Order of the Bath

This fix relates specifically to the Mac desktop version of BBC iPlayer running on Mountain Lion (Mac OS X 10.8). It may work for other versions but I don’t know.

I will post the actual error message next time that it occurs but it relates to when iPlayer displays the station intro but then says something to the effect of “unable to play downloaded program”—usually one that has been waiting a week or two. It then immediately deletes the item from the repository.

The fix is as follows.

1. Quit BBC iPlayer.
2. Recover the program(s) you have just lost from backup—preferably Time Machine as that is more likely to be up to date. The location of the programs is ~/Movies/BBC iPlayer/repository and it is the items that start “b01” that you want.
3. Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR and move the directory “ELS” to trash. If you can’t see ~/Library then see this article.
4. Now Restart BBC iPlayer and the program should work.

One oddity is that all the expiry dates will now be well into the future but don’t believe it: they will expire just as before so watch them soon.

Is your Apple Magic Mouse behaving strangely? Mine was juddery sideways and wouldn’t move vertically at all, though the scroll was ok. I tried switching it off, back on and reconnecting but that made no difference. The fix was rather surprising. Pick it up and gently but firmly thump in back down onto the desk. Considering that the only mechanical part is the click button this is a bit odd. We call it in the trade “The drop test” and is often works because it can reseat or jiggle connectors and socketed chips but I can’t see that that applies here. Anyway, try it and see.

Thanks to XKCD.

I had trouble identifying any compelling reason to install the latest version of the Apple Mac OS version nicknamed “Lion” so resorted to reading all the reviews and listing the points. It may come down to going to a store and trying it out.

Pro

Stuff that is likely to work and I would actually use.

• The usual security and currency stuff.
• Creation of instant folders for selected content.
• Filevault2 encryption.
• Mission Control (Exposé + Spaces).
• Accented character picker.
• Resize windows from any corner.
• Enhancements to Preview application.
• Signatures to PDFs (if it works with third party cameras).
• It is cheap.

Neutral

Either things I am not interested in or don’t have the hardware to support.

• Full-screen applications now integrated and standard. With large monitors full-screen is often a waste of space.
• Icons are now monochrome. Probably harder to see but no big deal.
• Launchpad—I put the Applications folder on the Dock.
• Autosave and version control (some applications). I am not sure about this one, I don’t think I use any applications that support it.
• Added 9 Sept: Autosave and version control only work to HFS+ formatted drives, not NAS.
• Resume (some) applications where you left off.
• Multi-touch gestures (I have no touch pad—should I get one?).
• AirDrop (Mac Pro has no built in wi-fi so it won’t work).
• Reversal of scrolling. I’ll get used to it.
• Facetime (reported no support for third party cameras).
• Some gestures not supported on magic mouse.
• (Reported) side swipes are inconsistent.
• Loss of Rosetta. I never used it.
• Mail and Calendar enhancements (I don’t use them).
• Added 9 Sept: Loss of Front Row (thanks Dozer).

Con

Stuff that will hinder me.

• Loss of grid arrangement of spaces (now desktops). I race around spaces at speed using Ctrl-Arrows.
• Desktops don’t wrap around end to start as you cycle through them.
• Desktops are not identifiable except by content.
• Going full screen creates a new desktop in the list.
• Inconsistencies with dual monitor support such as full screen.
• (Reported) difficulty using copy/paste between desktops.
• Auto-termination of applications which are not being used.
• Wake on mouse “wiggle” disabled (not sure if this is just for system sleep or monitor sleep as well).
• Added 9 Sept: Loss of connection to some NAS devices (thanks Dozer). I am informed by Netgear that my ReadyNAS duo should be ok. Not sure about my LinkSys NSLU2.

At the moment the big blocker is a critical application has not yet been ported but that should be ready in a few weeks finding the time. Then…is it worth it?

To operate Apple equipment effectively you need an Apple ID—but the whole process is very confusing. You can login to your account in at least three places:—

• At the “My Apple ID” page
• At the “Support Profile” page
• At the “Apple Store”

They all require the same id and password but each one gives you different information and there doesn’t seem to be any way to manage the account from one place or even to move from one to the other.

But I am also confused about the concept. Are we expected to have one ID (account) each or one per family? If the former then I can’t see how we can take advantage of the offer on the app store to purchase things once and install them on multiple devices. We were better off under the old family-pack idea. What happens if some of the machines (e.g. an iMac) have multiple users who also have personal devices?

If, on the other hand, we are expected to have one per family then what happens when the kids move out (or more extreme cases like divorce)—how can they take their music and apps with them?

What if you buy/inherit second hand equipment; can you transfer the registration? And what happens if you inherit music/apps—after all they would be regarded as an asset on the estate? Or if you marry? I am reading that Apple will not merge accounts.

Does any of this really matter?

Update: 10 August. Some notice is being taken of this problem. A new development is that an Apple ID can only be associated with 10 devices (including computers) at any one time and there must be a 90 day moratorium between switching of Apple IDs on any device.

Update: 8 Sept. Another well though through commentary.

NeoOffice is a fork of the well known office suite OpenOffice.org customised for Mac OS X. When it was created there was no Mac version of OpenOffice and even when I started three years ago, the Mac support for OpenOffice was very poor. There have always been licence anomalies between the two versions—OpenOffice is LGPL and requires a copyright assignment for contributions to the main code. NeoOffice were not prepared to do this so their code is licensed under full GPL and is not retrofitted.

Up until now, it has always been free at source with a recommendation/plea for donations to support the work, which I have done at least once. Now, since Version 3.2, the “donation” is mandatory—you can’t download the code unless you have donated at least $10US within the last year.

Times have changed—it now requires Mac OS X 10.5+ and Intel hardware which must kill off a sizeable proportion of their customer base. Also OpenOffice and now LibreOffice are much more capable. Finally, if you must pay for it, the iWorks components are much more affordable and also offer cross format capabilities.

At a rough count I have 32 third party applications installed on my Mac (not including stuff that came with my accessories like camera, GPS and printer). Two of those are paid-for applications, a few are donation-ware. Just one is now supported by the new Mac App Store, TextWrangler, but it doesn’t say so on the product web site.

The only benefit that I have seen from the store is that I may buy Pages now that is is available as a separate download (but curiously it doesn’t say that on the product web site either!)

SuperDuper, Springy, Crossover, CyberDuck, Sbooth Max, Firefox, SourceSource, SoundFlower, SoundApp Reborn, LineIn, LAME, Growl, KeePassX, Perian, Flip4Mac, XNJB, TextWrangler, NeoOffice, Gimp, PaintBrush, Adium, PopFile, Skype, Sonos, Thunderbird, uTorrent, VMware Fusion, Adobe Air, BBC iPlayer, Adobe Flash, Audacity, SilverLight