If you don’t know what I mean when I say deployment, it is how you can set up and maintain many computers at once. The technique enables quick setup of computers without the need for someone to stand around feeding DVDs or CDs into each computer. It also makes maintenance and updating much simpler and more efficient.

In most of the schools I service if a computer gets messed up or someone trashes some files accidentally, you can just reboot and hold the N key down and voila, in about 10 minutes, the computer is completely restored.

There have been more options becoming available every month and now Leopard server provides some fairly simple to use programs for free. Definitely worth checking out.

I have been amazed lately how much our Filemaker business has grown. It is a combination of companies upgrading from version 5.5 to version 9 and some new projects taking over for people with databases that have outgrown their expertise with Filemaker.

This growth has taken me by surprise and I am wondering if this is due to the increase in Macintosh sales or the fact that Filemaker has evolved into a very capable database that can easily integrate with both the web and other SQL databases like mySQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle.

We now have 4 Filemaker programmers on staff and are looking to add another. Another indication that Filemaker is becoming more popular is the number of calls and emails I am getting from Indian companies to offer assistance with our projects. It would be interesting to see sales figures for Filemaker over the last 3 or 4 years and see how sales have grown.

We have been using Leopard as a production Web only server since late November without any ill effects. The combination of Apache 2, php 5, and mySQL 5 works very well.

Unfortunately, I have tried to use Leopard as an Open Directory Master, Calendar Server, and AFP server at one account since 10.5.2 was released and in stops functioning under very light load at least once a week. The server starts refusing connections and complains and incorrect user:password combination was entered. After troubleshooting, I have not determined the cause, but I did find out the problem can be solved by stopping and starting the AFP server. Hopefully this will be fixed with the 10.5.3 release.

In remembering the transition from 10.3 to 10.4 server, I recall having problems until the release of 10.4.4. It was easy to hold off upgrading from 10.3 because there were not as many new features in changing to 10.4.

I guess that’s why they call it the bleeding edge.

I know ever since I got my first mp3 player I have purchased a lot more music, both in digital format and as CDs from Amazon. My teenage daughters also buy a lot of music online (or should I say charge it to my credit card). I’m sure that a lot of kids just copy their friends music, but since the original Napster has been shut down I think the piracy must have stabilized. That is why I was very surprised how quickly Apple bypassed WalMart, especially after Walmart shut down their online music business. Was their online store that bad, or did they expect a much faster ramp up?

Regardless, it is odd after Walmart dictating terms for years to the record companies, now Apple is top dog. It would be interesting to know if the margins for the record companies are better with Apple than Walmart.

This made the Conference much more valuable for me to attend as there are plenty of sessions for system admins that discuss scripting, directory services, deployment, and other like topics. With the advent of the IT track some developers complain that it has dumbed down the conference, but there are still many, many sessions on topics memory management, writing device drivers, etc.

A third track new for this year cover all things iPhone with sessions with titles like “3D Graphics for iPhone using OpenGL ES”, “iPhone Multi-Touch Events and Gestures”, and “Using Xcode: Source Editor, Refactoring, Debugger, and SCM”. It will be interesting to see how many new developers those sessions attract.

I just hope that all the new developers don’t screw up the keynote session. I am disappointed how Steve’s Keynote is used at MacWorld now to sell the high end conference tickets. I always have attended the excellent MacIT conference put on by Schoun Regan in conjunction with MacWorld. Unfortunately, the $900 ticket for the conference does not guarantee you a seat into the keynote anymore. In fact this year, after waiting outside in a line from 6AM to 9AM we were finally ushered into an overflow room with the keynote on a projector 15 minutes after it had started.

If you enjoy the WWDC as much as I do let me know what you like most about it. The networking (people), the networking (wireless or wired), the sessions on new stuff, the parties, etc.

First, it was that no iPhones were available in Apple Stores in New York City, then an analyst predicted Apple would sell 45 Million iPhones before the end of 2009. Shortly thereafter, rumors began to come out on new contracts being signed for 3G iPhone production. Then, iPhone shortages all around the US along with a 7 day wait for iPhones ordered from the online Apple Store.

Analysts then pointed to the iPhone shortages as a sure sign that the new 3G iPhone will be released shortly. Enough already! Just let me know when I can trade up.

Now one year later and Service Pack 1 has been released. In the meantime we have had exactly one customer ask for Vista. After installing Vista again along with Service Pack 1, it seems a bit nicer, but I will have to wait again and see.

It seems incomprehensible that Microsoft could have screwed this release up so badly. I hope Server 2008 works out better for them.

This is always the best Apple Event of the year for me as I get into the keynote without a lot of hassle and see a lot of old friends.   You can spend a lot of time discussing products with the Apple Product Marketing Managers and Engineers.   

Now with the addition of the iPhone development track, I’m sure it will draw an even bigger crowd.  I just hope it doesn’t get too big.   I usually get a lot of answers for problems that I have been running into from both Apple people and other end users and administrators.  

It is always a well spent week. 

This was a home finance program that I was trying to show to my kids in the hope that they would keep track of their money. Unfortunately, I thought if I need to read something to get it working it will never work for my kids.

I hope this is just an aberration and not the rule. It was a highly rated program. I have always thought that manuals are only for advanced features and not for getting stated with a program.