Interesting css scaled image
I was reading about The Xbox 360’s HD-DVD drive when I noticed that the image was scaling up and down as I resized my browser window. Cool! The magic seems to be in their /media/style.css CSS sheet, which includes this little gem:
.post img.biggie { width: 98%; max-width: 860px; margin: 0;}
max-width; I’ll have to check it out!
Going Native - iTerm 0.7.8 Intel build
Now that I’m on my Mac Pro full time, I’m on the hunt for native Intel apps. Mostly I’m finding my main tools are already Universal (a side benefit for waiting for the Mac Pro before jumping on the Intel bandwagon). However, one app I use almost 24/7 was problematic: iTerm, a terminal program. Now, iTerm has been universal (meaning it has both native PPC and Intel code) since version 0.8. However, I have found all versions after 0.7.8 to be buggy and not well-behaved. I tried downloading the latest and greatest stable version, but i started getting rendering errors (blocks of black showing up) and the main text was over-bold for some reason (I was able to tone it down by setting the colour to a very drak grey instead of black). Well, I’ve had enough. iTerm is open source, so I checked out the version of iTerm that was current as of 0.7.8 (which has a modification date of Mar 11 2004) and built it as an Intel binary (not universal - maybe later when I have copious amounts of spare time). This wasn’t rocket science - zero coding was required. Indeed, I didn’t even have to change **anything**. You can grab it here: iTerm 0.78 intel Here’s all I did:
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@iterm.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/iterm co -D 2004-03-11 -P iTerm
open iTerm.xcode
build/Development” folder.
I double-clicked it and, booya, it ran fine.
Now the development version is not for distribution so, okay, I changed *one* setting:
I changed the popup that said “Development” to “Deployment”.
Another click on “Build” and there sat another iTerm in build/Deployment
I hope this is of use to someone other than me.
I’m I the only one who finds iTerm 0.8 and later frustrating?
It’s here
(click for bigger image)
Mac Pro Update - it’s in Mississauga
Wither my Mac Pro?
As you may recall, I ordered a Mac Pro on Aug 8 right after they were announced. It’s still not here. Apple finally shipped it on Sat Sep 16, last weekend. It was supposed to be sent via SAMEDAY RIGHT-O-WAY, with the shipping email stating:For orders shipped Monday through Thursday tracking information will be available on the carrier sites 12 to 24 hours after shipping. For orders shipped Friday through Sunday tracking information will be available on the carrier sites by the following Monday evening.So since mine was shipped Sat Sep 16, my tracking info should have been available Mon Sep 18. By Tuesday night I was getting impatient, so I phoned Apple. I was assured that the Mac just needed to be sent the the Canadian border, where SameDay would start tracking it. This process would take a day or two. Well, it’s been three days, and still no sign of it via SameDay’s site. They just say “Your shipment has not arrived at a Sameday facility. Please refer to your shipper.” Maybe I’ll wait until Monday before another phone call. *sigh.
Tanya’s TV Show is in production!
 Christina Fox as Vicki |
 Kyle Schmidt as Henry Fitzroy |
 Dylan Neal as Mike Celucci |
Fighting a Canadian anti-freedom law, and boilerplate
On BoingBoing there is an article about how Canada ia starting work on an anti-DRM law, and how you should send email to several government offices to help stop it. One link they give is to a web form on OnlineRights.ca that comes pre-populated with long, somewhat vitriolic boilerplate:Subject: I Support Balanced Copyright Reform I am a constituent who cares about Canada’s cultural policy, and I am writing in regard to legislative proposals for “copyright reform.” During the last Parliament, Bill C-60 provided some very sensible approaches to this complicated topic, but it also left room for improvement. As you consider the issue of copyright reform, I hope that you will work to ensure that any new legislation is not a regression from the sensible policies set out in Bill C-60. In particular, I do not believe that “digital rights management” (DRM) technologies should stop the public from making lawful uses of their legitimately acquired media. Publishers using DRM push aside the delicate balance between copyright and the rights of the public - a balance set according to an assessment of the public interest by legislators - and replace it with one-sided rules that reflect publishers’ private interests. Even artists disagree with publishers’ anti-consumer use of DRM, as evidenced by the recently formed Canadian Music Creators Coalition. Therefore, as in Bill C-60, new copyright reform legislation should not make it illegal to circumvent DRM for lawful purposes. I am also concerned that the use of DRM can threaten computer security and consumer privacy, as in the recent Sony-BMG “Rootkit” fiasco. When content companies routinely use technological measures to control how people enjoy entertainment in the privacy of their own homes, I think we need protection *from* DRM more than we need protection *for* it. These concerns are shared by a substantial and growing number of informed Canadian citizens. I hope that you will take them into account when considering any changes to Canadian copyright law. Thanks very much for your time.I spent a little time going through it and boiled the boilerplate down to this:
Subject: Copyright “Reform” You may be getting a lot of “boiler-plate” email from the web site onlinerights.ca, but what it all boils down to is this: I’m writing about upcoming legislation for “copyright reform.” I don’t think “digital rights management” (DRM) technologies should stop lawful uses of legitimately acquired media. New copyright reform legislation should not make it illegal to circumvent DRM for lawful purposes. I think a lot of Canadian citizens feel the same way. Thanks for listening.I really hate getting boilerplate.
Mac Pro update
Dear Apple Customer / Cher client, Chère cliente Apple, The following products shipped on 09/16/2006. Transit time will depend upon whether you have chosen standard or premium freight options. If your order is shipping standard freight, it should arrive within 12 days of shipment. [...] Carrier Name/Transporteur: SAMEDAY RIGHT-O-WAYHm, someone named “Sameday Right-O-Way” will deliver sometime in the next 12 days?? Hah! I hope it doesn’t show up until after Tuesday. The Chandler 0.7α4 deadline is Tuesday, so I can’t touch it until after then! I’ve had a 750 GB hard disk sitting on my desk for the last few days, waiting for the Mac Pro. I ordered the smallest hard disk I could — the 160 GB — because Apple’s price for hard disks is too high. I also only ordered 2 GB of RAM because the prices for these bloody FB-DIMM’s that Apple decided to use are sky-high. i really expect a future rev of the Mac Pro to switch over to more standard DDR2 or DDR3 or whatever generation of DDR there is at that time. I’ll be yanking one of my 250 GB drives from the G5, so it will have over a TB of storage. Woah. The usual Intel Mac questions arise - do I create partitions for other OS’s? Before Parallels, the answer was obvious. But now.. not so much. I think I will just use Parallels and its filesystems-inside-a-file approach. The disadvantage of this is that I won’t be able to play PC games at full speed inside the current version of Parallels. To date, people have been using BootCamp to reboot into Windows in order to play games, which requires a separate partition. And Parallels cannot use these separate partitions. However, Parallels has promised a future version will support full speed video hardware accelleration for Windows, allowing games to be played at full speed. So, since I haven’t played a Windows game ofr a month or more, I will just use Parallels. I will also be installing Ubuntu under Parallels, since (a) I like Ubuntu, and (b) I actually work in Ubuntu.
One week delay
I forgot to mention the other day - I received a message from Apple saying my Mac Pro will ship one week later: Sep 20th instead of Sep 13th. I received it on the morning of Sep 14th. My new 750 GB drive sits here, waiting..Oh what a tangled web we browse
Posted by rae in the Net
at 10:59 am on Thursday, 7 September 2006
at 10:59 am on Thursday, 7 September 2006
Time lapse Toronto