Backup and Restore FileVault Home Directory

Using File Vault is a good idea because your home directory is then if your MacBook gets stolen then your data cannot be taken.

But copying the file vaulted home directory is tricky. For normal ie non file vault accounts you can just copy your entire directory eg /users/bob to somewhere, reformat or whatever, create an identical account same password, and then while logged in as Bob, copy everything back (though best not to be running any applications).

This doesn't work with file vault.

My way, maybe not the best but it works and I'm using a profile restored in this manner right now:

1. use remote login
2. cp -r source/bob.sparebundle /users/bob/bob.sparebundle
   

Microsoft Webmaster Tools and Blogger

Lots of people who run a blog also use other Google tools such as Analytics and Webmaster tools. I was curious to see what Microsoft had to offer.

You go to webmaster.live.com and sign in using your Windows Live credentials, and then you can start the process.

You need to choose the meta tag option. So get this and then in Blogger go to Layout> Edit HTML add it right after the "head" tag.

The tools themselves are somewhat rudimentary, and the documentation is laughable. Obviously I wanted to know where to place their meta tag. The process of getting a meta tag does not tell you where to put it. So I looked at http://help.live.com/help.aspx?mkt=en-us&project=wl_webmasters

In the FAQ it mentions "How does Live Search know that I own a site?" and the talks about using a .xml file or a meta tag to show you own the site. And then it says "Use the to submit or update your verification method."

Umm use the what? This whole project seems to not have a name. This happens elsewhere. For example "Once you have decided on your verification method, use the to make sure Live Search knows what it is."

What am I supposed to be using??

Using Preview to adjust photos

If you need quick and dirty image adjustment, and don't want to load iPhoto or even a shareware application like GraphicConverter, you can use Preview.

You can crop


Adjust image properties such as hue, saturation, exposure, brightness, in fact all of the same properties as from inside iPhoto


and others such as resize.


These features and the ability of Image Capture to download selected images means quick for some jobs you just don't need iPhoto or Photoshop. These tools load quickly, are very lightweight and take very little RAM.

Image Capture to download selected items from your camera

Rather by luck I discovered that Image Capture can download selected items from your camera ie if you have a camera that does not mount to the desktop so you cannot just drag the photos over.

To me this is a better option than using iPhoto for just grabbing images. Of course I can still use iPhoto to manage images and adjust them.