my2cents

With a newly set up Maven project I tried deploying the site using mvn site:deploy. The command kept failing with the following error

Embedded error: Error performing commands for file transfer
Exit code: 0 - bash: unzip: command not found

for the longest time. I tried all kinds of funny things although I was 100% certain that I do have unzip in path. I was a bit embarresed when I finally realized that this error message was the result of the command executed over SSH on the remote host (Debian Linux) – the one the site was deployed to.

After that it was a piece of cake. Just had to install unzip on Linux using APT: apt-get install unzip

I recently managed to mess up my Mac mini while resetting PRAM and NVRAM. I did reset them indeed but something got corrupted because the mini would hang at the blue screen with the spinning beach ball re-appearing time and time again. Strangely I could still connect to it with SSH and file sharing worked, too.

I tried lots of things such as resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) and booting from the Snow Leopard install DVD to verify and fix permissions/disk.

I found an interesting post in the Apple forum from someone whoes log file showed the same type of errors:

Login Window Started Security Agent
Login Window - Returned from Security Agent
AuthorizationRef returned errAuthorizationDenied. Exiting.

The post mentions a “corrupted authorization file” but that didn’t help me much (where is this file?). Googleing for that lead me to a blog entry labeled “LoginWindow crash” which explains things quite detailed. A second hint came from the insanelymac.com forum, thanks.

In the end you need to replace the authorization file at /private/etc/authorization with either

• authorization~previous in the same folder
• or the one from the OS X install disk at /Volumes/osx/private/etc/authorization

On Windows machines I’m used to using FinePrint to pre-process every document before it’s actually sent to the printer (2 on 1 page, 4 on 1, booklet, watermark, template, etc). From that suite of features what I miss the most on OS X is the ability to print booklets. Turns out there are at least two tools for OS X that provide that:

1. Create Booklet
2. CocoaBooklet

I tried Create Booklet and was quite impressed – it does what it says it does and it does that well. The documentation, however, is quite poor. In fact there’s none at all one the developer’s site. The DMG file contains a Quick Introduction.pdf that serves as a good documentation – if you don’t overlook it. The developer should have put the document’s content online. Then people could get a glimpse of what the tool does before they download (and install) it.

Looking for a way to modify the default printer presets i.e. the presets called “Standard” in OS X I came across a Mac OS X Hints article that talks about the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.custompresets.plist file.

However, what I found way more interesting is that apparently OS X provides a web interface for CUPS at http://localhost:631/ for the locally installed printers.

Through that interface you can nicely modify the default printer presets. Just go to http://localhost:631/printers/ -> choose your printer -> select Set Default Options in the second drop-down. You’ll be asked for an administrator’s username/password to save the changes. No surprise there.

On a new OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard the Huwei E220 USB modem (from Swisscom in my case) didn’t work anymore. The USB dongle mounts and the files on the mounted drive were visible but the Unlimited Connection Manager (UCM) installer contained in the mounted drive crashed always. It’s obviously not compatible with 10.6.

To fix this you need to download the latest version from http://www.swisscom.ch/res/hilfe/downloads/mobile/unlimited/index.htm. It still says on that page that only 10.4 and 10.5 are supported but it works just fine with 10.6, too.

After upgrading my Mac mini from Leopard to Snow Leopard it did no longer wake from sleep when I sent the magic wake-on-lan package. So, I checked the network and energy settings and noticed that Snow Leopard’s new Wake-On-Demand (WOD ?) feature was disabled. I didn’t change that and started to wonder why WOL didn’t work.

Internet search lead to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774 in which Apple explains that “for some earlier Macs this option must be enabled [manually]“. What I didn’t immediately grasp is that WOD is a full replacement for WOL. I was initially reluctant to enable this option because I don’t want WOD (don’t have the necessary AirPort Extreme anyway) but only WOL. However, even after going through the article this didn’t become apparent. One must guess or assume…

What further clarified the situation was an ars technica article about “The sleeping Mac dilemma”.

So, to cut a long story short. Snow Leopard’s WOD falls back to WOL mode if it can’t find the necessary infrastructure (AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule) and therefore you need to enable WOD if you want WOL. Logical, isn’t it?

I slept like a baby! The omnipresent rush of the Kunene river must have lulled my mind. As I get up at 7:10, being the last of the party, I plan to spend some “quality time” at the river alone. Impossible! Getting ready for the day, taking a quick shower, putting down the roof tent, preparing breakfast for 8:30…there’s just about enough time for that.

Despite the lack of quit in the morning I’m looking forward to this day. Our guides planned a short real 4×4 tour along the Kunene towards Ruacana. The plan is to be back by 2pm to have enough time to swim in the river, take pictures – and to relax in the deck chair for once.

The trail along the river is true Land Rover country. It’s not accessible during the rainy season and although it’s less than 200km from Epupa to Ruacana it would be a tough and long day trip in this terrain. Our plan is to follow it for a while, have lunch at some scenic spot and then return.

Beautiful 4x4 trail along the Kunene

At little further east from our camp we see crocodiles sunbathing on sand banks in the middle of the river. For once I’m happy that I can watch from the shore and keep a safe distance to the animals It’ll turn out to be the highlight of the day.

We meet many Himbas – almost exclusively kids. They’re happy to get matches, vaseline, corn flour and apples from us when we stop. We also leave some of our empty 5l water bottles with them as they have to carry water from the river to their homes. Surprisingly, some of the kids speak a little English. We learn that there’s a Himba school not far from Epupa that they attend during the week. Today is Saturday, they’re off. When we ask them where their parents are we hear: “At the bar, they like to drink alcohol”. Puhh, what a sad situation. I feel sorry for them.

Himba kids mount our Land Rovers

My Land Rover drives almost without me controlling it, it’s fantastic! To further familiarize myself with the car’s capabilities I loosen the grip on steering wheel during a rather steep 80m ascent. Climbing slowly the tires find their way between the rocks and gutters without my control on the wheel. It’s a good feeling. Off-road rocks! Akiko, too is thrilled. Although she has no interest in driving herself we’re a perfect team because the enthusiastically navigates us through the rough terrain. She leans out the window to spot the best tracks.

Decoration-ladden Himba

During this day trip I ultimately realize that I should have brought two SLR cameras instead of one. Constantly switching between super-zoom and wide-angle lenses is sooo troublesome.

→ Namibia 2009 photos