Ramblings of a Programmer

Neil Lee over at BeatnikPad has built the Firefox source into a G5 optimized executable and packaged it up for download. Check out the the information and get the download.

>read more | download

My wife and I got new phones Monday. We both opted for the Motorola Razr V3 in black. Of course, being a tech geek, my first thoughts when I got home were to see how long it would take to get it working over Bluetooth with my Mac.

Not a problem. After pairing the phone and the machine, I was able to pull up the Bluetooth File Exchange utility and I was quickly transferring some ring tones that I had made and a couple of photos. I then turned to iSync to see how well it would sync my contacts and calendars. This is where my depression kicked in.

iSync would not recognize the phone via Bluetooth. I did a lot of Google searching and forum reading only to find that this was the common theme with many people using this phone. I was able to sync via USB with no problems, but this really wasn't what I was after.

One weird thing that I had noticed when pairing the phone to the machine with Tiger 10.4.1 was that the operating system would not recognize the Razr as a mobile phone. I had to choose “Any Device” when setting it up.

Tiger 10.4.2 to the rescue! After installing the new Tiger update tonight, I figured I would give the phone another go. I was not expecting much, because I had installed the iSync 2.1 update earlier in the day with no change in the way that the phone was seen by the computer. After installing the Tiger update, I removed the phone from the known device list and tried to set it up again. What do you know… this time, the operating system saw the Razr as a mobile phone.

After getting more options during the setup than I had yesterday, I turned to iSync to see what would happen. I brought up iSync and removed the Razr entry that I had already created. I chose to add a device and when iSync did its scan, it saw the Razr via Bluetooth. I chose to add the device, checked the settings, and clicked the button to sync. I was so happy when all of my contacts and calendar information came across.

Apple has released OS X Tiger 10.4.2 today and it is available through Software Update. Per the information on Software Update (from Apple), here is what has changed with this update…

The 10.4.2 Update delivers overall improved reliability and compatibility for Mac OS X v10.4 and is recommended for all users. It includes fixes for:

file sharing using AFP and SMB/CIFS network file services

single sign-on authentication and reliable access to Active Directory servers

autologin for managed user accounts

AirPort and wireless access

Core Graphics, Core Audio, Core Image, including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers

Finder updates including finding on Kind and using Slideshow

synchronizing your iDisk with .Mac

installation reliability

managing Dashboard widgets

Address Book, Automator, iCal, iChat, Mail, Safari, and Stickies applications

compatibility with third party applications and devices

I found a link to a very cool connection speed test. I originally found this entry on digg.

read more | digg story

A library of pre-written regular expressions that you can plug into your code. Also, features a regular expression online testing engine against inputted text or a website text. Very handy resource!

read more | digg story

I have been trying to subscribe to a few podcasts tonight to try out iTunes 4.9 again. I am able to get individual songs, but each time I try to subscribe to a podcast, I get an error like the one shown at this link location… iTunes Music Store Error

The guys at TopMac have a screenshot of the new widget manager in upcoming Tiger 10.4.2 update.

DVD Playback Update 4.6.1 addresses a disc validation issue some users may encounter when attempting to play a disc for the first time with DVD Player 4.6. This update is recommended for all users of DVD Player 4.6.

This is available on System Update.

For the past year or so, I have had a situation at work where I have been limited in what I could due to some issues between my current company and my previous company. It seemed like everything that I got put on, a couple of weeks later, someone came along and said that I could not work on that particular project. My job seemed to be going no place.

I got word this week that things have finally been cleared up and I can go back to working on some of the projects that I had been attempting to work on in tthe past. This was like someone lifting a huge elephant right off my back or something. I had been quite down as of late due to all of this.

After getting this news this week, I have actually been interested in programming again. Hopefully everything will start picking up and works gets fun again.

With the latest iPod Updater that was released with iTunes 4.9, it appears that auto-updating Smart Playlists on the iPod are broken. I have a Smart Playlist setup that keeps up with the podcasts that I have listened to during the day. This is no longer working after installing the latest iPod Updater. The Smart Playlist does not update on the iPod until I connect it to my Mac and sync with iTunes.

Check out this thread on the MacCast Forums. Others are reporting this same issue now.