Betterness by Kawika Holbrook

Non Sequitur

The rain is roaring outside. It’s after one in the morning. My room is dark save for the computer screen. It needs cleaning. So does my carpet. I’m not sure if my vacuum is strong enough. A friend’s father made a fortune selling Kirbys, which were expensive. So is Apple’s new 10GB iPod. I wonder how much it cost Apple to license the picture of Jimi Hendrix on the box. Do nails and hair really keep growing three days after you die? An ex-girlfriend once told me she lived vicariously through herself. Clever. I can’t remember if I told her about my newly diagnosed disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It still seems like a joke. But not nearly as funny as Eddie Izzard, the cross-dressing, free-associating comedian I first saw on TV in Britian. His nonsense made perfect sense. My head hurts. What ever happened to Nuprin? “Little. Yellow. Different. Better.” Hearing the slogan always made me think of Sony, which sounds racist. Time for bed.

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Replies: one comment so far

ADHD- were you really diagnosed with this? You didn’t tell me about this. Want to see if you read your comments! posted by Mom at 05:27 a.m. on saturday, march 30, 2002

iPod People

Decided to participate in my first online forum (as far as I know). Just downloaded the software to update my iPod and then store all the contacts in my Microsoft Entourage X address book. Though Apple’s update site shows “Alan Smithee” with a mobile phone number, the only numbers I can import are Office and Home. Bummer. Still, it’s nice to know Alan Smithee knows someone who owns an iPod.

Ditto

Kottke’s first post: “I decided I needed to start writing things down. Because I forget. Because I think better and feel better when I write. I used to write often but got away from it. So here it is again. But you ask: “Jason, why not keep a private diary?” Because I’d never keep up a private diary…I need to force myself to write this. So, I made it into content. Since it’s content, I feel obligated to keep it up-to-date. See these games I have to play with myself?”

Radio Active

My friend Greg, through no (promised) help from me, has launched The California Hammonds in XML with Radio UserLand. Eventually, I’m sure, the other Hammonds will participate in the posting. Meanwhile, Greg will post seven or eight times a day for a couple of weeks. Then redesign everything. Then post 11 or 12 times a day. Then redesign everything again. And then start to post for real. Good luck, Greg. With everything.

The Apple of My Eye

News stories like C|Net’s “Top 5 home PCs,” Linux Journal’s “UNIX Under the Desktop,” and the Los Angeles Times’ “A Study in Contrasts” makes my soul smile a little—what with my employer being Apple and all.

posted at 11:32 p.m. on tuesday, march 19, 2002

iCam

What if Apple produced a digital camera? It might use computer connections like FireWire to transfer pictures and charge the unit. It might use imagine technology like Foveon’s X3 to produce superior still and video images. It might bury the zoom like Minolta’s Dimage X. And it might be like the useful, usable, and fashionable Apple iPod. I might like it.

Links Lack Luster

Each link on this site has, or should have, a title. If you allow your cursor to linger over a link, a title should appear with more information—like looking inside (x-ray) for a change (flux). Hence, the site title. Unfortunately, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the Macintosh fails to display said titles on occasion. If you know why, post a comment to this entry. My gratitude would never end.

Style Report

Without substance, I turn my attention to style. My Web copy needs proofing. My blog templates need updating. And my HTML code needs validating. Unskilled in those arts, I thought I might apply for an ISSN serial number from the Library of Congress. The online application form, however, has been down at least as long as the Library of Congress has been avoiding it’s mail. So I wrote this instead.

Installation Note

“The file that you are downloading is an Apple “.dmg” disk image file. Once the download has finished, you will need to double-click on the file. This will launch Disk Copy to create a virtual disk on your desktop. You will then need to double-click on that virtual disk to open it, then double-click on the installer application that you see in the window.” Then, of course, you must eject the disk image, delete the installation files, and check to make sure the software is actually installed as advertised. I know this DMG business is supposed to be the most reliable way to deliver software for Mac OS X, but really, does it need to be so contorted? Can’t someone write a script to launch the files, install the software, and dispose of the detritus? Or am I just whining at 2:30 a.m.?

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Replies: 3 comments so far

You’re just whining. ;-)

.dmg files are pretty handy in my view, afford you complete control, etc. Once in a while, I might wish for something like the way Windoze does this—i.e., let Redmond do my thinking for me—and then I catch a whiff of oxygen and come to my senses.

posted by Greg Hammond at 09:10 a.m. on tuesday, march 19, 2002

Good point. For people who want total control, .dmg files are great. For people who don’t want total control, Apple or the software vendor should include a few sentences about ejecting images that look like floppy drives (which Apple doesn’t make any longer) and trashing files (which have extensions average users don’t often see on their hard drives). I don’t want anyone to think for me, but I would like enough clear and concise information so I know what to think about. “Think different,” in other words.

posted by Kawika at 07:12 p.m. on tuesday, march 19, 2002

I haven’t written instructional copy in almost a year. Eventually, I want to write for money again. For the moment, I thought I’d try my hand at writing generic instructions for downloading software that uses the “.dmg” extension. Then I’d look it up on a website to see what Omni Group, a company I admire, does. Here’s the test:

INSTRUCTIONS…

To install this software…

1. Click this link once. You will be downloading a file to your computer. The file ends with the extension “.dmg.”


2. When the download is complete, double-click on the icon. Your computer will verify the integrity of the file and open an image of a removable disk.


3. Double-click on that image. Inside is an icon of your software program,


4. Drag the software program’s icon to your Applications folder, which may take a moment or two to complete.


5. Click on the disk image once and eject it.


6. Drag the “.dmg” file to your Trash, and then empty it.


7. If you choose, drag the icon of your new program from the Application folder to your Dock, where it will remain for your use.

You have installed the software, removed unnecessary files from your computer, and created a shortcut to the program. Enjoy.

INCLUDED IN THE DISK IMAGE…

To install this software, drag the icon below to your Applications folder. You can then “eject” the disk image, throw away the “.dmg” file, and empty your Trash.

OMNI GROUP’S INSTRUCTIONS…

Installation Instructions

1. Click the icon above of the file you want to download.


2. Wait until the download is complete. If your web browser and system are properly configured, Disk Copy will launch to open the downloaded disk image. (Stuffit Expander may also launch if the file is compressed.) If not, see below.


3. A new Finder window will appear containing the icon of your new OmniWeb application ? simply drag this icon to your Applications folder (or whatever other folder or disk you’d like to store it in) to install.


4. Once OmniWeb is installed, you can safely “eject” the virtual disk it came on (and dispose of the .dmg and/or .gz file you downloaded if you choose). Double-click the OmniWeb icon in its new location to begin using it, or drag it to your Dock for easy access.

*If Disk Copy (or StuffIt Expander) doesn’t automatically open when your download completes, follow these steps:

a.Find the file you just downloaded. It will usually be saved to your desktop, with a name like OmniWeb-4.1.dmg or OmniWeb-4.0.6.dmg.gz.

b.If the file’s name ends in “.gz”, drag and drop this its icon onto the icon of the StuffIt Expander application, which lives in your /Applications/Utilities folder. You’ll then get a disk image file (“.dmg”) on your desktop.

c.Double-click this image to open it in Mac OS X’s Disk Copy application, which will mount it as a virtual disk and open a new folder on this virtual disk.

If you need additional assistance unpacking and installing OmniWeb, please send mail to OmniWeb support.

posted by Kawika at 12:12 p.m. on wednesday, march 20, 2002

To Shut Down, Go to Start

Lou Gerstner, I.B.M. chairman, bitch-slaps Microsoft three times in as many paragraphs.

1. “So the computer is in a sense like the electric motor 120 years earlier. It’s an invention that in and of itself is kind of interesting, but doesn’t have a lot of value unless you like hitting the alt, control and delete keys, and all the other things you can do on a keyboard. Its value is in the application to other processes.”


2. “There’s an absence of concern about ease of use and almost a pride in technical complexity. What other industry would give you a product that, to turn it off, you first have to press a button labeled start?”


3. “And you tell me one other industry where somebody could sell a product that you have to reboot on average five or six times a day to get it to work?”