Monthly Archives: January 2008

Snitching on Mail.

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I installed Little Snitch on the mini for amusement. It requires a restart. On that restart LS shows Mail.app wanting to make several outgoing connections.
I don’t use Mail, I’ve never used Mail, I’ve never run it, I would never run it. I have never given it permission to run, it’s not in my login items. So wtf is it doing running? Is this one of those ‘Apple knows best’ moments? I probably can’t install it – like so many other Apple apps it seems – but I’m certainly out now for a way to cripple it into submission – it will not connect.

One more step away from G

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NewsGator just let FeedDemon and NetNewsWire be free. No ‘lite’ versions, fully free.
There were a couple of programs I really missed from Windows and FeedDemon was one. I forget just why NNW did not appeal, but the cost was one aspect. I’d already bought FD so paying made my judgement harsher. But now it’s free.
The shared items bit in Google Reader I do not like. There is the whole privacy thing with Google. There is also the fact that this astronomically rich company provide absolutely useless support – like trying to make stone sweat blood. I use gmail and google reader. Having NNW free means I can move feed reading away from Google. It also means I have just one app for feeds and podcasts.
The data that Google take in return from this being free is what Newsgator now get. I trust them more.

Open another browser?

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Is there a way to open another browser from in the default browser?

Example: Firefox is my default. I want to create some links that when clicked will open the target site in Camino. I can’t see a way to right-click and choose Camino. I can’t see a way to use anything similiar to mailto: and right now copy/paste seems the way and I’d really like to avoid that. Actually, I could switch the default browser but that really would be a PITA given the use of Firefox which would continue when using Camino. (I say Camino but I mean any other browser, I’m not fussy)
Anyone know of a way?

A mouse-free week

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I use the mouse a lot. My typing technique is poor. I spend a lot of time doing both of them. This is not good and has not been for a while. When I’m out with the dog some of the field gates we walk though are extremely heavy things made of tubular steel. One day I caught my hand across the knuckles as it closed and the knuckle of the right middle finger caught the brunt. So combine that with the first 2 and it became time to change.

This week the mouse is unemployed. I’m just using the Wacom tablet for all things mouse. And I’m again trying to learn to type. I’ve got some way to go on that. And when I’m working I’m using MacBreakZ to make me stop. This is all very good but the side-effect is it’s taking so much longer. I’m hoping it gets faster.

Lobbing at angles

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I really like this attitude. You can’t feel hurt for kids, you can’t trust that they will believe you, you can’t make them learn from your experience. You can’t do a whole lot of stuff – so you may as well let them do it. Just more safely.

One point though – it mentions spears. Now I can’t be the only guy who has not yet met a woman that can throw. My girls have both meant to throw something straight down the garden and the item has flown straight over the hedge. They’ve thrown balls in entirely unexpected directions when playing with the dog. They can’t even throw jelly babies and hit me across the room. So give a girl a spear? Yeah right. Evolution took care of that one :) (cue the sexist stuff..)

Allowing kids the freedom to explore … will make them stronger and smarter and actually safer.

Go watch Ted. (10 min video)

731

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Wii Bowling – Power throws – Platinum medal.

(It’s time to start practising. Just need to work on the Tennis thing..)

Not buying a Netgear.

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I have a NetgearDG834PN – a wireless modem/router. It’s okay, it works, doesn’t get overly hot (unlike the Belkins I’ve owned) and at some point since getting the PS3 I’d read that they don’t play nice. I was being signed out of the PSN constantly and the download speeds were terrible. Couple of days ago I was having more connection problems than I wanted so I rang Zen. Turned out my wiring was slightly off and in the end the wired and wireless experience was almost identical.
After watching Casino Royale (on Blu-ray, so the PS3) I sat back with the laptop. Same distance from the Netgear as when I talked to Zen. I could barely ping the router. Rebooted router, restarted machine, network settings, renewed lease – did everything. Then I saw the disconnected PS3 controller. So I hooked that back to the PS3 and instantly the signal improved. I could get the net but it wasn’t that quick. So I turned the PS3 off – and it all got even better. I tried several settings in the PS3 Network menu and nothing would improve matters. Checking the Sony forums found lots of people with the same situation and both Netgear and Sony were doing nothing. So, some choices:
- stick with what I have
- buy a long cable to wire it up (about 20ft)
- buy something that does not have “Netgear” written on it.

At the end of January Linksys will be getting some of my money. I’ll stick until then and cable doesn’t appeal so much (why are the necessary sockets always on the other side of a room and there is a doorway involved?). I can’t game online unless I’ve got a better connection and the problems would explain some (but not all) of the Ridge Racer problems I’ve had). Actually, I’ll post to the Zen forums and see what is recommended there – it may well not be Linksys. I’ll not be buying a Netgear again though.