How to Fix: Google Earth “Please leave or end your current meeting”

I recently upgraded to an Macbook Air, running OSX 10.8. As it had been a while, I decided to take this opportunity to reinstall all my applications from scratch instead of restoring from Time Machine in Migration Assistant.

One of these apps was Google Earth. Upon launching I got this error message immediately:

“Please leave or end your current meeting before starting or joining another meeting”

I followed a variety of troubleshooting steps in the Google Earth Forums but continued to get this error message. Apparently part of the problem is that Google released a new 7.0 Beta version, but the download doesn’t really tell you this. Some suggestions in the forums say to unplug the computer from the Internet and change some preferences. Another suggestion told how to download the older 6.2 version of Google Earth for Mac. My issue ended up being a Combination of these problems.

First I downloaded and installed the 6.2 version. This can be found by going to the download page: http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/agree.html

Uncheck the box that says “Include Google Chrome, a fast, free browser made for the modern web.” Then right above the “Agree and Download” Button is an arrow that says “Customize your installation of Google Earth with advanced setup.” Click and open this. Click on “Previous Version (6.2)” and then click on the “Agree and Download.”

Install Google Earth as normal by opening the .dmg file and copying the Google Earth App to the Applications Folder.

Launch it and see if the error goes away. If not, you may have to do this next step.

Disconnect the computer from the Internet. Open Up Google Earth. If should open fine. Go into Preferences (under the Google Earth menu option in the top left corner,) and then choose 3D View. I had to change “Texture Colors” to “High Color (16 bit) “Anisotropic Filtering” to Off, and checked the box “Use Safe Mode” under “Graphics Mode” before Google Earth was stable enough for me to use.

Once I did this, I was able to update my list of Oregon Ghost Towns again!

First-Sale Doctrine hits Supreme Court Today

It’s been five years since I’ve last covered the antics of the MPAA and RIAA on this blog.

Since then their attacks have been even more insidious to the point that you’d think you’re reading a satire piece from The Onion. Their repeated attempts to block the resale of CDs, DVDs, and related materials has taken a gruesome turn after the last blocking of SOPA went through.

Now they want to limit your ability to resale items that you’ve physically purchased, iPods, TVs, Computers, Books, Houses, Cars even. Anything that has parts made outside of the United States in fact. This ruling comes after a Textbook publisher successfully sued in a New York Court to stop a student from importing the cheaper version of their books and selling them to fellow students on eBay. Their successful argument was that the “first sale doctrine,” which has been recognized by the Supreme Court since 1908, did not cover copyrighted items manufactured in another country.

In the past copyright holders of products as diverse as Shampoo and watch manufactures have tried to sue to block the sale of their items in similar ways, but have been thwarted by the “First Sale Doctrine.” What makes this case scary is that a lower court has gone against previous case law under the thought that “Congress would fix the problem,” and the Obama Administration is pressuring the Supreme Court to uphold the case.

If this case is upheld, every time you sell anything that has been manufactured abroad, (and good luck finding anything that isn’t manufactured abroad these days,) you’d have to contact the copyright holder for permission. In the case of a computer for instance, this could be hundreds of manufacturers that would include some of the biggest business names in the world as every single component is made by different manufactures. Many people are just going throw it away vs. going through all the trouble of tracking down every copyright holder and run the risk of getting sued.

To fight this, go to the following web site and sign up, http://www.youvebeenowned.org, and add your name to the people who want to stop this. The alternative is to send all your old items to Congress, the White House, and Supreme Court and let them deal with it.

Backdoor HP Phone Number

Here is the backdoor phone number to HP’s second level support 866-861-0450. This is for English speaking customers only.

How to reinstall Apple App Store

The Apple Store now allows Apple to bundle applications in an easy to download “iOS” like way. Since it’s release OS X application manufactures have been slowly moving over to it as a distribution channel for their apps. Some popular apps are now only available via the App store. If you are like me, one of the first things you might have done was to remove the App Store saying “I’m not going to play that game,” thinking we’d be able to continue to download apps as we wished.

Or perhaps you are in a corporate environment where the App Store has made managing Macs nearly a nightmare when it comes to application installation and asset management.

Unfortunately it seems that more and more application authors are going this way. It makes a bit of sense for the authors. It provides a better way to make some money off their hard work. It allows them to more easily digitally distribute their apps. And it saves them money on bandwidth.

The App Store itself is not a separately downloadable application though. The best, and quickest way, to reinstall it is to simply run software update and see if there is a Mac OS X Combo Updater install ready.

If not, you can download any Leopard or higher version from the Apple Support page. OS X Combo Updater 10.6.8 is a good start for most people; download it from here.

After that, you need to download an application installer program. Pacifist from Charlessoft is a good one.

Mount both Pacifist and and the Combo Updater Package. In Pacifist, go to the MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.8.pkg file and then use the search box in the right hand corner to search for store.

The first option that comes up is the Apple Store. Just click on the install button, make sure the check box “Install as Admin” is clicked, then hit OK. Enter your Administrator Password and Pacifist will start installing the application. When it’s done, go to your Applications and launch the App Store.

Please post in the comments if you have any questions.

Nothing says “Hands off! This is MY Mac” like a highly customized desktop.

http://www.pixelgirlpresents.com/icons.php?page=4&cat=mac

http://interfacelift.com/icons-mac/

Once you’ve chosen a Icon Set (or six,) unpack them to a folder on the desktop.

Right click then Get Info on the new Icon. At the top will be a picture of the Icon, highlight this then use to copy the Icon to your clipboard.

Go back to the folder you’d like to change, IE, your hard drive’s Icon. Right click on it, the go to Get Info. Highlight the Icon at the top, but use this time.

Close the Get Info window, and the Icon should change!