Technological Simplicity

It's Not the Perfect Computer, but it Might Be the Best Way to Access One…

Ever since first iPad came out in 2003, I have been on a mission to replace my laptop (I was motivated by Tim Cook's assertion that he can do 80% of his work on an iPad.). Given how far iPads and other tablets have come, both spec-wise and software-wise, it just seems like something one should be able to do. But the devil is in the details and a number of very specific problems made going all-in impossible. Even to this day, printing from an iPad is unreliable and slow. There also is the browser problem, where many websites still do not quite function properly, especially if plug-ins are required. With updates to iOS 9, external keyboards have become more useful (they now work with AutoCorrect and support a number of common shortcuts, for example), but using a keyboard with an iPad only begs the question, "why am I not using my laptop?" As for other means of inputting text, the dictation feature continues to improve, but it is still too inconsistent for my purposes. Last, many of the apps I use on a daily basis do not have fully comparable iOS equivalents (Microsoft Office has improved greatly, but it is still clunky compared to a computer-based experience, especially with regard to accessing files.).

Basically, I want to keep all the cool things about my iPad (great video and music playback, easy ways to procure content, extreme portability, long battery life, etc.) without giving up my computer's desktop. It is a difficult proposition—Microsoft has tried to accomplish this with the Surface, but to me, that device feels just like a very portable laptop and not much like a tablet (in large part due to the lack of quality apps compared to the iOS and Android offerings). At the end of the day, the lesson is probably that tablets and PCs are just different animals, products built up from the manner by which users interface with them (touch versus keyboards and mice). But don't give up hope just yet!

Enter remote computing. Generally speaking, accessing a computer over the Internet can be a great experience when properly configured. Microsoft has offered a sophisticated remote desktop  application for over a decade, providing nearly seamless interaction with a remote computer. In fact, iOS and Android have a number of remote desktop clients that work exceptionally well (my favorites include Jump and Remotix. From Windows 8 on, Windows is designed to work with a touch-based interface, so on a tablet, Windows via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) works almost like it was designed to be touched. Mac OS has employed a different protocol called VNC—it is nowhere near as seamless (the screen will not automatically resize to the tablet, nor is the interface touch-friendly), but it definitely works. A better way to access a Mac might be Parallels Access, which requires a $20 annual subscription for up to five computers.

Of course, nothing is that simple. Configuring remote access to a computer can require a bit of networking proficiency, necessitating a public IP address (or forwarding address) and port forwarding on your local router. Additionally, you need a reliable internet connection both at the remote site and from wherever you will be accessing the remote computer. Jump, Remotix, and Parallels offer applications that will take care of the networking, but even their solutions are not foolproof.

However, once you have everything up and running, remote computing has a number of benefits beyond enhancing the utility of an iPad. One of the most important advantages for me is reliability. Whereas my computer at home is rock solid, my laptop is constantly being put in situations where my work can be compromised. I'm always shutting the case in the middle of work, causing it to go to sleep. Every once in a while, I won't be able to wake the computer and work will be lost. I've also dropped and spilled on my computer to similar effect. Had I been remote computing during these catastrophes, my work would not have been lost. Worst case, I would have lost my connection to the remote computer, but when I returned to the office, the work would be there where I left it. Additionally, the work on my remote computer is constantly being backed up; my laptop is only backing up when I'm at home.

There are also security benefits. Should I end up losing my iPad, very little sensitive information is stored there; it is all safely away on the remote computer at home. There are also cost benefits. As a Chicago commuter, I'm much happier to lose an iPad over my suped-up MacBook Air (I've already been forcibly relieved of one iPad while waiting for a bus at Midway airport). While the initial software investment can be steep, at least those purchases will transfer to a new iPad at no additional cost.

Naysayers will point out that a remote computing setup is dangerously dependent on strong, reliable broadband connections. This of course, is true. For example, I have yet to have an airplane flight with WiFi sufficient to handle a Remote Desktop session. However, I don't buy this argument because I am generally dependent on a good network regardless, even if I am not connecting to my desktop remotely. When the network is bad, I have a number of go-to applications to pick up the slack. The Microsoft and Apple office suites are usually sufficient to keep on working or start new projects. I do my writing in iA Writer, which has a tremendous iOS app. Otherwise, I make sure that I use services that are cross-platform between my Mac, my Windows computer, and my iPad (Todoist for my to-do lists, Evernote for notes, and Chrome for browsing the web).

As an aside, speaking of planes, the iPad, with a proper keyboard like the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover, is so much easier to use on a cramped flight than even a MacBook because the keyboard places the monitor much closer to the keys, thereby saving precious inches.

Can It Ever Replace My Laptop?

So the answer to the question above is a definitive "no." However, with recent improvements to iOS in combination with a number of key apps, I'm getting closer to that ever-elusive goal set forth by my main man, Tim (he can do 80% of his work on an iPad, don't you know). In previous blog posts, I have documented my frustrations with using an iPad as a laptop replacement. There is little doubt that the iPad provides a superior experience as far as content consumption goes (read: it's great for listening to, reading, and watching stuff). Where the iPad struggles for me is in content creation.

Now, iOS has come a long way over the past few years. The included dictation feature continues to improve, and is serviceable as a keyboard replacement in a pinch (in a quiet place). However, there is a time limit wherein the speaker is cut off (about 30 seconds). This becomes a problem if one is trying to use the dictation feature to compose a blog or longer email. So far, the only viable option I have found comes from Nuance and their Dragon Anywhere software/service. Dragon Anywhere is far from perfect and it's $150 annual fee is definitely pricey. However, it has allowed me to do the things that I could not do with the built-in dictation feature.

The frustration with Dragon Anywhere is that it does not function outside of its own application. So basically, you need to dictate into Dragon's app, and then copy and paste to wherever the text ultimately belongs. This is less of an irritation given iOS's slide over feature, which allows you to, for example, dictate an email response within Dragon Anywhere well at the same time looking at the email you are responding to.

This is hardly optimal, but the dictation accuracy makes it worth the extra effort. Moreover, if you are a Dragon Dictation user on your desktop, I don't really think that this iOS limitation is anymore disruptive than the desktop experience.

While Dragon Anywhere may make blogging and emailing significantly easier for me, it doesn't really help me with coding or terminal work that is part of my daily responsibility. For website design, I love Panic's Coda, but it is worthless to me without a physical keyboard. I know there are plenty of great keyboard cases out there for the iPad, but I think if you have to add a keyboard case to the iPad to make it work, then you might as well have a laptop. Additionally, external keyboards are unable to take advantage of auto-capitalization and auto-correction features within iOS. The best solution for me has been to purchase a Bluetooth keyboard that I keep in my backpack and can use with the iPad in emergencies. As for command line work I use a multi-platform solution called vSSH. vSSH allows you to store credentials and connections along with code snippets in the app which then synchronize via iCloud to other devices. So I'm able to create the connections and snippets on my MacBook such that they are then available for me to use on my iPad.

This point, there is no ditching the computer, so for the iPad to be useful to me, I need to make it as easy as possible to get information off the iPad and into the computer (and vice versa). At the most basic level, I accomplish this with an app called Copied. Copied has applications for both iOS and the Mac that basically allow you to synchronize text you copy from one device to another. I also rely heavily on Evernote for organizing work notes and Todoist for my to do list. Both products have well-developed apps on both iOS and desktop. By using identical apps on both platforms, I am able to quickly find things that I need regardless of which device I created or organized them on.

Email has always been a problem for me on iOS. I have never really liked the default mail app on either iOS or OS X, and I'm frequently trying out different applications that fit my needs. I have finally settled on CloudMagic, which has a fantastic iOS client and a limited, but developing Mac client. The most important function of an email client for me at this time is being able to get an email out of the client and into either Evernote or Todoist so that I can properly act upon it. CloudMagic handles this very well with the iOS client; hopefully it will also do so with its Mac client in the future.

Ultimately, making it iPad useful with in my professional life essentially means I need to be able to access my work on both an iPad and a computer. By and large, I have found the applications that allow me to do this. Though I haven't mentioned them yet, I certainly rely upon Dropbox, Microsoft Office, iA Writer, and Google Drive to share and create content between devices. I am also heavily reliant on accessing my computers remotely by RDP or VNC. I use both Jump Desktop as well as Remotix for networks that I manage; I have also used LogMeIn, Splashtop, and TeamViewer for clients that don't have static IP addresses.

GUIs are for VSPs (very silly people)

In the past, I have extolled the virtues of GoodSync as a locally-hosted cloud storage alternative. GoodSync uses a secure and proprietary protocol to efficiently synchronize folders across devices and services. It is a very capable backup tool and is cost-effective compared to many cloud services in the long run. The software runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and its, shall we say “functional”, GUI (graphical user interface) suggests the program is geared more towards professional IT geeks (read: the interface is pretty ugly). But real IT geeks need not bother with the GUI at all, as GoodSync’s beauty is revealed through the command line.

For my own uses, I frequently have to run GoodSync jobs on demand. For example, a backup might need to be made immediately (between it’s scheduled run times). On any OS, GoodSync’s CLI (command line interface) is fairly uniform. Say, for example, I want to run a backup called, wait for it, “Mike’s Awesome Backup”. I’m not going to go over how to set up a sync in the first place here - this is well-covered in the manual and is easily configured via the aforementioned and ugly GUI. For PCs the command would look something like this:

"c:\Program Files\Siber Systems\Goodsync\gsync" sync "Mike's Awesome Backup"

For Macs, the command looks like this:

/Library/Application\ Support/GoodSync/gsync sync "Mike's Awesome Backup"

The magic is in the “gsync” command (the specific location of which might vary depending on your OS version, but from the above examples you should be able to extrapolate), which allows you to run any sync or backup pair created in the command line or in the GUI. With this command in hand, I can SSH or Telnet (yes, I know those are not real verbs) into the command prompt from anywhere I have an internet connection. With a program like Prompt or vSSH, I can save the command as a shortcut and quickly run it from my phone or tablet.

Three Posts for the Price of One: SEO be Damned!

I find myself in a bit of a self-induced conundrum. My business comes from referrals, but I want people that visit my business page to see that I am a real person who regularly updates and maintains the website. I also have a genuine interest in sharing my techno-messes and (hopefully) consequent techno-victories. I especially love it when someone reads something I wrote and actually responds with a question. The problem is that my business website is not really a place for people to interact with me because it is essentially a glorified business card. On the other hand, using a service like Medium or Tumblr does little to promote my business page.

"Sure," you say. "Post the same content at multiple sites."

"But what about those dreaded SEO penalties for posting the same content at multiple places?" I ask. Not to mention the pain of actually posting to multiple sites. Do I even have the time?

Here is my strategy. It is not going to work for everyone entirely (it might not even work for me, in the end), but it is at least a framework from which one might be able adapt to their own needs. The big picture is this: I have a business website built in RapidWeaver, a Tumblr blog, and a Medium publication. I want to be able to write the blog post with the same images and formatting in all three locations. I then want to share the posts through my businesses social media accounts.

Is this even smart? Am I killing my SEO potential by reposting a blog multiple times? All indications as of 2016 is that duplicate content does not have a negative SEO impact, provided the content is original. In fact, if the content is targeted to different groups, as is the case with my three blogging outlets, more people will have the opportunity to review it. This common understanding amongst internet marketers is supported by my own personal experience. But again, I am also not too worried about SEO given that my business is referral based.

So I developed a workflow to get my content at three places (nearly) at once. It all starts with the draft, which I write in Markdown (I use IA Writer, but any default text editor or word processor would do). Markdown is a very efficient means to generate HTML, and it is fully supported by Tumblr. Once I have the text, I look for a new images to add to the project. I consistently name these images with the date and a number and then upload them to a folder on my web host. This way I can easily link back to the images in my document.

(Not to geek out too much, but because I name and store the files consistently, I can use a text expander program to spit out the relevant URL and generate the image name with a shortcut. I use Typinator, but there are plenty of other alternatives out there.)

With my files uploaded to my web server, I can then copy and past my text to Tumblr. Once I post it, I can view the finished product, select and copy it all (including the images) and paste to a new Medium post. I do a little rearranging (move the header image, reclassify the header tags, etc.), but there is very little additional work there.

Two out of three done. For my website, which is designed using RapidWeaver, I use a stack from Joe Workman that automatically imports Tumblr blogs into my website while maintaining my website's formatting. It took a little work to get the appearance right, but I'm happy with the result.

Now, as far as getting the posts out through social media, I take advantage of Tumblr's default RSS feed, which I can load to share my posts through my Buffer account. All in, after I've drafted my text and found or made any images, it takes me about 5 minutes to post to all three places and schedule the social media posts.

A Story of Two Apps

In the past, I have written about my attempts to throw away my laptop for an iPad. In my case, it never works because I'm simply too dependent on a keyboard and multitasking. However, this is not to say that the iPad or iPhone cannot have a valuable place in my workflow. Indeed, the beauty of well-designed iOS apps is that they overcome the problems I have described, creatively functioning without the need for keyboard or other applications to be simultaneously accessed. Panic's Prompt app for iOS makes this point perfectly, offering a traditional SSH/Telnet shell client with support for code snippets and bookmarks. But this is just the start of a good iOS app. In the end, I still need deep integration (dare I say, synergy?) with my computers upon which I depend daily.

So, after using Prompt on my iPad, I was somewhat devastated to learn there was no companion application for my Mac. On the Mac side of things, I have long used the Terminal and SnippetsLab to do remotely maintain servers. Terminal provided access to the remote command line interfaces and SnippetsLab stored and organized all of my frequently-used code. Using Prompt made me realize that I should be using an application that marries the functions of Terminal and SnippetsLab. If I could do it on my iPad, certainly I could do it on my Mac.

Unfortunately, Panic does not make a Mac companion application for Prompt. I was hoping the Mac version could sync all of my credentials, snippets, and hosts to its iOS buddies, but alas. This then led me down the path to find an app that might live up to my hopes. I ultimately found vSSH - a multi-platform application that does it all on all of the devices I use.

vSSH is not as pretty as Prompt, but it's ability to cross platforms makes it (and my iPad) truly useful to me. The lesson is that for consumers like me (Mac-loving geeks, nerds, and dorks working in IT), an iPad is only truly useful if it leverages the power of a full fledged computer. Again, it would take me a long time to manually type in all of the code and credentials into Prompt. It is much easier to get this info in vSSH via my MacBook and then sync with my iPad. In this way, the iPad is an extension of my computer.

When I think about it, all of the apps I use on my iPad really are extensions of my other computers. Apps like Dropbox, Evernote, Gmail, iA Writer, and CloudMagic all have companion apps on the Mac. The iPad’s portability is truly useful, especially if I need to review something I have already prepared on my computer. When used in this fashion, the iPad really becomes a luxury item because it does not really do anything I cannot do using a laptop. However, good iPad applications add something to the mix that cannot be done in the Mac counterpart. For example, I can swipe through emails much quicker on the iPad than I can with a keyboard on the Mac.

Bring Cards to the Desktop with Chrome's ARC Welder

Over the past year, CloudMagic has become my preferred email application on both my Mac and iPhone. It sports a clean interface and a speedy experience with my four email accounts. I especially like being able to use the same email app across platforms; it is the kind of consistency that calms my borderline-obsessive compulsive tendencies. While the CloudMagic development team is constantly improving and stabilizing the application, there remains a glaring divide between the iOS and Mac versions of the application: the desktop still does not have the "cards" feature that won my heart in the first place.

Cards are efficient means to get an email into a different service. In my case, I use the Todoist card to quickly convert an email into a task.

The cards also connect to Asana, Evernote, Pocket, OneNote, Trello, Salesforce, and Zendesk. This service has become a key component of my workflow, helping me clear out my inbox while keeping my todo list useful. While the CloudMagic team promises the cards feature will be making its way to the desktop soon, I have managed to enable the feature so I can take advantage today.

The magic starts with Chrome and the ARC Welder app, which enables Android applications to be run within Google Chrome. Next we need a copy of a current CloudMagic program file (also known as an APK file), which is easily located through a Google search. After installing and running the ARC Welder, we load up the APK we downloaded, leaving all of the default options intact. We have one addition to make in the metadata section of the setup screen, where we will be adding the text: {"usePlayServices": ["gcm"]}. To wrap it all up, click on the "Test" button and you'll be looking at your very own CloudMagic app, complete with cards.

Depending on your Chrome settings, the new app will appear in your Chrome applications folder. It can also be pinned to the dock for easy access. Absent other modifications, the ARC Welder is limited to one app at a time, so if you want to repeat this procedure to bring other Android apps to your Mac, you'll need to employ other trickery to avoid blitzing your CloudMagic app.

Hint: It Isn't as Easy as it Should Be

As a criminal defense attorney, I often am receiving sensitive, privileged files that really are for my eyes only. The problem arises when others' eyes fall upon my iPhone. My spouse, friends, cats, etc. have family unfettered access to my devices. Even if they don't have my unlock code, I often pass around the phone to share content. The trick is keeping the sensitive stuff away from the stuff I want to share, and it is isn't as easy as it should be.

File security and your iPhone and iPad are fundamentally at odds with each other. The problem essentially results from the fact that iOS is all about the apps, and file security is more of a trickle-down concern flowing from app security. Unlike most PCs, iOS drives users to open up an app first-there is no file explorer where you can open up a document with a default app. All of this is to say that if you want to secure your documents (or a particular document), you need to secure the app first, and the default iOS apps are not really designed for this.

So if you have sensitive crime scene photos on your phone, there is no simple way to partition them away from the vacation photos. Sure, you can create different albums, but there is no password protection or higher level security system available.

Here is my best solution so far:

I searched long and hard for an option that seemed trustworthy and had a substantial development history. I ultimately chose FileBrowser, which currently retails for $5.99. There are undoubtedly other choices that will work, though. Again, I am just looking for a simple app that has a passcode lock and the ability to create folders and organize files. I also needed an app that integrated with iOS sharing such that if I had an email attachment, I could use the "Open in..." feature to get the attachment into the file browser. I can even use Safari to download documents or images into FileBrowser.

Again, there are plenty of alternatives out there, but I think any solution should have the following attributes: (1) passcode lock; (2) folder organization; (3) ability to move files between folders (4) ability to easily get the files off of the iOS device. Number four is especially important because Apple has a habit of blacklisting file management apps and app developer often vanish into thin air. The last thing you want is to lose your files when you upgrade iOS or your phone or tablet.

Outdated Operating Systems Need Love Before Upgrades

The immense pressure brought to bear on consumers by Microsoft in its push to move users to Windows 10 has once again revealed the dangers unplanned upgrades can wreak on unprepared users. For a vast majority of home and enterprise users, Windows 10 offers very little tangible benefit against a myriad of potential pitfalls such as software and hardware incompatibility. Ultimately the question becomes, “when is it necessary to upgrade a computer’s operating system?” The first answer is, of course, “it depends,” but most likely, upgrading is not worth it, especially with older hardware.

It would be unfair to simply lob volleys at Microsoft; every major operating system goes through near-annual upgrades, especially my beloved OS X (soon to be macOS). The arguments for upgrading typically utilize fear-mongering, focusing on security concerns. New features are often added, as well, along with stability improvements. So why not upgrade?

The most common issues arise with older software and hardware. Sometimes these problems are alleviated by patches offered by suppliers, but often not by the time of the new OS launch. Moreover, we live in a beta culture where software testing is often left to users in the months following a major release. The Windows Vista launch immediately comes to mind: a perfectly stable operating system (Windows XP) was replaced by a perfect mess (Windows Vista). This mess was never actually fixed in large part until the release of the next version, Windows 7.

There are also many users who run one or two irreplaceable programs on their computers that will never run on a new operating system. This often occurs with proprietary and custom software (imagine those DOS programs used by auto repair shops across America). These programs can sometimes be run virtually, but virtualization is also not a process to be taken lightly. For these types of users, the operating system is simply a means for the programs they need to communicate with the hardware. There is absolutely no benefit to upgrading an OS in these circumstances.

So what about those security arguments made by OS manufacturers? They are not baseless, but they are vastly overblown. By and large, as long as you have a functional and modern firewall at the head of your network, take care with regard to the websites you visit and the email you open, and you regularly backup your computers, you should be fine. It would make sense not to use an unsupported operating system for email or web browsing, but even these activities should be safe provided the programs you are using are still actively maintained. For example, Windows XP still works great with Firefox and Thunderbird loaded for web browsing and email.

The important thing to take from all of this is that operating systems should be upgraded on the user’s schedule, not the manufacturer’s schedule. Microsoft has an especially horrid track record of dismal upgrades and lackluster support. Now, Windows 10 has actually been a relatively smooth process compared to past upgrades, but plenty of users will awaken to Windows 10 on their computer and a list of software that no longer works. While Microsoft makes the downgrade process rather simple, the automatic upgrade “feature” is far too aggressive for me.

This might seem like an oddly specific post, but it could come in hand for those of you looking to monitor bandwidth speeds as part of some automatic script. For example, I'm looking to create a script that will log bandwidth speeds over a period of time.

This little program uses Speedtest.net to collect the data. So, here are the instructions:

Open Terminal

Install Python Pip with this command: sudo easy_install pip

Install speediest-cli with this: sudo pip install speedtest-cli

Run the test with this: speedtest-cli

Easy enough! Thanks to sivel!

UPDATE 12/31: While the data all looks good, I'm getting force close errors. I can't see anything in BackupGoo's logs indicating a problem, so I surmise the issues lies with a Java 6 / Yosemite compatibility issue. As a work around, I've loaded up a virtualized Mavericks installation and have set up BackupGoo there. 

Bottom line - under Mavericks, BackupGoo has been a tremendous Google Apps backup solution, but given the lack of communication regarding support of Yosemite, I would think twice before committing.

I'm in the middle of a ridiculous exercise that requires copying terabytes of data (millions of very small files) to multiple hard drives. After failing many times, I finally settled on the MS-DOS command line utility, Robocopy. It is fast and simple and free (included in Windows 7 and 8). Here is the command prompt code to get you started: 

robocopy source target /MIR /XD "$RECYCLE.BIN" "System Volume Information"

At least as far as Chicagoland Comcast Xfinity goes, I can tell you that you can bring your own modem (presuming it is approved by Comcast) into your home without dealing with anyone from the company. I received a notice from Comcast that my old DOCSIS 2.0 modem couldn't handle the faster speeds I was paying for and that I needed to upgrade. Instead of leasing the modem/router they offered, I decided to buy my own modem.

I trust this piece of advice won't run afoul of the big MS given that Vista is dead, but I'll take this down if asked. I had a client with an older computer running Vista Home Premium. They wanted to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional, but after buying the license off of eBay, they realized that there was no way to upgrade without wiping the drive and reinstalling all of their software. Below are simple steps to edit the registry that allows users to directly upgrade without wiping and starting over:

1. Click on start button and type “regedit” into the search box at the bottom of the window. Then, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version

2. Change the key “EditionID” to “Business” (mine was “HomePremium”).

3. Change the “ProductName” to “Business” (mine was “Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium”, replace the entire entry with the word “Business”).

4. Reboot

By default, Office 365 requires complex user passwords and forces passwords to expire at some point. Disabling these security features requires the Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell. Presuming you are already running Windows 7 or newer (check out this article if you are on Vista or XP), install the following:

Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant

Office 365 Cmdlets (32-bit) (64-bit)

Once you have installed the above programs, you should see "Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell" in your Start menu. Launching this shortcut will take you to the PowerShell with the Windows Azure AD loaded and ready to go.

From the command prompt, enter the following to connect to your online service:

connect-msolservice

Once you have entered your login credentials, enter the following to determine whether your users have the strong password requirement enabled:

get-msoluser | select userPrincipalName, StrongPasswordRequired

To remove the strong password requirement for all users, enter the following:

get-msoluser | set-msoluser -StrongPasswordRequired $false

Next, to determine whether users' passwords are set to auto-expire, enter the following:

get-msoluser | select userPrincipalName, PasswordNeverExpires

To prevent passwords from expiring, enter the following:

get-msoluser | set-msoluser -PasswordNeverExpires $true

Note that to actually change the passwords, you may need to use the PowerShell. The syntax is below:

set-msoluserPassword -userPrincipalName <username> -NewPassword <password> -ForceChangePassword $false

Despite being installed on new PCs for over a year, Windows 8 is still having trouble finding footing with lethargic web apps that require Internet Explorer 9 in order to function properly (such as equator.com). Because Windows 8 cannot run Internet Explorer 9, we must force Internet Explorer 10 into an "IE 9 Standards" mode. While the tech savvy can pretty easily do this on a per-site basis via developer mode, most users need a simpler solution. So, to the registry we go, navigating to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION

I am a Chrome believer, and I absolutely love the new menu bar design that trades in the old black bar for a cleaner, minimalist offering. While the change was automatic for my Macs, I was still seeing a black bar on my PC, Linux, and Chrome OS machines. Forcing the switch is simply a matter of executing a little java script. To enable the new look, enter the following in the omnibox:

javascript: document.cookie="PREF=ID=e66a207a51ceefd8:U=936bafc98b2a9121:FF=0:LD=en:NR=10:CR=2:TM=1378808351:LM=1379592992:SG=1:S=OXyq0fqClYB66VuV ; path=/; domain=google.com";window.location.reload();

If you would like to revert back to the tried and true black bar, enter the following:

javascript: document.cookie="PREF=ID=5b4ad955416c1d63:U=c5badcc79f7fa108:FF=4:LD=en:NR=20:NW=1:TM=1374684101:LM=1380247074:GM=1:SG=2:S=B6lEsMB1Hk9d6zjs ; path=/; domain=google.com";window.location.reload();

One client of mine has had particular difficulty with the Mac OS X 10.8 Calendar program and events on their Office 365 Exchange Server. They frequently receive the error: Calendar can't save the event "event name" to the Exchange Server when attempting to delete events with invitees. The problem events seem to be limited to events imported from an older server.

I have tried many different fixes, including removing and setting up the Exchange calendar, which seems to temporarily fix the problem. Ultimately, however, the error rears its ugly head, but I have seemingly found the secret sauce:

1. Delete the problem event from the online Office 365 portal.

2. Close Calendar and Mail on the Mac in question.

3. Navigate to ~/Library/Calendars and rename the "Calendar Cache" file to "Calendar Cache (OLD)."

4. Upon restarting, Calendar will rebuild the problem Exchange calendar without incident.