For Speed, Reliability and Security, Wi-Fi is Good. Ethernet is MUCH Better.

When we built our house in 1996 I took the opportunity to install all the “low-voltage” wiring myself. Before the insulation and sheetrock went up on the walls, I ran speaker wire for the living room surround sound and five other audio zones, additional phone cable for IR pickups in each zone and Cat5 Ethernet cabling everywhere I thought I might need it. Of course, now there’s wiring in the walls I’ll never use and I’ve had to run a couple of others to places my original plan didn’t include. Cloudy crystal ball aside, I’m glad I spent the money and made the effort. Especially on the Ethernet cabling. Wi-Fi technology has progressed geometrically over the past twenty years with theoretical speeds exceeding gigabit levels, but even the latest and greatest Wi-Fi gear can’t approach the real-world performance of a good, old copper wire.

So, why spend the time and effort to point this out? Because this concept has been lost on today’s PC consumers. Wi-Fi has gotten so much faster and so easy to set up that it’s good enough for most users. It has effectively replaced Ethernet as the default networking method. So much so that Apple no longer includes built-in Ethernet on any portable machine it sells

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How to Verify/Repair Disk Permissions in El Capitan

The new GUI for the long-time Mac staple Disk Utility in El Capitan no longer includes buttons for Verify or Repair disk permissions. Apple obviously believes that since El Capitan includes the new System Integrity Protection (SIP)* (that prevents changes to critical system files and apps) that giving users the capability to check and/or fix disk permissions is no longer necessary. Well, that may be true for the vast majority of Mac users, but you and I don’t quite fall into that category, do we? People like us who install OS X on non-Apple hardware or add non-Apple cards and drives to our machines often need to turn off SIP to do the low-level monkeying we are apt to do. Never fear. It seems all Apple has done is remove the buttons from Disk Utility’s GUI. The functionality remains, albeit only via the command line. These two commands get the job done just fine:

diskutil verifyvolume [your drive designation]

diskutil repairvolume [your drive designation] 

For [your drive designation] use the OS X mount point ( ie. /Volumes/Macintosh HD ) or device designator ( ie. /dev/disk0s1 ). This information is available via the Disk Utility app. Simply open Disk Utility and click on the volume/partition you want to work on.

That’s all there is to it. Verify and repair disks ‘til your heart’s content and enjoy all the ascii goodness of the Terminal!

*Note: If you'd like to turn off System Integrity Protection altogether, I've posted instructions here.

Don't Buy Crystal. (If you did, uninstall it!)

In my previous post I told you that I installed the new ad-blocker, Crystal, on my iPhone and iPad. That was true. Today I discovered the maker of Crystal said he will accept money from advertisers to whitelist their ads. Read all about it at The Verge. This is unacceptable and I feel it is completely underhanded. Crystal's developer, a vermine named Dean Murphy entered an agreement with Eyeo GmbH to sell whitelisting to them. I guess the $79,000 he's already made from Crystal wasn't enough. Screw him and his app. After all, people buy ad-blockers to block ads, not just the ads who didn't pay-up. Its like this dirtbag is running an insurance scam on advertisers and using his customers as muscle. I feel like I've been completely scammed and I refuse to be his leverage. I know Crystal was only a buck, but it was MY buck. I've since uninstalled Crystal and emplore everyone who bought it to do the same and NEVER buy anything developed by this jerk! If Crystal has no install base, then Mr. Murphy has nothing to sell to advertisers.

Should You Install an Ad-Blocker? Unfortunately, the Answer is Yes.

In the past few days since Apple released iOS 9 with its ability to install ad-blocking software, a minor kerfuffle has ensued. All the ruckus seems to be centered on Marco Arment who, according to his web site is “a programmer, writer, podcaster, geek, and coffee enthusiast”. He is quite well-known in tech circles for his involvement with Tumblr and Instapaper. On August 11th he posted a very lucid, succinct article titled “The ethics of modern web ad-blocking” in which he makes several points about the many evils of modern web advertising, any of which provide ample justification for installing an ad-blocker. Taken in total they make you feel like all web advertisers should be imprisoned. As soon as Apple would allow it, Mr. Arment began selling an ad blocker he developed for iOS called Peace. All the hullabaloo started when, after just a couple of days in the App Store, Mr. Arment suddenly pulled the app and posted this, “Just doesn’t feel good”. He explains he still believes in all the reasons for an ad-blocker but he doesn’t want to be the arbiter. I can respect that. Especially when I realize what a butt-load of cash he’s turning his back on. Peace was the #1 bestseller in the App Store when he pulled it. Observing principal in action is quite refreshing, actually.

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Wallpaper o' th' Week (Why not? It don't cost nuthin'.)

I spend a large portion of most days working on one (or more) of my Macs. Some say I’m slightly (or not so slightly) A.D.D. Maybe that’s why I get bored with desktop wallpaper rather quickly. I’ve collected literally hundreds of hi-res images to adorn my 27” iMac and 15” MacBook Pro. I have four desktops configured on each, so that multiplies my problem by eight. Having different wallpaper on each desktop is a visual que to where I am.

Enough about my issues.

If you like to collect desktop wallpaper there’s a million places to find it, but since you’re here already you may as well have a look at the one I’m giving away this week. Just click the thumbnail at the top of the right sidebar labeled “MacTexan Wallpaper o’ th’ Week” to view my latest hi-res offering. If it’s to your likin’, just right-click to download it. I guarantee you won't find it anywhere else. Each and every one will be a MacTexan original. Now, I don’t pretend to be a great photographer, but I do travel to a lot of neat places and I like taking pictures. Besides, today’s brainy cameras make us all pretty good picture-takers don’t they?

I’ll be selecting some of my favorites and posting one every week so…

 …you’re welcome.