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Showing posts from June, 2015

Mac Backups With Rsync to Encrypted Flash Media

Backup Woes The main advantage of using a Mac is that it defaults to idiot mode and the main annoyance with a Mac is that it defaults to idiot mode, but underneath it all there is BSD... The Mac Time Machine backup utility is one such idiot application which is probably fine for a large number of people,  but which doesn't fit my usage scenario.  Coupled with the Disk Utility which makes it hard to format a Flash Memory Device properly, it is even worse. I want to make backups to USB and SD memory devices, since they are small, solid state and convenient.  However, to make a proper backup, the device should be formatted with HFS+ and it must be Encrypted.  The Disk Utility defaults to the prehistoric FAT in order to support file exchange with legacy Windows machines and FAT doesn't support proper file ownership and permissions . Also, it is rather self defeating if your HDD is encrypted, while your backups are in plain text on a FAT disk. Format a Remova...

An Angel Dancing On a Pin Head

Magic Eye Indicators As a little child, I found the green angel wings indicator on my parent's Philips radiogram fascinating.  I sat and watched and wondered how it worked each time we played a record. So, let's add a little dancing angel to my 20 Watt audio guitar amplifier: http://www.aeronetworks.ca/2015/02/cool-amplifier.html Why the blazes does it take three obscure keys ( Cmd, Shift, 4 ) to do a screen grab on a Mac?   Whoever thought that up needs to get three lashes with a wet noodle. You can get your own dancing angel from Tubes Store in Chelyabinsk : http://tubes-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=31_59&products_id=5 Basically, it is a miniature cathode ray tube with a curved zinc sulphide fluorescent screen.  The electron beam is deflected by an electrostatic target in front of the screen, powered by a built-in triode amplifier, so everything you need (minus the PSU) comes in one convenient glass package.  Some indicators are vie...