For individual Mac users or small businesses, it’s usually not a problem deploying new Macs with a standard image — as a Mac support specialist, you might just load each machine manually. But imagine if you need to deploy hundreds or thousands of Macs, PCs, or XServes. You’d need a small army of techs or a way to do the job automatically.
That’s where DeployStudio comes in handy. This freeware tool can be used to create deployment files using Netboot, external USB or FireWire drives, or any AFP, SMB, or NFS sharepoint on the network.
DeployStudio works with Mac OS X 10.4.11 to 10.5.3 at this point, and is updated regularly to include new OS versions. The package consists of DeployStudio Server, DeployStudio Assistant, DeployStudio Admin, and diffPackageMaker.
DeployStudio Server creates a network based deployment server containing the images. Assistant is used to configure the server and to create the NetInstall sets, while Admin is used to monitor deployments, manage disk images and scripts, enter configurations, and more. diffPackageMaker can look at the difference between two file system snapshots and create installation packages based on what has been changed or added.
Detailed documentation PDFs and screencasts are available on the DeployStudio site.
Mygazines made a splash a few months ago by launching a service that lets you read your favorite magazines online - without paying. The plan might have worked if the company had, I don’t know, partnered with magazine publishers to make free ad-supported versions of the magazine available. But that’s not what happened. Instead, Mygazines encouraged users to scan their own magazines and upload them to share with others.
Flash forward a few months and Mygazines is no more. A visit to the company’s homepage shows a message saying that the service has gone under due to “monetary reasons and the state of the global economy.” Because that’s what did it in. The global economy. Not a flawed business model that was incurring the wrath of publishers.
[via Wired]
Capcom has been one of the most prolific publishers of downloadable titles for PSN and XBLA for a while now — with notable games Bionic Commando Rearmed and Mega Man 9 hitting digital store shelves earlier this fall. To reward them for their tireless productivity, Sony is giving the publisher their own Capcom-branded storefront on the PlayStation Store. The first of what Sony hopes will be many “publisher portals”, this dedicated page will feature the company’s games, setting them apart from the rest of the pack. The storefront will open in November — perhaps, some have postulated, in sync with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
We’ve accomplished many an hour of restful, mugger-prone napping on the subway, but there’s always the danger of missing your stop — a problem we’re usually too drowsy to consider at 2am in the morning. Not clever hacker Pyocotan, however. This resourceful fellow has built the Noriko-san sleeping mask for fashion-forward commuters, which broadcasts your destination to fellow passengers on a garish LED display, while you’re busy getting some shut-eye underneath the mask — in the hope that they’ll be kind enough to wake you up at the right stop after they’ve rid you of your iPod and wallet. With a cost of $200 in parts, and considerable impracticality to boot, this device isn’t quite ready for the commercial sphere, but that’s of little concern to Pyocotan — he’s just busy being awesome. Video is after the break.
[Via Make]
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