oddpod

Tunnelblick 3.0b14 Flapping “event_wait : Interrupted system call (code=4)”

jk — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:49:11 +0000

Tunnelblick 3.0b14 kept flapping (connecting and disconnecting repeatedly). The relevant bit from the details window was:

2009-08-12 20:34:23 event_wait : Interrupted system call (code=4)
2009-08-12 20:34:23 TCP/UDP: Closing socket
2009-08-12 20:34:23 /Applications/Tunnelblick.app/Contents/Resources/client.down.osx.sh tun0 1500 1544 10.7.0.94 10.7.0.93 restart
2009-08-12 20:34:23 process restarting

After digging into logs, google, and openvpn settings I thought about what could differ between my install and that of the person who set me up with keys (also using OS X 10.5.8).

Not the first thing I considered, but eventually decided to try the previous version of Tunnelblick (3.0b10). Works like a champ.

I feel simultaneously victorious and defeated. Still if this saves someone else 3 hours, it will have been worth it. Not the 3 hours, but the 15 minutes I spent on this post.

No command-tab shortcut to move focus to next application in Mac OS X Screen Sharing

jk — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:21:45 +0000

The shortcut I miss most when logging into a host via Apple OS X’s “Screen Sharing” is the ability to cycle through open applications with the click of two buttons (Command Tab). Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t pass that or similar command-key combos onto the remote host. What to do; especially once you’ve found that “Move focus to next application” isn’t something you can change from inside Keyboard Shortcuts, and that changing the command key to alt or caps lock doesn’t work.

You could cry; use the obtuse “Teleport / Screen Sharing” hack until it horks your system and then cry; or you could you could consult a witch. Not just any, this Witch works magic just with your Mac.

Just install, go to the Preference pane for “Witch” and choose the a trigger for “All applications”. I use the default “Alt Tab”. You can now cycle through application windows. It displays the list of apps vertically not horizontally, so hope that’s not a deal-breaker. Witch seems quite stable and has a metric buttload of other cool tweaks, so check it out.

Please do not heed the pink elephant

jk — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:44:05 +0000

Think about anything but the pink elephant in the corner. This is not the proverbial elephant, but his younger sister. She’s a good deal smaller, but a smaller elephant is like a smaller tank. Just how small can it get before it’s not really a tank?

So think about anything but Agnes, the pink elephant, who was named by the public via web vote. there was a while where “Ass Fanny Fart Face” was the front runner, but after that was removed and someone started moderating suggestions, “Dumbo” and “Pinky” were in a dead heat until the last 26 hours when “Agnes” and “R2D2″ started a meteoric rise. R2D2, as one might guess, was the work of John Paul the 2nd (his father was also a John Paul): an out-of-work, forty-something, mainframe programmer and his small army of p3wnd computers. R2D2 was ahead by 12% with less than ten hours to go, but due to the heroic efforts and supremely well-organized phone tree of “The Sisters of Anges the Reluctantly Chaste”, Agnes won by a trunk.

So have you stopped imagining the pink elephant yet? Well, specifically Agnes? i suppose you’ll blame me for going on about said elephant. perhaps if I point behind you and say, “Is that Ewen McGreggor?” and while you’re distracted I’ll move a Japanese Elm in front of Agnes, you’ll forget about her. Only three flaws: I just told you so you’ll be expecting it (my bad); I’m probably not there (if I am you’re sending mixed signals; ignoring me while reading me?); and Japanese Elm’s are toxic to pink elephants.

So I’ll stop mentioning the pale red packederm. See me not mentioning it. I didn’t even put “it” in quotes, which would imply a specific “it” versus a general it.

So what would you like me to talk about knowing that you aren’t supposed to think about… well…? How about Star Wars, Catholicism, or Asian botanicals?