SteamSHIFT

As a web developer, I love the fact that my work machine can run apache, mysql and php. It makes my working life so much easier than all that ftp’ing then testing. It becomes even more important when you are working with Subversion; I think it good practice to work on a particular bit of a project until it is basically working, before those changes are committed. So my set up is that my SVN working copies become my apache docroots.

So, I usually have Apache 2 set up (along with MySQL, and PHP), via MacPorts, and using ‘dynamically configured mass virtual hosting‘.

This basically means that any calls to my local apache server will look in my sites folder for a directory with the same name as the requested domain name. In order to get the domains working under Mac OS X Tiger, I would just edit /etc/hosts pointing each domain to 127.0.0.1, then restart lookupd, and the whole system would work.

Great … except when Apple developed Leopard, they removed lookupd and thus, my means of pointing my local domains to my local server. Read on for the answer …

Technorati Tags:
developing, how to, Mac, osx, software, tips, tutorials, leopard

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If like mine (until this morning) has been exibiting the behaviour of shutting itself down (with no prior warning) after 15 or so minutes running on battery power (but is fine when plugged into the mains); it could well be a battery problem. I took my (6 months out of warranty) machine into my local Apple Store this morning, was given a replacement battery and am now happily running on battery once more.

SteamSHIFT out.

A while back, I was doing some work with Arduino, passing serial data to the mac to a small application written with Processing which converted the serial data into MIDI data and pushed it out into other apps. Now Processing is a Java thing; and the standalone applications it creates are Java applications.

All fine, but a mere few days before an assessment, I couldn’t get the Serial to Midi application to work; I recalled an article on createdigitalmotion.com which I admit, I didn’t read fully, which said the following:

On the music side, Apple dumped its com.apple.audio.midi java package with 10.4.8. Result: not only do you lose all the features that make the Mac great for MIDI, like the IAC bus for inter-application MIDI routing, but your external devices also spontaneously disappear. Nice.

Now at this point, I put 2 + 2 together and got 5 … Apple have broken my app… Ahh what to do - revert my entire computer to 10.4.7?

So, I sat down and over the next few days and with much help, I managed to build (read: hack together) a serial to midi converter in Objective-C and Cocoa. Works perfectly (now!).

So, no more problem. Indeed. And not 1 day later, I remembered that I had bought an Java extension from Mandolane, which was needed for my original app. I reinstalled that and bingo, that worked too. Doh. Doh. Doh.

Oh well; I wanted to start learning Cocoa etc!

SteamSHIFT out.

Technorati Tags:
midi, mac, osx, art, experiments, developing, cocoa

DOH DOH DOH

How did I never notice the Add User / Edit User / Permissions in CocoaMySQL????

I was trying to hide it away; hit command-m and there the permissions box was! Now aside from the fact that command-m is a stoopid shortcut key to use (normally is for minimise), this is a great find; apparently it’s only been there since Beta 0.7b5 … so upgrade if you’re not using that version.

SteamSHIFT out.

Technorati Tags:
mac, osx

I recently wanted to create an application to allow uploads to a website, in the simplest possible way; so I made a little BASH script which used cURL to post the files to the server. Then with a little Platypus (mixed up with CocoaDialog) magic, I ended up with a droplet style application. If you’re a scripter, and want some application magic then do check it out.

SteamSHIFT out.

Technorati Tags:
mac, osx, developing

So, Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software has taken over development of MarsEdit (in my opinion the best Blog editing software for the Mac). He’s pretty keen to get cracking on making it even better, so I put in my 2 pence worth - a feature request for TextMate integration …

Turns out, there are 2 ways of accomplishing this; 1. set TextMate as the external editor for MarsEdit, then just create (or click to edit your post) and hit command-J (File -> Edit with TextMate); 2. Install the ‘Edit in TextMate…’ bundle, which will allow you to edit any text from any Cocoa application in TextMate.

Woohoo! How easy is that?!

SteamSHIFT out.

Technorati Tags:
mac, osx, cocoa, textmate

It was certainly an experience! And not one that I have any desire to repeat …

I decided that it would be a good idea to upgrade my web and email server to OS X Server 10.4. Partly because I was struggling to get spam filtering working as well as I wanted, and partly because I wanted to upgrade to PHP 5.1.4 and the excellent packages for PHP produced by Marc Liyanage no longer support 10.3. Also, I figured that by 10.4.6, the OS is stable enough for a production environment. It also helped that I was able to procure a cheap copy via ebay!

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mac, osx, server, installation

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My (fairly new) MacBook Pro had developed some rather tedious behaviours such as sometimes not going to sleep when the lid is shut or not waking up when asked to. Also wireless networking performance had been rubbish…

So, figuring they were hardware problems (a friend had many hardware problems with his first revision MBP), I backed up the whole machine, ready to go off to Apple for repair … I thought I’d also reinstall the OS whilst I was at it.

Hey Presto, sleep problems solved. Wireless networking problems solved. Bonus. I’m just going to have to be very careful about what software I put on in the future … I’m guessing it was a 3rd party app, that wouldn’t shut down properly or something.

Technorati Tags:
mac, osx, how to

I finally tried out the Firebug extension for Firefox; man it’s good. Almost enough to make me switch to FF full time. As a web developer, it’s simply indispensable once you’ve started using it …

Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

Combined with the GrApple (Eos Pro) theme, Firebug is making a good case for me to switch … if it wasn’t for the very un-mac behaviours like not using the keychain.

So, for now I’ll keep playing the dual browser game; Safari still rocks (apart from being a bit of a resource hog).

SteamSHIFT out.

Technorati Tags:
mac, osx, developing, web development, browsers, firefox

Custom USB Keyboard for Controlling Ableton Live

I just finished reworking an old USB QWERTY keyboard to serve as a custom keyboard for controlling Ableton Live, and thought you might like a look. The whole thing is well-documented with photos and comments at my Flickr site:

flickr set: Custom keyboard for Ableton Live

The basic idea: instead of buying an expensive controller to expand my tactile control of Ableton Live (or building something custom with MIDI controllers), I decided to use an old USB QWERTY keyboard and custom-paint it to enhance its use as a live performance device.

The big idea behind the keyboard is that the humble QWERTY keyboard offers a ton of control possibilities, thanks to the flexible keymapping capabilities of Ableton Live. I’ve been using the built-in keyboard on my Powerbook for a while now to trigger clips in performance, but it’s tough for a couple reasons. First, it looks like you’re writing e-mail during a show, and that’s kinda boring. Second, all the keys look the same (minus the markings, of course) - there’s not much that lets you navigate easily in low-light conditions and in the heat of the moment on stage.

You can see a full write-up here:

custom USB QWERTY keyboard for Ableton Live [Ableton forum]

Simple and yet effective!!

(Via createdigitalmusic.com.)