The one caveat that I have about this is that there seems to be a minor flaw in doing the restorations, at least when using the OS X DVD that came with my MacBook Pro, which I believe was 10.6.3. It seems that if you don’t use the latest snapshot, then you can’t really guarantee which snapshot you’ll actually get. In my case, I’ve twice tried to restore my drive using a snapshot from an hour before the last one. This resulted in my system reverting anywhere from 2-5 days before my latest snapshot. I don’t know for sure how far back the revision was, I’m just basing this on changes in my user’s home folder, and CDs I’d ripped to iTunes. In both cases, it wasn’t a huge deal, because my files hadn’t changed that much in that amount of time. But if I’d been developing a new website at the time, I would have been pretty annoyed!

Now I know, most people would simply choose the latest snapshot, and I’ve done that too, and the restoration process worked perfectly. So this is definitely a rare bug, but I’m not most people. I tend to do things differently.

Anyway, this article discusses another way to make sure that you protect your data. In fact, I’ve recently had to repeat this little task, due to some configuration error that I was having with OS X. The only fix that the Apple Genius Bar could come up with, was to completely nuke my HD and start over. And I didn’t want to use the Time Machine image, since those snapshots would have been corrupted as well. So I’m glad that I took a snapshot of my main user’s folder before taking the laptop over there.

So here’s the process to make sure that all your pictures, iTunes downloads, and what-not are still safe.

Note: It is important to point out that this process isn’t to be used to restore your primary administrative account. You’re going to have to create at least one administrator before restoring the users in Step 4. If you need to restore your primary administrator account, create another administrator when installing your system, and use it to restore your old account. Then stop using administrator accounts for daily use!

Step 1: Backup your user’s folder

The optimal way to do this, is to boot from the OS X DVD that came with your system, but instead of letting the install utility progress, find the Utilities menu item at the top of the screen, and select Disk Utility. If your system is stable and active, you can also do this from the local Disk Utility, which is located under Applications > Utilities, if necessary. You’ll need to have a external drive connected directly to your system, as Disk Utility won’t recognize network drives (unfortunately).

Either way, with the Disk Utility application open, create an image from the /Users/ home folder, by selecting File > New Image from Directory.

In the Select Folder to Image window, select your primary drive, MacIntosh HD by default. If you need to backup more than one user folder, navigate to the user’s folder /Users/. In the case of just backing up a single user, navigate to /Users/youruserfolder/.

Click the Image button.

In the New Image from Folder window, select your external drive as the storage location. Give the file another name if you like. I tend to add the date of the backup to the filename.

Click the Save button.

Step 2: Verify the image

Before you proceed, it’s a good idea to verify the image, to make sure it was copied correctly. The image you just created should appear in the list on the left in the Disk Utility window.

Click on the image, and click the Verify button at the top of the window. This process could take a bit of time depending on the size of your image.

When that process is complete, you’ll want to also scan the image to make sure you can use it to restore from. From the menu, select Images > Scan Image for Restore.

Note: You can also use this basic process to image the whole drive, and then use the image for restoration using the Disk Utility application.

Tip: Store the image file in more than one place if possible. I have had these files get corrupted on occasion. It can ruin your day if you wipe your system, only to find your image file is corrupt.

Once you’ve verified the image, you can close the Disk Utility application and proceed with reinstalling your system.

Step 3: Reinstall your system

Make sure to verify the restoration image before you wipe your drive!!! I can’t emphasize that enough.

Reinstall your system from the OS X DVD as normal. During this process you’ll need to create an administrative account other than one of the ones you’re attempting to restore, as noted above. Do not create the user accounts you’ll be restoring. We’ll cover that in Step 5.

Install any software you need, and then proceed to Step 4.

Step 4: Restoring the user folders

At this point, you’ll need to be logged in as the primary administrator. Once you have your system to the point where you’re ready to restore your user accounts, open the disk image by double clicking on it. It’s a good idea to re-verify the image using the Disk Utility, if it’s been a while since you created it (see Step 2).

Now we’ll copy the user folders back to /Users/ individually. Open up the Terminal application for this process. It’s located under Applications > Utilities.

If you imaged the entire /Users/ folder, run the following command for each user folder:

sudo cp -Rp /Volumes/imageName/userfolder /Users

Otherwise, for a single user folder image:

sudo cp -Rp /Volumes/imageName /Users/userfolder

Note: You need to be careful to leave off a trailing / on the folder names for these commands to work properly. If you add say, userfolder/, then you’ll copy the contents of the folder, instead of the entire folder. Also we’re assuming the the userfolder/ doesn’t already exist in /Users/.

You use the -p option in these commands to make sure that the file creation times are preserved. You probably don’t want today’s date to be the creation time on all your files after all.

Make sure all the folders in /Users/ are named the way you want them before proceeding. The way OS X sets these up by default is all lowercase and no spaces.

Please take a moment to read the (Optional) Step 6, and decide if you want to do this step. If so, now may be a good time to do that. Otherwise you can do it later.

Step 5: Create the user accounts

Open the System Preferences window from either the Dock, or from under the Apple symbol in the menu bar.

Under System, select Accounts. The list of users on the system appears on the left. There is a + and - button under this list. You’re going to click the + button to create new users.

Create a new user with the same Account name as the folders you created in Step 4. The Account name (short name) must be exactly the same as the folder name. The Account name field should be all lower case and cannot have any spaces, so neither can the folder names. The Full name can be whatever you prefer. I believe you can use either name to log in with, but the Full name appears in Login window, unless you’ve changed your Login Options.

You’ll get a dialog asking if you want to use the existing folder in /Users. Select the OK button.

This will create the user, using the old folder, and it will automatically go through the folder and update the ownership/permissions of each file to make them appropriate for the user.

Repeat this step for each user you need to restore.

(Optional) Step 6: Delete the user caches

The most recent time that I used this method, my user account was acting a little bit quirky. The solution for this, after several calls to Apple was to delete the caches for the user. You can either delete them after you’ve logged in as the user, or while setting up the user accounts as administrator. When you delete these files, they will be created again when the user logs in the next time, so it’s apparently safe.

Disclaimer: It’s a good idea to keep these files until you make sure the user account works properly, so rename the Caches/ directory or move it to the trash, until you’re sure it works. If you rename it, just delete this folder later, once you’re happy with the functioning of the user account.

To remove the Caches/ folder for each user, locate the following folder in each user’s folder and move it to the trash, or rename them.

/Users/userfolder/Library/Caches

You can either do this in Finder, or in the Terminal window.

If you skipped Step 5, you can click here to go back.

If all went well you should be able to log into each user, and have the exact same setup as when you created the backup image. The same background, window locations, email settings, etc. I hope this has been helpful. If so, please leave me a comment. If you’ve run into problems, I won’t guarantee to provide assistance, but you never know.

Apple kicked off the month with the official release of the iPad. I personally think the device is a huge deal. I can definitely see where it would fit in with my day to day activities.

Then this week, the released the long awaited MacBook Pro. As I said in the previous article, I’ve been holding out for this machine for a long time, and I’m super excited to get one. The changes don’t seem huge from the previous version, but the GPU switching and the use of the Core i5 & i7 technology are really going to have an impact. I’m expecting a 100x-200x improvement in processing from my current PowerBook Pro G4. That sucker has performed like a champ, but at last it’s time has come. There are just too many tools that I need to run which no longer support the old PPC processors.

On April 8th, Apple announced the changes for iPhone OS 4.0. I read those with interest. I’m sure I’ll be happy to have those, but the multi-tasking that everyone has been clamoring for won’t impact my iPhone 3G.

I can’t say I’m thrilled with the iAd business. The last thing I want is more advertising in my apps, but I suppose if it keeps a few developers afloat and offering their products for free, it’s something I’ll have to live with…..as long as I can ignore the ads. If some developer puts them in there where I can’t avoid them, then I’ll delete the app!

The changes to the Terms of Service agreement that comes with the new SDK have been widely talked about. This impacts not only Flash and Android, but also MonoTouch and Unity.

On the one hand, I understand why Apple wants to maintain tight control of their platforms. When you get a buggy app, that can reflect badly on the device. But it should be clear to most people by now that Apple produces great products.

On the other hand, I must say I’m becoming increasingly frustrated with Apple’s attitude toward would be developers. Sure they have great products, but their development tools are nothing special, at least not when you compare them to Visual Studio. In fact in some ways they’re downright clunky. Say what you like about Microsoft, they make outstanding developer tools, and they go out of their way to help developers make applications that run on their systems.

Personally I’m not all that thrilled about learning a language that can only be used on Apple’s products. Objective C, at least from talking with friends about it, is not really a great language to program in. And the fact that it is in no way cross platform just makes it less interesting.

Luckily, most of my developing is web related. So you’d think having Apple push open standards like HTML5 is a good thing. The only problem with that is that it isn’t really quite as “standard” as it would appear. WebMonkey does a good job of discussing why having HTML based video is going to be a mess for a long time to come. Basically, each browser maker has decided to support differing encoding standards.

This frustration is getting deep enough now, that I’m even considering purchasing a device other than the iPad next year, when I get ready for that type of device. At the very least, it’s given Google and Microsoft an opening in my mind, which considering how much I love my PowerBook Pro and iPhone, is truly sad.

For me, it is beyond time to upgrade my systems, so this is about to be a very expensive month. I’ve literally been waiting on these new MacBook Pros for two years, ever since I read about these new processors from Intel. And with this new computer, it is also time to upgrade the Adobe software, so this year’s tech budget is pretty much gone.

Adobe CS5

First let’s talk about the new release from Adobe. I was pretty interested to see what was going to change with CS5. I was a bit surprised at the lack of whoopla at many of the Tech News sites I read. The mostly gave it a shout, but it lacked much of the marketing hype that I remember from CS4. In the next few days, I expect to see a bit more from the guys at Layers Magazine, PlanetPhotoshop.com, and the others whose jobs revolve around making the Adobe products seem fantastic. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the services that those guys at Kelby Training provide, I could have just done without the sugar coating that they gave CS4, especially since it turned out to be mostly a dud, at least in sales terms.

So what’s in new and compelling in CS5? Looking through Adobe’s website, most of the products seem to have only gotten minor updates. Edge detection and new brush effects in Photoshop? (yawn) For Illustrator, perspective drawing could be cool, but most of the rest of it should have been in there a long time ago. Flash? XML swf file, and Flash Builder integration. Seriously? That needs to be pointed out? (zzzzz)

But all is not doomed…..InDesign seems to have gotten a reasonable number of “new” features. eBook publishing and multiple pages sizes look interesting and useful.

And then we get to Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is a big part of what we do here at Martian Graphix (so are the other tools, but those updates just aren’t really showing huge impacts to our daily workflow). Drupal and WordPress are also big for us, so finding good support for those systems in Dreamweaver is a major plus for our business. Dreamweaver CS5 also includes CSS inspection tools, which will cut down on needing to use Firefox’s Web Developer Toolbar. Rendering dynamic pages without having to jump over to a browser is going to be a huge win. Also using the code hinting features with the Drupal, WordPress, or just PHP methods is going to be a big plus. It’s very nice to finally see an update to Dreamweaver that focuses on the Developer side of the tool, more than the Designer oriented side, because both sides of web development must be supported equally. I’m not going stop using NetBeans or Eclipse anytime soon, but this is definitely a nice direction to see Dreamweaver heading.

So, what’s the verdict? For us, the updates to Dreamweaver provide a very compelling reason to upgrade from CS3. Add to that the incremental changes made to the other tools with CS4 and CS5, plus the fact that all this is optimized to run on the Intel processor of the MacBook Pro, as opposed to CS3, and the conclusion is: yes it’s time to bite the bullet and upgrade.

Now, which version? The Web Premium would seem like the obvious choice, but since it only seems to include the Standard edition of Flash Builder, I think we’ll go with Design Premium instead, and buy Flash Builder seperately, when the time comes.

Now, what about all this stuff from Apple? Stay tuned for the next article, Christmas in April, Part II.

First let me say that I was a little taken aback when I looked over at Yahoo’s Tech Blog, and those guys panned it. They pointed out all the things that the rumor mill said it would do that it didn’t. Sorry dudes, there is only so much tech you can cram into a device this size without blowing a massive whole in your unit cost.

Would a Flash plug-in be nice to have? How about a camera? Multiple processes running? Sure, all of these would be nice, but they aren’t really make or break, are they? Besides, the software stuff can be added later on, if necessary. No one else is producing anything like this. Although I’m sure they’ll be trying to copy it soon.

Ben Patterson seemed to be missing the point the most. This is NOT an oversized iPhone, without the phone. But if you start thinking of this as an eBook reader, or as a media pad, it’s easy to see why this device is so interesting.

You might say that this is an oversized iPod Touch. I personally have never understood the point of the Touch, when you could just get the iPhone, but apparently millions of people disagree with me.

But the iPad, I GET!!!

As I talked about a couple of weeks ago, I’m really quite interested in getting an eBook reader. Apple’s new iPad just buried that market. Why on earth would anyone be interested in a Que or a Kindle DX, when they could get this device for the same price, with so much more capability? Sure it may not look great on the beach in the sun, but it plays videos and games, does email, and has a real web browser.

I completely don’t get people who try to read books on the little screen that is on the Touch or the iPhone. I never understood it on my old Compaq iPaq, and I certainly don’t understand it now. Nor do I really want to have to peer past a keyboard when I’m trying to read a book, so Netbooks are out. But give me this nice 9.7″ screen, and I’ll be buying most of my books either through iTunes or through Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore. With any luck we’ll be able to buy an eBook through the BN eBookstore and drag it onto our iTunes library, since they both use the ePub format. If not, Barnes & Noble’s eReader app will certainly be on the iPad.

Also this device seems like a total win for college students. You’ll be able to take all your books to class on one device, plus jam out a few notes if you like.

My second major use case for this device is when you’re in your living room watching TV. There are many times, when I’m watching The History Channel or The Discovery Channel, in which I want to go look up something on the web. Right now I do that on my iPhone, but I can’t say that’s an optimal experience. With the iPad, this would be a lot more convenient. Same thing goes if I want to play one of my games. Whipping out my phone works, but this will be a much better experience on the iPad.

Now a few words about what the iPad is not. It’s not a full-blown computer. I will not create websites or write up blog posts on this thing. Nor would I want to compose long emails on it, any more than I’d do that on my iPhone. Those things are what a laptop is for.

But if you take the iPad for what it is, it’s a damn interesting device, and pretty reasonably priced. I think Apple will sell quite a few of these.

Will I be one of them this year? No. I tend to prefer to wait until hardware version 2, before I jump into this. Better to let them work out some of the kinks. But still….I’m very interested in heading down to the Apple store and playing with one of these in the coming months.

Just my two cents.

[Update] For a list of things missing, but with a good analysis of why they’re not there, check out Charlie Sorrel’s post over at Wired.com.

I was really looking forward to seeing what Plastic Logic did with their Que.  Unfortunately it looks like they missed the mark….at least for me.

They seem to have fallen into the classic mistake made by hardware manufacturers…..getting caught up in the device specs, then convincing themselves that some screwy use case is what consumers want.  I’m trying to figure out what the point of having AT&T 3G connectivity is, if you can’t upload documents that way, and there is no web browser.  E-mail? ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Am I still interested in the Que as an e-reader?  Maybe.  At those prices?  Definitely not!  If it had at least the same capability, preferably more capability, than the Kindle DX, and was similarly priced, then I’d probably be all over it.  For that price, it’d need to have a LOT MORE capability, not LESS. 

Why not just get a Kindle DX?  I don’t want to be locked into their weird format. The Nook is quite interesting, but a bit too small for the type of books I mostly buy. I need something that is good for Textbook size reading, with graphics, charts, figures, etc. That’s why I had such hope for the Que. 

Is the Skiff the right product?  The device looks interesting. Unfortunately, there are still too many things up in the air at this point, like pricing, store access and format considerations.  As for the Service/Store, I can’t find a lot of detail about it yet, but the website says their service is “Publisher-friendly”. If we use the music or video industry as a guide, that means it will be a bad deal for consumers. I’d also feel a little more comfortable about the store offered by Barnes & Noble or Borders than some company I’ve never heard of.  But I’ll wait for further details.

It seems to me that there are a ton of companies pursuing this, and your dollar.  Dell, HP and many others are hyping their offerings. So far, no one has hit a home run in my book.  Most of them are completely blowing it, due to some poor choices like Plastic Logic’s or Dell’s ridiculously small screen.

Later this month, we’ll presumably see what Apple has to offer.  So far they’re the only company who’s really figured out a nice UI with their iPhone interface.  I don’t think this interface is completely appropriate for a tablet, so I hope they throw something even more impressive at us later this month.  Will I rush right out and be an early adopter? One word…..No!  I think we’ll need to wait at least one generation for them to get some of the kinks worked out.

So here I am, waiting for a really interesting device to replace my bookshelf.