Category: computing

I Think I Screwed Up

I decided to give Scoop a try on my laptop. I figured the install would be relatively Movable Type-like. Guess again. It comes with this little install script that’s now been running for over an hour compiling and installing thing, asking me question after question, and… I hope I didn’t just make a very large mistake. But, if I did just hose everything, at least I’ll have a good reason to wipe the hard drive and install Panther fresh with it comes out next week.

I don’t know what it is with me and beta software. I’ve come to realize over the years that I’m a compulsive installer/updater. I run Software Update on all my systems (Mac, XP, RedHat) at least once a week, and am almost always willing to install crazy beta/alpha software for no good reason. I think maybe I need help.

UPDATE: Still compiling… That’s two hours. I think we’re up to compiling the kitchen sink and a new mach kernel. I compiled Mozilla several times on my old G3 Powerbook running YellowDog, and I thought that took forever. Scoop takes the cake… really. I know it’s compiling a lot of Perl stuff, but this is insane.

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Categorized as computing

Another OS X Tip

Have trouble with your Mac hanging up during boot, or have weird application problems you’re not quite sure how to fix (like jEdit all of a sudden stops working)? Try booting into single-user mode!

  1. Reboot, and hold down the Apple key and S.

  2. When you finally get a command prompt, type: fsck -y and hit Enter.

  3. When it finishes, type: reboot and hit Enter

If that doesn’t fix, then you’re in real trouble and need to seek professional help.

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Categorized as os x

I Am Geek Yenta!

I just found out that a girl I used to sit next to four years ago is getting married in December to a guy that used to work in our Unix help desk. It turns out that I introduced them over four and a half years ago!

First, he gave her an IP address and a login, then he stole her heart. I freakin’ love geek love stories! And I’m a part of this one! I am the Geek Yenta!!

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Categorized as computing

Keep Your Mac Happy

It’s the Mac Maintenance Post! Working where I do, us Mac users are outnumbered big time, so calling our internal help group for Mac help is practically futile. So, my boss, my pal and I (all in the same group and all Mac users – go figure) troubleshoot most of our own problems. Here’s a list of indispensible Mac utilities and sites that make our lives easier, and if you’ve got a Powerbook or a computer that’s not on 24/7, will makes your’s better too:

  • MacJanitor: Runs all the maintenance scripts that are supposed to run in the middle of the night. If you turn your machine off at night, they never run, which will make your Mac crawl like mine did until I ran this.

  • RebuildDesktopX: Takes you back to the good ol’ days of Apple+Option booting, doesn’t it? Nope, this is just a little application and does some magical cache deleting and really helped me get some speed back.

  • OS X Troubleshooting: A great site for OS X tips and tricks to keep your Mac happy.

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Categorized as os x

Happy in Many Languages

Hey look, I may be sick, but I can make people happy in many different languages. I think I comprehended most of it, and Beto’s very happy to have Movable Type installed on his iMac… and so am I.

Yes, I’m still sick. Not sick enough to stay home (that’s a pretty high threshold for me), but sick enough that I can’t do much else besides work. I’m not keeping up with my blog reading, e-mail or anything else outside of work and home. I don’t have anything to say except my freakin’ head hurts. Why won’t this snot leave? Get out of my sinuses!!