Patrick and Such

Leopard and usbmuxd issues

Preface: This post to save the frustration of system.log files being filled up with error messages and an iPhone not being recognized by iTunes. It is of an extreme technical nature, and will be completely uninteresting to you. [Continued on site, 0 comment(s)]

Xdebug for PHP 4.4.8 on Mac OS X Leopard

Failed loading /path/to/xdebug.so (null)

You need to specify some options on before you run configure to have Xdebug compiled as a Universal binary:

MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.5 \
CFLAGS='-arch i386 -arch x86_64 -arch ppc7400 -arch ppc64' \
LDFLAGS='-arch i386 -arch x86_64 -arch ppc7400 -arch ppc64' \
CXXFLAGS='-arch i386 -arch x86_64 -arch ppc7400 -arch ppc64' \
./configure --enable-xdebug

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Do not shop at Barnes and Noble (bn.com)

Barnes and Noble is a good idea: Stop what you're doing, and go to Amazon. Barnes and Noble does NOT confirm your order with you before placing it, and there is NO WAY to cancel an order after it has been placed. Amazon, on the other hand, confirms everything before you place it, and they let you cancel it if you want.]]> [Continued on site, 0 comment(s)]

Dear Religious Pamphleteers

Yes, you. You know who you are. You're the ones with the bad hair and clothes, and who are under the delusion that what you are doing is in some way beneficial to the greater good. New flash: you're not helping! Now, while I'm not intimately familiar with the teachings of His Lord, Jesus Christ, I am pretty sure that love thy neighbour was pretty high up on the list of to-dos. Handing out a pamphlet telling me that I'm a sinner and that I'm going to Hell is not, in my opinion, showing your love for me.]]> [Continued on site, 1 comment(s)]

In-Store Pickup at Future Shop

Future Shop's website:

Why would I want to pick up my order at a Future Shop store?
It�s fast. During store hours, you can pick up your order within three hours of placing it on futureshop.ca.
It�s convenient. You can pick up your item whenever it�s convenient instead of waiting at home for a package to arrive.

...

Right... Let me clarify how it actually works.

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Advanced Parking

advanced about their parking lot, but I can assure you that nothing about this lot makes it stand out from any other lot in the city — except for maybe the price (bah-dum-cha). I am also not sure what they mean exactly by advanced people. In some respects, I would consider myself advanced (e.g. computers), but I don't know that I'd claim to be an advanced person as it's just too vague a statement to make. Let's assume they meant to say advanced parkers instead of advanced people. I'm a pretty good parker: I can parallel park my car into pretty tight spaces, I've rarely been stumped at operating convulted parking lot equipment, and I'm generally knowledgeable about the concept of parking. As an advanced parker, I still can't see how this lot is any better — or more "advanced" — than any other lot out there. If I'm missing something here, and you're in the know, please enlighten me.]]> [1 comment(s)]

12 more sleeps until Christmas

Geek Christmas, that is. Yes, MacWorld Expo is just around the corner, and it is the event causing our salivary glands to go into overdrive with anticipation of what will be the next, big product (or products!) from Apple. Will it be Mike's long-awaited über-iTV media centre? A replacement for the 12" PowerBook (ie. 13.3" MacBook Pro)? The Asteroid that never orbited our retail stores? I don't know, but I can't wait!]]> [0 comment(s)]

Beware of Filet Americain

funniest and most disgusting stories I've read in a long time. Written by Vincent Eaton, and beautifully illustrated by Chris Bishop.]]> [1 comment(s)]

The ad that broke YouTube

Digg it

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Tappity-tap-tap

I learned to type in grade 7, and when I took typing in grade 8, my teacher, Mr. Galambos, was rather taken with my skills. Instead of doing the grade 8 curriculum, he had me do grade 9 material instead. If already being able to type wasn't bad enough for a first-year high-school kid, my teacher decided to announce this "special student" to the entire class so that everyone knew there was greatness amongst the class. He was already envisioning me taking grade 10 typing in grade 9, etc. Perhaps one day, I would be able to type the 120 words per minute he could. [Continued on site, 2 comment(s)]

Your data from the desktop to the web

Web 2.0, applications that traditionally lived on your desktop, are now popping up on the web. Behind the push is none other than Google. Yesterday, they made a limited release of their online Spreadsheets application — essentially, Microsoft Excel for your browser. While impressive as far as what one normally finds on the web, it's still not as good as the real thing — at least, not as far as basically usability features such as resizing cell widths. What is impressive is what they've added: collaboration.]]> [Continued on site, 0 comment(s)]

Passports Tips

The quoted wait time on Passport Canada's website is horribly wrong. Multiply the time by four or five to get a more realistic wait time.

If you complete your passport application online you will be served in a priority queue. The guy behind me in the reception line was served about half an hour before me for this very reason. (I sure wish they advertised this, as I didn't even know such an option was available.)

The reception line is always long. The office opens at 07:30, and people usually start lining up at 07:00. Bring a book.

When you get your ticket with your number, a letter will precede it. "A" means regular adult. "E" means you've filled out your form online, and you will be served sooner.

By no coincidence, there are no visible clocks in the passport office. Bring one if you want to keep track of the time.

A series of overhead fans keep things pretty breezy in the waiting area. Bring a jacket or sweater to stay warm.

Oh yes, I also asked why you're not permitted to smile in your passport photo. I was told it was to prepare everyone for biometrics, a technology that can identify you based on measurements between key features of your face; smiling affects said measurements. If I were in charge, I might insist that everyone smile, and base the biometrics on a happier person.

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One Terabyte

LaCie One Terabyte drive, Mike was quoted as saying, "That's more space than you'll ever need." I am posting this so there is a written record of him saying this, as I'm sure it won't be long before his quote will be the new "I can't imagine the day anyone would need more than 640K of RAM."]]> [1 comment(s)]

Il Pleut ... or ... Why am I S.A.D.?

au naturel. At one point over the Cambie Street Bridge, the rain was coming at me, almost sideways with such vigor that I could hardly keep my eyes open. It was also so cold that it could have easily been hail. It rained again today, and if my weather widget is correct, it will for the next six days as well. Welcome to Raincouver on the Wet Coast!]]> [3 comment(s)]

iTunes mini-store paranoia

adware and spyware. For those of you who haven't yet upgraded or noticed, iTunes now has a new feature: when you click on a song in your library, iTunes has a new little window that shows some relevant links regarding the song you have selected. For example, if I click on a Django Reinhardt song in my library, I'm presented with some links to other Django albums, a link to write a review about this particular album, and what some other listeners who bought this album also bought (à la Amazon).

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