I wanted to see what was up with Quicken for Mac so I went to the Intuit site. After playing around with the free Quicken Online, I gave up and went back to the client side of the site.

Intuit asked me a number of questions about what I want to do with my finances and finally suggested Quicken for Home and Business.

Which is a Windows only app. Down in tiny text was “Are you on a Mac? You might want to consider Quicken Financial Life for Mac” Cool!

I click the link:

1. Intuit didn’t recognize I was on a Mac and made me look for tiny text
2. Then they suggest a product that is not shipping until next summer
3. Then they can’t even make their text fit properly. See the yellow arrow.

Quality.

But wait! It gets better! On the same page:

I guess they missed the ship date and forgot to update the FAQ, because FAQ updating is tough work.

As seen on NBA.com:

I’ve been having a number of weird performance issues in the last month or so and I’ve finally attributed them to the Time Capsule.

My friend Erick mentioned that he had just upped his Comcast speed to DOSCIS 3 and was getting 45mbps down, so I did the same.

On ethernet, I would get the full 45mbps down and 8mbps up. On wifi, I was getting 2.2mbps down, 5mbps down, 15, etc.

My setup is as following:

Cable Modem->Time Capsule->Switch->Airport Extreme

The Time Capsule is a 5ghz N only network. The Extreme is a 2.4ghz N/B/G network with a different SSID, used for friends and older G only devices.

I ran a battery of tests, including:

• Downgrading to 7.3.1 firmware
• Setting multicast to 24mbps
• Fully resetting the time capsule
• Turning off WPA

This got the capsule up to 20mbps consistently. Then on a lark, I connected to my “slower” Extreme and VOILA! (for michael) I was getting 37-40mbps per second!

So next I:

• Changed the wireless settings on the capsule to match the extreme (but not changing the SSID of course)
• Removed the extreme from the equation and moved the capsule to the exact same location in the office as the extreme
• Upgraded back to 7.3.2, re-try everything
• Tried with a Santa Rosa MacBook Pro as well as my Late 2008 MacBook Pro

Nothing helped, exactly the same 20/37 disparity. By this point I think I can safely say something is going with the time capsule’s wifi performance.

In the end, I swapped SSIDs, so the “slower” devices are connecting to the capsule, and my faster devices are talking to the extreme.

Crazy. Time to file a bug with Apple. You’d think they could get this right by now!

I’ve been going to MacWorld Expos since before they were MacWorld Expos. As both an Apple fan and as an exhibitor, I’ve been to around 15 expos.

MacWorld Expo 2009 is the last Apple will attend. To make it even worse, Phil Schiller will be giving the keynote, not Steve.

I like Phil, but he is no Steve.

Apple seems to think that they get enough eyeballs via the Apple Store and the website. Maybe so, but Stevenotes were epic. Stevenotes are why many went to MacWorld.

Stevenotes got Apple on the local news here in Portland, OR. I think Apple may have underestimated how powerful Stevenotes are to the company.

However, regardless of Steve’s current health, he’s not going to be around forever. Maybe now is the time to shake things up. The economy is in the dumps, so of the Philnote tanks, or Apple sees some darker days, they can blame it on the economy while they re-tool things internally.

Only time will tell, but I for one will miss the Stevenotes.

Along with the lack of a Stevenote, there will be no Apple in 2010. Adobe and others have already pulled out of the show.

My gut tells me that 2009 will be the last MacWorld Expo.

It appears that Mail.app is still creating (AddressBookSync) zombies.

Boo.

You should keep quitting Mail.app every hour or so just to ensure your process count does not get too high………

This is my process list from running Mail.app for about 16 hours:

ps -awx | grep "(AddressBookSync)"
 1299 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 1303 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 1401 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 1616 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 1846 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 4558 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 4573 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 4704 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 4705 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)
 4736 ??         0:00.00 (AddressBookSync)

Before 10.5.6, having MobileMe set to automatic syncing usually meant much grief. The syncing process was slow and the entire computer would slow to a crawl.

As of 10.5.6, if you change data of a Address Book record, the sync starts almost instantly and lasts for only a few seconds. Within 30 seconds, the change is on the iPhone.

Very nice!

Because of the awful syncing performance, I had changed MobileMe to only sync Address Book, Bookmarks and Calendars.

I’ll report any issues I find!

Check your software update! Things are a bit slow right now as the ever-growing Apple Horde downloads the latest and greatest from Apple, Inc.

According to the release notes, the following changes were made:

What’s new in this update?

Address Book

• Improves reliability of Address Book syncing with iPhone and other devices and applications.

AirPort

• Improves the reliability of AirPort connections, including improvements when roaming in large wireless networks with an Intel-based Mac.

Client management

• Improves reliability of synchronizing files on a portable home directory.
• Fixes an issue in Mac OS X 10.5.4 and 10.5.5 in which managed users may not see printers that use the Generic PPD.
• Client computers that use UUID-based ByHost preferences now respect managed Screen Saver settings.

iChat

• Addresses an issue that could cause an encryption alert to appear in the chat window.
• Setting your iChat status to “invisible” via AppleScript no longer logs you out of iChat.
• Resolves an issue in which pasting text from a Microsoft Office document could insert an image rather than text.

Graphics

• Includes general improvements to gaming performance.
• Includes graphics improvements for iChat, Cover Flow, Aperture, and iTunes.
• Includes fixes for possible graphics distortion issues with certain ATI graphics cards.

Mail

• Includes overall performance and reliability fixes.
• Improves Connection Doctor accuracy.
• Fixes an issue that could cause messages identified as junk to remain in the inbox.
• Fixes an issue that could cause Mail to append a character to the file extension of an attachment.
• Addresses an issue that could prevent Mail from quitting.
• Improves reliability when printing PDF attachments.

MobileMe

• Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com.

Networking

• Improves Apple File Service performance, especially when using a home directory hosted on an AFP server. Important: If you are using Mac OS X 10.5.6 (client) to connect to a Mac OS X Server 10.4-based server, it is strongly recommended that you update the server to Mac OS X Server version 10.4.11.
• Improves the performance and reliability of TCP connections.
• Improves reliability and performance for AT&T 3G cards.
• Updates the ssh Terminal command for compatibility with more ssh servers.

Printing

• Improves printing for the Adobe CS3 application suite.
• Improves printing for USB-based Brother and Canon printers.

Parental Controls

• Addresses an issue in which a parentally-controlled account could be unable to access the iTunes Store.
• Includes general fixes for time limits.
• Resolves an issue that prevented adding allowed websites from Safari via drag and drop.

Time Machine

• Fixes issues that could cause Time Machine to state the backup volume could not be found.
• Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.

Safari

• Improves compatibility with web proxy servers.

General

• Includes Mac OS X security improvements. See this website for more information.
• Addresses inaccuracies with Calculator when the Mac OS X language is set to German or Swiss German.
• Improves the performance and reliability of Chess.
• Improves DVD Player performance and reliability.
• Performance improvements for iCal are included.
• Fixes an issue when running the New iCal Events Automator action as an applet.
• Adds a Trackpad System Preference pane for portable Macs.
• Improves compatibility with smart cards such as the U.S. Department of Defense Common Access Card.
• Updates time zone data and Daylight Saving Time rules for several countries.

Apple TVs and TiVos that stream Netflix movies are putting the stress on wireless networks. Wireless is fine for most things, but when it comes to low latency streaming, even at 802.11n speeds, things can get a little rough.

While perusing the TivoCommunity.com website I discovered a cool little device: The Motorola NIM100.

These babies allow you to send ethernet packets over your existing cable tv wiring.

(more…)

Apple has released updated firmware for recent MacBooks, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs, otherwise known as “Late 2008″ machines.

Sleep issues among others were corrected.

I’m on my second Roomba. The Discovery SE fell down the stairs, had to be repaired. Was noisy, needed daily cleaning.

The Costco 535 is a year old. We had not used it since June. The side brush no longer spins. I took it off, cleaned the hair out from underneath. Worked a little better, then the brush came off and it vacuumed the screw. If I tighten it (I was very careful to not strip) too much, it does not spin. If I loosen it a smidge, the screw spins and falls off. Crappy workmanship and design.

(more…)

Obdev has released its LaunchBar 5 beta and it is fantastic!

I’ve used LaunchBar since the day Mac OS X was released. The application is one of those I just can’t live without on my Mac. What does it do?

(more…)

Just heard via Wil Wheton’s blog that Forrey Ackerman died.

I did have the pleasure to meet Mr. Ackerman once, when I lived in L.A. back in the early 90s.

Criterion had been working on the Jason and the Argonauts laserdisc and Curtis Wong clued me in that on Saturdays I could just go to his place, ring the doorbell and get a tour!

So we headed up there and sure enough, after ringing the doorbell, someone with an awful Dracula impersonation answered the buzzer. “Velcome, vhow mvay I hvelp vu?”

The next several hours were spent looking at his vast array of books, comics and artifacts he had collected over the years.

I never read his Monsters periodicals of old, but I could sense this was a man who loved Science Fiction. I mean not like today’s fans who seem to be fans because everyone else is a fan – This guy was the original fan.

He had models from War of the Worlds and had the very model of the Nautilus, the submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was stuck in a dirt floored room under a deck. Crazy.

He showed us a letter from a aspiring writer. Some kid by the name of King.

He showed us one of three capes worn by Karloff. One is buried with Karloff, the studio has the other and Forrey had the third. He also had one of the rings worn in Dracula.

It was a very cool, special visit and I’m very thankful I had the opportunity to meet someone who was not just a fan of Sci-Fi, but who helped shape the genre so much.

Last week Apple gave me a Time Capsule because of all of the problems I had with my Mac. That was awesome of them!

My network at home consisted of an Airport Extreme as my router and 802.11n wireless access point, with a Linksys acting in bridge mode and a 802.11g wireless access point. I did this because separating the N and G devices makes the N network much, much faster.

(more…)

I’ve had a fair amount of instability since getting my new machine. One of the issues is that the entire machine will lock up, requiring a reboot.

The last time this happened, I logged into my laptop with ssh from the Pro via terminal (MacCampers know how to do this now, too!) and killed the process “windowserver” to force a logout. This resolved the locked up screen.

In the process of rebooting, I noticed a number of zombie processes named (AddressBookSync).

Some research found an Apple Discussions thread where someone had determined this was an artifact of Mail.app. Since 10.5.5, Mail has been creating these zombie processes. Eventually, the operating system runs out of resources and cannot create new processes, and then things stop working.

Quitting Mail.app kills the zombie processes.

For now, I suggest quitting Mail.app every hour or so to ensure you don’t run out of processes.

The process limit seems to be 266 as noted here

Activity Monitor does not show zombie processes. Using Terminal.app, you can enter:

ps -awx

and look for process names that are wrapped in parenthesis.