Hitman: Absolution Easter Egg

Found it by accident.

Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer

Well, actually it can.  The problem is that if the install disc you are using came from another system (i.e. pre-bundled DVDs) instead of the retail version.  The workaround is fairly straightforward:

1. Create a DMG version of the DVD using Disk Tools.
2. Restore the DMG version to a thumbdrive or external hard drive.
3. Using a terminal window, copy the "System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg" file somewhere (i.e. /tmp):
   cp /Volumes/Untitled/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg
4. Figure out what your system type (i.e. "MacBook4,1") is:
   sysctl hw.model
5. Extract the contents of the file using "xar":
   cd /tmp
   xar -x -v -f OSInstall.mpkg
6. Edit the file named "Distribution"
7. Look for the line "var hwbeSupportedMachines" and add your machine code so it looks something like this:
   var hwbeSupportedMachines = [
                       'iMac10,1',
                       'MacBook4,1',
   ];
8. Save the file.
9. Recreate the OSInstall.mpkg file (again with xar):
   xar -c ./ -v -f NewOSInstall.mpkg
10. Copy this new file over the old OSInstall.mpkg:
    cp /tmp/NewOSInstall.mpkg /Volumes/Untitled/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg

Now you shouldn't get that error message anymore.

Internet Explorer Bad Grammar

Is it me or is this bad (or at least awkward) use of the English language by Internet Explorer?

Security protects something, so why would my security need protection?  Perhaps a better way to state this is "To help enhance your security, Internet Explorer has shut itself down."

Date Ranges in Web Apps

I find it extremely frustrating that date ranges, especially in but not limited to online banking, will typically show you the "current month" as the default view.  Simple use cases will show that while this works extremely well for the later part of the month, it is not so helpful in the earlier part of the month.

Seriously?  How does this help me?

A more reasonable approach is to have the default view as the "last 30 days" or something like that.  Month-views should be optional.  When viewing your history, do you really just care about the last three days???

Much better.  KTHXBYE

Bloatware

Installing a Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in needs 100MB in space?

Installing a printer driver requires a 200MB in disk space?

How about a video card driver that needs a 160MB installation file??

Can we cut the please, please cut the bloatware before we need a 4GB printer driver?

LinkedIn Password Hash File is Real

Yep, just checked it - my unique LinkedIn password SHA-1 hash is in there.

If you have a LinkedIn account, login NOW and change your password.  If you've used that password with other things associated with your LinkedIn login (usually your email address), then change those passwords too!


Here's a link to the hash file: combo_not.txt.zip

Here's a nice write-up on the details as well as a online SHA-1 generator so you can check for your own hash: Errata Security

iTunes Home Sharing Not Working [SOLVED]

Not working and sometimes when it is working, it cuts out in the middle, or when you click on the computer name, the focus goes away from the library.  In other words, really weird.

What it is
iTunes has a feature called "Home Sharing" - it basically allows you to share your entire or part of your library with other instances of iTunes in your home network.  It requires you to login to your iTunes account on both computers.  A typical scenario is to enable Home Sharing on your desktop machine and then access the library from your iPad, Apple TV, iPhone, Mac, etc.

In my case, I have iTunes on my desktop machine running Windows XP in the attic with Home Sharing enabled and then I access the library from my Macbook and Apple TV, depending on what I want.  How to use Home Sharing can be found here.

Symptoms

• Home Sharing machine not showing up in Apple TV or the Macbook
• The Macbook home sharing not showing up on my desktop 
• Home Sharing working intermittently
• Connections getting cut of intermittently
• Usually, restarting iTunes or the desktop computer will make things work.
• Sometimes, restarting the Macbook or the Apple TV will make things work.
• The "working" doesn't last long

The Fix

On the desktop computer where the Home Sharing is enabled, I disabled the "QoS Packet Scheduler" from the network connection:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Network Connections
3. Right-Click on your connection (in my case, it was "Wireless Network Connection 4"
4. Select Properties
5. Uncheck "QoS Packet Scheduler"
6. Click OK
7. Restart iTunes if necessary

After doing the above, Home Sharing worked like a charm.