Almost two years ago I discovered James McCombe's GLTerminal. Some people hacked it to work with Tiger, but I (and others) discovered after upgrading to Leopard that the Classic Terminal view was oddly scrambled, so to fix it I rearranged the character bitmap, as you can see under the cut:
( a tale of two character maps )

new and worksafe

As others noted, the original icon was a little over-the-top (jwz quote: "most inappropriate fanboyriffic application icon evar."), so I made it something more work-safe, a VT220 screen with "GL TERM" in green text.

old and "animeriffic"

To make Classic Terminal mode work (the pictured green-phosphor look) you still need to open the Preferences and re-select the "Classic Terminal" plugin, then click Save. I re-ordered the tabs with "Renderer" being the default, so at least you don't have to click on the Renderer tab like you used to; click-count - 1. If someone could reverse-engineer it so this step wasn't necessary, that would be nice. If James McCombe would update it (or even release the original source), that would be even better. Petition him via email, if you like.

Oh, and lastly it works pretty well with Spaces in full screen mode, though the window doesn't display right when looking at all your spaces (not bad for an app made in 2002, five years before Spaces was even developed).

Download GLTerminal updated for 10.5, sil vous plait.

EDIT 20090904: it still works fine on Snow Leopard. fyi, on my Macbook Pro 13" it pegs the CPU at just under 10% usage in top.

Got a bad or dying hard drive? Read on. This is part tutorial, part introduction to data recovery ideas, and part case study. Also, I've linked to some PPC Mac binaries that are useful if you don't have the Developer Tools installed on your Mac and you need to recover some data, hence this whole post is somewhat Mac-skewed, though the theory is applicable no matter what kind of computer you have. Hopefully this is of some help to someone.

Not to be confused with the similar and similarly named dd_rescue and dd_rhelp (which were precursors to this program), the GNU ddrescue program is a useful command-line utility that helps restore failing hard drives. Here is a zipfile containing a Mac PPC binary and a readme, should you be having trouble getting ddrescue working on your Mac. Note that it's available for compilation on just about any unix-like OS; google ddrescue if you need more information or if you need to compile it for different architectures.

The basic idea is that because block-wise data recovery can stall for long periods of time at errors, it's prudent to read all the good data off the drive quickly first, then go back to revisit problem areas and work at them until (hopefully) all the data can be recovered; at worst in the output file there are blank areas where there were unrecoverable sections of the original disk. Because this process can take a significant amount of time it is possible to run the program, abort it (with a control-C), and resume it again later to finish recovery, if necessary (though make sure you specify the same logfile so it is able to pick up where it left off).

Save the above .zip archive to the desktop and extract it. It should produce a ddrescue folder, inside which will be the unix (Mac PPC executable, runs under Rosetta emulation on Intel macs) and a text file explaining usage. Launch Terminal and cd to the ddrescue folder (type "cd " then drag the folder icon onto the Terminal window). Copy the executable to your /usr/bin directory with the following (it should prompt you for your password):
sudo cp ddrescue /usr/bin/ddrescue

Figure out which drive you need to run ddrescue on by running Disk Utility, then getting info on the partition you wish to rescue. The Disk Identifier is the string you need (hooking up a failing laptop hd in a firewire enclosure, knowing I want the second partition of the disk yields the identifier "disk1s2"; yours may well be different).

Run ddrescue with the correct disk specified (all the disks live under the /dev/ hierarchy), your desired output file, and a logfile name for later resuming in case you need to stop and start over (the process can take a LONG time). In my case, the command line was:
ddrescue /dev/disk1s2 ACER.dmg logfile
which runs ddrescue on the correct block device, outputs the reconstructed disk image to ACER.dmg and logs progress in logfile (both files go in the current directory).

In my case, the partition to be rescued was about 54GB in size with (at max) about 140 errors—represented by 9000KB (just shy of 10MB) of bad blocks. The better areas of the drive read after some time (about 18 hours), and then the remainder of the time was focused on the bad areas (only about 3MB, with ddrescue scrubbing repeatedly over them to extract data thus reducing the number of errors and the size of the error regions—it shows the stats in real time on the command line, which is moderately more interesting than paint drying, though heartening if you have a vested interest in the data you are recovering). I stopped it a few times with control-C after rescuing most of the drive and reran it with --max-retries=2 (less obsessive but faster). In the end I was left with a little under 3MB unrecovered, which was gudenuff (I could have stuck it in a ziplog bag and chucked it in the freezer for a few, and then tried again if I was really crazy about that last 3MB).

Also, the zipfile ddrs2r.zip contains some perl scripts that summarize the log file and also let you use other utilities to figure out what files are hosed on your recovered disk image. See here for more info on these scripts. A GUI would be nice, but so far it seems no one has stepped up to the plate and made one.

A final note: when using the recovered disk image, it would be prudent to lock it (make it read-only) first before looking around it and playing, lest you change it (which, if you wish to keep running ddrescue to get the last few blocks, might really F things up). In my case it looks like all the data that my client cares about is recovered! Yay for happy clients!

the following is an iCal bug report/feature request I just sent to Apple:

I am managing a radio station automation setup using iCal, iTunes, GarageBand, and Automator/AppleScript (the station is WRFR-LP FM in Rockland, ME). The workflow is going well with one exception: we have a show that plays on the last friday of every month, and the other fridays a different show plays. The problem here is we can't set up show #2 (which plays every other friday) as a recurring event in iCal. I can't set it up as separate monthly recurring events on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fridays either because some months have 4 fridays and some have 5.

What would be useful is the option to "Repeat monthly (every n months), on every friday EXCEPT the [first, second, third, fourth, last]". The "Except" could be added as a radio button next to "On the" (the two would naturally be exclusive of each other). Perhaps "On all but the" is better wording than "Except".

If this were included in iCal, my situation above could be remedied by adding two events: one for the first show, repeating "monthly every 1 month, on the last friday"; and another for show #2, repeating "monthly every 1 month, ON ALL BUT THE last friday".

i have:

i want:

is this a logical annoyance to anyone but me?

control-option-command-eject shuts down a mac (at least one with an eject key on its keyboard).

this is very useful and heretofore unknown to me! it's not listed in the official apple mac os x keyboard shortcuts page. it's especially useful when shutting down 25 macs in short order.

This metalworker's pictures up on flickr make me want to make plugs out of powerbook power buttons (and not pendant earrings as he has done). Perhaps they are too shallow to work that way and too large in diameter to do it without distending my earlobe. I hope not though! (and yes, I am aware that I am a geek)

Ode to Mac OS X 10.5
(with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, Patrick Henry, and you)

O'er the grassy plain
the leopard did stride,
weaving around flora
wearing a spotted hide.

For many a day and night
I tracked the fearsome cat.
At first the path seemed long
yielding only tiger scat.

One day under an apple tree
I said, "This search is bollocks!
instead of my safari
I ought try fire fox."

Soon I became bolder,
trusting my l33t skillz.
At long last my sleuthwork
was met with kitty warez.

'Twas the night before June 29th,
when all through the 'Net
not a blogger was blogging,
save about iPhone.

I held my PowerBook high
and said with all my breath:
(this is where you sigh)
"Give me 10.5 or give me death!"

These are just a few things that Apple's Lisa computer had (remember, this was back in 1983):

• pre-emptive multitasking
  
• a graphical user interface
  
• an intuitive document-oriented system (as opposed to today's application-oriented computers)
  
• automatic saving of changes
  
• versioning (in fact, "saving" merely created new versions)
  
• persistence (turn the computer off, then back on, and everything is where you left it. take a disk out and the open documents close, put it back in and they open where you left off.)

These features may sound technical, but taken together they demonstrate a system acutely focused on the user and focused on tasks. Ask yourself, have we really come that far with our whiz-bang PCs (and Macs) and gigabytes of storage space and millions of colors, at least in terms of productivity? More interesting specifics and screenshots here at this Low End Mac article.

EDIT: I like this quote from the article:

Notice there is one thing that Microsoft didn't steal from the Mac when they made Windows: the hourglass (the classic Mac OS shows a wristwatch). No, they stole the Windows hourglass from the Lisa.

Notational Velocity : vast array of sticky notes :: vi : Word

Notational Velocity is well-written, simple, useful mac software for entering, filing, and searching notes. It has one window with a modeless title/search field, and no clutter or useless extra features. It is the missing link between notepad/stickies (limited and not useful for improving organization and simplifying clutter) and the 800lb gorilla Microsoft Word. It borrows Apple's philosophy of stark beauty, and vi's philosophy of being lean and mean and fast and useful and not getting in your way

Try it, you'll like it.

(forthcoming is an entry on how Notational Velocity, Actiontastic, Quicksilver, and similar apps are very Zen in their ability to enable "doing without thinking", and why this is a Good Thing™)

I really like Actiontastic. It's an almost-out-of-beta mac GTD (Getting Things Done) app that's lean, mean, and Jon is extra-nice and responsive to his user community. It's my GTD workflow/organization/action-filing system of choice. Plus, the action filer is called the "Inbox Ninja" (how cool is that!)

I'm pimping Actiontastic because I use it and like it, the programmer seems to be a nice guy, he cares about making good software and listening to his users. Plus, according to Jon, he uses it himself for all his organizational needs (he "eats his own dog food"), and that's always a sure of quality.

Actionatr is going to be an online companion to Actiontastic that he's working on, so you'll be able to manage your workflows away from your primary computer as well. Actiontastic also supports syncing with iCal, your iPod, and lets you file things directly from Quicksilver, if you're a Quicksilver fan like I am.

You should download this app solely because it supports ninjas over some lame, trite concept like "wizards" or "assistants". Do let Jon know if you like the ninja concept though, because he's apparently looking for alternatives.

I do believe I need a ninja icon for livejournal now.

Google's MacFUSE is a great idea. check out a demo video by Amit Singh.

I can't wait to have sshfs, a real NTFS implementation, and maybe even a good ftp file system!

yes, it rocks. yes, i want one. wow, does it have a nice interface that seems intuitive and revolutionary compared to the current generation of menu-driven cell phone (and even ipod) interfaces. it's a cell phone, an ipod, and a pda (newton 3.0, anybody), it runs os x. it seems to be the penultimate digital convergence device. so what's not to like about it?

one thing: i don't want to switch back to cingular.

here's hoping that it will come in an unlocked version soon (before hell freezes over), or that most of its features would still work if it were unlocked by a third party.

now i know where apple's engineers got the idea for the spinning pizza wheel of death cursor:



i must have it i mean... abby would love it.

more from the macbook (a.k.a. bored-at-work) department:

Steps to a very expensive mirror:

1. Download this file to any mac with an iSight camera. Save it in your "~/Library/Screen Savers" folder, or in "/Library/Screen Savers", whichever floats your boat.
   
2. Open System Preferences, choose Desktop & Screen Saver, and choose "mirror.qtz".
   
3. Open terminal and type the following, all on one line:
   /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/
   ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background &
   
4. Hide terminal.

Voila. You now have in front of you the world's most expensive mirror.

Really. Give it a try!

I'm typing this on a new, superfast, blogging, blah blah blah macbook.

We got 20 of them for the lucky teachers in the district who are in this year's upgrade cycle. I, of course, had to test one of them out.

The keys remind me of scrabble tiles. I like the new keyboard, a lot. Perhaps even more than the keyboard on my powerbook.

The screen is wide, and glossy. Not sure if I like that. It is, however, bright enough to use tolerably in direct sunlight; something I cannot say about my powerbook's matte screen. Did I mention that I'm outside "testing it out"? Because, of course, I needed to see if it worked outside.

The screen has almost the same resolution as my powerbook (but slightly less than the newer, higher-density powerbook and macbook screens), so my concern about screen real estate is nullified. The graphics adapter is onboard and sucks ram from main memory ("vampire video"), so it's fortunate that we specced these to have a gigabyte of ram, as opposed to the 512mb standard.

The magnetic latch is much better designed and more resillient than the ibook's old physical latch.

They are made by ASUS, out of china! At first I thought these were 20 PCS, from the ASUS label in chinese on the outside of the boxes.

Lastly, this is what you'll look like when using it outside:

blogging in "ink" using tablet pcs seems to be gaining momentum with some people. the majority of them seem to be using tablet pcs, though i found this intriguing post from a imac owner using boot camp to install the tablet pc os. it's a bit of a kludge though; using a graphics tablet hooked up to a mac running boot camp to dual-boot to windows tablet edition to emulate a tablet pc. um, no thank you, but i will take an apple tablet mac.

Hugh Sung has a pro-ink blogging list, written, of course in ink. I like Silver's handwriting over at Inkiness, as well as the way she hides the transcript of the ink under a "↓ ↓" link at the bottom of each post. it's intriguing to me due mostly to the increased immediacy and intimacy it gives; a person's penmanship conveys much more than sterile type can.

one drawback is that it's faster to type than write, and easier to edit after the fact, leading to tighter, easier to read prose. despite this, part of me still is drawn to the idea of blogging in ink, rather than text. though, if my handwriting doesn't radically improve (i got a D or an F in penmanship in elementary school—a grade i very much deserved), then i won't be inklogging any time soon; trust me, you wouldn't want to read it.

all that said, as soon as the mac tablet revolution comes, count me in as an inklogger!

okay, Apple? *taps on microphone* Steve? are you there?

(vive la iTablet révolution? s'il vous plaît, Apple?)

in re: my poll: petef's suggestion of "threed" engendered the following thought process in my head:

(power mac g4 cube ⇒ cubical ⇒ three-dimensional ⇒ ) threed ⇒ 3d ⇒ ddd.

ddd is similar to www. www is used as the name for most web servers in existence; the cube will be a web and file server, so it seems fitting that its name should be ddd. now, for completeness' sake, i should backronym ddd to something fitting... so, without further ado, here's another poll!

Poll #720599 so, just what does
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

ddd =

EDIT: the poll title was supposed to say "so, just what does "ddd" stand for?", but it seems that putting a quote in a poll title makes baby jesus cry; don't do it. i assume that the parser is similarly borked for questions too, so ixnay on the otesquay in polls, i guess. but... the new ads will give sixapart all the revenue they need to fix bugs like this, nay? *puts snarkbeest back in its box*

i have a g4 cube that i'm turning into a server. right now it is rather unimaginatively named "kim-slawsons-power-mac-g4-cube" and it's internet hostname is slawson2.w.midcoast.com, which needs to change too (as does the cursed "Seeing this instead of the website you expected?" page). i need to get off my duffer.

for the curious, eventually this will serve pleasewaittobeseated.com/pleaseseatyourself.com, thealternativemommy.com/thealternativebaby.com, soshalli, and many other things. it has ruby on rails on it, now i need to figure out ruby. and rails. heh.

oh, and i need to transplant my 200gb drive from my blue and white g3 into the cube.

Poll #719766 hey y'all, what should i name my g4 cube?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

make it short and sweet, sil vous plait

i just installed tiger (mac os x 10.4) on my shiny new g4 cube to be a server soon (thanks, mom and dad).

then software update checked for updates.

what with the update to 10.4.6, quicktime, itunes, java, etc etc it came to just shy of 300MB.

w. t. f.

oh. em. gee.

if you've been living under a rock the past few days, let me bring you up to speed in the fast-changing world of apple:

• apple released bootcamp, allowing you to dual-boot windows xp on an intel mac
  
  • TUAW reports on vista running under boot camp
    
  • TUAW has video of boot camp installing
    
  • bootcamp after reboot on macbook pro at youtube
    
  • a video tutorial on installing boot camp
  
  
• subsequently, and perhaps more significant for day-to-day users, a company called parallels just released a beta virtualization layer for mac intels
  
  • parallels running winxp video at youtube

and finally, a bit of ironic humor:

"boot camp" public beta released from apple helps dual-boot windows on intel macs

wait, *checks calendar* are you sure it's not April 1st today?