Why I Switched Off Syphir
May 3, 2010 by admin · View Comments
As a habitually disorganized person in the physical world, I welcome smart tools that help me organize things virtually with little or no effort.
One of my favorite desktop apps to accomplish this task is Hazel, recommended by my favorite virtual organizer Merlin Mann. I set Hazel to automatically delete files on my desktop or downloads folder after 3 days of inactivity, forcing me to keep things organized.
So I was excited when Merlin espoused a similar app for Gmail on Mac Break Weekly recently called Syphir. While it doesn’t yet have all of the bells and whistles of Hazel, it is well on its way to enforcing rules that can keep inboxes tidier than Google’s filters can do. There’s just one problem. Take a look at this:
Google recently implemented new security safeguards that give users a better idea as to where accounts are being accessed from.
I was alarmed this morning when I noticed my account was being accessed from a half dozen IPs all over the country, including one that resolved back to MIT and others that resolved to Amazon EC2. After momentarily freaking out, I came to the conclusion that this was all Syphir traffic. Sure enough, once I disabled the Syphir service my account returned to normal.
In fairness, Syphir is handling user security responsibly. They utilize Oauth and OpenID linked to a Google account so passwords are not stored on their servers. Nevertheless, the fact that my account is being accessed from any number of servers throughout the United States simultaneously makes it next to impossible to detect unwanted visitors.
I will keep an eye on Syphir’s progress, but this flood of IMAP requests to my Gmail account is a deal breaker for me.
Review: Photo Basics 402 uLite Video Lighting Kit
July 14, 2009 by admin · View Comments
I am a member of the Amazon Vine Program. Each month Amazon.com sends me products to review on their site. This month I received the Photo Basics 402 uLite Video Lighting Kit
As an all-in-one kit, the Photo Basics 402 on the surface appears to be all inclusive. In the box are two moderately powered soft boxes, some software, a few sample backgrounds, and an absolutely enormous green screen. 
You can see some of the other reviewers’ results in their video reviews on Amazon’s site. There’s no question this kit provides just about everything needed to do some decent green screen work. But there are some problems that are worth pointing out:
1. What appears to be a free standing flat green screen in the marketing photos is actually an enormous (and heavy) rolled up green blanket in the box. What’s more, the manufacturer does not provide any hooks or other tools to aid hanging up the screen (at least my box doesn’t have it). Expect to take some time to get it flush and static. Even small movements of air can move the screen enough to give some errors.
2. The only software included with the package is a sample version of Adobe Premiere Elements which will expire after thirty days. There is nothing for Mac users, although the current version of iMovie supports green screens.
The Photo Basics 402 kit succeeds in that everything in the box will work once you invest a little bit more to get a full version of the software and the screen stabilized. Still, a comparable setup with a better screen could be pieced together on Amazon for a comparable (or maybe even lower) price.
Here’s an example of a moderately priced alternative:
Fix the Ugly Dock in Leopard
October 15, 2007 by admin · View Comments
I’m going to do a little tech blogging this morning. I just upgraded all of my Macs to Apple’s new Leopard operating system. For the most part (beyond the usual first version bugs and compatibility issues) it’s a welcome improvement.
One thing I dislike about the upgrade are the changes they made to the dock.. To try and make it more aesthetically pleasing they made it more difficult to see what applications were currently running (the little dot underneath open apps blended into the background).
Thankfully there’s a fix. Simply type this command into terminal:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
then type killall Dock.
After you’re done the dock will appear and look like this:
Sometimes simple is better! If for some reason you want to return to the old/new dock, simply replace the “YES” in the above command to “NO.”
Stuff I find interesting- Does the iPhone 4 hate the AT&T MicroCell? August 8, 2010
- FCC calls off net neutrality negotiations August 5, 2010
- The Nightmare Scenario August 4, 2010
- Long lived new windows June 10, 2010
- Vintage Apple II Sites June 10, 2010
