How to increase bash shell history length in OS X
I do a lot of command line work on my OS X machine, so the history saves me a lot of time running repeat commands and also refreshing my memory on commands that I haven't run in a while. Unfortunately, the default history length in OS X is 500 commands. That seems like a lot, but when you're running 50+ commands a day it can push older commands off the list pretty quickly. This is easily solved by setting the HISTFILESIZE in your .bash_profile file.
First, to find out what HISTFILESIZE is currently set at, run the following command from Terminal:
echo $HISTFILESIZE
To change this value, simply add the following line to your .bash_profile file (found in /Users/yourname/):
HISTFILESIZE=2000
This increases your bash history to 2000 items. It will take effect next time you open a Terminal window.
OS X Snow Leopard Bugs: Audio gets reset to mute on reboot.
While my upgrade to OS x 10.6 Snow Leopard has been mostly smooth, there are a few annoying bugs I've come across. This one has to do with audio - upon reboot, audio gets set to mute no matter what settings I had the volume on before. Not a big problem, but annoying none the less. Here's how to fix it:
- In Finder, navigate to Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > Audio
- Delete the following files:
- com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist
- com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist
- Open System Preferences > Sound
- Set your sound to your preferred settings
- Exit System Preferences and Reboot
There you go! After deleting those files, they will be re-created when you go into System Preferences and your audio will no longer be muted upon reboot.
iPhone Wishlist – Form Input
Added to my list of iPhone annoyances that I hope are someday fixed:
When entering text into a form input, the first letter defaults to uppercase. This is fine for textboxes and most other inputs, but it is annoying for username/password inputs because more often than not these fields are case-sensitive. Perhaps the iPhone could be more intelligent with the auto-caps by disabling it when you're on a text input named "username" or "login."
iPhone / Gmail / Google Calendar wishlist.
I've had my iPhone for about a year now, and while I love it and the fact that it has made me more productive, it is still not perfect. There are still a few things which give me a headache, so I thought I'd compile a wishlist here for no reason other than my own sanity.
To start off, here is the context under which I have compiled this list:
- Running Windows XP
- Using Gmail's hosted mail for my domain
- Using Google Calendar for all of my events and time tracking
- Using iPhone 3G, firmware v2.2.1
- Using iTunes v8.0.2 to manage and sync my data
My main goal is to have all contacts & calendars sync seamlessly between all of my devices: my desktop workstation, my iPhone, and my online Gmail/Google Calendar accounts. To break it down, starting with contacts:
Contacts
When I first got my iPhone, I synched my contacts with Outlook. This is annoying to me because I hate Outlook. It's also an unneccesary step because I don't use Outlook for my email, I use Gmail. So while I had a decent backup of my iPhone contacts on my desktop machine, this didn't help at all with my daily Gmail usage. In order to keep things in sync I would have to manually export from Outlook to CSV, then import into Gmail. Who wants to manually export/import contacts all the time? I do so much emailing that my contacts change at least weekly, if not daily. Undoubtedly I'd give up on a regular manual sync, causing my contacts to became a clusterfuck of chaos.
Then to my surprise, I noticed that iTunes has an option to sync with Google Contacts. "Yay, my prayers have been answered! I can finally ditch the middleman (Outlook) and my life is complete!" Or so I thought. The problem is that it syncs all of your contacts, even Gmail's "Suggested Contacts," which I never use. The sync worked flawlessly, with the unfortunate side effect of filling my iPhone with hundreds of random email addresses, most of which I don't know who they belong to and I will ever need to contact again. So here is my wishlist to make my iPhone/Gmail experience perfect.
- iTunes: Allow me to chose which contacts to sync from Gmail. A checkbox of groups would be ideal. If I could disable the syncing of the "Suggested Contacts" group, things would be perfect. Or...
- Gmail: Allow me to disable the "Suggested Contacts" feature. I don't like it, don't use it, and it messes up my iPhone sync. Just add a simple checkbox to settings that allows me to enable/disable Suggested Contacts. How hard is this to add?
Calendars
First off let me say that I love Google Calendar. I use it to track everything from friend/family birthdays to my work hours as a freelance contractor. The problem here again is that I am reliant on Outlook as the middleman to sync all of my calendars between my Google Calendar and iPhone. I have installed the Google Calendar Sync app, and it works great between Google and Outlook. iTunes then syncs with Outlook so that I have events synced to my iPhone. The problem here is that Google Calendar Sync only syncs your main calendar. I have all birthdays in their own "Birthday" calendar in Google in order to keep them separate from personal/work events. So when I sync calendars, my iPhone doesn't contain any birthdays because Google Calendar Sync only syncs my main calendar. It sure would be nice to have birthdays on my iPhone! I could move all of the birthdays back into my main calendar, but then they'd be intertwined with my work hour tracking and personal events, resulting in a big confusing mess. So here is what I need in order for this process to be perfect:
- iTunes: Direct sync with Google Calendar so that I don't need Outlook and Google Calendar Sync. Also, let me select which calendars to sync. Or...
- Google Calendar Sync: Allow me to select which calendars to sync.
Overall
Overall, I wish that iTunes would sync directly with Gmail and Google Calendar, with the option to select which Contact Groups and Calendars to sync. That way I could ditch the middlemen (Outlook and Google Calendar Sync). I'm sure that these changes will come eventually, but I am throwing a digital temper tantrum here because I want these NOW NOW NOW! What is so frustrating is that these seem like trivial changes that could be made with minimal work. Google has provided APIs for Contacts and Calendars, so why doesn't iTunes use them to their full potential? Probably because they want me to pay for MobileME. Also, why doesn't Gmail give users control over their annoying and useless Suggested Contacts feature? Does Google know better than me? Reminds me a lot of that old dinosaur Microsoft. It drives me crazy that fixes which are so simple and obvious haven't been implemented a full year and a half after the original iPhone was released.
If anyone has any suggestions to tackle the items I've listed above, I'm all ears. I know there are better syncing apps out there, but I don't feel like paying $40 to accomplish something that I feel should be standard in today's mobile world. Switch to Mac and use iCal? Sure, I'll get around to that someday. MobileMe? I've thought about it, but would rather use a simple and free solution.
Testing WordPress iPhone App
Testing 123. Seems pretty cool. I can take photos with my phone while out and about and post them to my blog. Whhooooaaaa... The future is now!
iPhone AIM App: How to switch accounts.
The newly released AIM client for the iPhone is pretty cool, but it still needs some improvements to be a killer app. One issue I've come across is how to switch between various accounts. There doesn't seem to be a way to store multiple AIM logins and switch between them quickly. The only way this seems possible to is edit your login infomation. The hardest part was figuring out where to edit the settings. This is because your AIM settings are stored inthe iPhone's Settings page rather than within the AIM app. So here is how to switch accounts using the iPhone AIM App:
- Click the "Home" button
- Tap the "Settings" icon
- Scroll down to the "AIM" section and tap it
- Edit the "Screenname" and "Password" to match the account you want to log in
- Tap "Settings" at the top to return to the Settings screen
- Click the "Home" button to return to your Home Screen
- Tap the "AIM" account to launch the app
That's the only way I've found to switch accounts in the iPhone AIM App. Hopefully AIM will update their app to facilitate this process, and hopefully they will keep it within the AIM App. It seems silly to me that you have to quit the AIM App to edit your settings. It would be better if all AIM settings could be edited directly within the app.
Debunking the iPhone Total Cost of Ownership meme (again).
When the 1st gen iPhone came out, I got annoyed at reviews proclaiming that it cost too much when you factor in the cost of the voice/data plan (see my previous post). I figured that with the release of the 3G iPhone (and its cost being cut in half) would stop the usage of this ridiculous argument, but I was wrong. It seems now even more people are complaining about to TCO of the iPhone over a 2-year plan. So here I am ranting again against the TCO argument, using similar examples in the hopes that people will consider them (highly doubtful):
Every negative review just loooooooooves to point out that despite the fact that the price has been slashed to $199/$299, it ends up costing the same (or more) when you factor in the AT&T voice & data plans over the span of the required 2-year contract. That is a valid point. The problem I have with using this point is this: since when did service and residual costs become a negative point against any product? Lets try a few examples:
How about that 32" LCD HDTV you just spent $700 on? Great price! Those used to cost $1500 last year! But wait.. you forgot to include the two years of service from your cable/satellite company. After all, without that, your shiny new TV is basically useless. So lets do some math here, based on my cable bill from Cox Communications last month:
| Cox Limited Basic | $12.95 |
| Cox Expanded Service | $34.00 |
| Cox Digital Cable Service | $10.00 |
| HBO | $11.00 |
| Cox Digital Video Recorder Service | $9.95 |
| Digital Receiver - DVR/HD | $5.25 |
| TOTAL | $83.15/month |
So on top of the $700 for the TV itself, we have an additional $83.15/month to make it useful, for a whopping total cost of $2,695.60 to purchase that new TV. And that's not even including taxes/fees charged by Cox or the electricity to power the thing. So why don't people mention this in TV reviews? I can see it now: "Yeah $700 is a good price, but after 2 years of running the thing, it actually costs $2,695.60!" Of course that is a valid point, but the problem is: no one ever makes it. So why make it against the iPhone?
Lets try another example, one that is all the more relevant in today's world of inflated fuel prices: Cars. Nowadays people pay more attention to fuel costs, but when purchasing a car, do people actually do the math and calculate how much it will cost to operate a car over a 5-year lifespan? No. Do they include oil changes and maintenance estimates? No. The irony here is that on most sticker prices on car lots you will in fact see the fuel estimates to operate the car over X number of years. But most people don't even consider residual costs when purchasing a car. So why should we consider them when purchasing an iPhone?
And now the most ridiculous example of them all: other phones. People are using the TCO argument against the iPhone as if all other phones don't have the same issue. What can you get a RAZR for now, like $9.99? I remember when it cost more than an iPhone. Perspective, people! Lets see some intellectual honesty here and admit that it actually will cost you at least $968.79 ($9.99 + $39.99 * 24) for that $9.99 RAZR. Where's the outrage there? All phones are subject to the same issue, so if you're going to argue against the TCO of the iPhone, you've got to do the same for all other phones, including the iPhone "killers."
It seems to me that the haters are grasping at illegitimate straws to make their anti-iPhone arguments. First they complain that it costs too much, then when the price is slashed in half they complain that it's not actually cheaper. I am in no way stating that the iPhone is the perfect phone -- far from it -- but it is a damn fine piece of engineering (both hardware and software), and well worth the costs in my opinion. And that's including the 2-year contract fee. So there.