Jeremy Zawodny's blog

Why must I reboot to upgrade QuickTime?

Yes, I've bitched about this before, but it's still happening and it's still stupidly annoying.

WTF?!

Apple, are you listening?

Nope. Didn't think so.

My "Software Update" just suggested I install QuickTime 6.2 because "This update is recommended for users of iTunes 4." Huh? QuickTime (video software) used with iTunes. That's not terribly intuitive. But if they want to bundle AAC audio support with QuickTime rather than iTunes, so be it. But don't tell me I must reboot in the process. That's just plain stupid. This is Unix under the hood, right? Is this an AAC kernel module, or what?

Now I understand why people have a love/hate relationships with their Macs. Apple drives them nuts often enough to make it happen.

I love iTunes and the new Apple Music store. Yes, I complained about it but I've actually used it a bit more and am very fond about it. I plan to do a small write-up on it soon. But right now I'm pissed at Apple. Last night I was in love with Apple and how fucking brilliant the music store is.

One more note, Apple. Please make URLs that are easy to guess. I first tried music.apple.com only to find that I didn't exist. I had to use www.apple.com/music instead. It's not hard to make both work. Really. Having things work on the first guess is part of what makes Apple stuff cool. Please extend that to your web site.

I know you can do it. How? Try quicktime.apple.com and notice that it takes you to www.apple.com/quicktime/. No fuss. It just works.

Breadmaker Recommendations

A few weeks ago when I was in New York and stayed at Derek's place, he did a very, very bad thing. He demonstrated is Oster breadmaker by making some bread. And I loved it. (I think that Kasia had some too, but I ate a lot of it.) I've always liked fresh bread, and I probably ate 1/2 the loaf myself.

So now I want a breadmaker. I've heard a lot of good things about Oster breadmakers (that's the brand Derek had too), so I did the obvious thing: check Amazon. There are two models they carry right now (5834 and 5838). The reviews are both are generally positive.

I don't want to necessarily limit my hunt to Oster and especially not to just two models. I'm sure some of the folks reading my blog have breadmakers they really like. I know that Josh does.

So, what do you recommend? What features are most important in a breadmaker?

While we're on the topic, what are your favorite brands and varieties of bread mixes? Do you have a favorite recipe or ingredient that you toss in the mix?

POP/IMAP Before SMTP Using Exim and Courier

Many months ago I went looking for a solution that'd work with Exim and Courier to provide POP before SMTP mail relaying for an ISP with 15,000 accounts. After a lot of searching, I stumbled upon exact and am glad to report that it works most excellently. There were a few bugs to iron out on Solaris, but the author was very responsive and helpful.

This was difficult enough to find that I figured I should blog it. Doing so may increase someone else's change of finding it in the future.