Mac OS X

Warning. Follow these instructions at your own risk. I am not responsible when you use dd to blow away your kitty pictures.

Download the FreeBSD 8.1 memory stick image from a FreeBSD repository. I picked one from here.

Plug in your USB stick. OS X will mount it.

You want to unmount the volume while keeping the drive available. To do this, open Disk Utility, click on the name of the mounted volume, and click the Unmount button. Read more... about Using Mac OS X 10.6 to Create a Bootable FreeBSD 8.1 Installer on a USB Memory Stick

The strategy I used to install BioPerl was as follows:

1. Use MacPorts to install Perl.
2. Use CPAN to install BioPerl.

Here are the nitty gritty details. You need a live internet connection, as both MacPorts and CPAN expect to be able to download packages.

Step One: XCode Tools

Before MacPorts can be installed, XCode Tools needs to be installed. This is free from Apple and can be installed from the original OS X 10.6 DVD or downloaded from Apple's developer site. Read more... about Installing BioPerl on Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard in 6 Easy Steps

As part of my testing setup, I have an Intel Mac Pro with Mac OS X 10.6 Server (which runs with the 64-bit kernel) on which I run VMWare Fusion 3.0.1 and several Red Hat virtual machines.

I noticed that even at idle, each VM was taking up a high amount (like 100%!) of a CPU core. Additionally, on one VM top was displaying in near-real-time, which was kind of neat but I doubt the intended behavior. Because of this, I suspected the time management in the kernel was off. Read more... about Solution to 100% CPU Usage by Linux Guest on VMWare Fusion

I have used APC (American Power Conversion) power equipment for a long time. I have had both good and bad experiences with their products (a cherished memory is calling their technical support and asking about the "smell of burning plastic" emanating from one of their units).

I've recently upgraded an Intel Mac Pro to Snow Leopard Server (OS X Server 10.6.2) and noticed that the controls in Energy Saver for the UPS are different. Not in a good way.

Here's the relevant screen from OS X Server 10.5.8: Read more... about APC UPS and Snow Leopard Server Not Communicating