Firefox 3.5 tip

Finding that Firefox is opening links in the current tab in Firefox instead of in a new tab as you'd prefer? Me too! =)

This seemed to fix it:

1. Type "about:config" in your browser location bar, then accept the warning
2. Right click in the window and select "New" -> "Integer"
3. Paste in "browser.link.open_external" as the name, and "3" as the value (no quotes)

If that doesn't work, type in "browser.link.open" in the filter bar, then right click on each of the preferences that match and select "reset".

That seemed to work for me.

Good luck!

Kenneth Cope, and music for kids

A couple weeks back Kenneth Cope happened to be coming through Huntsville and accepted the invitation to come and talk and sing at our church in Madison.

I wasn't even really sure who he was when they made the announcement, but I decided to go when I realized that he wrote and sings a few of my favorite LDS songs, such as "Once Upon a Time", a song about miracles in the scriptures. Or "Brothers", a song about Joseph Smith and his ever-faithful brother Hyrum, who Joseph begged not to follow him back to Carthage where he knew he was soon to be killed, but who would not leave his brother's side.

Kenneth was also going to do a "fireside" for the youth as well, but that was cancelled. Unfortunately many inferred from the wording of the cancellation that *all* of his presentations were cancelled, so when we arrived, there was almost no one there -- just the Bishop and his wife, Kenneth, and one other member.

At 15 minutes before it was to start, I got up to use the restroom, but as I got up I saw Kenneth in the back, and he seemed to think I got up to go talk to him, so I walked up and introduced myself. He's a very friendly, happy guy (a former bishop, too), and I chatted with him for a few minutes.

So here's why I'm writing this post...

In talking to him, I asked him if his kids were interested in music, and how he fostered that interest. He said that all 3 enjoyed playing instruments, and the key was just making it fun for them. "Find music they like, and they'll want to learn to play it."

It sounds obvious that people do things they find fun, but like most parents I tend to default toward the mindset that the kids should be doing the things we tell them to. Fun? What does that have to do with anything?

But I didn't really get into piano until it became fun, i.e. when I got a book of Enya sheet music. I hated most of the music I had to play in my early lessons. Similarly, I loved soccer as a kid because I had only ever played it for fun. Baseball, on the other hand, was a serious sport according to my coach, and fun wasn't the point. Come to think of it, whether I enjoyed something depended a lot on the attitude of the guy (or gal) in charge.

And when it comes to my girls, I'm the guy in charge.

---

His presentation was excellent, by the way, very spiritual. Not many dry eyes at the end. Curiously he mentioned my name during one of the songs, basically complimenting my smile -- the downside of being complimented for something is that you end up putting in extra effort to live up to it!

On Michael Jackson

Well said.

FileVault performance on OS X, Leopard (10.5)

A couple of data points on FileVault performance on a new 17" MacBook Pro with Leopard (10.5.7):

Write speeds (4 tests):

• 1 GB (from /dev/zero) write to non-FileVault space: 16.43s, 15.97s (about 60 MB/s)
• 1 GB (from /dev/zero) write to FileVault space: 39.18s, 39.03s (about 28 MB/s)

Read speeds (6 tests)

• 1 GB read from non-FileVault, write to non-FileVault: 16.52s, 14.60s
• 1 GB read from FileVault, write to non-FileVault: 16.32s, 14.25s
• 1 GB read from FileVault, write to FileVault: 36.3s, 35.41s

It's possible that disk caching might be affecting the results -- anybody know how to tell??

Bottom line:

It looks like there's a nearly-2.5x penalty in write speeds when writing to a FileVault-ed account, 27 megabytes/sec vs. 60 megabytes/sec. You do pay a price for some peace of mind. On the plus side the read speeds appear to be about the same.

Don't forget, if there's a chance someone's going to walk off with your machine, make sure you power it down. =)

What's new with the iPhone 3G S?

People keep asking me this... Well, here's the answer, from MacWorld. This is a list of all the hardware improvements in the latest version, coming out next Friday (bracketed comments are mine):

• The faster processor, more RAM, and new video circuitry
• Improved battery life
• The improved camera hardware [autofocus, tap to focus, 3 MP instead of 2]
• Video recording, trimming, and sharing
• The digital compass [also maps will rotate based on which way you're facing]
• Voice Control [dial and/or control the iPod-part with your voice]
• Accessibility improvements
• Built-in Nike + iPod support [no dongle required, just the sensor in your shoe -- why doesn't it just use GPS?? maybe for people who run on treadmills or inside...]
• HSPA7.2 compatibility
• Open GL ES 2.0
• Hardware encryption
• Environmental improvements

The new iPhone OS 3.0 supports a bunch of new stuff too, including whatever was keeping the TomTom folks from releasing their software. The TomTom offering looks awesome -- though I wonder how hard it is to answer the phone when it rings... Or if you're on the phone if you'll miss a turn??

See the MacWorld article for more info on the new OS.

"... and why don't you have an iPhone yet?"

The lack of TomTom software was one thing keeping me from buying one. The other two are (1) having to switch to AT&T, and (2) the cost.

All my family (and my wife's family) is on Verizon, so a switch would mean going back to counting minutes (yuck).

As for #2, a pair of $200 phones plus $89 (1400 minutes on 2 lines (or $199 for unlimited)) + $30 data plan (required) + $30 unlimited messaging = $149 per month still feels a little pricey -- that's about twice what we're paying now for cellphones. It would save me from having to cart around a TomTom and an iPod, but I could buy new iPods and TomToms pretty often with an $80/mo. savings.

I figure our time's coming, just not yet.

Hostnames with Airport Extreme

Just a quick tip for a narrow segment of the population.

If you have an Airport Extreme* (APX), and you want to refer to the other machines on your network by name instead of by IP address, set the "Computer name" in System Preferences -> Sharing. That computer will then be available at "(computer name).local".

The APX may need to restart to recognize the new name, which is done by going to "Base Station" menu -> "Restart..." in the Airport Utilities tool (in the /Applications/Utilities folder).

If you don't want to add ".local" on the end, go into System Preferences -> Network, Airport, Advanced..., DNS tab, then add "local" to the search domains. Looks like this has to be done on each computer.

Enjoy.

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* One sidenote -- the APX is a $179 wireless 802.11 dual-band (g and n) router. I absolutely refused to pay $179 for a device that I can get from Linksys or Belkin for $59. Until, that is, after 3 years of irritating reboots (and trying to talk my wife through reboots), painful setups, and irregular behavior, I finally had enough and bought the APX. I had always figured I just wasn't a networking guy, but the manual setup of the Apple router required understanding of all the same concepts and it worked consistently right out of the box. Sorry Linksys and Belkin, try again.

File templating on the Mac

Have you ever been looking at a folder in the Finder and thought, "Now, what I want to do is make a new Word document here..."

It's not easy. Without this, that is: New File Here (AppleScript)

Setup

Download this file, double-click it to decompress it, then drag it into your home directory -> Library -> Scripts. (Create the Scripts folder if it doesn't exist.)

Then you should be able to select "New File Here" from the scripts menu when you're in the Finder:

If you don't see that icon, go to Applications -> AppleScript and run the AppleScript Utility, and select "Show script menu in menu bar".

I use Keyboard Maestro to link that script to ctrl-n.

Now what do I do?

Step 1: Go ahead and run the script. It'll offer to create a templates folder in your library directory, and then it'll open it for you.

Step 2: Copy whatever templates you'd like to use into that folder. I went into Word, Excel, etc., and created blank files that looked exactly like I want new/empty files to look when I start one, and dragged those into that folder. Or you can use templates like envelopes, letterheads, etc.

Make sure you use the right extensions on the filenames. That's how the script knows what type of file you're wanting to create. (If you don't specify an extension when it asks for the new filename, it makes BBEdit text files.)

Enjoy.

Update: Now the file's actually readable! - BH, 4 June 2009