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Weird, weird, weird.

In order to get a Macbook running Tiger to connect to a BT HomeHub, I had to add a $ before the WEP Password. I have no idea why.

It took me a little searching to find where MAMP Pro (I couldn’t say whether MAMP is the same) puts its MySQL data files, so I thought I’d blog it:

/Library/Application Support/living-e/MAMP PRO/db/mysql

I had been looking in my User directory’s version of the same path (which is where MAMP Pro stores config files), but it makes perfect sense in this context that databases are shared while configuration isn’t.

Having just downloaded and installed MonoDevelop for OS X I can say that the process of getting up and running is an absolute breeze – only involving the normal mac ‘download, unpack and drop into Applications’ routine.

MonoDevelop (and indeed Mono itself) allows you to build several types of application – C++, C#, ASP.Net and the like. You can build cross-platform executables – either console-based or with a GUI (the application comes with quick-start project templates for the Gnome# and GTK# tookits) – and also web-based projects. MonoDevelop comes with the xsp server built-in so the code-compile-debug cycle is only a single click away (as a bonus it even opens your browser for you).

MonoDevelop is a Gnome application, so a minor annoyance when using it with OS X is the key-binding setup which requires you to use Ctrl over the Apple key for things like copy, paste and save.

I’m hoping to do some work on a mono-driven ASP.Net application, so I may be posting more on that in the future. For now though – I’d like to give a big thanks (and say congratulations) to the MonoDevelop team.

It’s possible to force a backup to the OS X Time Machine facility if you have its icon visible in your toolbar, but I find that I really have enough stuff up there so try and keep it down to things I regularly use. It’s also possible to force a backup through Time Machine’s System Preferences pane, but that’s mildly annoying.

I just discovered by accident that right- (or ctrl-) clicking the time machine’s drive in Finder (but weirdly not on the desktop) brings up an extra ‘Backup Now’ option in the context menu.

Like many other people, I’ve had problems with an endlessly scrolling ‘Disconnecting’ message when my bluetooth modem connection goes down, or fails to dial up correctly.

I accidentally discovered a method for dropping the bluetooth connection properly, and removing the cycling message from the OS X menu bar:

1. Get iStat Pro’s free dashboard widget
2. Make sure your network connections are displayed when you start Dashboard
3. Wait until your connecting goes crazy, and won’t drop the connection
5. Fire up dashboard and, in the bluetooth pane on the iStat Pro widget, click the ‘Disconnect’ button twice

Cool.

Now if only that would help in reconnecting ….