Backups, rsync, and –link-dest not working
I use Retrospect to backup most of the machines at GAEL. You may wonder why do I use a commercial tool that still shows it’s OS 9 roots, instead of open source alternatives. Well, Retrospect has some...
View ArticleBad blocks? badblocks!
There are not many things I miss from Mac OS 9. But there’s one that was really useful: the ability to test a hard drive surface. OS 9 disk formatter (I don’t even recall it’s name) had a “Test Disk”...
View ArticleMac-compatible ethernet card
For those of you who need an ethernet card that works with Mac OS X, this may be a useful tip: Mac OS X has a built-in driver for the RealTek RTL8139 chip. I looked arround and found this Netgear card,...
View ArticleTesting memory
I wrote some days ago about badblocks for testing a hard drive surface. Now, the same for memory. As I said, I bought a second-hand PowerMac G5 to replace my old G4. When I got the new machine, I run...
View ArticleLeopard tech talk, Lisbon
Yesterday I spent all day in the first ever Apple developer event in Portugal. Apple carried out a Leopard Tech Talk in Lisbon, where portuguese developers could learn about some of the new stuff in...
View ArticledrawImage performance on Leopard
A not very fast but handy way to downscale images in a WebObjects application is using Java 2D APIs, with code like this: BufferedImage reducedImage = new BufferedImage(newX, newY,...
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Accessing Mac virtual hosts from a Parallels VM
I finally moved to an Intel machine. Despite the dramatic speed improvement in everything Java-related, namely Eclipse, there’s another big advantage: being able to run IE on Windows using a virtual...
View ArticleBack from USA
Well, I’m back from another WOWODC and WWDC. I’m still really tired, but some quick notes: As David LeBer already mentioned, Pascal did an amazing job organizing WOWODC all by himself. Great room (a...
View ArticlePGP Whole Disk Encryption for Mac OS X
PGP is about to release a new version of it’s PGP Whole Disk Encryption product. This version will fully support the Mac, including the boot disk. I’m looking for a full disk encryption system for a...
View ArticlePGP Desktop 9.9 released
PGP finally released the 9.9 version of it’s PGP Desktop product I had mentioned before, featuring full boot-disk encryption for OS X (Intel only). The demo version is not yet available, but I can...
View ArticlePGP Desktop 9.9 mini-review
Introduction As I previously wrote in my blog, I was waiting for a whole disk encryption solution to be made available for Mac OS X. Some months ago, Checkpoint released what I believe was the first...
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Versions is out
Versions is finally out! :) João Pavão, together with the Sofa team, released their new Subversion client. It’s a really powerful application made by people who deeply understand how a Mac application...
View ArticleApple 2009 wish list
It’s a brand new year. So here’s my wish list for Apple: Please fix the wireless driver that causes my Mac to crash about 10% of the times I turn Airport off. Please fix the trackpad driver, or...
View ArticleRetrospect w8
There’s a rule of thumb for software development: make it, make it good, make it fast. For those unfamiliar with it, this means you should first build the core functionality of the software. Then, fix...
View ArticleAmanda on Mac OS X
Given that Retrospect 8 is essentially a piece of crap, I’ve been searching for an alternative I can use when Time Machine is not an option for backing up Macs. The main two points I’m focused on is...
View ArticleAmanda: installing a Mac OS X client
In my previous article, I presented Amanda, its basic concepts, and how does it compare to Time Machine. Now, I’ll give you an example of how to install and configure a Mac OS X machine to be an Amanda...
View ArticleAmanda: recovering a Mac OS X client
This is the third post about Amanda, an open source backup system for UNIX-based computers. The previous two posts were a general introduction to Amanda inner workings, and instructions for configuring...
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