May 05 2012
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programming

Trowl 0.7.3 (Tweet Marker Support)

I’m making a development version of 0.7.3 available for anyone who would like to help me test it before it’s released to everyone. This version has better stream error recovery handling, and makes a couple of other minor under-the-hood changes. The most noticeable change, though, is Tweet Marker support.

What is Tweet Marker?
For those who aren’t yet familiar with the service, Tweet Marker syncs your Twitter timeline across applications by recording the last tweet you read. Applications that support Tweet Marker can quickly jump straight to the spot in your timeline where you left off.

How does that work for Trowl?
Since Trowl doesn’t show you a traditional Twitter timeline (at the moment…), it uses this information a little differently.

Saving your last read tweet: in Trowl, a tweet is considered “read” when its notification is dismissed. Every 15 seconds, it will send the tweet that was last dismissed to Tweet Marker.

Retrieving your last read tweet: every 5 minutes, Trowl will pull the latest Tweet Marker from the server. It can’t remove any tweet notifications already on screen, but it won’t send new notifications for tweets you’ve already seen. Instead, it will pick up with the first new tweet. Depending on your settings, this will also happen when you uncheck the Silence option.

How do you enable Tweet Marker?
Tweet Marker has been added as one of the “missed tweets” options:

Tweet Marker

This option covers both tweets and mentions.

I’ve also updated Metro Display slightly. In addition to the coalescing support that I added a little while back, I also changed it so that the Twitter timestamp dynamically updates – this should have been added a long time ago, so I apologize for the wait. I also fixed a nasty memory leak bug.

You can try both of the new toys here:

Trowl 0.7.3 Development
Metro Display 1.5 Development

Please send any bug reports my way – you can comment here, send me a tweet, or post to the Google Group. Have fun. :)

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Mar 04 2012
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computers, Opinion, review

Windows 8: First Impressions

Windows 8

I’m still playing with the Windows 8 beta – er, sorry, “Consumer Preview” — and exploring its details. However, first impressions are important, and I think I have a few key observations to make.

Last year, I downloaded the developer preview when it became available. I didn’t spend too much time with it, because it was obvious how early of a build it was. Still, the Metro interface was promising, and the few apps that were available showed great promise.

One big complaint about the developer preview, though, was how much it relied on touch. You could use a mouse and a keyboard, sure, but they were second-class citizens. On the one hand, this was good: Microsoft desperately needed a good touch interface, and there was nothing better than Metro. But on the other hand, it was awkward to use on a traditional computer. Considering that this was the next version of Windows, that was a major problem.

Since then, Microsoft has attempted to soothe everyone’s fears with a consistent message – a message that was reiterated by Steven Sinofsky at the Consumer Preview launch event:

Sinofsky’s concern, however, is ensuring developers are on the same page, designing Metro apps that work just as well on touchscreens as they do with a mouse.

"The goal should be that the operating system scales with you," added Sinofsky.

"That’s what we mean by a no-compromise experience."

For the Consumer Preview, they took many steps to help make the Metro interface more intuitive for the keyboard and mouse, so that there were no compromises. But were they successful?

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Jan 24 2012
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computers

Restoring a Time Machine Backup That’s Stored on a Windows Home Server

I think that may be the longest title I’ve ever had on my blog. Anyway…

Last week, my Macbook Pro hard drive suddenly died after about two years of dedicated service. While it’s a bit surprising, I did push the little guy pretty hard – I regularly run OS X alongside Windows 7 on VMWare, and I keep both platforms busy. Considering the VM is actually running off the Boot Camp partition, it’s a lot of work for the drive. But I digress.

I’ve been running Time Machine for a while, so I was hoping that I could restore its most recent backup onto my replacement hard drive. There was just one snag, and I knew this would be an issue: my Time Machine backups are stored on my Windows Home Server. As you can imagine, doing this is a bit of a hack (here are some instructions if you don’t know how to do this yet). And as I’m sure you can also imagine, doing a hack like this makes a “normal” Time Machine restore impossible.

What I mean by “normal” is that if you boot off the OS X installation disk, you can choose to restore a Time Machine backup instead of installing a brand new copy of the operating system. When you choose this option, it scans for a Time Machine backup – but only the locations it supports, like external hard drives or Time Capsules.

Now, sure, you could probably copy the Time Machine backup on your WHS to an external drive, since the backup on the WHS is essentially just a disk image. But I didn’t have an external drive large enough to spare – and besides, there must be a better way.

Perhaps my Googling was sub-par at the time (I was in the middle of restoring my laptop, after all), but it took a while to find the answer. You can’t do a normal Time Machine restore, but you can use the Migration Assistant:

  1. Install a brand spanking new copy of OS X. Make a throw-away account when you’re prompted to create your first account. I named mine “Admin”.
  2. Mount your Time Machine backup. In Finder, use the menu option Go –> Connect to Server…, and type the address to your Windows Home Server. This is usually “smb://” plus the server’s name. (For me, it was “smb://beat”.) OS X should find the server, connect to it, and list the available shares. Connect to the share that contains your Time Machine backup, and double-click the .sparsebundle file to mount the disk. (Enter your Home Server username and password, if prompted.)
  3. Run Migration Assistant. This tool is located under Applications –> Utilities on your Mac hard drive. Start it up, and read the intro if you’d like. Click Continue when you’re ready. Choose the “From a Time Machine backup or other disk” option, and click Continue. If you were able to mount the disk image in step #2, then it should be an option to choose from. Select it and Continue.
  4. Restore the backup. The last screen shows you the available items to restore, and how much space they’ll take up. If you created the throw-away account in step #1, then there should be no conflicts with restoring your real account from the Time Machine backup. Select what you do or do not want to restore, and then click Continue. The restore can take a while depending on how much data you have.

That’s it! When it finishes, your account should be back to the way it was, exactly as you left it (as of the last Time Machine backup). You can now throw away your throw-away account, or leave it as a battle scar.

Since it took me a while to find this on Google, I’m writing it up to hopefully give it more exposure. And if this is already well know and I just missed it, well – at least now I have a record in my blog of when my hard drive failed and I was sad. :P

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Jan 20 2012
2 Comments
discussion, programming

My Little Twitter Bot

It all started when @ndoto replied to one of my “eeyup” tweets saying that he wished there was a Big Macintosh Twitter bot that would reply with an “eeyup” if you sent a tweet containing “eeyup”.

For those who aren’t in the know, Big Macintosh is a character on the cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It’s a slight re-imagining of the original show, headed by the same creative mind behind Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends – an awesome show with clever writing. Needless to say, that same maturity (but kid-appeal) carries over to the new My Little Pony. I suppose I should clarify that I’m not enough of a fan to call myself a brony, but I do think the show is about 20% cooler than most other things on television – and Big Macintosh is by far my favorite character. :)

I’ve always wanted to make a Twitter bot, so I jumped at the opportunity. In this post, I’d like to share some of the technical details, and decision making, that brought @BigMacinbot to life.

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Jan 16 2012
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MAGFest, music, video games

MAGFest

MAGFest

Last weekend, January 5-8, @Ndoto, @FlatFootFox and I decided to check out MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival). It was the first time any of us had attended this convention, so it was a bit overwhelming. Still, I think we all had fun! It was like a very small PAX, with an emphasis on music instead of upcoming games. In fact, in many ways, there was a strong focus on older games – chiptunes and 8-bit graphics were prevalent.

Since we didn’t stay at a hotel at the con, it was difficult to attend everything that sounded interesting. Instead of getting the full con experience, we only got a taste – but it was enough of a taste to know that, if we go again, we’ll be staying at a hotel nearby so that we can have better access to all the events.

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Dec 15 2011
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Media, Opinion, video games

La Vita Loco

From The Verge:

According to a Sony representative speaking to Wired, "if a second person is using your Vita, it’s not just a case of switching out memory cards, it’s clearing out all of your saved data on the Vita itself when you do the factory reset."

Because letting a friend quickly borrow a Vita to play with, customize and experience wouldn’t be good advertising at all. No way.

Just Kevin Butler. Butler all the way. He knows how to make new hardware crazy popular.

</sarcasm>

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Dec 14 2011
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Food, recipe

Recipe: Spicy Roasted Potato Quesadillas

Spicy Roasted Potato Quesadillas

Last week, I made one of my favorite slow-cooker recipes: Slow Cooker Pork Tacos. I used chicken breasts and thighs because @ndoto doesn’t like pork, but the process is the same – and the result is fragrant, spicy, earthy, buttery chicken.

A LOT of chicken, with a lot of leftovers. On the first night of leftovers, the tacos are still amazing. The second night, too. But then it starts to get a little repetitive, so I usually mix things up to finish off the last of the meat. Quesadillas are similar to tacos, but different enough that it breaks up the monotony. To add some different flavors, I decided to cook up an onion – and then I saw a couple of potatoes in the pantry that were on their last legs and just begging to be used up.

The one problem with quesadillas – especially quesadillas filled with soft meat like this – is that they can be overly squishy. You get a crispy tortilla, but then a lot of soft filling. So what if I added crispy roasted potatoes? Sounded like it was worth a try.

Roasted potatoes

Did it work? Well, sort of. The potatoes came out of the oven crispy, golden brown and cooked through. But after being pressed inside the tortilla with the moist meat and cheese, most of the crispiness was lost. But, it still added texture, and complemented the rest of the flavors perfectly. If I didn’t have the leftover meat, I think the potatoes, onions and cheese could easily stand on their own for a lighter, flavorful quesadilla.

Potatoes, onions and cheese on the tortilla

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it too. Let me know what improvements you make!

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Dec 12 2011
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Opinion, video games

The Dismantling of Azeroth

When Blizzard announced their list of perks for committing to a year of World of Warcraft (exclusive mount, beta testing for the next expansion, free copy of Diablo 3), I really wanted to get back into the game. After all, I’ve always liked World of Warcraft. These perks seemed to make a deal that couldn’t be refused.

I’ve been away from World of Warcraft for a while, though. I played briefly after the last expansion pack was released, but I didn’t get very far – mostly due to other games and projects. So, before committing to a full year of the game, I wanted to see if it was something that I could once again play on a regular basis.

As I started playing, there were a lot of things I immediately enjoyed. The classic look and feel of the game was still intact, for example. While the graphics haven’t been updated in any significant way since its first release, it’s a very comforting environment. Sometimes a hyper-realistic environment can feel intimidating. Plus, for veterans of the game, the familiar feel is like slipping into your favorite pair of fuzzy slippers.

I had never completely played through the start of a Worgen character, so that was my test bed in my latest play session. I have to say that, overall, Blizzard did a truly fantastic job with the introductory environments and quest lines for Worgen. Up until about halfway through, I was certain that I would be continuing to play.

But then I started to notice big holes in my favorite slippers.

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Dec 09 2011
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Lego, Opinion, video games

On Minecraft and Lego

A big deal has been made about the growing initiative to convince the Lego Group to start creating a new product line based on Minecraft. Mojang has also stated that they are in their own talks with the company.

But why? Minecraft is essentially already Lego. Digital Lego. I’ll admit that a set of instructions for recreating a scene from Minecraft in Lego could be useful, and an interesting project to undertake. But to release an official series of sets? It seems a little excessive. It’s like using Lego to… recreate something that already exists as Lego.

Perhaps Mojang needs to add Lego bricks to Minecraft. Maybe then I’ll understand the appeal.

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Nov 17 2011
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Food, recipe

Recipe: Chickpea and Potato Curry

Curry is like chili. There are so many variations, that it can be difficult to master. In fact, one could argue that curry is even more difficult due to the sheer number of variations – from the “traditional” Indian curry, to the coconut-infused Thai curries, to Chicken Tikka Masala, England’s most popular dish. And of course, within those broad categories are many, many styles and techniques.

I had trouble with chili for a while, but I eventually came across a recipe that I really like. It’s not traditional in any way, but it’s the recipe I turn to when I’m looking for a hearty bowl of spicy comfort.

Curry has consistently eluded me, though. I’ve come close several times – Cooks’ Illustrated recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala is excellent, albeit a bit of work.

This recipe was definitely a winner, though. Perfect? Not quite yet. But like my go-to chili recipe, it hit all the right notes. This recipe was the inspiration, but I made a lot of changes. For example, I toast the chickpeas along with the spices first, to help develop their flavor more. I also add whole garlic, and expand the spice palette. I apologize if this recipe sounds like an advertisement for Penzey’s – it is my favorite place for purchasing spices, and their curry mixes are top notch. If you follow the links, you can see what each blend contains. Enjoy!

IngredientsChickpea and Potato Curry
2 tbsp olive oil
2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp Penzey’s Hot Curry Powder
1/2 tbsp Penzey’s Tandoori Seasoning
1 yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
salt

6-10 small white new potatoes, quartered
4 cups unsalted chicken stock (I use one 32oz container of Kitchen Basics)
1 15 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 tbsp Penzey’s Hot Curry Powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions
1. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add chickpeas, curry powder and tandoori seasoning. Stir to coat, then let the chickpeas and spices toast in the oil. Stir occasionally to prevent burning and to make sure all the spice and all the chickpeas get a nice crisp to them. (This develops the flavors of both the chickpeas and the spices. In fact, if you can use some whole spices for this step, it may be even better.) When they look about ready, add the onion, garlic and salt, and stir to coat. Cook until onions are slightly softened.

2. In a large pot, add the chicken stock, potatoes and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer, and add the spices, as well as the chickpea mixture when it’s done.

3. Simmer vigorously for at least 30 minutes – but 45 minutes to an hour would be better. The potatoes should be soft, and the cooking liquid should have reduced so it’s a bit thicker. Turn down the heat if the liquid is reducing too quickly.

4. Season with salt and/or pepper to taste. Serve with basmati rice.

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