Getting more out of the Terminal in mac os X

I like to have specific terminal settings for my remote machines. Here are the steps I take in getting a nice, easy-to-use window for remote machines:

- First of all, open a new terminal window
- Control-click in the window, and select 'Window Settings'
- Select 'Processes' and click on 'Never' for prompt before closing a window.
- Select 'Color' and change the color you like -- I prefer a unique color for each remote machine, and I try to pick light colors, so that black text shows up well.
- Optionally, set the transparency. I like to use about 90% transparency. That way, I can see through my stack of terminal windows to find what is underneath.
- If you haven't already done so, go to the 'Display' window, and at the very least select 'anti-aliasing' for the fonts. Also, select a nice mono-spaced font. Monaco is fine, but there are other good ones. I usually set the fonts and transparency beforehand and save this as the default for all windows.

Now, you are ready to save this setup. Close the Terminal Inspector, and hit 'Save As..' in the File menu. Pick a name, the name of your machine probably, and then in the dialog below, click on Execute this command, and uncheck 'Execute command in a shell'. The command I use is something like this:

ssh -Y machine.tamu.edu

The -Y flag turns on X11 forwarding. You could also set any other ssh options here, like a cypher, or whatever.

Now you can open this window right away from the Terminal File -> Library menu. Or, even better, you can use quicksiler to open these term files. Just start typing the name of the host, and it will pop up as host.term.

Gmaps Pedometer

Now, how far is that run?

Gmaps Pedometer

myMPI

Recently linked at [MacResearch](http://www.macresearch.org/) is a new python mpi module [myMPI](http://peloton.sdsc.edu/~tkaiser/mympi/). This looks interesting, because unlike [pyMPI]( http://pympi.sourceforge.net/), myMPI is a module.

Learning the shell.

This seems a good introduction to the unix shell.

LinuxCommand.org: Learning the shell.

MarsEdit markdown test.

This is a test of MarsEdit's Markdown capabilities. Why use Markdown?

- It's easier to write
- It's easier to read the source

This is some code:

def rot2d(x, y, ang):
'rotate vectors by geometric angle'
xr = x*cos(ang) - y*sin(ang)
yr = x*sin(ang) + y*cos(ang)
return xr, yr

So, check out [this link](http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/324/marsedit-markdown), or see how [Markdown syntax works](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax).

PyQwt5 -- another plotting package for numerical python

Although matplotlib is the standard 2D plotting tool for numerical python, PyQt5 looks like an interesting alternative. Although the graphics appear to be more geared toward on-screen display, it is also (supposedly) very fast, so it might be a good platform for real-time data analysis.

Setting up Parallels to read a serial port

I need to set up parallels to run windows so that I can use software (windows only) that came with my RBR-620 CTD. The solution is much easier than some of the hints found on the web. Simply install the USB to RS232 drivers in windows, and then allow parallels to see the device by checking the appropriate device in the 'Devices -> USB' menu. That's it.

Just make sure to turn it off again when you want to use the port on the Mac side, as they don't share devices well..