Moving Megan to a Mac

Well, after a long run with a Windows laptop, Megan finally got sick of running Windows enough to want to deal with the switchover to a Mac.

So I found a MacBook on Craigslist for $500, and moved everything over.

There's a couple of things that I didn't know how to do in the past, and gave me a bit of trouble, so I figured I'd mention them here.

Moving Firefox Profiles

Instead of using bookmarks, Megan just uses the firefox smartbar to get to all her various websites.

It never occured to me that you wouldn't use bookmarks, but because she visits the same sites over and over again, the smartbar had everything she needed - history, bookmarks (those she did have) and search results.

In order to move the smartbar information - along with bookmarks, extensions, etc - we moved the entire firefox profile.

A quick google found this helpful forum post on exactly how to do this - something that was very easy to complete. Start up Firefox, and we had the smartbar working exactly as it was on Windows.

iTunes

Well, the only other thing (other than the browser) that Meg usually uses on her computer is iTunes. Moving it was a little more difficult.

She has songs from a long time ago that she had imported from CD, songs that she downloaded from the iTunes store, songs downloaded one-by-one from the internet and songs loaded from the Amazon MP3 store.

There's a fairly simple procedure that google turned up.

Hurry up and Wait

But this procedure assumes that you can have iTunes consolidate your library. In order to do that it needs extra space to be able to copy your songs to a single folder. This takes a long time, and requires a lot of disk space (aparently its a copy not a move).

So after cleaning out lots of space from the cramped 80gb drive, we successfully copied everything over.

When we attached her iPod again, it even recognized it - and even synced just the changed songs. The only problem is that it wasn't formatted for the Mac - so we had to restore the iPod and resync all the music.

So to transfer 30gb of music, we had to copy (not move) it to a different location on the old HDD (1+ hour), then copy it over the network (1.5+ hour), then completely resync the iPod (1.5+ hour). The only necessary step (IMHO) was the network copy. So that sort of was a waste of time.

Other than that the transition seemed to be fairly easy. Goodbye to Windows in my house. Yay!

I'll update you all in a few weeks to let you know how the adjustment from Windows to Mac has gone.

OSX and Apple-Tab

Ever since I bought a MacBook Pro, I've been trying to get used to OS-X.

I have never done well with the concept of multiple windows in an application - I've always thought of windows as top-level things. Which is why I don't like the default Apple-Tab behavior on OS-X (Switch between applications, but not windows within an application) -- Or the Apple-` behavior (toggle between windows in an application, not different apps).

After a bit of googling I found something that will probably help me get the most out of my Mac. Which by Many Tricks. Gives me back the behavior I want, and its mapped to Option-Tab, so its not too different than what I'm used to. Yay!

Making the ClearCase Remote Client (CCRC) Use a Real Merge Tool

I'm a Java developer (at least I occasionally write Java code), and most of the time the CleaseCase remote client running inside of Eclipse does everything I need for source code control.

The one complaint I have about CCRC in Eclipse is that it keeps using the old-looking and not very useful clearcase GUI for doing diffs and merges.

A few weeks ago someone pointed me to meld, a graphical gnome tool for doing merges and diffs. Meld works great, but I couldn't access it via clearcase - which is usually what I needed to do diffs.

So I wrote a script that can be used to modify the CCRC installation to use meld instead of the CCRC diff tool. It's available at:

http://employees.org/~mlepore/files/ccrc_meld

Note: as far as I know this works on Linux, and it might work on MacOS X, but I'm not sure how to make it work on Windows, because I think that Windows is looking for an .EXE file. Perhaps a batch file will work, but I haven't tried it.

Comparing IT Staffing to Basketball

The fastest way to lose respect is to put clueless managers in charge. Clueless managers equal clueless CIOs. Can you ever imagine Doc Rivers, coach of the 2008 world champion Boston Celtics, talking about player resources like they were interchangeable? "I need two guard resources." "I need a center resource." No. Talent and teamwork make winning teams. Talent matters. Don't pay lip-service to talent. Find a way to locate and use the talent in your organization. You will only be as good as the team you assemble.

From 9 Reason Why Application Developers Think Their CIO Is Clueless

Attack of the Sticky Notes

A few months ago, a bunch of us at work moved out of our cubicals and into a bullpen. I went away for a mix of vacation and a conference - overall a great trip.

When I came back to work I found my workspace a little yellower than I left it.

Contrasts

Recently, I had read that various gas-powered small engines contribute a lot to air pollution, and really aren't good for the environment. In thinking about how many different small-engines that I had, I realized that it couldn't be good... a lawnmower, a weedwacker, a hedge-trimmer, a chainsaw, a snowblower, and there was nothing that was going to stop me from getting more.

So I went out and I've begun to wean myself off those engines. I went out and bought a reel-mower. I still plan on replacing the weedwacker with an electric model (I can't find an acceptable hand-powered alternative) - I've stopped trimming the bushes with a power trimmer, and instead use shears.

I think the chainsaw will stay - because I use it infrequently and cutting large logs is something its really good at - and so will the snowblower - because I really get sick of shoveling my driveway in the winter. But for the others I don't give up that much by switching to a manual tools.

In fact I think that I might have been missing something in a haze of carbon-emissions. Today I was out mowing my lawn with the reel mower (I've added a grass catcher to the back). And it takes slightly longer to mow the lawn now - the reel mower only cuts about a 12" width - instead of 24" that the old gas guzzler did (although they make a 22" model, but its heavier). But the only thing I heard was a "swish-swish" as it cut grass. That and my 5 year old running around with his play mower making noise "daddy look!"

About the same time my neighbor started his Toro lawnmower. All you could hear was the roar of the engine. And I know that the mowers don't smell good. When we were done you really couldn't tell the difference.

Come to think of it - why do I need a 5 or 6 Horsepower engine when a 1 person-power push mower does the job. I certainly can't imagine hooking up 5 horses to mow my lawn - that just seems like overkill. I might have even got a little more exercise than if I had used the gas powered one.

My wife mentioned the contrast. I think its a good thing - I'm not longer required to be in a world of my own - with a roaring engine and gas fumes while I mow the lawn. Instead everything is normal, except I'm walking along with a "swish-swish" as the grass gets cut behind me.

One Man's Junk...

A while ago, my wife and I bought a nice new microwave. We had one that was about 15 years old. It was huge, and ugly but it worked.

But we had been talking for a while about getting a smaller one, because we don't use it very often. So we went out and bought a $50 small microwave.

We figured we'd sell the old one on Craigslist or something, but never got around to it. My brother-in-law mentioned that my wife's parents could probably use it, because they have a microwave that is over 25 years old, and doesn't work. But they haven't replaced it because the countertop under it was never finished - and they didn't want to have a big unfinished space under it. So because our old one is huge (and works) its perfect for them.

Weird how everything can find a home...