/sys/admin/blog

iSquint is a cool utility to convert AVI files into iTunes/iPod/AppleTV friendly mp4 files. Works great!

I have a Mac laptop that I take between two networks. One network is an open one at my home and the other is a corporate network with proxy servers. Specifically we use a pac file for automatic proxy configuration. For normal web stuff there’s nothing special that needs to happen – if I’m on the corporate network the pac file is found and the proxy servers are connected to. If I’m home there is no pac file to be had and I directly connect to the web.

iTunes however isn’t all that bright it seems. It will hang trying to find the pac file. The fix is to not use a pac file when you’re on a network where it won’t be found. Locations make that a lot easier but being lazy about just leaving the pac file settings alone will bite ya.

Hope that helps someone – it took me a while to figure out what was going on.

We geeks all have some sort of bluetooth device on us like your Blackberry or your new iPhone (which I just got and LOVE) so why not take advantage of one of these as a beacon to your computer. With a small application you can set your computer to detect the proximity of your device and perform actions based on when it comes in or goes out of range.

I’m using the free utility Proximity to do the detection. You could even unlock the computer when you come back in range, but I just want it to lock when I walk away since I always forget. With a small AppleScript that’s easy:

That’s all there is to it and it works great.

Saw this today and I think it’s the secret to being a kick ass sysadmin:

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.—A.E.

When you need a tool you reach for one of these, right?

Why not? It has everything those other tools out there have. Isn’t this the same tool you see all mechanics using? You use one of these for opening bottles of wine, right? Got one of these handy for when you need to hang a picture? Or cut down a tree?

This seems really absurd looking at the picture and thinking about doing any of those tasks so why is it such a hard concept for some to grasp when we put it in abstract terms related to IT? I overheard a debate about what was better: using multiple “best in breed” technologies from different sources or using a single solution that does those tasks to some degree. Sure, from an IT administration perspective it’s easier to just support one broad solution. Sounds appealing.

But is that what’s really best for your users? Think about forcing your graphic designers to use Windows instead of Mac. Or making your sales people use Linux. You only want to support just one OS and the one you picked does everything the others do, right?

Use the right tool for the job at hand. You’ll find it was worth the extra trip to the hardware store.

I finally bit the bullet and picked up a new iMac today as an upgrade from my PowerBook G4. I’m not disappointed at all! Apple has done well.