Growing Expectations for iPad 3 Launch: Killer Software and the Apple TV

There are a lot of people who cannot wait for the new iPad 3 to be released this coming Wednesday (March 7th).  There's a lot of hype and excitement that is buzzing about the hardware.  But should there be?  Granted, if the rumors are true, the retina display for the iPad will be awesome (and the reason why I haven't upgraded yet, I might add), but beyond that, the iPad has always just worked.  That's been it's beauty, and I don't see any significant changes to the hardware taking away from that experience. 

So that being said, what get's me excited about the iPad 3 launch?  Software.  That's right, I'm looking for some new killer software that will continue to relegate my laptop to "workhorse" status, while I use my iPad for everything else.  I'm looking to take all the fun design work out of the laptop and place it on my iPad.  What do I mean by design work?  I mean anything that doesn't require writing code, which is tedious at best with the built-in keyboard for the iPad.  Of course, that could change with a few minor keyboard changes (see Gusto for iPad, or iA Writer for iPad for ideas), but in general that is the useability point against using Xcode for iPad.  

So what software would I be looking for?

1. Photoshop:  Already released, Photoshop for the iPad is a killer idea.  I've used Photoshop Express for a while now, and fell in love with it. 
2. iPhoto Calendars:  I've mentioned this before, and I think it's really important for scrapbooking families to be able to create printable calendars (perhaps using dates and events from a Calendar in iCal?) from their iPad, and send them off to Apple for professional printing.  We use this in iPhoto every year for Christmas presents to relatives, and it would be very nice to be able to do this from an iPad. 
3. iOS 6:  I know we won't have it by Wednesday, but I would like to see the preview of iOS 6 as it is coming down the pipe.  In iOS 6, I would like to see some of the features that have been native to the Mac for years show up on the iPad, like maybe a Dashboard for widgets (a great way to get stocks, calculator, and weather on the iPad without blowing them up!).  Sometimes having a full blown app for something isn't really that necessary, but having a page with widgets would make sense.  
4. Siri:  Yes, I want Siri for the iPad.  I'd also like to see Siri taken out of Beta and released for the iPhone 4.  Perhaps with iOS 6?

So that's pretty much it for the iPad.  But I'm also hoping the rumors that an upgrade to the iOS-based Apple TV would be announced as well.  Why?  Because the Apple TV is a great device, and has been slowly replacing my need for Cable television.  With a few upgrades, it could also completely replace a number of other consoles that are hooked up to my TV.  

1. Streaming TV Show Subscriptions:  Right now you can stream any television episode you have purchased from iTunes to your Apple TV, and that's great.  And a pet peeve of mine about Cable has always been the need to purchase whole banks of channels I'll never watch, just to get the few shows that I do want.  Couple that with the restrictive nature of when what show is on, and I'm losing interest in watching television completely (perhaps that's not a bad thing).  But there are a few shows that I would like to keep up with, and allowing me to watch that streamed show when I want for a subscription fee would be just dandy!  After all, it's not that far from going to the network's website to watch the show, so why not provide it as a streaming channel?  
2. Games:  Since iOS has been used for the Apple TV, the populace has been waiting with baited breath to see if Apple would turn it into a gaming console.  With other gaming consoles turning into video streaming devices, it makes sense that Apple could go the other way.  And with the vast majority of iOS developers ready to jump in to this area, I see it as a foregone conlusion.  
3. Streaming Movie purchases:  TV Shows have it, why not movies?  With more of my movie purchases going to iTunes then ever before, I would like the peace of mind in knowing that I can get that movie again should my computer crash.  
4. 1080p:  720p video is great, and it looks great on the screen.  But when my TV can support up to 1080p, I'd like the Apple TV to support it as well. 
5. Cable Replacement:  Perhaps this is part of the show subscriptions, but I would like to have the option of using my Apple TV to watch television, and be my cable box (should I decide to keep it).  The less I have to hook up to my TV and plug into the wall, the better I feel.  

So that's my wish list for the announcement on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012.  Anyone else want to chime in?  

OS X Mountain Lion 10.8: Early Impressions

Yesterday I got a shock:  Apple was planning on releasing OS X 10.8 a year after Lion was released.  The development process for OS X has accelerated, which comes with it's own share of problems when it comes to training and Certification.  That being said, I couldn't wait to download and install the OS to give it a try!

Downloading

Once I got my voucher from the Apple Developer's website, I was taken to the Mac App Store to download and install the OS.  This isn't surprising, as Apple started this process with OS 10.7.  It took about 30 minutes to an hour to download, it being a large file in and of itself.  I then quickly backed up some critical files on my computer (always a good idea before upgrading!), and started the install.

Installation

Nothing changed much from the Lion install here.  It was pretty straightforward in upgrading.  Once installed I did get one update (which surprised me), but the update was for an HP printer driver.  Within 40 minutes I was looking at my new Mountain Lion Mac.

Changes

The first major change that I saw was the Notifications button in the top right hand corner.  This is something that has been sorely needed on the Mac, though Growl has done a decent job with notifications to date.  But I like the iOS feel of notifications, and how they are accessed.

Next, Messages.  I have to say, I'm glad that Apple has opted to add their iMessages into iChat.  It's a move I hope will be seen in iOS soon, because I'm all about centralized communications.  It helps me keep connected when I need to be, and that's a good thing.  There is a potential to be too connected, but I think that's more of an issue with how you use your messages.

Then I needed an update, and instead of opening Software Update, it opened up the Mac App Store!  It seems that all system updates will now be coming through the Mac App Store, as clicking on Software Update from the Apple menu launched the App Store as well.  It was a surprise, but seems logical given the installation process.  Of course, this begs the question: will you need to authenticate to an Admin account AND to the App Store to update your computer?  If so, it looks like mass deployments of updates may need to be rethought.  I might have a better idea once I get a chance to play around with Mountain Lion Server.

Contacts surprised me a little bit, as it took the place of the Address Book.  Though, technically, nothing changed really that I can see other than the name.  It took me a little while to find the Contacts app, as it is not in alphabetical order in Launchpad. But, the new search tool in Launchpad helped narrow that down.  That, by the way, is very much welcome.  I tend to have more than three pages worth of apps on my Mac, and the search tool in Launchpad definitely helps me find the app when I'm thinking about it.  Technically I can use Spotlight to find it as well, but if I'm in Launchpad already, it's nice to be able to search at that point.

I'm excited about Reminders and Notes being their own apps in OS X 10.8.  Previous to this, Notes was in Mail, and Reminders in iCal.  Not that it's bad to have them in there, but separating them out makes it easier for me to focus on that aspect.  It's another feature of iOS that is very welcome on the Mac.

The minor change in Safari that I didn't notice until today is definitely a welcome change!  Now, there is no longer a separate search box.  It seems Safari has finally updated to take the same feature of both Chrome and IE 9 and integrated the search box into the address box.  Not a critical, game-changer when it comes to browsing the web, but it's a nice change.  Here's hoping in the new iOS release the same will come to the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch.

The updates to the Mail, Contacts and Calendars preference pane were great, but I started to see some bugs at this point.  It appears that selecting an account doesn't necessarily select that Account:  it may still have a previous or next account selected and you are editing preferences for it instead of the intended account.  Again, this is a Preview release of OS X 10.8, so bugs like this are expected (hence why I didn't install it on my main production computers).

The one thing that I was disappointed with was AirPlay Mirroring, if only because I couldn't get it to work.  When I got home, I looked for the AirPlay Mirroring display option to show up, just to see how it worked.  But it never did.  Now, it could be that I have my Apple TV wired to my router and the computer is wireless, but they were on the same network so it shouldn't have been a problem.  I'll keep playing with it and see if I can get it to work.  To date I'm not sure what use I would have for it at home where I have an Apple TV, but I could see a benefit in the workplace for a quick and easy remote monitor solution without needing dongles for VGA or DVI. Assuming, of course, you have an Apple TV box hooked up to your projector/HDTV.

Anyway, those are the features that I had a chance to play around with.  Notifications, I'm sure, will start to grow up as more apps start to utilize the process.  Game Center is nice, but doesn't interest me a lot right now, though I do like the connection between the Mac and iOS for similar titles.  To me it shows a level of growth and maturity in the Mac App Store to parallel the iOS App Store, and that's a good thing for the Apple ecosystem.  Gatekeeper, at least for now, doesn't seem to have a lot of application for me.  I can definitely see the benefits of it, and for anyone concerned about security in a fairly public arena (Office computers, family computer at home), it's definitely a good idea, though I can see one option missing: only identified developers (no Mac App Store).  I'm not sure that's going to happen, as all the updates come from the App Store, but we shall see.

Has anyone else had a chance to play around with Mountain Lion?  What are your thoughts?

Apple Predictions: My Wishlist

With the end of the year fast approaching, I can't help but think what the new year will bring, particularly for Apple.  With the latest OS release for iOS and OS X, the new field for Apple changes will most likely be hardware.  While I have no connections with anyone that could even remotely speculate as to what Apple is going to release, here is what I would like to see happen for 2012 for all things Apple: 

1. Apple TV for Gaming:  Right now, the Apple TV does video and audio streaming, with some screen sharing when using an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S.  That's nice and all, but I would really like to see the Apple TV do more.  It's got the guts with it's A4 processor, and with iOS, it could provide a nice gaming platform.  All it needs is some sort of controller, be it built into the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad or a new remote control that is WiFi enabled for controlling games.  It would require a whole new thought process in Apple gaming development without multi-touch, but it would bring the set top out of the video/audio only and bring it into the realm of gaming.  It may require a hardware upgrade, but it hasn't been refreshed in a long time. 
2. iPad with Retina Display:  This is what is keeping me from upgrading to the iPad 2.  If I'm going to invest in something that is an upgrade from what I have, it needs to be a serious upgrade.  Right now, my iPad does everything I want, with the exception of having that Retina display for reading ease.  This is probably a no-brainer, with reports coming in that the next iPad (iPad 3?) will have the Retina display I want.  Good, because it's on my list for this next year.  ^_^ 
   
   
3. Rack-mounted Mac Pros:  With the demise of the Xserve, which concerned a lot of my trainees, Apple no longer has an "enterprise" server for their Server app.  While the Mac Mini has pretty much taken the spot, a really beefy server can be handy from time to time.  Right now, that's the Mac Pro, but it's large, doesn't fit in a rack well, and doesn't look like a rack server.  Make it rack-mountable, and server farms using Apple will be happy.  
   
   
4. Apple Blade Servers:  This one is totally coming from my wish list, but with the miniaturization that has gone into the Mac Mini, is an Apple Blade Server so far-fetched?  It could be something as simple as a bunch of Mac Mini's tied together with Thunderbolt cables, all in the same chassis (so it would look nice).  The potential is definitely there, it just needs the market.  
   
   
5. Corporate Apple Cloud:  iCloud is great for providing access to your iTunes purchases and documents.  But many companies would like to keep that to themselves, and setting up a cloud within their network and plugging it into network desktops (virtual desktops?) would be awesome.  Cloud computing has a lot of different definitions, so this is not likely to happen by 2012.  Still, a corporate cloud that will allow access to any corporate licensed software, protected by login and LDAP/Mobile Management permissions and standardized across multiple servers?  I can see that as a huge bonus for corporations looking to move to Apple.  It would also justify an Apple Blade Server, by the way.  ^_^  
   
   
6. Siri for iPad:  I can understand Siri being removed as an app for all iOS devices and being released, integrated, exclusively for the iPhone 4S because it is in beta.  But it would be nice, perhaps with the next iOS update, to give all devices access to Siri.  It would depend on when the beta is over, I suppose, but that would be awesome, particularly for the iPad.
   
   
7. LTE Support:  While I will most likely not upgrade my iPhone 4 unless the iPhone 5 is a killer product (not sure how likely that will be), I would like to see an iPhone 5 with LTE support, as well as an iPad 3 with the same LTE support.  I would like fast, responsive data (preferably with a decent price tag for a lot of usage), and it looks like the best option out there is going to be LTE.  I know there are a lot of problems with offering some 4G technologies (like battery life, for one), so I'm not holding my breath.  But with carriers now rolling out their LTE networks, you would think it would be an easy thing to do.  
   
   
8. Cable-Cutter Apps for Apple TV: Netflix and YouTube/Vimeo are good starts, as are the various "channels" that come with NBA, MLB, NHL, etc. for the Apple TV, but I would like to see other offerings that will, if not exclusively then combined, let me cut my cable connection for TV.  Even it that means signing up with a cable company on a per channel basis for live streaming through my internet connection, so be it!  With the rise of Internet streaming, a cable company has become less critical beyond providing Internet service.  Perhaps with less cable TV, the Internet portion of my Cable experience will improve.  It also reduces the number of set top boxes for my TV to one:  the Apple TV.   That way I only pay for the channels I want, not channels I will never look at ever again.  Another way to accomplish this?  Subscription service per show.  I realize there are a lot of players in this, so it won't be easy, but it would be great for the end user.  

So that's my list for 2012, nothing huge or ground-breaking.  I'm not looking for an Apple HDTV, or an Apple car.  Just some changes that would make me happy professionally and personally.  So, that being said, it's time to hunker down, and look for what the future will bring from Apple. 

Dual Boot Imaging with OS X Lion and Windows 7 Without Winclone

It seems I have a lot of traffic coming in to my dual boot process I created with Winclone as the cloning tool. Unfortunately, Winclone is no longer being developed, and it was an imperfect process at best. No, the needed to be a better way to make an image, and I was determined to find it.

Luckily, I had a comment from another user that put me on the scent to Clonezilla. I had another suggestion from our IT manager about using dd as my imaging of choice. Well, I liked the idea of using built in tools with OS X instead of using another operating system, so I gave it a try. I also tried Clonezilla, which is well documented in a previous post. Which did I like? Let me compare them and then I will give you my conclusion.

dd command

I love the command line. It's clean, it's powerful, and it's the reason I loved Mac OS X when I first saw it. S the idea of using a command line tool to do an image was pretty appealing. So, I took my imaged computer (MacBook Pro 2007 with 100 GB hard drive), and gave it a try. After booting up to target disk mode, I ran the dd command on my computer to copy the entire hard drive and then restore. The copy process took 9 hours, as did the restore. It worked perfectly, but the time delay was just too much to make it worth while. I kept the iso file I had created, but continued my search.

Clonezilla

Clonezilla is a boot disk that uses Linux, some very clever scripting, and Partclone to create your images. It's similar to Norton Ghost, but unlike Ghost it supports the HFS+ file system native to Mac OS X. I tried two methods: imaging the entire drive with the partitions, and just the Windows partition. Both worked, though I really like the first method for lab deployment. The drawback is the reliance on an install disk or USB key to start the image process.

But the benefits? Huge time savings, even over the NetBoot solution that Apple uses natively. It's not as flexible, but it does handle unicasting better than Apple's tool. How does it do it? By breaking up the install image into multiple tarballs and delivering them as needed to the image. It seems to be a sort of hacked multicasting method, and works very well.

So my method of choice? Clonezilla. If you want the step by step process, check out my previous post on the subject, and let me know what you think. It worked for me and my lab!

Imaging a Mac Computer with Bootcamp using Clonezilla

Creating an image for a Macintosh computer that includes both a Macintosh partition and a Bootcamp partition for Windows is complicated at best with the release of Lion and the demise of the old standby: Winclone.  Since twocanoes stopped developing Winclone, I've been looking for another method to create an image that will be, well, reliable.  While it is possible to use Winclone 2.3, it's not supported and it's very buggy.  And that's just the Windows partition, not the entire drive, and I want the entire drive.  So, based on some suggestions I got with previous posts and lots of online research, I decided to give Clonezilla a try.  

Clonezilla is akin to Norton Ghost, as it grabs a complete image of a hard drive, partitions and all, and will restore it.  Unlike other ghosting software though, Clonezilla supports HFS+, the Mac OS X Extended filesystem, as provided by the core utility, Partclone.  That means it can image both a standard NTFS partition with the Mac partition.  It sounds great, assuming it would work, so I thought I would test it out and see if it were a viable option for mass deployment of Mac with Bootcamp.  Going through the motions, I was impressed with the repository settings that were available.  Much like Acronis, the Clonezilla Live CD boots up into it's own OS platform.  With Clonezilla, though, it's Linux, and it shows.  There are a lot of options to select, and it doesn't have a very friendly UI.  But, really, UI is secondary to performance in my case (because I'm used to a command line UI that it presents), so that wasn't much of a consideration.  

The first neat experience I saw with Clonezilla was it's flexibility.  You can select just about every language and keyboard setup that Linux supports, which makes it handy to deploy.  Unfortunely, you need to do it every single time you boot.  Perhaps there is a way to build a custom CD, or perhaps settings would be kept with the USB boot, but I didn't see it off hand.  The other flexibility option that impressed me was the method of finding your repository.  It's actually very easy to find a connection method that will work for you.  I really liked the idea of having an SSH repository, making images easy to deploy to and from a remote server if necessary.  The only thing to change performance at that point would be the speed of your connection.  Internally, if you are on a Gigibit switched network, it will come as close to that speed as possible.

Then we get to the image tool.  I only used the beginner options, which probably has a lot of settings that are defaulted, but I wanted to make this as easy as possible.  That, and after spending a good 5 minutes on choosing my keyboard and setting up the repository information, I wasn't much interested in spending more time configuring when default settings should work just fine.  Apparently you can back up just partitions, or the entire disk.  I chose the entire disk because that was what I am looking for, but I kept the partition idea in mind for future projects (assuming it worked, of course). 

Below are the steps I took while creating an image, and deploying that image to a computer. 

Steps: Booting from the CD

1. Boot to Clonezilla Live CD
2. Select boot option for Clonezilla.  The default works great at 800 x 600.
3. Select Language (default is US English)
4. If you are not using a USB keyboard, select the keymap from the arch list, otherwise continue with "Don't tuch keymap"
   1. If you selected to select the keymap, select your keyboard type (default is most common, QWERTY)
   2. Select the Keyboard layout (starts with Brazillian)
   3. Select your keyboard variant, either Apple USB or Standard

Now you are ready to set up the repository for your image. 

1. Select Start_Clonezilla
2. Select Device-Image, as you would want to create an image from a device.  
3. Select your repository method. 
   1. If you have a local device, like a USB drive or internal drive, you can use Local_dev
   2. If you have an SSH server you want to publish the image to, use ssh_server
   3. If you have an SMB server (Samba, or Windows server), this will be best for you
   4. If you have an NFS server (common in UNIX networks), nsf_server will work for you
4. Depending on what you selected before, you need to verify your network connection (or not if it's local).  I selected the Ethernet network (for speed), and then used DHCP.  This will probably be the most common setup for everyone. 
5. Since I chose SSH, I entered in my SSH server IP (can use DNS name too), confirmed the port number, and entered in the user ID for the login.
6. Then enter in the absolute path for the repository.  I put it on my Desktop, so I put in  /Users/userid/Desktop.
7. It will then ask you for authentication information to mount the connection.  Follow directions (hopefully you already know all this information).

You are now ready to start the image.

1. Select Beginner mode.  It's easy to use, and you don't have to mess with the expert stuff.  If you already know what you are doing, then expert would be great.  But then, if you already know what you are doing, why are you reading this?
2. Select Action
   1. savedisk:  Will image the entire hard drive as an image, with all partitions.  This is what I chose for creating the image of my Mac with the bootcamp drive.
   2. saveparts:  Will image partitions of the drive for restoration.  If you don't need everything, just a single partition (like your Bootcamp partition), this will back up just the partition.  Obviously this will save you time over the entire disk if you have more than one partition.
   3. restoredisk: Will restore the drive from an image.
   4. restoreparts: Will restore individual partitions.
   5. recovery-iso-zip: Will create a recovery disk of Clonezilla Live for either CD or as a zip for a bootable USB drive.
   6. chk-img-restorable:  will check to see if an image is restorable or not.  This is an option you can turn on while creating the image, so it will be checked after the image has been created.
3. Input the name you want for your image.
4. Select the disk or partition you want to back up
5. Choose to either check the image as it's saved, or skip the check.  I recommend letting it check the image (increased my image time by 15 minutes, but well worth piece of mind)
6. Press enter to continue. 

At this point, you are all set!  Clonezilla will create an image of each partition in the hard drive (or just the one you selected), and notify you how long for each partition it will take to back up and restore.  It took, for my two images, a total of about an hour and a half to back up and restore the image using SSH and the options I selected above on a Gigabit network.  

To restore, it's much the same process.  Boot to the drive, select your language, etc., and set up your device repository. To restore, you would use these steps:

1. Select Beginner mode.
2. Select restoredisk (or restoreparts, if you backed up a partition)
3. Select your archive as displayed
4. Select the drive you wish to image.
5. Press Enter to continue. 
6. It will then ask you if you want your hard drive partitions overwritten, type Y to continue.  It will then verify that you are wanting to replace your hard drive partitions, type y.
7. The system will not restore.

The restoration process is done partition by partition, with each partition taking less time to reimage than it took to create the image in the first place.  And the results?  Success!  The restore booted without a problem, with all settings in tact.  That is better than could be said for the previous imaging tools I have tried.  

So it looks like I have found a useful cloning tool for imaging my Macintosh computer lab, and pretty much any lab for that matter.  

Apple iPhone Announcement: The Anticipation

Tommorrow, October 4th, 2011, Apple will be making their iPhone announcement.  Much anticipated is the new iPhone, the iOS 5, and iCloud as fit for release. There are some other rumors about some features, and that's what I want to talk about.  Why?  Because it's fun to speculate, and fun to dream.  And who knows?  Perhaps one day some of these wishes will make it into a future iOS release.  

First and foremost is iCloud.  Not a lot has been mentioned here, as most people tend to write off iCloud as a file sharing/email/contacts service that lets you download stuff you have already purchased from iTunes at any time.  Doesn't sound too exciting, does it?  But there is a whole lot more.  First, there are backups of your phone, allowing for quick and easy restoration should something happen to your phone.  That alone is a great feature, and well worth the new iOS release (which is expected to be free, I might add).  Backups are in general rarely made, particularly photos and documents.  We as computer users have been lulled into a false sense of security with better performing software and hardware.  Hard drive journaling with Mac OS Extended (Journaled), ext3 and NTFS for Mac, Linux and Windows respectively, have all presented us with fewer corrupted files.  The death of the floppy drive and the prolific use of the USB thumb drive have given us more storage that takes up less space.  We think our data is secure.  That is, until we have a hard drive failure.  Then we curse ourselves for not backing up our data. With iCloud, at least for iOS devices, photos, and documents, backups are happening automatically for us.  We still need to burn purchased movies and various other applications, PDFs and Downloads, but all in all iCloud will take care of our precious memories and important documents. That is a feature worth talking about.

For iOS 5, there are lots of rumors that voice control and voice activation will become deeply ingrained into the OS.  This is huge, because for right now most voice activated apps are narrowed down to taking quick dictation and needing a copy/paste procedure to keep it. While I don't know the depth of the integration, knowing what I do know about the development team I would speculate that voice acivation and dictation could very well be in the cards.  And I'm not talking just speech to SMS as Android has, or even speech to text for documents.  I'm talking voice control for apps.  This may yet be a pipe dream, but I can see a whole host of Assistive apps growing from a core module that allows for voice control.  For instance, suppose you wanted to help a child learn to speak clearly?  How nice it would be to have an app that would use speech recognition and translation to help them focus on their pronounciation, word usage, and speech.  Speech therapists would love to have something like that to help augment their teaching, and parents would injoy it just as much.  Not to mention language practice!  That would be huge.  Yes, that kind of depth would be fabulous.  Do I expect it?  Not really, I'm expecting some common voice commands and speech to text/SMS.  But that is just a stepping stone, in my mind. 

Specs for the iPhone have been bandied around, and I'm all for a faster processor when it's necessary or needed, but for right now I don't see that need for the iPhone.  I also don't see the need for a more powerful camera, etc.  Hardware for me, as the iPhone already has a display that is so highly resolute that the naked eye cannot identify the pixels, is more just icing on the cake.  Until the software demands a better phone, I don't see me upgrading the hardware.  The software, on the otherhand, is what will drive upgrades for me.  Luckily, from the declaration at WWDC, iOS 5 will be supported on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 as well as the new model.  

But specs for the new iPod Touch could be interesting.  If, as according to some rumors I have heard, Apple places a 3G/4G chip in with the WiFi chipset, effectively making the iPod Touch a mini iPad, then that will be an amazing upgrade.  It will effectively broaden the number of devices that can be truely used anywhere and anywhen, allowing for those who do not see the need of a phone to use their web-enabled device for anything they want.  And suppose they don't want a cell phone and all the texting/minutes/data issues that carriers tend to add to accounts, yet still want to have mobile phone access?  the iPod Touch will support Skype, as well as a number of other VoIP apps (many for free) for calls over the 3G/4G network as well as WiFi.  Carriers, instead of being phone companies, could quickly just become mobile Internet companies, providing data usage.  I wonder if the carriers would be happy with that?  

Another rumor that has since been dismissed is the release of the iPad 3.  It's really soon after the iPad 2 had been released, so I don't imagine the iPad 3 will be coming out now.  But if it did, the one and only thing I would really be looking for is a retina display.  That's what held me off from purchasing an iPad 2 when it came out, and sticking it out with my iPad.  I want to see the iPad with a retina display, thereby making it easier to read whatever app is on the screen.  For now, the display is still great, and the old iPad still does exactly what I want it to do, when I want.  

Finally, there is the rumor of the Assistant, which is a combination of a lot of speech control.  The demo circulating the Internet looks really cool, allowing for speech control in a number of OS-level functions (voice calling, searching, web searching, Twitter, etc.).  But the rumor also said it will only be available on the new iPhone model, and not any of the previous models.  That is disheartening, as I've had my iPhone 4 for over a year (has it really been that long?), and I can't imagine having to give it over to upgrade to the new phone.  I'll have to see which way this goes, and whether or not it's a feature I could or could not live without.  

So, lots of exciting things to expect from Apple tomorrow.  I think it's pretty safe to assume iOS 5 and a new upgrade to Lion (and possibly Snow Leopard) to support iCloud will be available tomorrow after the presentation, and I think there will probably be a new iPhone getting released.  I would also expect that a new iPod Touch will be announced with similar iPhone specs, and we may even see the final demise/retirement of the iPod Classic.  With iCloud, you no longer really need to have that much storage space, so I think it's pretty clear what's going to happen.  As for the other aspects of iCloud and iOS, that's what will keep my attention tomorrow. 

The Final Stretch in Villa Park: Advanced Server Administration

This week I finish up with my T3's for Apple with Advanced Server Administration.  This class is focused primarily on running the ADDIE process (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) throughout the IT  infrastructure of a company, and build it up using both the GUI and Command Line tools.  Because it is assumed that you have been learning the GUI tools up to this point (this is the capstone course), it primarily focuses on the command line tools available to the Mac.  

I'm not sure when we will offer the class at the U, as much depends on other training offerings and any additional infrastructure we would need, but I already have a lot of people interested in this class.  Most of them are Linux administrators who are going to be supporting the Apple platform, and want to do so with SSH (just as they would with Linux).  I already have a list of people who would love to take that class.  

Anyway, it all hinges on whether or not I'm judged "good enough" to train.  Partly judged by my peers, partly judged by the Master Trainer, my fate rests in their hands.  At this point, however, I'm less concerned.  I'm rather more concerned with how my family is doing back home.  I'm literally counting the days until I fly out.  But I will miss the Chicago area.  

Anyway, more details on the classes I attended during this trip sometime next week.  I'll give a teaser for the classes, and give you my opinion of the materials and flow of the class.  

Mac OS X Deployment 10.5 T3: Review

As promised, here is my review for the Mac OS X Deployment 10.5 T3 that I attended this last week.  

First, the location.  Of course I'm biased, but I have always loved Chicago, and as such enjoyed the trip Villa Park and Oakbrook Terrace.  The hotel was nice, and the location of the training facility was fairly easy to get to.  The only problem:  no sidewalks.  It makes it difficult to walk when you don't have sidewalks, and there isn't enough room to walk on the street (without getting hit).  Other than that, the location was nothing to complain about. 

The materials:  There are quite a lot of material for this class, and I was a little concerned that it would be impossible to fit it all into a 2 day training.  Luckily, that was the thought of the course developers as well, and as such the training was extended to 3 days.  That fits in perfectly with my training schedule I have planned for the University, so I didn't complain. 

The Subject Matter:  There was still a lot that I wanted to cover but couldn't in the class, mostly those focusing around the command line.  But then, there is a separate class for that, which I will be attending in two weeks.  ^_^  But those important topics, such as deploying through the command line, and imaging through the command line, were covered in depth.  Also planning, scaling, and third party utilities for managing a deployment option was well covered.  

One really nice thing I liked about the class was a mandate for the student to immediately apply what they have learned to a real world situation.  They do this through a Deployment planning sheet, which the trainer should have printed out for each student.  We didn't have it, but it was made available to us in PDF form, and there is a link that comes with the learning materials to PeachPit's website for the same PDF.  Once the form is filled out, the last chapter talks about real world solutions in many large companies, school districts, and training centers, and gives the student time to go through their document to see what they find useful, and what they don't need, in their deployment of OS X.  

The Requirements:  It is essential the student have a command of both the Mac OS X GUI and have command line experience before starting this course.  Basically, students would need to have completed at least the Server Essentials course, and be able to manage a UNIX command line experience.  Why?  Because at the beginning of the course you are just expected to set up your computers with little assistance from the book.  At this point, it is expected that the student knows already how to set up a brand new install of Mac OS X. 

The command line experience would be more along the lines of familiar with syntax of commands.  Most, if not all, of the commands used are Mac OS X Utilities and not your typical UNIX commands, yet the syntax is the same and therefore the student needs to be familiar with that syntax.  There may be some situations when troubleshooting is necessary, and as such the student will need to know how to get to the man pages.  

Something else that would be important before taking this class is having troubleshooting knowledge, and an understanding of what you are being prepared to learn.  This way if something doesn't quite work they way it's written in the book, you can step outside of the given examples and find alternatives.  That's part of learning, something that many students I have had in the past didn't quite understand.  It requires reading/studying ahead of time, asking questions, and being attentive.  

The Pace:  Unlike both Support and Server Essentials where we pend a lot of time trying to catch the class up after some really long first setup exercises, this class is paced just right for the materials.  We as a training class (of 10 trainers) finished with plenty of time on the last day to cover some topics more in depth, and that was with us doing the majority of the optional exercises.  So with a typical class at this level, the pacing will be such that students will have some time to play with some configuration, or perhaps have a long lunch as a thank you for coming to the class.  

Overall, it is the best designed Apple training course I have attended so far.  The materials are well designed, the pace is just right (low to medium cognitive load), and the course talks well to adult students (through Constructivist methods).  This is a class that may not run often here in Utah, but will most likely be a well attended class when it does.  It is by far my most favorite class to date.  ^_^  

Also, I'd like to say thanks to everyone that attended, because they gave me some very welcomed constructive criticism, and the Master Trainer was a great host.  If only the Cubs could have won all three games I was there, rather than just one of the two.  Oh well, there is always next time.  

Why 10.6 So Soon? A New Kernel? Could it be Xen? Arguments for and against

The speed of the new Mac OS release has me thinking.  It's really soon since Leopard was released, and Exchange support really isn't enough to warrant it.  Then I keep coming back to the reasons Apple said they are releasing it:  Security, Efficiency, and Power Consumption.  This is really low-level stuff, down to the kernel. 

When Mac OS X was first released, the OS was built around the Mach kernel.  To date, there are only two OSes that I am aware of that have successfully used the Mach kernel:  Mac OS X and the NeXT OS.  THis shouldn't be surprising, since Steve Jobs owned NeXT, and just brought it over to Apple when he came back.  

But the Mach kernel is very limiting, meaning that there is a lot of overhead to make it work across platforms.  While it can work fine on various architectures, the Mach kernel has to be developed specifically for that platform before it will work.  As such, there is an inherent flaw in using this core in an OS that is poised to do so many things.  

Another problem with the Mach kernel is virtualization.  Now, I'm not talking about virtualization in a desktop sense, but rather a server sense.  While it is possible to use the current OS in a virtual machine (both Parallels and VMWare are doing something just like that), it's very difficult to get it to work in Compatibility Mode, because the kernel needs to be modified heavily.  Since Compatibility mode is more efficient than HVM, it should be a goal of Apple.

But then I read this article regarding the possibility of using Xen as a replacement for the Mach kernel, as tested and run by Moshe Bar.  All of a sudden, my heart skipped a beat.  Xen!  Running natively on the Mac as a Bare-bones OS, virtualizing the Mac OS!  I started looking back at the evidence:  no PPC support, which means Intel only.  The Core 2 Duo and Atom chips all have Intel VT technology, so it should be no problem.  With Xen at the core, they can still keep Darwin open source, which is a huge plus.  And, you no longer need to boot up to Windows to use it:  Just run it through Xen.  It would work almost like fast user switching, but fast OS switching.  

And, virtualization no longer becomes a problem, either for desktop or server level.  The OS can still be targeted specifically for Mac Hardware (though I think that will no longer be an issue as there is a law against requiring software to run on specific hardware), and could even be easily migrated to other hardware platforms, should Apple so choose.  

Okay, once the euphoria of the possibility of Xen being the platform for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, the nagging started to hit me.  Could there be reasons why Apple wouldn't go with Xen?

1. The new "Grand Central" multi-core optimization project.  It *could* be Xen, but why rename it?  Perhaps because it isn't Xen at all.  Of course it still could be, just modified to fix the Mac even more. 


2. XenSource was purchased by Citrix not long ago, and the question of it's Open Source status is still hanging.  There could be some collaboration here, but Apple likes to have control of everything from start to finish.  It now becomes very unlikely.  

So the possibility starts to dim, and my hopes start to dim with them.  Perhaps the new core will be more Xen-friendly.  

So what do you think?  

Mac OS X 10.6: First Impressions of Snow Leopard as Announced so Far

When Apple announced they were releasing a new version of the Mac OS so soon after the initial release, I nearly threw a hammer through the dashboard.  Why so soon?  We were just getting Mac OS X 10.5 training down, and now they have 10.6 coming as soon as January?  That's Crazy! 

But then, when I heard about the goal of 10.6, it made a bit more sense.  So what is that goal?

1. Streamline the OS.  They want to streamline Mac OS X so that it runs more efficiently, particularly when it comes to power consumption.  Apple is no fool:  They know that energy prices are going up, and more people are moving to notebooks.  They also know that notebook owners are away from an outlet longer these days.  So, battery life needs to be improved.  The OS will be optimized for this event.  


2. OpenCL Processing Power:  All that processing power in the GPU that can't be accessed,  all going to waste!  Why not use it as another processor in the machine?  The processing speed goes up overall on the machine while decreasing the need for faster (and more power-intensive) processors.  I'm not fully aware of what OpenCL can do, but from the whitepapers on the topic, it looks promising.  


3. Security:  Apple has been plagued with some security news lately, mostly due to Safari's vulnerabilities.  That will be focused on within this release, making Mac OS X more secure as a result.  I'm interested to see the results when they are done.


4. Exchange Integration:  Finally!  Mac is going to integrate Exchange into iCal and AddressBook (or Directory, either of which will be fine).  That means users can finally stop having to use that train-wreck, er, I mean program called Entourage to work with their Exchange calendars.  I'd also like to see some Exchange plugins for Calendar Server, allowing integration and publishing from the Server side of things.  

There are a couple of other features that are slated to come to Snow Leopard, but nothing major.  No new features like Spaces or Dashboard, which make the next upgrade necessary.  So why will people move to Snow Leopard after having purchased Leopard a little over a year ago?  Because of the Exchange features.  That is the Spaces of Leopard, and the Dashboard of Tiger.  It's the killer app that everyone will want, because they need to work in an Exchange environment.  

Now, the question is whether or not the upgrade will be free to all Leopard owners, or a paid upgrade.  Well, that's hard to say.  Traditionally all major updates (10.3 to 10.4 and so on) have been paid updates.  But then they didn't come out so soon after the last OS was released.  And Steve hasn't been too stingy when it comes to upgrading a device OS because the money is made on the device (i.e., iPhone or Apple TV).  Will that be the case here, since the money is made on the computer, and it's so soon after 10.5 was released?  Only time will tell.  

So those are my impressions of Snow Leopard.  The only thing left to say is I hope the Training doesn't change significantly, because it would mean going through the upgrade certification all over again, and I'm not sure it's something the department can do so soon.  

Advanced Mac OS X IT Training: Getting Certified

This week I am preparing for training in Chicago (Villa Park) for OS X Deployment, 10.5.  The class is newly remade, with a pretty hefty schedule for something that was supposed to be just 2 days long.  As it sits now, It looks like it will be a good 3 days for the class, though I will find out for sure next week.  

The course seems to be pretty straightforward, focusing on deploying Mac OS X to a large audience.  All the bases are covered from planning to execution.  It will be a great class to sit through, and prepare to take the certification exam.

This will be the second time I am leaving my wife and son for training.  Luckily, this week will be a short one, as I am leaving on Monday, and coming back late Thursday night.  This way I will still be able to teach my Server Essentials class on Friday, and not put the students one more day behind.  

The next step will be going to Mac OS X Directory Services 10.5, and Advanced Server.  These classes are 4 and 5 days each, respectively, and will put me a full 11 days away from my wife and son.  I didn't do well last time around Christmas, but this time the major holiday will be behind me, and I will have another that following week to devote to my son.  

At any rate, it will be the first time I have ever been to Chicago in my life, and I'm really excited.  I'm a big Chicago Cubs fan, and have always wanted to see the Windy City.  Perhaps I'll get a chance to head into town for the weekend.  One can only hope.  

The Adventures of Leopard: Upgrading 3 machines to 10.5

Well, I finally got the Leopard upgrade, and I was really excited! The system works great, and I'm really excited to be using leopard (I've missed my virtual desktops!). But the upgrade wasn't all candy and roses. Let me spin my tale of woe, heartbreak, anxiety, and final triumph.

The Powerbook G4
I first installed the upgrade on a Powerbook G4 because I was impatient. This old machine has been my pride and joy for years, works like a horse, and takes a beating like an old Model T Ford. Well, at least it did before I updated. ^_^ My son has had this habit of finding something on a chair or bed, and pulling it off. The one time I forgot to leave the computer bag on the floor, he pulled it off the bed for me.

The fall must have done something to the drive, because when Leopard tried to upgrade, it couldn't read the drive. I no longer could read it in Target Disk Mode either. So, I ended up running a full install. Most everything was already backed up (except for the second draft of my book, but it was crap anyway), so I didn't lose anything important.

The install was clean, cleared out a lot of libraries of failed attempts by me to compile things, and I came up with the leopard setup wizard. It is an easier setup than Tiger, but only because it doesn't ask you as many questions.

The Mac Pro
The Mac Pro was a different situation all together. This is my work machine, and when I tried to install the update, the disk I had was bad. So I got just so far, and it died on me. No longer able to boot, but the files staying in tact, I tried another install disc from our IT guys. The install failed again, but why I don't know, and so I tried a third time. This time it finished, and started logging into the GUI. I was excited, until I saw the login window: no accounts. My entire NetInfo directory of two accounts was completely gone.

Not wanting to believe it, I booted up into the install DVD again, and tried to change the password. It let me, so I thought I could try booting again. No go, it still didn't have any users. Argh! I was afraid I would have to do a full install, and this time the IT guys took the disk back. So, I tried some things in the Command Line. After all, it's based on BSD, right?

Well, the only way to add a user that I could see was to add them in Open Directory. To do that, I needed access to the command dscl. I booted up into Single User Mode, and gave it a try. It wouldn't run without a particular library setting executed first. It even told me the command to run. So I did, and it still didn't work. Argh! What was going on? I was worried I would have to run a full install on the machine.

The next day, I checked online again, looking for anything that would give me some sort of access to the machine. Then I came across two articles, Here, explaining the issue I was experiencing, and here, outlining how to add a new user.

Now, I tried the first fix, but the original user was completely gone. My guess is that when it was importing the new account information from NetInfo (no longer used in Leopard) to the LDAP system in Open Directory, the system failed. The original NetInfo information was still there, but wasn't imported properly. So, I needed to create a new account.

Once the new account was created, it worked like a charm! Because I had to search for the fix for two days, here are the steps that I took, should anyone else need to perform the same fix:

1. Restart in Single User mode (hold Command-S during startup)
2. At the prompt, type: mount -uw /
3. Press Return
4. Type:
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
Press Return
5. Create a new entry in the local (/) domain under the category /users.
dscl . -create /Users/[username]

6. Create and set the shell property to bash.
dscl . -create /Users/[username] UserShell /bin/bash

7. Create and set the user’s full name.
dscl . -create /Users/[username] RealName "Real Name"

8. Create and set the user’s ID.
dscl . -create /Users/[username] UniqueID 501 (default System Admin for Mac OS X)

9. Create and set the user’s group ID property.
dscl . -create /Users/[username] PrimaryGroupID 1000

10. Create and set the user home directory.
dscl . -create /Users/[username] NFSHomeDirectory /Users/[username]

11. Set the password.
dscl . -passwd /Users/[username] PASSWORD

or

passwd [username]

12. If you would like Dr. Harris to be able to perform administrative functions:
dscl . -append /Groups/admin GroupMembership [username]

This worked just fine for me. Hopefully it would be helpful to someone else, if nothing else then to find it easier. ^_^

The iMac
My wife's computer worked without a hitch, which was good because I didn't have time to back up everything, just the images. I was hurt, because her machine didn't have a problem. What's wrong with me? ^_^

Anyway, I hope this helps those of you upgrading to Leopard, and have trouble with missing accounts.

Slow Boot Process on Mac? Try Clearing PVRAM

I've been spending a lot of time this week imaging Macbook Pro's, and with many of them I have been wasting time waiting for them to boot. The boot times were painfully long, bringing up a serious concern on my part. These machines are not even a year old, and yet their boot times were concerning.

Well, after a while I thought I would just clear the PVRAM. What is the PVRAM, you ask? It's a system level RAM that stores the processes for BootX (Running the BootROM POST, identifying the kernel , initializing the environment, etc.). This is where the EFI bootloader sequence is run, and it will even set up a default boot volume. If the PVRAM becomes too bloated (as with any system), it will bog down and finally crash.

Clearing the PVRAM is very simple: You just hold down Command, Option, P, R, while booting, and wait for the computer to chime again. I usually let it chime at least twice, to be sure the RAM is completely clear. Once done, you will see a marked difference in your boot performance.

But that's not all! I returned home to see my wife's iMac experiencing a horrific situation. It seems the computer has been booting directly to Windows (she needed Windows installed for a work project). In order to select the Mac OS, she has needed to hold down the Option key. I tried installing rEFIt, but it failed to load. Why? Well, because it would seem that the PVRAM was completely full, and on the verge of crashing.

Avoiding the obvious and painful jokes about Windows setting up the Mac to crash, I cleared the PVRAM. The boot process worked like a charm, going straight to Mac. Tonight I will reinstall rEFIt so the boot process will be easier to manage between the operating systems, and all will be well.

Yet another side-effect of working in a mac lab with multiple OS'es, you get to learn fun, fundamental things about how the Mac works. ^_^

Triboot Saga Continues: The New Discoveries

In my excitement, I posted a triboot process for the MacBook Pro that worked. Unfortunately, as I continued through the process on additional MacBooks, I couldn't get GRUB to install. What? How could that be? It worked just fine on the first machine! Incredulous, I started on another mac, and had the same problem. Bugger, I needed to start all over again and find out what went wrong.

The good news is that both the Mac and Windows partitions worked just fine, so I simply configured them properly for lab use. Now, to the Linux partition.

I started by backing up the working partition in a tar ball. I figured that if all else failed, I could at least restore everything from there. Then, I looked at the original machine closely to see if there was anything different on this machine than on the others. And there was! I used the ext3 file system on the original machine, and ReiserFS for the additional machines. Not having used Linux for three years, I'm not aware of any issues that GRUB may have with ReiserFS, but then I had always used Lilo, since I'm familiar with it. So, that was easy enough to fix: I reformatted the partition as ext3, and Ubuntu (and GRUB) installed just fine. There was much rejoicing (Yay!).

Then, in that process, I realized I forgot to back up and restore the original MBR! Oh no! My Windows partition will be bound to GRUB! I rebooted quickly and checked the partition, and Windows booted without a hitch. Sighing in relief, I realized that particular step was unnecessary. This, of course, caused me to revise my process for tri-booting the MacBook, which is below:


Needed Equipment:

- 1 Mac OS X Install DVD, with companion DVD
- 1 Windows XP SP2 Install CD
- 1 Ubuntu Linux Install CD v 7.04 for X86-64 processors
- 1 disk image of rEFIt
- 1 Boot Camp Driver install disk
- 1 Intel-based Macintosh machine


Step 1: Make your partitions
- Boot from the Mac OS X Install DVD, and under Utilities, select Disk Utility.
- Select the drive (not the volume), and click on the Partition pane.
- Split the drive into three partitions, in this order:
Partition 1: Macintosh HD (For the Mac OS)
Partition 2: LInux (as a Unix partition)
Partition 3: WIndows (as a FAT 32 partition). This is because Windows XP needs to be on the last bootable partition on the drive.
- Click on "Partition" to begin the partition and formatting process.


Step 2: Install Mac OS X
- Begin the Mac OS X installation, as normal.
- Once finished, boot into the Mac OS X environment, and install the rEFIt utility.


Step 3: Install Windows XP SP2
- Insert the Windows XP install CD, and reboot the machine.
- From the rEFIt start menu, select the Windows CD for your Boot volume.
- Begin the Windows install process.
- Select the 4th partition. Why 4th partition? Because the EFI partition is created automatically as a boot partition for the Macintosh. The 4th partition is the partition you set aside for Windows. You can choose to format the partition in NTFS, or continue to install it in the FAT 32 environment.
- When it reboots, be sure to select the newly created Windows boot volume in rEFIt. Finish the setup process as normal.
- Once it reboots again, hold down the mouse button to eject the Windows Install CD before rEFIt offers it as a boot option.
- Boot into Windows, and then insert the Boot Camp drivers disk.
- Run the installation. At this point, if you need to add additional accounts, you can do so during the installation.
- Reboot when it has finished, and asks you to reboot. Hold down the mouse button as it boots up, in order to eject the Boot Camp CD.


Step 3: Install Linux
- Insert the Ubuntu Feisty install CD, and reboot the machine.
- Select the Linux install disk from the rEFIt boot menu.
- Allow the machine to boot into the Ubuntu Live environment.
- Double-click on the Install option.
- Select your Location and Keyboard layout.
- When asked to Partition the disk, select the 3rd partition, format it as ext3, and set the root mount point on that partition. Click continue.
- It will give you a warning about not creating a swap partition, at which case you can still continue. With enough RAM on your machine, you do not need a swap partition.
- Create your user for Linux, setting the computer name as well.
- On the final pane, click on the "Advanced" button at the bottom right-hand corner.
- Change the (hd0) to (hd0,2), to install GRUB on the 3rd partition. This avoids any conflicts with the Windows partition.
- Start the installation.
- Reboot when it has finished.


You should now have a machine that will boot in Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Ubuntu Linux.

Again, I hope this is helpful to anyone out there that is looking to triboot their Intel Mac. After all, that is the greatest strength of the Mac platform: being able to boot multiple operating systems. For a lab deployment option that deals with these environments, I can't think of a better platform (other than virtual machines).

Tri-Boot Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Ubuntu: Success!

For the past week I have been pretty silent, no posts at all. That's because I have been embarked on a very ambitious goal: To redesign a lab to support Windows, Mac, Linux, CCNA, etc., but use only one set of hardware. Because of the requirements, there is only one computer system that we could use: the Mac. But in order to use it properly, we would need to have it tri-boot Windows, Mac, and Linux.

This process was very time consuming, taking a week to work out the problems. Finally, at 1:00 PM Mountain Time today, I can claim success. Here is the situation, the problems I ran into, and the final solution.

The Problem
I wanted to set up a lab that can use Windows, Linux, and Macintosh all on one machine (ideally on a MacBook Pro for portability). This also includes having an easy navigation system between the operating systems without holding a key down.

The Solution
Because the Mac can run these operating systems, it should just be a matter of installing each operating system on a partition, and go! Right?

What Went Wrong
I started with partitioning the system with Disk Utility. It was easy, having Mac, then Windows, then Linux. That was my first mistake, but I wouldn't figure it out until after the first day. I formatted each partition accordingly, and began the Mac install. It installed without a problem, and I was ready to start the next step.

Next, I installed Windows XP. The install went very cleanly, and installed on the second partition without a problem. I could even boot off the partition when holding down the Option key, and selecting the Windows partition. This seemed to be running a lot smoother than I thought it would be. Linux couldn't be that big of a problem, could it?

Next I tried Linux. Ultimately I wanted to install Fedora for a linux lab, but I started with Ubuntu. This was mainly to test the actual install version. You see, the Mac has a 64 bit processor, but I didn't know if the 64 bit processor install would work. So I burned two versions of Ubuntu (because CD's are cheaper than DVD's), and found out that the 64 bit version worked much better than the traditional i386 version. That was good, because now I knew which version of Fedora to burn.

So, I started burning Fedora Core 6. Then, in the middle of the DVD burn, I found out that Fedora 7 was released, and it wasn't part of the Core releases. After a few choice words, I downloaded and burned Fedora 7 for the 64 bit architecture. By now, I was getting a little anxious, but still excited about this process.

I then started the install. It worked like a charm, and continued the installation without a hitch. Until I tried to reboot: It killed the Linux partition. I couldn't see it at all, even with the Option key. Well, thinking that it was just a problem with the Mac EFI bootloader, I followed some recommendations of a colleague and installed rEFIt.

REFIt is a tool that makes navigating between bootable devices on a Mac very easy. It detects all bootable images, and let's you select them. This includes CDs, DVDs, and even Firewire drives. The problem is, it didn't see the Linux partition either.

So, I started the process again, this time paying attention to the volumes that I could install it on. This was day 2, and I was getting a little anxious. The process seemed to run just fine, but now Windows wouldn't install, at all. So, I started cursing Windows as usual, and started working hard to get the blasted thing to install.

After a few good hours, I realized that the problem was with the partition order. It seems that Windows needs to be the last partition on the drive when you have multiple bootable partitions. So, I set it up that way. Windows finally installed, and I could boot off of it again.

Now, LInux wouldn't work. By day 3, I was cursing and really frustrated. Why wouldn't Fedora work? I didn't know, and my patience was wearing thin. I finally decided that Ubuntu looked good on the Live CD, I might as well give it a try. Besides, I know several people that have gotten it to install without a problem.

Installing Ubuntu
THis took a couple of installs, but I finally got it to work by the end of the 4th day. Now, I had all three installed, and both Ubuntu and Mac ran just fine. Everything couldn't be better! Except for the fact that Grub wouldn't let me get to the Windows partition. Argh!

Well, because it was a long week already, I left the problem until this morning. When I came in, I reinstalled Windows (to have a nice clean install), and then I went back to the boards.

Ubuntu Boards
One thing I don't like about bulletin boards is the difficulty to find exactly what I was looking for. No one had instructions on installing Fiesty (Ubuntu 7.04) in a tri-boot setup, though several people were referred to installing Dapper (6.06). So, I looked at the Dapper install information, and found a section that I think might help me: backing up and restoring the Master Boot Record. I thought I would give it a try.

At first, it didn't work. So I went back to the boards, and found a completely different section about losing the Linux bootable drive in rEFIt. There, they recommended installing the boot loader for Linux on the 3rd partition, or HD0,2. My heart was beating fast, could this be the answer?

I tried it. Before I started the install, I set the location of the boot loader to (hd0,2). While it finished the installation process, I also replaced the MBR with the backed up copy. I rebooted, and it worked! I was finally able to select the boot location for Mac, Windows, or Ubuntu, and have the system boot that OS without going to Grub. The final process is here:

Install Process for Tri-boot MacBook Pro
1. Make 3 partitions (use Disk Utility)
- Mac OS X (EFI with Mac OS X Extended, Journaled partition).
- Linux partition - Unix partition type (will be reformatted by Ubuntu)
- Windows Partition - FAT32 (reformatted as NTFS later)
*NOTE: a fourth partition is created for the EFI partition, this shows up as the first partition while installing your other operating systems.

2. Install Mac

3. Install eRFIt

4. Install Windows XP SP2
- Format drive as NTFS
- Make sure it is the last partition (in this case, 4th).
- When you reboot, be sure to select the Windows drive, instead of the CD.
- Once done, install the Boot Camp drivers.

5. Install Ubuntu
- Boot off of the Live CD
- Opt to use a manual partition scheme. Select the 3rd partition, set to format it and have it mount at root.
- Before you continue, back up your MBR.
- alt-F2 will open a command line then type: dd if=dev/sda of=/tmp/sda.mbr bs=512 count=1
- Continue with the install process, Until step 7.
- Here, click on the "Advanced" button, and enter (hd0,2) for the boot loader install. This will install the boot loader only in the Linux partition.
- Start the install.
- When finished, restore the backed up MBR with this command: dd if=/tmp/sda.mbr of=/dev/sda

That process will let you tri-boot your Mac. My references for each new information can be found below:

Partition order
Dapper install with info on MBR backup
Final information on the Grub issue from which I found out how to reference the Linux partition for the boot loader install.

I hope this will be helpful to many of you looking to utilize all these operating systems on the same machine, if only one at a time. ^_^

MacBook Pro with Mac OS X Server Installed: Why It's Not Supported

A while ago I had an authentication problem with Mac OS X Server 10.4.9. I set up my classroom server with a specific account (Sharon Accounte), and my students were supposed to authenticate to their server, which was connected to my server. Instead, they received an error denying access, and suggesting that the account was wrong. I checked the account on the server, authenticated locally without any trouble, so I knew it wasn't the account. I then checked the server logs, and found no errors within the Directory or Password Server logs.

I then checked with other Server Essentials instructors to see what the problem could be. Everyone suggested checking the directory entry using the command line tool dscl. This tool will let you navigate the directory entry as though it were a file system, and you can read the authentication information the server provides. While checking this, I noticed that everything was being provided, and stumped the other instructors as to what the cause could be.

Well, after running some tests after the class, I found out what the issue was. First, it's important to note that I had used a MacBook Pro as the server (our lab is mobile, and it was the most convenient way to get it done), so the problem is not typical as laptops are not a supported platform for Server. Next, I had upgraded to 10.4.9, which provided Airport support (and didn't crash the system as 10.4.8 did).

Before I had upgraded, the authentication worked just fine. After upgrading, it wouldn't authenticate, and there were no errors in the Password Server log. It seems that, at least for a laptop install, the server has trouble authenticating with later releases (I haven't tried 10.4.10 yet).

So, for anyone out there that is using a MacBook or MacBook Pro as their mobile lab server, this may be of some use. I'll test it with 10.4.10 next week during the Server class Challenge. For now, the base install of 10.4.7 on a MacBook Pro will work, sans the Airport. But, as the server should be connected through Ethernet anyway, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

But the question still remains: What is significantly different from the Mac Pro to the MacBook Pro that would cause the server to fail in authenticating without providing error log entries? I'm not sure I will ever find out, but at least I now know that the classroom server will work just fine, and I don't have to lug around a Mac Pro just to teach a class.

Web Analysis: Looking at International Query Results

As most, if not all, of you probably know, I am an analysis at heart. I can sit and review material for hours, looking for patterns and trends that make sense to me. Today I checked the query statistics from Google's Webmaster Tools, to see how queries getting to my site pan out, based on location. Lately I seem to be getting a lot of international interest in my website (Welcome!), and I was curious as to why the international attention. I have such a wide variety of topics I cover, and would be interested in the results based on the Google international searches.

I'm posting this information, not to provide a scope of what my blog has covered, but to give you an idea of how analysis can help you with your Search Engine Optimization goals. Even with this little information, you can see where the International community has been looking, and succeeding in locating my blog. The same techniques can be used for your own websites, provided you know your Query statistics.

**please note that these are for Google search results only, which contributes to 68% of my total traffic.**

Google Belgium Results
Looking at the Google Belgium results, it appears the main interest is Macintosh related. Specifically, they were looking for information on NetBoot imaging for Mac Minis for a diskless deployment. It's a very interesting subject, one that I hope will soon be answered by this blog. I want to try a "diskless" NetBoot image setup for our lab for a generic Mac utility. This can be accomplished by having a NetBoot server and a Home Folder server on different machines. Yay! A topic to look forward to!

Google Canada Results
Our friends in the Great White North have a different focus. Sure, they seem to be interested in the release of Mac OS X v.10.5 (Leopard), but that isn't the primary search term. It seems that they are more interested in Hydroponics, and my Cob Greenhouse project.

This doesn't surprise me completely, as Vancouver is one of the central locations for Cob construction within the North American continent, along with Washington State. I hope there is something here that relates to your project. I'll be working on my foundation this weekend (if all goes well), and will probably post some pictures. In fact, my cob brick is doing wonderfully, having survived two drops to a cement floor with only minor cracking. ^_^

Google France Results
Google France brought up a primary search for training information. It seems my posts on the ADDIE system was helpful, or at least of interest. If you have any more questions, I will be providing periodic postings on ADDIE, but also feel free to check out Laura's Blog, to which I currently link. She just finished her Master's degree, and is beginning her PhD in Educational Psychology here at the U. She will have plenty of information for you. ^_^

Google India Results
India didn't surprise me at all. The few hits I received were specifically on mail servers. With India's reputation for technology professionals, I would expect nothing less. Unfortunately, that's one topic I will probably not cover. I'm not particularly interested in going the rounds with Mail servers for a while, but should I ever do so it will be a result of an Open Directory implementation in my home office. This means probably about 2 years out, or so.

Google Italy Results
Ahh, Italy. Beautiful country that captured my imagination through Roman history. It seems that Italian interests have focused primarily on getting an integrated contact/calendar system working on Mac OS X Tiger. Well, I hope to have more information on that subject, as I am running into the same problems.

Hopefully the review of Calgoo (which I am still using) has helped. It looks like it is working out well for the moment. Once they have integrated additional updating tools to various other Calendar servers (provided you have the rights, of course), and allows for direct integration of the new iCal server (or Darwin's Calendar Server), and perhaps integrates with Wiki tools and a shared Address Book server, then I think they have a decent Entourage Killer on their hands. ^_^

Google Mauritius results
I have to be honest, I had to look up Mauritius to find out where it is, which is off the East coast of Madagascar. What interested them about my blog was the comparison of Linux certifications that are out there, or more specifically CompTIA's Linux+ to the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certifications. I hope that their answers were reached, as the LPI is more comprehensive, and preparation for the LPI almost gives you the Linux+ certification right off the bat.

Google Mexico Results
I have to admit, I'm rather confused with their search terms, as it was quoted as being "back on the train again". It looks like it was related to a post I made in December, so what ever it was, hopefully there was something that was useful. Most of my posts at that time were related to training, so perhaps that was it.

Google South Africa Results
My website has drawn a lot of interest in South Africa because of the Cob posts. It seems that using Cob has become more popular around the world, because of all the earthen building materials it seems to be more earthquake resistant. This is because of it's monolithic structure, and the use of straw or other fibrous plant material as the tensile component. Like steel reinforced concrete, the plant material holds the cob together.

Google Sri Lanka Results
Sri Lanka seems to have liked my ADDIE course design steps. I have to admit, I still think that it was one of the best series that I have posted on my blog. The ADDIE method is quite universal though, and I am currently using it to write a work of fiction. I quite enjoy the organized approach that allows me to tackle most any problem with a logical process. That, and a lot of time is spent in analysis. ^_^

Google UK Results
These results seem to have surprised me the most. I have posted quite a review on British Comedies that I enjoy, and I had thought that the posting would have provided some interest across the Pond. But it seems they were more interested on my postings regarding the Macintosh, farming, and gardening. Well, the English are famous for their gardens, so perhaps I shouldn't have been too surprised.

Well, that is pretty much how I viewed my Google results. Overall, the three main topics that I have been focusing on have been the most popular. Perhaps I should begin posting more about course development, as I have neglected that section for a while. Also look for a new post soon on NetBoot imaging, as I have been working extensively on that project for quite some time. ^_^

Apple TV: The Potential Disked Thin Client

As is inevitible with all training classes, one starts talking about new products and their potentials. In our Server Essentials class, we started talking about potential Mac OS X Server installs that are relatively inexpensive. Most people may be aware that the Mac Mini can support a Server install, though we are unaware of whether or not recent updates will break it. It seems that this happens with Laptop installs which are not technically supported by Apple anyway.

But then the question came up about thin clients. I have been interested in thin clients since I worked for the Salt Lake Community College, and saw it as a potential cost-savings for a lab deployment. My arguments didn't go anywhere at that point, but with my recent focus on Apple and their deployment options, the idea has sprung up again. The Mac Mini had seemed like the perfect option, until recently.

Enter the Apple TV/Mac Micro
Since the Apple TV has been shipped (i.e., within 8 days), the machine has been hacked. This is because it is basically a stripped down computer with really good graphics and a 1 Ghz Intel processor. It only has 256 MB RAM that is soldered onto the motherboard, so it's not like it's going to be a killer device, but it is a lot better than the Windows machine I gave up in order to get my G4 Powerbook.

Since that shipping day, the kind people at Appletvhacks.net has managed to work out a Mac OS X 10.4.8 install for the Apple TV. Yes, that's right. They managed to install a full fledged Apple OS onto that small device that was only meant to display iTunes material on your TV. This was achieved by removing the Apple TV's hard drive, connecting it to a Mac, installing the OS, and then using a processor emulation written by semthex from Hackint0sh.org. The end result was a smaller Mac Mini with only one drive (no optical drives or media), one USB port for a keyboard and mouse (if the mouse is plugged into the keyboard), and multiple video out options.

Now, I want this understood.. I wouldn't be deathmatching on this machine, or expect any high end applications to work on it. But if you were working in a lab environment, and you needed to deploy several workstations to use Office software, email, and browse the web, then it's perfect! And that, basically, is pretty much all a thin client would need to do.

The One Mortal Drawback
Well, as I was reading these hacks, I started to wonder: What if you could boot off of a NetBoot image?! That would make the Apple TV act as a diskless client, and save a lot of hassle in getting the machine set up.

Well, unfortunately, it's not possible with the current version of Apple TV. As published by Macintouch.com in their Review of the Apple TV, the standard Network boot key combinations were not successful. So, in order to get the Apple TV to work as a thin client, you would need to open the Apple TV, remove the Hard Drive, set it up, then put it back. Bugger, just when I thought it would be the perfect solution for a low-powered, barely funded lab deployment, I got shot down.

But, the fact that it is possible, and that there are additional potentials for this type of market makes the future of the Apple TV both exciting and terrifying. What if Apple shuts down the hack by restricting access to the drive, or the inside of the device? What if they shut down any potential access to the device through hardware chips blocking any USB access, even when outside of the Apple TV interface? Hopefully they will not, and allow hackers to modify the device to suit their own needs.

Apple iPhone: Phone or PDA?

Well, all the guessing and waiting has paid off: Steve Jobs announced today in the Macworld Keynote that Apple will be releasing an iPhone in June of 2007. But as they went through the features (according to the live "play by play's" that I have read), it became painfully obvious that it was far more than just a phone, or even an iPod. It will be a computer in and of itself, allowing for WiFi and EDGE connections. That makes it a PDA, at least in my book. Don't believe me? Check out the features as shown by the Apple website:

Touch Screen
As far as I know, there isn't a multi-touch screen out there for a phone. There are some that requires a stylus, but nothing that is meant to work with your own finger, at least not well. The screen is also well designed, with 160 dpi resolution. That's much higher than any phone that I am aware of.

The OS
Yes, it's running Mac OS X Embedded, which means that the OS is robust, based on BSD, and basically has the same interface as the Dashboard (yay!). That is what really sold it for me.. You can build widgets for your iPhone, so software for the iPhone shouldn't be a problem at all! Look for some really cool widgets coming in the near future.

The interface is also intuitive, which means they integrated the Rosetta software from Newton into the QWERTY keyboard interface.. It's really cool based on the demo's available.

PIM
Yes, the personal information management software fully integrates with iCal and Address Book. Also, Mail has full functionality (still can use your Exchange server). There hasn't been any word on it yet, but with WiFi built in, I would be surprised if iCal would sync with the CalDAV server that Lepoard is due to release. That's good news for all Apple IT networks, now if iCal would just have native exchange support! Perhaps that's also coming down the pipe.

Widgets!!!
For those that have been following my public list of wants for an Apple PDA, I mentioned that I wanted a PDA that would use widgets. Well, I got my wish. But instead of having a Front Row interface, it has a Dashboard interface. Before I had time to get dissappointed, it became clear why. It takes a lot less time and effort to use the Dashboard rather than Front Row. And as it doesn't have a click-wheel, Front Row is completely obsolete.

The widgets that come with it are basically the same default widgets with Tiger, with the exception of Google Maps, and the Phone application. Yes, the phone is actually an afterthought, it seems. The design is stressing the usability of the device as a device, not a phone with add-ons. That's what I really like about it.

A Keyboard!
Yes, there is a software keyboard built into the device. More and more, this is looking like a strong candidate for a distance learning student that want's to be able to truly be mobile without taking a huge laptop with them. Why? Because it can be used as such, doesn't require a stylus, and is smaller than my old NEC Pocket PC.

My 2 Cents
I thought that I wanted to get another 12" laptop, but now I don't think I need one. I'll probably get a nice iMac like my wife's, stick with my PowerBook as I need it, but use the Phone for all my day to day applications. That can be done with this device. The expansion of mobile device concept in this direction is incredible.. THis is what I have been looking for in a mobile device. Ease of use (Pocket PC didn't have it), simple application development (widgets), and multiple connection options means this is the device that I would want in my pocket.

Parallel's Desktop For Mac: The Review

With the arrival of my wife's iMac, I finally had the opportunity to try Parallel's Desktop for Mac. I wrote about this program earlier, and the excitement that I had in anticipation of it's implementation. It promised a lot that I felt was almost too good to be true, particularly when I read the reviews by other Mac users. Here is the experience that I had.

Why I Needed It
I haven't been very subtle about my love of the Mac, and it's ability to run both open source programs and professionally developed programs well. It's a wonderful setup overall. That being said, there are some few applications that my wife uses that requires Windows. While we have tried everything we can think of to try and work around it, one application in specific did not allow us to move from Windows completely to the Mac. So, instead of filling up our office space with occasionally used Windows machines, we would rather have a virtual machine that will take care of all the nasty Windows applications, while still being within the Macintosh. And, it would let me install Linux and Solaris on it as well, without having to reboot the system. That was a major bonus.

The Install
The install ran fluidly, as with any other native Carbon or Cocoa application. It did need to add some extensions, but overall it ran perfectly. And, as is characteristic of all UNIX-based Operating Systems, it didn't require a reboot of the system (yes, one of the main reasons I left Windows). Once set up, it gives the main program, and the Virtual Machine creator.

Starting it up
Starting it up was a bit different. It began with the Virtual Machine creator, because there wasn't one set up by default. I began by selecting Windows XP defaults, as I intended to install Windows Vista as the Windows machine. I continued through the process, and finally got to the point where I could boot to Windows. I changed the boot sequence, and double-checked the resources being allocated. It gave 8GB of hard drive space to the VM, and 256MB of RAM. Considering the iMac has 2 GB or RAM and a 250GB hard drive, I didn't think this would cause a problem. Then, I entered in my Windows Vista RC 1 disk, wrote down the Product Key, and started the Virtual Machine....

I got a Kernel Panic... I've never had a kernel panic before on a Mac, and was shocked! How could this happen? The resources are well below what Mac OS X Tiger requires to run... Why the Kernel Panic?!? I tried it again, with the same result. Well, time to check the manuals.

Yes, I admit I don't read manuals for a software install. They are all so basic that I have very rarely needed to do anything fancy. Well, this time I checked the process, and made sure everything was exactly as the Manuals suggested. I tweaked a couple of settings, crossed my fingers, and tried again...to the same result. Same Kernel Panic, and needed to reboot the Mac.

By now I was getting pretty steamed. I began to understand the frustration that the reviewers had for the program. As I started to contemplate it's fate (and a possible waste of $80.00), I decided to check out their website to see if they have at least acknowledged the issue. As I started checking things out, it seems that they were not only aware of the issue, but released an update that fixed it! This cooled my temper a bit, and I started the 30MB download. After a short couple of minutes, I started the install and update. Once that was done, I started up the virtual machine...and it booted! It started to try to load Windows VIsta. I say try, because Windows Vista didn't like the BIOS on the iMac, and refused to load. Well, that's fine. The program worked, and that's the main point.

While I tried to remember the location of my old copies of Windows, I gave another Operating System a try. I grabbed xubuntu 6.0.1, and threw it in. I kept the Windows XP settings, and ran the Live Update on the computer. Everything booted like a charm. It did run rather slow, but keep in mind it was a Virtual Machine running off of a CD in another Virtural Machine. It was bound to be somewhat sluggish to say the least. But it worked brilliantly, and I was more excited then ever.

The Conclusion
So the final grade? I would give it an overall B. Yes, it didn't work out of the box, but once I got it to work, it began to hum like a dream. While I would have liked it to run swimmingly at the get-go, I'm glad that it didn't. It gave me a chance to troubleshoot the program, and get to know it better. Afterall, it took me 3 Linux installs before I finally got to the point of using it regularly. And that lead me to Mac OS X, which is my Operating System of choice. This program now gives me the option of not only remaining on the Mac, but utilizing the sttrengths of other Operating Systems, and on the same machine. I'm looking forward to my next Mac purchase (a Macbook Pro), so that I can install all my old Windows 3.11 and DOS 6.22 games, and have a real fun party! ^_^