Richard's Ramblin's

mySQL Error 1241

2007-03-29T13:03:00.001-07:00

I was recently coding a PHP application that connected to and interacted with a mySQL server. One of my sql scripts was producing a mySQL Error 1421 that I had not seen before. Here is the sql that I was running, the error, the resolution, and the reason.

The SQL:

INSERT INTO my_table(
field1, field2, field3, field4, field5
)
SELECT (
fieldA, fieldB, 1234, NOW(), fieldC
)
FROM my_table_two
WHERE my_table_two.PK =1

The error:

MySQL said: Error#1241 - Operand should contain 1 column(s)

The resolution: Remove the Parentheses () around the second embedded SELECT statement so the statement is as follows.

INSERT INTO my_table(
field1, field2, field3, field4, field5
)
SELECT
fieldA, fieldB, 1234, NOW(), fieldC
FROM my_table_two
WHERE my_table_two.PK =1

The reason the error occurs: When you ad parentheses () around the SELECT columns you create an ordered list of values or a tuple. The SELECT statement expects a list of individual values. Or in simpler terms you are giving it the array[1][2] when it expects the values 1 and 2. You can recreate this error by running this sql statement SELECT 1,2 which will return 1 2 amazingly. Then run SELECT (1,2) which will return ERROR #1241 - Operand should contain 1 column(s). For me it occurred because I copied and pasted code from an insert statement to not have to retype all the fields and grabbed a little too much in my copy.

The Cliff Notes Version If you get a mySQL ERROR 1241 then look for some unnecessary parentheses surrounding your SELECT statement and remove them!

[tags]mySQL,1241,Error[/tags]

Automator Action to Rename Photos by Date Taken

2007-03-29T12:19:00.001-07:00

Problem: I had a directory of 115 photos which I wanted to upload to my picture gallery in the order they were taken but they were taken with three different cameras so the filenames meant nothing. With the Firefox/Apple finder you are unable to order by Date Created very easily in the dialog that pops up when you click to upload a photo to the web.

Solution: I created an Automator Action to first take Selected Finder Items then copy them just in case, then order the items by Date Taken, then rename the files in that order to 1-115.jpg. I also added a string so I could use this script for multiple directories I needed to order like this. You can download the action: Order Photos Automator Action.

To use this Automator Action, first select your photos in the finder, the double click on the Automator Script (after unpacking it from the ZIP). You will need to edit the location to save the copied items to to fit your needs and edit the filename settings if you don't want _nc in your name.

This script is nothing special or perfect but hopefully it gets you thinking about harnessing Automator to quickly perform menial tasks on your Apple.

Share Your EVDO Wireless Broadband Connection

2007-02-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Here is the quick setup: (Read the entire post for why this is useful and how it could be profitable ;) )
1) Buy a Mac Laptop (sorry the MacBook Pro is the laptop I have and its OS X and Airport make this super easy)
2) Select system preferences from the Apple Menu
3) Click on Sharing from the Internet & Network subsection
4) Select the Internet tab from near the top of the screen
5) Under Share Connection From: Select your EVDO Broadband card (mine is listed as: Novatel Wireless EXP CDMA)
6) Select the AirPort checkbox under the To computers using: list
7) Configure the AirPort Options as your situation necetates (read the rest of the post for more info)
8) Click Start

Read on for my story, why this is cool, and warnings ...

Prologue: Wireless Broadband EVDO
I have had Verizon Wireless' EVDO wiereless broadband service since August of 2006 and have been very happy with the service's speed and coverage area. I have been able to get signals everywhere from in the Cascades of Oregon to Philly and nearly everywhere in between. If I have cell coverage I can pick up the EVDO wireless broadband signal. Check out a previous post for a full review of Verizon's EVDO service and my detailed setup. Cingular/AT&T and Sprint also offer EVDO mobile broadband services and this technique will work if you have service through Verizon, Sprint, Cingular/AT&T, or whomever is the provider where you reside.

Chapter 1: Jealousy and a Heart for the Un-Plugged-In
The only problem with the service is it kind of pricey and it invokes jealousy from other laptop users wherever you go. I have gotten numerous comments about how I am online [insert location here]. Recently I attended a conference at the Sheraton in Philadelphia where the card really came in handy. It seems they Sheraton folks felt it necessary to block out WIFI inside of the conference room, so if you purchased WIFI from the hotel so you could surf in your room (yep no free WIFI) you were maddened to find that WIFI would not work in the conference room and you had to sign up for additional WIFI at another cost! Then, to make things worse, that conference room only WIFI kept falling off. So here I am with a room full of web designers half with laptops checking my email etc while none of them can get online. Yes yes I felt like an internet magician but I quickly had pity on those around me and I knew I must jump into action to save the masses!

Chapter 2: Give the People their Internets
I said to my self

"Bob (not my name but what I call myself), I wonder if its possible to share your bounty of EVDO goodness with all these poor conference people. This way you will be a hero to all and Robin Hood those evil Sheraton WIFI evil dooers."

Well it took a few clicks but I found the solution and gave those people their tubes to clog.

After checking around in System Preferences Internet & Network section I stumbled up on the Sharing menu. By simply selecting my EVDO card and clicking to share it on my Mac's internal AirPort card I had done it! The crowd erupted in moderate indifference and all updated their MySpace pages in celebration.

Chapter 3: Coolness
Why would you want to share your EVDO wireless broadband connection?

You are traveling with a group of coworkers, family, or the circus who refuse to pay $9.95 to check their gMail or update their MySpace while waiting at the airport, bus stop, or space port. Instead they insist on bugging you to borrow your laptop and make small talk about hair products. The quicker they get online the quicker you return to the peace that is mindless surfing to pass the time.

Your work or school does not allow you to access say Digg or GMail and since you don't agree, are a rebel, dont' care about getting in trouble, and wish to share your good fortune you help them stick it to the man.

You are at a Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, or anywhere else that limits its WIFI access to TMobile and you want to prove a point about why WIFI should be free or should be bought from you not them.
"Simply" share you EVDO connection, configure the Airport correctly, set up a required proxy page, and either collect donations or charge a reasonable buck or two for the pleasure of using your provided WIFI connection instead of TMobile's.
Granted this could and probably get you arrested or sued as a proof of concept it could be pretty brilliant if you can pull off the technology necessary.

Remember if you are running at full EVDO speeds you can hit well over 5MBps which is plenty fast to share the wealth a bit.

Chapter 4: Bubble Bursting
All is not roses in EVDO sharing land, though. There are a couple of issues you should be aware of, though (some of which I can think of and others I am sure I am missing).

By doing this you set up your laptop up as a router and thus straddling it with all of the CPU, network, and management load that goes along with that not to mention the security headaches. Translation: You go slow and could get screwed.

Verizon and probably Sprint and Cingular closely monitors your use and if they feel you are not being reasonable with your bandwidth they shut you down. I know, I know, it says unlimited but the small print says its not so.

If you set up your Airport to share without a required WEP key you have NO idea who will access your connection and thus your laptop. I sure don't want to be responsible for what other people download and set myself up for some lame RIAA lawsuit ;) or worse so I suggest setting up WEP using the Airport Options button when you share your EVDO connection.

Security. Security. Security. I have no idea how this opens you up but I am assuming it is probably enough to make your sphincter pucker. I would never recommend this on a PC (hello Windows viruses et. al.) but even on my Mac it does worry me.

The End: Suggestions
For lawyer types from Verizon etc., hackers, and others who would chap my hide: I would never recommend anyone doing this and have and never will do this myself.

For EVDO users and normal Mac users: Just be careful that group 1 doesn't catch you since I am not totally sure if they could have a valid point. Have fun showing your Mac and EVDO goodness even if it is just to wow the throngs of lame PC'ers in your office. PS. let me know if you have any cool uses for this I didn't think of.

Oregon Legislators are on YouTube. Why aren’t you?

2007-02-07T05:26:00.000-08:00

The first thing I thought when I heard that Oregon Legislators are putting clips on YouTube is: Has YouTube "Jumped the Shark"? Just kidding. Really I thought if the group of people who are historically the most behind in technology and the most afraid of new mediums are adopting YouTube as a communication strategy, what does that say about those businesses who are either ignoring the site or who have made strategic decisions to stay away.

In the past year or two, YouTube has had a meteoric rise from quirky video sharing site to Google owned media monolith. YouTube brings millions of eyes daily to their site and is no longer limited to videos of kids being hit in the family jewels with various objects or pirated video clips of movies and TV (although, these are still very popular on the site). YouTube now has everything from recent Super Bowl commercials and educational videos, to self produced music videos and VLOGS (Video Blogs). If the notoriously ill tempered and slothy movie and television industries are adopting the video-sharing site as a marketing tool there must be a reason.

The recent movie hit "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was almost entirely driven by the buzz created by Borat clips on YouTube and their subsequent viral nature pushed by social networking sites such as Digg, thousands of blogs, and good old word of mouth. "Snakes on a Plane" is another example of a potentially bomb of a movie with huge buzz created through YouTube pre-promotion and YouTube clips placed in Blogs, message boards, and social sites.

Comedy Central was initially an unwilling star of YouTube with millions of views of their popular "Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" clips. Initially Comedy Central chose to send YouTube a cease and desist, causing the removal of most of their clips. That is until their talent, producers, fans, and the blogosphere erupted in outrage and bafflement. It seems everybody but the TV execs realized the amazing marketing opportunity YouTube was offering the shows, all with almost zero advertising investment. Now CBS and NBC are regularly posting clips to YouTube.

If you are in a business and ignore YouTube you are not only wasting a potentially powerful, mostly free, marketing medium but you are giving the power of identity to your competitors and customers. Just because you ignore this video phenomena does not mean it doesn't exist, will go away, or you are protected from its effects. If you aren't driving the bus you might very well have abdicated that responsibility to strangers.

Driving the bus is exactly what Oregon Representative Dennis Richardson who represents Oregon House District 4 (Jackson and Josephine Counties) has decided to do. Instead of allowing the lobby machine or the press to dictate the tone and facts of the discussion he has chosen to use YouTube to get his message out. Granted the 400+ views of his two videos may not cause a groundbreaking shift in the legislation, it has other powerful implications. In the local area, this story has gotten a full day of radio and TV coverage plus write ups in various newspapers and publications. Where previously Representative Richardson couldn't have hoped to get any coverage of his positions or invaluable face time on the news outlets; by posting a few 5-minute clips on YouTube, he has achieved both with minimal effort.

I never thought I would say this but more businesses need to be like the Oregon Legislature and pull their heads out of their ancient marketing strategies, take off the Internet blinders, and embrace the Web 2.0 market. If members of one of the nation's most dysfunctional governing bodies are adopting new marketing strategies and leaving your business with its substantial marketing budget in the dust you have more problems than they do. If that doesn't scare you then you are destined to continue to spend stupid amounts of money on ads in struggling newspapers or magazines while your competitors are getting that impact and more for pennies on the dollar.

Useless Account, Get yours now!

2007-02-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

When I got wind of the newest internet fad yesterday I had to sign up to get in early. Who cares it is a useless account, no really, it a Useless Account that does nothing but allow you to edit and sign in and out. Seems like the perfect startup to sink some VC money into huh? You better hurry up and get yours or you may miss out on something truly useless.

Contribute Disabled Connection : Unknown Error

2007-02-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

Problem: A classic Contribute 3 Unknown Error message mysteriously disables a connection that was previously working.

"Contribute has disabled your connection to this website because an unknown error occurred. For more information contact this website's administrator."

Solution: According to Adobe's Contribute Knowledge Base (Macromedia was bought by Adobe recently which can be a bit confusing) the error is caused by a corrupt hub file that resides on the server. Nifty huh? To fix this error you need to remove that hub file.

IMPORTANT: Removing this file is necessary BUT it will remove you as an administrator and all other users from the server's master list. This is not a huge issue because all of their settings remain valid and they merely need to click "Connect" and then "Next" to reconfirm all of their settings and recreate their entry in the server's hub file. This is important to remember, though, because if you are in a larger organization; you will need to do some preemptive education so your users do not panic.

To remove this file:
1) Connect to the server (through FTP, local, etc)
2) Browse to /_mm/
3) Locate the cthubXXXXX.csi (XXXXX is a random string unique for each installation) and back it up to your local drive
4) Now that you have a safe copy, Delete the hub file

This should take care of your "Contribute has disabled your connection to this website because an unknown error occurred. For more information contact this website's administrator." Contribute error.

TMobile HotSpot Vista Free Trial on a Mac

2007-02-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

TMobile is currently offering a free trial of their HotSpot WIFI service for Windows Vista customers until April 30th. What! you say. Where is the Mac OSX love? Well it tourns out TMobile really doesn't mean their trial is for Microsoft Vista users only...

Here is how to take advantage of the TMobile Vista Free Trial on your Mac running Firefox.

First we need to make TMobile think we are on a Vista PC running IE 7 instead of on a Mac running Firefox :) Here are the steps to go incognito.

1. Download the Firefox User Agent Switcher extension.
2. Restart firefox
3. Select: Tools > User Agent Switcher > Options > Options...
3. Click "User Agents" and then "Add"
4. Fill out the window with following info:
Description: Internet Explorer 7 (Windows Vista)
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)
App Name: Microsoft Internet Explorer
App Version: 4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)
Platform: Win32
5. Click OK to save this new User Agent

Second lets put on our disguise and sign up for that trial.

1. Select Tools > User Agent Switcher > Internet Explorer 7 (Windows Vista)
2. Browse to http://hotspot.t-mobile.com/vista/
3. Sign-up at the page and enjoy your free WiFi until April while sipping a cappucino at Starbucks or browsing your favorite periodical at Barnes & Noble.

HILLARIOUS Boston "Terrorist" Press Conference -- HAIR QUESTIONS ONLY!!!

2007-02-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

After their marketing stunt in Boston the two Aqua Teen Hunger Force gorilla advertisers were arrested and charged with nasty nasty things. During their press conference they refused to answer any questions that were NOT HAIR RELATED. The press did not find this funny at all.

From the fox story: "Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, ignored a barrage of reporters' questions about their role in the botched scheme and talked, instead, about mohawks, dreadlocks, Beatle cuts and Afros as their attorney, Michael Rich, stood by with an incredulous look on his face."

Their whole point I think was to show how silly this whole thing is. The way people react does not directly implicate the seriousness of an issue. The press and politicians who went to DEFCON3 for a few flashy billboards I think are pretty embarrassed and are looking to take it out on others.

read more | digg story

CES web video coverage, die ads die

2007-01-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

Since I can't fly off to Vegas to visit CES or down to San Francisco to attend Mac World, I have been catching up on all the gadgety goodness via web video. Everything was going well until I was brutalized by the advertising in these videos.

I am willing to accept some advertising for my content but this has gone too far. In particular CNETTV.com and Gear Live's The Bleeding Edge Podcast have heinous advertising which is bound to turn off viewers.

The Offenders
Subject: CNETTV.com
Content: Reviews and information from CES and MacWorld
Offense: Stupid Windows Mobile Snakes in an Elevator commercial.
Why this is Heinous: Its not the commercial so much, although it is normal Microsoft crap, because it is livable. It is the fact that they make you watch the same flippin' commercial between every two or three clips. The clips are about thirty seconds to three minutes long and the commercial is 16 seconds. So every 60 to 4 minutes or so you are forced to watch the same clip. That means you watch that commercial over .... and over ... and over ... and over ... and over before you can get through the playlist.

Subject: Gear Live's The Bleeding Edge Podcast
Content: Tech Reviews, Interviews, and Commentary from CES
Offense: Obnoxiously long intro, double Panasonic Ads, and Microsoft Live Ad all in one short podcast
Why this is Heinous: Normally the podcast is nearly an hour, released semi weekly, which makes the ads a bit more tollerable BUT for their CES coverage they are doing 2-4, 4-15 minute shorts a day. Each of those has the same advertising. One 5:50sec podcast has a 30sec Microsoft Live ad followed by a thankfully short splash, followed by a 30sec Panasonic Ad followed by the podcast and then ending with another 40sec Panasonic Ad...If you were keeping track that is nearly 30% of the podcast is taken up with advertising! Luckly you can fast forward with iTunes but I am seriously considering unsubscribing after this abuse.

Lightbox with always visible Prev and Next Links

2007-01-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Problem: Lightbox Prev and Next Navigation being visible onMouseOver is not obvious enough

After enabling Lightbox on my picture gallery I quickly realized that the onMouseOver Prev and Next on the Lightbox were way to confusing for my viewers :) The problem with the design it the Prev and Next links on the Lightbox pop-up are mystery navigation. If you don't know to mouse over the right or left side of the image in order to get the links to appear, you don't.

The Solution: Change lightbox.css to make the navigation graphics always visible

My solution was to change the stylesheet (lightbox.css) to fix the display of the prev and next links to always be visible. I am OK with the prevLabel.gif and nextLabel.gif always showing on top of the image because it makes the navigation so much more obvious.

I know this fix is pretty obvious to the coder types but since many people who use the LightBox Library on their website are not so savvy I hope to take the mystery out of this fix. Simply:

1) Download the new Lightbox CSS File.

2) Remove the .txt from the end of the filename.

3) Make sure the nextLabel.gif and prevLabel.gif and blank.gif are pointed to in the right directory (if they are not in the ./img/ directory you need to change anywhere it says img/ to your directory name, for example images/)

4) Upload the new lightbox.css file to replace the old one

Lightbox with iFrames Reloaded

2006-12-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

I recently redesigned my picture gallery as part of moving my website to a WordPress powered site. As part of that redesign, I wanted to move my full size picture view to one that uses LightBox JS 2.0. That worked out smashingly until I decided that I wanted the home movies in my gallery to also display in a LightBox frame. Turns out that LightBox is coded to display image files and does not work out of the Box (har har har) for displaying movies.

After a quick google search I stumbled upon the MPOV blog and a post on Lightbox with iframes. I downloaded his script and plugged it in instead of my current lightbox.js file. It worked great to display the movies. To display my Flash movies in the new iFrame LightBox JS v2.0 I just edited the existing link to the Flash created simple HTML file to include the rel="lightbox" property. The HTML file is simply a file with an embedded Flash movie (.flv) playing file (.swf).

My issue with the new hacked LightBox was that although it now allowed me to define a height for the iFrame and Lightbox, it didn't support setting the width of the iFrame and the LightBox. So, when my Flash movie would load in LightBox it, depending on its size, would have a scroll bar. You can set the width at the top of the lightbox.js as the iFrameWidth variable but my videos are a variety of sizes so I needed to be able to dynamically set the width for the LightBox/iFrame.

No biggie, though, with the addition of a few lines of code the new Lightbox with iFrames now supports setting the height and width of the iFrame and therefore LightBox. To pass in the width and height use: rel="lightbox|WIDTH|HEIGHT". For instance if you want to display a 640px X 480px movie you would use rel="lightbox|660|500" The script automatically adds the defined LightBox border (var = borderSize) x 2 to the width and height.

Download the new LightBox with iFrames Reloaded

Install by changing the extension to .js from .txt and replace your existing lightbox.js file with the new one.

Note: You will need the full LightBox v2.0 installed already which you can download from here.

For an example of using LightBox to open embedded Flash movies and standard JPG images check out our Picture Gallery. Click on one of the movies links from the first page to see an iFrame + LightBox being used to display the Flash Video or one of the thousand pictures for the standard LightBox image usage.

Thanks to Lokesh Dhakar for the LightBox script and Tim Morgan cool iFrame hack.

"Soap" Wireless Mouse : DIY

2006-12-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

Soap is a hybrid mouse created by Microsoft Labs and UW researcher Patrick Baudisch. The Soap Mouse is an awesome idea that is amazingly easy to do yourself. In a super surprising move from Microsoft, Patrick's Soap website includes not only a very detailed pdf how-to but also a great movie how-to build your own soap mouse.

The mouse is made by removing the internals from a wireless mouse, performing a bit of modification, placing them into a reclaimed Rite Aid hand sanitizer bottle, and placing that assembly into a fuzzy sock. The soap mouse works by reading the inside of the sock by the normal mouse optical unit as the above created assembly is rotated inside of the sock in a very soap bar in your hand kind of motion.

The Soap DIY includes information for two versions, a gamers soap mouse and a 2D display mouse for more usualy mousing. The 2D is more difficult to make but (for most games) having a gamers soap mouse requires you to have a keypad to do your AWSD moving.

I love this creation for a bunch of reasons: It is a new take on the age old mouse input device, it is a pretty easy and inexpensive ($35) geek DIY project, and it just looks cool. I am seriously considering making it but am still trying to figure out when I would really use the little sock mouse.

Create a favicon.ico with Photoshop

2006-12-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Ever noticed that the little icon next to the URL in your address bar? For some websites the icon is customized and for others it is either blank or a default icon. That icon is actually pulled from a file on your webserver called favicon.ico. The favicon.ico file tells the browser what 16x16 pixel icon to display when people browse to your website. The icon will also appear to the left of your favorite entry for any website with a favicon.ico.

So how do you get your own icon for your website? You need to create a file named favicon.ico and upload it to the main directory of your websierver. Sounds easy enough, right? Well almost, the only thing that makes this tricky is this very tiny image file is in a format most image editors can not save as a default. This little devious file is a Windows Icon Format file (.ico) which should spread dread into the hearts of MAC users everywhere. No fear, though, with a little plugin you can use good old Adobe Photoshop to create your very own favicon.ico file.

First, go to: this website and download the ICO format plugin for your version of Photoshop (MAC and PC are different). Next, follow the included instructions to drop the ICO plugin into your Photoshop plugins folder. Now the fun part, get your self a 16x16 pixel canvas and design your favicon.ico. A little hint is to use a canvas of 32x32 and then change the image size right before you save so you can actually see what you are doing! Now, choose save as and select Windows Icon Format (ico) from the format dropdown box. Last upload your file to the home directory of your webserver.

The first thing I know you are going to do is go to your website to see your nifty new website icon! Sadly, though, there is a good chance you will not see it :( Browsers are iffy on when they check for the new versions of favicon.ico. Some check when you refresh, some you have to clear the cache, some you have to bookmark the page, others you have to jump on one foot while left clicking! Anyways, just give it some time and sometime your new image will pop up on your address bar.

Acrobat "Please restart before continue" message

2006-11-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

PROBLEM: Adobe Acrobat Professional 6.0 gives a "Adobe Acrobat has been updated. Please restart before continue" message every time on startup. Restarts do not remove the "Please restart before continue" message and clicking on Help -> Updates ... gives an error that you must restart to finish installing previous update or just brings up the previous "Adobe Acrobat has been updated. Please restart before continue" message.

SOLUTION: You have to manually download and install the Adobe Acrobat 6.01 update from Adobe's website. The link to the adobe updates for Mac where you can find the Acrobat 6.01 update is here and the Windows update is here.

I also installed the 6.02 update, downloaded from the same website. After installing both of these updates, my "Adobe Acrobat has been updated. Please restart before continue" message was finally gone for good! Now you can use the normal Updates ... menu item to download and install the next updates through Acrobat instead of having to manually download and install each of them.

Verizon Wireless EVDO Internet Review

2006-11-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

I recently signed up for Verizon Wireless EVDO High Speed Internet. The service was referred to by Verizon as: BROADBANDACCESS PROMO UNLIMITED and is $59.99/month with a two year contract. The wireless EVDO service from Verizon that I signed up for is a data only service which I use to connect to the internet through a card in my Mac Book Pro Laptop.

The Verizon Wireless Qualcom V640 Express Card
The V640 card is regularly $199 at Verizon Wireless but don't pay that much for it. The card is available at on-line retailers for $99 and I was able to get my local Verizon store to sell me the card for $99 a couple of months ago when I purchased it. I imagine this price will go down to promo/free soon.

The V640 is an Express Card which is another format of card other than the PCMICA cards which had been standard on most laptops. The Apple Mac Book and Mac Book Pro's all have the Express Card Slot only. The V640 was one of the first EVDO Express Cards that was produced and has been avilalble for a couple of months. In September when I got my card, only Verizon and Sprint had Express EVDO cards available. This card is plug and play for the Apple laptops and mine has worked flawlessly.

The V640 Express Card has a few nice features including a flip up antenna for a bit of a signal boost, an input for an external antenna, and a very handy flashing signal detector light. I have been happy with the reception of the card. Most of the time if I have cell phone coverage, I also have EVDO data coverage. The signal light of the V640 flashes green if you have coverage and red if no coverage so you know your coverage even before you try and connect.

VZAccess Connection Manager Software
My only complaint with Verizon's EVDO wireless high speed internet service would be the VZAccess software. The software is not terrible but it is not flawless either. The software is required to set up the service, this is disappointing. With previous wireless internet service, you could configure a modem manually and connect, but this is not possible with the EVDO service from Verizon ... well not initially anyways.

The VZAccess software comes with the V640 card and installs easily, although requiring an annoying restart. The software starts on boot I assume because it complains if you boot your Mac with the card inserted that it must be started before you insert the card... again annoying. Once you start the software the first time, it auto configures and you can then connect...AFTER you register the card and service. This process is what stops you from manually configuring your modem and connecting. Once you have successfully activated connecting is as easy as pressing the connect button.

The software has a few handy features including a stat display which gives you your connection speed, current and historical, in text and graphical format. These are pretty useful especially to know whether you have the juice to try a huge download or if you should wait.

The major problem with this software is it has some dependability issues. I have a few times had it go into some kind of CPU eating condition where it takes all free processor cycles and runs up the heat on my Mac Book Pro.

Connection Speed
The service works by running in 1x Mode when EVDO is not available and the VZAccess display is a great way to keep track of your speeds. My speeds are usually around 96Kbps up and 1.2Mbps down when in 1X and 1.5Mbps up and 5Mbps down when in EVDO. I have seen it max out at around 8Mbps down. Any of the EVDO numbers are amazingly fast and the 1X numbers are annoying but fast enough to be very useful. I have been very happy with the speed of the service. Having unlimited data is a must, though, since I use this service pretty heavily at times. At a recent conference I attended, I used the service daily and with downloading Diggnation and GeekDrome at night, I pulled over 1G of data down one day :)

I have heard nasty rumors of that some people feeling they are being throttled when they use too much data. I have not found this to be true but are keeping my eye out for these kind of tactics because they are a possibility, I am sure.

Manual Modem Connection
So, I don't think you can completely bypass the VZAccess software because of the activation functionality it performs but once you have activated your card it is very easy to go manual and bypass the VZAcess software. First, Open Internet Connect and select the Novatel Wireless EXPD CDMA modem from the selection bar at the top. Click the "Show modem status in menu bar" check box. This is a good selection to have anyways because it gives you your connection information. Now when you want to connect, just click on the modem phone icon and select connect. This works because the VZAccess software is nice enough to set up the modem profile when you first connect.

Final Conclusions
I have been very happy with Verizon's EVDO high speed wireless data service. The service area and speed are excellent and as EVDO coverage is expanded this will just get better.

CoRD Remote Desktop for Mac

2006-10-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

I recently downloaded and installed CoRD (A Cocoa Remote Desktop Client) for my Mac Book Pro and I have been extremly impressed with this remote desktop app.

It was a simple OS X drag and drop install and it was running smoothly with no crazy configuration. My only complaint is that there is no documentation so I was actually super suprised and happy when it worked so well.

Setup: to setup CoRD on my Mac I started the app and then entered the IP of the Windows XP computer I wanted to connect to and hit the Green Plus button to start the Remote Desktop session. That was it! Really! I have no idea how my XP box is set-up as it predates me so I could have gotten lucky but anyways that would be a Windows XP issue not a CoRD issue.

I have been using CoRD for about a week now and would recomend it for any Mac users who need to be able to remotely connect to a XP box.

Sharing My Documents folder between OSX and Parallels

2006-10-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

After having receintly installed Parallels software on my Mac Book Pro I quickly realized that I needed to be able to share files between my OS X OS and the Parallels / Windows XP Pro OS if it was to be of any use. I found a couple of ways to accomplish this but my favorite by far is detailed below.

Step 1: Install Parallels

-This one is a no brainer. Just follow the installation instructions included with Parallels to install the app and then Windows XP.

Step 2: Install Parallels Tools

-Here is a quick how-to install Parallels Tools

Step 3: Stop the Parallels VM

-Click on the Red Square on the right side of the screen if Parallels is running.

Step 4: Enable Shared Folders in Parallels

-First Click on Edit at the bottom of the screen to edit your current Parallels VM
-Second Click on Shared Folders in the left view (if you don't see Shared Folders, click on the add at the bottom of the screen and add that item in)
-Third Click the check box to enable shared folders and then add in your shared folder by click on the plus at the bottom of the box.
-Fourth select the directory you wish to share. I chose the full home directory but you could just use the Documents sub directory depending on your needs.
-Finally, Click OK.

Step 5: Map the Windows My Documents Folder to the Parallels Share

-First start the Parallels VM (Click on the green play button on the right)
-Second right click on the My Documents Folder in Windows XP
-Third change the Target of the My Documents Folder to the Parallels Share to map the Windows My Documents to any folder you wish in your OS X directory.

Notes:

-Some initially had problems with the Parallels Shared Folders but they have adressed those and I have had no issues.
-Windows WILL create its own directories for My Music, My Pictures, My Movies etc in whatever directory you map My Documents to.
-I kept everything simple by mapping My Documents on XP to Documents on OS X but that decision is up to you.
-You can set up Parallels to show your share on the Desktop or make sure the share is running through Parallels Tools, that you installed in Step 2 above.

WARNING:

-You have now opened up your previously protect OS X files and directories to Windows XP. This means any viruses and spyware you may get now can potentially cross the Windows OS X barrier and cause unplesant issues. Proceed with Caution.
-It was my decision that without those files being accessible in Parallels, I had no real use for Parallels, so I set it up. Just remember to use protection ;-)

Shrimp running on an underwater treadmill

2006-10-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Video of a shrimp running on an underwater treadmill taken at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. Pacific Biology researcher David Scholnick keeps his shrimp fit with this workout routine.

10/12/2006 UPDATE: I originally published this story on Digg referencing a movie I had just posted to YouTube on October 3,2006. My Digg story (see link below) went no where really. BUT, my YouTube video started getting some pretty good play. By October 10, the Shrimp Running on a Treadmill video had gotten about 5,000 views. Not bad I thought. Then it hit and all of the sudden the little shrimp that could went viral (If you know the research this comment is WAY funnier).

What do I mean by my Shrimp on a Treadmill video went viral? In Internet slang viral means that a topic, email, video, picture reaches a kind of cult status where its growth is explosive and fueleld by word of mouth. Viral is a bit of luck and a bit of quirckyness and here is the timeline as best as I can figure:

The viral video cycle:

Oct 3 : Video Posted. The video is from one of our Pacific University researchers and I posted it to YouTube because I figured it was a good way to get some press for the University.

Oct 10 : Through word of mouth, YouTube addicts, IM's, emails, and who knows what else, the video got enough views to place it 95 on the YouTube Science and Technology most viewed list.

Oct 11 : The video gets picked up by Flark.
Oct 11 : The video gets Dugg by another user and shoots up to the home page. Between Flark, Digg and who knows what other references, the video hits 40,000 views. Thats a 10 fold increase in views over one day.

Oct 12 : The video is still going strong and has over 57 comments on YouTube, 57,000 views, and 100 ratings. The video currently sits amoung the top 35 for the month in Science and Technology for all the categories: Most Viewed, Most Discussed, Most Favorites, and Top Rated.

Oct 13 : The video continues to buzz along. I got an email from Pacific University Biology department and it looks like Netscape picked up the story and it rose to the top 15. Netscape then contacted Dr. David Scholnick and did a short writeup on their site. The current YouTube hit count is at 75,000 and it looks like quite a few blogs have also picked up the Shrimp on a Treadmill story. Unless it hits on the main YouTube list, I am guessing it will start to loose steam over the weekend.

Oct 16: Seems like things are dying down a bit. The current YouTube hit count has climbed to 95,000. Even though I don't see an explosion in the near future any higher, only time will tell. Still, almost 100,000 eyes on a previously unseen video and research is a huge success.

Oct 18: It looks like the little Shrimp that could has picked up some good media momentum. I just got a Google Alert today that the story was picked up by MSNBC:

Scientists put shrimp on a treadmill http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15319541/
MSNBC - USA
... such as a shrimp, where a decrease in performance may mean the difference between life and death," said David Scholnick, a biologist from Pacific University. ...

The story was also picked up by Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,222149,00.html. The copy is the same between the stories so it looks like it is a wire pickup which means HUGE momentum and coverage.

I also heard from David that he has been contacted by other news agencies such as the Discovery Channel who are interested in the story.

Oct 19: The story has filtered back to Pacific University. I originally posted this video and started the Viral Video Ball Rolling ... or Running I guess but purposely did not notify anyone on campus. My strategy was to allow the video to run its own course organically. It looks like the Biology department has been so happy with the results, they have started to put out the word on campus. The current YouTube view count for the "Shrimp on a Treadmill" video sits just over 100,000.

Oct 23: The video went to YouTube's home page, featured videos and just exploded! I got flooded with comment emails over the weekend and now has 5700 comments and 750,000 views! It is still on the home page this morning so once people get into work it could go even bigger. At this point I am not sure if there is more media coverage to come from this new level of exposure or if we are moving into an area of over exposure but we will see.

Lessons from a Shrimp on a Treadmill and the Viral Video Phenomena
As hard as you might try, if your posting does not have the requiste cool factor or is not quirky enough to be a phenomena, it is probably not going to go anywhere. It might but that just points agian to the unpredictable nature of viral marketing that I am trying to predict.

The first week of your video is critical. Don't try to self seed it or inflate your numbers. If the people aren't finding your video there is a reason.

There is a critical point to your video. You need to get on a page which is a subset of the greater media: IE: Digg's front page, YouTube's Most Viewed, Discussed, or Rated, Flark's home page, SlashDot's front page, etc. The issue with these sites is they are so content heavy that if your peers are not moving it to the top, it quickly falls off.

Once you have reached that critical point of viewership, the shelf life of your media, is now a guess. Some famous viral videos: Star Wars Kid, Numa Numa Guy, and Shakira Hips Don't Lie Spoof had shelf lifes of about 6 months and millions of views.

This exposure is worth millions in good or bad press depending on how it spins and is largely unpredictable and uncontrolable. Your job now is to capitalize on any press and media coverage created by the video to build your brand or further your goals.

Eliminate VirtueDesktops Change to Desktop Notification

2006-08-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Problem: The most recent release of VirtueDesktops for the Mac now displays "Changed to Desktop Browsing" or "Changed to Desktop Mail" or "Changed to Desktop Code" or "Changed to Desktop Main" notifications on the right side of the screen whenever you switch desktops.

Solution: Disable the VirtueDesktops Growl Notification in the Growl Preferences pane.

1) Click on the Apple Icon in the upper left of your screen
2) Select System Preferences from the dropdown menu
3) Click on Growl in the Other section of the System Preferences Pane
4) Click on Applications in the top Horzontal Menu
5) Unclick the checkbox next to the VirtueDesktops Application

Growl automatically recognizes and registers applications which have its interface. So, if you ever find messages mysterously appearing in the right side of your screen or you want to adjust the display of your Growl messages check the Growl Preferences pane.

How to install Ubuntu on an Intel Mac under Parallels

2006-08-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Screencast how-to install and run Ubuntu x86 on an Intel CoreDuo Mac as a Parallels VM.
Video is about 21 minutes (no cuts) from starting Parallels to having Ubuntu working after installation. The only tricky part is using the Live CD and click the install icon on the desktop to get Ubuntu installed in Parallels.

View the Install Ubuntu Screencast | digg story

Apple-X Keyboard Shortcut to Move Files in Mac OS X Finder

2006-07-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Problem: The Mac OSX finder does NOT support the Ctrl-X (would be Apple-X) functionality to move files as does Windows XP. Really Control-X in Windows does not Cut Files it just in initiates a Move File command. Apple decided in OSX that mapping Apple-X to Move File would be confusing so they just left it out. Well that is annoying to all of us Switchers whose fingers are hardwired to hit Control-X to move files to have to learn to hit the moved Command key (Apple) - X just to have it do nothing!

Solution:
The solution is two fold. The first step is to use Automator to create a move automator finder plugin. This is really easy and involves just a few steps:

Open Up the Automator Application
Drag over the "Get Selected FInder Items" element
Drag over the "Move Finder Items" element
Save as Finder Plug-in Named "...Move" or something similar
Control (Right) Click on a file or group of selected files and choose whatever you named your plug-in in the step above

Now you have a finder plugin but you still can't Apple-X to move files. For this you will need to map Apple-X to your new Automator function using a freeware or shareware software program.

To use a keyboard shortcut (Apple-X) to move files you need to save the automator action as a Plugin for the Script Menu (same method as saving for Finder Plugin just use the dropdown to select Script)
Download and InstallFast Scripts Lite
Click on the Fast Scripts Icon in the top toolbar and Select Fast Scripts Light and then Preferences
Expand the top Tree Element which is your personal Scripts Folder where Automator placed the created script from the first step.
Click on the Move ... Element then click in the Shortcut Column and press Apple-X to assign your Automator Action a Keyboard Shortcut.
Thats it. Now, as long as Fast Scripts Lite is running you can use Apple-X to move your files!

iStat Pro 3.0 Beta Has Core Duo Temp Monitor

2006-07-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

iSlayer has come out with the latest version of itsiStat Pro computer monitoring widget. The iStat Pro version 3.0 Beta improvements include built-in Intel Core Duo Temp monitoring and many graphical and skinning upgrades.

iStat Pro is a very popular widget that allows you to keep track of whats going on with your Mac. I have been a huge fan of this widget since I first got my Mac Book Pro and now that it has a built in Core Duo Temperature readout, I have gone back to having it as my main system monitor.

Core Duo Temp Monitor & Widget for Intel Macs

2006-07-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: 7/19/06 :: Now the iStat Pro widget does have the ability to monitor Core Duo Temps. See my blog post for more info on the new iStat Pro.
UPDATE: 7/7/06 :: Now there is a Core Duo Temp Widget that works with the same framework as the Core Duo Temp monitor app I posted below! This is a much better solution I think than a hard app.

Original Post: 6/26/06: The Core Duo Temp Monitor is a Mac OS X app which monitors the temp and frequencies of your Intel Core Duo processor. Load it and see just how hot your processor is running. I use the iStat Pro widget for other info on my computer and processor but since they have not yet released a version which can record temps on the new Intel Core Duo Processors, here is an app I found from Wikipedia you can run to monitor the temps.

Core Duo Temp Monitor |

Pocket PC Bluetooth to USB Sync Error

2006-07-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Problem: After setting up my Mac Book Pro to sync via Bluetooth with my Pocket PC I could no longer sync via USB connection. I received this error:

Cannot start communications with the desktop computer. The communications port is not available. Another program may be using the port, or it may not be valid.

Quit any programs that may be using the port and reconnect. If the problem persists, restart your device using the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

I could still sync through the Bluetooth sync but USB no longer was active. I thought the issue was with The Missing Sync program I was using to sync my iPAQ pocket PC with Entrourage on my Mac Book Pro but after trying to sync through USB on my Windows XP desktop, I received the same error.

Solution: Change the Pocket PC Sync Manager to sync via USB

Details:
Step 1: Select Active Sync from the Pocket PC Windows Menu

Step 2: Select "Options" from the Tools Menu at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3: Click the "Options" button.

Step 4: Select "USB" from the drop down menu on the screen

Step 5: Plug in your USB cable to your PC and your Pocket PC and sync

The port the error refers to is the Pocket PC's COM port NOT the port on your Mac (through the Missing Sync) or PC. Whenever you switch back between USB and Bluetooth syncs, just follow these steps again to select your method.

Running Beyond Compare on a Mac Book Pro

2006-07-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

The Problem: No Mac OSX software exists that halfway compares to Scooter Software's Beyond Compare FTP & dif program all in one. Since I recently switched to a Mac, I have been unable to find anything close.

I tried using Panic's Transmit for FTP but once the demo ran out I really had no desire to continue using it. I then switched to Fetch Softwork's Fetch FTP client. I like Fetch better but the necessity of having a separate Finder window open was annoying and I still don't have half the functionality of Beyond Compare.

Why is Beyond Compare so great?

Connected file tree browsing with remote FTP and local files liked. So, when you expand or minimize a folder, Beyond Compare does the same action on the Remote/Local. This is an AMAZING time saver.
Built in dif functionality. Beyond Compare is able to link the file systems because it compares the contents of the folders and their names using its dif engine. Even if you have folders locally or remotely that have no pair, Beyond Compare links up the paired folders. When you need to sync local with remote, it is a snap to see the changed files then, if necessary, double click to view the detailed documents in a side by side dif display with the differences highlighted.

The Solution: Parallels + Windows XP + Shared My Documents Magic == Beyond Compare goodness on a Mac.

The Details: Although this seems like a very difficult way to run a program, with Parallels and OSX its really easy to set up and once you have XP up and running there are lots of other uses for the framework.

Step 1: Buy & Install Parallels. Really its as easy as that. Download, Double Click the DMG, and Install.
Step 2: Start Parallels and create a New Virtual Machine for a Windows XP Install. There is a wizard and I pretty much used the defaults. NOTE: I have read that if you bump up the RAM over 512 your actually loose performance but you can always adjust those after the machine has been created.
Step 3: Put in the Windows XP Disk, Start the Virtual Machine, and Install Windows. Again it was as easy as that for me.
Step 4: Reset your My Documents Folder to be shared with your OSX Documents location. This allows you to work on the Code from OSX then just switch to your Parallels XP Machine running Beyond Compare to manage your uploads.
- I found a great How To Set up Your parallels My Documents Folder as your OSX Documents Folder on TechPedia's Blog.
- Follow the directions there which uses Apple's Bonjour to create a Mapped Network Drive which you can set as your My Documents location.
- IMPORTANT: This method has some security implications that you should consider before implementing. This sharing is opening up security holes that previously did not exist on your Mac.
Step 5:Install Beyond Compare and enjoy!