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Bootcamp Assistant Nightmare

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So, I recently got accepted into a beta program for a popular game. The problem is, there’s no Mac version of the beta yet. So, I had to get a windows machine up and going. All the PCs in my home, and at work, aren’t really capable of playing modern games. So, I had to get bootcamp working on my laptop (which is still fairly old, but at least is a C2D Macbook Pro (2006)).

So, I started with just trying to run bootcamp assistant. It failed saying “cannot move files”. Great. So, looking online, I found that it can be caused by insufficient space on the HD. So, I removed some data from my laptop. Ran the assistant again, and got the same result. Moving on, I tried using the work copy of iDefrag. I did both the “compact” option, and the “full optimize” option. After both, the result of the bootcamp assistant was the same: “unable to move files”.

So finally, after spending probably 16 hours on this problem, I “Target Disk Mode” booted my MBP, and hooked it up to my Mini Server, and ran Carbon Copy Cloner to backup my MBP to a disk image. Then, repartitioned the drive on the MBP as 1 partition, HFS+ Journaled. Then, ran CCC and restored the disk image back to the MBP HD. (Total time for backup, then restore, about 2 hours for 50GB (about 1 hour for each direction). I then booted the MBP back up, and ran the Bootcamp assistant. It worked!

So, while iDefrag SHOULD have been enough to move everything up to the start of the disk, it didn’t seem to be enough. CCC does file level copies, so wiping the drive, then restoring it, basically moved everything to the start of the drive, and all non-fragmented. Who knows, maybe the bootcamp assistant just looks at the age of the partition and decides to fail based upon it’s age. *shrugs*

Anyway, I installed XP SP3 since I couldn’t get Win 7 64-bit to install. I’m going to give it another shot when I have some time, given this link that seems to address the issue I saw when I tried booting from the Win 7 DVD.

So, all told, 18-20 hours (with some sleep in there) to install XP to play one game that’ll probably have a Mac version of the beta out in a couple weeks. But, it was worth it after playing 3 hours tonight, and probably playing more tomorrow.

All that said, Apple really should allow running the Bootcamp assistant from another machine while the “target” is in TDM. Or, run it from single user mode. The former should allow everything to be moved, and the latter should allow moving of just about everything but the kernel. *shrugs* Bit annoying. But, it’s really a “corner case” for those of us that want/need to install windows after the initial computer setup. The CCC route seems like the most easy, fast, and logical option. If only I’d thought of it to begin with.

URL Shortener

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So, it’s been a desire of mine for a while to make up a URL shortener. It seems like such a trivial coding experiment, but a fun one.

The first hurdle, getting something better than base10 for the URLs. That’s fairly easy, in that you can look here. The code he lists isn’t complete, as you need some other stuff. So, go grab the Cassis project code instead.

Note: when you “include_once” that code, you’ll want to do it like:

ob_start();
include_once("./cassis.js");
ob_end_clean();

Next you’ll need to code up something to add URLs to your database. That’s also easy enough. My suggestion would be a simple table that would have “id”, “shortcode”, and “url”. Make id a primary key, and add an index on the “shortcode”. Maybe one on the “url” if your going to be using the system heavily enough to require checking to see if a URL exists already before blindly creating a new short-url.

The last hurdle is to write the decoder. Basically, just have it look for “GET”, and look that up in the DB table, then set the “header(location: )” to be the URL in the for that short code.

Now, normally, you’d have a mod_rewrite rule that looked something like this: 

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule shortener.php?url=$1 [L]

Except, WordPress permalinks use something similar, and the two don’t play nice. Now, it would be cool to pass all URLs on to the decoder, and if it didn’t exist in the DB, you’d pass it on to the wordpress index.php. I haven’t quite figured out how to do that, but I found a pretty decent work around. 

RewriteRule ^z(.*) shortener.php?url=$1 [L]

Stick that before the WordPress rewrite rules. What that will do is, if there’s a URL that starts with “z”, it’ll pass whatever comes after that “z” on to the decoder. Personally, I don’t have any pages, or files on my website that start with “z”, so it’s safe for me to do. Your experience may vary. If the decoder doesn’t find the url in the table, it simply redirects to my main page. I think I’ll change that to a 404 here once I am further along.

I’m going to keep playing with this. And hopefully, make some pretty spiffy use of it, but for now, it’s “basically” working. I’ll try to remember to post back on this topic when I have more to report on it. =)

Special thanks to my friend Aaron for the advice on this one.

UPDATE 1: I got 404’s to work for non-existant short codes. So, the key with wordpress is to use something like this

header("HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found");
include("index.php");

Basically, I was trying all kinds of other things, then realized that index.php for wordpress will look for the header state, and redirect appropriately. So, that’s it. It now throws a 404 (which, without that include, it would throw a 404, but it was just a blank page)… Cheers!

Vibram FiveFinger KSO

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I have been facinated by the Vibram FiveFingers since I first read about them online almost a year ago. Since then I have been checking the local REI every so often to see if they have them in. This week, they finally had them.

Men's KSO camo

First, I’ll say, trying them out is a process. If you can find them in a local store, go to that store prepared to spend probably an hour trying them on. First, go here and mainly, figure out the sizes you SHOULD be. Go to the store with that knowledge, and you will be much better off than just randomly trying on different things. Also note, different models fit differently. At the local REI, they have 3 models in Mens and 3 in womens (Classic, Sprint, and KSO). They all fit a bit differently, so basically, try on your size in one, then the size above and below. And maybe even the opposite gender version (if they offer the size you need) if the fit is a bit off on your gender (the difference between the gender’s is the womens are supposedly narrower at the heel, and ball of the foot… though I didn’t notice). Also note that feet change size/shape throughout the day. Especially if you work standing up all day.

All that said, my experience was a trip to REI on Tuesday night with my wife and a friend. We spent probably an hour or so trying them on, testing them out, etc. After all was said and done, I went home with some 41 Men’s, KSO’s. Once home, I tried them on again, and came to the conclusion they might have been too big. So, we jumped back in the car, and headed back to REI, where I tried on the 40 Men’s KSOs. They were too tight. So, I decided to wait through the night, and try again the next day (mainly because my big toe was upset at being in the 40’s).

Next night, we went back. I tried on every model/gender they had in my size (took probably another hour). The 41 Men’s KSOs fit the best. But, being über paranoid, I decided to wait again, and went home. Next morning I woke up, and realized I wanted to take the plunge. So, my wife went and picked up the 41 Men’s KSOs again, and brought them to me at work.My KSO shod foot I put them on, loved them, and wore them all day. It was a blast. On a tactile level, they make walking a pleasure. I’ve never done ecstasy, but I can imagine that it would be absolutely amazing with these on. Everything you want on feels like something different. Shoes, you get “squishiness”, but you don’t feel the surface of what you’re on. Steel Plate, you could feel the diamond shapes. Pebbles felt like pebbles. Bark mulch was absolutely amazing to walk on (felt like being barefoot in the woods).

Alas, it was short lived. After the day of wearing them, I noticed something troubling. The shoes were pressing on my bit toenail rather awkwardly. Kind of a mix of pushing it back into the toe, and upward (like trying to rip it off). It didn’t hurt, but it was uncomfortable. And being as I have a history of ingrown toenails, I didn’t feel comfortable cutting it any shorter. So, alas, I had to return the shoes =( (I did find at least one other instance of someone having the same issue with their big toe toenail on the amazon website. So, I’m not crazy! =)).

All that said, I really loved them. While I didn’t really get to run in them, I can imagine it feels great. All and all, they’re an extremely liberating shoe for someone that isn’t a big barefoot person (I’m too paranoid about stepping on something, and my feet aren’t overly callused). The build quality was extremely good, and from talking with friends that have them, they last a pretty long time (over a year day in/out use in one case)… which is good for ANY shoe, let alone one that is hardly a “shoe” and more like a tough bottomed toe-sock.

Would I be worried about stepping on something in them? Maybe… but given the bottom, while I think something like an up-ended tack might penetrate the sole, I don’t think it would make it all the way through, or seriously hurt your foot. Glass I don’t think would penetrate either. The sole really is quite tough… yet flexible. I’d compare it to my Gatorskin bike tires. Though a kevlar backed VFF might be cool. =P

All and all, as I said, I loved them. They really are the best thing to happen to footwear since Bill Bowerman (though obviously that’s a contrary statement to barefoot running, but, he was revolutionary… as I think these will be/are). And, I’m going to continue trying on/out new models until I find one that works for me. They have a new model, the Bikila coming out in Spring 2010. I’m certainly going to try it out… though given it’s style, I’d imagine it’ll be similar to the KSO’s in toenail tension. =/

So, go try them on already! If they don’t change your life, they’ll at least change your attitude about the notion of “shoes”.

Notes:
KSO stock image taken from REI’s website.

Links of interest: