Tag Archives: macintosh

Fixing Perl after MacOS X Security Update 2009-001

Posted on February 16, 2009 by romkey

Apple's first security update of 2009 for MacOS X may solve some security issues in the OS but it also seriously breaks Perl by installing old versions of some modules along with Perl. It looks like Perl works okay for things that MacOS X uses it for, but if you do development using it or have installed other modules than what it came bundled with you may find that it no longer works.

…You'll probably need to download it from CPAN by hand as the CPAN shell itself is broken by the update.

The current version (as of the time I'm writing this article) is 1.2301 – you can find it at http://search.cpan.org/~gbarr/IO-1.2301/IO.pm
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Use sudo Without a Password on Your Mac

Posted on November 8, 2008 by romkey

Usually you’ll use it to execute a single command: sudo dmesg or to start a shell: sudo -s sudo is similar to the su command – the su command also allows you to become another user (most likely root). … Next, load /etc/sudoers in your favorite text editor, and add a line to it that looks like this: USERNAME ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL Replace USERNAME with your short username (so in my case, my username is romkey or johnromkey rather than ‘John Romkey’ ). You can find your username with the who command – but if you don’t already know what it is or who to find it, you probably shouldn’t be disabling passwords on sudo in the first place. … There are other ways to do this (in particular, there are ways to say that anyone in a particular UNIX group can become use sudo without a password), but this is the simplest way to let a single user do this. Continue reading →

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Offline jQuery Documentation for MacOS X

Posted on October 30, 2008 by romkey

I don’t always have reliable online access when I’m coding – in particular, I was on a bus today for a couple of hours and didn’t always have Internet access. There are a couple of dashboard widgets for MacOS X which I found that helped out on the jQuery documentation front. … This widget is designed for browsing… click around in it, but don’t expect to search it. … This widget is designed for searching – if you know what you’re looking for, you can find it quickly. Continue reading →

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MacOS X DVDs – Versions and Saving a Little Money on Them

Posted on October 5, 2008 by romkey

The family pack is licensed for use for up to five machines in one household, and lists for $199, a pretty good deal for staying legal at less than the cost of two single user licenses. … At the time I wrote this, they were charging $26 less than list for the single user edition and $44.51 less than list for the family pack , both with free shipping. … You should be forewarned that, in my experience, the restore DVD that comes with a computer will only work with that computer or class of computers. … Amazon also has a pretty good deal on Leopard Server: $104.51 off the 10 user version (normal list price $499) and $168.46 off the unlimited user version (normal list price $999). Continue reading →

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Apple’s iPod Event on September 9th

Posted on September 9, 2008 by romkey

Tuesday September 9th 2008 (today as I finish this; I meant to get this out sooner) is a special Apple event called “Let’s Rock” – although they haven’t specified, it’s clearly related to the iPod/music side of their business. … The unfortunate downside for all of us who already have iPhone 3Gs is that I can’t see us being able to buy a new, bigger phone at the normal price because AT&T is now subsidizing the phones up-front. … Rumors hold out for a new ‘grid view’ in it, a new music suggestion feature (of course advising you to buy from the iTunes Store), HD TV and movie support (currently only available on the Apple TV). … The long-rumored Apple tablet could be marketed as a Mac or as an iPod… if it’s marketed as an iPod it might be introduced at an event like today’s, but I doubt it as it’s clear the focus of the event is music. Continue reading →

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