every word of it. » Software

Sanity Pasting

raishad — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:37:30 +0000

Hooray for Word 2011 for getting something right!

There is finally a menu option for “Paste and Match Formatting”

But what’s with that horrible shortcut? I need to shift my hand to hit all those keys. Let’s reassign it to something more manageable in the Keyboard Pane in System Preferences

Brilliant!

(Why did I have to go to the Keyboard Pane to add that shortcut? For some reason that option wasn’t available in Word’s “Customize Keyboard” option window )

The MacBU, Equal Parts Applause and Condemnation

raishad — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 21:24:20 +0000

Does anyone at the MacBU use a Mac?

I just upgraded to Office 2011, and in some ways it is really nice. But in other ways, it’s annoying the pants off of me.

Find and Replace The new Find and Replace is nice. I like how it’s in the toolbar, and the search pane is great. But what’s with not being able to tab between the find and replace fields?

Messing with my Dock After the install, it added a mess of icons to my dock. The dock is not a start menu where your installer can just dump icons. It’s annoying, but easily solved.

Not using standard shortcuts This one is unforgivable. In MacOS, Command+` is used to switch between Application Windows. That is the case in every program besides Word (Powerpoint honors this convention). Why does Word behave differently? To fix this shit, you have to redefine keyboard shortcuts in Tools > Customize Keyboard

First Impression is Everything

raishad — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:16:45 +0000

Starcraft 2 came out last week on both the Mac and Windows simultaneously. Great news! (If you don’t know, I hate rebooting into Windows for the games I barely play.)

Aside from the performance disparity between platforms, Blizzard needs to polish off the rough edges on the MacOS version.

If you got the game from Battle.net, you’ll have found that the Installer for Mac doesn’t work, unless you chmod a few files. That is pretty sloppy. And I didn’t find the solution to why I couldn’t get the installer working on the known issues list, a giant oversight.

Also, they didn’t include proper strings for their Updater program

And the window controls on the launcher is kind of a joke. (The little chiclets on the middle top left of the window)

But the good news is that they’re using Growl. Steam doesn’t use Growl. Instead it’s some terrible Growl-like notification system.

The Tedious Way

raishad — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:36:46 +0000

Earlier this week, I needed to make an animated gif. Needed. If you have ImageReady, it is pretty easy to do. But what do you do if you don’t have ImageReady?

Well I’m here for you and Future Raishad

First things

Get a Mac. (This is for the next step)
Install MacPorts
Install gifsicle (Really, you don’t need a Mac for gifsicle. But since you already got one, let’s continue and you can thank me later.)
Gather your source images. It will be helpful to name them sequentially
Use gifsicle to create your animated gif
gifsicle image*.gif > animated.gif
Adjust the looping
gifsicle -l animated.gif > looping.gif
Adjust the delay
gifsicle -d 30 looping.gif > finished.gif

After all that hard work, you’ll have something as brilliant as this

Adium Chat History making you :(

raishad — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:36:19 +0000

Quit Adium and Delete

~/Library/Caches/Adium/Default/DirtyLogs.plist

~/Library/Caches/Adium/Default/Logs.index

When Adium restarts and you open up the transcript viewer, Adium will reindex everything.

MacBU, A Request

raishad — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:33:29 +0000

I wrote those last 2 entries using Microsoft Live Writer. It’s a really great program. It’s simple to use, and I like how everything works.

But sadly, it only runs on Windows. I either have to run it in my VM, or Remote Desktop into my crummy Dell laptop.

So MacBU, please please port Live Writer to MacOS.

Thanks!

A Small Suggestion

raishad — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:25:06 +0000

Dear MS,

I appreciate Windows Search 4.0. Finding things in Outlook is a lot faster.

But what the hell is this?

I understand that the folder is not indexed. But why do I have to use Search Companion? If you know that the folder is not indexed, why are you even showing me the new Windows Search – just take me straight to the stupid dog.

Thanks

Gany-awesome!

raishad — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:58:18 +0000

Are you excited? I am. Hopefully we’re excited about the same thing.

Today, Eclipse Ganymede was released. Eclipse is a software platform that has an amazing plug-in system that allows it to disguise itself as a Java Development Environment. That’s how it sneaks in. “Don’t mind me, I’m just a Java IDE.” And then all of a sudden you’re using it for reporting.

But, I love Eclipse. Most days, I spend my entire working day staring at Eclipse. So it’s nice that it’s a pleasure to use and continues to improve.

I’ve already mentioned the bread crumbs. Honestly, I haven’t made much use of them in practice. It’s a nice feature to have, but I find it is faster just to use the Package Explorer + Outline to get where I need to be.

A feature of Ganymede that I love and use all the damn time is the enhanced search results.

This is an example search. Notice how the results list the context of where the term was found. It makes scanning a list of matches easy.

One of the features I’m excited about is the Save Actions

I haven’t really used it, since I just found out about it. But it looks to be a nice time saver. Performing a lot of clean up automatically for you.

Also kind of interesting and part of the Ganymede release is the Eclipse Communication Framework. This allows for Collaborative Editing. Collaborative Editing isn’t new, but it could be more useful now that it’s “standard” from within Eclipse. We’ll see.

The “New and Noteworthy” is a mile long. It really is amazing that the Eclipse Foundation can coordinate a release with 23 different projects.

So thanks Eclipse, for making my life easier.

The Future Is Breadcrumbs

raishad — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:29:32 +0000

Working on my Lab , noticed a new option in Eclipse 3.4m6

“Show in Breadcrumb”

Turns out Eclipse has Breadcrumb navigation for Classes

On first blush, you think it’s pretty useless. But it has some merit. Like if you want to maximize your editor workspace, you can now hide the Outline pane, and still have most of the functionality by using breadcrumbs. You can even hide the Navigator pane, since you can browse package structure. But I think that’s taking things a bit too far. One pane at a time.

Thanks Eclipse!

Bite My Shiny Metal Ass

raishad — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:05:52 +0000

Oh Linux, why can’t you just let me win.

This morning I decided to go ahead and upgrade my kernel to 2.6.22-14. But things didn’t go smoothly. Something went wrong, so I tried it again apt-get install -f

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
easytag
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
3 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 3170kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... 288305 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing easytag ...
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-386
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Your /etc/kernel-img.conf needs to be updated. Read grub's NEWS.Debian[1]
file and follow its instructions.
1. /usr/share/doc/grub/NEWS.Debian.gz
Searching for GRUB installation directory ...
No GRUB directory found. To create a template run 'mkdir /boot/grub' first. To install grub, install it manually or try the 'grub-install' command. ### Warning, grub-install is used to change your MBR. ###
User postinst hook script [/sbin/update-grub] exited with value 1
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Your /etc/kernel-img.conf needs to be updated. Read grub's NEWS.Debian[1]
file and follow its instructions.
1. /usr/share/doc/grub/NEWS.Debian.gz
Searching for GRUB installation directory ...
No GRUB directory found. To create a template run 'mkdir /boot/grub' first. To install grub, install it manually or try the 'grub-install' command. ### Warning, grub-install is used to change your MBR. ###
User postinst hook script [/sbin/update-grub] exited with value 1
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.22-14-386
linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Alright, seems some stuff needs to be changed. One thing at a time. I make the changes in described in /usr/share/doc/grub/NEWS.Debian.gz and try it again

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-386
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /usr/sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ...
No GRUB directory found. To create a template run 'mkdir /boot/grub' first. To install grub, install it manually or try the 'grub-install' command. ### Warning, grub-install is used to change your MBR. ###
User postinst hook script [/usr/sbin/update-grub] exited with value 1
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /usr/sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ...
No GRUB directory found. To create a template run 'mkdir /boot/grub' first. To install grub, install it manually or try the 'grub-install' command. ### Warning, grub-install is used to change your MBR. ###
User postinst hook script [/usr/sbin/update-grub] exited with value 1
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.22-14-386
linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

It’s strange really. Why am I missing my grub folder? If grub is really gone, how am I even able to boot into Linux?

So I make the folder, /boot/grub, and try again.

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-386
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /usr/sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... Generating /boot/grub/default file and setting the default boot entry to 0
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ...
Could not find /boot/grub/menu.lst file. Would you like /boot/grub/menu.lst generated for you? (y/N) y
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /usr/sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Success! But is it really? Let’s look at my boot directory. /boot$ find .

.
./initrd.img-2.6.22-14-386
./System.map-2.6.22-14-386
./vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
./config-2.6.22-14-386
./abi-2.6.22-14-386
./System.map-2.6.22-14-generic
./vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
./config-2.6.22-14-generic
./abi-2.6.22-14-generic
./initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
./initrd.img-2.6.22-14-386.bak
./grub
./grub/default
./grub/menu.lst
./grub/menu.lst~
./initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic.bak

That can’t be right. I’m missing files. GRUB just doesn’t disappear like that. Something had to have happened. Something big and scary.

I check and see what file systems are mounted

$ mount

/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-root on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
/sys on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devshm on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/md1 on /tivo type xfs (rw)
/dev/mapper/raid-seagate320 on /share type xfs (rw)
/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-extra on /extra type xfs (rw)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
nfsd on /proc/fs/nfsd type nfsd (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)

Where is my boot partition?

From my /etc/fstab

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
#                
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-root /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /dev/sda1 -- converted during upgrade to edgy
UUID=065448c7-0098-4bbe-a6c1-d207b4201a1a /boot ext3 defaults 0 2

I tried manually mounting /boot, but it would get error messages like

mount: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or /boot busy

It was looking like /boot wasn’t being mounted. Was my UUID wrong? Nope. Checking /dev/disk/by-uuid shows that the UUID is correct. Something else was going on. Then I remembered something. A few months ago I was having trouble mounting a raid drive. I’m not an expert in Linux, but it looked like mount wasn’t taking actual device names. For example, /dev/md0 wasn’t working but /dev/mapper/Ubunut-extra was working. So I fixed my fstab

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
#                
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-root /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /dev/sda1 -- converted during upgrade to edgy
# UUID=065448c7-0098-4bbe-a6c1-d207b4201a1a /boot ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/mapper/sdb1        /boot   ext3    defaults        0       2

and reran apt-get install -f, restarted, and sacrificed a goat.

It worked. I don’t know what happened. I’m not sure what I did was the correct fix. But it’s working.

So Linux, what up?