Upgrading to Snow Leopard
I’ve made the switch from Leopard to Snow Leopard today. First, I took the necessary steps, of course: checking this handy app compatibility list, running AppFresh, then SuperDuper!. While the overall install went smoothly on my mid-2009 iMac 24”, I ran into some issues which I’d like to jot down real quick.
- Terminal.app has issues with my favourite programming font, Inconsolata. The font isn’t rendered at all, which is a pain. I went with Menlo (the new monospaced font coming with Snopard) for the time being. (In Textmate, Inconsolata renders just fine.)
- The Language & Text preference pane refuses to allow me to use the “German - Microsoft” layout. It’s a 32-bit vs 64-bit issue with MS’ Intellitype software (which is needed for my Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000) — the 32-bit drivers can’t be used in 64-bit apps, and the keyboard reverts to its default “German” layout. According to this Apple support board post it’s not even clear whether there’ll be a 64-bit Intellitype software at some point. Saying this is inconvenient would be an understatement.
- I’ve switched from 1Password 2 to 1Password 3 Beta since 1Password 2 would’ve required me to run Safari in 32-bit mode; v3 doesn’t. Looking good. Can’t say more due to the NDA. :)
The rest seems to be fine. Standing out most:
- Booting the iMac seems to be faster now.
- Image Capture finally recognizes my CanoScan LiDE 200 scanner out of the box! (About time.)
All in all, not a bad update. The family license goes for €49, so I didn’t have to think long about it.
Update: I was able to fix the keyboard problem! Today I found Ukulele, an Unicode keyboard layout editor. After downloading it, I’ve poked around the DMG and found two files, LogitechGerman.keylayout and LogitechGerman.icns. After copying them to the /Library/Keyboard Layouts/, all that was left was opening the Language & Text preference pane and activating the “Logitech German” layout. Dynomite!
BetterSearch v1.21 Released
I’ve updated BetterSearch, my Firefox/Flock addon, to version 1.21. Here’s what’s new:
- Compatible with Flock 2 beta+.
- FIX: Action icons are back.
- FIX: Delicious support unbroken! It’s glorious.
- FIX: MSN/Live support works again.
- FIX: Statusbar tooltip was showing the wrong version number. Silly thing.
- FIX: Made some minor enhancements to Google URL normalisation.
- FIX: Removed remnant code (“big icons” etc.).
- CHG: Removed support for everything but Yahoo!, Google, MSN and Delicious. Sorry, don’t have the time anymore to keep track of anything else.
Go get the new version while it’s still hot! :)
BetterSearch v1.20 Released
Brings no new features to the table (sorry) but compatibility with Firefox 3.0.* and Flock 1.2.
BetterSearch v1.19 Released
I’ve updated my Firefox addon BetterSearch to version 1.19. The update brings Firefox 3 and Flock compatibility and fixes the thumbnails for Yahoo! Search. Also, it now looks a little bit better due to new icons, c/o FamFamFam.
You remember BetterSearch, right? No? Oh, okay.
“An extension for Firefox and Flock which enhances Google (all international flavours, too), Yahoo Search, del.icio.us, MSN Search […] by adding previews (thumbnails) and Amazon product images and info (type, price, rating for US/DE/UK/CA/FR products), a quick preview feature as well as “Open in New Window”, “Site Info” and “Wayback Machine” links to the search results.”
The other changes are minor and mostly under the hood to prepare for the next major version.
Next up: better thumbnails. Work, work…
Post It #21
Outlook vs. DST. This is what happens when you try to schedule a meeting to handle the DST changeover in Outlook.
PS3 Home. [via the always excellent Antigames] Sony’s planned Home service looks pretty rad. Now let’s see how much of the glitz they can pack into the final product, eh?
YPLAA. YouParkLikeAnAsshole.com is a site with a real purpose. Period. It even has notices you can print out and attach to offending parked cars! Loving it.
Post It #15
Valentine’s card, JR style. I love his subtle ways.
Every year my company puts out a table full of construction paper, scissors, stickers and markers for folks to build their own valentine. This is why they shouldn’t let me near that table.
Security done right. Microsoft doesn’t fool around when it comes to strong passwords:
Your password must be at least 18770 characters and cannot repeat any of your previous 30689 passwords. Please type a different password. Type a password that meets these requirements in both text boxes.
OpenID & CardSpace
Oiy. Microsoft announces interoperability between CardSpace and OpenID:
On the heels of the Windows® CardSpace™ general availability launch in Windows Vista™, Microsoft demonstrated momentum with industry partners that are working to apply this technology to help consumers realize a more confident online experience. This includes the announcement of collaboration on use of Windows CardSpace with the OpenID 2.0 specification. Through the support of the WS-Trust-based Windows CardSpace experience, consumers can take advantage of increased security against phishing attacks without adding complexity to their identity management experience.
Some clarifications and what it all means by JanRain CEO Scott Kveton [via]:
JanRain will never require users of our libraries or services to use Windows CardSpace™. We offer support for this technology as another option for users much like using our Safe SignIn and Personal Icon technologies on MyOpenID.com. We’ll also continue to support the OpenID efforts going on with Mozilla and Firefox.
(For more meat, read Scott’s blog post.)
It’s still sinking in at this point, but damn, this is big.
Sweet Microsoft-related Irony
Today is the day Vista is launched by many happy faces at Microsoft. (The World stood still for a very short moment… it blinked, shrugged, and continued to spin, feeling indifferent.)
Today is the day I placed an order for a new machine. It will be big, and I will be very happy the day it’ll arrive—this Friday, if all goes well.
No real connection between these two fantastic events. By the way, one of them excites me to a degree I can’t really communicate, the other… eh… not so much.
Post It #9
Yahoo! meets OpenID. Simon Willison just released his new site, idproxy.net. Basically it’s a wrapper to “transform” your Yahoo! ID into an OpenID. (To put it simple.) It’s making use of Yahoo!s BBAuth system, and it quite nice. Not perfect and fully fleshed out yet, but cool already. And hey, it is secured by monsters!
Buy MS Vista. Seriously, there are so many versions, there’s something for everyone.
Spring? The snow is melting, the sun is out, and we just got back from Lehner’s where we had some excellent Kaiserschmarrn. Life is good.
