Useful Little Things

Spoiler: It was the SCFinderPlugin I had installed (and had forgotten about).

A few weeks ago, Evernote started crashing on my Mac. I don’t know if it was a new version of Evernote that caused it or an update to OS X. All I know is that every time I tried to “open” or “save” a PDF embedded in a Evernote note, the program either crashed or I got the spinning beach ball of death.

I opened a support ticket with the Evernote team an, despite having a free account, they promptly responded with a link to their next beta release. I tried it out, but it didn’t fix anything. The next message I got was from their development team asking me to remove SCFinderPlugin, since it was listed somewhere in the gibberish of the OS X crash report. I wasn’t hopeful, but I tried it anyway. Lo and behold, it worked. So apparently, the current version of Evernote and SCFinderPlugin do not play well together. Since I never used the plugin anyway, I’m not missing anything.

For full instructions on how to uninstall SCFinderPlugin, go to the Tigris website.

Here’s an excerpt from the crash report, in case someone out there is using their Google-fu to try and find an answer.

Process: Evernote [4492]
Path: /Users/USER/Downloads/Evernote.app/Contents/MacOS/Evernote
Identifier: com.evernote.Evernote
Version: 3.0.6 Beta 2 (215813)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [283]
Date/Time: 2012-01-18 19:01:40.915 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.7.2 (11C74)
Report Version: 9
Interval Since Last Report: 182825 sec
Crashes Since Last Report: 2
Per-App Interval Since Last Report: 238 sec
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 1
Anonymous UUID: 6A055CE3-4A47-437A-B691-012525A3A902
Crashed Thread: 4 Dispatch queue: TFSVolumeInfo::GetSyncGCDQueue
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x00000000fefff000
VM Regions Near 0xfefff000:
 CG backing stores 00000000c9db1000-00000000ca3e0000 [ 6332K] rw-/rw- SM=SHM
--> VM_ALLOCATE 00000000fefff000-00000000ff000000 [ 4K] rw-/rwx SM=PRV
 Submap 00000000ffff0000-00000000ffff2000 r-x/r-x process-only submap
Application Specific Information:
Performing @selector(saveResourceAs:) from sender NSMenuItem 0x6ac8610
objc[4492]: garbage collection is OFF
abort() called
An uncaught exception was thrown with this reason: Uncaught system exception: signal 10
and this backtrace:
(
 0 CoreFoundation 0x91742d87 __raiseError + 231
 1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x9634a149 objc_exception_throw + 155
 2 ExceptionHandling 0x00797f08 -[NSExceptionHandler _handleException:mask:] + 1422
 3 ExceptionHandling 0x00797972 -[NSExceptionHandler _createAndHandleUncaughtSystemExceptionWithSignal:pc:sp:] + 277
 4 ExceptionHandling 0x007982fd NSExceptionHandlerUncaughtSignalHandler + 60
 5 libsystem_c.dylib 0x915dd59b _sigtramp + 43
 6 ??? 0xffffffff 0x0 + 4294967295
 7 DesktopServicesPriv 0x980264fe _ZN7TFSInfo10InitializeEhP29OpaqueLSSharedFileListItemRef + 770
 8 DesktopServicesPriv 0x97fac9f6 _ZN19TFSInfoSynchronizer13FetchChildrenEv + 652
 9 DesktopServicesPriv 0x97f988b3 _ZN5TNode19SynchronizeChildrenEmR16TNodeEventPtrSet + 181
 10 DesktopServicesPriv 0x97f98327 _ZN5TNode10HandleSyncEm + 2123
 11 DesktopServicesPriv 0x97f97aaf _ZN5TNode10HandleSyncERK11TCountedPtrI9TNodeTaskERK8TNodePtr + 55
 12 DesktopServicesPriv 0x97fe62d6 _ZN5TNode17HandleNodeRequestERK11TCountedPtrI9TNodeTaskERKS0_I17TVolumeSyncThreadE + 978
 13 DesktopServicesPriv 0x980095e5 __PostNodeTaskRequest_block_invoke_08 + 87
 14 DesktopServicesPriv 0x9801bb09 _Z18ExceptionSafeBlockU13block_pointerFvvE + 55
 15 DesktopServicesPriv 0x98009588 __PostNodeTaskRequest_block_invoke_0 + 86
 16 libdispatch.dylib 0x986fee11 _dispatch_call_block_and_release + 15
 17 libdispatch.dylib 0x98700797 _dispatch_queue_drain + 224
 18 libdispatch.dylib 0x9870063c _dispatch_queue_invoke + 47
 19 libdispatch.dylib 0x986ffe44 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 187
 20 libsystem_c.dylib 0x91587b24 _pthread_wqthread + 346
 21 libsystem_c.dylib 0x915896fe start_wqthread + 30
)
Break on objc_exception_throw to catch it live

Patrick McKenzie’s article Don’t Call Yourself a Programmer is a must-read, especially for third and fourth year engineering students. And for new graduates. And for anyone who has to work for a living.

The (many, many) comments from readers aren’t worth reading in detail, but it’s interesting to note of the number of people who choose to be offended by Patrick’s post, rather than consider its possible importance.

Really interesting article about user settings over at uie.com. Short answer: Not unless their are technical-minded people like programmers or designers.

For the past month or so, my MacBook has not been able to connect to my Western Digital NAS. Specifically, the NAS shows up in Finder under Shared items as “MyBookWorld.” But, when I click the name, it says “Connection failed.” If I click the Connect As button on the right, I get “The server “MyBookWorld” may not exist or it is unavailable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again.”

I’ve tried deleting the credentials from the Key Chain. I’ve tried changing the share’s password on the NAS. Nothing seemed to work. So, I put it on the back burner until today.

As it turns out, all I had to do was change the device name on the NAS. You do this by logging in to the NAS, clicking “Device Name,” entering a new name, then click Submit. I changed mine from MyBookWorld to MyNAS.

By the time I switched back over to my Finder window, Mac OS X was showing the new device name. I clicked the name and got in immediately! Yay!

Saw a new service at Ifttt.com that acts as the “duct tape for the web.” Used it to hook up my blog to Twitter. We’ll see how it works.

Update #1: I messed something up on the first try. Let’s try again…

Update #2: Okay, I didn’t mess anything up. I just got too impatient. Ifttt tasks fire every 15 minutes. This service rocks!

I got bored and this happened…

[Show as slideshow]

Many thanks to Lady Himiko for the note paper graphic.

I used to love playing Mortal Kombat back in college, so when EA released a 99 cent version for the iPad I couldn’t resist. The only problem with the game is the on-screen control pad. You don’t get any tactile feedback for your finger position and I kept moving my thumb off the pad, which of course left Sub Zero standing there to be pummeled by Scorpion.

More than a little frustrated, I devised a quick hack.

I found an old screen protector (for a Palm Pilot, no less) and used a hole punch to create a tiny, round dot. I affixed the dot on the center of the game pad and — voila! — problem solved. My thumb could now feel the center of the “joy stick.” Scorpion didn’t stand a chance!

One nice thing about this hack is that it doesn’t really affect your viewing on the iPad when reading email and browsing the web. The best part is that it’s free! And, I can move the dot to a new location for other games.

Update: Added pictures!

[Show as slideshow]

Today, I ran across the article Ten Simple Rules for Building and Maintaining a Scientific Reputation. As a budding researcher, I delved into the article looking for useful nuggets of information to put to work within the context of my own career. I was not disappointed. The article contained a helpful, succinct list of behaviors that, if implemented, may contribute toward building a healthy reputation within any research community. Furthermore, while reading through the article, I was struck by the fact that these behaviors can also be applied in a more general sense, with a little tweaking of course.

Here’s my take on the ten rules, as applied to life, in general.

1. Think Before You Act. Need I say more?

2. Do Not Ignore Criticism. Anyone offering constructive criticism should be applauded for their effort, in any context. Regardless of their motivations, you should see the criticism as an opportunity for self-improvement, unless you think you’ve attained perfection; if so, you have other, more serious problems to worry about.

If the critic’s feedback is not constructive, you should still avoid ignoring it. As the authors of the article point out, “Failure to respond to criticism is perceived either as an acknowledgement of that criticism or as a lack of respect for the critic. Neither is good.” Try turning it into something constructive, either for you or the critic.

3. Do Not Ignore People. That’s just rude.

4. Diligently Check Everything You Publish and Take Publishing Seriously. Here, I need to change the wording a bit: Diligently Check Your Facts Before Saying or Writing Anything. In life, just like in the research community, you look like an idiot when you lie, whether deliberately or inadvertently. Too often, in today’s world of blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts, people are quick to cite any reference they can find that supports their own personal perspective, without ever thinking to validate the source.

5. Always Declare Conflicts of Interest. By doing this upfront, you disarm anyone who tries to position themselves as your opponent. On the otherhand, if you find you are uncomfortable in declaring the conflict, maybe there is a more serious problem with the relationship you wish to hide.

6. Do Your Share for the Community. We learned in kindergarten about sharing. It just makes for good relationships.

7. Do Not Commit to Tasks You Cannot Complete. This is one of my top pet peeves: someone who makes a commitment and fails to fulfill the commitment (in the absence of true, extenuating circumstances). Don’t be that person.

8. Do Not Write Poor Reviews of Grants and Papers. A second wording change: If You Must Criticize, Do So Constructively. Non-constructive criticism is, simply put, a personal attack. Acknowledge it as such and avoid it, whenever possible. Peers who expend effort on constructive criticism, designed to lift up the other person, will be seen as teachers and mentors. And remember, the difference between constructive and non-constructive criticisms is sometimes found simply in the delivery and the forum.

9. Do Not Write References for People Who Do Not Deserve It. This goes right back to item #4, lying. If you can’t give an honest reference for an acquaintance, then you’re lying. And lies have a way a coming back to bite you.

10. Never Plagiarize or Doctor Your Data. Last time rewording: Never Steal Other People’s Ideas. If you’re not a researcher, then this is easy. Just give credit where credit is due. Tell people about that great idea you heard/read about and take credit for applying it to your life.

I immensely enjoyed the original article; it was a short read and quite engaging. If you are a researcher, I recommend you click over and check it out. If you think my view on the ten rules as applied to life are useful, let me know in the comments. In addition, if you think I missed the mark entirely, feel free to add your constructive criticisms to the comments.

We’re launching the 2011 microISV Pain Point survey in August 1st. If you own/operate a microISV, click over and pre-register. You’ll get early access to the results as well as a little free publicity (optional).

Useful Little Things

Evernote Crash on Mac OS X Opening PDFs [Solved]

“Don’t Call Yourself a Programmer”

Do Users Change Their Settings?

Mac OS X and My Book World – Connection Failed [Resolved]

If This Then That

Notes from The Princess Bride

2011 microISV Pain Point Survey has Launched

iPad Video Game Hack

“Ten Simple Rules for Building and Maintaining a Scientific Reputation” as Applied to Life

2011 microISV Pain Point Survey

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