jemjabella

'Don't Forget to Back-Up' List

With my recent move to Windows 7 from XP on my laptop, I had to do a back-up and fresh install (the actual upgrade option is only for Vista). This means remembering all of the silly little stuff that's not quite as important as your photos or music, but is nonetheless annoying to lose. Every time I've done a fresh install, there's always something I forget. I couldn't find a list on the web of things "not to forget" so thought I'd write my own.

It goes without saying that you should back-up everything (music, photos, documents etc) from the following locations:

• My Documents (My Music, My Pictures etc)
• Desktop
• Root of the C: drive (I have some games there)
• htdocs folder, mysql databases and user priviliges (if you're an xampp user like me)

In addition, the following "little" items:

• Downloaded fonts in C:\Windows\Fonts (because there's nothing more annoying than having to re-download your faves from a million and one sites) by highlighting them and CTRL+Cing them to the back-up location
• Browser bookmarks and offline mail (Mozbackup is good if you're using Firefox and Thunderbird)
• If you're not using Mozbackup, you'll need to make a back-up or add-on preferences etc too
• Saved games (not that I've had chance to play any lately!)
• A list of the programs you use (there's always something I forget to reinstall)

Have I missed something? Add it below, then we'll have a handy checklist of stuff not to forget :)

Tech Books for Sale

I am trying to clear some space pre-move/pre-baby, as well as making a bit of extra money to put aside for emergencies and so was hoping to sell a few books on Amazon. Unfortunately they require you to have a UK credit card, which I don't have, and as I'm ebay-aphobic I don't want to go that route. So, if you're interested in the private purchase of any of the following tech books, please get in touch: jem@jemjabella.co.uk.

How to Break Web Software by Mike Andrews / James A. Whittaker
ISBN: 0321369440
Condition: New (it was bought as a gift but already own a copy); includes companion CD
Price: £18

Hackish PHP Pranks & Tricks by Michael Flenov
ISBN: 1931769524
Condition: Excellent; includes companion CD
Price: £15

Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide by Chuck Toporek
ISBN: 0596009143
Condition: Minor scuffages
Price: 50p

Graphic Design Cookbook by Leonard Koren / R. Wippo Meckler
ISBN: 0811831809
Condition: Excellent
Price: £10

Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practices of Graphic Design by David Dabner
ISBN: 0500285268
Condition: Good, but with minor corner damage on back left
Price: £6

PHP 5 Advanced: Visual Quickpro Guide by Larry Ullman
ISBN: 0321376013
Condition: Very good apart from crease down front cover
Price: £16

Delivery for all is £2.75 as per Amazon, except the Mac pocket guide which is smaller so £2 only. UK shipping only. If you live local(ish) to Telford you're more than welcome to arrange to pick them up at no extra cost for delivery.

If any of you have any genius ideas as to where else I can flog some of my crap, do let me know.

In Which I Poke Fun at Apple

Mactards. Everyone knows one. They're not just using an Apple Mac because hey, they just like 'em, they actually think it's a way of life. They think that because their technology is preceeded by the letter "i", they are somehow superior. Their operating system doesn't get viruses. Their MP3 players come in multiple shiny colours. Their laptops will outlast any cheap equivalent. Hah, give it up guys: Apple are pulling stunts lately that you'd normally only expect from Microsoft. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Apple are falling from grace — heaven forbid — but when your favourite news aggregator is reporting several negative stories in quick succession one can't help but cackle.

Let's start with the Times Online reporting that Apple have attempted to silence the owner of an exploding iPod with a non-disclosure agreement. Ignoring the cheek of the non-disclosure — apparently this is more common than you'd think — I can't help but wonder how many others have been affected by similar heat/exploding issues. More than one, that's for sure:

Interface designer Dustin Curtis posts this on Hacker News:

My PowerBook G4 Titanium overheated and melted. I called Apple support. They took my number and told me to wait for a call.

Ten minutes later, an executive in Cupertino called me and apologized for my "trouble." Then he made the a similar offer to the person in this story-- if I agreed to not talk about the incident, he would send me a fully loaded brand new PowerBook G4 (aluminum model at the time) worth almost $5k, an iPod, and an external hard drive.

I took the deal, of course, but refused to sign anything.

Here's a picture I sent to Apple HQ immediately after the incident: http://bit.ly/Gv93d

And then a few links for good measure:

• "Im an owner of a macbook pro [...] the temperature of the cores is reaching up to 99C - 100C"
• "Lately my Mac Pro has been crashing and freezing with greater regularity [...] I had a hunch it was heat related."
• "Playing Videos Overheat[s] my Mac Book" (I love that this one is blamed on Flash; I don't like Flash but my laptop doesn't overheat if I watch a Youtube vid!)
• "ipod spontaneously combusting"
• iPod suspected of setting Saab ablaze

If melting plastic and exploding components isn't enough to get you going, how about pulling apps from the iPhone app store for bogus reasons, or expecting developers of said apps to cover the costs when apps are pulled? And the one about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) getting frisky with Apple because of potentially anti-competitive behaviour? Still with the iPhone, howsabout the news that Apple have admitted that an unlocked iPhone is a terrorist threat? Isn't that reassuring.

Of course, my favourite is the story about the flaw that could allow 'hackers' to steal data that is supposedly encrypted. The amusing part is not that people are open to having their identities stolen — I wouldn't wish that on anyone — but that the Mac OS users who insist that "macs don't get infected" are left with egg on their faces. Again.

George Ou reports on a keyboard firmware flaw that, attached to any Mac, can be used to record passwords and re-infect Macs with trojans even after a total harddrive wipe. The worst news? I quote (emphasis my own):

This type of a hack however isn’t something where you can go into an Apple store and have an Apple "genius" exorcise because once the Apple keyboard is infected and locked; there is no practical way of undoing the damage.

Phew. All this in the space of a few days. Apple must be hurting.

Smug? Me? Nah. I'm more than familiar with Microsoft's multitude of sins. Just glad to be sat on the other side of the fence for once.

Your Operating System is a Tool

With all jobs, you find professionals with a preferred set of tools. A surgeon works best with a scalpal rather than a hammer; a carpenter with a plane rather than a bag of plaster mix. Sometimes, these tools come in different forms... a rubber mallet is still a hammer, but is better for jobs where a softer 'hit' is required; likewise, you wouldn't eat your dinner with a garden fork.

Like hammers, forks, planes, an operating system is just a tool. Irrelevant of which one you pick, it's purpose is to facilitate the use of programs and the completion of tasks. It manages your hardware and generally makes things work.

After some to-ing and fro-ing, weighing up my options, etc; I have decided that my tool of choice — my operating system of choice — is Windows XP. Linux may be the swiss army knife of the OS world but it's no use if you have to spend 3 hours trying to get the blade out (make the damned menu work). It's no use if it comes with pliers when you really could do with a pair of scissors (running Wine or a VM just to play an old game).

Fed up of feeling hemmed in, and out of control of my own operating system, I reformatted and reinstalled WinXP yesterday morning. I like to know what my OS is doing at any exact moment, and I don't running Ubuntu. Sure, it's giving up, but I don't mind being a Microsoft bitch if it gives me my peace of mind back.

Not an End of Year Reflection

I was going to do one of my traditional "reflect on the year" thingies, but it occurred to me that there's not much point. I have actually done very little this year that I intended to. Oh sure, I finally managed to get NinjaLinks in to a half working state, and rev.iew.me is doing really well, but these two things are a tiny fraction of what I talked myself in to. I guess this goes back to what I said in my last entry about getting on with stuff and making the most of my time. (Although you guys perhaps misunderstood me... I mean to make the best of my "coding time" so that I have MORE free time for relaxing stuff like my gaming, the pets, etc)

Anyway, instead of the yearly recap, I'm going to talk about one of my Christmas presents. Karl bought me an Acer Aspire One. I had initially wanted the Asus EEE, but having spent some time with Rachael's when she came down last I found myself struggling with the keyboard. The AA1 keyboard is much more similar to that of my Dell so I can switch between the two effortlessly.

The whole idea of me getting a netbook is that it'll help with this efficiency thing. I can code stuff on the move (in otherwise useless time) as well as more frequent access to my e-mail. I hope this helps me get my inbox back down to a more manageable level, especially as the e-mails I made promises about this time last year are still at the bottom of my bloody inbox.

So... the Acer. It is the Linux version (+5 geek points), with an 8GB solid state drive (means I can chuck the thing around!) and 512MB RAM. I've ordered an 8GB Micro SD card which — in the M-SD to SD adapter — I can slot in to the side using the specifically made expansion slot. I can also use the card minus the adapter for my mobile phone... not that I ever actually do anything with that.

I've already tweaked Linpus (the OS) about, but haven't made any major changes. I installed Firefox 3 (it's better behaved under Linux, I've found), ditched the unnecessary apps to free up drive space and added a custom desktop wallpaper (this probably sounds like no big deal but I am a Windows girl and it took me a while to figure out where to go!) Those of you interested in the process of tweaking Linpus may find my acer-tagged delicious bookmarks of use.

Of course, if I get too used to Linux, this can only mean one thing for the Dell...