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If you’ve ever wanted to get to SAP’s Service MarketPlace on the iPad, you’ll no doubt have been rather frustrated by the constant, repetitive requests for you to enter your user name and password. Whilst you may already have memorized your S-user ID, it’s unlikely you’ll take kindly to constant prompts to enter that and your password over and over again.

The same is true for a web browser on a desktop and the answer is simple: install the single sign-on certificate provided by SAP. You can find that on the Service MarketPlace by logging on and navigating to your profile. Download the certificate from there. It is likely that you’ll need to do this using Firefox on the Mac. Once downloaded and installed, restart the browser.

The default certificate needs to be exported for use by Safari, both on the Mac and iPad. The best way to do this is to use Firefox, navigate to Preferences. From there, select Advanced, then Encryption and click the View Certificates button.

Select the certificate, then click the Backup button. Enter a name and place to keep the exported certificate. Be sure to select PKCS12 as the format.

If you need to access SDN or Service MarketPlace using Safari, double-click the exported file and allow the content to be placed into your keychain. For use on the iPad, add the exported certificate file into a mail message and send it to an account you can access using your iPad. On the iPad, open the mail message.

Tap on the certificate embedded in the mail message. You will be prompted to install it.

Tap on Install and accept the message indicating the certificate’s status.

When prompted, enter the password for your S-user ID.

The profile should be installed now.

I recommend restarting Safari on the iPad and trying to log on to the Service MarketPlace again. You should find the convenience of the single sign on quite appealing.

Another one in the “good enough to believe” department. Take care not to click on this link, and if you do, DO NOT enter any of your Google account details.

The mail is purportedly sent from the Google accounts team, wishing to inform you that they will be doing some routine server maintenance.

The link provided in the mail looks valid, as does the sender account (Gmail Team) As with other scams of this kind, the frontend interface is increasingly sophisticated and copied from the actual Google accounts page.

The actual URL of the page points to supplyurdemand.com/catalog/images/gmail.services/Login.htm. Clicking on any of the links takes you to the actual Google link. Entering your account details will undoubtedly capture them in the database of the phisher an provide easy access to your mail and other private information. A test with a dummy account shows that you may not even know that you’ve been had: if your browser has stored the cookie associated with your last succesful logon to Google‘s mail, for example, you’ll simply be transferred there without a hitch. And none the wiser.

Again: never provide log on details regardless how convinced you may be that you should provide log on details for the benefit of any institution. If you haven’t changed your Google accounts password in some time, now’s a good time to do that. If you’ve accidentally fallen for this trick, you may be able to save yourself by having your password changed through actual verification with Google.

The iPhone 4 has been languishing on my desk for almost four days now.

Considering the fact that the unit is supposedly unlocked, my wait time to get the thing running has been due to the late arrival of the NooSY Micro SIM card trimmer. That device was, in my opinion, all I would need to get the iPhone 4 up and running.

I took the plunge and cut an old SIM card just to be sure the rather attractive Chinese stapler look-alike actually functions as advertised. A rather sickening snap later, I had a very neatly cut SIM card, albeit one that seem to have been cut agonizingly close to the golden contact area of the chip. Insertion into the the sleek new iPhone worked and the SIM was recognized. Time to cut my actual SIM, currently ensconced in the iPhone 3G. Again, the cut-out worked rather nicely, and after inserting the now Micro SIM into the unit, I was pleased to enter my PIN code and connect to iTunes. That’s where the happiness ended rather abruptly:

That message is a warning to all that are keen to be on the bleeding edge. Apple has apparently created an extra check in their backend systems to verify which SIM card is in the phone and where that SIM card originates. Since the check is in the backend, there is little anyone can do.

One option is to wait for the official release of the iPhone in South Africa. The other? Contact a friend or pay some cash. Let’s see how that goes…

Update: after a fair bit of fiddling, it would seem as though my unit is a dud. Needs to be swapped out for another one. Another week to wait for that

For photographers in the vicinity of Johannesburg, the annual Photo & Film Expo may be of interest.

Like last year, Canon‘s lack of presence is apparent. Nikon shooters will be happy to see that company’s branding prominently displayed.

The Photo & Film Expo is scheduled to run from 14 to 17 October at the Northgate Dome. More details should appear here soon.

Anything laying around for a while without receiving attention attracts grime and dust. In the world of the blog that kind of neglect implies digital dust. Digital dust is an outdated look, comments from spammers and ratings that have dropped.

Thankfully, the digital realm is reasonably easy to sort out. First off, I monitor all comments and mail messages that are sent here. In the past few months, I’ve simply not been in the mood to respond or mark them according to their status. Of all messages coming in, a huge percentage is obviously spam and is caught by Akismet. There are a number of comments that masquerade as something useful. Those make it into the comments queue, ready for tagging by web spiders and inclusion into search engine results. Those need to be marked individually and deleted.

First off, I helped out the ailing WordPress installation by updating it to the latest version, currently 3.0.1. It’s incredible how easy the entire upgrade process has become, not that it’s ever been hugely difficult. A single click in the dashboard view of WordPress is the only action required once a good backup of the database has been generated. Even the update of plug-ins is hugely simplified, requiring a single click to update all plug-ins that are presently installed and active.

As an aside, WordPress is still a fantastic platform regardless what advantages a solution like SquareSpace provides.

With the update out of the way, I had a look at some of the comments and incoming links. The banality of these surprises me every time I see them.

I spend little time worrying – click and mark as spam…

Last, but not least, is the installation of a new theme to at least make it seem as though things are once again happening. The design is of my own making and still requires quite a few tweaks and improvements.

And there we have it. Back up and running with new software, a new look and a cleaned-up comments queue.

One of the highlights of the Canadian Winter Olympics had little to do with figure skating, slalom skiing or snowball fighting. A special edition Canon give-away to photographers covering the event was a special coffee mug in the shape of the popular 70-200mm EF lens.

The official name of the coffee mug is Canon EF Lens Collector Cup. Apparently, Canon had so many requests from eager buyers that they have now made the mug available for purchase. Still produced in very limited quantities, some photo retailers may soon stock this rather cool addition to your camera bag. Even if you don’t like coffee, there’s little argument that an extra ‘lens’ in your backpack can’t make you look more professional…

Adobe’s latest version of its Creative Suite is set to be unveiled on 12 April. CS5 will provide updates to the popular software. For Mac users, the new release will be Intel-only, Cocoa and 64-bit native.

Exactly what features the new CS5 will contain remains to be seen. For most of us, it’ll mean one thing: upgrade time…

Firmware 2.0.3 was scarcely available for half a day when Canon posted an update to its latest firmware release. 2.0.4 corrects an issue that can occur with audio recordings for which levels have been set manually. The easiest workaround is to leave the audio level metering on automatic, but the best fix is to visit the for the Canon website and download firmware 2.0.4.

Quite possibly the fastest set of firmware updates we’ve seen for the Canon 5D Mark II...

If there are two things no one should ever leave home without it’s a watch…

and a bottle opener. Then again, why not just combine the two, making sure that there’s always time for a cold one.

At a price of USD 50, the Happy Hour watch may be just the thing for that barfly in your life…

Firmware 2.0.3 for the Canon 5D Mark II is available for download from the Canon website.

The firmware update includes the following five enhancements to the movie function and a fix to the manual sensor cleaning function:

Download from this link. While you’re there, be sure to download the latest, updated user manual. It includes additional information regarding the new features: