E-Scribe News : a programmer’s blog

About Me

PBX My name is Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using as much open source software as possible. From September to June I teach web design and other important non-photographic professional skills to photographers. In the '90s I wrote technology commentary and reviews for magazines, newspapers, and web publications, including Wired, Salon.com, FamilyPC, the late lamented Web Review, and the Chicago Tribune. Feel free to email me.

Book Project

I'm co-authoring a book, "Python Web Development with Django", with Jeff Forcier and Wesley Chun. It will be published by Prentice Hall in July 2008, but is available for pre-ordering on Amazon now.

Colophon

This site is built on a fresh trunk checkout of Django, running on Python 2.5.1, served by Apache and mod_python. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive.

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Stuff I Use

Akismet, del.icio.us, Django, dpaste.com, Emacs, FreeBSD, Freenode, jQuery, LaunchBar, MacPorts, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, SQLite, Subversion, TextMate, Trac, Ubuntu Linux, wmii

A Django site.
(Finally!)

Copyright 2008
by Paul Bissex
and E-Scribe New Media

Mac troubleshooting tips + bonus rant

DoctorMac Direct, a remote tech support service for Mac users, has a very handy Quick Checks and Fixes page that walks through a lot of good standard "try this first" troubleshooting techniques. If you're an experienced Mac admin or power user you know most of this stuff already, but bookmark the page for the next time you get asked for advice. We all have succumbed to the temptation to try short-circuiting the troubleshooting process, but often we just end up discovering the disconnected cable twenty minutes later that way.

I only have one petty nitpick -- the page perpetuates the "zap your PRAM three times" superstition. Unless I've been missing something all these years, to reset your machine's PRAM you just need to do this:

  1. Restart your Mac
  2. Immediately press and cold Cmd-Option-P-R
  3. Wait until you hear another startup chime
  4. Release the keys

After that the booting process continues normally. This means you will hear two chimes: one for the first restart, and one for the restart that happens automatically after the PRAM zap completes. The DoctorMac instructions have you restart the machine and then wait for three chimes, for a total of four. At that rate, naive users may think, heck, why not do it nine times to really make sure?

One theory I've heard for how this idea got started is that in the past Apple phone support wanted to hear the multiple chimes over the phone to ensure that the PRAM zap had really been accomplished (versus the simple restart that would happen if the user held down the wrong keys). But why three, or four? Why aren't the minimal two chimes enough? Why, why, why?

Oh, sorry, I'm ranting. I guess this has been on my mind for, oh, about ten years.

If I'm wrong about this, I really do welcome correction. (But you can't just say "An Apple support guy told me to do this once.")

Wednesday, August 24th, 2005
+ +

Some related posts: QuickTime 0, Open Source 1 • AppleWorks, R.I.P. • Great open source apps for the Mac • PowerBook "Safe Sleep" • Death to QuickTime Pro • Google wants Mac developers • Gruber on AppleScript • Try, try again • PyObjC in, Cocoa-Java out • Palm/Mac sync woes

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