New version of MT-Blacklist
Posted on October 27, 2003
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MT-Blacklist has been updated. The new version adds some nice features to the already powerful comment spam blocker. Since installing it I only got spammed twice. And to be sure that it’s working, it now shows in the activity log when a comment is blocked. That way you don’t have to worry that a legitimate comment is not getting through. You can also have it search your entire site at once and get rid of spam. I’m sure that’s a lifesaver for those sites that get hit with 100 of them at once. Oh, and it’s supposedly much faster which I guess I’ll find out after I hit “post” for this entry. 
More Panther notes
Posted on October 27, 2003
Filed Under Macintosh | 2 Comments
# There’s a lot of talk regarding Palm syncing in Panther. It works, but not right away. If you upgrade or archive/install Panther and on reboot you get an error about Transport Library, then you need to delete the Transport Library and Palm Desktop Background startup items. Restart. Then reinstall Palm Desktop. If you have trouble with the installer, then double check to make sure you’re not using Stuffit 8.0. It works if you decode the Palm installer using Stuffit 7.0.3.
# Zinio Reader for Macworld and other online magazines does not work in Panther. You get an error message that the software won’t run with 256 colors. Obviously that’s bogus. Zinio is aware of the issue and they say they’re “working with Apple” on a fix. Tomorrow morning I guess I’ll be switching my subscription back to the paper kind as I saw the November issue is on the stands.But this is no longer a problem since Zinio released a Panther update this morning.
# The upgrade toasts the PDF printer that comes with Acrobat 6 (both Pro & Standard). It can’t be reinstalled separately from CD. It’s an easy procedure to get it back, and Adobe nicely outlines it here.
It’s fun exploring the new OS and reading what other people have to say. But there’s so much noise out there. “My printer doesn’t work now. I’m reporting this as a bug.” Doesn’t anyone actually *try* and fix their problems first? Research on support sites to see if others are having the same problem? If you do have to post to a list or forum the best way to figure out what’s going on is to lay out your problem, describe the steps you took to get to the problem, what you’ve tried to do to get out of it, and what your hardware is. Much better chance that way of either finding a workaround or learning once and for all that there’s something truly wrong/incompatible.
Twin Meadows: A boundless playground
Posted on October 26, 2003
Filed Under Life | 1 Comment
We participated in something truly special today. We attended the grand opening of Twin Meadows, a Boundless Playground on the property of the elementary school our girls attend. Twin Meadows is a universal playground meaning that the entire playground is more than just wheelchair accessible. Physically disabled and “typically” abled children can play *together* on everything. There are swings with high backs and supports and slides that children of all abilities can navigate. At the same time, it’s a fun playground for even the most athletic typical child. Stillmeadow School where it’s located happens to have the largest percentage of physically disabled students in the district. But what makes the school special is that there is no distinction from the Special Education kids to the general population. The principal does a wonderful job of making everyone feel included and part of the community. Laini has thrived at that school, and it was a huge factor in our decision to renovate our house rather than move.
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He’s back!
Posted on October 26, 2003
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Ken Bereskin, Mac OS X Product Manager (I think that’s his title) is blogging again! He hasn’t updated his blog since April, and tonight he explains that the reason was because he was starting to work on Panther and didn’t want to talk about Jaguar anymore. Makes sense to me. His Jaguar entries highlighted those little nuances that make a new OS so much fun. Looking forward to more of the same about Panther. Welcome back, Ken. (new pretty blog on TypePad)
“Night of the Panther”: Home edition
Posted on October 26, 2003
Filed Under Macintosh | 2 Comments
Every computer in the house is now running Panther. The girls’ iMac in particular was acting up and in desperate need of a clean system, and it seemed silly to spend the time reinstalling OS 9.
OS X 10.3 is *faster* on a G3/400 iMac than OS 9.1 was. It took a while to get OS 9 back on the machine as the girls need Classic for a bunch of their games. I forgot just how many restarts it takes to go from OS X, then OS 9.0.4 (which came with the Mac) to OS 9.1 to OS 9.2 and then OS 9.2.2 for what is hopefully the best Classic compatibility. I set up a user for each girl so they don’t have to fight over who gets to set the desktop picture anymore.
