Mac OSX Lion Re-download

After eagerly downloading Lion on my Macbook Pro I quickly went ahead and hit install. I then started reading that once the update is complete the installed is deleted making it impossible to follow the guide to creating a bootable USB version of the installer.

It took some searching around, but it seems you can re-download the installer from the app store. What you do is the following:

  1. Open the App Store
  2. Click on “Purchases”
  3. Now Option+Click on “Purchases” again

The grayed out “Installed” button should change back to “Install” you can then click it and re-download Lion to your hard drive. After that you can cancel the install and follow one of the online guides to creating a bootable USB drive.

Hope this helps.

Having some technical difficulties.

While trying to update my WordPress installation to 3.2 I ran into nothing but problems. After restoring a backup and getting the site backup and running I decided to leave the site in a state of disarray so that I might be motivated to get the new theme I have been working on finished and up.

WordPress 3.2 is now working on my server thanks to the techs running the server, it seems there was a problem with their version of APC (Alternative PHP Cache) and WordPress 3.2. Hopefully that will all get sorted out later, but for now they disabled it so I can get WP 3.2 up and running for now.

Hopefully when I get everything back up and running I will actually start to post some useful stuff again (or for the first time even).

To Flash or Not to Flash

Apple has been taking some heat for a long time now for not supporting Flash on iOS devices, and generally not supporting Flash on their platforms. Until recently I had thought that this was a small mis-step by Apple, but the more I use Flash the more I am starting to believe that their stance on Flash is completely correct, and that all the Android supporters touting Flash support may actually be hurting the Android brand.


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Windows Vista Still Plaguing My Life

Today I installed dd-wrt on my new Linksys E2000 router because of some connectivity issues I was having. Dd-wrt works great and fixed the problem I was having, but an old problem I was having with Windows Vista surfaced again. My parents desktop connects via a wireless adapter and after I updated my router the their desktop would hang on “Identifying Network…”

After eliminating the router as the problem by connecting with two other laptops and my Android phone I decided the problem was Windows Vista. DD-WRT allows you to create virtual wireless devices so I created a Vista only network with no encryption.

Tried to connect and Vista worked fine, identified the network in seconds and asked me to identify the computers location as normal. So I disconnected trued WEP, same thing. Disconnected again and tried WPA worked fine. Then I tried WPA2 and it hung up on “Identifying Network…”

So I dialed it back to just WPA which is decent security but not great, and for some reason that makes the Vista machine happy. I searched all over the net for this problem for ages and never saw this “solution,” if you can calling having to lower your security to accommodate a shitty OS a solution.

In short it seems Vista can not connect properly to WPA2 networks, and if you use WPA you should be ok. Amazing how bad this is, and it galls me to think I have to buy Windows 7 to fix this properly. I think I might just buy them a iMac and get it over with.

Hulu: Minus

After months of hearing about Hulu: Plus and it’s the future of TV I finally found a use for it on my Parents TV. They really enjoy Kitchen Nightmares but missed the mid-season premier on Friday night. They already have a Roku box I got them for Netflix and other web tv so I decided to give Hulu Plus a try so they could watch Kitchen Nightmares on the TV.

So I signed up for Hulu Plus in under five minutes and got it running on the Roku. But that is where the frustration started. First I tried to find the show and ran into the slightly clunky interface, yes it looks slick but I go into browse TV and I get a basic A-Z listing of every show they have. So I went to K and could not find it. So I searched using the D-Pad to enter in the type which I have always thought is one of the worse user interface components I have seen. But the UI is not the biggest issue.
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Java Still Garbage

Ever since I was first forced to learn Java in University I have had a dislike for it. From the very first day it just seemed like a bloated clunky C++, and the JVM just always seemed like a waste of resources. However as my systems got faster the trade-off of having the JVM running for the few applications that may need it seemed like a reasonable one.

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Replacing Verizon’s Router

Ever since I got Verizon FIOS service I have been extremely happy with it. Currently my internet connection is running at 45Mbs down and 30 Mbs up and it really is amazing how fast you get used to having that speed, and how many services it opens up to you. However there is a down side to the service, the cheap ass POS router that Verizon gives you.

When they were installing it I did not think there would be a problem, I figured I would just plug my own router in when they left and be able to do whatever I wanted. For some reason, that eludes me, they ran a COAX cable from the FIOS box outside to the router in the house. So for me to throw out the Verizon router I either have to call Verizon out again, suffer them running dirt all through the house and probably paying a fee, or figure something else out.

Well it turns out that it just adding a new router was not nearly as hard as I though it would be. You can nearly just plug it in and go.
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RIP Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen was and still is one of my favorite comic actors. It was very sad to hear of his passing today, and I thought I would pay my respects with a simple wallpaper. I thought I would share it with everyone else who mourns the loss of someone who brought laughter to so many people. RIP Leslie Nielsen

Memorial Wallpaper – 1920×1200

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Lookout: Android Anti-virus Review

Updated 12-10-2010

Security on mobile devices is becoming more important as mobile devices become much more powerful. A virus or Trojan horse on your smart phone can be just as damaging as a malicious piece of software on your desktop. With that in mind I have always been very selective about the apps I download and install on my phone, they are all from known sources such as Google, Facebook and Rovio. However after hearing about Lookout Mobile Security suite from Leo Laporte on Twit.tv I decided to give it a try to see what it can offer.
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HTML 5

Over the past few months I have been casually working on a new design for the site. Just when I was thinking I had something that was pretty good I got two books in the mail, HTML5 Up and Running and Handcrafted CSS and everything looked a lot different.

First both of these books are very good, and really open your eyes to what HTML5 and CSS3 are all about. They also make any of your older designed code look a little meek in comparison. For me HTML5 was more exciting just because I had not read much about it at all and was quite surprised by some of the cool new technologies in there.

The new semantic tags are very cool like article, header, and footer really make a huge difference in the look of your markup and improve it immensely.

Needless to say I am looking into redoing the design using some of the HTML5 and CSS3 tags and so far it’s pretty exciting.