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So this is my first entry from my iPod….not even sure if this is going to work but we will see. As if I don’t spend enough time on my computer as it is…

Back in January, I posted some programs that I through were essentials for a new mac to have…Well, I have a few more to add to that list that I have come across…These all have a distinct media lean by the way….

MPEG Stream Clip

Wiretap Pro

Flash Player

WMVPlayer (Flip4Mac)

The kingfish at Big Fish Films called me and asked me to spec out a system for him. They are wanting to upgrade from the Dual Mac Tower that I speced for him a little over three years ago. So I thought I would post what I find here for anyone to use as reference…

The First (and initially most difficult) choice is the Processor Speed: 2.8, 3.0, or 3.2 mhz

Links
CPU Speed

There have been a bunch of rumours going around about the new MacBook Pro…or rather if there is a new MacBook Pro and when it is coming…so for those of you who have been asking…(Dad, Beck, G.I. Julie, etc.) here is what I have found so far…. There are a couple of screen shots here and here of an inventory list from Best Buy…There have been several reported dates for the new release but all of them are in the next several weeks which seems to imply that if something doesn’t happen in the very need future, it would be a huge surprise. My Advice: wait two weeks because whatever is coming out is going to be at the same price point but better guts. So it will be worth it…you will spend the same money but get better insides…to read more click HERE.

I was trying to figure out how to keep certain documents private, especially since this is a company computer. If anything happened to it, i wouldn’t want passwords or sensitive files to get out and this is a pretty easy way to have a “folder/drive” that is updateable. Just click on the “read more” link below to see how this guy does it.
One thing thought, Don’t save the password for the .dmg file to your keychain…that kinda defeats the purpose.

read more | digg story

One of the things I dread most about upgrading wordpress (and actually the thing I least like about wordpress over all) is the actual deleting and uploading of the upgraded files.

However, with the new MacFusion (which uses MacFuse from Google) it is super easy to mount an FTP site through an SSH connection. Now mounting an ftp drive in the mac finder was not a big problem; being able to write to it was: Finder will mount an FTP site but it is read-only. Until now it was all a matter of hunt and delete to find the right files to delete; sometimes certain files in a folder needed to be deleted while others needed to be left alone. Needless to day, it was a huge pain! But now sunny days have come and we are all able to grab hands, sing, and dance all the day long…or something like that… So here is how to have the sunny days arrive…

It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) that you should have EVERYTHING (MySQL, Wordpress, etc) backed up. This cannot be expressed to severely. Check out this post for more information on how to back up you wordpress site.

First, you will need a few downloads:

1. MacFusion (and MacFuse)

2. ChronoSync (or some other type of folder sync program)

3. the newest version of Wordpress

Once everything is installed and unstuffed, go ahead an run MacFusion and mount your webroot/ftp site.

Next, start up ChronoSync (or your sync program of choice). Then select the unstuffed, upgraded version of Wordpress that is on your local computer as the master folder (or the one which is the basis for the sync). Next select the wordpress folder on your remote ftp site. NOTE: Be careful to not hit the sync button at this point. You could erase all your posts and content if you do.

Now comes the really important part: setting up the rules for the sync.Basically you need to set a rule up for each file that should NOT be repalced by the new upgrade. There are 5 or 6 folders/files that should not be upgraded depending on what kind of installation you have and how you use Wordpress. Those files are: wp-config.php file; wp-content folder; (Special Exception: the wp-content/cache and the wp-content/plugins/widgets folders should be deleted.); wp-images folder; wp-includes/languages/ folder–if you are using a language file do not delete that folder; .htaccess file; robots.txt file.

This is a screen shot of the rules that I use in ChronoSync.

Pay special attention to the logic in the rules. I set it so the listed files are not included in the sync from the local folder;

another-wards they are the only files that are not replaced.

Once you have all the rules set up (and have saved the sync settings so you don’t have to go through all this the next time an update comes out), if your sync program allows you to, do a trial sync. Check the output log and make sure that none of the files that are replaced are the ones we have listed above as exceptions.

Finally, double check that you are all backed up and hit the sync button. The program does all the rest of the work and next time you have to upgrade it will but just a few clicks of the button (assuming you saved the settings) and you will be good to go.

Don’t forget to go to the ../wp-admin/upgrade.php file in order to install the upgrade once it is done syncing/uploading.

I found this as I was perusing the net looking for a new piece of blog software. the Scribefire plugin wasn’t working for hte longest time…login issues that apparently other people were having as well. Then all of a sudden it started working again…ahh well.

BTW, here is a list of the programs that publish to Wordpress Blogs.

I am trying out yet another blogging program…this one is called Journal and it was recommended in the August 2007 edition of MacWorld.

UPDATE: I ran a few test on it such as posting with images, re-editing a post, etc. and I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t post the image and instead of posting a re-edit, it kept posting new entries. I DO like the look of the program and would probably use it to keep track of other writing besides Blogging…and I still need to see if maybe it will do what I need it to do in the blogging department but isn’t doing it right now because of user error… 

I noticed the effects of this virus a few weeks ago (Word kept asking me if I wanted to enable macros whenever I would open a file that I had recently saved). Generally, I always tell word to disable any macros because so few files ligitimatley use them.

I didn’t pay to much attention to it because viruses don’t hurt Macs (and this one never did any damage either).

Then it became a nusance because I wasn’t able to email any word files to anyone because I would get this error saying that I was trying to email viruses and that I am an evil person, etc. etc. So I spent the better part of a morning trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

I kept coming across sites that said just to disinfect the bad files with an Antivirus Software of some sort (See “Helpful Links” for the different ratings of Virus software for Macs). The problem was that I could not find the “Normal.dot” file. I tried everything from running scripts to make all files visible, to using spotlight, to going through the Libraries folder by folder. I never did find it. Then I came across a comment on a post that talked about using the Visual Basic Editor in Word to edit the Normal.dot file. And this worked like a charm! Here is what I did…

1. I just opened up Word (and a new, blank document if it doesn’t open automatically).

2. The go to “Tools -> Macros -> Visual Basic Editor”

3. On the Left is a box called “Projects”. The default selection is the blank document that you have open. Above that will be a cascading menu that will say “Normal”. (See the picture)

4. Once you click on “ThisDocument” a bunch of code will show up in the main window. Just select it all (Apple+A) and then delete it. All of it. Don’t spare a single character.

5. Save the changes (Apple+S, or select “Save Normal” under the File Menu)

6. Quit the editor (Apple+Q, or “Close and Return to Microsoft Word” under the Word Menu)

7. Close Word.

That is it! You are all done!!

Helpful Links

Abtiviral Armor

Select Your Shield

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I found a really cool extention for blogging straight from Firefox. The cool thing is that since it runs off of Firefox, I have the same blog interface for both Mac and PC. Give it a try!

Powered by ScribeFire.

UPDATE: Check out my latest entry here.