Thursday, May 28, 2009
Updated CrashPlan settings so that "Virtual Machines*" is now excluded as a regex rather than "Virtual Machines" (nonregex). It was backing up a hidden folder called "Virtual Machines.localized" which I didn't expect and that was making my current backup take a long time. Weight training: superslow kneeling kickback, superslow side-lying leg lift, superslow dumbbell press, wrist curl, reverse wrist curl. Cardio cool-down: 10 minutes. Usual oatmeal breakfast. To work. Decided to abandon my Windows Vista VM in VMware Fusion primarily because the problem in which I received the error "This virtual machine has more than 100 snapshots in a single branch of its snapshot tree" was too difficult to resolve. I never had 100 snapshots, but it thought I did, and even if I deleted all the snapshots the error message persisted. Advice in fora said to clone the disk from within Windows or possibly to use some other VMware tools but it was just more trouble than it was worth. Began setting up my Windows XP VM in VMware Fusion. In OS X, set up webdav shortcuts to commonly used web servers. Started using the AutoClick feature in RSIGuard. This AutoClick feature intends to prevent RSI, and it takes getting used to but I believe it is something that is worthwhile so I'm going to try it out for a bit. The idea is that software (RSIGuard) performs mouse clicks for you automatically so that you don't incur repetitive strain injury from mouse clicks. You have to learn new ways of using the mouse for it to work properly and for you to not get annoyed. Extra keys such as those in the numeric keypad enable you to single-click, double-click, triple-click, and click-and-drag. I was dubious at first, thinking that things like graphic design work couldn't possibly be used with AutoClick, but after trying it out I think it might be possible. I currently don't have any RSI problems, but I have in the past, so I know that when the makers of RSIGuard say that the investment in learning and using AutoClick is worthwhile I believe it. In XP, set up webdav shortcuts to commonly used web servers. Discovered that webdav is sometimes too slow to be useful. Switched to Cyberduck with Smultron. I've been trying different applications and workflows so that I can stop relying on Windows. I also briefly worked with Coda today. My favorite HTML editor is HTML-Kit by Chami, but I never upgraded to HTML-Kit Tools because there is no trial version and it's not clear if it has the features I want (SFTP, anti-aliased fonts in dialogs such as Preferences). And there's no Mac version. I've installed a lot of HTML editors and IDEs for Mac but none of them really stood out for me in terms of things I'm looking for. A lot of them seem to require a concept of projects but I don't work that way—I just work directly on the server. I just want to configure connections for all the servers I need and then be able to open them and see their filesystems as a tree in a pane just like in HTML-Kit. Mac doesn't seem to have anything like that. I also briefly investigated replacements for Apple Finder. Finder does some neat things, but I'm used to Windows Explorer, and I'm used to full keyboard navigation and being able to see whatever columns I want, particularly in search results after doing a find. There are many Finder replacements available, and they all cost money, I think. Further investigation is required. If I can't find an HTML editor and workflow on Mac that I like, then I'll either begrudgingly stick with HTML-Kit or possibly figure out a way to use vim and write my own vim macros to duplicate HTML-Kit behaviors. For example, HTML-Kit has a really powerful feature that enables you to map a keyboard shortcut of your choice to actions of your choice. It's really easy to build macros to insert common snippets of text or perform repetitive tasks. I could do this in vim, but so far I haven't found anything else on Mac that comes close to that functionality. CP faculty meeting. School all faculty meeting and reception, chatted briefly with Ingrid. Chatted with Susie afterwards. Dinner at Bistro 9 with psychobauble, Nate, Melissa, Chris G, Patrick. Visited NightLife at California Academy of Sciences. Melissa walked with us to the museum but didn't join us inside. From 6 PM to 10 PM the museum is open to only adults 21 and over (no kids!) and they have DJs and live musicians in addition to the open exhibits. Admission is $10 (non-members) or $8 (members). We got there a little before 8 PM. There was a short line, but it moved quickly. Inside we found the museum was pretty full, and the crowd was mostly 20s and 30s. We didn't bother with the coat check—there was a really long line when we arrived. Near the pendulum a DJ spun really great music and was accompanied by a live conga player. In the diorama hall some musicians were breaking down their setup—we had missed their performance. We missed our chance to enter the butterflies and the rainforest exhibit by 3 minutes—it closes at 8 PM. We encountered neighbor Zach who was accompanied by Gina and Mariana. It's a very entertaining way to see the museum. Kids and tour groups don't get in the way, and there's a variety of options that aren't there during a day visit. Home. Although it was late and dark I spent about 15 minutes removing some sticky substance from the car with Goo Gone. It had been there for a long time but I managed to remove it completely. I also tried but did not succeed at fixing the sticky driver's door handle with a bar of paraffin. Here are some journal notes from a recent day but I neglected to record which day it was exactly: [Usual oatmeal breakfast. Walked essentially all the way to work. Troubleshot VMware Fusion error: "This virtual machine has more than 100 snapshots in a single branch of its snapshot tree" and "The specified virtual disk needs repair."] Received 3 emails from CrashPlan in response to my inquiry about how to make a network usb hard drive available to backup buddies. The 1st one at 8:07 AM said, "Welcome to CrashPlan Support. Please follow the link below to choose a password, and we will log you in right away." The 2nd one at 8:08 AM said, "Thank you for contacting CrashPlan Support. CrashPlan PRO / CrashPlan+ / CrashPlan Central customers: Our support team will process your request as soon as possible. FREE CrashPlan users: Visit our support wiki and forums. Please include the following information in your request: Operating system and version, Software version, Detailed description of the question or problem, CrashPlan Central / CrashPlan+: relevant computer name(s)." The 3rd one at 9:17 AM said, "Ticket status: Closed. **You received this automated response because you are part of the free user community or you have emailed us from an address other than your registered account email.** If you are a CrashPlan Central or CrashPlan+ customer and have questions or have run into an issue, please submit a new ticket via your account address so we can make sure you're in the proper support queue. Free users, please check out the information in our Support Wiki or post a topic in our User Forums. Support Wiki: http://support.crashplan.com . User Forums: https://crashplan.zendesk.com/forums . We have a special forum dedicated to feature requests, so if you have an a feature suggestion, please let us know! Thank you, The CrashPlan Support Team." This user experience really soured me on CrashPlan because the support web page on which I clicked the support e-mail address to begin this interaction did not make it very clear that free CrashPlan users cannot get email support. I understand the need to provide different levels of support—that's not what bothers me. I'm annoyed because it doesn't cost them anything to set that expectation correctly, say, on the page at http://www1.crashplan.com/consumer/support.html—but they didn't: "Email Support - If our online resources haven't answered your question, drop us a line at support@crashplan.com!" Another way to set this expectation could be during the product installation, but I don't recall that happening when I installed it, and anyhow sometimes there's a lot of time between when you install and when you need help. Installed RSIGuard at home. After some experimentation on my own, I think I figured out the answer to my CrashPlan question. You can do it, but the user interface doesn't make it very obvious that you can until you perform certain actions. Set up AutoClick in RSIGuard at home. Stretches. Weight training: superslow hammer curl, various other upper body. Late meal: Joe's Os, hot nonfat milk.