Chad Things

Another wonderful Christmas with my family.  Once again, I was lucky enough to spend a week with my entire immediate family, this year in Atlanta.  My older sister and her family of four, The Robertsons, drove up from Tybee Island to spend a week with us, and my younger sister and her family of four, The Aikens, live in Atlanta and are not traveling since they just got a new family member 6 weeks ago, Miss Baby Jane.

We had lots of good food, both at home and out, my favorite being Christmas dinner – Thanks mom for cooking! We also had two big adventures, one to the Georgia Aquarium, the biggest aquarium in the world, and the other to Stone Mountain, where we saw the Santa Parade, saw short musical, had a all-you-can-eat dinner, rode the train around the mountain, made our own cookies and saw fireworks. Mostly I enjoyed spending time with my family, especially playing with my nieces and nephew.  It’s also nice to be able to go back to the home I grew up in, see how things change and some stay the same.  Look at my pictures to feel my adventures.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Yesterday I upgraded my macbook pro to Leopard, the latest OS X operating system, over a year after Apple released it.  Whew.  It took me 4 days to organize, clean and backup my stuff (over 200GB), about a day to figure out how to install leopard without a bootable DVD (see leopard dmg install), and less than an hour to do the actual install.  Why now?  Not because of all the new features, but because I wanted to develop an iPhone app. Stay tuned for more on that.  Yay.

After a fresh install, here’s what I add/customize:

• Firefox 3 [Free] – fast, but I love that it remembers all URLS and you just type any part of the URL or Page Title and it shows you dropdown of possible matches.  Also love these firefox add-ons/plugins: greasemonkey, web developer, firebug, live HTTP Headers, more.
• iLife ’08 [$$] – new iTunes (love the Genius), new iPhoto (love the auto-grouping of events), and more.
• Adobe CS4 [$$] – gotta have Photoshop, Acrobat, Indesign, etc.
• VLC [Free] – best media player out there – avi, mpg, mp3, mov, wav, etc – i love “hot keys” -† its FREE
• Xee [Free] – Excellent gif/jpg viewer (don’t *need* this in leopard)
• iSquint [Free] – convert digital camera movies from big file sizes to smaller for upload, sharing, ipod, or iphone.
• Transmission [Free] – bit torrent client, so you can download movies, tv, games
• Handbrake [Free] – Rip DVDs – in one-step, create .avi movies for ipod, iphone, etc.
• iStumbler [Free] – helps you find a good wifi signal when you’re not home or office.
• SuperDuper [Free] – easy way to back up your entire laptop to external drive or network.
• Chicken of the VNC [Free] – if you have a windows or linux box, put vnc server on it, then install this vnc client on your mac, and now you can control your windows from mac!

How to install Leopard from a .dmg file – My Constraints:

• Leopard not on DVD, only 7GB .dmg file
• Tiger is available on bootable DVD
• Cannot boot on USB or Firewire drive

I am providing this because some of the more popular methods did not work for me.  If the following does not make sense, read this original guide and the digg comments on it.  Here’s an overview followed by notes:

1. Prepare.  Backup all your important files, docs, iTunes library (split itunes library), iPhoto library (split iPhoto library), etc on an external drive or network drive. Make sure you 7GB leopard install .dmg is handy (on your backup drive is fine).
2. Create a 2nd partition, 8GB or larger, where we’ll put the leopard install .dmg, then we’ll boot from that and install leopard onto big partition, see NOTE below.
3. Prepare 2nd partition as a bootable Leopard Install option, see NOTE below.
4. Reboot, hold down ALT, pick leopard install boot option, Install leopard on 1st partition – I recommend erase and install, but you can also upgrade.
5. Optional: Merge 2 partitions together – Caveat: I have not done this – delete 2nd partition then resize partition.

NOTE: Creating 2nd Partition in Tiger

Tiger’s “Disk Utility” application creates Apple Partition when I re-partitioned it, with no option for creating a GUID partition.  On Intel mac’s, you need GUID partition in order to boot the drive and to install tiger. However, http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1600 said to “erase” partition and it would be given GUID paritition – This also did not work.  What did work is using the command line program diskutil, which you can run from the terminal application.  Example of what I did


% diskutil partitionDisk disk0 2 GPTFormat HFS+ Big_Daddy 224GB HFS+ leopard_install 8GB


NOTE: Preparing 2nd Partition

Many web pages said to use “Disk Utility” to restore .dmg as source and the newly created 2nd partition as destination.  This did not work for me, and as apple support states, sometimes disks cannot be dragged to destination in “Disk Utility” from Tiger DVD.  So I installed tiger on the first partition (erasing it first) in order to get a working “Disk Utility”.  Now dragging disks worked but whenever I clicked on “restore”, “Disk Utility” gave error 2, 16, or some other number. What did work is mounting .dmg file (use hdiutil or just double click it), then using the command line program “asr” from terminal.  Example:


sudo hdiutil attach leopard_install.dmg
sudo asr restore --source "/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD" --target /dev/disk0s3 --erase


In hindsight, this should all work from terminal app from Tiger DVD right at boot – you should not need to reinstall tiger.

This weekend was SantaCon, where hundreds dress up as Santa or elves or reindeer and wander around downtown spreading good cheer and having a beer.  I’ve done several SantaCon’s in San Francisco, but this was my first in Chicago.  It was lots of fun, dressing up, singing, drinking, passing out candy canes and hugs to everyone we met along the way.  The peeps in Chicago are a bit more organized and disciplined, printing out song sheets and sticking to the schedule almost to the minute, compared to SF.  I suppose that is a result of the number of Santa’s .. SF has several hundred, whereas Chicago had about a hundred.  Props to the BLVD Rollers representin’ in great costumes.

Last week my 1997 Jetta VR6 turned on her check engine light.  Doh.  So I embarked on that adventure that every car owner does in a new city – find a good auto mechanic.  Since I have a Volkswagen, I’m limited to shops that deal with European cars, making it tougher to find a good yet affordable mechanic.   Luckily yelp, my favorite review system, has auto repair reviews.  I took the best ones where people mentioned VW, Volkswagen, or Volkswagon (many misspell it), and cross referenced them with what I found on cartalk mechanic reviews.  I came up with 3 I wanted to try.

The first shop I called, Accurate Imports, was able to inspect my car that day, spending about 2 hours and coming up with an exhaustive list totaling about $2k in repairs.  Ouch.  However, they only charged my $10 for pulling a nail out of the tire and patching it – diagnostics and estimate were free.  At this point I decided I should get one or two more estimates before dropping that kind of cash.  The second place I visited, European American Motors, did a brief inspection, charging me $56 for check engine light diagnostic and listing similar items (although not as complete as the first, but they acknowledged they need to hoist up for a thorough check and did not have time that day).  The third shop, Chicago Import Service, did not have time to see me till the following Tuesday.  I was there for almost 2 hours and they didn’t find much wrong at all, charging me $95 for one hour’s worth of labor.

All three shops reported the engine light turned on because of a lean fuel condition, with AI and CIS saying they weren’t sure exactly what caused it but thought replacing the fuel filter might solve it.  EAM indicated the Mass Air Flow Sensor needed to be replaced.

Here is a breakdown of cost estimates, with the forth column being my San Francisco shop, Advanced Audi – VW.

First, I want to point out all 3 shops are good – they all gave written estimates and communicated clearly, answering questions intelligently when I probed a bit deeper.  Joe and Oscar at AI were the best at explaining, Rudy at EAM gave the most detailed written estimate, and Alex at CIS was above average compared to mechanics in general.

Which is better?  Not an easy question to answer.  However, both AI and EAM found problems with the Serpentine Belt and emphasized that it should be the first thing to be fixed.  CIS did not mention this, plus charged the most for labor including an initial hour fee, so I would not recommend them.  I liked EAM because Rudy seemed the most knowledgeable mechanic, plus they were a bit cheaper.  At the same time, I don’t entirely trust Rudy when he told me I needed to spend $260 to replace my MAF sensor, which i did about a year earlier (There are lots of reports of MAF sensors being replaced unnecessarily).  I went with AI because they were the most thorough, which is most important.  They are not the cheapest, but they listed items my SF mechanic mentioned when I had my VW checked in July, 2008.  Plus they were great communicators, seemed experienced, were knowledgeable, and appeared quite trustworthy.

12/12 Update – AI did the job as expected, about $2,000 (half in labor, half for parts).  I mentioned the Mass Air Flow Sensor, and their response was that the engine light code was for lean-fuel, MAF has a different code.  They also pointed out that the MAF has little wires that are sensitive and can get dirty, causing it to appear broken but often it just needs a little cleaning.

Today Shayna and I went to a holiday craft fair, one of many done by the Renegade Craft Fair kids. There were about 150 vendors, each with their own table and craft, selling t-shirts, jewelry, posters, and other interesting pieces of art. There was tons of cool stuff (check the vendors section of the website for a complete list), but a few are worth mentioning. Shayna got a cool chicago poster from Ork posters. I also liked zombie plates, wearing your heart on your sleeve, haha shirts, posters, and these soft little monsters.  Support Independent Artists!!!

Fall has left, winter has arrived.  In California, seasons are interchangeable, but in Chicago mother nature announced the end of fall last week with our first snow.  I must say I am very excited for winter and seasons in general.  For me, snow means fun snowboarding, white Christmas, and snowball fights. But before I get too excited about snow, let me recap the fall.

I enjoyed my fall overall, spending time with old and new friends, going on a few trips, and studying hard (gmat).  It wasn’t perfect – Shayna and I had some bumps in the road (moving and adjusting to new life can be stressful), but I feel that I’ve grown and learned something from it.  Our new friends have made adjusting in Chicago not only easier, but great fun. We’ve had dinner parties, dance parties, bike rides, bowling sessions, museum visits, and restaurant adventures (yelp reviews).  We also left town a few times, which is always good for the soul.

I’m not sure if its technically the fall, but Labor Day weekend was spent in Atlanta this year, the first time in almost a decade I did not go to burningman.  One of my high school friends, Jason Lichenstein, got married.  It was great to see several of my old high school friends, some I haven’t seen in like 10 years.  However, with everyone using facebook these days, I could find out what people are doing.  Still, it was nice to talk with each of them – Louis Merlin, Kieth Mannes, Bradley Grout, and Jason, of course.

Halloween was just what the doctor ordered this year – time with friends in our old stomping ground.  The weather was not entirely in our favor, it rained on/off all weekend in SF, but we drowned our sorrows away with beverages and parties galore.  I especially love tim and rick and zetta for hosting us and being good friends.  And fritz for opening his old and new place for hanging out, and brasstax for doing what they do best – halloween renegade.  For the complete story, view halloween pics.

Thanksgiving was a chance to spend some time with Shayna and her family in Washington DC, where she grew up.  Her mom made a wonderful dinner for 14 or so people (big ups to Rosalie) with the rest of the immediate family joining in for turkey carving.  I had some 50 year old Chivas Regal then chatted with Shayna’s relatives and friends of the family, all very nice and interesting folks.  Friday we toured some museums and our national monuments.  Walking around the mall. especially from national monument to the Lincoln memorial, I felt very proud to be an American, especially after this year’s election.  It sealed the deal for the inauguration trip – we are planning on driving from Chicago to DC to be part of the 4 million people in DC welcoming our 44th president, Barack Obama.

And the best for last – I became an uncle again on November 7 with the birth of Miss Jane Audrey Aiken. I’m very excited for Leslie, Michael, Katheryn, and Jane, and can’t wait to see them over Christmas. Yes, I will be going to Atlanta for Christmas, leaving the white snowy land of Chicago for cold but most likely a snowfree land in the south.

I bid you adieu, fall, and warm welcome to winter. “Wait till February” everybody says, when you’ll be begging for spring. Till then, I’m gonna enjoy snow.

A few days ago I mentioned I upgraded wordpress and picked a new theme. Today I am reporting the last piece – getting the latest and greatest plugins. I scanned some of the most popular ones and did some digging on my own. I must say i’m disappointed in the wordpress guys for making it so hard to find plugins. You can only search for plugins based on tags, but when there’s thousands of plugins to review, I would want to be able sort different ways. For example, I would love to see plugins in the top 10% in number of downloads, that have been updated in the last year, have at least 3 stars, at least 20 reviews, and match xxx tag. That would be great.

These are the plugins I found and liked.

• Akismet comment spam – comes by default, keeps spammers out of comments.  Great.
• Add To Any – lets people bookmark, email, digg, or do something with your post in a good way.
• flickrRSS – puts thumbnails of my flickr pics tagged “best of” on my sidebar.  Who doesn’t like pictures?
• Viper’s Video Quicktags – make it easy to embed video in a blog post, supports youtube, vimeo, flickr video, google video, dailymotion, metacafe, etc.
• Ultimate Google Analytics – This puts the GA code on every page, a must for detailed info on your site.
• Google XML Sitemaps – creates a sitemap.xml file to help search engines, scripts, and what nots find everything on the site.
• All In One SEO Pack – make it easier for people using google to find your posts and web pages.
• Search Everything – like it says, covers everything when user does a search from your site
• WP-Cumulus – makes a cool sphere of words, which are my categories on my site.  just fun
• WP-PageNavi – makes a nice page navigation at bottom.  For example, if somebody searches for iPhone and there 10 pages of results (about 10 per page), this lets users jump to page 10 right away.
• Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) – Best of the “related posts” plugins.  Intelligent algorithm and more configurable than most.  Basically lists similar posts at the end of a post page.
• PageMash – reorder pages as they appear at the top of the blog, including parents (My Page Order doesn’t do parents)
• Search Results Summary – OK, not a plugin, but code I wrote to simply list results at top so you don’t have to scroll down to see what the results are. Works well with PageNavi.

There’s a few more I’m evaluating (like statpress vs statpress-reloaded vs wassup … last.fm .. podpress, etc) so expect an update in a week or two.

A few I tried but deactivated

• Slimbox – cool javascript that lets user see a nice big picture when a thumbnail on your blog is clicked.  Problem is when user clicks a thumbnail, I think it should act like a link and goto picture page.
• Twitter Tools -Doesn’t allow you display tweets from certain people, this mainly lets you update your own twitter account
• WordPress Gravatars – My theme, Inove, does avatars better (matches theme)
• WordPress Related Posts – Not as intelligent or as configurable as YARPP above.
• WPVideo, Youtube Favorites – Not as good as Viper’s Video Quicktags (Vipers does youtube and more).

As mentioned in my previous post, I upgraded wordpress and am using the Inove theme. I chose it because it looks clean and has basic functionality (most wordpress themes do not). When I say clean, I mean I like the use of black, white, and grey colors, I like the fonts, I like having posts be black on white with the background of the page being grey (anything but white, helps focus attention to the posts). I also like the simple search box in the header, I like the small simple icons like green dots for lists, calendar icon, categories icon, tags icon, comments icon, etc. I like how how tables are done, pre format is done, and a few other things.  However, it is not perfect for me.  So …

Things I changed included

1. Fixing bug where tag icon appears even if a post has no tag
2. Moving categories and tags to the top of posts – I prefer having all the meta information in one place.
3. Moving RSS code from top of sidebar.php to bottom
4. Removing non-widget code from sidebar.php – If a widget is not chosen for N, S, E, W, defaults are shown like archives and categories.  I don’t want 2 categories, as esserd said. If I want something, I will use widgets.
5. Tweaked styles.css to add padding to bottom of lists (.post .content ul,   .post .content ol)
6. Changed header on search results and archive (tags, categories) from 2 lines to 1 line.

Overall great theme.  Thanks mg12!!!  Also, check inove forum for other issues.
UPDATE: You can find my changes in inove-1.0.5.diff.tgz, preview the readme or diff.

Geek Warning…

I’ve been wanting to update chadnorwood.com for a while, so over the weekend I upgraded wordpress from version 2.3.x to 2.6.3 and picked out a new theme.  First I did a wordpress export of my blog as a backup.  Then the upgrade was done using hostmonster’s fantastico deluxe, an automated installing system in cpanel.  Some don’t like fantastico, but it took me 10 seconds to do the upgrade with no problems.  Success.

After the upgrade it took me almost 4 hours to figure out why my category links were broken.  WTF? Basically under 2.3 I had my permalinks setup so if the URL was http://chadnorwood.com/tag/travel/ wordpress would show posts under the tech category.  So I upgrade to 2.6, and Settings-Permalinks show “tag” as the “Category Base” but /tag/travel is broken – no longer works in 2.6.  Of course I didn’t think about changing this till I examined the mysql database tables, dug through thousands of lines of terrible wordpress code, and googled every phrase combination related to this I could think of.  In the end, I reverted back to the basics and it all worked.  I still had to resolve the 404 issue of the old tag links, which I did using template_redirect.

Picking the theme took even longer – but that was more fun.  I basically viewed about 50 of the most popular wordpress themes, downloaded and installed 10 of them, activating one at a time and testing them for functionality and style.  Only 4 seem to have all the basic functionality working correctly, and even tho I liked the wood in State of Mind, I went with the Inove theme. Inove is more clean and shayna thought the wood one was too academic.  I also tweaked Inove .. but thats in the next post.

Overall the wordpress 2.6 is not much different.  The admin pages look cleaner and are better organized for the most part, but the db has changed and some stuff is broken so I would only recommend upgrading if there was a specific theme or plugin that needs 2.6.  I really love the plugins and themes – the number of great choices makes wordpress much better than all the other blogging platforms. It’s not perfect, and the documentation could improve alot, but these wordpress guys are still actively working on making a better blogging software which is a very good thing.