Mac Unix shell + AppleScript FAQ: How can I display a dialog with AppleScript from the Unix command line shell? (Either from a command line shell like bash through the Mac OS X Terminal, or from a shell crontab job.)
Scala, Java, Unix, MacOS tutorials (page 367)
Web browser privacy FAQ: What things can I do to improve my internet/web browser privacy and security (especially in regards to "Flash cookies", or "Flash super cookies")?
Continuing my research into internet/web browser privacy, I've already mentioned that I stumbled onto the "Better Privacy" Firefox plugin, but I haven't written much specifically about it. So, here's what I know about web browser privacy and Better Privacy.
Flash cookies FAQ: What do you know about "Flash cookies" (also known as "LSO Cookies", and web browser "Super Cookies")?
With the latest "privacy" announcements from Facebook about how they'll take care of your privacy for you (see my story on my Facebook privacy experience), I decided to start researching the murky waters of "web browser privacy".
Google Chrome Incognito Window FAQ: What is the Google Chrome browser Incognito window, and how does it work?
While Apple and Adobe go back and forth on the topic of Flash, in particular Flash on the iPhone, I woke up to this email message from Apple this morning, showing the Apple Store promoting the Adobe Creative Suite (CS5):
This feels like one of those awkward moments ...
Java keytool FAQ: Can you share an example of how to use the Java keytool command to create and share a Java/keytool certificate?
Here's a quick look at how two people, John and Paul, might use the Java keytool command to create and share a certificate file. In this example, John will create the certificate with the "keytool genkey" and "keytool export" commands, and Paul will import John's public key from the certificate file with the "keytool import" command.
Unethical ... amoral ... backstabbing ... stealing ... cheating ... web pundits these days are using all sorts of words to describe Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. This image says it all:
Kudos to whoever first noticed that when you type the phrase "How do I" at Google, the fifth item in the list is now "How do I delete my Facebook account".
I'll show that image in a moment, but first, here's a more powerful image from Google Trends that shows the search trend for the phrase "facebook delete account":
Mac screen capture app FAQ: I can never remember the Mac screen capture keystrokes; can you recommend a good Mac screen capture application?
My favorite Mac screen capture software application
I don't write about commercial applications very often, but after using SnapNDrag so much over the last year, I have to say, it's far and away my favorite Mac screen capture software application (Mac app).
SnapNDrag is one of those simple "It does one thing, and does it well" Mac software applications. It lets you easily create a screenshot of a Mac application window, or the complete Mac screen, or a timed picture of the current Mac screen (which is very useful when you want to take a picture of Google search trends for the term "facebook delete account", for example).
For those who follow me regularly, I can now share the reason I haven't posted much for the last few weeks: I've created a new Mac software application that lets you hide your desktop and desktop icons.
This new application is currently just for Mac OS X systems, and I named it "Hyde", which comes from the phrase "Hide Your DEsktop".
"AdWords campaign disapproved! Disapproval reasons - trademark terms"
Yikes. I just saw this "AdWords trademark violation" message when I logged into my Google AdWords account. I've been trying to get a small AdWords campaign going for my "Hide Desktop Icons" software application, but it's been a battle getting through the AdWords approval process. My biggest problem is that Google AdWords won't approve my ads, and the only information they give me is this trademark message that states, "Disapproval reasons - trademark terms".
Java keytool export FAQ: Can you share some examples of the Java keytool export command and export process?
Once you've created a private key in a Java keystore file, you can export that private key to a certificate file using the Java "keytool export" command. I'll demonstrate that command in this tutorial.
Java “keytool import” FAQ: Can you share some examples of the Java keytool import command and process?
When you're working with Java public and private keys, there may be a time when someone else says, "Here is a certificate. Import it into your public key keystore, and then you can do XYZ", where "XYZ" can be a variety of things, including reading their document, using their Java application, etc. To do this you need to use the Java keytool import command.
Java keytool genkey FAQ: Can you share some examples of the Java keytool genkey command, and genkey process?
In my previous article on the Java keytool command, keystore files, and certificates, I demonstrated how to generate a private key with the keytool genkey option, but to simplify things a little, I thought I'd demonstrate the keytool genkey command again here by itself.
Java “keytool list” FAQ: Can you share some examples of the Java keytool list command, and Java keytool list process?
In a long, earlier article on Java keytool, keystore, and certificates, I demonstrated how to list the contents of a Java keystore file, but to simplify things a little for this tutorial, I'm just going to show how to query a Java keystore file using the keytool list command.
As a relative newbie to both Drupal and CakePHP, I see the same programming style in both applications, and I'll call this style "programming in arrays of arrays". That is, anywhere I would normally use an object in Java, the Drupal and CakePHP developers have used an "arrays of arrays" to store data.
Let's look at some source code examples so I can compare their "arrays of arrays" approach to an OOP approach.
Java keytool/keystore FAQ: Can you share some Java keytool and keystore command examples?
Sure. As a little bit of background, in creating my "Hyde (Hide Your Mac Desktop)" software application, I decided to venture into the world of commercial software, selling my app for a whopping 99 cents. While that price is trivial, creating the “software licensing” code for this application was anything but trivial.
I finally decided to use a Java licensing tool named TrueLicense to assist with the software licensing, and TrueLicense quickly led me down the path of learning about the Java keytool and keystore path. So that’s what this article is about: How to use the Java keytool command to work with private and public keys, and work with intermediate certificate files.
PHP/MySQL FAQ: Can you share an example of a PHP script that is used to query a MySQL database and then loop over the SELECT query results?
This weekend I finally fixed a minor/known bug in my PHP/MySQL script that I use to generate the Drupal sitemap for this website. (A PHP script that queries a Drupal MySQL database.) I like to update the sitemap whenever a blog post has changed, and I had all of that working, except I wasn't accounting for changes due to user comments that are approved.
Woo-hoo, I've always wanted to create a vim video tutorial series, and now that I have the software to do it, I'm finally embarking on this adventure.
Wow, I knew I was upset at Facebook for all these recent privacy and security changes, but having given it a few days to settle down, I'll now estimate that my friend's postings on Facebook have dropped 50% over the last week -- and probably more than that.
I haven't asked anyone yet, but I'll assume they have the same concerns about Facebook privacy and security that I do, and they're all going to different ways of communicating (i.e. life before Facebook). To support that assertion, I'll also say that the emails I've received from my friends has also risen over the last week, though I don't think it's quite 50%.