Posts Tagged ‘platform zealotry’

Lost passwords on Mac OS X

So, I inherited TDI’s MacBook from Cosmo who acquired a new one. He was nice enough to set up my user account with no password. Well, of course, that was untenable. So, I immediately set my password. … Time passed because I was occupied with other things. And, of course, I forgot the password. (As usual, this episode allowed the Mac vs. PC argument to bubble to the surface again. I rejoice in such arguments because diversity is the key to agility and dissent is the primary marker for diversity.)

Most websites claim you need an OS X install CD to reset the password. But, the helpful “Dr. Michael” showed us the unix way to do it, with which I’m so much more comfortable. In case that post disappears, here is a modified version of what he said that worked for me:

  1. boot into single user mode (holding command s)
  2. execute the two recommended commands

    /sbin/fsck -fy <return>

    and

    /sbin/mount -wu / <return>
  3. type

    passwd <username>
  4. type the new password <return>
  5. confirm the new password <return>
  6. restart with

    reboot <return>

Ptolemy II Webcam App

My partners got so excited about the ease with which one can create data-driven programs using QuartzComposer for the Mac that I just had to demonstrate to them that Apple doesn’t have any kind of lock on this domain. In fact, it brought to my mind a very old Mac OS 9 (or earlier I guess) visual programming language called Prograph, which has now become Marten and a handy little signal processing tool called Cantata, which has now become VisiQuest (look at the tutorials near the bottom of the page). And, of course, that’s not to mention the many other packages out there like PureData, LabView, etc.

Anyway, here’s my demonstration using Ptolemy II 7.0.1 over the top of FMJ (forget JMF - “Oh Sun Microsystems, why have you forsaken us?”):

At our company meeting, we were playing with a USB microscope Don borrowed from a friend of his. And one must admit that’s a much cooler thing to play with than a webcam. But, hey, my point can be made without the fancy hardware. ;-)

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