LiamHughes.com

Slow Startup in Mac OS X

Liam Hughes — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:18:39 +0000

So for some time now whenever I start up my MacBook Pro everything took a long time to be ready to do what I told it. It would just sit there thinking for quite a while before it would accept any input or respond.

I only had one application start at login and that was Skype. The reason for this is because it is not an app I use, but one I want to have open in case someone wants to call me.

Anyway, I tried an experiment where I turned off Skype launching at start up and difference was amazing. I don't know if they have bad memory code on start up or what.

I still wanted to Skype to start up automatically, but wanted a faster start up time. The answer, as usual for me, was AppleScript, and it is a super simple one:

tell application "Skype"

delay 30

activate

end tell

Basically it just sits there for thirty seconds and then starts Skype. So copy and paste this into AppleScript Editor and save it somewhere out of the way. I put mine at /Applications/Scripts/LaunchSkype.scpt.

The next step is to automatically trigger the script. I use Lingon to create launchd scripts but you can also write them manually.

For example, create a file called say, com.liamhughes.LaunchSkype.plist, in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ with the following contents:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Label</key>

<string>com.liamhughes.LaunchSkype</string>

<key>ProgramArguments</key>

<array>

<string>osascript</string>

<string>/Applications/Scripts/LaunchSkype.scpt</string>

</array>

<key>RunAtLoad</key>

<true/>

</dict>

</plist>

This will cause your script to be run whenever you login to your computer.

Best of both worlds: fast start up time and automatic launch of Skype (or whatever application you want).

Preparing for Lion

Liam Hughes — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:17:55 +0000

We now have official word that Mac OS X Lion is launching "tomorrow" (likely tonight Australian time).

A big decision to make every time a new OS comes out is clean install vs upgrade install.

Pros for Clean Install

Crud left lying around: While Mac OS X may not be plagued with the dreaded Windows registry, that does not mean that application developers don't leave files all over your system that don't go away when you remove the app in question (although AppZapper can help with that.

A fresh start: I have over 100 applications on my computer. I doubt I use all of them. A clean install lets me just add the applications back as I need them.

Pros for Upgrade Install

Really easy: No chasing up preference files. No going to use App X in a week's time and not finding it, having to download a 100MB+ file from the Internet and then finding my serial number for it.

Really quick: You will probably be all done in about an hour, start to finish.

On Time Machine

I love Time Machine. Between my wife and my laptops we've had a few hard drive failures and a Time Machine restore makes it as though nothing happened at all. In this context, though, that means that all those left over preference files and caches are also restored, quickly turning your freshly installed OS into a one or two year old system.

When you go to restore from Time Machine using the Migration Assistant you have the option of migrating the following files:

- Users

- Applications

- Settings

- Other files and folders

Now, you could only restore the Users option, which would mean that your Applications, Settings and the Local Library will not be restored. However, not only does this mean that your Local Library might be lost with important data before you realise it (due to Time Machine deleting older backups), but also your User Library, which stores a lot of application data, will be restored.

My Solution (use at your own risk)

I have come up with a solution that I think provides you with the benefits of a clean install, but reduces the risk of losing any of your important data.

Here's the process:

1. Back up with Time Machine.

But you were doing this already, right?

2. Do a static back up of your Applications and Libraries.

Create a folder on your external harddrive called 'Static Backup'.

Inside that folder create folders called 'Applications', 'Library' and 'Users'.

Inside 'Users' create one folder for each of the Users on your computer.

Inside each of those user folders create a folder called 'Library'.

Copy and paste the following into the AppleScript Editor:

set myPassword to "password"

set myHarddrive to "harddrive"

do shell script "rsync -a --delete /Applications/ /Volumes/" & myHarddrive & "/StaticBackup/Applications/" password myPassword with administrator privileges

do shell script "rsync -a --delete /Library/ /Volumes/" & myHarddrive & "/StaticBackup/Library/" password myPassword with administrator privileges

set myUsername to "username"

do shell script "rsync -a --delete /Users/" & myUsername & "/Library/ /Volumes/" & myHarddrive & "/StaticBackup/Users/" & myUsername & "/Library/" password myPassword with administrator privileges

Replace password with your admin password. (Don't save the file with your password entered, but set back to password before saving.)

Replace harddrive with the name of your external hard drive.

Make copies of the last two lines for each of the users on your system. Set username for each accordingly.

Run the script.

You will now have a back up of your Applications, your Local Library and all of your User Libraries.

You can run this script at any time and then again just before doing the OS install and it will just update the files already backed up.

3. Install the OS

Do one final Time Machine backup.

Do the fresh install.

When the system asks if you would like to migrate data from Time Machine, say no.

Create the users from your old system.

4. Restore your user data

Once the OS install has finished, enter Time Machine and browse to your user directory.

Select all the folders, except for the Library, and select Restore.

Repeat for each user on the system.

5. That's it (for now)

You now have a completely clean system, but still have all of your user data, including iTunes and iPhoto libraries.

If you install an application and realise that some important data is missing, there is a 99% chance you will find it in your static backup.

After some time (maybe six months) you can probably just delete your static backup.

Conclusion

It certainly does not have the simplicity of a Time Machine restore, but a new version of OS X only comes out less than once per year. I think it is probably worth it for that fresh new car smell.

Oh, yeah, and don't forget to check Roaring Apps to see if your mission critical apps are stable in Lion.

A Quick Update

Liam Hughes — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 02:40:58 +0000

Haven't blogged for a while, so here's a quick update.

Last week I took a week of annual leave to spend time with family.

The two weeks before that I began work on an iOS specific library to wrap around the official Evernote API. The idea is to get a library to the point where an iOS developer could add Evernote capability to a range of different apps as quickly as possible. This includes adding client-side storage and validation of data, along with a bunch of other things.

All of this will replace a chunk of code from QuickText which should allow me to add new features a bit easier as well as develop new apps using a common base.

I'll post more on the library when it is closer to being finished. At this stage I am thinking I might open source the lot of it, but who knows.

I'm also getting stuck in to the WWDC 2011 session videos to learn all what's new about iOS 5. Unfortunately I can't talk about any of it due to the NDA...

So, that's me from the last three weeks. More to come...

iOS5 and iCloud: A Follow-up

Liam Hughes — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 03:40:20 +0000

Here is my wishlist of what would be announced today.

Let's see if Apple likes me...

Notifications
Check!

iCloud: Better Not Just Be MobileMe + Music
Check! The built-in sync across apps and devices is definitely a noteable improvement. Also, free.

iCloud: Better Not Just Be Dropbox
Check, again! When I stop to think about it, there was nothing that I wanted iCloud to do that developers couldn't have done with Dropbox. But, much like Game Center when there was already OpenFeint, I'm sure we will see a slew of updates in "the fall" which will introduce over the air syncing of our favourite apps. Although there is one thing that iCloud will be able to do that Dropbox can't: background syncing!

Wi-Fi Sync to iTunes
Check! Funnily enough, as someone who syncs their iPhone every day, I'm almost most excited about this than anything else. Pair that with over the air backups and my iOS devices and my MacBook Pro will barely have to ever meet.

So, four out of four. Thanks Uncle Apple!

Rhinote - QuickText v1.0.4

Liam Hughes — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:22:34 +0000

Despite all the WWDC news, looks like Apple still had time to approve some app submissions, and as a result v1.0.4 of QuickText is out.

As a result of user requests, the ability to delete notes rose to the top of the features list. So you can now delete individual notes (by tapping the trash can icon) or all the notes at once (in the settings).

TextExpander is a tool that I've seen around for quite some time now, integrated into a bunch of different productivity apps, including Appigo's Todo. I have never really got into using it myself. That is until I decided to add it to QuickText. After just a few minutes of playing around with it I can see why it is so popular. So definitely go ahead and try out TextExpander Touch and then turn on the snippet sharing option in QuickText's settings.

This version of QuickText also has a fair amount of behind the scenes work, most of which you won't notice. What you might notice is that indenting is now preserved and the location tracking for geodata is more frugal when exiting the app.

Anyway, hit up the link to download the update.

iTunes Link

iOS 5 and iCloud: A Wishlist

Liam Hughes — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:13:12 +0000

So the news is that it is official that next week Apple will make announcements about Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and something called iCloud.

Here is my wishlist of features as an iOS user. I'll probably write something after the event about what it means for me as a developer.

Notifications
One of the rumoured features of iOS 5 is an updated notifications system. Notifications are those little blue rounded-cornered rectangles that pop up telling you about new text messages or that it is your turn in Words with Friends. My two main gripes with the current system is that only one is viewed at a time and that you can't go back and view old notifications. Hopefully both of these will be addressed.

iCloud: Better Not Just Be MobileMe + Music
All we know about iCloud at this point is that it will be "Apple's cloud services offering". At the moment Apple have MobileMe which includes an online version of mail and calendar offerings among a few other things. For the moment I use Google for this stuff. The speculation for the new features are mostly geared around music to go head to head with Amazon's CloudPlayer. As much as I would love to have access to more of my music when out and about, at the moment I have over 24 hours worth of my music on my iPhone, which seems ample most of the time.

iCloud: Better Not Just Be Dropbox
I love Dropbox. It ensures that I have access to all my documents anywhere, and that the most recent version of my most important files are backed up almost instantly. But I already have Dropbox and many iOS developers are already implementing Dropbox support for savings files to the cloud. So iCloud has to be Dropbox + something. What I really want to see is a file storage service that heavily links my iPhone to my iPad so that I am working with one set of data on both. I want to be playing Plants vs Zombies on my iPad at home and then when I'm waiting in line at the bank be able to turn on my iPhone and pick up exactly where I left off because my save game has synced between the two devices.

Wi-Fi Sync to iTunes
That leads me to Wi-Fi sync. Every morning I plug my iPhone into my computer to update my podcasts and backup my phone, as well as getting the freshest music into my Smart Playlists. I know that Wi-Fi sync could be very draining to the battery, but how about an automatic sync when the device is plugged in to charge, and a manual sync otherwise?

There's my list. We will know by this time next week whether my dreams came true. The WWDC Keynote is on at 3am on Tuesday local time. I usually try to avoid hearing all the news until the video is released, so fingers crossed it will be out soon after I wake up on Tuesday.

A Smart Phone Based Quiz Show

Liam Hughes — Sat, 28 May 2011 01:22:41 +0000

Click here for an introduction to my series on ideas.

I don't mean a quiz show app, like a Wheel of Fortune app. I mean a television game show where the contestants are allowed to, nay! are required to, use a smart phone to compete.

The contestants would be able to use their pick of phone (iPhone, Android, etc) with any apps that they choose (web browser, Wikipedia app, calculator, etc).

There would a number of different segments:

Question and Answer
Much like your typical game show with factual or logical questions. Only because the contestants have access to smart phones along with Wikipedia and Google, the questions could be significantly harder than other game shows. What the contestant needs to do is work out the quickest way to find the answer.

What is 5.41 miles in kilometers? Do you use the built in calculator, Convertbot, WolframAlpha or just Google it?

Furthermore, any of the contestant's friends or family who are watching at home can call or text in the answer!

Text Hero
A lot like the national and International texting competitions around, the contestants have to type in a particular section of text and SMS it to a predetermined number. They will receive a certain number of points based on speed and accuracy.

Head-to-Head
Probably the final segment, this would involve some sort of multiplayer game, such as multiplayer Doodle Jump or Infinity Blade. The winner gets a whole bunch of points. This could maybe a potential sponsorship opportunity, where app developers pay to have their game featured for a week.

An additional aspect of the game show would be that there would be an official complementary app so that you can play along with the show. And if you are watching live and you do really well (keeping in mind that you would have to switch back to the app and type in the answers rather than just say them) you may be selected as a future contestant on the show!

If you can think of any ideas for additional segments, go ahead and leave a comment.

Rhinote - QuickText v1.0.3

Liam Hughes — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:56:38 +0000

Just a few moments ago QuickText v1.0.3 went live.

Evernote notes can have attached latitude and longitude data, and while I don't ever really use this feature, I know other people do, so I added that feature to QuickText.

Secondly, a badge number now appears on the app's icon that represents the number of notes queued for upload. For those with background processing, this will update as each note is uploaded.

Lastly, a bug fix for notes with titles that ended with a space.

Enjoy!

Rhinote - QuickText v1.0.2

Liam Hughes — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:29:28 +0000

There is definitely an advantage to being a user of your own product. "Eating your own dogfood" as they say in the biz.

When I started using QuickText I soon realised how annoying it was to have to actually click on a note in the Desktop version of Evernote to see what it said. So v1.0.2 now uses the first line of your note as the title of that note.

Another bug fix in this one too, so definitely go ahead and update the app!

Ideas: An Introduction

Liam Hughes — Tue, 10 May 2011 23:54:35 +0000

I have a lot of ideas.

In my Evernote I have a notebook with over a dozen independent Rhinote-related ideas alone.

In another notebook simply called "Ideas" I currently have 48 separate ideas for products or services. Some of them are a bit silly and most of them would probably never survive as a self-sustained business venture. Some of them I rather like and if someone gave me a few large sacks with dollar signs on them I would devote my working life to making as many of them as possible.

This is all where the "ideas guy" of my subtitle comes from. And one of the segments of this blog will be to turn as many of them from the above comic's "Option 2" to "Option 1" as possible.

Best case scenario, someone comes along, makes my idea into reality and then hires me to work on it. Worst case scenario, when someone else comes up with it I have documented proof that I thought of it first!