i used to dream in black and white. This is the personal blog of Isil Flynn, a Canadian webdesigner who is interested in CSS, design, art, photography, movies, books and life in general. i dream in electrik ink tag:www.elektrikink.org,2011-11-01://2 2014-10-24T12:07:38Z Movable Type Pro 5.12 Yosemite fixes roundup tag:www.elektrikink.org,2014://2.270 2014-10-24T11:22:49Z 2014-10-24T12:07:38Z Well Yosemite (OS X 10.10) is out and issues seem to be piling up. At work we've been told to hold off on installing the update until further testing determines our systems will work as per normal. I'm keen to... iflynn
Visit the source links for the how-to's.

  • WiFi issue: "Your network works fine for a while, typically between about 30 seconds and five minutes, and then fairly abruptly begins to suffer almost total traffic loss."
    The fix:  Try resetting the SMC   (has worked on iMacs and MacBook Airs)
    Source: MacDaily News - 2014/10/22

  • Booting into Safe Mode: "After upgrading to OS X Yosemite, you might encounter a problem where your Mac appears to always boot in Safe Mode,..."
    The fix involves one or more of the below:  
         1) Reset the PRAM 
         2) Fix your Hard Drive 
         3) Format your Hard Drive
    Source: MacIssues - 2014/10/20

  • Apple Mail Crashing: "After upgrading to OS X Yosemite, you might find Apple's Mail application may crash or hang when you open it, preventing you from accessing any new messages."
    The fix: involves one or more of the below
         1) Launch Mail in Safe Mode
         2) Boot your Mac into Safe Mode to launch Mail
         3) Remove Mail saved state
         4) Temporarily disable Mail accounts
         5) Uninstall or disable any 3rd party Mail add-ons
         6) Remove and rebuild Mail's container
    Source: MacIssues - 2014/10/19 (updated 2014/10/20) 

    (As an aside - it seems that Outlook 2011 seems to work perfectly)

  • Juniper VPN issues: Network Connect hangs, Junos Pulse won't work.
    The fix: Seems to be to use newer version of Network Connect instead of Junos Pulse -- see last Forum entry in the source link.
    The Source: MacRumors Forum - entry #17 dated 2014/10/22

  • DNS issues: Trouble accessing .local domain
    The fix: open a Terminal session and run this command:   sudo discoveryutil mdnsactivedirectory yes  
    Source:     Apple Support Communities (entry by Kenneth Barnt on 2014/10/23)




]]> Creative re-energizing... tag:www.elektrikink.org,2012://2.268 2012-04-25T11:45:26Z 2012-05-02T14:24:25Z I'm so glad that I was able to attend the UX Immersion conference here in Portland, Or. So worth the price for two days of immersive workshops and a day of feature speakers. Today's the last day of the conference... iflynn
I think one of the best takeaways from the conference so far was from the Rachel Hinman workshop on Prototyping the Mobile User Experience where she challenged us to cast off the shackles of designing for an experience we're already comfortable and familiar with (the desktop) and truly delve into the context of the mobile experience. Mobile is not a desktop computer, just as web is not print. It's very easy to get into the groove of the familiar design patterns we use day in and day out. What's not so easy is to realize they simply don't translate well to a different context. Plus, by trying to use the same design patterns in a different context you often times miss the opportunity to take full advantage of the native power of that context. Mobile is not desktop so don't design the gui on mobile, take full advantage of the nui affordances.

As well, the feature talks on fitting User Experience into an Agile development project struck some chords with me. Like many others in the audience, our development teams are transitioning from the traditional waterfall project management methodology to agile and like many others I feel we're struggling with folding User Experience into the development process. Hugh Beyer's talk was most informative to me - definitely yes, the UX person needs to be a full member of the development team so that their issues become part of the development issues. And adding a longer Sprint 0 for planning and research just makes sense. I'm glad the conference organizers were videotaping the feature talks as I'll definitely be referring back to share them at the office.  

Today, I'm looking forward to the workshop on Mobile Design for the Enterprise Intranet, a topic of close interest for me as a team member of exactly that kind of project back home. I'm sure I'll be getting a boatload of ideas to bring back.
]]> New Beginnings tag:www.elektrikink.org,2012://2.264 2012-01-02T14:19:09Z 2012-01-03T13:44:41Z It's been a long time since I've updated this blog. Many things have gone on in my life over the past few years; relationship breakdown, divorce, single parenting an angry teenager, adjusting to life on my own, beginning a new... iflynn
I like to think these changes were placed in front of me as a series of challenges to overcome. Change is never easy, even more so when one is comfortable in the known (even if not completely satisfied). Change requires discomfort and who, really, readily seeks out discomfort? I suppose when you are discomforted enough in your current state you will make a change - you are forced to change. But that occurs of your own doing. When change is forced upon you it's very hard to take. A lot of what I learned over the past few years is that change happens and that no matter how uncomfortable it might be, how we accommodate it is our test. I lost a lot of things that were very important to me, but I also gained a lot of things that are important to me now for which I am thankful.

Life's journey takes many twists and turns, at least it has for me, and I've often had to recalibrate where I'm headed with what I want. Nowhere is this more apparent that in my position at work. People who know me would say I have an intense curiousity about things - a real hunger to learn. I'm also a problem-solver and have an appreciation for aesthetic. These attributes led me to the field of web design in 1997. Curiosity about the web coupled with the hunger to learn how to create web pages got me started. The ability to add the aesthetic qualities to these rudimentary sites was what secured me a position at my current place of employment where I was hired on as a web manager in 1999. Over the next decade and a bit, the organization changed (as organizations do), our department realigned and roles within were shifted. Strategic priorities were established or changed and positions were adjust to reflect this. Through twists and turns, through what I call the "dark times", our department emerged into a new beginning which seems much more focussed. My role now incorporates a heavy amount of problem solving as I'm now involved in the richer field of Usability, User Experience and UI design. The biggest change to my role has been that the aesthetic determination is now removed from my role and placed elsewhere. This was difficult for me because I really loved that part of my role. But while the aesthetic might be frontman of the webdesign rock band, without the structure of the show, and the quality of the music, the overall concert(ed) experience will be lacking. What I once did end-to-end has been broken down into specialties and reformulated as a team effort. Which, while there can be challenges to this way of working, is actually not a bad way to do things. And the learning, to my great delight, continues.

So that is where I am at this point in time. Emerging from a whole lotta change but feeling renewed and re-energized and hoping I can keep the momentum going.
]]> instruction manuals... tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.262 2008-12-16T16:50:05Z 2011-12-15T08:46:45Z A new piece of electronic gear arrived the other day (an early Christmas gift perhaps ;) ) and while (ahem) checking to make sure nothing was broken in transit (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) I decided to... iflynn A new piece of electronic gear arrived the other day (an early Christmas gift perhaps ;) ) and while (ahem) checking to make sure nothing was broken in transit (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) I decided to read the installation instructions. The first four items on the instruction manual (in bold type no less):
  1. Read Instructions
  2. Retain Instructions
  3. Heed Instructions
  4. Follow Instructions

And then the usual instructions for care and maintenance ensue. My god - I'm literally laughing out loud. Dare I say it? Was this written by ... uhm... women perhaps?? :D

]]> Putting social back into social networking... tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.260 2008-10-17T13:19:41Z 2011-09-28T18:24:04Z I caught a really cool commerical on TV last night - for Dentyne gum - where todays commonplace social networking terms were portrayed by people acting them out in real-life activities. What initially caught my interest was the use of... iflynn I caught a really cool commerical on TV last night - for Dentyne gum - where todays commonplace social networking terms were portrayed by people acting them out in real-life activities. What initially caught my interest was the use of the buzzwords, what kept my interest was relating it to "face-to"face" activities. Fresh!

Checking out their website I found it really cool that they have a 3 minute countdown after which the website "shuts down" and they encourage you to put away the computer and go outside and have some face time. How truly radical! It seems a sad sort of commentary on the state of things as we find people more and more relating to each other across the digital networks rather than face to face... in an effort to bring the world closer, are we really pushing people apart? Face time is indeed important, often I find myself now choosing to walk down the hall to confer with a colleague rather than sending an email or picking up the phone. A little more effort yes but a lot more rewarding. Anyway, an interesting ad campaign - take 3 minutes, check it out, then go outside and meet a friend.

]]> No surprise over iPhone rates in Canada tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.259 2008-06-29T00:42:38Z 2011-09-28T18:24:04Z And as suspected, Rogers did not disappoint in offering less than stellar rates for the new iPhone 3G. As usual, Canadians will line up like sheep to get seriously boned over the ludicrous "deal" from Rogers to use the iPhone.... iflynn And as suspected, Rogers did not disappoint in offering less than stellar rates for the new iPhone 3G. As usual, Canadians will line up like sheep to get seriously boned over the ludicrous "deal" from Rogers to use the iPhone. The cheapest plan is $60/month with a whopping 400MB of data included. Free evenings and weekends except, hello, evenings are near to over by 9pm (see: wikipedia definition), and so in order to get real evening minutes we shall have to shell out an extra $20 for a "value" package. Plus add on the system access fee, the telco 911 fee, and the provincial 911 fee... feh! The addons will run you about $30 or so on top of the advertised rate which, to me, seems a lot. And that, folks, is life when you have only one supplier of the product. Sigh.

]]> The Death of HTML email? tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.258 2008-06-26T15:58:29Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z It occurred to me as I was reading about Raven Zachary's $837.20 iPhone bill that as the iPhone is released to more and more countries, and if (or when) it becomes as ubiquitous as the iPod, then there shall be... iflynn It occurred to me as I was reading about Raven Zachary's $837.20 iPhone bill that as the iPhone is released to more and more countries, and if (or when) it becomes as ubiquitous as the iPod, then there shall be a mighty backlash against marketers and spammers pushing their wares/messages via HTML email as it will be chewing up peoples' precious data allotments - a direct hit to the wallet, at least until WiFi gains the coverage of airspace that mobility currently enjoys. I don't necessarily see that happening in the near future, and I certainly don't see a major restructuring of mobility revenue models. I think the reality will be that HTML email will become anathema to a much wider and far more vocal group than the email purists currently railing on about it. That will be a very good thing in my opinion.

]]> Social Network consolidation tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.257 2008-06-22T23:14:59Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z I'm all about consolidation these days, trying to simplify the many into few. A person's online presence can be multi-faceted as you may be revealing different piece of your person through different systems for viewing by different sets of people.... iflynn I'm all about consolidation these days, trying to simplify the many into few. A person's online presence can be multi-faceted as you may be revealing different piece of your person through different systems for viewing by different sets of people. Being able to links these facets together so that you can more easily disseminate the content is the goal that I'm after.

So it happens that I have this blog, a facebook account and accounts on Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku. A lot of services to post information to. A while ago, I had a posted discussing whether to use pownce, twitter or jaiku for a microblogging platform. While all have their merits, I found that Twitter seems to be the one I've been using more often than not and the trouble of trying to keep up with three services that kind of all do the same thing was more than I wanted to deal with. So I went dark (so to speak) on both pownce and jaiku - on both of which I have different sets of "friends". And then there was my blog and my facebook. I found that my blog posts suffered as I started hanging out more often on Facebook and posting more and more technical updates there. Lately I felt I needed some way to bring all these bits of my electronic self together and try to link them all up.

Through sheer serendipity I happened across Twhirl. Twhirl is a Twitter client which, while posting to Twitter, will also cross post to your Pownce and Jaiku accounts. Are you kidding me? It's just what I was looking for. Fantastic!! So that takes care of the twitter stuff. Now how to integrate my Facebook and blog?

I had already set up my blog to pull my facebook postings into the content, but I wanted it to go the other way as well and so set up facebook to pull my blog posts in as posted facebook notes. (Just pull your blog in as a notes feed). That was easy. Nice. Now I feel motivated to write longer posts on my blog once again and I really like the fact that it also gets posted to my facebook.

There are a few bits of me still scattered around out there but the important stuff is now better linked and I can determine what to do with the other stuff later, for now I'm writing more and posting less but posting to more places - works for me :)

]]> Installing Firefox 3 alongside Firefox 2 tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.256 2008-06-20T12:50:47Z 2011-12-15T10:06:20Z Happy as I am to be using Firefox 3.0, as a web designer I felt it was necessary to hang onto Firefox 2.0 for testing purposes, at least for the short term. When installing FF3, it automatically updates your... iflynn firefox 3
Happy as I am to be using Firefox 3.0, as a web designer I felt it was necessary to hang onto Firefox 2.0 for testing purposes, at least for the short term. When installing FF3, it automatically updates your old installation, and there is no way to specify the directory it installs to. So, it was a relatively simple solution to go just switch the name of the FF2 folder to (what else?) Mozilla Firefox 2.0 which cleared the way for FF3 to install to Mozilla Firefox and voila - two versions can happily co-exist.

In windows (before you install FF3):
My Computer>Local Disk>Program Files>Mozilla Firefox <--- change this to Mozilla Firefox 2.0

On a mac, you can simply download the new FF3 application to your desktop, change the name to Firefox 3.0 and then copy it into your Applications folder.

Ok, what are you waiting for? Go and get Firefox 3.0:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

And, while you're at it - try these handy add-ons:
Adblock plus - don't ever have to see ads again!
ColorZilla - advanced eyedropper tool
Del.icio.us - access and organize your bookmarks
Foxmarks - sync your FF bookmarks across many computers!
MeasureIt - on screen ruler to get pixel width & height of any element on a webpage
PDF Download - choose what you want to do with a PDF file
Web Designer's Toolbar - lots of handy tools in one easy place.

]]> Groupwise sync to iCal / iPod tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.255 2008-06-18T19:12:37Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z I had the strange urge to blog today about the trials and tribulations of trying to get Groupwise (our Enterprise calendaring software which we must use at work) to sync up with my iPod touch. It's more than just that... iflynn I had the strange urge to blog today about the trials and tribulations of trying to get Groupwise (our Enterprise calendaring software which we must use at work) to sync up with my iPod touch. It's more than just that really, I keep my personal appointments that don't affect my office availability separate on my iCal, because, well, my work mates don't really need to know my after work schedule do they?, and sync that to my iPod touch as well. At the end of the day, I just wanted to have the whole mess available on my iPod which goes with me everywhere. It's not quite a simple solution though, it happens that one needs to install a 3rd party piece of (Windows) software and have Google calendar act as an intermediary step.

So, here is how to accomplish the grand sync (in a really roundabout way!)
Step 1: Set up a Google Calendar (you don't have to share it with the world!)
Step 2: Download CompanionLink Software's CompanionLink for Google (not free though - you will need to register it for $29.95 US to keep using it past the trial period)
Step 3: In iCal, add a subscription to your Google calendar
Step 4: Configure CompanionLink for Google to sync your Google calendar with your Groupwise
Step 5: Sync up - once the sync is complete everything should now be on your iCal
Step 6: You can now sync your iPod touch which will sync your iCal data as well.

I had originally installed CompanionLink for Google on an XP Desktop but recently switched it to a Parallels Vista install on my MBP

Bonus: if you're on a MacBook / MacBook Pro, install Windows either via Bootcamp, Parellels or VMWare Fusion and install CompanionLink for Google there. I personally prefer the Windows client for Groupwise over the Mac client so I installed that on my Parallels Vista install as well.

What a lot of bother just to get everything onto my iCal so I can (a) have it all on one calendar and (b) sync it with my iPod.

]]> Remote Buddy tag:www.elektrikink.org,2008://2.254 2008-05-07T12:01:00Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z Really pleased with Remote Buddy which allows me to use my apple remote with MS Powerpoint. It has other useful features too and - how cool is this - you can even use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a... iflynn Really pleased with Remote Buddy which allows me to use my apple remote with MS Powerpoint. It has other useful features too and - how cool is this - you can even use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote as well. Neeeeat.

]]> Another outstanding user experience: Apple's Genius Bar tag:www.elektrikink.org,2007://2.253 2007-12-08T16:30:18Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z This is an article I meant to write and publish back in December, however, the entire month was ridiculously hectic and it seemed that I could find absolutely no time to sit and write. Fortunately, the event was memorable enough... iflynn This is an article I meant to write and publish back in December, however, the entire month was ridiculously hectic and it seemed that I could find absolutely no time to sit and write. Fortunately, the event was memorable enough that I should have no problem at all remembering exactly how it went.

In early December I was lucky enough to attend the Web Builder 2.0 conference in Las Vegas and while there I decided to visit the Apple store and have them take a look at the battery on my new (few months old) MacBook Pro. Shortly after receiving it I had noted that the battery was no longer flush with the underside of the case and in fact seemed to be ever so slightly bulging a bit. Upon removing the batter I found that I could easily separate the casing by hooking an edge with my fingernail and pulling gently up - this did not seem like a good thing to me. Plus, the raised edge underneath was annoying. So in I went and got an appointment with the Genius Bar techhies. The wait wasn't overly excessive (20 minutes) even though the store was bustling. In fact, they bumped me into a no-show slot within 5 minutes. Cool.

They took a look at it and felt that it was not a safety issue, rather more a cosmetic issue but were willing to swap it out for a replacement if I liked. Uh, yeah! Absolutely. And swap it out they did. One concern of mine was the charge status as I would be flying out of Vegas later that evening to which they responded by hauling a stool over to the end of the bar and letting me sit there and work for as long as I liked while the battery charged.

Well that was awesome. So work I did while while other customers came and had their issues taken care of. I was so impressed by the guys manning the bar and their professionalism in dealing with the customers. One poor woman came in with her "broken" brand-new iphone - she could talk through it but couldn't hear anyone from the other end. The techie took a quick look and, without making her feel like a total dunce, peeled off the anti-scratch film it ships with which was covering the ear piece hole. Very impressive.

I've read online both pro and con articles of the people staffing the Genius Bar, and well, my experience was definitely pro. In fact, all the staff I dealt with were awesome there - it's heartening to see that the art of customer service is not dead.

]]> an outstanding user experience tag:www.elektrikink.org,2007://2.252 2007-11-30T15:27:01Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z Is it sad that I just had an amazing user experience by a totally automated system? Surprised the hell out of me I will admit. As I'll be out of the office for a week or so I had stumbled... iflynn Is it sad that I just had an amazing user experience by a totally automated system? Surprised the hell out of me I will admit.

As I'll be out of the office for a week or so I had stumbled about on the website of our local daily newspaper looking for the form they used to have (which has now disappeared) and was a little irritated at having to actually "phone" them to request a vacation delivery stoppage. Once connected to reception the automated system informed me of a 5 minute wait for a customer service rep (yikes), or, "she" could help me with the following things - vacation hold being one of them. What the heck I figured, I'll give Sally the Voice a go.

The cool thing was that it was all voice recognition stuff, no punching in numbers at all. Simply speaking "vacation hold" after the list of items selected that option, then she requested my phone number to be spoken to her, and then my house number. After that she wanted to know the date of stoppage and the date to resume. What cracked me up were the responses from her, they varied from "got it" to "thank you" to "great, thanks". And even funnier was the fake typing noise when she responded with "just a sec while I check the system for your account (insert fake typing noise here)" and "entering your request into the system now (more fake typing noise)". Too funny.

Very smooth and easy to use and the whole process left me with a "huh - now why can't all customer service calls be that easy and cool". Coolness aside though - let's just hope it works.

]]> OS X 10.5 - Leopard tag:www.elektrikink.org,2007://2.251 2007-11-15T20:25:32Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z Well, finally I found the time to update my mac book pro to OS X 10.5 (Leopard). After researching the installation recommendations, and realizing I have so many 3rd party apps installed, I opted to go the archive and install... iflynn Well, finally I found the time to update my mac book pro to OS X 10.5 (Leopard). After researching the installation recommendations, and realizing I have so many 3rd party apps installed, I opted to go the archive and install route rather than the upgrade route. Upgrade seems to be fraught with potential problems for too many folks. And even though I had backed up my system last night, I choose to also burn some DVDs containing important documents and other work files - stuff that I would need right away. Just in case. I've lost too much data over the years not to be paranoid in this regard ;)

So once satisfied that I had my safety net in place, away I leapt and began the install. The entire installation process took just under 2 hours and went very smoothly. Wireless connectivity was a bit of an issue, but I had the solution in hand before actually beginning the install and was able to correct the issue right after. My wireless signal is now stronger than it was with Tiger, go figure. And the system itself seems much quicker as well. No complaints here in that regard.

Next up, but which I'll leave to another day, is to install Vista and XP under Parallels - good times.

]]> Apple iPod Touch - lovin' it! tag:www.elektrikink.org,2007://2.250 2007-11-10T22:31:23Z 2011-09-28T18:24:03Z So it's been a few days that I've had and have been using my iPod touch and not only is it a joy to behold but also a joy to use. The usability is beyond compare. One of the first... iflynn So it's been a few days that I've had and have been using my iPod touch and not only is it a joy to behold but also a joy to use. The usability is beyond compare. One of the first things I set up was the web apps that I use all the time: Twitter, Remember the Milk, mail, weather; and bookmarks to the sites I visit all the time: Google, gMail, Facebook. And we're off and running. Many people have complained that there's no native mail client - and while certainly that would have made things easier, there is an online mail client app that can be used to access your pop mail account, and it works very well. This device is truly beyond functional for me - as long as there's an open wireless access point.

Resources:

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