Archive for January, 2007

Whither thou, Cyberduck?

I’ve been using Cyberduck for FTPing and SFTPing stuff all over the ‘net for a couple of years now. Each release seemed to get a bit better, with new features and enhancements to the interface coming several times a year.

The most recent incarnation, however (2.7.2) has taken a huge step backward. Remote/local directory syncing, which I didn’t know I needed until it stopped working, stopped working properly. I can’t drag a folder full of files to the remote server anymore without it crashing. It starts up by making a connection that I never asked for! And when did I lose the Transcript drawer?

The Cocoaforge forum has a few messages from people in similar straits, but it doesn’t seem there is a fix in the works.

So now I’m trying to decide if I want to give RBrowser Lite another chance. I quit it because it was so darned slow. Or perhaps it’s time to pony up some cash for a shareware program, like YummyFTP (crappy name, but it seems to be pretty cool — what is it with software names these days?).

Please don’t tell me to just use the FTP from the command line. I like graphical interfaces to filesystems.

Maybe if I’m just patient for a while longer, Cyberduck will be fixed. That would be a good solution to my problem.

Patience. Yeah.

update (4/5/07) Oh dear. I’m so sorry I didn’t see David’s comment in moderation for the last two and a half months. :( I’ve been blogging almost exclusively via TextMate, so I seldom go to the comments page. (The most annoying part is that I do check my mail, but gmail must’ve shunted my own blog mail to spam. Thanks, google.)

I do still use Cyberduck, but I haven’t tried the sync thing for a while. I do know the app has been updated since I originally wrote this post. I’ll try it sometime soonish and update this post.

I am not suprised!

It’s just the dye the stylist put on my eyebrows to make it match my new hair color.

I’ve never had a “real” cut-and-color before. Just a blue streak for a while, and then later one or two wash-out colorings. You shoulda heard my hairdresser’s sigh when I scratched my eyebrow — “Your finger’s going to be all red, now. Stop it!”

Although, she’s quite conservative, my hairdresser. She diplomatically steered me away from “bright shiny copper” to a sedate auburn “because it goes better with your skin tone.”

I think she was just worried that if it looked too awful I’d tell everyone where I’d had it done.

Jewel Petite Syrah 2004

Jewel Collection
Petite Syrah
2004
Lodi

Alcohol 13.5% by vol.

($9.99)

The label says:

This classic petite syrah is deep and dark in color with aromas of plum that are accented with concentrated flavors of blueberry and black cherry. This intense berry fruit combines with notes of vanilla and spice from oak aging.

My tastebuds say:

If you want an unobtrusive red wine, this may just be the ticket. It was totally lost behind salmon cakes and matzo-ball soup, and didn’t even overpower pancakes and bacon.

I probably won’t get this one again, unless I forget ;)
Orthoclase: C-
Plagioclase: C. “It wasn’t bad in anyway I could name. Might be ok for summer.”

The Sunday Puzzle (two week challenge) for January 21

Make a 4×4 word-square with 16 (unique) letters. The second word across is RULY. All of the other words are simple.

I haven’t really been following the puzzle, but I happened to hear it yesterday. Today I got out our old anagram game (not Scrabbleâ„¢) and put it together in about a half hour or so with time for lunch and non-involved musing about it. And Plagioclase’s help for deciding that TYKE wasn’t the last word down ;)

Answer’s below the fold.

RSSers look away!

Read the rest of this entry »

Material desires evoked

This isn’t a post about the Apple iPhone. While I think it’s cute, I don’t use my cellphone nor my iPod now as it is. I think the battery in my iPod has been dead for over a year now. Time will tell if the iPhone is a new iPod or a new Newton.1

No, this is a post about television. A big flat-screen TV to be precise. I’ve seen all the hype and the ads and the sale prices and the stores full of televisions, and I’ve pretty much decided that I Want One. Which is distinctly odd, considering that I watch maybe an hour of cable per week (seldom a whole show), and I have a low tolerance for movies (except for my wuxia kick lately).

Considering also that I can’t afford one right now, well, that makes the desire all the more intense. I can see it now — a 32-inch (37? 42?) flat screen LCD (Plasma?) HDTV hanging on the wall above my fireplace, with neatly-tucked cables going to the bookcase next to the fireplace and decent speakers (for a change) and comfy chairs. And maybe an Apple TV box to watch movie trailers.

Gotta support the team some way!

  1. Have you ever noticed that people never talk about the Quadra or the eMate or the Newton when discussing Apple’s innovation and success?