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Mounting remote filesystems on OSX Snow Leopard using sshfs, MacFuse and Macfusion

Andrew — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:41:21 +0000

I am really happy that my MacFuse+Macfusion is working again. While the command line and version control are (most of the time) my friends, sometimes a client doesn’t use a VCS and I am forced to work directly on the server. MacFuse lets you mount these file systems over SSH like any other Mac volume. This makes it easy to work on the whole codebase at once on the mount point, vs. the download-upload FTP client method. Using the finder to browse around the server also makes it far easier to locate assets like image files.

This post builds on the the already well documented concepts outlined in this blog post to provide additional details for a Snow Leopard, and handle some additional configurations for the 64-bit kernel. The previous post explains in detail how these technologies work, and provides screen shots to guide you in your configurations.

MacFUSE

The latest version of MacFUSE on the google code page is not compatible with the 64bit kernel. You need to download the 2.1.9 beta from this link.

SSHFS

Download the sshfs-static-leopard.gz from this wiki post and replace the sshfs-static executable in the MacFusion.app package.

To use sshfs from the command line, symlink the new binary to a location in your path, i.e.:

sudo ln -s /Applications/Macfusion.app/Contents/PlugIns/sshfs.mfplugin/Contents/Resources/sshfs-static /usr/local/bin/sshfs

If MacFusion still refuses to complete a connection to a remote server, quit MacFusion, open up a terminal and:

$ cd /Applications/Macfusion.app/Contents/PlugIns/sshfs.mfplugin/Contents/Resources/
$ mv sshnodelay.so sshnodelay.so.bak

source: http://rackerhacker.com/2009/08/28/fix-macfusion-on-snow-leopard/

launching thespringweddingshow.com

Andrew — Tue, 26 May 2009 06:08:09 +0000

http://thespringweddingshow.com

An innovative project conceived as a walk in the park. (Pulling it off was another story). Working with Brooklyn-based designers Mélngerie, and Toronto-based animators 3Di, and featuring a soundscape by composer Nicholas Longstaff, the project is a time-limited online wedding tradeshow.

The interface promotes exploration and discovery by creating a whimsical lanscape, while simultaneously making quickly accessible information to those seeking it.

A Drupal 6 site with a Flash-based front-end + Drupal back-end, featuring Lightbox2/Thickbox implementations. I’m proud of how un-drupal this drupal site is.

Screenshots don’t do this project justice. The innovative interface, and animations set this project apart. I’m going to try to post a video showing the site navigation soon.

techsoupcanada.ca

Andrew — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:17:50 +0000

I’ve been working with a really fantastic organization, Techsoup Canada, on helping them launch their new site. They do really amazing work connecting non-profits and Charities to technologies that they might otherwise not afford.

Techsoup Global was founded in 1987 by a couple of guys in a station wagon, who went around collecting all the freebee software sent to publication for review and re-allocating it to organizations in need. These robin hoods of silicon valley eventually grew the organization to the point where, in 2008, they were receiving annually tech donation worth 312$ Million.

The real beauty here is that Techsoup has become more than just a great enabler – connecting organizations to a myriad of corporate donation programs in a centrally administered repository. Their success has mad them an important advocate for the non-profit sector.

For years, Techsoup has served the needs of Canadian NGO’s and NFP’s through their San Francisco office. Establishing a Toronto base of operations will allow the organization to better administer the intricacies of Canadian donation programs, and to support the language needs of French Canada. Techsoup Canada is the result of a collaboration between the Centre for Social Innovation, the Information Technology Association of Canada, and the Trillium Foundation.

Working on the website has posed numerous challenges. Namely, coordinating workflows between a development team in Poland, the San Fransico office, and Toronto. Drupal has always been challenged when facing the dev-staging-production workflow, but I haven’t faced butted up against it this much before. The Drupal community desperately needs to smartly seperate database content from configuration, and develop better logging and migration toolkits.

Ideograph now a tennant at the Centre for Social Innovation

Andrew — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:23:32 +0000

As of November, I’m a tenant at the Centre for Social Innovation, located at 215 Spadina Avene. It is a really great organization with which I’ve felt an affinity for a while now. After my residency at the CFC Media Lab, I decided to freelance, encapsulating my consultancy as the entity Ideograph. Working from home was nice for a while, but lonely.

I really love it here. The people are really, educated, and passionate. Some are dedicated to the solvency of our relationship with the environment, others committed to the realization of our political aspirations as citizens. Humanitarians, scholars, do-gooders unite!

The CSI is an open-concept work environment. We share amenities, and through proximity that is the result of space planning, ideas. I continue to work with many another tenants, and am stimulated and validated in the work that I do daily.

As an art-maker, it is challenging enough finding the right motivation to face the void out of which summon my creations. The network I am a part of at CSI has helped structure more the business side of my identity. That isn’t to say that Andrew Mallis the artist is never present at the CSI. Indeed, there are many arts organizations present in the space, and even a few CFC grads too.

Amenities are great. Meeting rooms, kitchen, mailbox: I like. I even more so enjoy the bicycle parking in the basement and the rooftop garden.