Veterans Day

My dad, a farm boy from East Texas, joined the U.S. Navy in 1945. He had to get his parents' permission to enlist, since he was only 17 at the time.

He's now 82.

He never did go back to the farm. Instead, like a lot of his generation, he went to college on the G.I. Bill, where he ended up meeting my mother.

Of all the things he likes to talks about, his experiences in the Navy are by far his favorite topic. Even though I've heard these tales thousands of times, I'll go on listening as long as he tells them.

It's the least I can do.

Thanks Dad. I love you.

Brain Tumor Walk 2009

It's a cool, slightly overcast day and I'm standing in Fort Worth's Trinity Park with a huge, oddly festive crowd. Odd in that it is about brain tumors. But festive in that it celebrates survival.

This is the 2009 Brain Tumor Walk.

I'm here because my brother-in-law's wife passed away last month, a little over a year after she was diagnosed with the same kind of tumor that killed Teddy Kennedy.

The overwhelming message is one of hope. There are survivors of 10 years.

Sorry to cut this short -- time to start walking!

Hackintosh!

I've never been a huge Mac fan, although I have a representative sampling of old machines in my collection o' historic computer junk. Still, I find them interesting.

Most of them were either bargains from Goodwill or cast-offs from a local university, running versions of the Mac OS from 6.x to 8.5. I played with them mostly as curiosities. Once finished I'd go back to my Windows or (later) my Linux machines.

Being the sometimes artist, I have lots of friends firmly in the Mac world, so I'm familiar with the basics of the cult of the Mac.

Because of his interest in the arts, when oldest son got ready to leave for college he chose an iBook laptop (at my suggestion) rather than a PC. He loves it, and later upgraded to a MacBook. His laptop was my first exposure to OS X.

A little history

The road to OS X from previous Mac operating systems was, to coin a phrase, a maze of twisty little passages, all different (if you're interested in this sort of thing there's also an online history of all Apple's OS's which makes for fascinating -- if not geekish --  reading). What eventually emerged was built on a foundation of BSD Unix, well disguised in Apple designer label clothing.

The first version of Mac OS X publicly debuted 2001 and ran on PowerPC processors. Flash forward to June 6, 2005, when Apple announced its plans to switch to Intel processors. Despite a certain amount of wailing from current Mac owners, the eyes of many PC owners lit up.

Would Apple sell OS X without Apple hardware?

The answer was a resounding Hell No!

Nature abhors a vacuum. And the the denizens of the internet love a challenge. And so was born a movement to enable what has become referred to as the OSX86 or Hackintosh: creating patched version of OS X that will run on non-Apple x86 processors from Intel/AMD.

First steps

While I'd played with actual Macs with OS X as well as OSX86 VMWare images, I hadn't actually built a Hackintosh of my own. A conversation with a co-worker who'd put OSX86 on a netbook convinced me it was time.

Here's the challenge when it comes to building the Hackintosh: when Apple builds the hardware, they know exactly what components they need to support.  When rolling your own, you must know what's in your machine: every chipset and hardware variation.

The resource for the would be system builder is the OSX86 Project site. The OSX86 Wiki has HCL (hardware compatibility lists) for the various patched OSX releases so you can determine the best release to use, given your hardware. Do a search for your particular machine.

If (like me) you typically build your own systems, you've got your work cut out for you. I took the coward's way and decided to repurpose an old Dell Dimension I bought 8 years ago. Based on what I found in the HCLs and the iHackintosh site, I decided to install release 10.5.6.

Obtaining the release

Because of the many variations out there, you are advised to do your research before deciding which release to obtain. Google is your friend - use it a lot. The more specific you can be in your search term, the better off you will be.  Use the OSX86 Wiki installation guides as a roadmap.

Since Apple has chosen not to make the install disks available for non-Apple hardware, to get the appropriate release, you will be forced to find it in the wild and download it via BitTorrent. The legality of this is on your conscience, not mine.  Also, it must be said, there is a lot of junk out there on the net, and the potential for downloading malware-infested stuff certainly exists. In the end, the decision whether or not to go this route is up to you.

That being said, should you chose to proceed, be aware the release ISO image will end up being around 4.3 GB -- a full DVD. Depending on your amount of available bandwidth, this could take some time to download.

Once downloaded burn the ISO to a DVD using your CD/DVD burning software of choice. You're ready to proceed.

Getting ready to install

I'd previously decided to install this little experiment on an old Dell Dimension 4400. Since it was still in use, I cleaned up the C drive as much as possible (I never cease to be amazed at how much crap can accumulate on one's hard drive). I wasn't going to be able to blow away the existing install, and so decided to put OS X on a separate drive. To simplify swapping out the drives, I installed a removable drive bay I had hanging around.

As previously mentioned, I'd downloaded iPC OSx86 Universal 10.5.6 Final and burned it to DVD. I'd also bookmarked a set of thorough and detailed installation instructions from the list of guides.

I put an old 30 GB drive in the removable drive bay, on the theory I might be doing this several times. This would be my dry run. It was a good plan.

I booted from the DVD, and did my first install, based on the instructions in the install guide and HCL for the Dell Dimension 4400. I repartitioned and formatted the hard drive then selected the newly visible target disk.

As mentioned in the install instructions, you must do a custom install. That's how you select the various patches needed to support the the non-Apple hardware. The HCL will make suggestions, but be forewarned: there is a certain amount of trial and error involved.

First install: close but no cigar

I rebooted after my first install attempt and did post install setup -- adding user accounts, etc.

First thing I noticed was the video display didn't recognize my wide-screen monitor -- everything was squished. I went to the System Preferences and found only the default video resolution: 1024x 768. Disappointing but not surprising. Also, my sound card - a Creative Labs SB Live! -- wasn't recognized.

More problematic was that I had no ethernet card, since I couldn't get on the web and download drivers if necessary. Solving this last problem was accomplished by switching out the Cnet card that had come with the Dell with a Netgear card. Both supposedly used the ubiquitous Tulip driver. After swapping the cards out and rebooting -- I had internet!

Second install - can you hear me now?

After doing more research (including opening the case and finding the chipset on my SB Live! sound card) I found the kX audio driver listed as the best choice for supporting my card. Another round of reformatting (for a clean install) and booting from DVD.

The kX driver did the trick. I started iTunes and tuned into a streaming radio station. Score.

Third and fourth install - I can see clearly now

Video turned out to be more problematic. I was using an ATI Radeon 9550 card, and despite my best research efforts, could not find what I felt was a slam-dunk solution.

Plan B: find a different video card.

After checking other machines at the house for potential candidates for swapping out cards, I hit the Frys website and found they had a GeForce 5200 FX card (supported) for a mere $30. Since I wasn't planning on making this 8 year old Dell into a cutting edge gaming box, this seemed perfect.

With the new card, I re-installed yet again, choosing the Natit driver this time. The results were not wonderful. I had a number of display anomolys: partial screen redraws when scrolling and other weirdness. Plus I still couldn't set my screen resolution to use my wide-screen monitor.  I probably could have done some tweaking so it would work but the process seemed labor intensive.

More research and a new plan of attack

A fourth install, this time using NVinject with default legacy GeForce drivers (since the card version was lower than 6xxx).  I may have been able to do it with just the legacy GeForce drivers but was tired of doing reinstalls, and this sounded like the recommended process.

Reboot and -- success! No more squashed display. I was able to go to System Preferences and set the resolution to 1440x900 : the display was now perfect.

I now have a fully functioning Hackintosh.

Post install software

The install does leaves out some notable Apple software, including Garage Band and iLife, mostly in the interest of keeping the ISO size such that it can be burned to a non-dual-layer DVD. If those are important to you, well, sorry.

First thing I installed was Firefox, since I use it on Windows and Linux. Not that Safari is all that bad, but I'm a creature of habit. Plus I'm a slave to several plugins.

Next on the list was updating iTunes to the latest version. That also meant updating QuickTime.

If you don't have a copy of MS Office in your back pocket, I highly recommend NeoOffice, which is mostly MS Office compatible and is built on top of the OpenOffice codebase. In many ways I prefer it to the regular OpenOffice suite. Did I mention it's open source, and free?

With an office suite, I needed a printer. Warning: you'll only be able to use a USB or networked printer. No parallel port support. I've got an ancient HP LaserJet 4L which I ended up connecting via a DLink parallel port to USB cable. This is why I never throw anything away.

Final thoughts

So I now have a functioning computer running Mac OS X.

I find it interesting. This has given me an opportunity to dip my toe in the Mac OS X environment. The actual hardware is still a big ugly clunky Dell -- nothing like the elegant iMacs or tiny MiniMacs, both of which I've had my eye on for a while.

Will I ever buy a real Mac? Maybe. Has this made me more inclined to buy one? Maybe. Which is why Apple probably tolerates this little subculture of Pseudo-Mac-ery.

The process is sufficiently difficult that I doubt they are losing that many sales among their target audience, whoever that is. Instead, they build stealth market share among the digerati. And let's face it, market share is arguably more important than a few lost sales which they may never have made in the first place.

Just ask Microsoft. They've known it for years.

(Written and posted on my new Hackintosh)

Windows 7 launches today!

The day we've all been waiting for -- launch day for Windows 7.

Let the bloat begin!

Family Weekend at George Mason

A while back I texted youngest son and asked "Should I come for Family Weekend or not?"

He replied back "Either way is fine." I took that as the closest I would ever get to an affirmative and made my travel arrangements.

The main event on Friday (arguably for the whole weekend) was Mason Madness -- the fall rite that officially kicks off basketball practice for the upcoming George Mason basketball season.  Unlike Texas, where football is the state religion, the eastern seaboard worships (to a much greater extent) at the altar of basketball. And George Mason (which won the 2006 Eastern Regional NCAA Championship) is no exception.

The five days preceding my trip I ran a low grade fever, hacking and coughing like death. By that Friday my fever had broken but I was but a shadow of my usual self. Note to the savvy traveler: if you've been under the weather, expecting to make it to the airport to catch a 7:00 AM flight is wildly optimistic.

After only one missed flight, I made it into DC, got my rental car and drove to Fairfax. Parking Lot K, on the southeast edge of the GMU campus, had been  designated as parking for family visitors. While adjacent to the Patriot Center (the basketball arena), it was a fairly good hike from everything else, especially if it happened to be raining. Which it did...for 2 and a half days. Temperatures never got above 45 degrees.

In the tradition of all male college students, youngest son had grown more hairy than the last time I'd seen him. We attended to the first order of business, finding an appropriate cold weather coat (all he had previously was a GMU hoody -- fashionable but a bit thin once temperatures dropped).

After a day of running errands, we eventually met up with some of his peers at his dorm and sloshed our way back to the Patriot Center, where Mason Madness was in full out crazy mode. The presence of a prominently displayed decibel meter at one end of the arena was a tipoff the evening would be loud. And the boisterous crowd did not disappoint. Average decibel level was around 90 db for the duration.

Coach Jim Larranaga was on hand to introduce this year's line ups in both the men's and women's teams. He's had a hell of a run since coming to George Mason, winning more games than any other coach at the school or their conference. The night ended with some exhibition play by the teams.

After climbing up and down arena steps, I was pretty well exhausted. "What time do you want to meet up tomorrow?" I asked youngest son.

"Two o'clock," said he.

I used this as an excuse to lay in bed until almost 11:00 the next morning (I was still recovering from a week of being sick). Before heading to campus I grabbed a cheap umbrella, since it was still raining.

We had a late lunch at the Rathskeller then checked out the new Engineering building, where youngest son will be taking a number of classes in years to come. After another shopping outing we headed back and played pool for a couple of hours and caught a 9 PM screening of UP, which I hadn't seen. We ended the evening at the Rathskeller. Before parting we decided to head to DC on Sunday, to see the Museum of Natural History.

We took the Metro and arrived around 11:00 AM. The joint was jumping. In the Hall of Mammals I learned the distinguishing characteristics of Mammals are: sweat glands, including teats (which I knew), and the presence of 2 bones in the inner ear used for hearing (which I did not know). Near this was an excellent temporary exhibit about Charles Darwin and Natural Selection.

We also checked out the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, which is one of the largest collections of its kind in the world. It covered the gamut: meteors and meteorites, gemstones, industrial ores and mining. Finally, we hit the Ocean Hall, which opened late 2008 and has 23,000 square feet of exhibition space.

Did I mention there is no admission to this astonishing collection?

The rain finally stopped about the time we emerged from the museum. We headed back around 3 since I had a flight to catch later that evening. I finally arrived back in Texas around 10:30 PM.

 It was a great trip. That night I found a couple of iPhone apps that should let me follow the fortunes of the GMU basketball program. I've never been much of a fan, but I guess I will be.

The Word -- Greatest iPhone app ever?

Youngest son (and fellow Colbert Report junkie) clued me into the launch of a new app from the Colbert Nation which features clips of all of Stephen Colbert's "The Word." Now you'll never be more than a screen tap away from Stephen's truthiness.

This may be the single best reason ever to get an iPhone.

You can view the featured (most recent) Word, or choose by date--all the way back to 2005. You can go by the title and by most popular. Or select Random and pull up some long-forgotten Wisdom from any of the past five seasons.

Best 99 cents you'll ever spend!

Screenshot shamelessly nicked from TheNoFactZone -- best source of information on All Things Colbert. Follow the link for more information and additional screenshots.

Contact Fedex Delivery Dept For Your Package....

Dear Customer!

We have been waiting for you to contact us for your Confirmed Package that is registered with us for shipping to your residential location. We had thought that your sender gave you our contact details. It may interest you to know that a letter is also added to your package. However, we cannot quote its content to you via email for privacy reasons.

We understand that the content of your package itself is a Bank Draft worth of $800,000.00 USD, FedEx do not ship money in CASH or in CHEQUES but Bank Drafts are shippable. The package is registered with us for mailing by your colleague, and your colleague explained that he is from the Country but he is here in Nigeria for a three (3)months Surveying Project as he works with a consultant firm in Nigeria West Africa We are sending you this email because your package is been registered on a Special Order.

What you have to do now, is to contact our Delivery Department for immediate dispatch of your package to your residential address. Note that as soon as our Delivery Team confirm your information, it will take only one  working day (24 hours) for your package to arrive it's designated destination. For your information, the VAT & Shipping charges as well as Insurance  fees have been paid for by your colleague before your package was registered. Note that the payment that is made on the Insurance, Premium & Clearance Certificates, are to certify that the Bank Draft is not a Drug Affiliated Fund (DAF) neither is it funds to sponsor Terrorism in your country. This will help you avoid any form of query from the Monetary Authority of your country.

However, you will have to pay the sum of $95USD to the FedEx Delivery Department being full payment for the Security Keeping Fee of the FedEx company as stated in our privacy terms & condition page. Also be informed that your colleague wished to pay for the Security Keeping fee, but we do not accept such payment considering the facts that all items & package that are registered with us have a time limitation and we cannot accept payment not knowing when you will be contacting us for your package or even responding to us. So we cannot take the risk to have accepted such payment incase of any possible demurrage.

Kindly note that your colleague did not leave us with any further information. We hope that you respond to us as soon as possible because if you fail to respond until the expiry date of your package, we may refer the package to the British Commission for Welfare as the package do not have a return address.

Kindly contact the delivery department (FedEx Delivery Post) with the details given below:

FedEx Online Delivery Post
Contact Person: Andrew Ehis
Email:fedxdeliveryservice@w.cn
Tel: +234-8074478251

Kindly complete the below form and send it to the email address given above. This is mandatory to reconfirm your Postal address and telephone numbers.

FULL NAMES:
TELEPHONE:
POSTAL ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:

Kindly complete the above form and summit it to the delivery manager on: fedxdeliveryservice@w.cn

As soon as your details are received, our delivery team will give you the necessary payment procedure so that you can effect the payment for the Security Keeping Fee. As soon as they confirm your payment receipt of $95USD, they will not hesitate to dispatch your package as well as the attached letter to your residence. It usually takes 24 hours being an overnight delivery service.

Note that we were not instructed to email you, but due to the high priority of your package we had to inform you as your sender did not leave us with his phone number because he stated that he just arrived Nigeria and he  hasn't fix his phone yet. We indeed personally sealed your Bank Draft and we found your email contact in the receivers column as the recipient of the foremost package.

Ensure to contact the delivery department with the email address given above and ensure to fill the above form as well to enable a successful reconfirmation.

Do not reply this email because this email account is not monitored. Send your details to fedxdeliveryservice@w.cn

Yours Faithfully,
Andrew F Benson".
FedEx Online Team Management.
All rights reserved. © 1995-2009
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This E-mail is only for the above addresses. It may contain confidential or Privileged information. If you are not an addressee you must not copy, distribute, disclose or use any of the information in it or any attachments.
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FEDEX INTL>>>LICENSE OF FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION.

Foxit eBook reader

I have seen the future of eBooks.

It's the Foxit eSlick Reader. Unlike the Kindle, Sony and other eBook readers which use document formats that lock you down to a single source, this one reads PDFs. While Adobe originally created PDF as a proprietary format, they released it as an open standard on July 1, 2008.

While Kindle and its kin are well made devices, the reliance on a single entity is problematic: should the company decide to discontinue the device and end support for the document format, you're screwed.

With the eSlick Reader, even if Foxit stops making the unit, you'll be able to continue to get new books, as well as read the books on any other device (including your computer) that reads PDFs.

Quoting from the overview page, The eSlick Reader has an internal memory of 512MB and comes with a 2 GB SD card (supports up to 4 GB). Resolution is 600 x 800 pixel. As with almost every other device out there, it also plays MP3s (great for audio books). It also comes with PDF creation software, so you can roll your own. In case you're interested, it runs on Linux.

While you can buy these online at the Foxit website (MSRP: $259) I noticed Fry's is also selling them.

This looks like a pretty cool device. It would certainly be a great replacement for the tons of bulky tech manuals I've got hanging around in my office.  One suggest: more memory. 4 GB will get eaten up quickly, especially if you like your tunes. With the availability of 64 GB SD chips, this is a silly limitation.

Now I know what I want for Christmas.

Update


I noticed Fry's was running a sale last week on another eBook reader that has similar functionality.  This one is made by Astak. The 5 inch EZReader is listed on the Astak site for $199 but Fry's had them for $149 after rebate (I hate rebates, by the way). Pre-rebate price is $179. Still a good price!