Nick, I've been running the Console application to keep an eye on the errors being reported as the system runs. It's quite.... alarming. So many apps reporting failed this, can't do that and the kernel won't do the other.

The Console has a list on the left that shows all the logs it maintains. The two that seem important here are the 'All Messages' log which has been listing a lot of alloc related messages, and the 'WindowServer.log' (expand the 'LOG FILES' entry by clicking on the triangle) which was showing the backing store type messages.

On the plus side I just received a message from the google-guys suggesting a full de-install and re-install since they suspect some component was not installed correctly. They suggest :-

@unknownuser said:

1. Uninstall Google SketchUp Pro 7 by visiting the following Google
   SketchUp Help Center article:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(sketchup.google.com)

2. After uninstalling, we suggest repairing disk permissions:

a. Restart your computer.
b. Open a Finder window.
c. Click "Applications."
d. Click "Utilities."
e. Double-click "Disk Utility."
f. Select your hard drive.
g. Select the "First Aid" tab.
h. Click "Repair Disk Permissions."
i. After the permissions are repaired, exit Disk Utility.
j. Please repeat steps "a" through "i" once more.

3. Log in to your computer with a user account that has administrative
   privileges.

4. Please visit
   http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=115548 and
   download the Google SketchUp Pro 7 install file.

5. When the download completes, double-click on the install file and
   follow the on-screen instructions.

6. Please launch Google SketchUp at least once while still logged into the
   administrative user account.

It certainly seems to have massively reduced the alloc related messages so I'll see how it goes.

Nico - yes, I ran with TM turned off just in case and it made no difference. One interesting thing I have noticed is that the alloc/free error logged is always for the same address no matter what apps I am runnig, whether I've rebooted, got several SU models open or whatever.
I too have done various purges with no improvement. I haven't used any extension ruby apps either.

As an experiment to see if it was perhaps some apple kernel library change from recent updates I've been using SU6 for the last couple of days with none of the related problems.

Even my two year old MacBook (no special graphics card at all) can cope with moving the date/time slider for shadows for any model I've ever made. If you're having problems it may well be a driver problem or conceivably some weirdness in the model concerned.

Well it's happened several more times now; definitely some variety of memory leak eventually causing the core graphics systems to lock up. That really, really, shouldn't be possible. Ah well, I reported it to google and apple and we'll see if anything every happens as a result.

I've even done hardware tests and reseated/swapped the memory to no avail.

It's actually scary running with the Console open on the 'All Messages' view - the number of problems in all sorts of programs that get reported is horrififc.

Glad you're not having any problems!

If you look in your logs (start the Console {in Appliations:Utilities}) and scan the 'all messages' log (under 'LOG DATABASE QUERIES'), do you see any messages about SU failing to free objects? In the 'windowserver.log' (under 'LOG FILES')do you see any complaints at all?

What machines are you using? Mine is a 2.4GHz core 2 duo iMac with 4Gb ram and an external 20" display, fully up to date in software.

... and requires a reboot.

There seems to be a faint possibility of some interaction with Time Machine, possibly some file locking or whatever. This is based on the lockups occurring around the time of a backup, but not apparently exactly on time.

I've had total lockups several times over the last couple of weeks as I work on SU designing a moderately large model. The console log shows a large number of

27/01/09 27 Jan 6;53;17 PM SketchUp[1696] SketchUp(1696,0xa0097720) malloc; *** error for object 0xa063a6d8; Non-aligned pointer being freed
*** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug

and

27/01/09 27 Jan 6;53;17 PM [0x0-0xe60e6].com.google.sketchuppro7[1696] SketchUp(1696,0xa0097720) malloc; *** error for object 0xa063a6d8; Non-aligned pointer being freed 

and

27/01/09 27 Jan 6;53;17 PM [0x0-0xe60e6].com.google.sketchuppro7[1696] *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug 

type reports.

Even if these aren't actually the root cause of the problem it is pretty poor practise to have such bad alloc/free behaviour.

I also see plenty of

27/01/09 27 Jan 6;55;36 PM SketchUp[1696] _NSShapePlainWindow; error setting window shape (1000) 

and from the windowserver log

Jan 27 18;55;36  [88] kCGErrorFailure; CGXShapeWindow; Cannot chnage backing store size
Jan 27 18;55;36  [88] kCGErrorNoneAvailable; allocTaskVM; vm_map (3; (os/kern) no space available) requested 0x5f000 bytes anywhere
Jan 27 18;55;36  [88] kCGErrorNoneAvailable; CGXBackingStoreResize ; Cannot create data backing store
Jan 27 18;55;36  [88] kCGErrorFailure; CGXShapeWindow; Cannot chnage backing store size
Jan 27 18;55;36  [88] compressData; destinatinon buffer size 0 too small for y index (3852)

Jan 27 18;55;37  [88] compressData; destinatinon buffer size 0 too small for y index (3852)

Jan 27 18;55;37  [88] compressData; destinatinon buffer size 0 too small for y index (3852)

errors just before the time of the lockup.

Anybody else having this sort of problem? Any suggestions ?

@unknownuser said:

As an aside - Is anyone aware of a good way to develop applications for Windows and Mac at the same time? Does the Mircosoft .NET tool do this, or is there some other tool we should use?

You might consider Squeak - http://www.squeak.org - which works identically on mac, windows (most versions), unix (most versions), RISC OS, iPhone, etc. Sadly there isn't yet any interface to SU for Squeak.

You might enjoy making models of some of Bathsheba's work too -http://www.bathsheba.com.

Remember - friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.

The logical and practical way to make something like this would be to build a laptop with a docking slot where the pad would normally go. Slot in your iPhone/iTouch and it docks, syncs, gets charged, acts as the trackpad/button(s) and maybe even as a security key (no iTouch, no workee). An advantage over typical trackpads would be the ability to display... whatever, some buttons or sliders for special purposes. If the phone is used, the audio would be channelled to the laptop sound connections.

I'd like a similar deal for my car audio too. Slot in the iPhone/iTouch and use it as the store for the music, radio channel choices, nav. software, car service record, etc.

And I want your president (hell, any leader at any level in any country) to be smart enough to understand that 'respect' is not even close to 'fear'.

@alan fraser said:

@unknownuser said:

. . .I'll stick with the FREEDOM FRIES!!!

David, that's most ungracious of you towards those nice French people. You'd still be spelling things properly if it wasn't for them.

Not to mention that the whole 'freedom fires' nonsense was a joke in and of itself - they were named for the chef, not the country. Yet another dimwit congress-critter giving us all a laugh.

@remus said:

@tim said:

argh! Nonsense. A theory is NOT that. For goodness' sake try to at least read some serious philosophy of science before you make daft claims like that.

Id be interested to hear what you think the definition of a scientific theory is.

It doesn't matter a damn what I think a theory is - there's a large, rigorous, well argued body of literature on the subject. For a very basic introduction, try "what is this thing called science" by Alan Chalmers.

@unknownuser said:

But their are people who have had better ideas, and have subsequently thought of better theories than others. I think this is the sort of person alan was talking about, rather than some all seeing scientists who dishes out theories by popular demand. [?quote]
Perhaps you are right - but my experience is that most people making that argument are treating Great Scientists as a proxy deity. You see this spectacular idiocy a lot whenever evolution comes up "the god of evolution, Darwin" and other pathetic fallacies.

@unknownuser said:

@unknownuser said:

What? Where on earth do you get that idea from? Certainly not from any serious scientific source. There is no evidentiary or theoretical basis for expecting gravity to propagate faster than light.

Do you know what gravity is, at the most fundamental level?

Irrelevant - the fact that I do or don't know something like that has nothing whatsoever to do with my statement.

@unknownuser said:

@unknownuser said:

What gibberish. If it were the case that 'would require more energy than exists in the entire universe' then it couldn't be that way - not to mention that you are abusing the terms 'forever' and 'infinite distances' horribly.

Not a fan of the fundamental forces then?

Again, irrelevant. Whether I'm on first name terms with Mr. StrongForce or Ms.ElectroWeak has nothing to do with anything. The original statement was gibberish of the form that often flows from people that know bugger all about physics.

A good example, again from the constant stream of IDiocy wrt evolution - "well, the second law of thermodynamics prohibits evolution". No It Doesn't. Learn some physics. Look up in the sky at that big glowing ball (yeah, ok, we didn't see it today on Vancouve Island, get over it) - it provides energy. If you don't see the connection - Learn Some Physics.

@rickw said:

J But no mention of "hate-speech" when the game is Christian-bashing.

I also notice that no one has posted any anti-Muslim (or anti-Hindu, or anti-Buddhist, or anti-Semitic, etc, etc) content, so who will step up and be the first to engage in some equal-opportunity religion-bashing?

Ah, good old Fatwah Envy.

@alan fraser said:

Any true scientist knows that there is more than one explanation and that all theories are just that...supposition based on observable fact...even if they are often initiated by unsupported moments of inspiration.

Aargh! Nonsense. A theory is NOT that. For goodness' sake try to at least read some serious philosophy of science before you make daft claims like that.

Snip religious nonsense...

@unknownuser said:

Although I fully support the advances in knowledge of the scientific Greats,

'the scientific Greats' is another bit of nonsense. The theories are not good because they are proposed by 'scientific Greats'. Science is NOT NOT NOT a religion where Truth is handed down by Great Powers.

@unknownuser said:

The Wave/Particle duality of light is well known, but I'd bet good money that it is, in fact, neither a wave or a particle.

Light, as all electromagenetic phenomena, is transmitted as photons. Photons are discrete chunks of energy. Read a bit about Quantum ElectroDynamics - I recommend some of Richard Feynmans popular books for a rough introductions.

@unknownuser said:

Gravity is even more mysterious. It is everywhere; its range is apparently limitless; its effects are instantaneous, or at least it travels far faster than light. Some believe it to be particle-based, others more like a wave or universal matrix. Basically we don't have a clue other than it appears to be intimately related to both space and time.

What? Where on earth do you get that idea from? Certainly not from any serious scientific source. There is no evidentiary or theoretical basis for expecting gravity to propagate faster than light.

@unknownuser said:

Sure, we can model it mathematically in precise detail
...we can send spacecraft to slingshot their way from planet to planet and end at a destination with near pinpoint accuracy...but we don't know what it actually IS.

Did you know that Newtonian mechanics is adequate for handling probes to Pluto etc?

@unknownuser said:

The way it is traditionally modelled is that every atom of matter in the universe is exerting a gravitational pull (by whatever means) on every other atom. This is an inferencing system that puts SU to shame. Furthermore...whether you attribute this to attractor particles or some kind of wave...energy is involved. The performance hit in SU would be nothing compared to this. To keep this up forever and over infinite distances would require more energy than exists in the entire universe.

What gibberish. If it were the case that 'would require more energy than exists in the entire universe' then it couldn't be that way - not to mention that you are abusing the terms 'forever' and 'infinite distances' horribly.

Snip more nonsense...

@unknownuser said:

Entanglement appears to be an observable fact...and Entanglement seems to suggest that everything is still touching, not racing away from everything else at vast speeds.

Oh, ok, let's not let reality get in the way. I'll go rub my Special Crystals with Holy Water soaked Blessed Tissues or whatever.

@rickw said:

@tim said:

@unknownuser said:

The available evidence fits a "God created basic types with the ability to adapt and change within set parameters" theory as well as it fits a macroevolution theory.

No, it doesn't. Not even close. Evidently your claim to have studied is not very serious.

So what evidence falls outside a "God created basic types with the ability to adapt and change within set parameters" theory?

Just about all of it. Read some actual biology texts - and I don't mean the 'answers in genesis' crap. Learn some actual physics, so you don't fall prey to the moronic claims about "ooh the 2nd Law Of Thermodynamics means evolution is impossible".

As an attempt to explain in a simple manner that relies on as little a priori knowledge as possible -
a) if entities reproduce in a manner that occasionally makes mistakes
b) if living entities compete for resources in order to survive and reproduce, then
c) if the results of those mistakes that are either neutral or even slightly beneficial are carried through in the reproduction process (see a)
then evolution is inevitable, inescapable and will result in compounding changes over reproductive generations.

@unknownuser said:

The available evidence fits a "God created basic types with the ability to adapt and change within set parameters" theory as well as it fits a macroevolution theory.

No, it doesn't. Not even close. Evidently your claim to have studied is not very serious.

That big flat plate tail is going to give a lovely radar return....

Being able to move the dimension text would be helpful; I've been doing some work in Layout and it can be a time-wasting pain to get the blasted text in a visible place.

Better yet - for my current purposes - would be for the dimensioning to be done in Layout and not in the raw model. I

@toxicvoxel said:

@unknownuser said:

But I tend to agree with you: The quantum mechanics specialists will contribute nothing to stop world hunger, climate change, malaria, aids or any of the major challenges we are faced with.

Just a single counter-example, albeit from a slightly different 'useless' bit of scientific research'; without an understanding of special relativity we couldn't have a functional GPS system. A functional GPS system allows us to measure a lot of quite useful things more easily than other wise. Amongst other things, combined with satellite photos it provides useful information on fertiliser/pesticide use and crop health, which in turn aids keeping people alive. I find that a generally useful thing.

We don't know exactly what might come from the research being done with the LHC. That's why it's called research. I think you'll find that research in general has provided pretty spectacular payback. After all, without a lot of past history, you quite possibly might have died of measles or meningitis or polio in childhood due to a lack of medical research. You wouldn't have a computer to access the internet that wouldn't be there and there wouldn't be any power to operate it anyway. You would be short on food because there wouldn't be any serious agricultural science. You wouldn't have... well anything. Except possibly a miserable life of scratching an existence, crushed under religion, ignorant of any possibility of a better life.