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Unhelpful error of the day

I was working in Quicken today and decided to online enable some of my accounts as I’ve never done that before. I am using Quicken 2007 for the Mac and have applied the latest “update” (update is in quotes for reasons that will become clear soon.

I checked my bank for the FAQ on what to use as the username and finally found a reference on the web (the bank was no help) and knew I had that correct, but Quicken kept giving me a OL-249 error. I searched and searched and finally found a “Quicken Certificate Updater” to update the SSL certificates. After applying the “update”, I was able to connect to my bank. I then found an article on Quicken’s Web site referencing this error.

So why didn’t the error say “unable to establish SSL connection which would have been a lot more helpful? Why didn’t Intuit make the Certificate Updater a version update to the application; the updater patches something in the app, so it had to go through some QA. If they had done this, a check for updates or the automatic updates would have alerted me to this and I would have applied the patch 2 months ago. Instead, I wasted 20 minutes looking for the answer.

Now that I have this working, will I use it? I’m not sure. I manually enter all my transactions so that I can independently verify that no extra charges are posted to my account. Then I go through the statement and reconcile each transaction. In theory, reconciling the statement by hand is the same as reconciling it using the downloaded transactions as they should be generated off the same data. I’m sure it will save me a bunch of time if I do it this way and I still have my manual check of entering all the transactions.

On a side note, it appears that more and more banks are charging customers to use this feature in Quicken. I realize that banks have to pay Intuit for the feature, but passing on the fee to the customer is just nickel and diming us. Luckily one of the banks I use doesn’t charge for this privilege AND supports the Mac (many banks don’t support the Mac.)

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Complete and utter failure of the TSA

I’ve written in the past criticizing the TSA and up until now, I haven’t been put on any “extra screen” list as far as I know. However, that may change after this post.

I had to fly from San Diego to Newark this past week and encountered a situation with the TSA that reinforces my feelings that the government has wasted tremendous amounts of money on a useless system. I started by flying out of San Diego’s commuter terminal which has only a few people manning the checkpoint and I’ve never encountered an issue; we breezed through after I did my standard ritual of emptying my pockets of all my gadgets (I put them in my bag before the checkpoint), take off my shoes, my sweatshirt, etc. The line is always short at this terminal, so the screeners have plenty of time to carefully check passengers if they wish; they don’t.

On the way home, we flew out of Newark’s Liberty airport and had no problems with security going this way as well even though it appeared that they cared a little more about security.

When I got home today, I emptied out my laptop bag and reached far into a pocket that I normally don’t store anything. What I pulled out of the pocket made my jaw drop. I completely forgot what I had put into the pocket.

Here’s what I found:

case.jpg

I immediately knew what it was; it was a small multi-tool that I put into my bag. Here’s what it looks like out of the sheath.

tool_closed.jpg

And this last picture shows the tool completely open.

tool_open.jpg

Yes, the tool has several blades, a pair of pliers, a nail file and some screwdrivers.

So, I managed to get this through 2 security checkpoints without being stopped or questioned. I didn’t realize this was in there and would have gladly surrendered it if it was brought to my attention (it was cheap). I’ve questioned the methods of the TSA for awhile, but this reinforces the point that the overt screening techniques of the TSA are utterly and completely useless.

I think that the government needs to take a closer look at the TSA and invest more in profiling and intelligence than in the current, useless method of screening passengers. Should a screener have been able to detect this multi-tool? Probably, but if they can’t clearly see it on the x-ray, then what good is the x-ray?

Will I be getting a call from the TSA or will someone appear at my door tomorrow because of this post? I have no idea.

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Squeezebox 7.4 and Bonjour

Thanks to the efforts of Neil Potter on the XM Radio plugin for the Squeezebox software, I was finally able to update to Squeezebox 7.4 which has many new features over the 7.3 software I was running before.

Once I saw Neil’s email about the new plugin, I quickly updated the Squeezebox software and gave it a whirl. I was able to play XM Radio and was pretty excited. However, I went to the Bonjour menu in Safari and didn’t find the familiar “Squeezebox” link to control the server using a web browser. I rebooted my Mac Mini, poked around and didn’t find any problems. After a search of the forums, I found a reference to a bug filed on this issue. The response from the developer was pretty crass if you ask me. The developer said:

No, it was removed because it’s a stupid feature. We had a standalone binary
and tons of support code just to add a bookmark to Safari?! Give me a break,
we’re better off not having to support it.

Wow, that kind of response is a bit rude and, in my mind, short sighted. In many home setups, the server will get a dynamic IP address which means knowing the IP address of the server may not be possible. In my setup, I can use mediacenter.local to access the machine; sometimes, however, this doesn’t work as the machine gets confused and gets renamed mediacenter-2.local when the server is restarted. I setup a DHCP assigned, static IP address using my Time Capsule base station so it always gets the same address to hopefully avoid the renaming issue. That solves part of the problem. The other problem is that in the past, when my wife has wanted to control the server, she used the Bonjour bookmark to get to the server. Now I have to setup a bookmark for her which isn’t hard, just another step. Now that we’re using the Squeezebox Controller, we use the web interface much less.

While I can understand not wanting to maintain a separate binary, the developers are making it a bit harder for the average user to use the Squeezebox server. This will be fun setting up my parents with their Squeezebox if/when my father decides to update the software. They have 2 Macs that they use; one Mac is the server, so that’s easy, access it via http://localhost:9000, but the other machine is harder.

I hope that someone in Logitech’s product management takes a look at this feature and re-considers it.

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Review: BusyCal

When the folks at BusyMac showed BusyCal off at Macworld Expo, I was excited to see an iCal replacement. Unfortunately, at the time, it didn’t handle CalDAV and we were using CalDAV at work. So, I didn’t have a use for it. The BusyMac folks do great work and I’ve known John and Dave for years. Now that BusyCal has been released, things have changed for me. I’m not using CalDAV at work (some people are, but some are now using Google Apps for Your Domain). I downloaded BusyCal, installed it, and within about 10 minutes, purchased it!

While on the surface, it looks like just an iCal replacement, it isn’t. It integrates with Google so well, that it simplifies my calendaring tremendously. I have 3 calendars I use for work, and 3 for home. All of the calendars are on Google in 2 separate accounts. I’m not really sure what to say about it, but it is much more pleasant to use than iCal; iCal feels like a dog compared to BusyCal. iCal’s CalDAV syncing (to Google) is problematic and has many quirks. For instance, if I receive an ics file sent to one account that is forwarded to another, iCal won’t let me add it. If I do the same thing with BusyCal, it lets me add the event without problems. In addition, I trust that the BusyMac folks will listen to feedback and make more frequent updates than iCal.

I’m not going to go in depth here as the trial version will give you the opportunity to test drive it in the comfort of your own home.

Pros

  • Excellent syncing with Google.
  • Ability to add .ics events without strange error messages.
  • Easier setup for Google syncing than iCal.
  • Responsive tech support.
  • Weather icons are a nice touch and saves me from having to watch the weather on the news.
  • The details for calendar events is much easier to use than iCal.

Cons

  • It’s not cheap at $40 per copy.
  • Doesn’t handle CalDAV calendars like iCal does.

Summary

If you use Google for calendaring, this application is a must have. If you have BusySync, it’s only a $10 upgrade, so it is definitely a no brainer. If you don’t have BusySync, but want easy calendaring, I don’t think you’ll regret this purchase. Go grab the trial and give it a whirl. If you’re like me, you’ll be hooked pretty quickly!

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Review: Ooma

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the promise of Ooma. I received the Ooma box soon after I wrote that and tested it. While the installation wasn’t hard, my first night I played with it, I ended up packing it up and almost writing it off. My biggest problem with how I hooked up the Ooma box was that I put it in front of my router as was recommend; that created a double NAT such that I had one internal network running inside of another internal network. For most people, this might not be a problem, but double NAT sometimes causes problems with VPN connections, iChat video sessions, and connecting back to my internal network using software such as EyeTV’s iPhone application.

So after the first failed attempt, I decided to give it another try the next day. This time, I just plugged the box into my switch. I have no idea if the Airport base stations support QOS, but my initial tests showed that downloading files didn’t affect voice quality. After my initial tests, I decided to call forward our home phone to the Ooma number, re-route some wires to have our cordless phones connected to the Ooma and I was off and running. The first time my wife tried to use the phone, she said that there was music on the line; I think my son had pressed one of the buttons and called voicemail. After I assured my wife it was fine, she made a call or two. While I was bathing my son, I heard my wife making a call and saying “can you hear me?” and basically apologizing because “her husband was doing something with the phone”.

After my son went to bed, I immediately disconnected the box, unforwarded the phone, packed up the system and prepared to return it. My wife said there was an echo on the line and she said there was a delay; both common issues with VOIP systems. So, my Ooma experiment was a complete failure.

Pros

  • Lots of features.
  • Low cost.

Cons

  • Poor voice quality.
  • Yearly cost for basic service has gone up due to changes in terms of service.
  • Unsure of viability of company.
  • Company ethics may be questionable; initially the company used “peer-to-peer” telephone which used your phone line for other people’s phone calls to save on termination costs. They have since stopped that practice.

Summary

Ooma and other VOIP systems have great promise and while I’d like to think that I’m willing to experiment with technology, messing with telephone service is bordering on crazy for me. Others that have used VOIP services and are pleased with them may like Ooma. For me, going from a landline to a VOIP system for my home phone just isn’t going to happen now. I’ll keep trying to get a cheaper phone service, but now isn’t the time to pull the plug on the old reliable phone company.

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Confusing user interface

I’ve always been puzzled by dialogs that have OK, Cancel, and Apply buttons. This has been pretty typical on Windows and relatively uncommon in decent Mac applications. If a preferences window has these 3 buttons, what do they mean? If I click some buttons, hit Apply, and then Cancel, do the changes take effect? If I click some settings, and click OK, but don’t click Apply, do the changes get applied?

I would have thought that by Windows 7, this would have been resolved, but apparently not.

iChat2.png

I collect software and have seen lots of programs. I recently saw this in a Mac program.

Screen shot 2009-11-10 at 10.13.36 AM.png

Why this is in a Mac program, I have no idea.

After looking into this a bit, a friend pointed out that Xcode also has an Apply button. Furthermore, the Xcode Preferences is a window and windows don’t normally have OK and Cancel buttons. So it looks like Apple needs to look at its developer tools.

XcodePreferences.png

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The magic geek box

My boss loves Velcro and has Velcro straps around every wire and has taken things to the extreme by creating a Velcro board that he sticks all his cables to and sticks it in his briefcase. While this looked a bit geeky, he always has the cable he needs. While I liked this idea, I thought that a closed case would be the better way to go so that the stuff wouldn’t fall out when the board is pulled out.

I picked up a small “ArtBin” box at Dick Blick art supply then used Gorilla Glue to glue the non-fuzzy side (I can never remember if that is the hook or loop side) Velcro (OK, maybe it wasn’t Velcro brand) to the inside of the sides of the box. So now I can put all my cables and supplies in the box and have it neatly organized. I may look like a complete geek pulling out this box, but on my last 6 trips, I think I’ve used almost everything in the box. Here’s what I have:

This box is getting a little heavy, but it has been so handy to have all the pieces right at my fingertips. Some of my colleagues have looked at me funny when I’ve pulled out the box, but I know that they’re jealous!

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The end of unsized integers

In recent versions of the Mac OS SDK, Apple has largely moved away from datatypes such as int and long as they have different meanings in 64 bit OSes. In a project I’m working on, this bit me twice recently. The first is that a UINT (the code was ported from Windows) was incorrectly typed to be a byte or a dword (2 bytes) when it should have been 4 bytes. If the type was a UINT32 (UInt32 in Mac speak), setting the correct type would have been easy and not confusing. Likewise, there was another case where a variable was typed as unsigned long long which was 8 bytes on a 32 bit OS, but 16 bytes on a 64 bit OS (if I’m off on the values, please forgive me). If it was specified as UInt64, that is completely unambiguous and a bug would not have occurred.

So, this day forward, I’m going to do my absolute best to only use sized integers, like SInt32, UInt32, etc. where the exact size is specified. This will be much more important using both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Mac OS X. Granted, for many developers, it still doesn’t matter, but I’ve dealt a lot of USB communications and structures, so the size of the integers makes a huge difference.

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The right tool for the right job

It should be pretty obvious that you should use the right tool for the right job. Unfortunately it seems that when I do some home projects, I don’t always have that luxury. Yesterday, however, was an exception. last week I bought a “fiberglass running kit” from Harbor Freight (I love some of the stuff you can get from the store, but I’m pretty careful about what I get as the quality of some of their products isn’t great). I needed to run a new phone line to my entertainment center so that I could try out Oooma.

I’ve run a lot of wire down this particular wall and struggled with many of the runs. A flexible fish tape is a bit cumbersome and not the ideal tool; that’s all I had before, so I used it. Yesterday, I put together 3 pieces of the rod together, pushed it down the wall, went downstairs and was able to easily grab the end of the rod. I attached a Cat 5E cable to it and then was able to pull it up the wall. It was, by far, the easiest pull I’ve done. Why I didn’t get something like this before is probably because I was too cheap, so I spent lots of time doing the work.

Lesson of the day, don’t be too cheap with tools.

On the topic of the right tool for the right job, I was spoiled doing contract work where everyone I dealt with was pretty tech savvy. When we needed a tool to track issues for our projects, we found something and installed it. I’ve used TestTrack, Mantis, and Redmine as bug tracking/project management tools. While none is perfect, they are a huge help. Now that I’m no longer doing contract work, I’m finding that the tool of choice is Microsoft Excel. While Excel is a fine tool for some things, I’m not a fan of it (I haven’t liked it since college when I spent far too much time using it to try to get results). I see Excel used for tasks that databases, bug databases, and project management applications were designed to handle. These systems are multi-user and allow people with access the ability to get up to the minute status on a project; Excel, of course, is static, and you can’t get status of a project when you need it. You rely on one person updating it and sending it out via email or posting it on a Web site (the latter is actually much better than the former).

This is not to say that there isn’t a place for Excel in business applications, but it is not the be all, end all tool (so far I haven’t found one).

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Too good to be true?

Recently I’ve seen a number of reviews for Ooma phone service and how you pay a one time fee and get free phone calling (in the US) forever (or until the company goes out of business). I’ve been looking at our $53 per month AT&T landline bill and keep wondering what we’re getting for it. I’ve said for a long time that I wasn’t going to go VOIP because of poor call quality and potentially unreliable 911 service. Well, with more and more people going VOIP, the 911 issue has pretty much gone away. Public safety answering points know how to deal with VOIP. The only question with 911 is if broadband goes out and/or power goes out. A UPS handles the power issue. As for voice quality, the reviews for Ooma have been largely good.

I went ahead and ordering the Ooma Telo from Costco,.com but quickly cancelled my order. I’ve done a bit of reading and if you get the older model, the Oooma core, you won’t be charged the $12 recovery fee each year after the first year. Also, it’s unclear to me what features got pulled out of the core and put into their premier ($99/year going to $120/year at the end of the year) service. Their premier features look intriguing and $120/year is a whole lot less than the $600+/year that I pay now, so who knows if I’ll go for that. Our phone needs are pretty basic, so the pay once and never pay again service may work for us.

I went back to Costco.com and ordered the older Ooma and we’ll see what happens. Since I’m getting it from Costco, if I don’t like it, it goes back. It doesn’t appear to be part of the 90 day return policy, so I can take advantage of Costco’s generous return policy.

Am I going to be able to recover my money in less than 6 months and give up a landline? I’m not sure, but it is definitely worth a try. Since I have call forwarding on my phone, I can just forward the calls to the Ooma number and give it a test drive. If it works, I’ll port my home number to Ooma. If it doesn’t, I turn off call forwarding and return the Ooma. (Based on my history with landline phone companies, AT&T will jack up the price in the near future leaving me with few options; I switched from MCI when the rate kept going up and up and up.

Anyone used Ooma? Does it work as well as it is advertised?