derek derek derek

Backups made?  Check.  External drive loaded with installers for all of my apps?  Check.  Desk cleared off?  Check.  Giddy as all get out?  Check.

Referenced article

"Today Apple has unveiled a refresh to its iMac line desktop computers adding faster CPU and GPU options. But if you ask me what makes this iMac refresh interesting is the way it is being received, or more so, not received among the Apple faithful that litters the Internet."

I don’t have any sources to substantiate my extremely generalized statements, nor do I understand subject-verb plural agreement.

"Maybe it’s because this refresh isn’t very glamorous with only faster processors and graphics options."

I think those weird Apple users only buy things for form factor, so I’m comfortable dismissively waving my hand past significant hardware changes.

"I ask where are the Mac faithful across the Web not dropping everything they’re doing to go pick up this updated iMac and post the unboxings on Flickr."

Nevermind that this machine was just announced and starts shipping today, and looks the same externally as the 2007 iMacs, why aren’t people posting pictures of the new iMacs in their homes?

"Nor are the Apple message boards and social media sites like Digg and Reddit being overtaken with news and interpretation of Apple’s latest duds."

It’s only number 4 of all current Digg traffic on all topics, including non-tech Diggs, and there are only pages and pages of single Diggs from thousands of people’s personal sites, but I needed to write a sentence that I could end with the word "duds".  Buuuurn, I’m so cheeky!

"In contrast there is a lot of buzz about a video posted to Gizmodo that shows a customer turning on a Psystar Open Computer running the Mac OS."

In my third unsubstantiated generalized claim, I will point to something that you can only find on Digg if you search for it.

"The obvious question raised is: Has Apple lost its luster? I would definitely say no, but I would still suggest that people are becoming less receptive to Apple’s new releases."

Apple sales continue to grow at rates overtaking any other PC three to one, so by "less receptive" I mean that it’s starting to no longer be shocking to have such a great computer in a sleek form factor, people just expect it.

"Another question to be considered is: Has Apple run out of ideas?"

My editor said that the article had to ask two questions.

"Prior new hardware releases from Apple always included one feature or another that managed to knock the socks off the technology communities.  It was only a couple months ago that a simple MacBook refresh shocked the world by included a multi-touch trackpad, but today we see a iMac refresh with no shock or awe."

How dare Apple simply improve on their machines.  Their customers should be outraged!

"Of course, if Apple were to have done something crazy like include Blu-ray in the new iMac refresh, sure, the Web would have gone a little bonkers,"

I’m finally going to tell you why I wrote this article.  I needed an excuse to whine that Apple didn’t give me a Blu-ray Superdrive.

"but I think the time has finally come when the average Apple release isn’t treated like the second coming of Jesus by the Apple faithful—it’s simply a new Apple product."

Well, rats.  Without Apple giving me flashy headlines, I might actually have to perform some journalism instead of writing fact-free op-eds.

As I’ve been waiting for many months for the iMac refresh, I didn’t hesitate for a second in ordering Apple’s latest offering.  My PowerMac desktop is aging, though it has been an incredible workhorse.  Never in my life outside of Apple have I ever owned a computer that five years later still met my speed and productivity needs.  But it uses much more wattage than I would care for, and since I’m not doing video processing work anymore, I don’t have need for a PowerMac.  The hardware being used in the iMacs following Apple’s switch to Intel has just been fantastic, and the latest round is no exception.  I took the opportunity to also upgrade to the new, flat 802.11n Airport Extreme Base Station, replacing my equally old AEBS (orb/pyramid style 802.11g).  So here’s what I’m looking forward to in a few short days:

(24” iMac 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo)
2GB memory (upgrading to 4GB after receipt)
6MB shared L2 cache at full processor speed
1066MHz frontside bus
500GB SATA hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB memory
And everything else you’d expect with an iMac.

Apple hasn’t updated the Support docs yet to include this new line released just today (since when, btw, does Apple refresh hardware on a Monday?), so I don’t know if this is a Penryn processor and notebook memory, or a desktop processor and memory.  I was expecting the former, but the latter is what’s being rumored since the speed and bus specs don’t match up with the mobile processor.  If anyone knows, drop me an email and I’ll update this entry (and go ahead and order my extra RAM!)

Update: Reports confirm this is not just a Penryn, but an almost-Montevina.  Woot!

New iMacs Today! - Woot! (Thanks, Les)

See that little spot on the right over there, the "Some Ad" section?  I’m not really a big fan of ads, and I don’t want to attempt a monetized blog.  But Chitika looked interesting enough of an alternative to Google Adsense to give it a try.  Afterall, they let me specify the font, which as I’ve explained, is pretty important to me since I’m using the snazzy @font-face feature of CSS3.

But I’m already bored of it and ready to give it the boot.  My secret is that the real reason I put an ad there is because man that space looks vacant without something there.  So, I says to myself: "Self, how about you give that space to third-party developers to advertise their add-ons on a site fairly heavily trafficked by ExpressionEngine and CodeIgniter users?"  Well, self, I don’t see any reason not to.

So, if you have something you’ve developed for ExpressionEngine or CodeIgniter, , I’ll do a quick quality check, and place you in the queue of randomly served CI and EE community code bits.  I don’t mind if it’s freeware, MIT, GPL, commercial, or whatever.  If it’s decent, I’ll promote it, for free.

New iMacs Next Week? - Oh please oh please oh please...

I had a longer entry written up for this but it’s too lengthy of a story.  The short version is, we took in a rescued momma cat with six kittens, promptly lost the mom and three kittens yesterday (she took off with them), lost the other three last night but not until after Rochelle spent an incredible amount of time bottle feeding them while I searched for the mom, and then Jinxie saw the momma through the window at about 2am, who I followed to her new nest across the road in a hollow tree next to a cow pasture, allowing us to get up at six this morning and retrieve all seven cats and put them in the garage preventing any further rookie-mom escapades.

And that run-on sentence, my friends, is the short version.  I’m sleepy.

Only Serj Tankian could write a song named "Honking Antelope" that I would crank the volume and join in belting out in an attempt to to drown out the sound of the nonstop gunfire coming from a neighbor’s yard.

Discussion Forum Build 20080421 - Discussion Forum 2.1.0 April 21, 2008 build released

ExpressionEngine Build 20080421 - EE 1.6.3 April 21, 2008 build released

I was awoken at about 4:40am this morning to what I thought was my wife having a seizure.  She thought the same thing, only about me.  We quickly realized that we were neither to blame for the shaking of our bed, as we heard a deep rumble and some parts of the house making noise.  The inner garage door was the loudest: bap bap bap bap bap bap!  Living where we do, my thoughts went immediately to a tornado, but it wasn’t a roaring train sound, it was more like a large truck.  That’s when I realized that the shaking and noises were rhythmic, the bed feeling more like it was quickly swaying between two points on a sine wave.

This analysis all took fractions of a second, so for the other 15-20 seconds we just sat in bed in awe as the quake played itself out.  Was this a prelude to a New Madrid fault event that we’ve been warned about since we were schoolchildren?  Was it the event itself, and should I hop up and get dressed and gather our emergency supplies?  Much drama in ones head when one is awaken at such an early hour by shaking.  The moment it was over, I did what any respectable geek would do, I Googled for the USGS seismology site, which I know has realtime mapping of quakes all around the world.  I suppose the data was collected in real time, but after waiting about 5 minutes, there was still no dot on the map anywhere around us indicating seismic activity.  Back to bed I went.

When I woke up to start my day I fully expected to see a dot marked somewhere southwest of us in the New Madrid fault line, where minor tremors have occurred in my lifetime (though never strong enough that I felt them).  The Associated Press reports, as does Reuters, that it was a 5.4 magnitude, but the USGS site did finally update, categorizing it as a 5.2, with its epicenter about 90 miles northeast of us.  So, not connected with the New Madrid faultline at all, it was a quake in the Illinois basin - Ozark dome region.  Weird.

It wasn’t damaging at all - nothing fell off of shelves, no structural damage here (nor reported at locations closer to the epicenter that I know of), but it did certainly get me thinking about what we would do in the case of a New Madrid fault event, which is still predicted anywhere in the next 50 years, with a possible magnitude as high as 8.0.  Because of the inner continental geology such a quake, like its predecessor in 1812, would be felt and have the capacity to cause devastation all the way to the east coast and the Rockies.

Yep, I got a didj. Tie me kangaroo down and whatnot!

I highly recommend L.A. Outback if you're interested in this unique instrument / sleep apnea therapy device. Their didjeridus are all made either in Australia or the U.S., from sustainable materials and no third world labor (or paint!).

Andru Edwards of Gear Live has created a video from our recent SXSW presentation. Kurt's presentation is a great intro to show how ExpressionEngine handles storing and displaying your content, and the tremendous advantage that gives you over other publishing solutions. Derek Allard talks about CodeIgniter and ExpressionEngine getting married. And then I give a video tour of the new control panel that is going into version 2.0. Finally we have a Q&A session with the audience. Thanks Andru!

"Clean Install" - So that's how you perform a clean install. I always forget to rinse the disc. (found via Worse Than Failure)

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So ever since the v2.20 firmware update for the Playstation 3, I’ve been unable to use the Playstation Store or connect to the Rock Central Server in Rock Band.  Because WildBlue is a satellite-based "broadband" ISP, I’ve never been able to use the online connectivity for gaming, but I’ve always been able to browse and make purchases and downloads from the store, and browse the songs in Rock Band after they added the music catalog to the in-game menus.

Then the v2.20 firmware came along, and it drops constantly (ironic of course that I downloaded said upgrade without issue).  I can’t complete any transactions in the store, and Rock Band lets me connect to the Rock Central Server, and then immediately drops, and refuses to attempt to connect thereafter.

Is there anyone out there using WildBlue (or another satellite based ISP) with a v2.20 Playstation 3 that can still connect?  Please so I can figure out what modifications I can make to my network connection to regain the ability to browse and download new content.

pi10k - Compose your own music based on pi. I made a dirge.

Electric Skateboard - Oh Bill Watterson how we miss you.

Welcome to my new domain, derekderekderek.com!  I really wanted derekjones.name, but it’s owned by someone whom that name doesn’t even belong to, and the procedure for petitioning a .name’s release for that reason is laborious and costly.  In the end, this domain is more fun and memorable.

It marks the permanent and official closure of the domain (and business) koruproductions.com though I will retain that domain name for nostalgia.  If you came here from an old link through that domain, hopefully you were redirected to the right content.  If not please and I’ll get the redirect fixed up.

My old blog heavily focused on ExpressionEngine Add-Ons, which was appropriate since at the time I was a hobbyist third-party developer.  It doesn’t make sense for me to retain that focus on my personal site, though, since I know a guy that helps maintain the Add-On Library.  So this blog will turn to a more personal focus, and be a playground for me to work with new ideas and technologies not directly related to my professional work.

For instance, you might be saying "Derek, this site is ugly!".  Yes, I know, it’s different from my previous design.  And it may have some elements that look awkward in your browser.  But it’s not because I’m lazy or because I lack the ability and creativity.  I certainly don’t compare my own design work to that of people who do that for a living, but I think it’s aesthetically pleasing, and fits with my current minimalist kick.  This site will look better visually over time, but less as a result of effort I expend, and more of a factor of browsers catching up.  If it doesn’t look like this (popup image) in your browser, well, the browser you are using is further behind than I care to bother with on my personal site.  Living in the bleeding edge, this site is serving HTML5 and using CSS3 features as if they were ubiquitous enough to pick them up at the drug store.  So, apologies for the rough edges as I tread into waters that are clearly marked Swim At Your Own Risk, No Lifeguard On Duty.  And yes, I’m cheating on a couple tags because no browser currently will let me style <section>, <aside>, etc.  But as soon as one browser does, I’ll dump the temporary <div>s.  I have a feeling WebKit will be first, so I probably will not have to switch, I will just have to wait.

If you find it unpleasant to use, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed, which contains full content.  I’m also not enabling comments as of yet, but you can always if you like.

Steampunk Star Wars - What if Star Wars took place in the Victorian era?