Entries Tagged as “Software”
Snow Leopard Firefox Fonts Fix
I had a strange problem today when I upgraded my office computer to the new Snow Leopard OS. Upon launching Firefox I noticed that all the fonts in the user interface got really fat and bold looking. I immediately started checking the preferences for a default font selection thinking the font choice had been changed. Tried resetting the preferences, tried checking the about:congig for FF thinking there might be something there. I was turning up empty handed. I had already updated my home machine without incident, so I knew it had to be localized.Here is a screen shot below of the offending UI:
After turning up empty handed in my search for a changed or damaged preference, I turned to Suitcase. I noticed that I had a lot of duplicate fonts that were not there before. I keep a tight library and instantly recognized the issue. After turning off and removing duplicate MS Office fonts both from Suitcase and from Apples Font Book — I was able to determine that the missing font was LucidaSans and/or Lucida Sans Unicode. After reactivating these two fonts the problem was fixed.
Also worth noting: On my home system I used Suitcase Fusion, and at the office I am using Suitcase Fusion 2 Other than that the systems are the same. I know Suitcase Fusion 2 has a different way of handling fonts. So this might be the root problem, but I am not really sure.
I hope this will help someone else just upgrading to Snow Leopard.
Update
I was alerted by Jason Reed that there is another possible fix for this issue. Interestingly enough also involving the font "Lucida". Design blog Stucel, has this alternate fix posted on his site: Firefox bold font UI problem in Snow Leopard So there are at least two possible fixes for this issue. If you find another solution to this issue that works for you, feel free to comment or shoot me an email.
→ Respond NowTags: General · Software
Configuring CF8 to use Google Apps
The biggest issue I have with running my own server is dealing with spam blockers, email servers, DNS servers, etc. For some of you this is easy, and a no brainer. I personally run from it like a screaming banshee. I use google hosted services for all my email needs. They make it easy, rarely ever have downtime, and the spam filtering is second to none!
Google works fine for sending email from my desktop mail client or through the web, but sending mail via scripts programatically has always been a pain in the butt in my experience. That is until today.
I started getting a lot of undelivered emails and decided it was time to look for another option. After much research, I found an article on TACFUG: ColdFusion 8 likes Google Apps. The article is incomplete and only shows some code for step 2. Not very helpful. I assume it had photos but they may have been deleted at some point. It lead me to my own testing and discovery so I guess it did help in some way.
Here is what I found. Google can accept email from your CF server but it must support SSL and TSL Connections. Coldfusion Server versions previous to CF8 did not support this. So If your using an older version of CF there is a workaround using Doug Boude's sTunnel method. Since I discovered that CF8 supports SSL and TSL connections, I will talk about that here.
Configure ColdFusion Admin
This is actually super simple and I wish I had discovered it before. It would have saved me so much heartache and pain in the past. Here is a screen shoot for reference.
- Go to the Server Settings for "Mail" and set the Mail Server value to smtp.gmail.com
- Set the Username field to a valid username in your google account.
- Add the obvious password for this account
- Lastly check the two boxes to enable SSL and TSL connections and submit.
Thats really all there is to it. Now when your server sends an email it will pass it off to Google for delivery and you will see the email appear in your sent mail folder in google webmail. Easy as pie!
→ Respond NowTags: Software · ColdFusion
Apple's Obsession With Removing Buttons
It seams that as of late, Apple has been obsessed with removing buttons from their devices. They are acting like the crazy parents obsessed with removing all sharp corners from their house when they have a child. Was Steve Jobs attacked and injured as a child from a rogue button?
In the last two years Apple has been grooming consumers for a buttonless revolution. The iPhone, though having buttons itself focuses more or non tactile usability. Earlier this year we saw the laptops go buttonless. Now the iPod Shuffle.
I personally did not care much for the buttonless laptop. I felt the system did not work as good and needed more time being tested for usability. Apple has always been on the forefront of design and usability and being able to put them into the same package has always been a strong point for them. This time around I am not so sure. I know I would feel more comfortable recommending an last years model to someone purchasing a laptop for the first time.
The 3rd generation iPod announced today really makes me wonder if it's really necessary to reinvent the wheel? Unless of course your making a better wheel. Maybe I am being quick to conclusions as I have not actually seen the new iPod Shuffle but let me point out a few things that I noticed right away. A few things that have me concerned about this product.
Why on earth would you take the buttons off of the device and put them on to the headphone cord? I don't know about you, but I personally think the earbuds are mediocre at best. The first thing I did when I got my iPod was buy some real headphones. Putting the controls on the cord just means that if you buy a shuffle you have to stick to the earbuds supplied until third party manufactures catch up and ship an alternate product. No doubt you will have to pay a premium for them to boot. Do we really need another iPhone headphone debacle? Didn't we learn something from this or do we need to do it all over again.
→ Respond NowTags: Design · Software · usability
SideNote: A Free Mango Blog Plugin
Back when I used BlogFusion as a CMS, it had a very simple utility called notes. Its function was simple. It added a note to your sidebar. I found this really useful when you need to alert your users to a new update or some problem without having to create a blog post about it. I wanted that feature back in mango blog so I created a very simple plugin called SideNote. It allows you to add html to your sidebar so you can use it however you want. Use SideNote to add an alert about upcoming maintenance or an outage, or maybe you need a donate now button? It's up to you.
Update
Thanks to the feedback, I have updated SideNote to include support for the WYSIWYG editor. You can now turn it off and on by clicking the toggle editor icon just like you can in the posts and pages editor. Now you can enjoy SideNote with a simpler more efficient editing experience.
Download SideNote Plugin
- Plugin version:
- 1.2
- Last Updated:
- 2009-10-13
- Requires:
- Mango Blog 1.3+
- Auto-install URL:
- http://www.visual28.com/assets/content/mango/sideNote-1.2.zip
→ Respond NowTags: Freebies · Mango Blog · Plugins · Software
Synchronize Your Life
If your like me, you have more than one computer. I have at least 6 computers that I use on a daily basis - 9 if you count the ones that I use off and on while I am traveling and away from home or office. Don't get me started with shared calendars with my wife's' computers too. Keeping your contacts, emails, calendar, and bookmarks in sync can be a real pain in the you know what.
Fortunately I have found a suite of tools that allow me to keep synced at all times across all of my computers both at home and at work. I wish there were a single application to rule them all, but for now at least there is hope that with a little elbow grease it can be done.
→ Respond NowTags: Software · General
