Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

It turns out the presentation I turned in to be included on the Macworld CD was accidentally left out. Due to a number of requests for copies of the slides, I’m posting the presentation on my site. Thanks to everyone who attended and those who asked questions. It seems that the attendees got something out of the presentation and that’s exactly what I wanted. Thanks for a great time everyone!

Revised 1.16.2006 12:54 AM
My friend Todd Ludington pointed out that the directions at the end of the presentation did not include instructions for the creation of ~/.ssh at the server machine. I added the correct command.

Macworld SF 2006 Presentation (760k)

Someone at Macworld last week greeted me as “the guy who’s made a career out of syslogd -u”, a reference to this posting to my blog that also appeared in an issue of MacTech and on AFP548. I was a bit surprised to hear that comment for a couple of reasons (one of which was that someone may think I make a career out of writing), but I want to clarify something for the readers of this page.

I’m not stupid enough to believe that editing a plist file to add the -u switch to syslogd is some kind of earth-shattering tip that the Mac community can’t live without. When I submitted that article to MacTech initially, there was no guarantee and no indication that it would ever be printed. The same goes for AFP548. The only place I know for sure that it will appear is my own page, so I posted it.

I realize the person who said that to me was doing so with a wink and a nod, and I take no offense from it. I write some of these small-time tips because they don’t seem to currently exist in the Google database. My first reaction when I need to know something is to query Google, and when that search fails to turn up an answer, I look elsewhere. When I know the answer, I write it up in the hope that it will make someone’s day a little easier down the line and, judging by my web stats, I’ve accomplished that in a couple of different ways.

My good friend Shawn King of Your Mac Life (who got married last night) pointed out to me this afternoon that I’m in this Wired article. The blurb is as such:

“Some people buy insane amounts of stuff,” said King. “Aaron Adams (a show correspondent) spent $400 on T-shirts. He said, ‘I’ll never have to buy shirts again. I’ve got all I need right here.’”

Thanks for making me seem like a freak, buddy. A couple of years ago when I went crazy buying not just t-shirts but things like mugs, polo shirts, and other bling (Yes, I just used the word “bling”.), it was my first Macworld and I had no idea whether I’d ever be back to the Apple campus. I thought, this may be my one shot at getting some of these things and I should take advantage of it. Not everything I bought was for myself - a good deal of that $400+ shopping spree was given away to friends.

I haven’t written much here recently. Things have been quiet on the home front, and my irrational obsession with parsing language has been my primary blog contribution as of late. Next week is Macworld San Francisco, and as astute browsers of this site know, I will be presenting a little thing obtusely titled “Remotely and Securely Controlling Other Computers from Your Mac for Administrative or Support Purposes (M264)”, which I can promise you will be filled with broad generalization, abstract concepts, academic minutiae, and mostly-accurate diagrams, all for the purpose of enlightening conference attendees as to how to never leave your desk, and be secure about it at the same time. For the love of God, don’t miss it!

As long as I’ve had this lame-ass site, I’ve promised to post something here during each year’s Macworld, and I never follow through because I become overwhelmed by the array of activities I have the option of participating in. This year, I promise that under no circumstances will I post anything about MWSF until I return, and even then I probably won’t post much unless I have something unique to share. In the past, I’ve also offered my own prognostications about what to expect at the keynote. I’m sure some people from Apple casually checked the page once or twice and had a good snort at my expense before (correctly) dismissing me as some ill-informed kook. After being 100% wrong (for all the right reasons) about the Mac mini and Intel processors in 2005, I’m not even going to hazard a guess about what will appear next to Steve on stage Tuesday because I obviously don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. I have my hopes which are, frankly, without factual basis, and I’ll be keeping those to myself, thank you very much.