An important aspect of learning to drive is knowing and understanding the signs and symbols we see when on the road. Your operating system also has many signs and symbols. The more you understand and can read those signs the better driver you will become. This a series will offer you quick little “driving” tips for OS X. In each lesson I will take a quick look at just one element of OS X and give you a little lesson in maximizing it’s functionality.

Traffic Lights

Being OS X users we are all familiar with OS Xs traffic signal. You know, those little red, yellow and green “lights” at the top left of each window? You are probably familiar with the basic functionality of these buttons. But these little guys are more tricked out than you would think.

Red means stop

You probably already know that clicking the red button on your window will close it. You many also know that holding down the ‘Option’ key while clicking the red button will close all the windows, but there is one more trick up reds sleeve. The “red light” also provides a bit of info that I find extremely helpful. Just like it’s real life counterpart it lets you know when to stop. It alerts you when it might be time to stop and save your file. In many applications if you notice a little black circle inside the red button it is the OSes way of letting you know you are between saves. Once you save your file the black dot will disappear and then come back when you make your next change.

Well guess I’m batting 1,000 in the bad luck department. Just as I get my MacCast.com hosting issues resolved and finally push out a new show, Libsyn.com starts having issues. You see I actually have 2 hosting companies. GoDaddy.com hosts this site, but beacuse of the large amount of bandwidth required for my podcast the MP3 and AAC files for the show are served up by Libsyn. Just after I posted todays show the emails started. Some of you are reporting getting 404 errors and are unable to access the show. My first thought was, “Oh no, here we go again”, but in checking the new GoDaddy dedicated server everything seems to be humming along just fine. So then I chek the Libsyn support blogand see this message, “Sunday Update On Network OverloadIt looks like we are still experiencing overload on parts of our network. The connections are swamping the media nodes and this is causing the 404s you may be experiencing”. Well I guess Sunday has rolled into Monday and the issue is still not resolved. Wholy dung beetle Batman! Sorry for all the trouble folks. The errors appear to be pretty widespread, but some of will luck out an might actually get the show (I was able to downlaod both the MP3 and ACC editions right after I uploaded them). Please DO NOT harass Libsyn about this issue. They are well aware and working to fix it. They don’t need a bunch of email distracting them from the task at hand. Dave and the guys over there are good friends of the show and have always been outstanding. I will update you as soon as I have more info.

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20060925.mp3]
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MC20060925.mp3 [22.3mb 00:48:34 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 159. I’m Back! iTunes 7 offers a bad experience for some. Mac Pros are CPU upgradable. Next Apple event planned for Sept. 25th. iTunes generates $1 million for Disney in the first week. Apple unveils new store design. Apple releases security and Airport updates, was the MacBook WiFi hack legit? Is Apple trying to claim ownership of “podcast”? iTunes 7. Bugs, fixes and workarounds. View your pix from card or camera directly in iPhoto. The MacBook Random Shutdown Syndrome (RSS), the fix. How to get horizontal scrolling from a plain vertical only scroll-wheel mouse. Why there are no Blu-ray drives in Macs. iPod Texas Hold ‘Em lets you play the game listening to your own music. Correction on procedure for battery cycling. iPod can’t do all Canadian time zones. The “GoDaddy” report. Podcast Expo is this weekend.

New music, Set Me Free by Anthony Rankin

“There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese. “ — Teen Wolf (1985)

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GoDaddy responds
Well strangely several hours after re-directing MacCast.com to my other domain so I could at least get a message to you and let you know what was happening (read the original message here) , I received a personal email from GoDaddy’s VP of technology. I am not saying these two events are related, but the timing was uncanny. In his email he stated that my shared hosting for MacCast.com had been re-activated and I was free to point the DNS back. He was also clear to point out that they will be monitoring the server “closely”. He expressed interest in talking to me about the incident and left his personal number, so I phoned him back and left a message. I am glad to see this type of service, but have to wonder if everyone gets this type of personal attention. Not long after I called him back I got a received a call from GoDaddy’s Hosting Operations Manager. I was able to discuss with him my situation and express my frustration with how things were handled. He was very apologetic and said they are now investigating their internal procedures for handling these situations and will be attempting to improve the process in the future. It may be a PR move, but I have hope that my incident my improve things for others.

So where are we?
As for MacCast.com… In the short term we are back and GoDaddy will closely monitor the server and notify me in advance of any issues to avoid another shutdown. I asked GoDaddy if they could tell me what the source of this issue was and they really can’t seem to identify a single cause other than the growing popularity of MacCast.com. I have not added or changed any services on the site in the past two months. I run WordPress, Invision PowerBoard, Gallery and some other small PHP/MySQL applications. In speaking with GoDaddy and others who run web sites the consensus seems to be that under heavy traffic each of the applications will place a load on a server. So in short, MacCast is getting too big for it’s britches, or at least it’s hosting plan. I still plan on moving to a better hosting plan (probably dedicated) and at least for now we are back in business.

For the Future
As I mentioned in my Podcast message to you, the MacCast is growing and I hope to continue that growth. This “event” has obviously proved we crossed the threshold and have grown into something more ambitious than just a podcast. I am excited by the opportunity and at the same time a little frightened by what other unknowns may lie ahead. The good news is that I have you on this journey with me and I know you won’t let me screw it up. Thank you for you continued support and encouragement.

“We’ve done the impossible, and that makes us mighty.” — Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)

I’m still here and this is my domain
First off, the MacCast and myself are still here, but as you can see we are having MAJOR server and hosting issues. MacCast.com and the enhanced feed have been down for the last day and a half. You can still subscribe to the regular feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/maccast, although I have not posted a new show since 9/13/2006 (I planned to release a show yesterday and then this happened). I want to say I am sorry for all the confusion and frustration my recent hosting issues have caused you. Second, please don’t be alarmed by the changed URL (http://maccast.terraform.com). This is a temporary measure which I will explain in a minute. Terraform.com is the domain for my new business and is still my domain.
Continue Reading »

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20060913.mp3]
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MC20060913.mp3 [30.3mb 01:06:11 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 158. Coverage of Apple’s “It’s ShowTime event”. The 5.5 Gen iPod. The new color iPod Nanos. New redesigned iPod Shuffle. New iTunes 7.0. Movies on the iTunes Music Store (Is it still the iTunes Music Store?). And one more thing… iTV! Apple responds to RSS (Random Shutdown Syndrome), kinda. Signs shows that Mac Pro is processor upgradable. You can burn multisession CDs, not DVDs. Has Apple retired Aqua and brushed metal? Single Framer 2.1, Stop-motion on a budget. LCDs and native resolution. Meet the MacCast blogging team. Come see me at the Podcast Expo.

New music, Prodigal Son by JMS

Promos: The Self Defense Show and Cryptic Universe

Goddamn foreign TV. I told ya we should’ve got a Zenith. — Gremlins (1984)

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In advance of Tuesdays Apple event there is, of course, a lot of consensus that Apple will be announcing the addition of full length feature films available for purchase on iTunes. Well now Apple’s web site appears to have an interesting anomaly as pointed out by listener Sam. Go to http://www.apple.com/movies and take a look. Of course this page simply displays an error, but it is THE ERROR that is interesting. It shows a “403 Forbidden” error meaning there is content or at least a directory there possibly awaiting content. If you try the same trick with almost any other random value, http://www.apple.com/zunekiller for example, you will see Apple gives you a nicely formatted “Looking for something at Apple.com?” page instead of the standard ugly web error message. Now this may be nothing but a random fluke made to seem like more by a myriad of Apple meets Hollywood rumors, but it’s interesting either way don’t you think?

SendStation is giving away 1,000 of their Firewire PocketDock connectors for iPods for FREE (you just pay shipping). The offer is good for the first 1,000 people to make a request from the companies web site or until September 13th, so hurry. The PoectDock is a tiny connector that works with all Dock Connector iPods and lets you use the iPod’s docking port to connect a standard 6-pin FireWire cable. The PocketDock Firewire can charge and sync all Dock Connector iPods except, of course, the 5th Gen and Nano, which it can only charge. Get yours at SendStation.com.

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20060906.mp3]
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MC20060906.mp3 [27.7mb 01:00:21 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 157. Apple release new Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs and revs Mac Minis. Apple planning special “Showtime” event September 12th. Apple settles iTunes patent lawsuit. The future of the iSight. Adobe may preview Universal apps next week? 2 New US Apple Stores, 1 Canadian set to open this weekend. NickStarr uncovers the Giselle “Get a Mac Ad”. Let the Airline notebook banning begin. Possible cure for MacBook Random Shutdown Syndrome (RSS). Question on how to burn a data DVD. iPod on a Plane follow-up. How to keep iTunes in Sync with an external library. More on my call for Bloggers. Podcast Expo is coming. Supporting the show.

Get Up by The Rigbees

Goonies never say die! — The Goonies (1985)

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Guess Apple decided not to wait until September 12th to deliver its new iMacs. Apple just updated their web site with four new iMac models, including a huge 24″ model. All the new iMacs are up to 50% faster due to the fact that they now all have screaming fast Intel Core 2 Duo processors. The four models spec out like this: a 1.83 GHz and a 2.0 GHz 17-inch model, a 2.16 GHz 20-inch and the all-new 2.16 GHz 24-inch iMac. Prices start at USD$999.00 and they are shipping today through the Apple Store.

Update: As some astute listeners have pointed out, the top 3 iMac models now come with 1GB of RAM standard (Thank you Apple). Also the bottom of the line Intel Mac Mini received a quiet update too. The top model was bumped to a 1.83 GHz Core Duo and lower end model is now a 1.66GHz Core Duo processor instead of the Core Solo. Mac Mini pricing remains unchanged at USD$799.00 and USD$599.00 respectively.

Update too: Something important to note if you plan on buying the cheap 17-incher… it does not include the Apple Remote! If you plan on using it with FrontRow do yourself a favor and make sure you pick up the USD$29.00 remote when you make your purchase.