Useful AppleScripts for the Home

Posted: 2008-02-04

**NOTE!**

This project has been put on hold as I am now learning Objective-C in order to write applications for the iPhone. Seriously, I am.

This space will hold a collection of AppleScripts I write as I learn the language.

The Many Faces of ChaseDS.net Part Deux

Posted: 2007-12-14

See part one here

Well, it's basically done. I've managed to find a somewhat uniform theme that works on all major web browsers. The style switcher is also located in the upper-right corner under the search area on the home page. Right now, there are only two items; the main "road" style and a holiday "brick" style. The style switcher sets a cookie on your system though, so make sure you can accept cookies if you want to see this work. The only things that have changed are the images and colors in the new style, but I'm experimenting with changing layout too. Stay tuned!

Installing Windows Vista on a Black Macbook

Posted: 2007-10-25

UPDATE: 11/18/2007: Basically, because pictures speak louder than words, I'm just going to post the thumbs from every step along the way from nil to Vista on a Black Macbook (2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 Gigs of DDR SDRAM and a 160 GB hard drive).



So, there you have it. Windows Vista can be installed on a Black Macbook with Boot Camp without any issues. However, after using Vista alongside Mac OS X Tiger for a few weeks, I can't honestly imagine why anyone would want to use Vista. The transition to Leopard (barring some MySQL issues) has only provided further proof that moving to Mac was the right choice instead of going to Vista. Seems there's a lot of talk in the Windows world about skipping Vista too! Only time (and a hefty Service Pack) will tell if Vista's worth the wait...

How to Remove a Stuck DVD from a Macbook

Posted: 2007-08-28

Ran into an unusual problem over the weekend and figured I'd share my experience with anyone looking to avoid opening up their Macbook and voiding their warranty. First a little background:

(If you want the quick and dirty answer, click here)
I tried getting Windows Vista Business to install on my laptop via Boot Camp. After running the Boot Camp Assistant and partitioning the hard drive, I inserted the Vista DVD (a not quite legal version I was using until my licensed copy arrived in the mail...within the 30 day trial period mind you) and noticed it took a bit longer than usual to mount on the desktop. I paid it no mind (BRRRRRAP! MISTAKE #1).

After my laptop rebooted, I noticed it seemed to try booting off the Vista DVD. After a few minutes of making the same "oh crap I can't read this P.O.S. you put in here!" sound, I figure something's up. Here's where the nightmare begins.

I go "hmm that's odd", reboot, and do the usual Command + "O" key combination after the bootup sound to select the hard drive. Nothing. Oh well. From there it's calling to arrange a Genius Bar appointment with Apple. Lucky for me this happened on a Thursday night and the local Apple store was all booked up Friday AND halfway into Saturday. Shit. Then I try the 'ol hold the Mac sideways and try to get it to rejecta-pwn that disc out. Still no luck. I take out the hard drive because I know I'm about to get violent and I don't want to lose all the stuff on there. Coupla slaps to show the ho who's boss, but still nothing. It's trying to read that disc like an NFL defensive linebacker reading a middle-school-level novel (and having about as much success). Oh BALLS.

Next stop is a MULTITUDE of message boards all offering the same solution I've come to expect from the Apple-loving masses: Call Apple and send it back to the mothership!

...pardon my French, but fuck that noise. I didn't spend four years in college studying how to roll over and play the bitch. I'm gonna take that thing apart and pry that crap disc from the lifeless fangs of my Superdrive, then Franken-zap that shit back to life and smack it for scaring me like that.

But this just begs the question: "How, Chris? How are you going to take apart a Macbook when you have no knowledge whatsoever of the medieval spookery used to build these things?" Easy, chum. MacFixIt.com my good man. From there, it was a few hours of Appletinis ("heavy on the Apple, light on the tini") and working up the nerve to submit my baby to open-heart surgery.

Fast forward to the next morning and a slight headache. Cracked that bitch open and got to work digging around until I realized I had no clue what the unholy fuck I was doing and put it back together with only a gouge in the case to show for all of it. I had all but given up hope when I found one last message online:

Ever have a problem with a CD/DVD stuck in your offline MacBook Pro and it doesn't allow you to boot up OS X? Apple mentioned the solution is to press and hold the trackpad button when booting your MBP. You tried that, but still fails? Another possible fix is the credit card/knife trick that sometimes works, but it just sounds not right?

OK, now there is an easy way to do it: Just power up your MBP and leave it alone for about 10 minutes. It will eventually boot up and the CD/DVD will automatically eject (make sure your power cable is plugged in, though!).

-Taken without permission from MacOSXHints.com A.K.A. My new Best-fucking-friends.

I start the computer up, walk away for 15 minutes and when I get back, there's a flashing folder icon with a question mark where the Apple usually goes and the drive is still trying to read that satan-shit DVD. Now where have I seen that before? OH YEAH! In my rush to play God, I forgot to put the hard drive back in. Pop the back, slap the drive in, rinse and repeat. 15 minutes later, I'm greeted by the friendly log-in box and I'm re-enacting the rain scene from The Notebook with the Macbook. 30 seconds after that, it's Goodfellas time like that DVD just told me to get my fuckin' shine box.

ANSWER: So there you have it: Just leave the thing alone for 15 minutes. Go get a sandwich. Take a cold shower. If your laptop keeps trying to read the DVD and it's not working, then (barring a mechanical error) leaving it alone for 15 minutes will abort the bootup sequence from the DVD and boot from the hard drive instead. As always, your mileage may vary. Results not typical. Weight loss not guaranteed.

The Many Faces of ChaseDS.net

Posted: 2007-07-11

Status: Closed!

If you've been around this crap website as much as I have, then you've no doubt seen it go through what amounts to no less than six different looks. Well, I basically said "enough!" with the last iteration, bit the bullet, and re-tooled the whole site. Function (PHP/HTML) on one side, decoration (CSS) on the other. I've successfully separated the peanut butter from the chocolate after all this time. Of course, this leads to all kinds of nifty project ideas.

Goals for this project:

• Get a uniform look going on the four major browsers (IE 7, Safari, Firefox, and Opera)
• Publish different style sheets as I come up with them
• Create a style-sheet picker (think CSS Zen Garden)

So there you have it. New project. New goals. Let's see how long this sucker takes.

How to set up a secure VPN Router for under $70.00 USD

Posted: 2007-07-05

Just finished this one and it took about two days to go from zip to a fully-functioning Linksys VPN router with a 2048-bit key. So I present this abridged version to you, so it'll probably take about an hour and lots less coffee and cursing.

Step 1: Set up your router.

First, you're going to need to set up the OpenVPN server. In this case, I used a Linksys WRT54GL ($62.99 on NewEgg) however you can also use a WRT54G as long as the hardware version is before 5.0. To check the hardware version on the WRT54G box, refer to the methods here.

Once you've got your new router all shiny and new, it's time to flash it with third-party firmware. Firmware is software programmed into non-volatile memory. That means it sticks around even after a reboot. For my setup, I used DD-WRT version 23 sp2 with VPN (found here under the downloads, then stable sections). Follow the steps in the documentation to flash your router with that firmware.

Step 2: Generate a Static Key.

Now, here's where I had to enlist the help of my trusty Parallels-run Windows XP machine. If you have access to a Windows XP machine, download and install the OpenVPN client (found here) then click on the Start button, All Programs, OpenVPN, then Generate A Static OpenVPN Key. That will create a file in the "C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config" folder named "key.txt". Copy that file (via USB or other secure method not involving a network connection) onto your computer. The contents of that file contain your key, which is what the server and client will use to authenticate. You wanna keep that safe for later.

Step 3: Customize and initialize OpenVPN Server

Now that you have your key, it's time to put it to good use. Copy the below text:

openvpn --mktun --dev tap0 brctl addif br0 tap0 ifconfig tap0 0.0.0.0 promisc up echo " -----BEGIN OpenVPN Static key V1----- INSERT YOUR KEY HERE! -----END OpenVPN Static key V1----- " > /tmp/static.key ln -s /usr/sbin/openvpn /tmp/myvpn /tmp/myvpn --dev tap0 --secret /tmp/static.key --comp-lzo --port 1194 --proto tcp-server --verb 3 --daemon

into a blank notepad or textedit file. Now, take note of the "INSERT YOUR KEY HERE!" field. Remember that key you generated? You get the idea. Open that file in notepad and copy the contents of that file (between the comments) into the area above.

Now, copy and paste your brand spanking new startup script (what we did in the new notepad file) into the commands box in the DD-WRT firmware. This means you must be logged into your router firmware and in the DD-WRT interface. The commands box can be found under the Administration tab and the Commands subtab. Once it's pasted into the box, scroll down and click on the "Save Startup" button. This will save the script so it executes every time your router reboots. Now, copy this:

iptables -I INPUT 1 -p tcp --dport 1194 -j ACCEPT

into the box once it's reloaded and click the "Save Firewall" button. That sets up a rule in the firewall on your router so it'll let you connect from outside your network. Reboot your router.

Step 4: Configure your OpenVPN client

Now, this step is tricky. Basically, you want your client to use this config file:

# Use the following for simple connections: remote XXXX.dyndns.org port 1194 dev tap secret static.key proto tcp-client comp-lzo

Also, don't forget to rename that static key file to "static.key" and place it in the folder your OpenVPN client looks for the static key. In my case, since I used TunnelBlick, I put it in the ~/Library/openvpn directory.

Step 5: Connect!

For this step, you'll need to get out of your house and off your network. The easiest way to do this (assuming you have a laptop of course), is to head to the nearest Starbucks or your favorite local coffee house and use their wifi (also, be nice and buy a cup of coffee. It helps pay for that wireless you're using). Open your VPN client and connect to your VPN. It should work the first time without any problems.

Congratulations! You just set up a secure VPN for only the cost of a router (if you didn't already have one) and about an hour of your time!

For more reading, and an admittedly longer and more in-depth setup guide, check out the OpenVPN setup Wiki, courtesy of DD-WRT at this link. (All script samples taken from the OpenVPN - WRT Wiki and available under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.2).