EPS to PDF conversion is, for the average person a pain in the butt. A while back I wrote about how to easily convert your EPS files to PDF via terminal. Whilst that was an easier method that opening preview every time it is still time consuming. I have therefore written an Automator program to do it for you. The program will ask you to select all the EPS files you want to batch convert then it will  batch convert them and put the PDF’s in the same folder as the EPS files (with the same file name). I have added the file to my server here.

Feel free to have a closer look at some of the ads on my website to say thank you and to help contribute to my bandwidth costs of bringing this file to you.

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This is the second post in the series. In this post I am going to look at the software I currently use, the ones I am basically going to have to replace. There are a hell of a lot of good apps on the Mac and I will honestly be sad to replace these apps.

• iBank – By IGG Software is one of the main apps I use for my accounting, it will be hard beaten to be replaced!
• OmniFocus – I use this both on my mac and on my iPhone, I think the iPhone version will be the hardest one to replace.
• OmniGraffle – I use this in my PhD thesis for making sexy diagrams, I think I can replace this but the new app may not be as good.
• AdiumX – Instant messenger (Open Source)
• Apple Mail – Mail client
• Transmit – FTP client from Panic
• iTunes – We all know what this one is, biggest part of this is the iPhone syncing and also getting all my music into non DRM versions before swapping
• DevonThink Pro – This will also be a big app to move from. DevonThink is awesome, I use it for storing all my mail ever received.
• 1Password – Used religiously to store all my passwords to websites and credit card details to make my online life easier.
• Dropbox – No need to replace this, there is a free linux version.
• MacTex – Latex client (Open Source)
• Aperture – Photo library and basic photo manipulation (Handles RAW)
• iCal – Calendar app that I sync to Google calendar with…..
• Spanning Sync – Used to sync my address book and calendar to Googles.
• Steam – Online games client that I mainly use for Civilisation
• Chronosync – Used to sync certain folders to my external hard drive for real time backup
• MacTheRipper – Used to make backups of my DVDs
• VLC – Used to watch media files (Open Source)
• MailSteward – Used to backup the contents of my Apple Mail, which is basically every email I have ever recieved
• MacFamilyTree – Used to construct my family tree
• Jungledisk – Backup interface to Amazon S3
• Backblaze – Used to backup my whole machine and external drives
• Superduper - Used to make full bootable backup of my machine
• Skype – Video calls
• Knox – File encryption

This list is not exhaustive, there are many more applications I have purchased and never use. The apps mentioned above are the main ones I use on a daily to weekly basis. Baring in mind that I have paid to upgrade a lot of the mentioned apps it may shock you to know that for the apps above, if you were to go and purchase that list right now it would cost you $1082.74!!! I must have easily spent almost $3000 on software for my desktop alone, add to this the tie in I have with my iPhone and the equivalent apps I have bought to use them on the go and you can see just how much money has been wasted when there are free alternatives out there.

The next part of the series looks at how I have started using open source software and how you can also use it for free right now. Please feel free to comment below.

*All of what you have read today, was written and edited on Ubuntu Linux*

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*Begin Rant* – Please skip this if you wish and move direct to the main content

Recently I have become a little pissed off with closed ecosystem’s a.k.a Apple’s way of doing things. It has always been a system I have relished and thought was a great idea. Back in the days of the iBook (A machine I adored) there were no issues with your Apple system, it really did just work! Today, things are very different. There are many different hardware configurations, it is now Intel based and we have all these iOS devices popping up like jack rabbits. If you are one of those people that has had a bug (iPhone 3G and iOS 4 for example) then you know how frustrating it is whilst you wait for Apple to sort it out. You are at the complete mercy of a huge corporation!

There have been multiple things that have really started to get to me, if your a regular reader here, you already know what they are. If not, I will recap. When the move to Intel initially occurred, the build quality of the new machines was s**t. I went through 7, yes 7 Macbook’s. One was even quality controlled by Apple in Ireland, and to be frank that was a POS. Thankfully, those days are a thing of the past, Apple build quality really is back to where it was, if not better. Next, ever since the intel move I have found the operating system to be buggier, slower, and generally more windows like every iteration we get. A user should not be left wishing they had stayed on a previous version of an OS. I wish I was on Tiger still, just like I wish I was still on 3.1.3 on my iPhone 3G. Version 4.1 has improved things, but it is still not usable. Add to that the way Steve commented about user feedback on the Apple TV…. either he is telling lies or he has asked a total bunch of muppets. Everything Mac fans have been asking for with that device for years he has negated. We wanted openess, the ability to play any file type, we wanted a blu-ray or DVD drive and we wanted a TV tuner. That Steve-O is what makes a great TV device for your living room.

Why be at the mercy of a company that cares more about money that it does about you? I mean, and I quote:

“we don’t care about existing users, our target is windows movers” – Apple Recruiter 2006.

*End Rant*

So on the back of this rant, I wondered, given how much time and money I have invested in the Mac and iOS platforms whether I could actually make a complete move to open source and like it. From what I can see, it would offer me greater freedom both in terms of hardware and software choices….. it would also free my wallet. I tend to spend quite a bit on Mac applications….. especially with the latest and greatest versions you seem forced to buy to get the functionality you really wanted from day one. This will be a series of posts about my transition to open source, the replacement of all my main apps and how I did it. It will serve as a demonstration to all about how easy it is to do and how you can all give it a go, right now, without any investment on your part at all.

Please subscribe to the RSS feed if you are interested in seeing this series unfold and PLEASE comment on the threads. I want to know what you think, how many of you are open source now and what you think to closed ecosystems as shown in my rant.

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So if you are reading this, your probably in the same situation I was. You have installed iOS4, most likely the GM and you have found out that it sucks ass and you want to go back to 3.1.3. You, like me, probably tried to go back but iTunes won’t let you!? Well I am going to show you how to get back to 3.1.3

The first step is to put your phone in DFU Mode. Go and connect the iPhone to the Mac/PC. iTunes will be like “OMFG your iPhone is in recovery mode” at which point you click on restore. At this point on mac i clicked “alt” – “restore” and selected a 3.1.3 restore image I have. You will get the error that your iPhone cannot be restored….. DON’T Panic. Go HERE and download iRecovery, pick the one appropriate to you (Windows/Mac). Next open up a terminal window and type:

cd /directory/to/iRecovery then type ./iRecovery -s

Wait for iRecovery to load then run the following commands one at a time (it says its going to bring up a cmd prompt – it never does):
setenv auto-boot true
saveenv
/exit

Then go ahead and do the restore process again – you will now be back at 3.1.3!!!!

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Recently I found myself needing to quickly and easily convert some .eps files to .pdf. You can simply double click on the EPS in OS X and Preview will convert it however this cannot be done in batch and you have to go through the process of saving the .pdf.

There is a quicker and free solution to this in OS X and it is already built in…. Terminal.app.

1. Open terminal.app
2. Navigate to the directory where the .eps files are located… use ‘cd’ followed by a folder or directory string to move to the folder ‘cd ..’ to move up a directory level and ‘ls’ to tell you what is in the directory your currently in.
3. When you have located the files type the following: epstopdf filename.eps 
4. epstopdf will now convert that eps file to a pdf and place it in the same directory as: filename.pdf  

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At the moment there seems to be a consensus that the iPhone is taking a stupidly long time to backup. The backup function is incredibly important, especially when Apple’s 2.02 iPhone software is not at all stable. This is a very quick guide on how you can disable this function making your iPhone sync rapidly with iTunes.

1. Ensure iTunes is closed
2. Open Terminal.app
3. Copy and paste the following command exactly:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true

4. Open iTunes and Sync your iPhone, you should now find this very rapid.

Let’s hope Apple clear this up in version 2.1, due to be released in the coming weeks.

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There have been numerous reports on Apple’s discussion forums of users iPhones becoming bricks whilst installing an app on their iPhones, 3G or not. I ran into this issue last night. I was installing an app and the phone started hanging, stuttering on music and then all of a sudden, boom, it went black and the Apple logo appeared. No amount of hard resets or hours waiting would resolve this issue. First of all I want to give you all the solution to fix this, as I was all set to visit the Apple store. Essentially you need to enter the phone into Recovery Mode.

1. Unplug iPhone from the computer (by taking the sync cable out of the computer but keeping the cable connected to your phone) and turn it off. If stuck at reboot screen hold home & power together until it is shut down.
2. Hold down the Home button and plug the USB cable back into the computer
3. iTunes will see an iPhone in recovery mode and allow you to restore it.

Now to the probable cause of this issue, every time apps update they don’t replace the existing file but they get added sequentially to it. In essence I believe these are filling up the phones memory and causing crashing. You can check it out for yourself! Go to:

1. Music
2. iTunes
3. Mobile Applications

You will notice your apps there and if you have updated you will no doubt see sequential numbering (1, 2, 3…..) after the file name. To correct this your going to need to delete the duplicates keeping the file with the highest file number as this should be the latest version. If you have (iPhoneapp 2.ipa) left over after deleting (iPhoneapp.ipa) and (iPhoneapp 1.ipa) then you need to rename it to (iPhoneapp.ipa). Now for the next step you can either restore the phone and start again if you have had the issue OR you can connect the phone, cancel the sync, then in sync settings uncheck all the apps which means iTunes will remove the apps and it’s duplicates from your phone. You can then reselect them and it will sync the single files from your computer to the phone. There have been numerous reports of this method giving real results for iPhone stability. 
EDIT: There has been some discussion regarding the contents of this post. It has been noted, as i already knew, that updates do not seem to take up more room on the phone. Whilst this is the case the above solution certainly does work, whether it’s an iTunes bug which is invoked by the multiple file copies screwing the sync up or maybe there is a sync xml file on the phone that is buggy (I don’t know I am not a software engineer). Regardless there appears to be an issue for many people when they have many apps installed or few apps with many revisions and at the moment this solution appears to be the only workable one in the interim of Apple acknowledging it and fixing it.
Some Credit due to B1indSide from the Apple Discussion forums

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I decided to write this post due to a rather large issue I have just had with Orbicule’s Undercover software after I had an iMac go in for repair recently. The iMac died suddenly and was to have it’s logic board replaced. Upon collection of the Mac at the Apple store the genius powered the unit on. We logged into the account and boom

HELP HELP, I AM A STOLEN MAC   

cried the iMac!! It appears that the logic board replacement had tricked the software into thinking it hadn’t been online for 2 months and the software automatically switches to plan B according to the software’s developer. According to the message on the iMac screen connecting the unit to the internet and completing a reboot would resolve the issue. But if your net connection is supplied dependent on your mac address how do you plan on connecting to the net after a logic board replacement!? The machine has a new mac address and there is no way of accessing it as the orbicule software essentially locks up the mac.  In fact it also will proceed to dim your screen to make the “thief” take it in for repair or try to sell it on. Maybe a reason why Apple replaced the 24″ screen which had nothing wrong with it for £382!!Anyway I detract, the way to get round this issue if your unable to connect to the internet is as follows: 

1. Restart the Mac and hold down the Command + s keys in order to boot into single user mode.
2. Once booted enter the following command (Don’t type it wrong and get the spaces right this is critical) /sbin/mount -uw /
3. This command mounts your hard drive
4. Now enter rm /Library/Launchdaemons/com.orbicule.uc.plist to remove orbicule
5. There should be no message in return, if you see one you have typed something wrong. Repeat again if you get a message.
6. You should also carry out the following command rm /Library/Preferences/connected.plist
7. Type exit to reboot your mac.

The above list will have now uninstalled Undercover so you must reinstall it by downloading it and installing it from the Orbicule website. Though, thankfully, there should be much relief after following these steps as your Mac should now be usable! 

Oh and on a final note, to all of us that use Undercover. Don’t for one second think that if your Mac is stolen and it does end up at Apple for repair that they will call Orbicule to verify. Despite reporting to them it was a stolen mac and asking them to call a recovery line they just didn’t bother and didn’t even ask for ID on collection to verify that we were the machine owners compared to our registration in their database…. well done Apple! 

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I haven’t posted for a while but thought I would post a ‘How-To’ on how to increase your browsing speed when using Firefox thanks to ‘Pipelining‘. An HTTP pipelining enabled web browser uses server keepalive signals to create an open socket so that it can receive an uninterrupted stream of packets. Without pipelining, the browser must communicate back and forth with the server to determine whether the last item was received successfully and uses more TCP packets to do so.

To enable pipelining in Firefox is easy:

1. Type ‘about:config’ in the URL bar
2. In the search box type ‘pip’,  ‘network.http.pipelining’ should appear in the list.
3. Hold shift and click on it until it’s value reads ‘true’

Job done! Enjoy the increased speed

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I found myself in a particularly nasty place yesterday. I had followed advice given to me by an Apple engineer and either what they told me to enter in terminal was wrong, OR, I mistyped. Either way the result was a iMac that would not boot and gave a kernel panic at every grey boot screen. I tried resetting the PRAM/NVRAM via command-option-P-R, I tried booting from single user mode, booting to safe mode and booting from the DVD to bypass the HDD. None of these worked and all resulted in the kernel panic.

So i call Apple care and the guy there was fantastic and he determines a fried logic board and happily gives me a case number to have it repaired under warranty. Now I have been a Mac user for long enough to know that you don’t (Most of the time) go from working fine to rebooting and having a fried logic board. So I racked my brain and spent hours on Google and I am happy to say I fixed it, and I will share with you what the issue was and how I fixed it in the hope it may help many others in the future.

Now for reasons I won’t delve into I have an EFI Firmware password set on my Mac. I presume if your reading this article your the same. The EFI firmware password essentially stops you doing any of the important key combinations at boot, resetting PRAM/NVRAM, single user mode the whole shebang.  Now this is useful in many many circumstances except when your screwed like I was. Essentially when I thought I was resetting my PRAM and NVRAM I was doing absolutely nothing. If your as screwed as I was and cannot get to a DVD to boot OR you have forgotten your password there is only one way around it.

1. Add or remove a stick of ram. Obviously if you have one stick in, add one and if you have two in remove one.
2. Power on the mac and immediately press and hold command-option-P-R.
3. The system will restart with the ‘bong noise’, allow it to do this 3 times. On the third ‘bong’ you can let go of the keys.
4. The machine will now boot with a cleared password and reset PRAM/NVRAM.
5. You can shut down the machine and replace the original ram configuration.

I hope this helps anyone that was in as much hot water as me! Good luck

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