We’re looking at buying a new house. When I’m on the road there’s nothing nicer than being able to log into the house and turn off the lights. That’s why there’s this stuff for the geek in everyone: http://www.z-wave.com/modules/Z-Wave-Start/
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Mac OS X 10.5: NetInfo (or the lack thereof)
As many will already be aware, there’s no NetInfo in Leopard. So where are those pesky account settings stored? Well, local user account settings are now stored in plist files. The plist files are stored in the /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users directory for users or /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/groups folder for groups. Password hashes are stored in the /var/db/shadow/hash folder. Inside each plist file for user accounts you can augment (or create) attributes required in order to perform certain actions. So, for example, if you want to change the location of your home folder you can open the users plist file and search for the home key and edit it’s contents.
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On the Road: Gaining Weight
It sure is a good feeling to be the one that figures out the impossible. When you’re at a client and you can walk out of there with that kind of feeling, you feel like you own the world. That is, until you realize you’re in a small town in the middle of nowhere and the only thing open is a Taco Bell. Then you realize you didn’t bother to eat lunch or dinner and you scarf down more food than you really should. That’s when you realize, sitting in your hotel room, that you haven’t worked out in months, your surfboard has run off with a boogie board (well…
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Office Unified Communications Server
Communication is the transfer or collaboration of thoughts, ideas and plans between individuals. It is essential in the organizational success of most businesses to have various easy to use methods of communication. Today’s communication varies from chatting to video teleconferencing. Combining these forms of communication into a simple easy to use interface or tool can drastically increase the flow of collaboration and communication of staff members. Microsoft’s Unified Communication Server and Office Communicator comprise a suite of programs and services that allow businesses to integrate most communication platforms into one centralized management console. Unified Communications takes the functionality of outlook and exchange and combines email with VOIP service, voicemail, chatting,…
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Interview Tips: May 2008
When an interviewer asks you technical questions then you can assume that you are going to be in a fairly technical role. Remember when you’re looking for jobs that if you are at a point in your career where you want to be management that if the line of questioning is very technical that the role might not be a good fit. Feel free to ask questions about the role and what percentage of your time should be spent doing what if this is a concern. Average costs to hire a new employee are estimated to be anywhere from $7,600 to $25,400. There is no reason to waste the hiring…
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Bakbone: SysCtl and Shared Memory Hax0r to get Bakbone to Play Nice
Shared Memory Tweaking: 1GB Shared memory (set in /etc/sysctl.conf) kern.sysv.shmall: 262144 kern.sysv.shmseg: 32 kern.sysv.shmmni: 128 kern.sysv.shmmin: 1 kern.sysv.shmmax: 1073741824
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Mac OS X Server: Performance Evaluations
Nice little article on evaluating the performance of your server: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1992
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Mac OS X: VNC vs. VNC
The Sharing System Preference has Screen Sharing and Remote Management. Both control VNC. You can’t use one while using the other. So what’s the difference. Well, Screen Sharing, the new application in 10.5 doesn’t require that you purchase a copy of ARD if you only want to be able to control the screens of other Macs. If you enable Screen Sharing then your Mac will show up in the SideBar of other systems in your environment. Remote Management still works the same way it did in 10.4.
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A Great Article on Sandbox by Beau
In all versions of OS X previous to Leopard, access control restrictions were limited to a security model referred to as Discretionary Access Controls (DAC). The most visible form of DAC in OS X is in it’s implementation of the POSIX file-system security model, which establishes identity-based restrictions on an object in the form of a subject’s user or group membership. Similarly Access Control Lists are a form of discretionary control, though they are far more extensible and discrete then the POSIX model. In such models, newly created objects or processes inherit their access rights based upon those of the creating subject, so that any spawned objects are not granted…
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Ubuntu 8.04
Originally posted at http://www.318.com/TechJournal Ubuntu 8.04 is now available – the first major release since 7.10. Code named Hardy heron, 8.04 will look familiar to long-time Ubuntu users. But under the hood, 8.04 sports a new kernel (2.6.24-12.13), a new rev of Gnome (2.22), improved graphical elements (such as Xorg 7.3), a spiffy new installer (Wubi), the latest and greatest in software, enhanced security and of course more intelligent default settings. The build is free to download the desktop version from ubuntu.com. The new Ubuntu installer comes with a new utility called Wubi. Wubi can run as a Windows application, which means that Windows users will be able to more…