Robot.Floss

Patches Galore

The site is slowly building up a selection of downloads, aside from the Xanga Importer plugin, which was officially accepted today by WordPress! These downloads are patches for games that I either played avidly in the past or play now. No waiting in a “download” line or any of that bullshit. Just grab what you need and enjoy.

Here are the downloads I’ve added thus far:

• Quake 3 point release 1.32 for the game that brought the world “woot!”
• Supreme Commander patches in no particular order.
• World of Warcraft patches from 2.1.1 through 4.0.0.12911.
• Xanga Importer plugin for WordPress.

Xanga Importer Plugin for WordPress – (Updated on March 19th, 2011)

Latest Update (March 19th, 2011):

1. The plugin has been updated to support WordPress 3.1
2. I have re-written the instructions based on issues people had in the comments.
3. I have submitted the plugin to WordPress, and it is now an official plugin (See it over on WordPress here).
4. There is now a permanent page dedicated to this plugin. Going forward, consider it the most up-to-date resource. With that in mind, I have disabled further comments on this page.

Downloading and Using with WordPress 3.1+:

Before you can use the Xanga Importer, you need to download an archive of your blog from Xanga. When logged in to Xanga go to the private view of your site, navigate to the settings page, and click the “Archives” link. In order to create archives, I believe you do have to have a premium account subscript.

1. Download the archive of your blog from Xanga.
2. Unzip the archive to a folder on your computer.
3. Download the Xanga Importer Plugin: Xanga-Importer-v31 (350)
   • Note this is for WordPress 3.1 and higher. Instructions for older versions are further below.
4. Unzip Xanga Importer to a folder on your computer.
5. Upload the unzipped Xanga Importer folder to the /wp-admin/plugins directory of your WordPress installation.
   • Here I am uploading this via an FTP client. If you’re not sure how to do this, check with your web host. They most likely have a forum where someone can tell you how to do this for your particular host. However, it is probably as simple as using your web hosts built-in file manager.
   • 
6. From the WordPress plugins panel, activate the Xanga Importer plugin (Plugins -> Inactive -> Activate Xanga Importer).
   • 
7. From the WordPress panel, go to Tools -> Import, and select “Xanga”
   • 
8. From the importer, click on “Choose File” and select a file to import from step 2
   • Depending on the size of your blog, you may have to repeat this step multiple times to get all of your post and comments imported.
9. Click “Upload and Import”
10. The post will now be imported, and you will be shown some live data regarding the import.
    • If you upload the same file twice, it will not create duplicates.
    • It does not import the title of the post.

Downloading and Using with WordPress Prior to 3.1:

I can confirm this works for version 2.9.2 and lower, but I never tested it between 2.9.2 and 3.1. Your mileage may vary.

Follow the instructions above, except:

• Step 3: Download the older version of the importer: Xanga-Importer-v28 (294)
• Step 5: Upload the file to the /wp-admin/import directory of your WordPress installation.

This post was originally published on Aug 30, 2008 @ 3:49.

Minor Mozy Bug 1.6.0 (separate from last time)

All of my Mac Mozy Pro installations have started to freak out. I contacted Mozy support, and it turns out this is a known bug with Moxy Pro 1.6.0. The newest update to 1.6.2 fixes the following problem:

Symptoms:

1.) Mozy Fails to Launch at Start - Under System Preferences -> Account -> Login Items, for all of the users the Mozy Status item is set to launch, but the item is marked as “unknown” rather than “application”. Also Mozy Status does not appear in the Activity Monitor after startup.

2.) Mozy Becomes Hyperactive – About once a minute a “Mozy has finished backing up” window appears. However, no files have been backed up.

The Cure:

1. Force quit Mozy – you may need to do this via the Activity Monitor (Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor)
2. Remove Mozy from your startup items (System Preferences -> Accounts -> Login Items)
3. Uninstall Mozy (drag and drop Mozy from the Applications folder to the trash can and recycle it)
4. Restart computer
5. Install Mozy 1.6.2
6. Restart computer (because you didn’t remove the Mozy preferences file, you will not need to re-enter your account information)

Google is Missing the Point Again

I love Google, and I am always excited by the products the release. However, I am never impressed with what they release. They create interesting tools and products, but the execution is always sub-par. And their product launches make it apparent that they’re a large collection of engineers with too few designers. But at times they miss the boat completely. For instance, the Google API presumes you will only turn your phone counter-clock wise and never clockwise. I am impressed with the Android platform. But there is no excuse for an idiotic oversight like this. This is an arbitrary restriction that hinders user experience.

If you turn the phone clockwise, Android’s native menus and text will appear upside down. I’ve seen a few applications that do a good decent job of letting you turn the phone clockwise, such as the game Bebbled (a good game by the way), but call up a menu in this position and you’ll see upside-down menus.

I am beta testing Super GNES application for the Android platform. Before I continue, let me say the developers are doing a great job with the project. Now on to the part where Google failed to have foresight. You can play Super GNES in portrait mode or landscape. On the G1 I prefer landscape as it puts the trackball under your right thumb, and your left hand is free to mash the keyboard. But every video game controller since the NES has put the direction pad under your left thumb.

A more natural setup for playing the emulator would be a rotating the phone in to landscape mode clockwise. It would put the trackball under the left thumb, place the volume buttons on the top side of the phone to become the left and right shoulder buttons easily accessible by the index finger of your right hand, and your right thumb could use the onscreen A,B,X,Y buttons.

I asked the SuperGNES dev team about exploring this orientation, and here is the teams:

“There doesn’t appear to be a good way to orient the screen landscape with the track ball on the left. I even took a tour through the android framework source code to see if I could hack something together but wasn’t able to find anything. I can manually orient the screen but stuff like the menu and settings have the wrong orientation which is frustrating to use.”

iMovie Bug / Odd Behavior (for iMovie 2008 v7.1.4-585)

When you build iMovie projects, the program copies all of the imported assets in to a directory specifically for that project. However, if you import a new file with the same name as an existing file, the import will not be updated in the project.

Example:

1. You have a video and add a narrative called “My Narration.mp3″ that is 1:00 long saved to your desktop.
2. Later, you edit the MP3 on the desktop and add 15 seconds to it bringing the length to 1:15.
3. If you delete the narration from the timeline in iMovie and import the new version of the MP3 from your desktop, you’ll end up with the old copy that is 1:00 long, not the 1:15 version.

In other words, the original file you imported isn’t replaced, which makes sense to me as I can imagine scenarios where a user might accidentally change a file. The problem is iMovie never tells you that the assets haven’t been updated.

Here is what should happen:

1. iMovie should compare the two files and determine if they’re different
2. If the files are the same, it should prompt you that no updates have been made to assets
3. If the files are different, it should prompt you to overwrite the original asset or to add the second asset in to the project (and it should automatically rename the asset for you)

Mozy’s Fatal Flaw

Note: As of February 2010, this flaw still exists.

Update (Sept 25th, 2009):

The problem with Mozy having difficulty restoring large files with lengthy revision histories still exists. In the end, Mozy did restore the file for me, but only after the ticket was escalated to level 2 support and finally to level 3 – at which point the tech had to manually restore the file. This took about 7 days.

I needed an Entourage database file restored that had initially been uploaded/backed up to Mozy about 14 months prior. That meant there were thousands of entries in the history of the file that had to be processed. When you request a restore, the machines go back the original file and then move forward through the revision history. If the revision history is long enough, the machines time-out and the restore never completes.

Update (Sept 3rd, 2009 @ 1:51pm):

As you see in the comments, this posting grabbed the attention of the Dan from Mozy.com. The problem isn’t with large files, but rather larges files that have had many changes. For example, a 2.7gb file that changes multiple times a day has a large revision history. A large history can cause a timeout problem when restoring the file. Dan  looked in to the support ticket for me, and here was his response:

“I’ve looked into this more, and it looks like the issue surrounding restoration of long files is that if the file is changing often, then it can take a long time for Mozy to reconstruct the “current” version of the file. We start from the “original” version and then apply each change in sequential order. The restore may timeout before the reconstruction process is complete.

I hadn’t heard of this issue before and am still looking into it. I will forward your comments on to our Support team too.

Thanks,
Dan”

Why no one from Mozy’s technical support took the time to explain this from the start, I’m not sure. But in the end there is a problem, and it is being worked on. I’m not sure by who, but I’m assured it is by top men. Top men.

Original Posting:

I’m a big advocate of Mozy and Mozy Pro. I use the Mozy backup solution at home for 3 machines, and I’ve implemented Mozy Pro across all of the laptops I support at work. I’ve beta tested the product quite a bit for the company, and I even use it as a very last resort backup for my Apple Xserves (this is not the primary backup though, and I do not recommend that).

A few days ago one of my users lost a critical file. I requested the file to be restored, but the restore request  never completed. I called Mozy and spoke to a tech only to learn that it is a known issue – “Mozy has difficulty restoring files over 1gb.”

How much of a problem? Well, they’ve had an engineer working on the problem for over 2 days, and still the issue hasn’t been resolved. I’d love to know more about the back-end situation creating this problem, but for now I’m content to let the level 2 techs work on a solution.

I’m not sure what Mozy is thinking and why they’ve not addressed the problem sooner, but having multiple gigabyte files is not uncommon. Microsoft Entourage databases can easily get the large (even ones that are well maintained and archived), video projects I work on are often much larger than this, and some design files reach this size as well.

So for this issue to exist with Mozy is unacceptable. Until they problem is resolved, I’m going to downgrade my rating of Mozy and Mozy Pro from an A to a D+. The problem is that significant.

Microsoft Breaks Wildcards in Windows 7

While reorganizing my MP3 collection, a large number of files were incorrectly renamed. Instead of having an extension of mp3, such as “SomeSong.mp3″, they’re now “SomesongMp3.mp3.” I decided to correct the problem. First, I needed a list of all files with the phrase “mp3″ before the extension in the filename. I fired up search and looked for: “*mp3.*”

That should result in a list of all files with the phrase “mp3″ in the filename before the extension to be displayed. However, in Windows 7 it now means “Show me everything with the phrase ‘mp3′ anywhere in the filename.” Also, the asterisk and question mark now mean the same thing – this is most likely a side effect of the new, crappy implementation.

The asterisk should mean “any number of characters”, and the question mark should mean “a single character”. For example, “*.mp3″ should show list all files with an mp3 extension. And “?.mp3″ should only show all mp3 files that have a filename that is 1 character in length and an extension of “mp3″. It has always worked this way, and it should stay this way. Otherwise it is too hard to limit the search results to a more specific range.

I thought that it might be a UI option for ease of use, so I dropped to the command line. The result was the same. I’m not sure why Microsoft in blissful idiocracy has changed the way the wildcards work when searching in Windows 7, but it is a massive inconvenience, especially if you’re working with files in the command line.

You can still do it from the command prompt, but now you have to do something along the lines of this – which still isn’t a perfect cure:

for %a in (*.*) do @echo %~na

The Smart Choice: Block IE with Your Firewall

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is decent, but it presents too many security problems. If you love Firefox or Chrome, and you should, then eliminate the threat of IE to your system. Whether by the built in Windows firewall or from another vendor, block all of IEs access to the internet and don’t let up.

I’ve made this a standard practice for years. And when I must use to IE, I’ll tweak the firewall, take care of business, and then return everything back to its locked down state. A few months back I let the rule slide. Like clockwork, a few days later my girlfriend was surfing around on IE, hit a malicious website, and my computer went to shit. I then spent the rest of the weekend formatting and reinstalling.

Be smart. Stop IE.

Don’t chance it. Ban IE. I promise your life will be happier and your computer safer.

G1 Cupcake Download and Instructions

Update (March 2, 2010): I’m leaving this post here for but it is massively out of date in that Android has moved well past Cupcake at this point. Besides, if you want the best Android experience you should be running CyanogenMod. At this point, unless you know what you’re doing and a really bound and determined to roll your own old school phone, so to speak, you shouldn’t be loitering here.

Do you want the US version of Cupcake and you want it now? Mine got pushed to me on the 23rd, and here it is for you. Crown me a saint.

WARNING: Make sure your phone has a full battery or is charged. You don’t want it to die during this process.

Instructions

1. Download the US Cupcake 1.5 (this is hosted here, not elsewhere, so it will work)
2. Rename the file “update.zip”
3. Copy update.zip to the root of your SD card
4. Turn off your phone
5. Turn it on while holding the home key
6. When you see the triangle + exclamation mark icon, press alt + L
7. Then press alt + s
8. The update will apply
9. Then press home + back to reset at which point the radio update will be applied
10. Viola! Cupcake!

G1 Cupcake and Resources

I love my G1 and I abuse it to no end. For instance, I’ve easily tried 250+ (if not 350+) apps on it. That much installing and uninstalling can lead to problems. And I finally decided I needed to hard reset my phone, because it would easily become sluggish and unresponsive during simple tasks.

Before I did the hard reset, I downloaded the UK version of Cupcake, because I have no patience and the US version has not been pushed out OTA (over the air) yet. I’ve used it for a few days, and I think it is finally pointing Android in the correct direction. But when the US version rolls out (the UK Cupcake is missing Amazon MP3, IMing aside from gChat, no voice search, and a few other things), I’ll need to downgrade and upgrade back to RC33 and then grab the US Cupcake OTA.

I hard reset my phone, and then it took me a frustrating amount of time to find the proper downgrade and upgrade files. To save other people some time and frustration here are the files – these are the official, OTA, and properly signed files. Also, if you’re not aware each update to Android has a radio update too. Radio updates are included in the update packages, so there is no need to go hunting for those.

Warnings:

1. Do not trust your battery during an downgrade or upgrade. Plug in to a wall.
2. Do not interupt your phone during these procedures – let the G1 finish its business. It will often reset, then continue the update, or will apply the radio update on reboot – so follow the on-screen prompts carefully and be patient.
3. I will help to a degree with questions pertaining to this. Anything else should be directed to a G1 forum.
4. I am not responsible if you fuck up your phone.

DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO THESE DOWNLOADS OR I WILL TAKE THEM OFFLINE IMMEDIATELY. BE KIND TO MY BANDWIDTH!

Note: These are the OTA, signed files. You cannot use these to root your phone.

G1 – RC29

1. Download and unzip the RC29 file
2. Format your SD card to FAT32 and place
3. Place the DREAIMG.NBH file on the SD card (do not place it in a subfolder)
4. Turn on the phone while while holding the home key
5. When you see the triangle icon, hit ALT+L
6. Now press ALT+W to wipe the phone
7. Turn the phone off
8. Power the phone in to bootloader (power it on while holding the camera key)
9. The G1 will detect the RC29 image and it will proceed from there
10. Follow any on-screen prompts

G1 – RC30

1. Download and unzip the RC30 file – what you want is to have a file that is called “update.zip”
2. DO NOT unzip “update.zip” – leave it the way it is
3. Copy update.zip to the root of your SD card
4. Turn on the while while holding the home key
5. When you see the triangle icon, hit ALT+L
6. Press ALT+S at the menu
7. When prompted, press the home and back buttons
8. It should reboot and now update the radio
9. Finally it will reboot to the normal Android screen
10. Viola, you’re done.

G1 – RC30 to RC33

1. Download and unzip the RC30 to RC33 file – what you want is to have a file that is called “update.zip”
2. DO NOT unzip “update.zip” – leave it the way it is
3. Copy update.zip to the root of your SD card
4. Turn on the while while holding the home key
5. When you see the triangle icon, hit ALT+L
6. Press ALT+S at the menu
7. When prompted, press the home and back buttons
8. It should reboot and now update the radio
9. Finally it will reboot to the normal Android screen
10. Viola, you’re done.

G1 – RC33 to UK Cupcake

1. Download and unzip the UK Cupcake file – what you want is to have a file that is called “update.zip”
2. DO NOT unzip “update.zip” – leave it the way it is
3. Copy update.zip to the root of your SD card
4. Turn on the while while holding the home key
5. When you see the triangle icon, hit ALT+L
6. Press ALT+S at the menu
7. When prompted, press the home and back buttons
8. It should reboot and now update the radio
9. It may reboot a time or two, and then it should go to the classic “Android” boot screen.
10. Viola, you’re done.