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Carbon Copy Cloner

A year ago I mention a neat Mac OS X utility called Carbon Copy Cloner. Well once again I need it again since I'll be install a new 60GB hard drive into my laptop. Most of the software I'll be installing will be from scratch, but Carbon Copy Cloner will help with migrating some other programs.

Carbon Copy Cloner is an easy way to copy one hard drive to another. Its a great backup utility for people who have laptops and want a complete backup of the system.

MSNBC and Apple

If you use a Macintosh and visit MSNBC you'll discover that you are not able to utilized their website. All the video content checks the operating system and will not play the video if you are not using a Window's system, even thou Windows Media Player is available for the Mac.

I was also getting errors when I was clicking on several news links. It appears that MSNBC is using some special HTTPD redirect commands that are not industry standards.

This isn't a major issue since there are lots of sites that offer news on the Internet, but it just goes to show how Microsoft tries to force people to use their technology even if its not the best.

Make Directory in PHP

Since March, 2002 I have been keeping track of my daily work by creating a folder on the desktop. This folder has the current date, so its easy to find something work I did for any particular date. This also handy for DVD and CD backup of my work.

This morning I decided to automate creating a daily folder by installing some PHP code into my index.php file. This way everytime I open up my web browser, a new folder is created on the desktop only if there isn't already one created.

<?
// Create a Directory for Today's Work
$name = date('n.d.y');
if (!is_dir(/Users/$user/Desktop/$name)) {
mkdir(/Users/$user/Desktop/$name, 0777 );
chmod( /Users/$user/Desktop/$name, 0777 );
}
?>

Panther Upgrade

For the past 29 days, I have been using Mac OS 10.3 (Code name Panther). Some of the features that I really like are:

• Updated Finder. Making it easier to navigate to frequently use folders.
• iChat Video. Cool idea, just have to know mac users in order to use it.
• Easy to Install and view fonts.
• Expos?, the fastest way to get to any open application's window.

However I have run into a few problems:

• The desktop frequently crashes whenever I move files on the desktop to a folder that is also on the desktop.
• Mail's Junk Mail feature is not working.
• iMovie frequently crashed whenever I open the application.

The following are features that I would like to see in future upgrades:

• The ability to lock your computer, like the ctrl-alt-delete feature in Windows.
• Better database integration. (Apache, PHP, and Perl are installed by default. Why not MySQL?)
• Printing all the Fonts that are installed in your computer. (A font info sheet)
• The ability to view the current month calendar when you click on the clock in the menu bar.
• Better FTP integration from the finder.

Overall its a nice upgrade, but I wouldn't put it in the category of a must have upgrade. You bet bet is to wait for next year since that release will probably cost $100. Unless Apple decides to give a discount to customers who bought Panther.

Powerbook Problem

According to Apple Computer, the problems that I have been having with my laptop is due to a bad third party memory. I installed the 512k memory about a year ago, so I don't think it had to do with the memory.

I have learned that an external Firewire hard drive works faster than an internal hard drive in a Powerbook. So I am going to put my newly purchased 40 GB hard drive into my Firwire case and use that as backup storage.

Powerbook Problems Summary:
For the past couple of months the computer was having problems booting the internal hard drive. I was able to boot the computer using a Firewire drive and the internal CD-ROM drive.

New Hard Drive installed

I installed a new hard drive this morning on my Powerbook G4 500 series laptop. I upgraded from 20 GB to 40 GB hard drive! I found the Torx T-8 tool at Sears yesterday for only $2. There are some places online that are selling it for $5 plus shipping! You need this tool to install a hard drive in a powerbook. So far everything seems to be working fine.

I also discovered that parking at the Fleet Center is $1 cheaper than the 'GARDEN GARAGE' where I would normally park. This is just a little longer walk to the Museum of Science but since it is underground parking it might be better for the warm summer months!

New Hard Drive

I just purchase a new hard drive for my laptop, since I am using it more now. However, I can't use it since I am unable to find my Macintosh OS 10.2 CD. So I went to CompUSA and purchased a Mac OS X 10.2 CD at $129.

However, today I found this niffity program called Carbon Copy Cloner.

This application allows me to copy the contents of my hard drive to another drive. The cool thing is that this is FREE! So, I am taking back the unopened Mac OS X CD to CompUSA and will use