<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
    xmlns:admin="http://webns.net/mvcb/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">
	<channel>
<title>TersonoDesign RSS Feed</title><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php</link><description>Latest posts</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2007 Gary Waugh / TersonoDesign</dc:rights><dc:date>2009-05-07T21:22:14+01:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
<admin:errorReportsTo rdf:resource="mailto:G. Waugh" /><sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
<sy:updateBase>2000-01-01T12:00+00:00</sy:updateBase>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 21:27:12 +0100</lastBuildDate><item><title>Long time since an update</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-05-07T21:22:14+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-23</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-23</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It&rsquo;s been a long time since I last posted to this site.   Work has been increasingly busy and I&rsquo;ve been so tied up with other things (both work and other interests) that computer / Mac stuff has taken a back seat until very recently.


One recent change, however, is that I&rsquo;ve gone back to self-hosting.   I managed to pick up a Dell Vostro 200 PC chassis for free (2.2ghz Core2 duo), so I&rsquo;ve turned it into a Hackintosh and am using it as a web server.   It&rsquo;s also doing sterling duty as our main media server too.


In other news, we&rsquo;re still with o2 broadband, having just upgraded to 20mbit down / 2.5mbit up.   For the ridiculously low price (which includes a static IP) it&rsquo;s a ridiculously good service and their tech support people are first class if you do have a problem.   The same provisos still apply, however - replace the lousy o2 box with a Netgear router and make sure you use OpenDNS rather than o2&rsquo;s dns servers.   That done, it&rsquo;s been faultless.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>O2 broadband</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2008-07-26T13:31:40+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-22</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-22</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, we&rsquo;ve now been with o2 for around 4 months, and I&rsquo;m generally still very happy.   There are, however, two provisos:


1.   Forget about using o2&rsquo;s DNS servers, they&rsquo;re crap.   Use OpenDNS instead


2.   Dump the O2 wireless box, which has a tendency to drop connections and doesn&rsquo;t sync at the maximum speed.   Whatever you replace it with, however, MUST be broadcom based or you&rsquo;ll limit your sync speed.   I&rsquo;m now using a cheapie Netgear DG834GT, which is probably the best alternative - it has improved uptime no end and has also increased average download speed to a little over 14k - almost  4k faster than the o2/Thompson box.   Not too shabby =]


Think I&rsquo;ll be sticking with these guys for a while - since changing the router, it&rsquo;s been completely hassle free.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Cheap Broadband redux</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2008-04-04T20:38:31+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-21</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-21</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, I needn't have worried.   Our new ADSL 2 internet connection works just fine.   Fast as all hell, aaaaand the one phone call to support I needed to make (they hadn't sent me details of my static IP, which I needed to get things going), was dealt with in an exemplary manner.


I have no clue how o2 manage to provide the service they do at the price they're charging, but there don't appear to be ANY gotchas - it's a damned good service.   I'll report back in a few months when everything has had chance to shake down a little....]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Cheap broadband?</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2008-03-28T15:59:17+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-20</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-20</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I'm a little nervous.   For the last year we've had a broadband package from one of the best-regarded ISPs in the country - Zen Internet.   However, o2 (better known as a cellphone operator) have recently purchased another fairly well-regarded ISP, Be, and are offering a full-featured broadband package to their cellphone customers at a ridiculously good price.   Given that I'm not 100% happy with Zen (the connection is very stable and their support staff are great, but the price is high, there's a monthly cap and their email servers suck - which doesn't really matter as we use alternatives, but it's occasionally inconvenient), I've decided to switch.


Here's the deal: I currently have 8mbit down, 476k up, static IP and 50gb cap for around &pound;35 per month. o2 are offering me, 16mbit down, 1.3mbit up, static IP, no cap and a 'free' wireless router for &pound;15 per month.   No contest, huh?   Weeeelllllllllll maybe, but I'm kinda waiting for the other shoe to drop.   Yes, I'm locked into a 12 month contract, but most ISPs do that (although Zen didn't), but I do wonder how reliable it's going to be at that price.   Yes, I plan to use other DNS servers, yes, I'm not reliant on their mail servers, but even so, I'm rather used to the old 'you get what you pay for' axiom.   Here's hoping that it's not too good to be true.....


I guess we'll see - switchover is supposed to be next week, BT allowing.   Wish us luck =]]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>I feel vaguely dirty</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2008-01-22T20:23:47+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-19</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-19</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I  just spent quite a bit of my employer's money on new desktop computers.   Our old machines were around 7 years old and are failing (not to mention slow), hence we needed new hardware and fast.   So why do I feel dirty? 


*Deep breath*


I spent that money with Dell.


*Deep breath*


The thing is, where else are you gonna get 15 well-specced computers for less than &pound;200 a pop?   I'd love to have bought Macs, but even base model minis would have cost around twice the price, and we'd still have had to purchase XP (our Goldmine database is Windows only).


Of course, the obvious cure for the above feeling is to go spend some money at a local Apple store, but I'm broke, so that's not an option :-(


Well, poo.....


Seriously, though - these Dell boxes are ridiculously good value.   2.2Ghz C2D, 1gb RAM, 160GbHD, keyboards, mice and XP Pro (I passed on Vista). &pound;184 + shipping.   Yes, you read that right.   Should do us well for at least the next 4 years =]]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Holy Hell....</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Work</category><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-11-03T17:26:34+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-17</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/index.php#unique-entry-id-17</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The server swap that I've been pushing to do for the last 18 months finally happened yesterday. 


The old server, unfortunately, was running Windows 2000 SBS, which meant that we couldn't just drop in another domain controller, migrate Active Directory, promote it to primary and then switch off the old one - SBS doesn't support that.   There was also the issue that the old server configuration was eccentric ( which is putting it mildly) and was going to be a real pain to simplify.


So yesterday, I got to work at about 7.30 am to do some preparatory work.   The new Dell server arrived in the capable hands of Sam (from our I.T. ...  We kicked everyone off the network at 12 and set to work....


...The Dell PowerEdge 2900 is a seriously impressive piece of kit for the money.


...Going for Exchange 2007 was the right move, even though there was a point around 10pm when I wished I'd stuck out for an XServe and OS X Server ;)


...Given the complexity of the transition, we'd expected it to take two days.   We were planning to work until late Friday, then come back Saturday to finish.   Despite a few really annoying glitches (not unexpected, although we were panicking for a few minutes when we had a problem with the avaya phone system, which also authenticates through the server), we managed to finish the whole migration in one mammoth session.   We finally got out of the server room at 2.30am (!)  , which was later than we planned, but worth it as at least it meant that I got to take my missus out to lunch today =]


I know that Monday is going to be big time glitch city, but other than two or three nasty little problems that I'm expecting, I'm quietly confident that things will settle down fairly quickly after that. *touch wood*
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Leopard</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><category>Work</category><dc:date>2007-10-28T08:29:34+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/oct-2007#unique-entry-id-16</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/oct-2007#unique-entry-id-16</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, OS X Leopard has well and truly landed.   First for the upgrade was a G5 machine at work (that is just about to be replaced, so was a good candidate for testing).   I did an archive & install, then wiped and re-installed Adobe CS2 and Dreamweaver (neither of which ever quite survive an archive & install).   Other than having to fiddle with the printer driver before it would behave, I was delighted to find that everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) worked perfectly.   I fully expected to wipe that machine and re-install Tiger before re-purposing it out to another department, but under the circumstances, it can stay exactly the way it is.


Next up was my own MacBook Pro.   I did a full wipe on this one as a: I wanted to clear some crud off the system and b: I felt like it ;-)


Again, everything works - even Adobe CS2 under Rosetta (I also have CS3, but need CS2 for compatibility with work - I just don't install VersionCue, which is the one bit that breaks).   I was especially impressed by the upgraded partition management tools in Disk Utility as I made a mistake when setting up Boot Camp the first time, and needed to wipe the Windows partition - was done easily without even needing to reboot the machine.   Windows could learn a lot from this OS.   Anyhow, I've now got XP running well both via BootCamp and VMWare (temporarily - wanted to test XP under Boot Camp as I'm going to be installing an iMac at work set up that way - It'll be replaced with Vista in due course), all my other major applications are installed and working and I'm struggling to remember when I last did an OS upgrade that went so smoothly (that'll be never, then ;-) ).


The only slight hiccup on the horizon is the new iMac we're installing at work - it has to drive a Konica/Minolta 5440 colour laser and the b*strds don't have a driver compatible with OS X Intel (only PPC). ...  Looks like I'm going to have to hack the open-source Linux-compatible driver to work with Leopard's version of Ghostscript.   Oh well - in the meantime I can always print via the XP partition....]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Shock Horror&#x21; Macs good value&#x21; ;-)</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Work</category><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-10-19T20:10:07+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/oct-2007#unique-entry-id-15</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/oct-2007#unique-entry-id-15</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I'm kinda blown away by the astonishing value of the current iMac range.


We need another Mac at work.   Previously we've bought pro models only, but for the use they get, I'm not convinced we need a Mac Pro (especially given that the MacBook Pro I'm typing this on is more than powerful enough to do everything we need).   Hence I recommended that we bought an iMac.   The board was stunned.   The last Mac they authorised cost almost two grand - this one was &pound;680 + VAT and will be a major improvement on the old G5 it's going to replace.


Having priced up cheap Windows PCs recently, I'm struck by the fact that you can pick up a Mac with a quality 20" widescreen display, 1Gb RAM, a 250Gb HD and the iLife software bundle for little more than an entry-level HP business PC with a crappy screen and not much else. 


I wish I could switch the whole company over - unfortunately we rely on the Goldmine CRM software, which is Windows only, so we're stuck.   Shame.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Well poo - No Leopard for my G4 :P&#x7e;&#x7e;</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-10-05T16:53:13+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/oct-2007#unique-entry-id-14</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/oct-2007#unique-entry-id-14</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well now it's public, I guess I can talk about this Leopard issue myself.   Unfortunately, owners of earlier G4s need not apply - it's now specced for 867Mhz and up only.   It's a shame (I've got an old G4-400 that I would have upgraded, but will now leave running Tiger), but not really that big of a deal - especially as - hmm....   I think I better keep that comment to myself for now (NDA).


I know it's a long way in the future, but I find myself wondering what the hardware requirements of OS X 10.6 will be in a couple of years' time. ...  (My guess would be the latter, but probably requiring at least a high-end G5).   I'm reminded of the 68k to PPC switch, and the years of universal binaries.   Given that the underpinnings of OS X (i.e.   NeXTSTEP) have long been intended for portability, I suspect that we're going to be in for a few years of Universal Binaries yet, but that Intel switch is coming, and my guess is that G5-based Macs are going to be looking like dinosaurs a lot more quickly than, say, the G3 and G4 did.


Meantime I'm going to quit buying old Macs for server use.   I've still got a G4 that's doing sterling service, but when the time comes, it'll be replaced with a cheap secondhand Intel Mini (or equivalent).   My days of buying and selling old Macs are, I think, over - at least for now.   I can see too many ways of catching a cold - PPC Macs are, I'm sure, going to continue to plummet in price.   I'm just glad that I sold my G5 for a decent figure before they hit rock bottom =]]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>iPhone - a triumph of style over functionality</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-09-21T21:17:11+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/sep-2007#unique-entry-id-13</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/sep-2007#unique-entry-id-13</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Okay, so I'm what you might call a smartphone 'power user'.   I have an old Orange M500 (made by HTC) Windows Mobile smartphone, which I use heavily for work.   It not only handles phone calls, but also manages server configurations, user passwords, my diary and tasklist.   It also does SatNav pretty well - albeit with an external bluetooth GPS.


People have been asking me whether I was going to buy an iPhone (they know I'm a Mac fan of long standing). ...  Music, video, email, web browsing and .... err.... that's about it.   Sorry, don't need the media stuff, and email and web browsing is done just fine by other things.   Frankly, from my point of view, the iPhone is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.


Soo, I've just ordered an 02 XDA Orbit.   It has Windows Mobile 6, built-in GPS (so it'll run TomTom 6), email, web browsing, task list, diary, pocket word, excel and all the usual stuff.   It's costing me nowt - just a switch of service providers. 


Much as I like most of Apple's products, it was a no-brainer - the Windows smartphone leaves the iPhone so far behind it's embarrassing.   Yes, it's not as cute or funky, but in terms of the job it will do for me, there's no contest.   I've just saved myself &pound;270 + &pound;5 per month and wound up with, in my view, a far superior solution. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>I.T. Support</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-08-31T20:51:10+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-12</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-12</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, I had a long meeting today with our new I.T. support partners.   Damn, but it's good to work with competent people who are enthusiastic about doing business with us.   We talked about the new server that we are hoping to implement very shortly, and not only did the support company guy have some damn good ideas, but he was positively relishing the challenge (the migration is not going to be easy).


I have a really good feeling about this.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Reasons to love Macs #3672</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-08-22T15:13:33+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We have a word document.   It appears to be corrupt as every time one tries to open it in Word for Windows, Word dies painfully.


Wordpad doesn't want to know.   OpenOffice/Win opens it, but it's badly garbled (lots of random junk in the text).


Let's try on OS X:


NeoOffice opens it, but it's still a bit garbled - strangely it's far more readable than in OpenOffice for Windows (Gawd knows why, Neo is built from the same codebase - mebbe my version of Neo is just that bit later, dunno), but the formatting is seriously screwy.


Nisus Writer Express also opens it, but again the formatting is out.


I can rescue the file from either one if I have to with a little work, but I keep trying...


...At least it doesn't crash, but it won't open the doc at all


...Opens the file.   Highlights the fact that the problem is with an unimportant embedded image, which it doesn't try to display, showing only a black box, but DOES let me delete from the file.   I save out to Word format.   The file now opens in Word for Windows without further issue.


iWork '08 is most definitely a keeper =]]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Well&#x2c; okay Judith - you happy now? ;-)</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-08-20T16:38:20+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[So I changed the background colours around a bit.   I've no clue why you want to read this nonsense, but I hope you find it easier now ;-)


I'll also try to watch the language in future *grin*]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Well I finally went and did it...</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-08-20T16:22:54+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-9</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/aug-2007#unique-entry-id-9</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[You remember that post from a while back talking about Apple releasing my ideal computer?


Well, I just took delivery.   It's a 17" MacBook Pro with 1920x1200 high-res glossy screen, 160gb 5400rpm HDD, DL DVD burner & 2Gb RAM.   It's so much faster than the G5 it's embarrassing, and XP runs under VMWare at pretty much native speeds (at least compared to the 3Ghz P4 machine I use at work).


Without a doubt it's the best computer I've ever owned.


Gripes?   Not many.   I'll admit that I wish Apple had followed HP's lead and added a numeric keypad to the 17" model (the HP's keyboard has a better feel, too), Apple REALLY should use some of the spare space in this machine to allow fitting of a second hard drive (also present in the HP) and..... errm..... that's about it, really.


Now I get to look forward to Leopard.   =]]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Software Activation</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><dc:subject>Home</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-07-21T17:59:50+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-8</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-8</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[How can small software companies fail to see how potentially damaging to their business software activation is?   It seems to be increasingly popular with a certain type of 'one man and a dog' developer, though - especially via Esellerate's complete abortion of an activation process.


What these developers never seem to realise is that every time one of their less-experienced customers buys a new computer, has a hard drive fail, or - God forbid - reformats their hard drive, there's roughly a 50-50 chance of losing that customer for good.   Very few people remember to de-activate their software when required so that they can re-install.   Hell, many of them may not even realise they need to.   Let alone those poor sods who have a hardware failure and never even get the chance...


Yes, I know that these companies will try to help people in that situation, supplying them with a replacement serial, but this fails to take into account a: the inconvenience to the customer and b: the fact that they may not realise they're entitled to a replacement serial.


...It has long been my habit to abandon software developers who are sufficiently butt-headed to insist on activation.   Now whilst most of my sites are produced in a text editor, until recently I had been using RealMac's RapidWeaver to roll out simple-to-edit sites with custom-designed themes whenever a non-techie insisted on being able to edit said site.   I've also used it for the odd personal project, simply because apathy won.


Following Realmac's latest upgrade, however, we have the dreaded, bug-ridden Esellerate engine to worry about.   Hence I'll be looking at other solutions in the future - certainly, I won't be recommending clients to purchase RapidWeaver unless the licensing arrangements change.


Sorry RealMac Software - you've made a very poor decision.   I hope you realise your mistake before it's too late.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Why is it so hard to find decent I.T. support?</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><category>Work</category><dc:date>2007-07-16T15:31:13+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-7</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-7</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[My current challenge at work is to find an alternative I.T.   Support contractor.   The current company we're using are a lot better than the useless bunch of f*ckwits ... errrm, previous mob we were saddled with when I took over running our systems, but we're really paying for more service than we need - and, more importantly, response is pretty glacial at times.   We constantly get the feeling of being a small, unimportant client of a large company.


It's like this. 98% of the I.T. problems that occur are solved by me.   I monitor the servers for problems, fix PCs, install software and generally keep the place running.   The sort of support we need is a: to provide basic disaster cover if, say, a server fails, b: provide coverage for all of our systems on the rare occasion that I'm not in the office (on holiday, whatever) c: to be there to provide advice should I come across a situation I can't figure out (bearing in mind that I'm a Mac/Unix expert but supporting a largely Windows network) and d: to help with new projects, such as setting up new servers etc.


We're a charity and it's senseless paying a couple of grand per month for support when we barely use it.


So, what I'm looking for is a company who will either provide the above on a pay-as-you-go basis, OR for a low fixed fee for the day-to-day stuff (I'm thinking &pound;5k pa or less) plus call-out charges where appropriate.


You'd think this would be easy - there must be a lot of small-to-medium businesses with I.T. staff on-site who just need a little extra backup - but it ain't.   Having a real struggle finding a company that fits our needs and is small enough that we have a chance to build up a profitable relationship with them.   I'm still lookin'.... wish me luck!


...Well, we finally found a company who I think we stand a chance of getting along REAL well with - they seem to fit the bill perfectly, and I have been very impressed with their general attitude and knowledge so far.   They take over in September. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Reasons to love Macs #3468</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Work</category><dc:date>2007-07-13T16:28:15+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-6</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-6</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It goes like this.   I've never had any interest whatsoever in video, so whilst I've installed iMovie and iDVD on my machines as part of the iLife suite, in all these years I've never even opened them.


Until today.


A colleague comes to me with several video clips that she needs to circulate around our board of Trustees (I work for a charity).   They need editing.   They need to be turned into a DVD.


So, after saying 'no promises, as I have no clue what I am doing', I broke out iMovie and iDVD. 90 minutes after launching them for the first time ever (I didn't even know what the apps looked like until today).   I have a DVD with a nice animated menu and several clips of video&nbsp;launch-able from that menu.   The bosses are delighted.   I'm amazed lol


I still have no interest in video, but I certainly had a BIG reminder today of why I use Macs.   No faffing around - they just let you get the job done.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Doing away with the desktop...</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-07-04T17:04:12+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jul-2007#unique-entry-id-5</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I remember a post I made to the 'old' Blogger-powered version of this site shortly after I bought my current G5.   I said that it was a mistake - I should have bought a top-end powerbook instead...


Well, it's still true - in fact, I'm using my desktop machine less and less these days and am spending increasing amounts of time on my clapped out 5 year-old Powerbook G4.   The thing is that the TiBook is no longer powerful enough to do what I need - namely it won't run Aperture.   Secondly it would be very handy to be able to run Parallels on an occasional basis, hence a requirement for an Intel Mac.


So it's time.   I'm going to be selling the G5 sometime in the next couple of months and replacing it with a MacBook Pro (or possibly even just a regular MacBook, dependent on finances).   Once I've done that, I'll also move on the powerbook G4.   I was semi-tempted to pick up a Mac Mini for desktop use, but, to be honest, I really don't know what I'd use it for.   A laptop will be faster, will still be usable with my 20" screen and external storage can be handled by my G4 fileserver.   Job done.


Frankly, gone are the days when a laptop is only powerful enough to be a second machine.   For Photoshop, Indesign and Dreamweaver use (the 3 apps I spend most of my time in), even a base model MacBook will be more than adequately powerful.


Soo.... anyone wanna buy a PowerMac G5 1.8? ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Zen and the art of motorcy... err... internet maintenance...</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-06-30T17:09:54+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jun-2007#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jun-2007#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, it's been about a month now since we switched ISPs from Pipex to Zen, and I gotta say I'm impressed.   I hear all of these horror stories about the reliability of ADSL Max connections, but it's been a complete success here.   I managed to download an OSX combo update at over 600k/sec the other day - which ain't much below the theoretical maximum of the line.


Zen's tech support are as good as Pipex used to be (back in the good old days when they were still owned by UUnet), and the price is around &pound;15 per month less than I was paying with Pipex.   The only downside is that there's a monthly cap, but I've not even used 25% of my allowance (and I could always buy more if necessary - and still cost less than I was paying before).


Keep it up, guys - at this rate I'll be with you for quite a while...   =]]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Well damn... I REALLY want one</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-06-06T17:26:08+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jun-2007#unique-entry-id-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/jun-2007#unique-entry-id-3</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Apple have just updated the MacBook Pro, and in doing so have produced possibly my ideal computer:


MacBook Pro, 2.4ghz Intel Core2 (Santa Rosa chipset), 17" glossy widescreen display 1920x1200 res (option), 2Gb RAM as standard (upgradeable to 4Gb), 160 or 250 Gb HDD, DVD writer etc...   Price is just under &pound;1900 including the high-res screen (which is about &pound;60 more than the standard version).


That's a lot of computing power for the money - especially in a laptop.   For only around &pound;400 more than a decent-spec iMac with similar screen res, I could have a machine that would likely serve all my computing needs for the next 5 years - both as a portable and as a desktop replacement. 


The only problem is the dough - my G5 is worth around &pound;550 ish, and I'd probably get around &pound;250 for this powerbook - I dunno where I'm gonna find the extra  &pound;1100, but I _really_ want one of these machines.   Oh well, mebbe next year.   =] ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Upheavals</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-05-26T20:20:10+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/may-2007#unique-entry-id-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/may-2007#unique-entry-id-2</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, it's like this: we need a new kitchen, so we're having it done in about 3 weeks time.   Guess where my 'office' is? 

...Given that I don't work from home any more, it's been decided that my office will move into what is now the utility room (it's only 6' x 4', but I've used it as an office before, and it'll serve the purpose).   However, this means several weeks of utter chaos, so for now we're all on laptops (I'm flippin' glad we still have the old powerbook G4, as that's gonna be my primary comp for the next month or so).   Service may be intermittent until then.... 

...The good news is that we'll have room for Rose's 17" HP laptop on the new breakfast bar in the kitchen once everything is complete, so we'll each have a surface to work on when we both want to use the computer at the same time. 


In other news, we've just switched ISPs.   We used to be with Pipex, who were once by far the best service provider in the UK.   Unfortunately, they've been split off from UUnet (later MCI) and are now in private hands.   Since then, service has deteriorated (putting it mildly) - they're not offering the latest high-speed products to their business customers and their billing department has gone all to hell.   I therefore decided to move to Zen internet, who seem to be about as good as they get at the moment.   It took 'em less than a week to switch us over, and better yet, our download speed has almost quadrupled to just under 8mbit, upload increasing from 256kbit to 448 - all this for about two-thirds of what we were previously paying (and this is still a business account with a static IP). ...  It's still early days yet, but so far things look promising.   Zen offer a monthly billing cycle anyhow, so we're not locked into them for a year if things don't work out.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Music server</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Geek</category><dc:date>2007-05-07T08:49:02+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/may-2007#unique-entry-id-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/may-2007#unique-entry-id-1</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Last year I bought a Roku Soundbridge for about half price on eBay (although I now wish I'd hung on a bit longer and bought an Apple TV instead, but that's another story. ...  Anyhow, at the time, we had around 60 gigs of music in the iTunes library, and that was what we used to feed the Soundbridge.   The only thing is that the tunes on there had been ripped at relatively low bitrates for listening with computer speakers or ipods.   Through the system in the living room (which is pretty high quality), everything sounded rather 'flat'.


...I bit the bullet and am nearing the end of re-ripping our whole CD collection in Apple Lossless format.   A long job, but DAMN is it worth it.   Sound is every bit as good as the original CD, and WAY better than even 320kbps AAC.   I'm sufficiently impressed to have decided to pack away our CDs (especially given that I've ripped 'em ALL this time) and just rely on the Soundbridge for music (which will save us a LOT of space in the living room). 


Apple Lossless format still offers quite a bit of file compression, so the iTunes library is still only around 200gb - despite having several hundred CD's worth of music in it.   It's residing on a RAID 1 array in our G4 fileserver, and just to be on the safe side I've also got a backup on an external HD.


Downloadable music (legal, of course) is quite obviously the way the market is going now, and I can't say that I'm sorry.   Certainly, I'm pleased with the amount of space we're going to be saving in the lounge with all those CD's packed away and stored in the attic, and I'm looking forward to the day when the same can be done with DVDs - it's quite obviously on the way, just waiting for storage technology to catch up.   I find it amusing that the G4 we use as our media/file/mail server originally shipped with a 20gb HD - which was deemed adequate at the time - now, however, it has around a terabyte of storage in it, and that's no longer considered excessive.   How things change in a relatively short space of time...]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>New site</title><dc:creator>G. Waugh</dc:creator><category>Site News </category><dc:date>2007-04-28T10:19:49+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/apr-2007#unique-entry-id-0</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tersonodesign.com/files/apr-2007#unique-entry-id-0</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It's been a couple of years since I last updated this site and the content was getting very out of date, so I figured it was time to start again from scratch.   I'm being lazy and just throwing together a quick-n-dirty - I spend quite enough time doing this kinda thing at work, and really can't be bothered to do too much of it in my spare time sooo...... :-p


The old site used a blogger-powered front page, but this site doesn't, hence the lack of old posts.   I rather doubt that anybody cares, though, so I'm not quite sure why I mention it ;-)


A lot of the old content (desktop pictures, omnigraffle pallettes, themes etc.) haven't made it onto the new site, as I'm really not sure that any of it is terribly relevant these days.   I may resurrect some of the artwork at a later date - in the meantime I've added a page covering some of the art and design work I do for a living. if anyone wants to hire me, contact me through my www.nonsensefactory.co.uk site ;-)


Note that this site is under heavy, but extremely slow, construction.   I'll try to add a little more content in due course.
]]></content:encoded></item></channel>
</rss>
