One of Mac OS X Leopard’s best features that I’ve been playing with is “Back to my Mac”, which finally puts to Apple’s .Mac service to good use. The functionality is really most useful for people who use multiple Macs in different locations. An example would be someone who uses a Mac at home and at work. Or someone with both a desktop Mac and a MacBook. You get the idea. You register each computer with the .Mac service through Leopard, and Back to my Mac automagically makes these computers appear in the “Shared” section of your Finder sidebar. As a result, it’s extremely easy to access files from any of your computers from any one of them.

I could do this already by setting up an account with a dynamic DNS service and connecting via a custom domain name, but this system makes it brainless for anyone who wants to set this up. The two computers can be anywhere on the internet (in separate locations) and Leopard just figures it out. What’s even better is that the system also allows you to screen share from anywhere, so you can actually control any of your computers.

In order to get it to work, you do have to set up your router correctly. On Apple’s Airport routers, it’s pretty easy, but mine wasn’t set up right by default. Be sure to activate the NAT Port Mapping Protocol (see picture) and you’ll be good to go.

The Panasonic HDC-SD5 high definition camcorder is shaping up to be a current favorite with its compact size, high quality digital imagery, and ability to record to SD cards. Since it uses SD cards instead of tapes, there’s no need to worry about rewinding or waiting an hour to load the video onto your computer. Reviews so far have been few and far between. Some have raised concerns about potentially limited low light performance and lack of surround sound, but few have been able to verify its strengths and weaknesses in person.

A new SD5 review just appeared online. While it’s not particularly detailed, it does include some much sought-after video samples.

So far, Leopard seems to work with just about everything I had installed on my computers, with two notable exceptions:

Parallels is a bit flaky in Leopard. Specifically, the networking just doesn’t seem to function properly, at least via WiFi. After browsing the Parallels forums, I’m told an update is forthcoming.

Canon’s drivers for their CanoScan LIDE 35 also appear to fail when I try to scan via Image Capture.

Hoping for some updates soon. Those who have critical software or hardware that is not yet confirmed compatible may wish to hold off on upgrading until new versions are ready. I can’t.

The root of my Leopard problems appeared to revolve around my use of the software RAID functionality enabled by the Mac Pro. Apparently, Apple has a new version of RAID called AppleRAID version 2.0 which is required for Leopard compatibility.

I remade the RAID and used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone from my backup drive (a single drive) back on to the RAID. I selected the RAID as the startup disk and rebooted and…voila! Now I’ve got the same configuration I had under Tiger.

Leopard seems dramatically faster than Leopard on the Mac Pro, though less so on my MacBook. One of the purported features is better use of multiple cores, so maybe the fact that I’m using a quad-core Mac Pro is making a bigger difference now.

Overall, Leopard seems like a dramatic improvement. Not only is the interface much slicker, but performance is better and everything feels more responsive.

Apparently there were hundreds of people lined up at the Apple Store in Cambridge. I don’t understand it. I had my copy at 10:30 AM with free FedEx overnight delivery. Why wait in line? And before you bring up the iPhone, that was different! There was a real, albeit unwarranted, fear that the iPhone would sell out within hours. Furthermore, Apple made no promises of delivering online orders even close to the launch date.

I guess they gave out free T-shirts at the Apple Store Leopard launch. I think I can do without those.

Though if you’ve got an extra…

Here’s a copy of what I posted to Apple’s support forums this evening:

I installed Leopard on 2 machines today. One was an upgrade install on a MacBook. Went flawlessly. No problems.

The next was a quad-core Mac Pro outfitted with a boot “drive” of two 250GB drives connected by RAID 0, a 320 GB backup drive, and another 250 GB drive. Put the disk in and double clicked the installer, but it rebooted back with the main startup drive. Tried again and got a crash and an error message telling me to hold down power to restart. Then it booted the DVD (I think I held down C to force this – it’s been a long night.

1) Tried upgrade installing on the RAID – told me the upgrade failed soon into the attempt (no obvious reason given – told me to contact the manufacturer). When I restarted to attempt installation again, the RAID had disappeared! Fortunately, I was able to tell it to boot off the backup drive (thank goodness for SuperDuper). When it rebooted into Tiger, the RAID was back as well.
2) Tried an archive install on the backup drive, failed with the same error.
3) Tried a new install on the extra drive (no system on it). Installed successfully. Rebooted. Got the BSOD (no cursor, just blue screen… occasional disk activity but waited over an hour with no progress. Rebooted, system did not start up. Rebooted into DVD.
4) Ran Disk Utility and repaired permission on boot RAID and backup RAID. When I went back to installer screen to select the RAID for installation, I got the spinning pinwheel. Forced the machine to shut down.
5) Removed all drives from computer except for backup drive.
6) Booted from DVD. Did archive and install onto backup drive. Success! Rebooted into Leopard!
7) Shut down and reinstalled remaining drives. Now in process of restoring Leopardized backup onto RAID.

Obviously, there are some serious install issues here. I did not have the Application Enhancer installed. Furthremore, my first BSOD was with an install onto a system-free drive. I have a feeling Apple is going to be recalling some installation disks.

I’m a big fan of Apple’s Aperture photo management software (quelle surprise, I know). It’s a professional-level software package that allows you to import, manage, organize, and edit digital photographs in their original RAW format (the highest quality, uncompressed format generated by digital SLRs). I do my photo work on my desktop computer, but often wish I had my photos available on my laptop. This would allow me to access the photos from anywhere, and would also make my MacBook a de facto mobile backup of my photo library.

After searching around, I’ve finally found a solution…and it’s free! After installing Aperture on both machines, you can use a built-in utility called rsync to keep the portable copy of your Aperture library up to date. While there are tools to manipulate rsync using a graphical interface, I choose to use the built-in Terminal application to directly work with rsync.

For this example, I’m assuming both machines are on the same network, though this need not be the case if you have your computer’s IP address and have it accessible over the internet. I’m also assuming that you’re using Aperture’s “managed library”, where the software stores all your photos in a single “package”.

From my MacBook, I enter the following at the command line:

rsync -avzE --delete username@desktop.local:/Users/username/Pictures/"Aperture\
Library.aplibrary"/ /Users/username/Pictures/"Aperture Library.aplibrary"/

Replace “username” with your username (it appears 3 times in the command line) and replace “desktop” with the name of your desktop machine.

I run this periodically to keep the portable version of my Aperture library up to date.

I am eagerly awaiting Friday’s delivery of “Leopard”, also known as Mac OS X 10.5, the latest update to the Mac operating system. This one appears o bring a lot of goods to the table including many interface tweaks, automatic integrated backup (see my previous post on Time Machine), performance improvements, and several new and updated programs.

Apple is planning one of their iPhone-like hype fests by closing down stores for a couple hours only to reopen at 6 for a big launch party. I’m not camping out for this one since there’s going to be no shortage of the software. Instead, it should be delivered right to my desk at work. I finally got to put that nice iPhone rebate to work. The early reports of this software are pretty good. We’ll see in a couple days.

Life Hacks: Keep headphone wires from getting tangled

My iPhone headphones always end up tangled in my bag or pocket. I spend what seems like an eternity trying to untangle them, likely looking ridiculous in the process. This simple trick might save me further embarrassment.

(Via Lifehacker.)

I generally take it for granted that most people are coffee drinkers. After all, why would someone willingly deprive themselves of the rich, aromatic sensory experience that is Coffea arabica?

Well?

That’s what I thought: there’s no good reason.

Occasionally, however, I stumble across some misguided soul who claims they don’t like the taste of coffee. After staring at them blankly for a few seconds to ensure this isn’t a poorly formed attempt at humor, I begin the process of bringing them into the fold. The most common error that leads to the perception that coffee is distasteful is the exclusive consumption of low-quality coffee. Most people develop their love of the black beverage when they first have a high quality cup. It’s not an experience that needs to be repeated often, but serves to establish the synapse between the neuron representing “coffee” and the one representing “good” (for you neuroscientists out there, I’m over-simplifying…you get the idea). Thereafter, even mediocre coffee can trigger this same response. With seasoned aficionados like myself, even barely-drinkable coffee is tolerated because of the connection, however distant, with the memory of truly great coffee.

I can’t think of other examples of a beverage which has this effect. The obvious problem here is for those that never have had that good cup. To them, their coffee-good connection in the brain is underdeveloped. Given this limitation in neurological development, some might refer to these individuals as “retarded”, but I find that a little politically incorrect. I prefer to think of them having a “special need” – a need for a good cup of coffee!

If you encounter one of this individuals, please do your civic duty and make them a cup of high quality brew. If you are unable or unwilling to perform this duty, please notify a flight attendant…er…please find someone who can. Life is to short to be spent without an appreciation for coffee.