A Random Seed

Oops, I dropped my iPhone

2008-05-15T00:22:04Z

12 floors down and this was all the damage that was done. That's some good engineering.

I Love OS X Migration Assistant

2008-03-08T12:38:34Z

I used to re-install Windows on a biannual basis. It wasn’t so much that my machine was getting slow but more because I changed hardware pretty frequently. Backing up my files weren’t so much of a pain, but I usually spent a day tinkering with the operating system to get all my settings back to how I liked them.

I recently upgraded to a MacBook Pro and used the Migration Assistant tool to move all my files, settings, and applications from my old MacBook. This took roughly three hours to copy 60GB over gigabit Ethernet. I’ve been using it for a day, and it feels like I never even switched machines. All my hacks are in tact, and I didn’t have to waste any time reconfiguring anything.

Apple - It Just Works?

2008-01-10T00:31:52Z

Apple likes to flaunt the fact that, compared to a PC, It just works. Overall, Mac OS X is much better than Windows, but if I had to judge each on "It just works", then Windows takes the cake. I've owned a Macbook for about nine months now, and here are some of my bad experiences I've had.

My biggest grievance with Mac OS X is how the mouse feels like you're dragging it through mud. A quick Google query shows that I'm not the only one annoyed with this. There are a lot of "solutions" which involve third-party applications, though they all feel like hacks. The only solution that was anywhere decent was USB Overdrive X.

"Your toaster doesn’t crash. Your kitchen sink doesn’t crash. Why should your computer? Think of the countless hours you would save if your PC worked on your time — not the other way around. Then think about a Mac."

Face it Apple, your machines crash too. And Apple has it easy with just a handful of system configurations to develop for. I had a problem with Command-Tab crashing my machine, and it always seemed to happen at the times where I was most frantically trying to get something done (another Google query proves I'm not insane). The fix? Replace OS X's switcher with another third party application, LiteSwitch X. Even though I've since upgraded to Leopard, I'm still using LiteSwitch X to this day for fear that this issue has not been resolved yet.

There's a common theme with these fixes -- they both required third-party software, and they were both shareware. Yes, I know. This is outrageous, who pays for software anymore? In all fairness these applications do a decent job, it's just upsetting that the only use I have for them are to fix my OS.

Pam Beesley Approved

2007-11-19T07:40:24Z

I've been listening to Wisely - Through Any Window (embedded below) all day. I probably would have never heard of this song if Jenna Fischer hadn't promoted the song, but I'm so glad she did. Give it a listen (and as a bonus, Jenna is featured in the video).

Why Yes, I Think I'll Have a Tumblr

2007-11-07T11:11:21Z

Even though random is the name of this blog, my truly random posts will reside on my new tumblelog (tailofthesun.com), powered by Tumblr. Currently, it pulls in feeds from my Twitter and this blog. I'm still having a hard time figuring out whether or not to post to my Twitter or Tumblr, since posting to my Twitter will also post to my Tumblr. I've also finally taken the time to set up Twittering photos with Flickr as per Fred Wilson's tip.

Browser Wars

2007-11-06T08:27:07Z

I'm extremely picky when it comes to browsers. I'm a minimalist, so I've never seen the need to install any addons for Firefox. I like applications that work (more or less) how I like out of box, mainly because it's rare for me to keep an installation of an operating system for more than six months, and I'd drive myself crazy with all the reconfiguration and/or backup. The only extensions I use for Firefox are for development and debugging, namely Firebug and Tamper Data.

Last spring, I purchased my first Mac. I soon found Firefox far too unstable to be usable on Mac OS X. Ever since then, I've switched to Opera and have been satisfied with it so far.

The candidates for browsers are Opera 9.5 Beta, Firefox 2, and Flock 1.0. Flock is a "social" web browser based on Firefox. I chose Flock mainly because it's recent release has struck interest in me, but I plan to write a more comprehensive post on Flock in the future. Today, I'll be covering three aspects of each browser: RSS Feeds, Speed, and Keyboard Accessibility.

]]> RSS Feeds
The main reason I chose to cover RSS feeds was to nitpick about Firefox's "support" (or lack thereof) for RSS feeds.

Opera -- The feed reader which comes with Opera works very much like email. Like Firefox, a feed icon is displayed in the address bar on pages with feeds, and subscribing just requires clicking that icon. Notifications are displayed on the bottom right corner of your screen when a feed is updated, much like notifications from Outlook, which is a big plus for me as I like being able to see my feeds updated in real time (which is why I don't use any service like Bloglines or Google Reader). The feed reader is definitely plain looking (read: ugly), but the functionality is all there and is the best of all the browsers.
Firefox -- What can I say? Firefox has "Live Bookmarks", which I wouldn't classify as a feed reader. Each "feed" becomes a folder, and all the items in the folder are the latest items in the feed, thus you only see titles and nothing else. Completely worthless.
Flock -- It reminds me of Bloglines, but prettier. No notifications and no options to configure how frequent to refresh feeds. Definitely a step up from Firefox, but still short of being functional.

Speed
You can find benchmarks here.

Opera -- Damn fast. Uses more memory than I'd like, but doesn't leak memory.
Firefox -- Leaks memory. I don't know what it is, but Mozilla-based applications pain me.
Flock -- I haven't played with Flock enough to talk about it's speed, but considering it's based on Firefox, I would imagine it to be similar.

Keyboard Accessibility

Opera -- The Speed Dial feature is such a simple concept that it's amazing. I get to choose nine of my favorite websites to place on a speed dial which can be accessed by pressing CTRL + [1-9]. I often catch myself trying to access these shortcuts on Firefox and being disappointed when my browser switches tabs.
Firefox -- They're fine. IMO not as powerful as Opera, but still decent.
Flock -- Same as Firefox, except some of Flock's shortcuts clobber the shortcuts for Firebug which is annoying.

I'm sure you've picked up my bias for Opera. It's a great browser, and I recommend everyone to give it a try. I'm going to have to play with Flock some more to see if it can save Firefox.

Update: And an hour later, Flock has crashed.

Update 2: Fifteen minutes later, it crashed again.

No more sleeping past 6am.

2007-10-30T12:16:36Z

It's really draining and makes me write stupid entries like this.

The Dear Hunter, anyone?

2007-10-24T07:58:41Z

First, a plug. All the concerts I have ever gone to I have either found on Slim's site directly (since they usually have at least one band I'd want to watch performing every month) or by randomly stumbling upon a band's website. I don't like to sift through different websites to find different venues and a bunch of artists I don't like. Enter Songkick. Songkick finds shows in your area based on the artists you listen to. By installing a plugin for your music player, Songkick knows which shows to recommend you. Awesome.

So I've been really digging The Dear Hunter, and it just so happens that they'll be playing at Slim's in Novemeber. Unfortunately, they're not the headliners -- Circa Survive is. I always listen to all the bands on a venue beforehand to get used to their music so I won't be bored when I'm listening to them. The great thing about live events is that it exposes you to bands you probably would have never found out about otherwise. Anyways, the two other bands playing are Ours and Fear Before the March of Flames. I've been listening to the latter a bit, and while I'm not that fond of them, there were a few songs that I did like.

Here's my favorite track from Fear Before the March of Flames and a track from The Dear Hunter for good measure:

Fear Before the March of Flames - My Deer Hunter
The Dear Hunter - City Escape

Death In The Park

2007-10-13T18:50:28Z

Every once in a while when I'm listening to music, I decide to check out what's going on with the band I'm listening to. As it turns out, I learned that Hot Rod Circuit just disbanded after ten years of playing together. On the bright side, the lead singer of HRC started a new band called Death In The Park, and it sounds exactly the same as HRC (I consider that a good thing since I've always liked their sound).

Their first released track is titled "How Much Is Too Much". I've embedded a song from both bands for comparison.

Death In The Park - How Much Is Too Much
How Rod Circuit - Now or Never

Team Fortress 2 Beta

2007-09-18T22:13:58Z

Gamers around the world anxiously awaited the promised Team Fortress 2 beta last night. A quarter before midnight, the game files began decrypting, but it wasn't until a quarter past midnight last night before the game was actually playable. I haven't been too excited for TF2, but it's probably the first PC game I've bought in a few years if you don't count the second copy of Diablo 2 I purchased last summer (well, I also purchased Battlefield 2 sometime in 2005 but have never gotten past installing the game).

I was never fond of Team Fortress Classic to begin with, but I loved Quake Team Fortress. TFC always felt to me like you were holding bricks that prevented you from running at the normal (QWTF) speed. I am also patiently waiting for someone to create the town2/town4 map (cops and robbers) for TF2. The graphics are great -- I really like the cartoon-like approach they took with the graphics. I haven't played enough to determine how I like the gameplay yet, but I do miss grenades.

The one thing I feel Valve made a good decision about was the inclusion of stats in their new Steam Community. I like how I no longer need to have a favorite server to play on just to maintain stats (a la PsychoStats or HLstatsX). Hopefully they implement something like this for CS:S. You can see my TF2 stats here. One thing they need to work on is privacy settings since your information becomes public once you create your community ID.

Screenshots available after the break.]]> www.flickr.com