Error when opening iPhoto '08: Photos Have Been Found in the iPhoto Library That Were Not Imported

While copying our photo library from our PC to the Mac, I started getting the above error whenever running iPhoto '08. The number goes up seemingly randomly. If I click No then iPhoto opens as normal. If I click Yes then iPhoto attempts to import these photos, even asking what I want to do with duplicates before quitting at some random point in the import.

After searching discussion forums, I found a solution:

There were files that had gotten "stuck" in the import process, causing iPhoto to crash when recovering the files every time it launches.

To get get rid of them, right click on the iPhoto Package File in the Pictures Folder and choose 'Show Package Contents'. A Finder window will open and you may see in there a folder called 'Importing' with these pics in it. Drag it to the desktop and then relaunch iPhoto. Then you can decide what to do with those files.

Hi I'm and Mac and I'm also a PC

So far, I'm still liking life in with the Mac.

Had a few glitches...

• Importing our photos from our PC to iPhoto lost all the organization we had done with folders. We had folders for events, and iPhoto tried to reorganize everything according to file date. That would have been okay except not all the file dates are related to when they were taken. Sometimes photos are copied or emailed long after it was shot. Also, we have multiple cameras, which causes parallel events (when both cameras were in use at the same time) to be unintentionally combined. So now I'm manually reorganizing everything into Events and Albums.
  
• I'm running Windows in both Boot Camp and VMWare, and had to activate Windows twice. But every time I run Adobe CS2 in either mode, when I run it in the other mode (ie: run in Booth Camp, then run in VMWare), it asks to re-activate. I'm worried it's going to stop allowing this to work at some point, so I've stopped running it from VM.

On the plus side, what's really cool though is being able to run VMWare full-screen with Spaces. I can fly to and from Windows any time. The Unity feature is nice, but I'm using Spaces to reduce the amount of windows visible at once. I have chat & email in one, a browser in another, one is free and one has Windows VM.

I also have Remote Desktop and Chicken of the VNC so I can access other Windows PCs on the network.

Macbook Pro Keyboard Fix

Just did a Software Update check on my MBP.

This showed up in the list:

This update addresses a responsiveness issue on MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers. Some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems may occasionally experience a temporary suspension of keyboard input which can last a minute or longer. The Mac OS X 10.5.1 update is required before installing the MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1.

Thanks Apple! :)

James Kim Foundation

Last year around this time, James Kim died trying to save his family from a cold winter storm in the Oregon outdoors. He was a tech guy, working for CNet.

CNet has a memorial on their site. A charity foundation has been set up as well.

Mac issues

We're not switching to Mac overnight. We planned to overlap thing while we move our files over and make sure we didn't lose anything in the process.

So far, we've only had a few glitches with the Mac, all of which I read about on sites like MacRumors, AppleInsider, TUAW, and MacNN. The MacRumors Buyer's Guide is very useful.

I went for refurbished units. That seems to be the best way to get a deal since most stores sell at or very close to MSRP. No problems in that respect.

One thing I read was that iMacs were overheating and locking up. So far I haven't seen that happen but I really haven't used the iMac for long periods and it's been pretty cool this fall/winter.

I did run into the "dead keyboard" problem on the MacBook Pro. Both Macs came with Tiger installed and a Leopard "Drop-in" disc. I did a clean install on the MBP and within days the keyboard was randomly going dead. I read that people who upgraded instead of clean install were not experiencing the problem, so I re-installed Tiger and upgraded to Leopard. That seemed to fix it, but just yesterday it happened twice. The trackpad still works, so I can do a restart to get it working again.

The Mail app won't read our corporate MDaemon server IMAP Inbox. I've read that other people have this problem too. I can use Thunderbird in the time being. Some people have worked around it by having their MDaemon mail forwarded to a GMail account. SMTP does work through MDaemon, so you just need GMail to read messages.

I imported our iTunes music and photos from the PC this past week. On the PC, I shared the My Music folder and imported it from iTunes on the Mac. If you have purchased songs on iTunes, make sure to log in to your account and authorize the computer before copying over. That makes it work smoothly. Otherwise you'll get a pop-up message and it will wait for you to answer before finishing copying. Anyway, it looks like everything made it over.

I also exported our playlists from iTunes on the PC. Had to do that one at a time but they imported and worked fine on the Mac.

Moving photos was not as clean, since we use Windows folders to organize our pics. We have ACDSee but don't use it's database features.

The folder organization for people, events, etc. was lost in the transfer. iPhoto automatically groups pics into events based on the file dates, but the dates of photos are not always when they were taken. Sometimes a file was copied or received via email and the date is no longer correct. We'll take this as an opportunity to clean things up and re-organize.

I'm trying to decide on Safari vs Firefox and Mail vs Thunderbird. They all seem pretty good. I use FF and TB on the PC, so I'm leaning towards them on the Mac. The Apple apps have nicer interfaces and better integration with the OS and .Mac (trying out the 60-day trial now).

Switching to Mac

Last month I decided to jump in the Mac world with both feet. We have an iMac at home and I have a MacBook Pro for work.

At home, we've had two hand-built PCs that I've been upgrading for the past few years. It's been a fun hobby, updating video cards, replacing power supplies, etc.

But after seeing the sleek all-in-one design of the iMac, the old, ugly, noisy boxes on our floor had to go. So I won't be able to upgrade the video or CPU. Now we'll spend more time using the computer instead of tweaking it. That's what the Mac is all about.

Happy B-Day C64

From CNN.com:

On Monday, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, will celebrate the C64's 25th anniversary. Computer pioneers will reflect on the C64's achievements and contribution to the industry. Jack Tramiel, the founder and CEO of Commodore, will attend, along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and William C. Lowe, father of the IBM PC.

Bye, Bye, CompUSA

Earlier this year CompUSA closed about half its stores, including the one in Woodland Hills, CA (the closest one to me).

Looks like they just decided to shut down the whole business.

They hadn't been competing very well with the newer all-things-to-everybody mega stores. But it was nice to have a choices of places you could go to be around techy things.

I bought my first PC at CompUSA. Packard Bell Pentium 133.

Apple deleted discussion

New posting:

Somehow a large discussion on recent iPhone activation issues just disappeared.

I am in Dallas/Fort Worth and am STILL UNABLE to activate my new iPhone via iTunes. I get emails from ATT/Apple saying my number has been ported and the device is active, however when I reconnect the phone to iTunes, I continue to get a store is busy error. In effect, the phone is still physically inactive.

Here's the deleted discussion: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1213623&start=50&tstart=0

I would prefer that Apple address the issue rather than sweep it under the rug. Anyone else still having these problems?

Reply:

Probably due to the thread you referenced not accomplishing much filled with mostly ranting, name calling, threats and the like - the real mature stuff which is against the terms of use for these discussions.

This is a user to user help forum only for technical support issues and questions that is provided and moderated by Apple so no one here can help you with this and Apple does not address such issues here. Which I'm sure you have already done, you need to contact AppleCare for the iPhone in order to have this issue addressed or get an answer since it won't come from here.

I hate to say it, but I agree with the reply. Although it was nice to feel that I was not alone in my trouble, it doesn't help Apple to have alot of negative venting on their website. People should vent on their own sites. :)

Now I have an iPhone

Okay, two days later, it activated. Only took 5 minutes.

Judging from the discussion thread on Apple Support, people were trying all through the night. I think the first person got through around 5am. Lots of angry yet dedicated people. Strange irony.

It also seems that the discussion is no longer accessible. Hmm....

First impressions...

• Nice, slick design.
• Screen looks great. Text is easy to read.
• Browsing web pages is really cool. Zoom in, zoom out.
• The on-screen keyboard works surprisingly well.
  
• Wish I could cut/copy/paste.
• Only sync's contacts and calendar with Outlook??? My Treo was sync'ed with my Yahoo account. I'd at least hope to have support for Thunderbird.
• Only imports bookmarks from IE or Safari? How about FireFox?
• Can't get Gmail to work yet. No support for HotMail.
• All the weather and time settings default to Cupertino, CA. They could have made it change to your location.
• The recently updated My Yahoo page warns that your browser may not be compatible. It seems to work however.
• When you go to Google.com, you get the mobile version but the full version seems to be just fine.

Hopefully I'll find solutions to some of my problems and will be posting them here.

I (almost) have an iPhone

After talking with several friends and coworkers, and reading blogs like this one, I decided to get an iPhone.

I really enjoy using our iPods. We have a 5.5G Classic and a Nano. The interface is easy, sound is great. We listen to our music (after importing most of our CD collection into iTunes, which was soooo easy to do) and podcasts.

I've had a Treo 680 for almost a year now. It's a great device. Phone calls are not overly complex despite being a "smart phone" (I know many Windows Mobile users who have to battle their phones to do basic things). It has decent browsing and email. It can play video and music, but those are not it's strong points.

So with the iPhone, I'm able to get the best of both worlds into one device- playing music & podcasts (iPod) and phone/email/web (Treo).

Plus I'll get to use features from both devices that I hadn't before. Now with the nice screen of the iPhone, I'll put some photos on it. And I'll probably watch more video as well.

By the way, another great product, Beyond TV, was just updated to export recorded TV shows in an iTunes compatible format. Great timing.

The web browser on the Treo is adequate. It did the job, although usually not very aesthetically. Sometimes pages get cut off or squeezed to fit the display. The way the iPhone handles it is just brilliant. Zoom in, Zoom out. But it's always showing you the "real" web page, not a processed version of it.

Well, all of this is just dreaming right now. I've had my iPhone for over a day now, but can't use it because activations aren't working.

Last night when I tried, I got this message:

iPhone activations are unavailable at this time. iPhone activations are temporarily unavailable due to routine AT&T maintenance. Please disconnect your iPhone and reconnect it after 3pm EST to begin again. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Today I get a similar message, but this time without a time or date indicating when it will be working.

This message thread on Apple Support just about sums up what I've been going through. I guess I'll keep trying. What a bummer.

Life with Roomba

So articles are popping up about people's attachments to their Roomba. I can sympathize, when it cheerfully goes about doing such a mundane job, how can you resist wanting to thank it?

It's funny sometimes... when it gets stuck it cries for help with a repeating tune that sounds like a death march.

Last weekend our Roomba got trapped in the bathroom. I think it was going along the wall towards the door and ended up pushing the door closed. We felt so bad... finding the Roomba all tired out, not able to finish its task of cleaning the entire house. The bathroom is clean though.

One thing that is pretty amazing is how it finds its station. It goes all over the house, but it seems to get back to the charger even though it's in a completely different room.

Roombamania

Looks like we're not alone...

Robots: Roomba Driving Owners Crazy with Anthropomorphic Robot Love - Gizmodo

A study of 30 Roomba users found the owners of the robotic vacuum cleaner often developing emotional attachments to their little bundles of plastic, metal and wiring.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Updated My Treo... no Brick

Recently I updated my Treo 680 to the latest version for AT&T (1.09).

It took a while, but the process went pretty smoothly. It didn't even erase all my data or go brick on me.

I normally sync via Bluetooth, but I had to dig up the USB cable that came with the Treo to do the upgrade.

Was it worth it? Here's what was promised:

• Improved power management for better battery life.
• Camera update for improved battery life (available previously as a standalone update).
• Helps correct distorted characters that can occur in the title bar of the Phone application.
• Helps fix device "freezing" that may occur under certain conditions.
• System Lockout improvement for increased security.
• Support for the new Daylight Saving Time legislation (available previously as a standalone update).
• Provides better support for networks unique to some Caribbean, Latin American, and Asian countries.
• Updates Cingular branding, replacing it with the new AT&T branding.

That first item was my reason for doing. I'll have to keep track of when I charge to see if it's lasting any longer. I usually get about 2-3 days of moderate use before the battery meter goes red.

FYI, If you have an old phone or Treo, you can recycle it through Palm for free.

Tech Shopper's Paradise

When I moved to California 10 years ago, I moved into the neighborhood of Fry's Electronics. I thought that was cool until I visited Akihabara in Tokyo, Japan. It's like Fry's times 1000. There are hundreds of stores with a big a selection as Fry's crammed together in a small section of the city. Despite the limited space, these stores still manage to have every single model of camera, computer, notebook, webcam, flatscreen, etc. on display.

This photo collection on CNet News.com reminded me of my trip.

Even if you don't buy anything, whether it's Fry's or Akihabara, it's worth going just for the experience.

Apple touches a nerve with its most loyal users (again)

From Gizmodo:

It's understandable for Apple to wage a war on unlocking the iPhone, since the company shares revenue from fees with AT&T. But the truth is, if cellphone service was awesome, like it is on iTunes, there wouldn't be a need to unlock the iPhone. Secondly, bricking these things is totally uncool, and apparently, malicious—according to some early code investigations by the independent iPhone Dev Team, Apple could have avoided this entirely.

Learn how to live with Email

From Presentation Zen:

Here's a good presentation you will enjoy. Merlin Mann, a well known productivity guru and creator of the popular 43 folders website talks about getting things done, the importance of getting your inbox to zero, and strategies for dealing with high volume email. Merlin spoke at Google earlier this summer and he told me (last night in fact) that Presentation Zen was an inspiration for his slides. The simple vector images Merlin uses are available at iStockPhoto. You do not need a drawing app like Illustrator since iStock provides you with a very large jpeg for each set of line art.

Good simple presentation. And a great speech too.

"Window" of Opportunity

For the first time in a long time I've been thinking about getting a Mac. Looks like I'm not alone...

From NY Times:

A Window of Opportunity for Macs, Soon to Close

By RANDALL STROSS

Published: September 16, 2007

The Mac’s presence in the retail world remains limited, a shame given the rare opportunity for Apple to gain market share that opened up when Vista arrived.

Like the article says, a new PC with Vista is not terribly appealing until it becomes as solid (or even close) as XP is. The Mac OS is very sleek and evolved. And it comes with plenty of useful apps instead of a bunch of crippled programs that expire in 90 days.

Also I really like the design of the iMac. Everything is "in" the monitor. Such a huge improvement over the big PC noisy box. Cost-wise, an iMac is no bargain compared to similar Dell or HP models. But I'd be willing to pay more for less.

I did look at the MacBook Pro, but I don't see any advantages there. The MacBook Pro is not drastically different from any other notebook. If I had to get a notebook today, I'd grab a Dell XPS M1330. No question. But on the desktop, my decision is not that cut and dry.

Targus Backpack Update

My Targus backpack started losing zipper pulls recently. The rubber Targus-branded ones were breaking off.

Fortunately, REI has these sturdy Zipper Pulls, so I'm replacing the Targus ones as they go.

Two PCs to drool over

Dell has a new thin notebook, the XPS M1330. Looks a bit sleeker than the typical boxy shape of the Inspiron line. Not that I'm complaining, I think my Inspiron 9400 is pretty damn cool.

Ironically it looks like Sony, who has always been the leader in sleek notebooks, has copy-catted Apple with a silver boxy design.

And then there's OQO. All I can say is.... OOOOOOOQO.

iPhone Aftermath

From CNNMoney.com:

It's now hard to imagine that the next iPod won't have the iPhone's gorgeous touchscreen features, the better to watch movies with. Conversely, the iPhone would be vastly improved with the iPod's supersized storage and easier access to iTunes. And while Apple engineers are at it, why not use the same basic motherboard, screen, and interface for both devices -- with touchscreen on the front and a trackwheel on the back, perhaps?

Here's an interesting observation: Optional Features

Not every iPod listener wants cell phone service. Not every iPhone user requires music. Some of us need only 5 gigabytes, while some of us won't be happy until we get our hands on 500 gigabytes. Some might even like the whole thing encased in zirconia.

In theory, there's nothing stopping your local Apple Store from selling you the feature set you need at a price that makes sense, just as so many Apple products have been sold in the soft pastel color of your choice.

P2P TV

From Business2.0:

The bigger question is: On the Internet, does live TV even matter any more? The TV schedule is a product of the historical limitations of broadcast television, where you have to broadcast the same shows to everyone at the same time. But those limitations are falling away. Even in cable and satellite TV, the growth of pay-per-view and on-demand channels proves that if you give consumers more choices, they will grab them. The Internet is the ultimate on-demand television system, where the choices of what to watch and when have no practical limits.

The concept of live TV almost makes no sense in that context. Why limit your audience only to those people who can tune in at a certain time? With a few exceptions, such as sports and breaking news, live TV will be a liability on the Web unless those streams are also stored for later viewing. On the Web, nobody wants to make an appointment to watch TV.

Quest for a cool Start Page

Many people have a Google Start Page (aka iGoogle). I think it looks kinda boring.

I tried Protopage, but found the windows can get too cluttered. I like how most of these types of sites organize things into columns. Protopage's free-form layout is a cool novelty but it wears off. Free form windows don't work on the desktop either. I wish Microsoft would figure that out.

I currently have a home page on Yahoo. But after trying out Netvibes, I think I've found what I've been looking for. It has a solid, clean layout. Stylish design (but not overdone). And it has lots of cool widgets.

Ubuntu 7.04 - Time to switch?

Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) arrived just a few days ago with promises of better hardware compatibility, included proprietary software and drivers, and more user friendliness. Was it worth the wait?

read more | digg story

Vista is here... now what?

AnandTech has an excellent article on Windows Vista. If you're looking at buying a new computer (Mac or PC) or thinking about upgrading, read it.

The bottom line: If you buy a new PC, you pretty much don't have a choice (unless you buy a Mac). But for upgrading, better wait for SP1 and video driver updates.

Other points:

• Vista needs at least 1GB of RAM to function smoothly, but 2-4 if you want to run more than one application at the same time.
• Vista uses memory better than XP, so 3-4 GB actually makes a difference.
  
• Vista's file system caches applications you use most in memory, so they launch faster.
• A new video driver architecture was created, which means all the graphic card companies are basically starting from scratch. Performance and compatibility are average, but will get better.
• The Aero interface is pretty but not practical. Contrast that with Mac OS, which merges both beautifully.
• The default user account isn't a full Administrator level, and there are more security safeguards. However you can simply disable all that and be just as unsecure as XP.
• The included apps like Windows Mail, Calendar, etc. are just as lame as they've always been.

Down on the farm at ILM

Check out this video tour of Industrial Light and Magic's "render farm" of computers.

There's a full article on CNet's News.com.

And with a host of projects in the pipeline, including Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Evan Almighty, the next Harry Potter film, Transformers and more, it's important that Clark and his team keep up with the company's computing needs.

...films like Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, for which ILM received a best visual effects Oscar nomination Tuesday, can require 60 terabytes of storage, Clark said. And the next release in that franchise's series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, will likely require at least 50 percent more storage, he said.

In total, he added, the storage farm has more than 300 terabytes of capacity.

Hard drive instructions: PC & Mac

I picked up a Maxtor 320GB external drive at Best Buy this weekend. It normally goes for $199, but it was on sale for $129.

The funny part was the Quick Start Guide included in the box.

On one site, it says "Quick Start Guide for Windows." The steps are as follows:

1. Connect the vertical stand. (diagram showing plastic stand sliding into place)
   
2. Connect the power. (diagram showing power going to wall socket)
   
3. Connect the USB cable. (diagram showing cable connecting to back of a PC)
   

On the other side it says "Quick Start Guide for Mac." The steps are as follows:

1. Connect the vertical stand. (diagram showing plastic stand sliding into place)
   
2. Connect the power. (diagram showing power going to wall socket)
   
3. Connect the USB cable. (diagram showing cable connecting to back of a Mac)

Wow, it's amazing how similar PCs and Macs really are!

Do they really think people are that dumb? I haven't seen anything that silly since the mouse pad that had a sticker saying "Macintosh Compatible!"

Do you really want an iPhone?

Be careful what you ask for...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tJpUN8cTY4w