Defenestrated

iCal to-do's disappearing in Leopard

Following up from my earlier post about an iPhone synchronization issue under Leopard, it appears that there's another iCal-related issue that upgraders should be aware of.

My wife keeps a running list of notes in iCal about various things -- quotes from the kids, gift ideas, books she'd like to read, and so on -- and these simply disappeared after upgrading to Leopard. (Remember, our solution to the iPhone synchronization issue was to overwrite the iPhone with the iCal data, so we know this problem was not caused by a sync problem.) Others have reported this problem in the Apple forums.

We were able to get the to-do items back through the following procedure:

1. Connect to the drive/media to which you backed up your machine prior to the Leopard upgrade (you did make a backup, didn't you...?)
2. In iCal on Leopard, create a new Calendar Group (File/New Calendar Group...) and call it whatever you want. For the sake of these instructions, we'll call it "Twinkle" (why not?)
3. Inside that calendar group, create a new calendar (File/New Calendar...) and call it whatever you like. Let's call it "HappyCal" for the sake of these instructions
4. The Sources directory contains a bunch of folders, all with a gobbledygook name comprising of bunches of numbers and letters and a ".calendar" extension (e.g. "2418E97A-287C-4AF9-B8A8-A08F8B7A56A9.calendar"). Open the first one, and double-click the file called "corestorage.ics"
5. An iCal message will pop up, like this:

1. In the drop-down box, select "HappyCal" (or whatever you called the calendar you created in step 3, above).
2. If a pop-up appears about unsafe alarms, take the "safe" option that's presented
3. Repeat this procedure for all directories inside the "Sources" directory. Doing so should restore all your to-do items into "HappyCal"
4. Now, double-click the first to-do item you wish to keep, and change the calendar from "HappyCal" to whatever calendar you like. Repeat this for every to-do you want to retain
5. Once you've copied all your to-dos to your original calendars in iCal, you can delete the group called "Twinkle" and the calendar called "HappyCal"
6. Congratulations! You now have all your to-dos back. Well done, you!

There is probably an easier way to do this but I found this to be reasonably quick and effective.

Adjust Harmony remote settings for new Front Row

Front Row is upgraded in Leopard (OSX 10.5) to a version similar to that used in the AppleTV.  Hurrah!  Snazzier menus, more elegant functionality -- what's not to like?  We have a Mac Mini hooked up to our family room TV and it's become a central part of our TV viewing leisure time, so this was especially welcome for us.  We also use a Logitech Harmony 880 universal remote -- a magnificently engineered device that effectively does away with five or so other remotes littering the place.  Under Leopard, commands from the Harmony remote were not received properly by the Mac Mini.

Specifically, every button press on the remote seemed to translate as two pressed in Front Row.  This made menu navigation impossible and, for a few days, we'd been using the Apple remote....which is lovely and cute and all, but a pain in the <cough> to keep around.

We solved this issue by using the wonderful Logitech Harmony software.  By following its troubleshooting guide, we were able to increase the delay between key presses.  This immediately solved the problem!

iPhone synchronization shenanigans

After upgrading to Leopard, my wife's iPhone wouldn't successfully synchronize with her MacBook.  On every attempt, it would stall on the calendar sync, the fan in the MacBook would sound like an incoming Huey, and then an error message would appear about AppleMobileSync having crashed.  Here's what we did to address the problem:

1. Reset the iSync history as described here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301217. This resets the iSync log and shouldn't be done without a reliable source of your data being available, e.g. you know all your stuff is good on your Mac, or you have another kind of backup
2. Set the iPhone's 'Advanced Settings' in iTunes (at the bottom of the Info tab) to overwrite all the iPhone data with that held on the MacBook
3. Kick-off a synchronization

This effectively overwrites the data on your iPhone.  It seems like the iPhone's calendar had some corrupt data in it and, by blitzing it, we solved the problem. Fortunately, the MacBook had the most-current information on it, so we could afford to overwrite the iPhone's information.

I'm not sure if this problem was caused by Leopard or not.  Certainly it only happened after the upgrade but data corruption can happen at any time, I suppose.  Anyway, if this happens to you I hope you find this useful!

Leopard iPhone, keychain, and Harmony remote issues

We upgraded all of our Macs to Leopard (OSX 10.5) on Friday and experienced a couple of niggling problems.  I'll post about them here, starting with a keychain issue that was more of an annoyance than anything else.  The other issues relate to iPhone synchronization and a Harmony remote/Front Row issue.

Keychain renamed
My wife's MacBook (an upgrade from an old iBook running OSX 10.3) experienced a very strange problem: every time she accessed a secure Web site or tried to download mail, or anything else that needed a password she'd entered before, she'd get an error like this: 'Keychain "<username>" cannot be found or has been renamed".  It turns out that Leopard looks for a different OSX keychain filename than in Tiger (10.4).  My wife's keychain was named "login.keychain" whereas Leopard was looking for "shana.keychain".

The solution to this was to:

1. Open the Keychain Access application
2. Click on the File menu, then "Import items..."
3. Navigate to "<username>/Library/Keychains"
4. Select the file "login.keychain" and import it
5. Back in Keychain Access, on the left you should see "login" in the Keychains window pane. Select it
6. Click on the File menu and select "Make Keychain "login" Default"
7. Now restart your Mac and all should be well

OSX and the D-Link DPR-1260 print server

Earlier this year I posted instructions on how to configure a Linksys WPS54G wireless print server to work with OSX, and many folks have found those instructions helpful. Well, I'm updating those instructions right now:

Buy a D-Link DPR-1260 instead!

My Linksys died in a very bizarre way (every client suddenly stalled intermittently, giving a "Control file sent" message on every print job, and proceeding to print bugger all until I stopped the queue and power-cycled the print server) so I decided to try something else. On a complete fluke, I happened to buy the DPR-1260 and brought it home to try it out. I also bought a Netgear equivalent but the D-Link was $20 cheaper, so I tried that first.

Talk about easy.

It was a little disheartening to see OSX listed as supported on the box but violently omitted from the manual. So, resigned to firing up Parallels Desktop (running WinXP) to get the thing configured, I was even more startled when the browser-based setup procedure started installing components into my Windows install. "Aye-aye," though Pirate Me, "this don't look too fruity."

Nonetheless, the printer worked from Parallels so then I went into OSX's Printer Setup utility and configured the printer there using the LPD options, the print server IP address, and the queue name shown in the print server's Web interface.

And it worked first time.

None of the Linksys's "Call it this when you set it up and then change the name before you print" nonsense. Nope. It just worked. Others have had similar successes (see?). We now have two MacBooks, an iBook, and a MacMini all printing to the same Brother MFC printer. Huzzah!

So, if you intend to use OSX with a print server, buy a DPR-1260, is my advice.

Grants stuff now at blog.tcg.com

I've decided to transition all my grants management writing to Behind the Curtain at TCG [blog.tcg.com], my company's blog. Defenestrated will continue to be about whatever passes across my semblance of a brain and, while I'll occasionally mention grants stuff, the bulk of that material will be on Behind the Curtain.

OMB GMLOB guidance released for Q1 FY08

Thanks to Jerry Ashworth at Thompson Publishing, editor of the Federal Grants Management Handbook (disclosure: I'm a member of the Handbook Advisory Board), for pointing me toward the GrantSolutions.gov site where OMB's latest guidance has been posted. This is the guidance that agencies need to meet the Q1 FY08 milestone to sign an MOU with a GMLOB consortia lead or file an appeal. The files are also available here:

1. Consortium+Selection+Appeals+Guidance+Final-4.doc
2. Consortium+Selection+Appeals+Request+Form+Final-1.doc
3. FitGap+and+Appeals+Guidance+FAQs+10.12.2007.doc

I intend to review these a little later, and post some additional thoughts about the kinds of information agencies will need to make a full determination of fit/gaps.

Free training on neuroimaging tools clearinghouse tomorrow

If you have an interest in neuroimaging informatics tools and resources, you should attend the free, online training being held tomorrow on the Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse. NITRC, as the site is known, is being built by NIH as part of the Blueprint for Neuroscience to improve collaboration in tools and data across the neuroimaging community. (TCG is the contractor building and maintaining the site on the NIH's behalf.)

So come along to the training session and learn how you can benefit from and participate in the NITRC!

Give XO's

Time to do some geek good!

You are probably aware of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program that has developed a cheap laptop for use by children in Third World countries. The objective is to make available cheap, reliable computing hardware that requires very little maintenance and can operate effectively under harsh conditions, so that Third World governments can afford to supply them to schools and bridge the information and technology gap between developed and developing nations.

The laptop is called the XO, and David Pogue of the New York Times reviewed it yesterday. That review is here [NYT.com registration required, but worth it!]. As you can see, it's a fantastic machine that absolutely meets its objective and breaks through several technological barriers. It's truly an innovative piece of technology.

Each laptop costs $200. Few of us need or want a new PC every as often we we once might; PC's last quite a long time now and the hardware isn't developing so fast that a four-year-old machine is useless. So why not use the cash you would've spent on a new PC to donate some XO laptops? You can find information about it on www.xogiving.org.

In addition, these machines are not intended for retail in the US, but to encourage publicity and adoption of the machines worldwide OLPC is running a "Give 1 Get 1" offer. Under this offer, purchasers will buy a machine for $400. This will fund an additional machine being sent to a child in a Third World nation. In addition, purchasers will receive a charitable donation tax break courtesy of the IRS. The XO Giving site lets you sign up for information about that, too.

Take a look at the video review on the NYT site, and read Pogue's comments. It's very rare that he gets so excited about a brand new piece of hardware, and I share his enthusiasm. Just from a geek standpoint, this laptop is way-cool. From a welfare-of-your-fellow-man standpoint, it has massive potential for improving the lives, educations, and futures of millions of kids.

So how about it? Why not have your employer consider using your PC renewal budget to donate XO's? Could your school use some cheap hardware? What about your kids? Your grandkids? The kids of your next-door neighbors? If you truly believe that technology can make a difference, put your money where your heart is and participate in this fantastic program!