Tedger.com

Since OS 10.4 Apple has included the Spotlight feature in the OS. Spotlight indexes files for various pieces of information (metadata, for those who are picky) and then makes them easily searchable. Spotlight is a useful tool but the indexing can put a slightly heavier load on machines, although minimal after the initial indexing. If you want to get rid of this indexing (and thus Spotlight’s functionality too) there are some pretty simple steps to follow:

1. Open the Spotlight system preference pane.
2. Go to the “Privacy” tab where you can disable locations.
3. Press the “+” button to add a location to disable.
4. Press Cmd+shift+G to open the “Go to Folder” dialog.
5. Type /Volumes and hit return.
6. There is no step 6.

Now it should be noted that this will remove your ability to use Spotlight and everything that depends on it, specifically searching for files with the finder, so use with caution.

So Mac OS X 10.5 is out on the streets and on <a href="http://tedger.nfshost.com/potw/index.php?s=requiem">my computer</a>.  Leopard really seems to be the upgrade that it's supposed to be.  When Tiger (10.4) came out I have to say I was a little disappointed. I rarely use Spotlight (although when I do it is pretty useful) and I see Dashboard as more of a nuisance then anything.

The features in Leopard, on the other hand, are things I’ll use (and do use already). Spaces is the virtual desktop tool I’ve been waiting for. It’s intuitive, works well with multiple desktops, and doesn’t feel like a dirty hack (because it isn’t). Time Machine really is amazing and it’s a good thing too. Despite seeing all the people I see at work losing their information I still don’t do regular backups, Time Machine fixes that. Really I’m yet to run into a feature of the OS I don’t find at least mildly useful. We’ll see if it continues to impress.

tedger@bolero:~$ uptime 13:59:42 up 101 days, 3:42, 4 users, load average: 0.01, 0.14, 0.34

To most people the above lines will mean…. pretty much nothing. But to me they’re pretty exiting. The main part I’m interested in are the first 2 sets of numbers “13:59:42 up 101 days.” This means that my computer has been up for over 100 days!!! w00t! Not that amazing but still kind of exiting. Plus I know for a fact that the last two times I’ve restarted it, it was due to me accidentally hitting the power button. Hooray for not using Windows!

First off if you’re on a larger display you’ll already notice the difference. I’ve taken the width limit off the page. Quite frankly I’m not sure why I had it there in the first place but it’s better this way, congrats to those of you that have bigger screens, less empty blue space when you look at tedger.com! (Seeing as there is about a grand total of 4 people and probably 1 that has a big display, hooray to one person!)
Next thing I’ve done is because of the move to Symphony. I’ve installed a caching mechanism. The website should be a little snappier now (not quite the same as Aria but good enough). The downside is things like the calendar might not work right, I really wont know until tomorrow comes around and I can see if it changes correctly. If anyone notices anything just leave a comment here or on the post you notice the problem. The picture of the week pages also have the caching so speak up if you see a problem there.

So it’s official test is now Symphony. As I said the other day, I’ve moved tedger.com to a new computer. Initially I wanted to make sure that a 233Mhz Pentium (with MMX technology!!!!) could handle the load of the website, my jabber server (I’m tedger at tedger.com if you’re curious), and a few other things I want to keep running 24/7.
Turns out the test box can. Even with as little memory as it has the test box has exceeded my expectations for it. Because of what I would consider a very successful test run I am officially naming the websever, she is to be known as Symphony. See a pattern? Yeah, I’ve decided that musical pieces make good names for computers, not sure why and I didn’t name Aria because of that but that’s the way it ended up. Since I’ve decided to keep ahold of Symphony I suppose I need to get Peter $5 (got to love ISU Surplus).

Everyone say hello to test. Test is the temporary name I’m giving to the computer that I’m borrowing/possibly buying off of Peter. Test is a 233Mhz Pentium with 160MB of ram and a 3GB hard drive. This evening I relocated all of tedger.com webhosting to test. There are two reasons for this:
a) Aria is way to nice of a computer to be just serving up webpages
b) (really this is an extension of a) I’m planning on installing a TV tuner in aria, installing Gentoo and playing more with Linux on Aria the resulting tedger.com downtime I think would be awful and completely unacceptable.
Now at the beginning I said the computer’s name will be test. Test is in a trial run to see if I think he’s capable of handling tedger.com’s needs. If not I’m going to go to ISU Surplus and pickup a beefier machine. Test or whichever computer eventually takes over tedger.com webhosting will take the name I have already picked out for my full time webserver. Nope not going to tell you, when I find a computer that does it the name will be revealed!

Funny little bit of fiction I came across today. I imagine it was a little like this for my computers. Only they saw their shared aluminum cases and found that they had a shared hatred of windows and have always been a good pair.

For anyone that’s a Star Trek fan (or really anyone that has seen Star Trek IV) will understand the topic to this post. If you don’t get it, go see Star Trek IV, if you only ever see one Star Trek episode or movie, it should be the fourth movie. trekkie or non-trekkie you’ll enjoy it.
Anyways, to the meat of the post. Today I was browsing around and came across something awesome. That’s right transparent aluminum. Yet another example of Star Trek technology becoming a reality.

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No, I’m not actually getting a new desk, I’m quite happy with the two I have currently. I just rearranged to make room for my good ol’ CRT. I decided that I wanted to start using Aria to her full potential. Since getting her up and running nearing a year ago I’ve been running her as a headless server (with no monitor, keyboard, or mouse) and I think it’s time for that to change. I’d just had this feeling that I wasn’t really using my computers to their full potential this way. There is still quite a few problems with using graphics on Aria, but as far as hardware goes it’s just fine. So my desk is rearranged and looks even cooler/nerdier than ever before. (See attached image)

This Last weekend was simply a blast, a blast from the past. Went to a LAN party were I had fun playing some old school multiplayer head-to-head Tetris, Quake 3 Team Arena, and some Battlefield 1942. Really overall a really good evening.

After that on Monday I went canoeing with some friends which also ended up begin really awesome. We rented some canoes from an outdoors place that takes you and the canoes to the river and picks you and the canoes at the end. It made for a really relaxing afternoon. I’ve stuck some pictures up too, the pictures are curtsey of Matt Clancy.
Besides Monday when I went canoeing and Sunday night with the LAN party it was all pretty relaxed and a good break from school, even if it was just a 3 day weekend.