Everybody knows the standard features of this application. I want to write about how I use ARD in the everyday-to-day work flow of a system administrator.

For example, the report feature is awesome. I use this a lot when I’m with a client who would like to know which computers should be upgraded. Especially when they are planning a software upgrade it’s necessary to know if their computers are able to run this software. So with a simple click of the mouse you’re able to get a report on all the computers hardware and software. I don’t have to run around the office and look at every computer myself. This saves loads of time.

This brings me to another great feature which is the ability to generate a report on what software people are using. It gives you the so much more control on what your clients have installed on their computer. And it’s especially convenient when the users have administrator rights on their computers and thus are able to install almost everything on their computers. This report feature gives you just a bit more insight in what the users have installed and it makes it a more manageable…

What I do when I’m visiting, for example, a client every week on Thursday I schedule ARD to boot up every computer on 09.00 am. This saves me a lot of time. It makes it easy for me to do maintenance on the computers and don’t have to manual put them on. When you’re working in a big building this is something you really appreciate! When I’m done for the day I have another schedule which shuts down all the computers at 8.00 pm.

The other big “Time Saver” is the ability to copy files to multiple computers. I use this often with settings like the custom.printer.plist. It’s very nice to have all the settings for your printers exactly the same on all computers . With a couple of clicks in ARD you got the plist installed on all the computers in the network.

The other thing I like very much is “Curtain Mode”. This lets you do “your thing” without the user watching over your shoulder. Besides that, when the user is not on his workplace it still looks weird for the people walking around that the mouse is moving and screens are flashing while there is nobody behind the computer. So I also use this feature a lot!

I think that ARD is a tool every Apple system administrator should use every day. This is not a promotion thing but it just saves you a lot of time!

Customer: “I wanted to copy some files, but it doesn’t work!”

Me: “OK, do you get an error of some kind?”

Customer: “Yes, it says: Error 33″

Me: “Oh, OK, that helps” (to be honest I don’t have a clue because I don’t know every error code in OS X)

Most of the time after talking with the client I finally figure out that it’s a full disk or some of the files are corrupt, or something else, either way I get it fixed! Still I thought to myself; “Need to digg a little deeper into this error code thing”.

So I (finally) did and today I got pointed to a very nice overview on all the error codes in OS X. It’s an Apple document which gives you a good idea on what the error means. Just follow the list and you get pointed in the right direction.

Apple Document 9805

This could be very helpful when helping clients out. I’m going to learn some fairly common errors so that I can impress my clients by saying…

Me: “Ahh, error the good ‘ol -34. It means that your disk is full. Time to do some spring cleaning on your harddisk”

Client: “Wow, you are amazing!” (client thinks: “I have the best computer engineer in the world”)

Me (thinks): “Need to increase my hourly fees”

Follow me on Twitter: John van Leeuwen

The thing I can’t understand is that when you release an update you don’t test it thoroughly. I mean this is not a little company with one or two developers, this is Adobe!! They should now what to do and what is expected of them when they are releasing an update. Test, development, test, development, test, accept, release… How hard can it be?

Either way, the following bugs are discovered in this latest update:

EXIF Timestamp Error: There is an error in the EXIF time stamp update technology that causes Lightroom to believe that the files are out of sync with the correct time stamp as displayed in Lightroom. Any ensuing metadata update will attempt to incorrectly modify the EXIF time stamp in the original raw file itself. This is the only metadata field that Lightroom will write to an original proprietary raw file. This error will not impact the integrity of your image data.

Olympus Conversion Error: There is an error in converting Olympus JPEG files to other formats in Lightroom 1.4 and the Camera Raw 4.4 plug-in.
The recommedation is that you uninstall this update. Here is how you should do this:

On the Mac
Delete the Lightroom from the Application folder and delete the following file: Library/Receipts/Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.pkgL

On windows
Running the uninstaller would do the trick.

It’s a sad that users should deal with stuff like this. Especially when the lack in testing is to blame!

Follow me on twitter: Benignus

Yesterday I got tempted to use Dock Library and actually tried it out! It’s a freeware program with loads of skins to check out on various sites. If you like to “spice up your dock” this is a very nice little App.

This is how my dock looks like after Dock Library spiced it up!

John’s dock

The bugs “up close and personal”

CVE-ID: CVE-2007-3186
Available for: Windows XP or Vista
Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A command injection vulnerability exists in the Windows version of Safari 3 Public Beta. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously crafted web page, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional processing and validation of URLs.
This does not pose a security issue on Mac OS X systems, but could lead to an unexpected termination of the Safari browser.

CVE-ID: CVE-2007-3185
Available for: Windows XP or Vista
Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds memory read issue in Safari 3 Public Beta for Windows may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution when visiting a malicious website. This issue does not affect Mac OS X systems.

CVE-ID: CVE-2007-2391
Available for: Windows XP or Vista
Impact: Visiting a malicious website may allow cross-site scripting
Description: A race condition in Safari 3 Public Beta for Windows may allow cross site scripting. Visiting a maliciously crafted web page may allow access to JavaScript objects or the execution of arbitrary JavaScript in the context of another web page. This issue does not affect Mac OS X systems.

You can download the patch by running the software update tool or by downloading the update on the following location:
http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

Best Mac OS X Leopard Application
Winner– Delicious Library 2.0 (alpha)
Runner-up – iBank 3.0a

Best Mac OS X User Experience
Winner– Coda 1.0
Runner-up – Sandvox 1.2

Best Mac OS X Developer Tool
Winner– CSSEdit 2.5
Runner-up – rooSwitch 1.1.8

Best Mac OS X Game
Winner – World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade 2.0
Runner-up – Wacky Mini Golf 1.01

Best Mac OS X Scientific Computing Solution
Winner – Papers 1.0
Runner-up – SingleCrystal 1.3

Dashboard Widget
Winner – BART Widget 1.0
Runner-up – PEMDAS 1.1

Best Mac OS X Student Product
Winner – Picturesque 1.0
Runner-up – Pathway 1.0

[tags]Apple, Mac, Macintosh, Apple Design Awards[/tags]

I went to the 2007 WWDC Development Awards. The application that blew me away was Picturesque. This app makes your pictures look awesome within a couple of clicks! I would highly recommend it.

Really, give it a shot!

Picturesque

[tags]Picturesque, WWDC, Apple, OSX[/tags]

Here’s something you can do that has helped me out more than once!

• First, reboot your system and hold the mouse button.
• Second, fire up your terminal and type the following command:
  drutil tray eject 0

This command never fails and will, if your CD-ROM drive isn’t broken, pop-out your CD or DVD!

[tags]Apple, OSX, Terminal, CD/DVD [/tags]

Yesterday, Apple launched a couple of new UK ads and they’re really fun, especially the “network” one! Awesome stuff..

Check them out:

UK Mac Ads

[tag]Mac ad, fun, Apple, OS X, I’m a PC, I’m a Mac[/tag]

But, due to the fact that my whole family uses the PC, she had some doubts if she really would continue to work with Apple! So I asked her the following question: “What do you want to do with you machine?” The answer was simple: “Video editing, keep track on my photos, some surfing, email, and a bit of Word and Excel.

Okay, my only reaction at that point was: Duh… Mac… nothing else! So she is going for the following configuration:

• 2,0-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1GB
• 80-GB harde schijf
• SuperDrive met double-layer-ondersteuning

Exactly the same configuration like I have at this moment! I’m loving my MacBook! ;)

[tags] Macbook, Apple, Video Editing, digital photo[/tags]