Lately I’ve noticed the Finder on my MacBook Pro has been running both CPU cores at 40-80% for no apparent reason. From what I’ve been able to tell, there is a bug related to having the same window open in two different spaces with Calculate Folder Sizes enabled. I filed a bug on this (5609348) but Apple is already aware of this issue.

Workaround: Closing all the Finder windows (⌘-w) seems to bring the Finder’s CPU usage back to zero.

The following steps will recreate the problem every time for me:

1. Log in to the guest account
2. ⌘-up arrow twice (navigate up from guest user’s home folder)
3. ⌘-2 (list view)

4. Open System Prefs
5. Enable Spaces with default options.

6. Open Activity Monitor (via Spotlight), search for “Finder” to clean up display
7. Arrange windows so the CPU value is visible behind the window

8. Switch to another space
9. Create a new window: ⌘-n, ⌘-up arrow twice, ⌘-2

10. Switch back to first space
11. Click Finder window to be sure it’s selected (probably unnecessary)
12. ⌘-J (Show View Options)
13. Check “Calculate all sizes”

CPU usage should now increase. On my MBP I see about 40% across both cores.

14. Uncheck “Calculate all sizes”

CPU usage increases to as much as 80%

A few notes:

The window should have a lot of files underneath it. If the Calculate all sizes command finishes too quickly it won’t show the problem. I opened windows to the top level of the hard drive because there weren’t enough files in the default guest account home folder.

This behavior did not happen with both windows in the same space.

This page is an archive of information about the Santiago Incident Fire near Irvine, Tustin, Lake Forest, El Toro and Rancho Santa Margarita in October 2007. At the time, there were a number of fires burning across Southern California and getting specific information about this fire proved difficult. Many people filled the information vacuum by posting individual accounts and details which surpassed anything found in the newspapers, tv or radio.

A special thanks to all the firefighters whose tireless work saved countless homes and communities. For those whose homes could not be saved, I offer my deepest sympathy.

(more…)

My two guesses: Beauty & The Beast or Pinocchio. The question only applies to classic Disney films, no Pixar. Besides the obvious factor of timing against past releases, these two hold a special place in the Disney canon.

Pinocchio

Walt was said to have described Pinocchio, his second animated feature after Snow White, as the story closest to his heart, and his quest for perfection nearly broke the studio. Pinocchio lost money in it’s initial 1940 release. However it did ultimately succeed, and Pinocchio is widely regarded as Disney’s most technically perfect animated film. Pinocchio was the first Disney film released on DVD, last available in 1999.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast was the film that saved Disney. Little Mermaid in 1989 was the prelude, showing that the studio was once again capable of producing an animated feature that could cross demographics, introduce lasting characters and revel unabashed in it’s own technical mastery. In 1991, Beauty & The Beast proved Ariel wasn’t a fluke.*

Beauty & The Beast was a huge hit, critically acclaimed and in every way earned its place in the Disney pantheon. Though he obviously never saw it, the story was dear to Walt Disney who twice attempted features based on the story. This was last available on DVD in 2002, and demand is still strong. We’re also approaching the time where the prime audience for the movie’s original release, 7-12 year old girls, are reaching the age where many will be starting families.

Currently I’m feeling about 60/40 Beauty and the Beast over Pinocchio. (I reversed that after writing this, will instinct or reason prove out?)

* I almost deleted that sentence.

Update, October 2008: And now we know. Disney’s first classic to be re-released in HD is Sleeping Beauty. Totally unexpected.

“I have several friends who know him to some degree. One of them said ‘he often walks the fine line between genius and lunatic.’ The problem is, genius is such a commodity these days, that it’s not acceptable to be an eccentric any more.”
— Greg Hudson

I’ve know way too many creative people who’ve hidden behind elaborately constructed facades of eccentricity. Initially it takes up too much of their energy, then after a while it just becomes an excuse.

Tangentially related and potentially contradictory:

You have to pursue greatness not success. Achieve greatness and success will follow.
— Keith Schacht

Here are two cheatsheets showing the table-structure of WordPress versions 2.3 and 2.2.2. Click the thumbnails to download the PDF.

WordPress 2.3

WordPress 2.2.2

I created these to help transition some custom category queries from WordPress 2.2.2 over to the terms tables in WordPress 2.3. Table keys are in bold.The pages were generated by a small AppleScript Studio app I never quite cleaned up enough to release, it reads MySQL dumpfiles then spits out nice looking tables in OmniGraffle.

Amazing how times change:

Originals found here, via Shawn King on Twitter

One for my dad: Shakespeare’s Sonnets in Morse Code

Growing up, I have very fond memories of my dad tapping out morse code. 30-odd years later, I find these recordings to be quite soothing, triggering a childhood feeling of warmth and safety from somewhere deep in my brain.

I never learned Morse Code, I faked the post title with this Morse Code Translator

(Si dad, fixed.)