migration!

I went to BarCamp LA this year, and had a blast. Since it’s an un-conference, I went with very few expectations, and that may have helped, but it also meant I was open for whatever might happen.

After breakfast AND lunch, the day officially began when the organizers had every last person introduce himself/herself (in a pleasant surprise, the male-female ratio was somewhat healthy – not the typical sausage fest, unlike most tech-centric events =P).

Each person was allowed only 3 tags, and I had some difficulty choosing mine. In the end, I went with “archivist,” “Django,” and “women2.org,” figuring one of these might stick in somebody’s mind. And as it happened, it was the second one! Immediately after introductions were finished, I met with several Django-ologists, and we convened for almost an hour, missing the first set of sessions almost entirely. Later, we had a Django BoF, and that was enlightening.

Anyway, one of hte big sponsors of the event was Dreamhost, who offered free registration and a year of hosting! So I took that offer this morning, and have registered my real, full name. I was even able to take advantage of their birthday promo, and now have unlimited disk space/bandwidth for the life of the account! Not too shabby.

So stay tuned for a change of address and a new design. Now that I’m on my own server, I’m no longer stuck with using the woefully inadequate WordPress.com templates, or even stick to the…well, not woefully, but still somewhat inadequate WordPress platform!

Really, now that I’m on my own server, the possiblities are endless. Realistically, for this maximizer, that means the change won’t be soon, but it is imminent!

Filed under: computer, web2.0

fail, indeed

I downloaded the Mac version of Freemind to try since I can’t afford something as nice as Mindjet. I opened the app, and it seemed deceptively simple. Freemind is a Java app. But nothing happened!

So I dutifully went to the software’s wiki, and forthwith is a direct excerpt from their FAQ (which they call “Asked Questions,” probably because nobody uses this software, heh):

I start FreeMind but nothing happens on MacOS X Leopard

This issue might be related to the problem met by OpenOffice users on Leopard. Apple seems to have replaced “Apple Computer, Inc.” by “Apple, Inc.” in the Java string. The JRE is thus not recognized anymore on Leopard, and Java fail.

That’s like, the sorriest bug I have ever seen. Not the worst, nor the funniest. Just sorry.

Filed under: computer

nerd whine

Is it just me, or did the Mouse Gestures add-on change in Firefox 3? I use the “down-right” gesture to close tabs and windows, but now if there’s only one tab open (ie, a single web page in the window), I can’t close the window with the gesture anymore! I have to use the keyboard or *shudder* move the mouse all the way over to the red “close” button!

It’s annoying.

Filed under: computer , addons, firefox, mouse gestures

making progress

i think i know enough python now to be dangerous. as in, i’m glad i bought a new hard drive yesterday because i’m going to have to back up my machine regularly in case i accidentally write a program that deletes something important.

don’t laugh, it’s happened before =T

Filed under: computer

quickies

1. this sounds like an awesome weekend project. it’s almost enough to make me go to SF! (because super happydevhouse and bay to breakers just aren’t enough)

2. i got a de facto extension on my midterm. i couldn’t handle both that and my portfolio presentation being due the same day. i say de facto because i simply forgot to finish it in time. the instructors couldn’t be cooler about it, just telling me to email it when i was done.

3. i kicked ass on the portfolio. don’t know why i worried about it so much. i think they were blinded by the great photos I used on my Keynote slides (most of them are in my flickr faves). the program director, normally a crabby old coot, was actually cordial, which is like, majorly unusual by his standards.

4. okay, actually, this midterm thing is bugging me. it’s haunting me like helen thomas haunted stephen colbert in that white house correspondents dinner video. i need to finish it, but i…just…can’t!

5. according to the iPod death clock estimator, my iPod mini is due to die on Memorial Day weekend. That is the worst possible time, because I have to work all freaking weekend (network switching party, gah!). on the bright side, if it were to die, i could try a project i’ve always wanted to try, and score major bonus points on the scale of g33kitude – turn the 3rd gen mini into a flash mini!!

Filed under: computer, personal, school, work

i’m just saying!

so if any of you techno trailblazers is planning on getting a shiny new 3G iPhone this june, let me just say that i’d be *happy* to take that nasty old EDGE speed iPhone off your hands =)))))

Filed under: computer , iphone

Reason #431,232

To love Macs: Diacritical marks and special characters are super easy to add from the keyboard! On windows you had to memorize multi-numeric codes, like alt+0233 for é, or alt-0231 for ç. And press the function key too, if you were on a laptop.

On the Mac, you just press the option key and the letter you need the accent for. Like é! Comme ça!

¡Olé!

Filed under: computer

Firefox Bug

I get this error in Firefox 3 Beta 5 (Build 2008032619) where if I start a Flash app, sometimes the audio keeps working even after I stop/close the Flash. It happened when I viewed the Tungle demo and whenever I use the old-school Del.icio.us mp3 playtagger

It’s kinda eerie to have the sound going long after you’ve hit ’stop’, not to mention annoying. What gives?

This is on the Macbook, OS X 10.5.2. I’m using Nightly Tester Tools and have Flashblock active, if that matters.

Filed under: computer , beta, bug, firefox, firefox beta 3

movable type on leopard with xampp

[Editing the original post for Google: the solution is at the bottom!]

Why is it that it only took about an hour to get Movable Type Open Source installed and running on my WinXP machine, but took hours to figure out how to get it to work on my Mac?

Here goes:

I’m using XAMPP installed on Leopard. WordPress works fine when I use XAMPP, so I ran it to install Movable Type Open Source 4.1 .

But when I ran the MT wizard, the Perl module for MySQL didn’t register (although all the required modules are there), so I couldn’t choose MySQL during the database configuration.

I used CPAN to try and install DBI and DBD::MySQL, but I got this error when it tried to run the Makefile:


Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Using DBI 1.52 (for perl 5.008008 on darwin-thread-multi-2level) installed in /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/auto/DBI/
Writing Makefile for DBD::mysql
-- NOT OK
Running make test
Can't test without successful make
Running make install
make had returned bad status, install seems impossible


After hours of Googling I tried using Fink, but while the packages downloaded and installed properly, the MT installation still stalled. So I got rid of Fink.

Another solution suggested creating symlinks (from XAMPP’s MySQL install to /usr/bin/), after which I ran Makefile.PL from the .cpan build directory and it went okay, until I tried “make” and got this:


cp lib/DBD/mysql.pm blib/lib/DBD/mysql.pm
cp lib/DBD/mysql/GetInfo.pm blib/lib/DBD/mysql/GetInfo.pm
cp lib/DBD/mysql/INSTALL.pod blib/lib/DBD/mysql/INSTALL.pod
cp lib/Bundle/DBD/mysql.pm blib/lib/Bundle/DBD/mysql.pm
cc -c -I/sw/lib/perl5/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/auto/DBI -I/sw/include/mysql -fomit-frame-pointer -DDBD_MYSQL_WITH_SSL -DDBD_MYSQL_INSERT_ID_IS_GOOD -g -arch i386 -arch ppc -g -pipe -fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -no-cpp-precomp -fno-strict-aliasing -Wdeclaration-after-statement -I/usr/local/include -O3 -DVERSION=\"4.006\" -DXS_VERSION=\"4.006\" "-I/System/Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/CORE" dbdimp.c
dbdimp.c: In function ‘mysql_dr_connect’:dbdimp.c: In function ‘mysql_dr_connect’:
dbdimp.c:1538: error: ‘ulong’ undeclared (first use in this function)
dbdimp.c:1538: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
dbdimp.c:1538: error: for each function it appears in.)
dbdimp.c:1538: error: syntax error before numeric constant
dbdimp.c:1540: error: syntax error before numeric constant
dbdimp.c:1654: error: syntax error before numeric constant
 
dbdimp.c:1538: error: ‘ulong’ undeclared (first use in this function)
dbdimp.c:1538: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
dbdimp.c:1538: error: for each function it appears in.)
dbdimp.c:1538: error: syntax error before numeric constant
dbdimp.c:1540: error: syntax error before numeric constant
dbdimp.c:1654: error: syntax error before numeric constant
dbdimp.c: In function ‘mysql_describe’:
dbdimp.c:3252: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
dbdimp.c: In function ‘mysql_describe’:
dbdimp.c:3252: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
lipo: can't open input file: /var/folders/C8/C8LGuPXHEh4ps4Lyk6fJgE+++TI/-Tmp-//ccVwhBoA.out (No such file or directory)
make: *** [dbdimp.o] Error 1


After a few hours of Googling more, I got to this page that provides the solution! I ignored it at the beginning because it specified “MacBook Pro” and “Tiger,” but I blindly followed the commands, and it compiled and installed! But as he mentions, “make test” fails, and that was a problem, and the MT install still couldn’t find DBD::mysql.

So I also had to do what one of the commenters suggested:

Running make test revealed ‘libmysqlclient_r.15.dylib’ was not being found – an extra ‘mysql’ directory was still in the path.

My quick and dirty fix (and to save my sanity) involved manually creating a ‘mysql’ directory in /usr/local/mysql/lib and copying the .dylib file to it.

So I just did the same thing, except in my case I had to copy the file libmysqlclient.15.dylib (no _r suffix). So you run make test and figure out what file isn’t being loaded, and copy that into a new mysql directory in /usr/local/mysql-xxx/lib. Use sudo as needed.

After that I restarted XAMPP and went back to mt.cgi, which was able to find DBD::MySQL!!!

And then MT couldn’t find the mysql socket, so I had to click “Advanced configuration” and copy in “/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/var/mysql/mysql.sock” for the socket. And then I had to create a new database for MT to find – I guess it doesn’t create the database itself.

And now I can run MT on my Mac. Woohoo!

Now if only I could remember why I wanted to run MT in the first place =P

Filed under: computer

peeved!

Wow, I never thought I’d miss my Dell, but:

- When you are in the midst of multiple development projects, don’t just get a new computer and then chuck the old one!

- I haven’t bought Photoshop for the Mac yet, and it bugs!!

- Same for Office. I’m still waiting for my free copy of Office ‘08 Mac to arrive. Til then I’m using Office ‘04 Test Drive. Bugs!!

- Being poor, I’m just using TextWrangler for coding. I miss Notepad++ =(

- Not loving the new Macbook keyboard layout. The expose buttons on top are wrong, and you have to press fn to use any function keys. Which sounds logical when I write it out, but in practice it’s annoooooying. Also miss the lack of dedicated “home” and “end” keys.

- Can’t really test anything on IE.x! While this may be good for one’s sanity, it’s probably not so good for one’s client.

- I need Volumouse. Someone write up a script that lets you adjust volume using the scroll wheel while hovering over a title-bar or at the edges of the screen! Please!!

- The Finder is not as useful as I need it to be. What’s the Leopard version of Windows Key +”r”? Can I do that in Quicksilver?

Don’t get me wrong, the Macbook and I = true love. But even true love ain’t perfect.

One more thing:

- Does anyone know a good way to grab static HTML files out of PHP-generated content? I just found out one of my hosts can’t use WordPress, so I figure I’ll just use it for content management, then generate static HTML, like how Blogger does it. But how?

Filed under: computer