the latest version in Google Chrome for Mac. They are the up-to-date versions on the Chromebook, so is this just a update issue with Chrome for Mac?

It seems on first test of pages that previously caused Aw, Snap! that with the updated Evernote extensions (particularly the Evernote Web Clipper which was called Clip for Evernote and was a relatively old version) these pages have loaded without problem.

I will need to do some more testing to see if the problem has really stopped. I will also need to keep an eye on what version numbers the extensions are and what is the latest version in the Chrome Web Store. I have regularly clicked the update extensions button but it appears not to work for all extensions.

Update Mon–09-Jan-12: Still problems. Disabling all Extensions. Re-enabling them one-by-one. Trying different combinations of Extensions. There is not one Extension that causes the problems. It will appear that one is the problem but in another combination there is no problem when the previously problem Extension is re-enabled. Combine this with all same Apps and Extensions enabled on the Chromebook and there isn’t a problem with them (or I can’t recreate a problem page at the moment).

Update Tue–10-Jan-12 : This is costing a lot of time. The only thing to do is to work with a vanilla Google Chrome, one with no apps nor extensions and see what happens.

Note: Trying to see what was different between Google Chrome on my Chromebook and my Mac I listed what was on each. In the lists below Apps/Extensions in bold are not on other device.

Google Chrome for Mac (16.0.912.75)

Apps Installed

Chrome Web Store
Blogger
Picasa
Gmail
YouTube
Picnik
Scratchpad
Google Books
Google Docs
Google Maps
Google News
Google Reader
Box
Clock
(Kindle) Cloud Reader
Evernote Web
HootSuite
Pixlr-o-matic
Prezi
QuietWrite
20 Things I Learned…

Extensions Installed

Chromebook Google Chrome 16.0.912.75

Apps Installed

Chrome Web Store
Blogger
Picasa
Gmail
YouTube
Picnik
File Manager
Scratchpad
Google Books
Google Calender
Google Docs
Google Maps
Google News
Google Reader
Box
Clock
Evernote Web
Pixlr-o-matic
HootSuite
Prezi
QuietWrite
Google Talk Launcher
20 Things I Learned…
Entanglement

Extensions Installed

ImageOptim PNGout Setup

2012-01-07T13:32:00.001Z

ImageOptim is a free OS X application for optimising and so reducing the file size of images. It works via the Services Menu or simply launching the app and drag-and-drop a PNG, JPEG or GIF file onto its window. One extra component can added to enhance the PNG optimisation. The tool is called PNGOUT. It isn’t essential for ImageOptim to work to have PNGOUT installed. I found that PNGOUT needed to be added to the hidden /usr/bin/ folder. Adding it to another folder did not work for me.

Download PNGOUT
Open: ImageOptim > Preferences… > PNGOUT
Type the PNGOUT path as: /usr/bin/pngout
Alteratively: It is possible to browse to the hidden folder in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Click Browse button (shown in step 2) then press Command Shift . to reveal all hidden folders and files. Press same combination to hide them again. In this case, it’s as easy to type the path.
Add the PNGOUT file into the /usr/bin/ folder. This is the method I used to add PNGOUT to /usr/bin/
Authenticate the move of PNGOUT to bin

Open Hidden Folder in Finder

2012-01-07T11:56:00.000Z

I wondered how to reveal and open a hidden folder in OS X. There are applications that will show and navigate hidden folders, for example FolkLift. I know that the Finder can work with hidden folders once they have been made visible without the need for any other app. I knew that the folder I wanted was /usr/bin/. I used this method to reveal the folder:

In a browser (I used Google Chrome) enter web address of: file:///usr/
Drag the link to bin/ onto the Desktop
Double-click the file location icon
Finder opens the bin folder as a visible folder so that I can drag-and-drop files into it

Three Markdown Dropbox Bloggging Platforms

2012-01-06T23:59:00.002Z

With the demise on MobileMe, its web sites and easy blog hosting and publishing using iWeb, a vacuum has been created for easy blog writing and publishing. Saving plain text files to a Dropbox folder doesn’t get much easier for creating a blog post. This appears to be the route take by three different sites, with the option to add formatting to the text using Markdown notation to make text bold, italic, add links, lists and pictures.

A couple of weeks ago I started trying Calepin.co. I like it. I like the look and feel of how it works. I am able to do what I have wanted, given my limited knowledge of such things. It is enough for me to understand.

Today I see there are two more such sites.

Scriptogr.am which appears very similar to Calepin. The signup and connection methods are identical to my memory. Scriptogram seems to manage files and posts slightly differently. There are plans for more customising of Scriptogram sites than Calepin says it will offer. I have connected Scriptogram to Dropbox and will give it a try.

Skrivr.com is also a Markdown / Dropbox blogging method as I understand it. Signup is by invite only. I do not have an invite but if I get one I will try it.

They all look to be trying to fill the void of simple blogging but from different angles. Hopefully not too many toes will be trodden on in the dance of these new hybrid blogging platforms.

Update: Make that four Markdown / Dropbox Blogs.

Droptype.com is one with less (no?) option to customise the font or theme but does have a unique (so far) feature of being able to see updates of a draft post in the browser to see how a post will look or read before publishing.

Code Year 2012

2012-01-02T22:20:00.000Z

I saw a mention of Code Year on Twitter in the morning. In the evening when I looked at the Code Year site over fifty-three thousand had signed up. I entered my email and clicked the Start learning! button; a very simple and easy way to join up.

A little while later I got a confirmation email with a get started now link. So I have started. What it entails are a series of short interactive exercises introducing how to code with JavaScript. It is free. It encourages and it is positive in its instruction. Every stage is rewarded with points and achievement badges. Let’s see if I can continue. Already I have seen benefit, in that I looked at a web pages source code and recognised some of the constructs of JavaScript.

Now the number signed up is over one hundred and forty thousand and counting which shows how many people want to learn.

Frustrations with Instapaper app

2012-01-01T23:16:00.001Z

Instapaper iOS app has made a right mess of the pages forwarded to Evernote - not including the web page link and doubling up all pictures. It's a pain of an app. Following on from my Trust concept, Instapaper is an app to drop. Also all the links I sent to Pinboard bounced and were lost. Pig-boo.

With Pinboard, I think the password had been changed again by me after the connection was originally made between Instapaper and Pinboard, during the period I stopped using Instapaper. Rather than on my return to Instapaper, the app saying, "Oi, I can't connect to Pinboard, reconnect me", Instapaper carried on as if everything was OK. Leaving me to discover that the load of deleted article that I had bookmarked to Pinboard before deleting, have not been bookmarked. Leaving me with no record of the notes and tags I gave each article after reading it. Leaving me reminding myself never to use the Instapaper again.

Trust

2012-01-01T23:10:00.000Z

A couple of thinks have happened that have made me re-look at the concept of Trust as a guiding knife as to whether to keep or kill a project. Kill being a metaphysical use of the word. Project being any object, application or work.

Can I rely on a thing? Can I Trust it? If yes, keep it. If no, get rid.

Let's try to make this a solid year of progress.

Calepin Encourages Note Writing

2011-12-29T23:01:00.000Z

Seeing plain text notes published on Calepin I find very encouraging to the processes of writing up notes. The title, date, category and tags inserted with TextExpander add structure to the note making process, increases focus on what the note is about and what I want to cover. It removes the blank-page block of writing. Saving them in the one Dropbox folder, dated and titled, gives them order and place. Seeing them on Calepin gives them purpose.

Suddenly short, throw-away notes have a purpose. It’s worth writing things down. It’s simple and no effort. It’s better because they exists as a starting point if I want to continue writing on them. If I don’t develop them then they still exists as a note and a note that I can view as an web post article. Writing things down and seeing them on a web page makes it more encouraging to polish the note into a full post. A post would never be written if I had intended to write a post.

The fact that a note is ‘published’ with each save removes the preciousness of having to ‘make a post’. The use of Markdown means that even a simple bullet point list is easy to write. Start each line with a hyphen-space-word combination and I have a bullet-point web page note. Making a list of what I want to write about can be easily written and looks like a ‘real’ post when viewed on Calepin. Even a first ‘brain-drain’ stage of getting the points I want to make, out of my head and into words, becomes a ‘valid’ post on Calepin just because it has been saved to Calepin’s Dropbox folder. I particularly like using the Mac App Store application iA Writer for the task of writing. It's a joy to use.

The fact too, that I can write these same text notes, to the same folder, using the same TextExpander trigger on my iPod or iPad using Textforce app is also very encouraging to writing down notes. (Elements–not an app I like–or any other text app that supports TextExpander and a user selectable folder on Dropbox can be used. Note: Some apps don’t allow the user to choose the Dropbox folder to save to.)

Notes are not lost in some proprietary app or file format. They are not locked onto one device. They can be edited and updated on any device. When you see the text, it is in more human readable Markdown if any formatting or links have been added. (If you need to embed HTML things such as YouTube videos, that can be done using the standard HTML code.)

One thing that usually inhibits me is if things get too precious that I feel that cannot complete them perfectly. When I feel this towards something, I do not start it. If things become too important then I don’t want to do it wrong. If I do not want to do it wrong then I become frozen. Calepin and informal notes that are posts feels like a way to ‘break the ice’ on preciousness, perfection and fear of failure and fear of being wrong. There is a greater chance of doing rather than just thinking about by breaking the resistance to the starting the doing-process.

With there being no difference between saving and publishing, or saving and updating. If I want to see the update in a browser, then I just go to Calepin.co and click publish to update all posts. If I want to use it on FoC, it’s already written or at least started.

Well, that’s the theory. Let’s see what happens in practise over the coming months. My Calepin site is neilboyd.calepin.co

Calepin the Dropbox Markdown Blog

2011-12-19T23:00:00.000Z

I am trying calepin.co. It is a site that connects to Dropbox to enable Markdown text files save into the Calepin folder within Dropbox, auto-magically become web posts via the Calepin site.

It’s easy to get started. On the Calepin site I enter in a username. The next step take me to authorising a connection between Calepin and my Dropbox account. Once logged into the Calepin site, creating a Dropbox hosted blog posts is just a click away.

Save Markdown text files to the Apps/Calepin folder within Dropbox
Click Publish on calepin.co
The post is created or updated at my Calepin site

Each update needs to be Published again using the Calepin Publish button after the updated file has been saved within Dropbox. Refreshing the browser with not show the update.

There are certain metadata words to include in each post file such as date and title. The default setting of these could be added using TextExpander. More information about using Calepin is on the Calepin Guide.

At the moment I am trying out this combination of Calepin and Dropbox. So far, I like it. My Calepin site is neilboyd.calepin.co

Connect Sparrow to EITHER Dropbox OR CloudApp

2011-12-10T23:36:00.001Z

Sparrow email client for OS X can send attachments with emails in the traditional way or it can make use of the Cloud storage services of Dropbox or CloudApp. Sparrow does all the uploading to the Cloud service then copies the Cloud service link into the email making the process very easy. I have done a couple video screencasts showing adding an attachment with Sparrow using CloudApp and Sparrow using Dropbox in earlier posts. The Cloud storage attachment method can get around the problem of file size limitations set by email services.

One thing I like about using Dropbox for attachments is that I can update linked files. For example, if I send someone a PDF document then after sending it I see that glaring spelling mistake (the one in the main title that everyone else see instantly), with Dropbox I can replace the error-ridden PDF with an updated one and so long as the updated file is exactly the same name as the original and in the same Dropbox folder, the Dropbox link in the email will not be broken. Everyone who received the email will download the updated PDF. No further emails need be sent.

Originally Sparrow used the CloudApp service. In Sparrow’s last update it added the Dropbox service. What I didn’t realise was that this is an EITHER / OR option. With having the CloudApp already setup, I didn’t see Dropbox as available. To get the choice I needed to Disconnect from CloudApp first.

Connect Sparrow with Dropbox

1. Disconnect CloudApp

Click Sparrow > Preferences… > Services
Click Disconnect

2. Choose Attachment Service

Click Dropbox

3. Log in to Dropbox

Enter Dropbox Email and Password
Click Log in

4. Allow Sparrow to Connect to Dropbox

Click Allow to Connect Sparrow with Dropbox

5. Dropbox as Attachment Service

To go back to using CloudApp, Disconnect Dropbox and re-connect CloudApp.

Using Sparrow and Dropbox to add attachment to Shortmail

2011-12-08T12:20:00.001Z

[1:19s] The latest update to Sparrow email client version 1.5 on Mac OS X adds the option to use Dropbox for email attachments. Shortmail is a text only email account for emails of less than 500 characters. Using all there together makes adding 'attachment' links to Shortmail emails very easy to do. Sparrow can also do the same thing with CloudApp and Shortmail.

Links in Shortmail emails work within the Shortmail iPhone app.

Shortmail email message with Dropbox link

...tapping the link shows the image within Shortmail app

One thing to be aware of with the link created by Shortmail, which is a shortened link of the Dropbox link [see update below], is that this shortened link is not secure. It can potentially be viewed by anyone. Anyone can type in a variation of the final few letters of an http://shml.me/ link and see the result of that 're-created' link. There is a chance that the random 'found' link could be to your image or file. Some people like to play this type of 'link roulette' to see what surprises they might find. ~~So I would not use Shortmail and this technique to send links to images or information that I want to keep secret.~~ (Mind, is anything secret on the web?)

Link Roulette can be played with other very short URL schemes. I first came aware of it with CloudApp and cl.ly links using four characters. CloudApp have a more private http://cl.ly link followed by 20 characters which is now the default link used by them. You can choose to use the shorter 4 character link by default or on an individual basis. Dropbox iOS app can create a http://db.tt link using 8 characters.

Note that Sparrow puts the image in the Public folder within Dropbox but uses a 32 character unique name for the folder in which the attachment is place. So this potential privacy issue is ~~from using Shortmail with Sparrow and Dropbox because Shortmail makes a short link of the Dropbox link.~~ It does not happen when Sparrow and Dropbox is used with another IMAP email account such as Gmail. Now following the Shortmail update nor does it happen with Shortmail!

Update: A few hours after I posted this, Shortmail change how they handle Dropbox Public links. They are no longer shortened, more can be read here:
http://blog.shortmail.com/2011/12/using-sparrow-and-dropbox/

Air Files iOS Wi-Fi Transfer Using FTP Client

2011-12-02T23:48:00.001Z

Air Files is an iOS app that can store and view multiple different file formats whether they are images, audio or Office documents and more. The app comes in two versions: ファイル君(Air Files) for iPhone or iPod Touch or AirFilesHD for iPad. It is one of the least expensive apps for transferring files onto an iOS device without going through iTunes or needing to upload files to Dropbox. I have used them since version one and used FTP file transfer to move multiple files in one go onto the iOS devices. With version three of Air Files for iPhone/iPod, the FTP transfer stopped working for me. Connection kept being refused. Transfer of files, one at a time, still worked with a browser but that becomes tedious with lots of files.

The solution I found was to use my FTP client, Transmit, but use the protocol of WebDAV and the server settings of HTTP. This is what I did to make file transfer work again:

1. Air Files Wi-Fi Transfer settings on iPod

Launch Air Files on the iPod and tap Wifi

I used the HTTP server settings. The number before the colon (3 in my case) is different on different devices. The other numbers (8080) stay the same.
I needed to enter a simple name and password to make the process work.

2. Setting up Air Files Connection in Transmit

In Transmit I click the WebDAV button to create a connection favourite.

Choose the Protocol: WebDAV
The server number is the number given next to HTTP on the iPod before the colon (:8080)
Use the User Name and Password entered on the iPod
The Port is the number given after the colon on the iPod. In my case 8080. Do not include the colon.
Click the + to add the settings. Then click Save

3. Apple System Preferences Sharing

On the Mac the File Sharing needs to be checked. Click Apple > System Preferences…

Click Sharing
Check File Sharing

4. File Sharing Options

Having checked File Sharing, to the right of the System Preferences File Sharing window there is an Options button:

Click Options…

5. Share Files Using FTP

I have found that I also need to:

Check Share files and folders using FTP

6. Connect Transmit to Air Files

Launch Air Files on the iPod
Double-click the Transmit connection saved earlier
Hopefully the Air Files folders will appear in Transmit ready to drag and drop files into.

Trying Postbox as alternative to Mail.app

2011-12-01T14:47:00.001Z

Given my troubles with MobileMe Mail and the Mac’s Mail application, I am trying out Postbox version 3 email client. Initial impression is that Postbox is a clean looking app with nice touches.

Adding the MobileMe Mail account went smoothly. I have also been able to add an iCloud Mail account to Postbox and again this went without problems. To add the iCloud Mail to Postbox, I used the Mail server settings given on the Apple Support page. With the MobileMe Mail account I am still getting password rejection problems.

I have been able to get the MobileMe password accepted when using Postbox by:

Cancelling the password request dialog
Quiting Postbox
Re-launching Postbox
Entering the MobileMe password in the password dialog that appears on re-launch but sadly this does not always work. At least Postbox doesn't remove all my previously downloaded emails when this happens like Apple's Mail.app does.

I don’t know why Sparrow email client app is immune to these password problems but currently it is, thankfully. I hope to write a comparison of my feelings towards Sparrow and Postbox when I have spent more time with them both. Update: I am unable to use Postbox because to the MobileMe password issue. I could never get Postbox to access my mail again after the initial successful work-around. With Sparrow being able to access MobileMe without problem, I have made that my default email client.

One of the first ‘touches’ that I noticed and liked when using Postbox is how it connected a reply to the original sent message in a very clear and useful way. It’s much like some Twitter clients show a conversation and initially it appears much easier to follow than the Gmail variation. The image below illustrates how clicking on the message box underneath the reply reveals the original message from the Sent box.

Postbox email message converstion

Adding a Shortmail button to Blogger

2011-11-30T23:48:00.001Z

Shortmail is an email account that is created by signing in to shortmail.com using Twitter authorisation. It’s a bit different from standard email in that each message is limited to 500 characters (about 80 words) with no attachments, so messages are brief. It can be used privately, like a sightly longer-form Twitter DM conversation but without the need to follow one another. It can be used publicly where any one can see the conversation on the web or even public and open, in which anyone can participate via the web page, much blog like comments.

Shortmail has just released a free iOS app version of Shortmail. A Shortmail account can be setup from within the app. The iOS app makes using Shortmail very easy, quick and responsive.

With Shortmail being an IMAP email account it can also be added to a standard email client by setting up a password and following the instruction once logged into the Shortmail website under the Account > Advanced settings. It can be very easily added to the Sparrow email client with just the Shortmail email address and password. An advantage of the Sparrow client is that it displays a character count as you type although it is not as quick to notify of messages as the iOS app.

The character count for a Shortmail message in Sparrow

There is a Shortmail Me! Widget that can add a button or link to a web page to enable any one to click and send a short message. I wondered how easy this would be to add to a Google Blogger site and the answer is very easy:

Simply copy the button or link code from the Shortmail Me! Widget page.
On Blogger: go to the My Blogs Overview > Layout > Add a Gadget and choose the HTML/JavaScript gadget. Click the plus symbol to add it.

Paste the Shortmail code into the Contents area of the gadget window.

Replace YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS with your Shortmail address.
Save.
Adjust the position of the gadget on the layout page as desired.

Having added it to this Blog, I will find out what happens in practice.

MobileMe Password Refused Again and Again and Again

2011-11-27T02:01:00.001Z

Rejected Password Woe

Since iCloud came into being and because I've stayed on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, I've been unable to move MobileMe to iCloud, resulting in nothing but problems with MobileMe Mail.

Stay Calm, Tap OK and Carry On

On iOS devices I've just clicked OK to warnings that my username or password are incorrect. The result may be that my latest emails are not downloaded but the ones already downloaded have remain on the device and then things seem to work again. After a period of time and by doing nothing suddenly new emails appear in the inbox. The issue is different on the Mac.

The only choice is Cancel

On the Mac, if I type in my password to the dialog it is refused everytime. My only choice is to Cancel. If I then Quit and Relaunch Mail.app then my MobileMe account is removed and all my previously downloaded emails are unavailable.

Sometimes I can get them back by entering my password in the Settings for the MobileMe account within Mail.app. Sometimes I have had to delete my MobileMe account from Mail.app then add it again. Sometimes I have had to re-add it and do the Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Accounts Information > Incoming Mail Server: Password: [enter password]. I find that entering my password via Apple > System Preferences... > MobileMe > Account doesn't solve the problem. I need to add it in Mail.app Preferences.

Add MobileMe to Mail.app = Fail

This problem has been on going since 10 October 2011 and the launch of iCloud . On Friday 25 November, the problem got worse. When I deleted my MobileMe account from Mail.app, I was unable to add it back because the password was refused every time during the initial stage of adding the email account back into Mail.app . This meant that all my emails were deleted from my Mac, I couldn't add them back and the only way to access them being online via a browser. On my iOS devices, the password was now always refused and the inbox was not being updated on each device.

Whilst I was unable to add my MobileMe Mail account to the Apple Mail.app, I was able the add the account to a third-party email client called Sparrow first time and without problem. I have changed my default email client from Mail.app to Sparrow by changing the Preferences in Mail.app to Mail > Preferences... > General : Default email reader: Sparrow. Yes, I know, read it and weep Apple. These are not happy times for me and Apple products. (Alternatively, Sparrow can be set to be default mail reader from Sparrow > Preferences... > General: System: [Check] Make Sparrow the default mail reader. I prefer to set it from within Mail.app because if feels more insulting to the app that's giving me grief.)

Apple ID and Primary Email Address splits the .Mac / MobileMe eras

With MobileMe in the iCloud era, there are two IDs: an Apple ID (that works with iTunes Store, Apple Online Store, the Mac App Store) and the MobileMe Primary Email ID. They can be one and the same email address or different. You can associate more that one email address with an Apple ID. This works around the problem of someone who used a different email address with FaceTime to still be able to use that FaceTime connection and be linked with the one Apple ID. In theory the .Mac [username]@mac.com is interchangeable with the MobileMe [username]@me.com but I have had issues. I have not had issues with an account created in the MobileMe era (post .Mac era) which only has an @me.com email address. The problems come with my main and older @mac.com/@me.com email address.

Amazingly, I just had a thought that I had an iTools email account prior to 2002. I wondered if this was causing the problem. I have been able to reclaim it using https://appleid.apple.com . That account has one email address unified as an Apple ID and Primary Email Address. Beautiful. Sadly my main .Mac / MobileMe email-account-and-everything-bought-from-Apple ID refuses to be unified. It says that the Email address is already verified for another Apple ID. BUT I HAVE ONLY USED IT WITH THE ONE APPLE ID ACCOUNT. Give me strength. This main Apple ID spans the era of .Mac to MobileMe and so has both an @mac Apple ID and an @me Primary Email Address. I wonder now if there is an Apple ID for [username] without the @mac.com or @me.com to add to the confusion. Clearly the simple elegance of Apple hardware engineers' design is not matched by their confused software engineers' Clouded Services vision. What it means is that when I add my @me.com email to Mail.app it has the Apple ID of the @mac.com account but Mail.app uses the mail.me.com and smtp.me.com servers of MobileMe which then reject my Apple ID @mac password. My @mac password is of course the same password as my @me password because it is the same username account that Apple in its infinite wisdom decided to give two email address when launching the MobileMess.

The Apple ID is .Mac the servers are .Me

I have now deleted and MobileMe Mail accounts on my iOS devices. When I re-add my Primary Email to Mail on the iOS devices, using the @me.com email, the account ID is changed to the @mac.com Apple ID and the servers are also changed to the .Mac era ones of mail.mac.com and smtp.mac.com . I am unable to change this on the OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard version of Mail.app.

So now I am into a new day and Mail.com refuses my MobileMe password yet again. The problem continues. I need the sword of Alexander the Great to cut through this Gordian knot. Maybe it's available on eBay or maybe I should cut my losses and just use Gmail.

Setup a Flavors.me Custom Domain from 123-Reg

2011-10-17T21:01:00.005+01:00

Flavors.me is an easy to configure landing page that can be the hub to various website one posts to on the web. It is a free service but with Flavors.me Premium Service there is the option to add a custom domain to the web page. So instead of a URL of flavors.me/neilboyd, I can have neilboyd.co.uk. This shows how I set up the custom domain with a domain name registered with 123-reg.co.uk.

1. 123-reg Control Panel

In a Browsers: Sign in to 123-reg.co.uk Control Panel

Under Domain names choose the Your domains: website name to work with
Click Manage

2. Advanced domain settings

Click Manage DNS (A, MX, CNAME, TXT)

3. A, CNAME and TXT records

Under A, CNAME and TXT records
 Replace the existing Content numbers with the Flavors.me IP Address: 184.73.237.244

Replace the @ address
Replace the www address

4. Update DNS

Scroll down the Change DNS page a little way until you see the Update DNS button:

Click Update DNS

5. Logout of 123-Reg

Unless you are wanting to do something else in the Control Panel, Logout of 123-Reg.

6. Flavors.me homepage

In a Browser: Go the the Flavors.me homepage

Click Login in the top right of the browser window

7. Enter Login detail

Enter Username and Password then click Go to my site button.

8. Settings

Again in the top right of the browser window:

Click Settings

9. Settings : Account : Custom Domain

On the Settings : Account tab, in the Custom Domain section:

Enter the custom domain name in the Connect a domain box

10. Settings : Account : Save Changes

Click Save changes button

Note it may take upto 72 hours for the changes to fully take place but can work much sooner.

11. Logout of Flavors.me

The hidden cost of iCloud

2011-10-16T15:41:00.001+01:00

It was not clear to me that to move from MobileMe to iCloud (as a Mac user) I must have OS X 10.7 Lion installed on all Desktop and MacBook computers. Windows users need Vista or Windows 7. If the Mac computer is older than a few years, it will need a memory upgrade (especially if going from 32-bit to 64-bit processing) and even then, if the computer uses a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor, expect the system to feel sluggish compared to that of the previous OS. The experience comes to mind of iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G; the OS upgrade made that phone an obsolete device because it became unusably slow and constantly crashed. An iPhone 3G with iOS 3 was great.

I hate these hidden little realities that don't manage to find their way into the sales pitch.

I hate too how this change to iCloud means that my MobileMe mail account has started to say my password is incorrect; then it's ok again; then it's refused; then it's ok again; just to be rejected once more. No doubt, if I were only to upgrade to iCloud everything would work again how it did previously.

I respect Steve Jobs. I respect the pursuit of consumer buyers rather than 'confused' enterprise corporate buyers ('confused' being a phrase heard in one of the Jobs interviews on All Things D). I respect that consumers don't necessarily know what they want until shown it by a visionary. I understand that technology moves on and not every technology can be supported but isn't it time that consumers are respected regarding their investment, their time and their personally created data. Is it respectful to consumers to treat them as an out-of-date component to be discarded if they don't upgrade? If I don't upgrade to iCloud by June 2012, it is my understanding that my MobileMe email and data will disappear along with anything on my iDisk. The iDisk, associated websites and photo galleries will be deleted even if I do move to iCloud. Like a fool, I have paid for this email and storage for eight years and I've got eight months to get out.

I'm sure that hassle and upset from constant change are not emotions on the consumer's 'Wish List'. Again, more fool consumer me, for not realising that hassle, upset and hours of wasted time trying to recover, recoup and convert data, are always on the unwritten wish list of technological development.

This list of change is always growing. Hardware or software, it is personal data that is the thread that ties them together. It is personal data that takes the time and the struggle to keep and maintain. The loss of 'scuzzy' drives and the abandonment of floppy disks meant that the new place to store personal data was the CD-ROM. The dropping of the Mac OS to OS X and personally created data must be converted from the an old format into one suitable for the new and re-purchased apps, to run on the new and re-purchased OS. The removal of FireWire makes my new storage devices join the scrapped, old SCSI collection of working hardware no longer supported. It is now the turn of optical drives to join the obsolete list, so long DVD, hello 'streaming'. Ever onwards, the personal data must be moved into the 'cloud' or a local storage device of which the connection method will soon be changed.

Not all personal data is plain text and JPGs. There are the digital personal connections made with email, comments and photosharing. With the change of iTools to dotMac to MobileMe and the ensuing pain of inaccessible email and the abandonment of iWeb and what is now the wasted hours spent creating websites with it, the loss of comments on those blog posts and the photo galleries that need to find a new home, it is not just hardware but the digital history of one's life that is being erased. It seems that there is no room for my iLife in iCloud iBelieve.

If I don't move I have the prospect of all the software I have registered with an obsolete email; all the contacts that need to be informed of a changed email address; all the forums that need their login details changing; all the hassle and it makes Chromebook and Google look enticing.

It concerns me that having my life in the cloud makes all that ethereal data just one password away from someone smarter than I who breaks into what I thought was secure, to leave me h/a< |< ed and defaced with the offer of do you want to buy your data back?

With a Family MobileMe account, to keep those email addresses which have been used as main addresses from the iTools era, will mean all five family members need to update their hardware to be OS X Lion compatible then buy OS X Lion and move to iCloud or lose their familiar email address and email archives and personal connectivity. This is potentially a big expense or a big loss. What ever the outcome it will involve time to sort and foresight about the best way forward, which technologies to use, which formats to store in, which hardware to buy.

I find it demoralising and disillusioning that one commits to a technology path just to have the whole thing dropped in the name of iProgress. At times like this I wish that I had stuck with pen, notebook and paper.

Jobs creates big news stories

2011-10-13T22:44:00.000+01:00

I'm not good with social media interaction so this play on words is a rare if rather irreverent moment in time.

Somehow I feel there must be a better lead story for the NYTimes tech page. Today, of all days. http://t.co/8V2v8xgbThu Oct 13 10:15:13 via EchofonCharles Arthur
charlesarthur

@charlesarthur Isn't the NYTimes tech lead a big Jobs story?Thu Oct 13 10:41:33 via SOICHANeil Boyd
neilboyd

RT @neilboyd: @charlesarthur Isn't the NYTimes tech lead a big Jobs story? <--- HAHAHAThu Oct 13 10:44:39 via EchofonCharles Arthur
charlesarthur

@charlesarthur Thanks for the RT. I'm flushed with success.Thu Oct 13 10:48:10 via EchofonNeil Boyd
neilboyd

RIP Steve Jobs - Stay hungry Stay foolish

2011-10-06T12:45:00.000+01:00

Thanks for making dreams into realities

Without doubt Steve Jobs has had a profound influence on my life. Thank you for making your dreams, my dreams and those dreams a reality.

A personal speech by Steve Jobs that helps explain his drive and finishes with the quote from Whole Earth Catalog "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

The Whole Earth Catalog final back cover - Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Over an hour long but interesting to see Steve Jobs thinking on his feet and answering some uncomfortable questions at the Apple WWDC 1997 Closing Keynote. He also outlines his vision of what has now become iCloud.

Create a Reverse Hightlight with Skitch

2011-10-05T15:55:00.001+01:00

I think of reverse highlighting as keeping the original colour of the item you want to show and making everything else in the image darker. It dawned on me that there is a way to do this with Skitch although it needs a little 'outside the box' thinking (or should that be clicking).

Skitch is a free screenshot and annotation app available in the Mac App Store.

1. Normal Highlighting Text Method

Normally I think of highlighting text as:

Drawing a box around the item to highlight
Using a colour 'marker' over the item to highlight it

2. The Skitch Translucent colours

By default Skitch has two translucent colours, a yellow and a grey.

3. Click outside the box

But it suddenly dawned on me that I can fill a translucent colour outside of a boxed area:

Draw a rectangle around the area to be reverse highlighted
Choose a translucent colour then click the bucket fill
Click the fill bucket tool outside of the rectangle drawn in step 1

4. Variations on a Reverse Highlight

The rectangle drawn with a different coloured line and translucent fill outside the box
The rectangle drawn with the same colour as the translucent fill outside the box

CloudApp attachment with Sparrow email client

2011-10-05T13:51:00.003+01:00

[0:25s] Having added my CloudApp details to my Sparrow preferences I am able to drag-and-drop an attachment on to a new email message and depending where I drop that file, it will be either automatically uploaded to CloudApp and the cl.ly link pasted into the message or the file will be added as a traditional email attachment.

[There is no sound in this recording.]