Thursday, May 13, 2010

10 Big Jumps
Mac OS X v10.4 and later: How to prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections
Last Modified: October 16, 2009
Article: HT1629
Old Article: 301711

Summary
This is an advanced article that contains information about preventing .DS_Store file creation over network connections.

Products Affected
Mac OS X Server 10.4, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X Server 10.5, Mac OS X 10.5
To configure a Mac OS X user account so that .DS_Store files are not created when interacting with a remote file server using the Finder, follow the steps below:

Note: This will affect the user's interactions with SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and WebDAV servers.

Open Terminal.
Execute this command:
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
Either restart the computer or log out and back in to the user account.
If you want to prevent .DS_Store file creation for other users on the same computer, log in to each user account and perform the steps above—or distribute a copy of the newly modified com.apple.desktopservices.plist file to the ~/Library/Preferences folder of other user accounts.

Additional Information
These steps do not prevent the Finder from creating .DS_Store files on the local volume, and these steps do not prevent previously existing .DS_Store files from being copied to the remote file server.

Disabling the creation of .DS_Store files on remote file servers can cause unexpected behavior in the Finder (click here for one example).
How to Restore the Grub Menu after a Re-Ghosting:

1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar.

2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "su"). Enter root passwords as necessary.

3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear.

4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.

5. Type "root (hd0,3)".

6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)".

7. Type "quit".

8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010


Castle Stalker

K2 Seismometer
So far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain.  And so far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Albert Einstein - Geometry and Experience
"Fuzzification" is a kind of scientific permissiveness.  It tends to result in socially appealing slogans unaccompanied by the discipline of hard scientific work and patient observation.

Professor Rudolf Kalman, University of Florida at Gainesville
Into every tidy scheme for arranging the pattern of human life, it is necessary to inject a certain dose of anarchism.

Bertrand Russell - Skeptical Essays
There is great difference between theory and practice.

Giacomo Antonelli (1806 - 1876)
The principal uses of linear filtering theory are for solving nonlinear problems.

Harold W. Sorenson - In a private conversation.
That is how grossly modified the water was...

Sunday, May 02, 2010


A nice day.
He is packing it in and packing it up
And sneaking away and buggering up
And chickening out and pissing off home,
Yes, bravely he is throwing in the sponge.
Brave Sir Robin ran away,
Bravely ran away, away.
When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled.

Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly, he chickened out. Bravely taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat,
Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin.
Bravely bold Sir Robin rode forth from Camelot.
He was not afraid to die, O brave Sir Robin.
He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways,
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin!

 He was not in the least bit scared to be mashed into a pulp,
Or to have his eyes gouged out and his elbows broken,
To have his kneecaps split and his body burned away
And his limbs all hacked and mangled, brave Sir Robin!

 His head smashed in and his heart cut out
And his liver removed and his bowels unplugged
And his nostrils raped and his bottom burned off
And his pen--
"Now stand aside worthy adversary..."

"Tis' but a scratch"

"A scratch?!  Your arm's off!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Well, what's that then?"

"I've had worse."

"You liar!"

"Come'on, you pansy!"

  “An expert is someone who, over many years, manages to remain confident enough to keep trying and humble enough to keep learning.”