Can I undelete some files after an year?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

I have a macbook pro with Tiger installed. I want to restore data that is already deleted from Trash, and the data is also from a year ago. Is this still possible? using 3rd party software maybe?

After a year, it is quite doubtful that you\’ll be able to retrieve any useable data from any of these files.
And the issue is not necessarily that you\’ve moved files around, or otherwise re-arranged the drive, it\’s that the probablitity that a cache file, or another transistory file hasn\’t override a block that use to be attached to one of those files is minute. Once the block is overwritten, even by 1 byte of data, it\’s virtually impossible to recover that file…
But, certainly give it a try…
FileSalvage is a undelete / data recovery tool, that offers a trial mode – No Registration Number – Trial Mode

Without a registration number it is only possible to start using a version of FileSalvage with limited functionality. In Trial Mode the user will be able to scan for files but will be unable to recover them. For full recovery functionality, the user must register his or her version of FileSalvage. To do this, purchase the software online or via a retail channel, and then simply select \”Register\” from the FileSalvage drop menu and enter a valid registration number in the dialog screen.

And there\’s a number of other data recovery tools that are available for low cost…

Is there ANY legal free way to run a Mac OS on non-Apple hardware?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Is there ANY legal and free way to run a Mac OS(virtual or not) on a machine I did not purchase from Apple? What about purchasing the parts separately and assembling them myself? Does that make it any more legal?

The short answer, is No. The issue is that Apple\’s End User License Agreement, prevents this.  You know, the EULA which you didn\’t read, and just clicked past it.  That little piece of virtual paper prevents you from doing this.

2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. Single Use License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, unless you have purchased a Family Pack or Upgrade license for the Apple Software, you are granted a limited non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-branded computer at a time. You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-branded computer, or to enable others to do so. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time, and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time.

Now, that was the short answer.  The technical answer is that since the EULA is what prevents this, then what if we could find a  country where the EULA has no legal value.  Well, I don\’t think you are going to find this Fantasy Land, and if you do beware, the Crime rate will be quite high.  To some extent, all countries enforce EULA\’s, some have different restrictions in place, but all of them enforce this rules to some extent.
But this doesn\’t mean that your completely out of luck, remember an operating system consists of many parts and large parts of OS X are indeed free. If you are interested in this have a look at the Darwin project. What is missing from Darwin is mainly the graphical user interface of OS X (Aqua). You can run GNOME or KDE instead if you like. One of the consequences is that you can\’t run applications that depend on Aqua, like Safari or iTunes.
Now virtualization is a 50-50 split.  From Snow Leopard\’s EULA:

Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, unless you have purchased a Family Pack or Upgrade license for the Apple Software, you are granted a limited non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-branded computer at a time. You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-branded computer, or to enable others to do so.

You can, however, legally virtualise Mac OS X server, but only on Apple hardware.

This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Mac OS X Server software (the \”Mac OS X Server Software\”) on a single Apple-labeled computer. You may also install and use other copies of Mac OS X Server Software on the same Apple-labeled computer, provided that you acquire an individual and valid license from Apple for each of these other copies of Mac OS X Server Software.

So server\’s can be virtualized, but not the consumer OS.

Slow Spotlight searches?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Are you having an issue with Spotlight searches taking an extremely long time for any results to appear?

Do you see anything similar in your console log?

Nov 7 11:52:01 Mac-Pro-2009 [0x0-0x25025].com.apple.Preview[374]: =================
Nov 7 11:52:01 Mac-Pro-2009 [0x0-0x25025].com.apple.Preview[374]: ERROR: SKIndexTermChars pref returned nil string - using default
Nov 7 11:52:01 Mac-Pro-2009 [0x0-0x25025].com.apple.Preview[374]: (/SourceCache/Preview/Preview-504.1/Sources/PVSearchKitUtils.m:161 PVCleanSKQuery)
Nov 7 11:52:01 Mac-Pro-2009 [0x0-0x25025].com.apple.Preview[374]: =================

If so, take a look in your ~/library/Application Support/Preview folder.

Piere Igot, of Betalogue, asked about this a few days ago… And was able to trace his issue down to this file.

My system is showing this file at about 3.4 Mb, whereas his corrupted and damaged file was around 90 Mb.  I am not seeing any issues, but this file can be safely deleted, and the next time Preview is started, it will recreate / regenerate this file.

Using Video Surveillance to Catch the Neighbors – NYTimes.com

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

The NY Times is covering the use of Video Surveillance to defend your property.  The same technology is often also being used in home automation systems as a way to monitor your property….

STEVE MILLER is justifiably proud of the manicured grounds around his stately stucco home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. So he was nonplussed last year when he discovered that someone had been tossing plastic bags of dog excrement into the sculptured shrubs around a palm tree in his front yard.
“It was a pile of at least 10 bags,” said Mr. Miller, 55, who owned a dance costume business in Bristol, Pa., before retiring to Florida in 2005. “I had my suspicions, but wanted to find out for sure which one of my neighbors was doing it.”

via Using Video Surveillance to Catch the Neighbors.

Anthony LaMolinara Directs Live-Action Bubblegum Crisis – Anime News Network

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

The Anime News Network is reporting that the Live Action BubbleGum Crisis movie is still in production…

The Screen Daily industry news source reports on Wednesday that animator and director Anthony LaMolinara will helm Bubblegum Crisis – Knight Sabers, the live-action film adaptation of the Bubblegum Crisis anime franchise. The defunct ARTMIC studio created the original 1987-1991 video anime series about four women who protect a cybernetic future Tokyo with powered armor. LaMolinara will begin shooting the new film in stereoscopic 3D at China\’s Hengdian World Studios next May.
LaMolinara directed the animation sequences in several films, including Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Hollow Man. He was also an animator on Toy Story and Stuart Little, and he wrote and directed a 2005 short called \”Lonesome Matador.\”

Anthony LaMolinara Directs Live-Action Bubblegum Crisis – Anime News Network: \”\”

(View the rest of the article at Anthony LaMolinara Directs Live-Action Bubblegum Crisis – Anime News Network)