Another quick note for those following it — I’ve updated my Mailplane.app “mailplane_clean.css” stylesheet to tweak a couple more things that bugged me.

Mostly, the “reply to” text area in the message view now fills the entire width, and the search field is better aligned with the message area in the old Gmail look & feel (Google Apps).

Head on over to the project page (see link in nav bar above) to download a fresh copy.

• Mailplane Clean CSS Updated
• A Stylish Treat for Mailplane Users
• Mailplane Clean CSS Update

Just a quick note for anyone who may have interest. I’ve updated my Mailplane Clean CSS stylesheet to clean up the Gmail interface a little bit more, and added a project page to my site for it.

If you want to see what it “removes” head on over to the project page, and if you want to download the latest version, there’s a nice green button that’ll let you do just that.

Enjoy!

• Mailplane Clean CSS Updated (Again)
• A Stylish Treat for Mailplane Users
• Mailplane Clean CSS Update

Would you provide supportive services to someone for free so that person could make a living doing what they do? Say, if someone ran a clothing store, would you sew all the garments and set them on the curb with a free sign so that shop owner could take your work and sell it without paying you a penny for it? What about a deli? Would you bake bread to give away for free so they could use it to sell sandwiches to make money?

I’m sure the answer would be no to both cases. Then why is it that some people who run WordPress sites seem to think that they can take themes which have very specific copyright restrictions on them, change those themes as they please, remove all credit to the original author (who put their personal time and effort into the work), and then present it as their own on a commercial blog?

I don’t know why either, but that’s exactly what I found twice this week regarding my Bogart theme, which has a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License attached to it. The first was a site that made some alterations to Bogart by adding a few new class selectors, images, and changing the ordering of columns in the index template. All credit to me was removed from the theme template (except in the CSS file where no one would see it). The second didn’t change a thing, aside from removing my copyright in the footer.php file, and replacing it with their own.

In both cases, the sites are set up as commercial blogs using Google AdSense ads to generate income. In other words, they’re using my free bread to create sandwiches that are making them money. This isn’t right. When something’s not right, I fight.

I’m pleased to say that in the case of the first site, I was able to get the matter resolved the day I contacted them. As it was told, the original owner of the site changed my theme before selling the entire blog to another company. In this case, the new owner did the right thing, and we were able to agree on a fair license agreement to use my work. Even though he didn’t change my work himself, the new owner was still using my core code base, and recognized this fact. I have tremendous respect for this individual for doing the right thing without hesitation.

The second, which I just learned of this evening, has been notified of their infringement. I am still waiting to hear from someone. There was no way to contact anyone directly and emails sent to very generic accounts for the site have bounced back. The site appears to be a link-bait type of set up with tons of keywords and links to other spammy blogs. I may have to pull a DMCA take down on them if they don’t respond.

Update: The second site has responded, and have added my theme credit link back to the footer file.

The point of all this is simple. If you want a cool looking WordPress theme for your site, especially if you’re hoping to make money from it — think before you start making changes to someone else’s work. Ask yourself “Did someone else put their own time in effort into this nice looking theme? And would they be pissed off if I removed their credit before I put it up on my site?” Your id would tell you yes in both cases.

Simply because something is available for download on the internet, that doesn’t mean it’s free. Just like music, poetry and art, code is owned by the person who created it (or whoever they wrote it for). So do the right thing. If that WordPress theme has a credit link in the footer, and you want to use it for free — then leave the link right where it is. By putting that little link where we do, we theme authors are simply asking to be paid for our work in recognition via clicks back to our sites. And if you don’t want the link, then contact the author to work something out. Even if it’s just a little scratch in their Paypal account, getting a few bucks for their labor of love will make the day for most theme authors.

The moral of my rant? That WordPress theme was made public for a reason — because somebody with talent wanted to share it with you and the rest of the world. If it has some restrictions and a copyright notice attached, then honor it… Because that’s the right thing to do — both morally and legally.

• One for the WordPress Users
• Bogart WordPress Theme Updated
• Clean Up Your WordPress Database Collations

I’ve been trying to hold off on this announcement for a while now in an effort to not steal too much thunder when the time came for the big announcement. But since I keep getting asked “When the heck is Cache Out X going to be updated?”, I have to say something.

The truth is, I just don’t have enough time to develop two applications in tandem, so I decided to put a call out for anyone interested in taking over development of the COX. I’m very happy to say that a very dedicated individual answered that call, and is working diligently as I write this blog post on getting a new version of the application out to the masses.

I won’t say who it is quite yet, because I don’t want everyone to start harassing him with “Where is it?” emails while he’s working so hard on it (not to mention that thunder thing). One thing is true: This person has a long-term plan for Cache Out X. Probably one far better than I would have come up with. Heck, his work might even eclipse mine on Yasu if I don’t get my kiester in gear real soon.

So there it is. Yes, Cache Out X is close to release. Once the day comes, I’ll post an announcement here with all the juicy details, and everything else that goes with passing the torch.

• Twitter: ‘We aren’t actively planning’ Tweetie 2 for Mac
• Watch For This Apple Billing Email Scam
• Individuals involved in sale of Apple’s 4G iPhone prototype revealed

From MacFixIt today…

Running DiskWarrior on startup volumes with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installed can have a problematic effect on permissions. The problem, according to Alsoft, is that DiskWarrior includes a repair permissions routine similar the one performed by Apple’s Disk Utility, but has not yet been updated to be compatible with the changed repair permissions routine used by Mac OS X 10.5. In other words, running the repair permissions routine in DiskWarrior while booted from the DiskWarrior disk (or booted from any other startup volume) is akin to running the version of Disk Utility included with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) — a no-no if the target of the repair is a Mac OS X 10.5 volume.

And from the same article, Alsoft’s support site says…

You should not use any utility to repair permissions of a Leopard start up disk while started from Mac OS X 10.4.x or earlier. Permissions will either not be be repaired or will be repaired improperly. This is true whether you repair permissions with Apple’s Disk Utility, DiskWarrior, or any other third-party utility.

This makes total sense, but should still be noted for those who might think of trying it. Tiger and Leopard are as much two totally different cats as Panther and Tiger were. Don’t ever use one kitty to fix the other!

• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Secure Virtual Memory on OS X
• Yasu 2.6.8 b2 Available for Download

Please join me in a moment of silence to mourn the passing of the first Mac rumor site I followed religiously back in the early days. That’s right, RAILhead Design has closed its doors for good. So sad, but I can totally relate to where Maury is coming from, and why he chose to go dark.

You did an awesome job, Maury — and believe it or not, you were one of the inspirations in the early development of Yasu. Indeed… So long, and thanks for all the fish.

• Apple may offer MobileMe for free to fight Google
• MacFixIt ‘General Maintenance’ Recommendations
• Yasu 2.7.5 Released

For those of you who read my last post, “Sometimes it’s a Bummer Being Indie” (a.k.a. “The $1 Rant”), via RSS and have clicked through to find it gone, this is to let you know that I chose to remove it since the person I fingered in the article has since redeemed himself by donating an additional $5 after I sent my “thank you” email.

Perhaps he read the post and realized the publicity would be bad for business, or maybe not. Either way, it still wouldn’t be “professional” on my part to slam someone who has rectified a situation. Therefore, as a professional courtesy to that individual, the post has been removed.

But man, it sure did feel good writing it…

• MacFixIt ‘General Maintenance’ Recommendations
• Yasu 2.6.8 b2 Available for Download
• Yasu Updated to Version 2.7.3

Here’s an idea I’m toying with, and I’d love to hear what readers may have to say about it…

I run a closed AirPort Extreme (G) WiFi network here at JMO headquarters. It’s cool and all, but there are a couple of problems with my situation; First, I don’t have a real dedicated office space to work from — aside from the dining room table, which is in the middle of everything going on in the house and isn’t the most comfortable place to sit for hours at a time writing code. Second, my work area can get pretty cluttered with books & such when I’m in high gear. I know it drives the wife crazy that I have my crap scattered all over the table — though she’s really good about not saying anything. Heck, it even bugs me when I walk in the front door and see my own mess.

So, to make life a little better all around, I’ve been thinking about creating some working space in the garage and setting up a desktop machine I have sitting around for Subversion and WordPress development purposes. The two obstacles keeping me from doing so are; My AirPort signal is not strong enough in the corner of the garage I have to set up in, and the desktop machine needs to be hard-wired to a network.

So, here’s where you come in. I’d like to know if any readers have attempted using an AirPort Express as a network bridge to “extend” their signal and/or add a machine that’s Ethernet only to a wireless network? It seems like it should work, and would be the perfect solution for me if it does.

So, if you’ve pulled it off — or know someone who has — let me know via comments.

• SecondBar Puts a Menu Bar on All Your Macs Monitors
• Secure Virtual Memory on OS X
• Woes of MacBook Pro Unibody Owner

One thing I have been dinking with over the past couple weeks of blog silence is my own NetNewsWire style, which I’ve dubbed “uni” (short for unified), which pretty much matches the OS X Unified look (clever, huh?). It turned out not-so-bad in my opinion, so I thought I’d make it available publicly.

If you’re a NNW user, feel free download the style to give it a spin. Once you’ve got it unzipped, just double click the “uni.nnwstyle” file to have NNW install it for you. Then select it from the theme menu in the lower right of the window, and you’re Riding With the King.

[Update 6/5] – To go along with the new look for NetNewsWire v3 released today, I’ve tweaked the theme a little bit, changing the link colors, and making the article width more fluid. It looks pretty darned tasty with the new NNW UI if I say so myself. Get it now!

• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
• SecondBar Puts a Menu Bar on All Your Macs Monitors
• Bogart WordPress Theme Updated

In fact, it’s gotten worse than it was “back in my day” of playing the clubs on the Sunset Strip. It’s sad to see that the promoters are still ripping off naive bands who don’t know any better, and giving them less stage time while doing it.

My wife and I went with my sister-in-law to go see her son (my nephew) play his first “big club gig” on Saturday night at the Key Club in Hollywood (known as Gazarri’s back in my day). It was some kind of cattle call round-up that they tried to pass off as a “showcase” event, with 10 different bands only getting to play three or four tunes apiece. At least in my day (I’m starting to sound too old…) you got to do a full set of 10 tunes using your own gear before getting kicked off the stage.

For each band to get to play, they had to sell 100 tickets at $15 a pop — or $1500 worth of tickets. Multiply that by the 10 “showcased” bands and you’ve got a hefty payday for the promoters of at least $10,000 after figuring for the venue rental (if that even happened) and other expenses (ticket printing & photo copies at Kinko’s). The bands were not paid in any way — which is appalling!

My nephew’s band — still being green — didn’t understand the whole “pay to play” concept that goes on in Hollywood, so they didn’t really hustle to sell all their tickets. Sadly, they found out about it 30 minutes before they were supposed to take the stage. The promoter basically told them “Come up with the extra $500 right now, or you don’t play tonight.” Needless to say, they didn’t play. How are five kids — 17 & 18 year olds — supposed to come up with that kind of cash at the drop of a hat? Mom & Dad? It’s sad that they had to learn such a hard lesson about “the business” in the manner they did.

What’s worse, they got no refund for the tickets they did sell — nearly $1,000 worth. So roughly 65 family and friends who drove more than an hour to come see them didn’t get to, and essentially got ripped off by the “promoter” as well.

There’s a lesson for young musicians in this; Trust no one in a business suit in the music industry — ever, no matter what. If you get offered a gig by a club or promoter, be sure you read the entire contract closely several times BEFORE you sign it. In fact, have a seasoned musician look at it if you can. There’s a good chance they’ve been burned the same way once (yes, I was) and they know what to look for. I guarantee that the smiling schmuck on the other side of the desk is not looking out for your best interests. They are not your friend despite what they lead you to believe. They’re simply out to make a buck, and nothing else.

Remember: There’s much more to playing music than just playing the music.

• What to do When Songs on Your iPod Skip
• Report: Verizon iPhone finally coming; will you switch?
• One for the WordPress Users

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of owning Fender J-Bass. Now I do. Sweet…

• TaskSync Syncs Remember the Milk Tasks to iCal
• One for the WordPress Users
• Twitter: ‘We aren’t actively planning’ Tweetie 2 for Mac

If you visit the site (instead of reading via RSS), you’ll notice the look has changed yet again (It’s got to be for the 23rd time, at least). I’ve come up with something simple that just lets the entries be entries. No more sidebar and trying to fill that up with stuff that’s really not all that relevant. As someone once categorized me; It’s sparse.

To go with the look, I’ve decided to change the direction of the site a little too. I had planned to focus solely on all things Mac, giving readers little nuggets of obscure information to keeping their systems up to snuff. While I still plan on doing that every once in a while, I’ll be adding more of the (sur)real life that goes on around me.

BTW — The quest for a new Mac Book Pro is off. While donations for Yasu have done okay, I’m not anywhere near where I thought I’d be by this point. Looking at numbers since the release of v2, there have been over 30,000 47,165 downloads — with only 328 registrations. Hmm. More on that later.

Anyway. Enjoy. There are still a few things to tweak here and there, but for the most part, this is it.

• Getting Back to Basics
• Fixing Slow Start-ups in Mac OS X
• Yasu 2.6.8 Final Released

Every once in a while I’ll do a search for myself on Google (yes, it’s an ego thing) to see where my name stands in the rankings. Imagine my surprise joy to find that I am was the number one listing of “Jim Mitchell” today. I guess you could say that makes me the king of Jim Mitchell’s in all the Internets…

Of course, it’s not by mere chance that this has suddenly happened. It’s due mainly to the fact that I’ve implemented several SEO techniques based on those shared by Chris Pearson over at pearsonsonified.com. Thanks for the awesome tips Chris!

• Intel Mac Start-up Sequence Reference
• Father and Son Launch iPhone Into Space
• Report: Verizon iPhone finally coming; will you switch?

Just a quick note to share that I’ve been scheduled to speak at the November 29th meeting of the South Bay Apple Mac User Group (SBAMUG). I’ll be doing my ever popular schtick on “Be Your Own Help Desk” — so if you’re a South Bay local, and you want to come heckle (or support) me, you’re invited to attend.

More info as the date approaches…

• MacBook Pro NVIDIA Recall Extended
• One for the WordPress Users
• Yasu and Lion: Compatibility

I’ve come across this “word” one too many times on the Internet today, and I’m flabbergasted that its use is becoming such commonplace. The word being “prolly” — which has to be a shortened Internet slang for probably — no doubt derived from some kind of MTV influenced Ebonics dialect.

While I take issue at the use of idiotic slang as a whole (I guarantee you’d hate to have a face to face conversation with me if you use it), the reason I take particular issue here is that this word, and others like it, regularly come from the mouths of college educated young adults — individuals who have been given a piece of paper stating that they worked hard to meet the rudimentary requirements to be productive, contributing members of society! This begs for the (rhetorical) question; What the heck has happened to our education system in the good old USA, anyway? Heh. Don’t even get me started on that one…

Now, I don’t claim to always have a complete handle on English grammar myself (when is it I should contract ‘its’ in the possessive?), but it worries me to think that the art of our spoken and written English language is slowly giving way to thug influenced slang as a means of acceptable communication.

Mark my words. I foresee a generation of slackers who speak in double-negatives and don’t know the difference between a preposition and a cucumber before Generation X finally passes away.

• FontSquirrel.com Adds @font-face Generator
• Yasu 2.6.8 Final Released
• Yasu 2.6.8 b2 Available for Download