Arjanvandergaag.nl

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Coda Terminal: local shell on Vimeo.

Arjan van der Gaag — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:04:22 -0600

Coda Terminal: local shell on Vimeo.

Using split screens in Coda on Vimeo.

Arjan van der Gaag — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:46:29 -0600

Using split screens in Coda on Vimeo.

Impostor Syndrome

Arjan van der Gaag — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:11:49 -0500

Impostor Syndrome

Yeah, this sounds awkwardly familiar.

Screenflow bug and upgrade

Arjan van der Gaag — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:55:50 -0500

I recently purchased Screenflow to record screencasts and it works like a charm. But yesterday all of a sudden my screen recordings started to turn blue—except when I applied effects to the recording (like callouts).

So, I began looking for people with similar problems and bug reports, but couldn’t find any. The Screenflow help files have no troubleshooting section so I loaded up Vara software’s website to look for a contact form to file the bug.

As I loaded the website the first thing I noticed that only moments before an update had been released for Screenflow. In the release notes I found the following fix:

Added a workaround for an issue introduced with 10.5.3 on ATI 2000 series graphics chips that would cause the screen output to have a blue tint.

Three minutes later I was recording again.

Things Screencast: Working with Projects from Arjan van der Gaag on...

Arjan van der Gaag — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:49:02 -0500

Things Screencast: Working with Projects from Arjan van der Gaag on Vimeo.

Mac alternatives to windows software

Arjan van der Gaag — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:26:17 -0500

Mac enthusiasts are quick to point out that there’s nothing you can do on a PC that you cannot do on a Mac. Still, you have to find the right software to replace the windows software you’re used to.

IM and communication

My IM client of choice, Google Talk, has no version for OS X. Although other clients can be used as a replacement, Google limits voice calls to its own, official client. This is a bummer.

Microsoft Live messenger and Skype do have Mac-versions of their software, so no problems there. Skype is bloated compared to Google Talk, but it’ll do. I installed Adium on my Mac to combine them all.

Productivity

The standard office suite on Windows is Microsoft Office. The newest version is nice but bloated and horribly expensive. I’ve been using OpenOffice.org on windows for a while, which is equally ‘fine’, but not great either. So, even though both come in Mac-versions, they’re ruled out in advance. There’s various spin-offs from OpenOffice.org available which I’ll also ignore.

Then there’s online office applications. Buzzword and Google Docs seem quite nice, but I can’t get used to the idea of writing a thesis or invoice in my web browser. Desktop applications have certain advantages over web-based software and I feel these are not to be ignored in office productivity.

So I’ll be having a look at Apple’s own iWork. At &eur;80,00 it is affordable (though not free) and it comes with a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation application. This is all I need. I’ll get back to iWork in a seperate review.

For other text editing purposes I use WriteRoom when drafting texts (I used its clone DarkRoom on Windows) or TextMate for programming and web development (I used its clone e on Windows). These are both highly recommended.

Utilities

Then there’s a whole host of internet applications I use. There are more than enough FTP clients for the Mac and I chose Transmit. I replaced uTorrent (Windows) with Transmission (OS X) and Soulseek with SoulseeX. VLC comes in Mac versions natively, so no problems there.

And the rest?

When it comes to e-mail, web browsing, media playback, photo management, contacts and calendars, backing up, camera, video editing and PDF reading and editing, your Mac cames with great software out-of-the-box (and I’m not talking about all the crap companies like Dell dump on your machine). So no worries there either.

Ordering a Mac

Arjan van der Gaag — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:20:49 -0500

When I ordered my Mac I was quite nervous. How long would it take to be delivered? Would there be delays in payment? Also, the anticipation while waiting for it to get delivered was very nice and exciting. In that time, I browsed around the web learning whatever I could about Apple’s ordering process. Here’s what I found.

The Apple store or website

You can order a Mac online at the Apple website or go down to a local Apple resaler. The latter is preferred—with a bit of luck you’ll get to take your shiny new Mac home in a matter of minutes. Then again, when you’re a student you can get a discount in the Apple online store that, most of the time, you cannot get in a local store.

Delivery times

I paid my order by bank transfer. Normally I would use credit card because it is so much quicker, but in this particular case that was not an option. Bank transfer is easy and safe, but slow. It took two days before I got any confirmation that my payment was received. According to Apple it could have taken up to three work days.

Then come the assembly and shipping time. It seems there are two options here:

you have ordered a standard Mac with no customization. Chances are it is in stock somewhere near you. It will be shipped rather quickly to you.
you have selected a custom configuration, like a bigger hard drive or extra RAM. Your computer will now be built in China and shipped to you via express delivery.

What’s more, if you order more than just a computer—I ordered an iPod and a printer with my iMac—all items will be combined into one delivery when they reach your local distribution centre.

So, if you have to order you Mac via the online store, the quickest way to get it is to make no customizations and upgrade it yourself later if you need to (although only RAM-upgrades are supported by Apple). Also, when ordering more than just a Mac you’ll probably get your other stuff quicker if you order it separately.

From ordering to delivery

I ordered my iMac, printer and iPod on February 10. My bank transfer payment was confirmed on the 12th and the order shipped on the 14th. The estimated delivery date was 25-26 February, with the actual delivery on 25 february.

Apple used UPS to deliver the package to me. I was able to track my package with UPS by using the PO number Apple had supplied me—even before Apple had actually named UPS as courier and supplied with me with the proper tracking number I got from UPS.

Conclusion

In summary, if you are in a hurry you should try to get your Mac at a local resale store—they seem to have plenty stock. Peripherals can also be bought here unless you have any special reason to buy them online.

Things screencast: using services from Arjan van der Gaag on Vimeo.

Arjan van der Gaag — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:38:44 -0500

Things screencast: using services from Arjan van der Gaag on Vimeo.

Things screencast: linking to files from Arjan van der Gaag on Vimeo.

Arjan van der Gaag — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:53:10 -0500

Things screencast: linking to files from Arjan van der Gaag on Vimeo.

best of craigslist : Dead Moose

Arjan van der Gaag — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:31:54 -0500

best of craigslist : Dead Moose

Impressive speech form Olbermann to Bush: “Shut the hell...

Arjan van der Gaag — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:08:01 -0500

Impressive speech form Olbermann to Bush: “Shut the hell up.”

On storing passwords

Arjan van der Gaag — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:13:35 -0500

Just a quick reminder about website that require password authentication: if a website sends you a confirmation e-mail that contains your password, or if it sends you your own, original password when you forgot it, then it is insecure and your privacy is at risk.

First, sending you a password in plain text over the web is unsafe in itself. But more importantly, if a website sends you your password that means they know your password. Some employee might abuse it, some hacker may steal it.

The solution is to only store encrypted passwords. You can then compare the stored encryption with an encryption of the password the user supplies. This way, no matter what happens, no one knows your password.

There’s some ifs and buts here, but don’t trust any website that in some way or another can tell you what your password is.