Tag Archives: help

Computer Quandries: Mail.app on Startup

At some point in time, I wanted Mail.app to launch on login/startup. At that time, I did something to ensure it loaded on login. Now, however, I do not want this to happen, mainly because I want to use the vacuum process to shrink my Mail.app footprint.

The problem is that I can not figure out how to stop Mail.app from launching on startup. The first place to always check is the login items in your user account settings, but Mail.app is not listed. The second place to look is in .profile or .bash_profile (right?), but no entry is there.

I suspect two possible locations:

  • some *nix file about which I have forgotten or never known
  • some other piece of software is launching

On this latter point, it could be my MailUnreadStatus plugin, but I do not think so.

Any thoughts?

Lots Of New Personal Computing Changes

I have lots and lots of data. For a long time, I was just adding hard drives. Now, however, I have a real solution and it’s all beautifully implemented.

Until recently, my home computing environment consisted of:

  • Dell Dimension 4400 (P4 2Ghz) that has been upgraded and tweaked extensively. It sports a 40GB main drive and three additional hard drives (120GB and 320GB internals and a 250GB external) I have been using for my storage needs. Other, less important for this post, tweaks include dual monitor and s-video support and 1GB RAM.
  • 12-inch PowerBook G4 (now with 1.25GB RAM).

I knew I needed a real data storage solution when I had to start tossing files onto my PowerBook and the sense of urgency was created when my 250GB external drive started acting funny (about-to-die funny, not haha funny).

So here is what I used to build my file server:

I went with Windows XP Professional over the x64 version because of some driver and app problems and the only benefit is being able to use more than 4GB of memory. XP Pro rather than a Linux distro is used because I have a Linux curse and I actually do like XP Pro. The OS is installed on an 80GB primary HD, but all non-application data is saved on the 1.5TB RAID-5 array I built using four 500GB SATA 3Gb/s drives. After formating, the usable space on this array is 1.36TB; not too bad. I also shared the RAID so I can access it from my other computers.

Because this computer will sit in my living room–it doesn’t look bad, I promise–I tweaked XP to look nice on my TV (32 inch flat-screen CRT), which is great because I do not need a monitor imposing itself on my living room setup.

I used TweakUI on my other Windows machine so that all ‘special folders’ (e.g., My Documents) point to the RAID array. This is great because now when I open applications, it looks to my RAID array by default for the relevant files. As a result, I can store all of my files on the array seamlessly.

I also wanted to back up the data on my PowerBook so I installed iBackup, which seems limited but fairly good, to regularly copy my important data (e.g., e-mails) to the file server. I am having a little bit of trouble setting the PowerBook to automatically connect to the file server (via SMB), but I have not focused on fixing this yet.

There are only a few tasks left:

  • Fix the PoweBook SMB connection to the file server so a connection is established on login/bootup
  • Review p2p clients and maybe switch from Shareaza
  • Buy another wireless keyboard (I have an extra wireless mouse)
  • Test remoting in to the file server
  • Hook up audio cables from file server to mixer/amp for watching video (music is currently played off main machine, which is wired into to two rooms/speakers)
  • Possibly get this other machine I have, an old dual-P3 with SCSI drives, up and running for the bedroom

Making The Switch, Kinda: The Story And Useful Software

In early November I bought my first Apple, a 12 inch PowerBook. The inclusion of a Mac into my computing family is less of a switch and more of a diversity situation, as I am still running machines with Microsoft Windows XP (Pro and Home) and Red Hat Fedora Core 4.

I wanted a laptop so I could work while on the road (a frequent but not usual occurrence), at a coffeeshop, or my backyard. I’m glad I did, but I’m also glad that I have a desktop to compliment the laptop lifestyle.

There are a couple of reasons why I went Apple. One is that I was growing tired of Windows. The desire to spice up my OS life may be a result of the fact that I have primarily used DOS/Windows machines my entire computing life (since mid-1990s), but it was also because I was becoming frustrated with Windows Updates and virus issues. I gave Linux in the forms FC3, FC4, and Ubuntu (The Breezy Badger) a go, but found the hardware problems and update utilities to be both problematic and a hassle.

A second reason why I made the switch was because I wanted to become familiar with OS X. I was promised by several people that interoperability issues were largely solved, although I experienced some basic problems within the last couple of years (on OS 9 machines, however). In particular, ZS’ success and happiness with his switch gave me the extra push to take the plunge (Note: He e-mailed 20051128 to say that he’s having some odd problems).

So far, I am happy. I have had no problems integrating it into my networks (home and work, both of which are Windows dominated) and interoperability issues have been zero, although I have mainly used it for only Web and word processing tasks.
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