Archive for the ‘OSX’ Category
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
When performance testing I often need to spy on TCP (http) traffic between the client and server on a frequent basis. This is pretty much a staple of any performance test script development effort.
In the past I've relied heavily on trace options within LoadRunner and the like, but often find ...
Posted in OSX, Ruby, Tools, Productivity, Windows | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Another post for my fading memory, how to install the GD libraries for your Leopard Apache installation running PHP 5.2.5. I will be using these libraries in a forthcoming blog about the use of 'sparklines' to present complex performance monitoring data.
Now on with installation. Thanks to topicdesk for leading the ...
Posted in General, OSX, PHP, Tools | 21 Comments »
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
If you've been using a Macbook Pro or similar for some time, you'll find that their batteries need tender love and care, if they are to go the distance. According to Apple, I fit into the 'ideal use' category as I regularly use my notebook on the 1+ hour daily ...
Posted in General, OSX, Hardware | 5 Comments »
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
Download it 'ere...
I currently have a mobile broadband account (HSDPA) provided by three.com.au, and after a hexy surcharge from the previous month when exceeding my limit, thought it would be prudent to build a dashboard widget that tracks my monthly bandwidth usage.
Building on a previous post that automates calls to ...
Posted in OSX, Perl, Ruby, Programming | 12 Comments »
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
If you're stuck with this error when trying to compile your own apps:
No rule to make target `/System/Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/CORE/config.h', needed by `Makefile'.
You will probably find that your Leopard installation is lacking some necessary files.
If you copy the files from your old(er) installation of perl (5.8.6) you should be able to ...
Posted in OSX, Perl, Programming | 17 Comments »
Thursday, November 8th, 2007
Good grief, I paid the price of tweaking my OS 10.4.x install after installing Leopard and dealing with the myriad of problems previous tweaking posed!
The first problem was after a very long upgrade process (1+ hours) for Leopard, I was presented with a nice blue screen, a mouse pointer and ...
Posted in OSX, Hardware | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
It's a real pain for Apple users to synchronize Microsoft Outlook with Apple Mail, but Parallels (or VMWare) brings us one step closer. You can virtualize your work environment (typically a PC with Outlook/Exchange access) and host your own local IMAP server, to sync mail between your virtual PC and ...
Posted in General, OSX, Windows | 3 Comments »
Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Have just stumbled across a very cool productivity app for OSX. I'm already a big fan of Quicksilver, and FlyGesture builds on that style of functionality albeit from your trackpad.
FlyGesture is activated like Exposé or Dashboard, bringing up a transparent window of "guides" to move your mouse through. Moving your ...
Posted in General, OSX, Tools, Productivity | No Comments »
Monday, October 15th, 2007
I've been experimenting with a couple of different IDEs lately for Java development, and the two at the top of my list are NetBeans and Eclipse. A frustrating thing is that Mac OSX tends to ignore anti aliasing rules for text in these applications. I think it has something to ...
Posted in OSX, Programming | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 15th, 2007
More for my own reference than anything else, here is how you install the CVS bundle for TextMate using a subversion client.
1. If you don't already have a subversion, try the precompiled version here.
2. Set the LC_CTYPE variable to use UTF-8
export LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8
3. Make a bundles directory if you have not ...
Posted in OSX, Programming | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 1st, 2007
If you're a Mac user and you're not using TextMate, then hurry up and join the bandwagon. This is a powerful text editor for Mac OSX, which I use for just about any type of project be it C#, Java, PHP, Perl or even COBOL. What makes this tool so ...
Posted in General, OSX, Backup, Ruby | No Comments »
Monday, September 3rd, 2007
I've been using a MacBook Pro for about 12 months now, and whilst I love this machine and its capabilities, it does tend to run at high temperatures. I use my laptop as a desktop replacement mostly, and whilst on my desk, I pretty much run parallels (virtual machines) all ...
Posted in OSX, Hardware | No Comments »
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
As my current contract with Telstra comes to a close, test summary reports are signed off and my brain approaches shutdown mode in preparation for a 5 week holiday, I decided to give my Mac Book Pro a much needed crash diet.
Like owner like macbook, this beast was getting a ...
Posted in General, OSX | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
I find when testing I need to archive copious amounts of data. Occasionally I need to create a bootable disk image for use in the creation of virtual machines or impromptu test labs. Storing this information and images in the ISO format is quite handy.
Most people will already know how ...
Posted in OSX | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2007
Growl is a notification system for Mac OS X: it allows applications that support Growl to send you notifications. Thankfully the peeps at growl have afforded us integration with applescripts. I use growl notifications to provide a bit more feedback when backing up my mac to a USB drive. Good ...
Posted in OSX | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
From a console type the following:
/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/
ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background
Thanks to macosxtips.co.uk for this gem ...
Posted in OSX | No Comments »
