Mac OS X vs Windows

(Imported from rocketcat-v1)

Here are a few random reasons, that were all applicable to me this week, that makes me appreciate the effort that Apple has put into Mac OS X

I've just had to roll out a Standard Operating Environemt (SOE) across 25 Macs. There were two generations of G4s, eMacs, PowerBook G4s and PowerMac G5s. I was able to set up Mac OS X on a G5, apply all the software updates, install the necessary application software, create an empty user template and then take a snapshot of all this as a Disk Image (.dmg file) and burn it to a DVD, all using tools that are built-in to Mac OS X.

If we had have had a Mac OS X Server, I would have set up NetBoot services, so to install all this stuff on a workstation, all I would have had to do would be walk up to the Mac, reboot it, hold down the "N" key until I saw the NetBoot logo and walk away - the rest would happen automatically.

In this case we didn't have the luxury of NetBoot, however using an external FireWire drive makes it almost as easy: Plug in the FireWire drive and reboot off the system I've got installed on it. Restore the image on the FireWire drive to the local hard drive. Reboot. Create a user account and set up email. Done.

Restoring an image of about 4-5GB, that compresses down to 2.4GB, takes all of about five minutes, including booting the Mac off the FireWire drive. It couldn't be easier...

mp3search.ru

(Imported from rocketcat-v1)

It's a good thing, mp3search

It's supposedly a legal source of MP3s, generally they're all high bitrate files, all complete albums and they have a jpeg of the cover artwork you can grab if you're into that kind of thing =)

They are a paid download service, however just about every track is $0.10 (USD) - I think they get away with it because the service is run from Russia and they (obviously) have very different copyright laws to, say, the USA.

You have to pre-purchase credits, with a credit card, however (and I looked into this pretty well) the Russians don't ever get your credit card details, that's all handled through a clearing-house in the Netherlands. Nonetheless, I've been keeping a good eye on my credit card statement, just to make sure =).

Anyway, last night I was browsing the site and saw a new Thievery Corporation album - Cosmic Game. It's not to be released till the 21st of Feb, so I obviously downloaded it as quick as I could, and at first listening, it's all good =). Here's a link to more Thievery Corporation albums on mp3search

Sun Java Workstation W2100z

(Imported from rocketcat-v1)

Well, this machine from Sun is a pretty mean piece of equipment. It's in a very retro coloured metallic purple case with a brushed aluminium front panel. It's got a pair of Opteron CPUs in it and a couple of gigs or RAM. What it doesn't have is a floppy drive. Or an easy way to install Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.

The problem lies in finding drivers for the SCSI card, and then getting them to load during the Windows installer. Easier said than done.

I eventually located some drivers from Adaptec or, if HostRAID is turned on, even if you're not using the RAID capabilities you need this driver instead. Now, why can't Adaptec get their shit together and release one driver that supports this card no matter what configuration it's using?.

I then had to track down a USB floppy drive (no mean feat in itself) and after many hours of stuffing around, I eventually got it working - HINT: Even though it's an AMD-64 CPU, don't try to load the AMD-64 drivers, instead load the IA-32 drivers as it's a 32-bit version of Windows for Intel CPUs... d'oh!

After all this, someone from Sun helpfully pointed me at this page that has all the drivers available for download from Sun. There's also an ISO image of the supplimental CD, with Linux, Solaris x86 and Windows drivers, as well as a XPReburn utility that can reburn your OS installation CD with the correct drivers preinstalled... Yay, a whole day down the drain getting that all figured out...

A Drive in the Mountains

(Imported from rocketcat-v1)

Nadia and I went for a great drive to the mountains that form the bottom end of the Great Dividing Range - a place called Kinglake. There are some waterfalls there, Mason Falls, that are about 30-35 metres high, and with the recent rainfalls, there was actually water falling down the waterfalls =)
It was quite a nice day up in the mountains, perfect temperature, great picnic lunch and a bit of a stroll to walk it all off
We took some photos, which I dutifully uploaded to the photos section, and generally had a great day.

Brrr!

(Imported from rocketcat-v1)

Today was Melbourne's coldest Feburary day... ever.
The other day it was 37 or more degrees. Today it reached a top of around 13 or so. And Feb is supposed to be the hottest month of the year here in Melbourne.
Not only that, but in the past 24 hours it has given us our entire average monthly rainfall. More rain in one day than the entire of last month as well.
Crazy weather!