Science Fare

More dual G5 troubleshooting. Even though this mac is under “applecare” they seem hesitant to believe it doesn’t work. So I’ve pulled all third party ram out — no change. Now I’ve disabled a processor by going to Open Firmware. Here’s how you do it:
– reset machine
– immediately hold cmd-option-O-F to enter Open Firmware
– disable second CPU by typing: setenv boot-args cpus=1
– warm boot by typing: mac-boot
This setting is “sticky” and, as such, until you enter “setenv boot-args cpus=2” at the open firmware prompt, your machine will effectively be a single processor machine.

Mac Classic Troubleshooting – Lesson 2 – Zapping the PRAM
To zap the PRAM:
Press and hold COMMAND OPTION P R during startup
Continue holding down all four keys until you hear your Mac reboot four times
Release COMMAND OPTION P R

Mac Classic Troubleshooting – Lesson 2 – Zapping the PRAM
To zap the PRAM:
Press and hold COMMAND OPTION P R during startup
Continue holding down all four keys until you hear your Mac reboot four times
Release COMMAND OPTION P R

From Justin Blanton | OS X Tip: Verbose Boot
sudo nvram boot-args=”-v”
this will scare your spouse if you do it to their machine. perfectly harmless, although it looks like the world is ending whenever they boot or shutdown.
Why did I find this just now? My computer at work has developed a bad USB bus, I fear. So I’m doing a lot of rebooting and not so much working.

You wanted ’em:
Maine Slideshow

Here is some example source code for how to use libcurl to upload a file via FTP: curl: curl/docs/examples/ftpupload.c Mac OS X comes with libcurl, so this is a way an application written in C, or Objective C can upload files via FTP.
Ironically, Apple’s own CFFTP functions, which are part of the CoreFoundation are crippled: They can’t create a directory on the server. Pretty useless if you’re trying to put up a web site, for example. This reminds me of Apple’s support for mounting an FTP filesystem in the Finder. Not only is FTP via finder *slow*, but it is read-only. WTF? Usually Apple does a good job of providing fully functional solutions…. but when it comes to FTP they’ve fallen on their face twice.

If enough people see Serenity then maybe Joss will make another movie….
Serenity was an awesome movie. W00T!
How many times have you seen Serenity?

Had a plugged drain, so Roto-Rooter came to fix it. I found a coupon link on Google, and saved 10$. But now Roto-rooter has my email address — they’ll probably spam me with ads for their drain cleaner solution montly.
The sad thing is: The image for the online coupon is not secured. After you fill in the form to gain access to the image, if you were to tell your friends about the image URL, they could save $10 from Roto-rooter without ever having to send them an email address.
See?

It just goes to show how subtle the concept of “security” is on the internet. They’re relying on security through obscurity. But now that the truth is out, they might have to employ more rigorous security to protect their coupon.

I support a variety of Intelligent Design known as FSM. Please call your School Board today.

We’re back from our trip to Maine, so here are a few pictures.