Paul informed me months ago and then the Trotts fixed it, yet I managed to neglect it and now it has caught me out. In Movable Type 2.62, the search and replace dialogue box is badly designed, the replace button is too prominent.
Last week it caught me out, thankfully Google, my archives and the fact that I have not rebuilt have saved me. Lucy noted that one of my article titles has changed and this alerted me to the fact that I've managed to replace the word Apple thoughout my website with nothing. I'm in the process of manually replacing all 3-400 occurances. Lesson learnt, keep up todate with bug fixes to your blogging software. If you are still running 2.62, either upgrade to 2.64 or download this template.
November 2003 Archives
I've read a variety of these and having just sucessfully done a upgrade install, rather than the mooted archive and install I thought I'd write some notes.
Run software update and ensure that you are up to date, running 10.2.8, this seemed to be key for me.
Bin all your old stuff - have a really good clear out, chuck away old pictures and music and temporary files. You'll want 2-3G free on your main drive at least.
Delete old apps or demo applications, work out what you really use.
Clear out your desktop, most applications you download you can delete once installed, they will probably be updated before you need to install them again.
Backup your entire home folder - buy an external firewire hard, they are pretty cheap these days, one hundred quid will get an 80G disk from Dabs or something similar from the Apple Store.
Don't forgot /Library/Webserver/
Do test your backup, select a random file and restore it, then check the file.
Do the upgrade install happy in the knowledge that you have a decent backup
Customise the install, remove languages you won't ever use and printer driver packs for printers you don't have, you can save 5-700 Mb here, useful if you have an older iBook, or a stuffed TiBook in my case.
Once you have done that, Panther is really very nice Exposé especially rocks.... it is so completely natural to use, I find myself playing f9, f10, f11 games in time with the music on iTunes... I was bored, ok.
I'm finding Panther faster, than Jaguar was on my 1 Gig TiBook. Mail is especially quick on checking, it seems to overlap the disk based tasks with network tasks better, so you get to 33 of 33 much faster. A few other nice things, the integration of application swtiching with Command Tab and expose is well implemented. I have now happily hidden the dock, as I don't really need it any more, it is still a drag surface for opening some files, but I know where BBEdit lives.
Newer Safari is good and they have fixed one of my pet bugs, Command W closes a tab, not the entire window, though closing a window does not tell you that you have other open tabs.
User switching looks beautiful, the entire window shrinks to about 90&percent; before rotating the cube, which looks perfect.
Like Paul I'm a convert to the new Finder windows, it makes sense to have everything moving left to right, rather than having some things on top. The new Eject button beside removable items in the window is a great idea, a pity it took ten years or more to work it out.
There is probably loads more cool things, but that it me after a week to ten days after install. Plenty more at these places MacNetJournal, Macintouch.com and O'Reilly MacDevCentre.
The Tories are newly organized with a refreshed, if not new leader. The Libdems should be taking the fight right back to them, challenging them for the right to be the official opposition party.
Instead the Tories are regaining the limelight, the summer long talk of the ascendancy of the LibDems is now forgotten and all I hear is what the Leader of the Conservative party has to say on an issue. I know that the Libdems must be getting their fair crack of the whip, but theirs is not the voice I'm hearing. If this is the case and I'm a wavering Labour voter towards them, then this is not a good sign.
So they have 18 months to make an impact and really challenge labour, there is plenty of meat to feast on in the recent Queen's speech, so lets see some activity and retain three party politics, rather than returning to the two party world of the 1980s.
I've watched more TV in the past few days than in the past 2-3 months. At Dan Hill's recommendation I watched Monkey Dust a few days ago and it is a superb programme. A dark, witty beautifully detailed exploration of suburban life. I'm very late to the party on this one I know, but I've been sort of avoiding TV for the past few months, as I've had other things to get on with. The detail of the illustration is fascinating, lots of random throwaway comments and parody. Each character seems quite real, though they are readily identifiable types. Some clips bring the bizzareness of it to life, see this one about a phone (Real), more clips here and the music is good too. I've heard it described as better than South Park, or the Simpsons, but for me it it kind of a more real Ren and Stimpy, with a UK viewpoint. Quite some of the best animation I've seen. Sadly not available on DVD yet.
[UPDATE: Monkey Dust Series 1 on DVD]
I've also seen my first episode of Wife Swap, compelling viewing, people are vile. No-one from last nights programme came out with any pride, the posh one from Bristol were seen as grasping and superior, then poor ones from up north had a huge chip on their shoulder. I'd be curious who in each couple decided to suggest the wife swap and what they expected to get in exchange, both as an experience from the two weeks and which sort of person they'd get. The Bristol couple clearly thought / hoped they might get a posher person, the poor couple looked like they'd take who ever they got along for a ride, their household manual didn't look like it was the truth. There is a sense from the programme, that celebrity is too distant, reality tv too dull, but real lifes, especially entered into voluntarily, now that is something to watch. It might be true, given the populariity of things like What not to wear and Life Laundry,
Maybe there is something to this TV lark... or maybe I'll run back to the web and radio and books...
Interesting article by Kieren McCarthy on who will run the internet, ICANN or the ITU. Worth reading to the end, as it gives a pretty balanced account of the who and why for both organisations and the pivotal role that tcp/ip had in forming the free speech model that the internet has had for decades.
The driver behind this is that there is a huge intergovernmental meeting run by the ITU, at which this fundamental question will be possibly resolved. Though if it is not, the the internet could fragment.
Amazon.co.uk have a customer services number, 0800 2796620 (Monday-Friday 08:00-18:00).
This is very handy if you have a package stuck with the incompetent ParcelForce. Email feedback is all well and good, but sometimes a phone call gets you the results you want.
Just heard from the Orange shop in Covent Garden that the Nokia 6600 has been delayed until mid Jan 2004, by the Orange handset team. A bit dull really, I was hoping to buy one this month.
So now what else to get or is it time to change network ?
Some what disquietingly funny article from BBC News about the names that people have given their children in the past few years in USA. Names ranging from car brands to Del Monte to perfums and clothing brands.
I think the final quote does state it plainly though
"It is no different from the 19th century when parents named their children Ruby or Opal... it reflects their aspirations", from the author of the academic paper on the topic.
Take the following ingredients and you might have something interesting.
A bluetooth aware camera, capable of understanding and talking to a gps unit
meta data capable of representing location and understanding groups of photos in the manner of a film reel, like maybe an extension of this
The ability to maybe associate audio with each group, as short hand for meta data, quickly captured spoken notes eg "Pictures of lucy on the balcony" or "penguins on the glacier grey"
An assisted GPS phones like Motorola A385
Then you have a camera that can take pictures and know where they were taken, which is quite a cool idea, see a quick primer on location based services.
I'd like a camera that did this in combination with my phone, an integrated device might not be as interesting. I think many other people would too, I'm sure you can hack this together now, but it is not simple.
A short review of Strayed (Les égarés), which I saw recently at the London Film Festival.
This thoughtful French film covers the flight of a French family from Paris. It stars Emmanuelle Beart and is directed by Andre Téchéné. It picks up their journey when they are in a refugee column in the fields in the south of France. The seeming mundane journey of stops and starts is shattered with the attack of a German plane strafing and bombing the people exposed on the road.
The depiction of the carnage is quite stark, yet matter of fact, people get hit by bullets and die, or blown into the air from bombs. The fear and suddenness of the attack is immediate and powerfully felt, you can sense the panic of the crowd waiting for the second pass. The main protagonists run into the fields to escape once their car and possessions are destroyed.
In their escape from the road they are aided by a young man Yvan, who guides them to a safe place in the forest. The film comes into its own here depicting the tension between the mother, Odile, played by Emmanuelle Beart, her young children, a boy of 13 and a girl of about 7 or so against the young man, Yvan.
Beart tries to hold the family together in the manner she might have in Paris, ensuring that manners and respect are held too, yet she is quite challenged by the effort of maintaining her poise and the arrival of Yvan.
The film explores a range of issues around liberty vs freedom, the family find a house to holdup in and this almost becomes a prison.
The difference between being a child vs being an adult and different levels of responsibility and understanding that this implies is a persistant undercurrent in the film, many of the tensions and decision points in the film revolve around challenges to Odile.
There are further issues in the film which are shown those of dislocation and dispossession due to the war and how this affects those involved and from this you can gain a sense of the movement along a normality to freedom tp madness axis that the characters are taken. This is in essence as they are in a non-normal situation and must react to the situation the best they can, then normality starts to reasset itself.
A wonderful film with many layers and interest to it. I'd happily watch it again, as the acting and photography is delightful.
The film will be available from Amazon.fr, soon.
Chat in work made me remember Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, quite my favourite book when I was a little boy. I made my Dad read it to me again and again. Buy it for all the children you know.... perfect for anyone from 3 and up, the illustrations are still in my head, read the reviews on amazon for more adulation...
About two years ago I bought a Canon EOS 30 SLR as my second 35mm SLR camera. When I bought it I thought really hard about what lens to get with it. After much thought and some advice from my friend Chris I settled on the Canon EF 28-135 IS lens. It is a superb travel lens and a great compromise in terms of price and weight. All of the photos on the chilean section of gavinbell.com were taken with it.
Its strengths are a good optical range, 28 is the start of properly wide angle and 135 is a reasonable short telephoto. It is fast and quiet to focus, especially when combined with the EOS30.
The lens does have some weaknesses such as being a bit soft at 135 and a little barrel distorted at 28, plus the minimum f-stop is 5.6 from about 70mm onwards. These do not really distract that much from what is an excellent lens for taking pictures.
The key feature that makes this lens shine is the image stabalizing, which is a superb boon for travelling holiday. Essentially from 1/45, maybe 1/60 and up you will get sharp pictures. I'm often surprised at what quality of picture I get with this lens in low light conditions.
I'd highly recommend it as a first, and for many people only, lens perhaps adding a longer telephoto zoom later.
Buy this lens at Jessops in the UK, or get the EOS 30.
quite fun
via blackbeltjones and foe romeo
Just a single picture for now, more images and some video later.
A couple of videos, a small one 500k and a big one 7.5Mb. The small one will take about a minute on a modem and gives an impression, the bigger one is for people with broadband and is a bit more of a spectacle, enjoy.
Awful pun I know, but trying to buy a copy of Panther today was a bit of a trial. Micro-Anvika has none left, Centre on Oxford St have none.
Then there are the after effects of the postal strike on London's mail, so there is no point in mail ordering anything, I've got several books and some slides already in limbo.
It seems to have sold out all over, it might even be as successful as jaguar and from Daring FireBell, the tech savvy are migrating in droves.
Luckily John Lewis came to the rescue, the Oxford Street store has a few copies left. Now the excitement of installing it with help from paul, mark and others...
