All Work and No Play As Advertised

Published March 24, 2005

I've been in overdrive for school for the last two weeks. The work just never seems to stop. The biggest thing was a Java GUI app that had to be done in both AWT and Swing. Java's nice and Swing/AWT aren't terrible, but Cocoa and ObjC are a lot better (at least for GUI apps targeting OS X). It's so much faster to whip up a UI in IB and use Cocoa Bindings to hook everything up. You also get better results with less effort.

I've gotten a number of requests to post a follow up on the new Macs and my syncing procedures, so I'll go into some detail here.

After getting the new memory, I've loved the new computers. In particular, the iBook is incredible. I really like how it's more of a laptop than a mobile computer. With my powerbook, I kind of needed a table or a desk. It wasn't too comfortable in my lap. The iBook I can just pull out anywhere and use. It's also much easier to "one hand" and feels stiffer and sturdier in your hands.

However, the iBook would not really do as my only computer. At home, it's nice to have the larger screen and improved power of the iMac. In addition, I don't have to setup and take down my whole setup all the time.

My only real concern moving to two computers was keeping them in sync. However, I then realized that with the way I use my iBook, I don't actually need everything that's on the iMac. When I take the iBook somewhere, I generally have a good idea of the maximum amount of time I'll have to work on things. This is typically around 4 hours. Before I leave, I'll just transfer 4 hours of work over to the iBook. For example, that Java project made numerous iBook => iMac and back transitions. Nothing special here, just get both computers onto a network and drag the files over.

When I do want to sync (and I do occasionally) I've simply been using rsync. Easy, functional, and free. The initial sync takes a while, but then rsync only sends changes, so it's much faster. I also use rsync to back up to an external drive. For large transfers, I typically boot the iBook into Firewire Target Disk mode, so that it shows up like a Firewire drive on the iMac. While this mode presents a huge security risk, it is very convenient (as are most security risks).

So, for every day transfers, I use Finder drag-and-drop and for syncs I use a shell script with a bunch of rsync commands to do all the various directories and files. Your mileage may vary, but it works well for me.

• About Sean
• Documentation
• RSS Feed