3650 and a 12-inch: 2004

11/12/2004

Retiring 3650 and a 12-inch

Hello all. I've decided to retire this blog. Everything that is already here will remain, but I will no longer be actively posting updates on the 12-inch Powerbook and the Nokia 3650 here. I will, however, continue posting about all sorts of things, including my Powerbook and other Mac-tech related stuff, on my other blog, Sample the Web, as well as contributing regularly to AppleMatters and my iPod blog. Thanks for reading my yammering over the past year and a half. I hope I've been more useful than boring, and I hope you will keep reading in the future.

10/30/2004

Google Desktop Search

Google has announced that their Desktop Search software is coming to Mac OS X. No word on when, or if it will beat OS X.4, a.k.a. Tiger's "Spotlight" technology to the market. UPDATE: Apparently this is not true. Google has not announced the software for Mac OS X, they just indicated it would take a whole new code base to do, which they have not begun yet, or even decided if they might. apologies for the confusion.

10/28/2004

iPod and iTunes Hacks: Got my copy!

I just received my copy of iPod and iTunes Hacks via UPS this morning. Congrats to Hadley Stern for the hard work! The book looks great. For those of you eager to flip directly to the hacks written by yours truly as soon as you receive your copy, here's the breakdown:

Hack #21: p.93 Craft an iPod Case from Cardboard
Hack #22: p.103 Repurpose a Dead iPod
Hack #36: p.145 Play Games on Your iPod
Hack #37: p.147 Write an iPod Adventure Game
Hack #38: p.151 Convert Text Files into iPod Books
Hack #39: p.154 Write Your Own iPod Book
Hack #53: p.220 Import Lyrics into iTunes and iPod
Hack #57: p.238 Clutter Your Desktop with Music

The book is filled with a nice balance of need-to-know, useful, and plain old fun hacks. 100 hacks totaling 417 pages of cross-platform hackable goodness. Check it out. *x-posted everywhere...

10/19/2004

No New PowerBooks for the Holidays

Over on MacCentral, during the introduction and description of the new iBooks, Jim Dalrymple quotes the vice president of Worldwide Mac Product Marketing, David Moody, as saying, "This new line-up of iBooks, along with the current PowerBooks we have will make-up the complete portable line-up we will be offering for the holidays."

10/18/2004

Quick Takes

- Think Secret reports that new iBooks are coming out tomorrow. - MacRumors confirms with specs. - Ars Technica gives a tour of the new Mini Apple Store. - EDGE-WCDMA coming to Nokia phones. - A Nokia phone is born. - Put scrolling messages on your 3650 desktop. - Serious high-end ($1795!) CoreAudio-based recording software released.

...Not So Fast, Everybody

Howdy folks. Guestblogger Adam Gillitt here. I'll be filling in for a little bit until C.K. and his new Missus are safely married, honeymooned and revived. You might have noticed my name on the sidebar; I, too, own a 12" PowerBook and a Nokia 3650. I also have some experience writing about things Macintosh, when I worked for ZDNet News. I will try to keep up regular posts, and keep things interesting. Hopefully the transition won't be too traumatic for readers or the management, but I welcome your comments and suggestions for posts: just drop a line to open7days (at) gmail.com. You can check out my own blog, if you are so inclined, Open 7 Days.

10/16/2004

A Month Off...

Just wanted to apologize to everyone for not posting much recently. I'm getting married in less than a month and much of the time that I would normally spend on this blog is being eaten up by details involved with preparing to join my life with the life of another. In any case, rather than continuing the paltry performance I have produced here of late, I've decided to take a month off from 3650 and from my iPod blog. You may still see a post trickle out from time to time on Sample the Web, and I will continue writing my weekly article for AppleMatters. Sorry for the drop off. I'll be back in the blogging-saddle in a month. Until then...

10/12/2004

GooglME for your 3650

Want easy access to Google's SMS service over your 3650? Check out Mobitopia's write up of GooglME.

10/08/2004

Google SMS

Here's a how-to page on Google's new SMS service. Might prove useful for your 3650.

10/07/2004

Open Office.org Technology Preview for OS X

Time to throw Micro$oft Office in the ditch! There's a free office replacement moving full speed ahead. Lock and load! UPDATE: the Apple download link takes you to the German version. Achtung! Wo ist the friggin' English version!?!

Open Office.org Technology Preview for OS X

Time to throw Micro$oft Office in the ditch! There's a free office replacement moving full speed ahead. Lock and load!

10/06/2004

Switching Macs

My article, Switching Macs, is up and ready for reading over at AppleMatters. Check it out.

10/05/2004

If it has something to do with lasers, then count me in!

Check out this laser-engraved Powerbook. I want a Decepticon icon big on my 12-inch! And then I want it to transform into a RIFLE!

10/04/2004

4 Days Late...

Apple releases Security Update 2004-09-30 (1.5MB) via Software Update:

Security Update 2004-09-30 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components:
AFP Server
CUPS
NetInfoManager
postfix
QuickTime
For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

Could the release date four days later than the actual name of the update indicate that Apple has started to actually test their updates before releasing them into the wild? We'll find out soon enough...

10/03/2004

New 12-inch...

Sorry for the silence, but I've been busy configuring a brand new 12-inch Powerbook, courtesy of work. It's a 1.33Ghz with 1.25GB of RAM an 80GB Hard Drive and loaded with enough software goodness to keep me busy for quite some time. The new setup assistant program is simply amazing. It basically copied over all the home folder contents from my old 12-inch (which I am passing on to Kristin; her 12-inch will be going up on ebay soon enough). I could have copied all the Applications too, but I had some application bloat that I wanted to trim away, and with all the new programs that I was loading on the computer, I wanted to start from Application-scratch, so to speak. What's cool is that programs that I had on the old machine that I have decided to load on this one remembered their settings, thanks to the Home folder. No digging up old serial numbers that are archived in text files spread across multiple back-up disks. Also, I got one of the new Bluetooth mice, and it is really nice to have. I've always been a trackpad-junkie, but when I'm not on typing intensive tasks, being able to lean back and mouse from wherever my hand happens to be naturally resting is really nice in a let's-stave-off-the-carpal-tunnel-for-a-few-more-years type of way. Anyway, h00t!

9/30/2004

iPod and iTunes Hacks

I contributed a handful of articles and served as technical editor on O'Reilly's iPod and iTunes Hacks by Hadley Stern. I've read all the way through the rough copies of the book, and it's packed with hackery goodness. Here's a link to O'Reilly's page for the book, which also links to some sample hacks, including this hack in pdf format by yours truly. Go preorder a copy already! Thanks for the work, Hadley! Great working with you! *x-posted everywhere

ProfiMail for Your 3650

Russell Beattie likes ProfiMail as a replacement email program for Series 60 devices, like the 3650. I downloaded, installed, and configured it yesterday, but haven't actually tested it yet. It looks very cool, however. Once I get a chance to run it, and to see if it works with Share2Blue2th, I'll update this post. Oh, yeah, and here's a direct link to the makers of ProfiMail.

PBFIXIT 12-inch

If your 12-inch is out of warranty and money is tight, consider repairing it yourself with the help of the free PB FIXIT guide for the 12-inch Powerbook.

9/29/2004

.mac Makes some Moves in the Right Direction...

Finally, some improvements! Check this out:

We're excited to announce that your .Mac membership now comes with 250 MB of combined .Mac Mail and iDisk storage. And, in another move designed to make life easier as traffic grows heavier and files grow larger, we've increased the maximum email message size to 10 MB. If you haven't tried them yet, be sure to check out two additional enhancements recently added to .Mac Mail. There's a new online spell checker with a customizable dictionary available when you use your .Mac Mail account through a browser. And you can now use aliases as email addresses either for fun or as protection when you need to provide an email address but aren't entirely comfortable with the requester. If your concerns turn out to be justified, you can then simply remove the alias and create a new one the next time you face a similar situation. We value your membership and hope you enjoy these enhancements to your .Mac service.

Nice. Now if they can stomp all the bugs with .mac email that have been noted recently, .mac will start actually moving ahead of the curb again...

9/24/2004

Get your Java On via Software Update...

Java 1.4.2 Update 2 is available for download via Software Update. 26.4MBs and restart required. Here's the 411:

Java 1.4.2 Update 2 provides improved behavior for applets in Safari and increased stability for desktop Java applications. Java 1.4.2 Update 2 also includes all the improvements from Java 1.4.2 Update 1. The system will be updated to Java 1.4.2 Update 2. If the system currently has Java 1.4.1, it will be removed. Any previous Java 1.4.2 installation will be completely replaced. For more details on this update, please visit: http://www.apple.com/java/

9/22/2004

Mac OS X for the Traveller, Part 4

Check it: Mac OS X for the Traveller, Part 4.

Testing posting from MarsEdit, the new weblog editor from Ranchero. They also released a new public beta 2.0 of NetNewsWire today. I'm a hardcore BlogLines user now.

9/20/2004

Transfering multiple files between your 3650 and your 12-inch

You know those moments in life when you learn something so simple that you feel idiotic for not having discovered it yourself quite some time before? Well, this little trick for the 6600 works for transferring multiple images from your 3650 to your Mac. I, of course, having just successfully testing it by transferring 129 images in one fell swoop, feel like a complete fool.

9/17/2004

Security Update 2004-09-16

Apple has released Security Update 2004-09-16:

Security Update 2004-09-16 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following component: iChat For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

Hopefully this will eliminate iChat's odd choice to randomly pull me from conversations, reporting "You have left the chat" when I did no such thing. That really annoys me... Run Software Update for the 1.2MB update, which requires a restart...

9/15/2004

What Apple is Missing

This week's article is up and ready for reading over at AppleMatters. Check it out.

9/13/2004

NetFront for your 3650

Gizmodo posts about NetFront Browser for Series 60 For Free :

Series 60 users who are looking for a replacement web browser should probably give NetFront a shot, especially now since the creator Access Systems is giving away a free activation key if you leave them a comment with your thoughts on their browser and how they can improve it. NetFront has some rough edges, but it does a lot right, too, so it's worth at least checking out. Gadgetophile has a nice review that sort of explains why it is both awesome and yet wonky at the same time.

Give it a try. Free is better than Opera or DorisBrowser.

Posting this from Shiira...

There's a new version of Shiira out and it is fast. I am tempted to give up Safari for it... Check it out.

9/11/2004

Mac OS X for the Traveler, Part 3

Mac OS X for the Traveler, Part 3 is up at MacDevCenter. Check it out.

9/10/2004

Cablevision Blocking Port 25

So i finally managed to call Cablevision to find out what was going on with my outgoing email issues. They are blocking all mail traffic on port 25 that doesn't go through their smtp servers. This is supposedly a spam safety issue to "protect" all those zombie peecees out there from infiltrating everyone else, but guess what? I have a Mac. Your unannounced (besides on a nested page on your website) change has really made sending email from home a pain. Now I just have to figure out what other ports I can use (if any) with my .mac, work, and cornerhost email accounts...grrr... UPDATE: Well, it looks like I am s.o.l with .mac's brilliant troubleshooting advice. I'm really thinking about ditching their service this year...

Gmail for your 3650

Engadget points to Gmail mobile :

gmail-mobile is a PHP application that will give you access to your GMail account with any WAP phone (WML format). It is built on top of libgmailer. You will be able to read your mail, compose message, reply, access to your labels...etc...more to come.

Good news for those of us with Gmail accounts; although, personally I'd rather see something come from Google's end of things. A WAP-compatible version of Gmail and POP / IMAP support is needed. If Google makes these changes, then Gmail will become more of a real email platform and less of a novelty / g33k status-symbol. Got Gmail?

9/08/2004

Jason on DRM

My friend, Jason, wrote an interesting bit about DRM today. Check it out. This is also interesting.

The Hobbling Digital Hub

My article, The Hobbling Digital Hub, is up and ready for reading at AppleMatters. Check it out.

9/06/2004

Mail not sending...any ideas?

Hello, everyone. I have a problem. None of my email is sending. Not just .mac, but none of my email accounts can connect to their different SMTP servers, which makes me think it is something going on with my Powerbook. But, then I switched over from Mail.app to Entourage and the problem is still occurring, and not only that, but Kristin's Powerbook doesn't seem to be connecting either. This leads me to think that connections to SMTP servers are either being blocked by my Airport Base Station or that Cablevision is blocking...OH, I wonder if they changed their system so that all email has to authenticate through their SMTP servers first. I'm going to try calling them and see what I can figure out. Who would have known that blogging about this would have jump started my brain into considering another possibility? In any case, suggestions and comments are still welcome. I'll update when I find a solution. UPDATE: It appears my guess was correct and that Cablevision has implemented some asinine, smtp-only-through-our-servers, "security" measures. Either that or someone there just plain screwed up. In any case, I'm calling and complaining about it tomorrow. For now, I have a workaround. grrr...

9/05/2004

3 to go: Free iPod...

Hello, everyone,

I've been trying the FreeiPods.com kick for a while now. I have over 15 people who have signed up under me, but only two have completed the offer. That means I need only three more people to complete offers to get a free iPod mini for Kristin. Here's my referral link: http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=7147546

If you have a pet, there's a 50% off offer on $20 minimum purchases of supplies for your pet, which is the offer I completed. Thanks!

9/04/2004

Mac OS X for the Traveller, Part 2

Mac OS X for the Traveller, Part 2 is out, courtesy of MacDevCenter. Check it out.

A good tip for .mac renewal

Dori Smith has posted a very good way to save yourself $27.46:

If you're like us, your .Mac account is coming up for renewal, and Apple just sent you a handy reminder that they're going to auto-renew you for $99.95 + tax (in my case, $107.45). Forget that!

Instead, go over to Amazon, and buy the .Mac retail box for $79.99, with no tax or shipping fees. When that arrives, simply put the serial number from the box into the space for it on Apple's auto-renewal page, and you're set. Personally, I have better places to spend that $27.46.

My .mac membership will be coming up for renewal in October, so I'll either follow this tip and save a little bit of money, or just kick .mac to the curb and save myself a bit more money. I wish there was a $5 version of .mac that was just the email, and if that were the case, I wish the email quota was closer to my Gmail account's 1GB than the current paltry 15MB. Every year that I have to pay for .mac, I am reminded of when iTools was free with the purchase of a new Mac, and I start to feel cheated again.* *cross-posted on Sample the Web.

9/01/2004

Fix .mac

My article, Fix .mac is up and ready for reading over at AppleMatters. Check it out.

Mac OS X for the Traveler, Part 1

François Joseph de Kermadec has an article up on MacDevCenter about tricking your portable Mac out for on-the-go computing. Looks like it will be an interesting series of articles to follow. Check it out.

8/31/2004

New Zoe...

There's a new version of Zoe available for download.

Virex 7.5 yanked!

.Mac yanked Virex 7.5 and Apple is now recommending that you uninstall it using this script.

New iMac...

iMac G5's are here. I'm not sure if I like the new look. From the sides and back it looks good, but that bar at the bottom is a bit thick on the front. Also, I wonder why they don't have any pictures of it with the keyboard and mouse dangling down from the screen. iMac G5 now means about 6-9 months till a Powerbook G5, I think.

8/30/2004

UPS for Poweroutage computing...

This is a pretty cool story. One of the reasons that I love laptops is the battery. There's always a built-in UPS of sorts, so kicking the plug out of the wall or tripping the circuit breaker doesn't erase that unsaved file that you've been working on. After reading some of the comments to the post linked to above, I'm beginning to think that in my fuse-tripping-apartment, it might be a very good idea to invest in a UPS or two for the more valuable plugged in appliances.

Burnt 12-inch

And it still works!

8/29/2004

GmailFS

I wonder how difficult it would be to port GmailFS to Mac OS X. It's Python, and from what I can tell, most of the libraries are portable. I don't have time to do it myself, but if someone does, please let me know about it!

8/28/2004

How to Make a 10.3.5 Boot CD

Pretty cool info on Using BootCD (freeware) to make 10.3.5/Techtool Pro 4.0.3 Boot CD. Check it out.

8/27/2004

Apple Zealots Hurt Apple

My article, Apple Zealots Hurt Apple, is up at AppleMatters. Check it out.

Jason reports on Airport Express...

I think this is the first time my good friend Jason has been ahead of me on the new technology curve, but in any case, he has a new Airport Express, which he won't stop praising. I need to get one of those...

8/26/2004

PithHelmet 2.0

PithHelmet, the best ad-blocker for Safari, has been updated to version 2.0. Get it. Update: I just installed 2.0 and just to let you know, there's a new menu icon for PithHelmet. I don't really see the need for it, but I don't mind it much. If you do mind it, however, you can simply replace the image with one of your liking by the same name. It can be found: /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/PithHelmet.bundle/Contents/Resources/PithHelmet-menu.png This little hack courtesy of het kaasje on the Versiontracker page for PithHelmet.

8/25/2004

Time to kill Word?

A Slashdot post asks if it is time to kill off Microsoft Word. The answer is yes. Kottke may have the answer to the "how" of killing off Word:

What we could see is the next generation of office suite. Not Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook of Microsoft's Office or iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie, iTunes, and Garageband of Apple's iLife suite, but Google search, Gmail, Google Browser, Blogger, and perhaps even GIM. It'll be interesting to watch whether this happens or not.

It would be a good idea, beyond the regular blogging bit, for Google to come out with a web-based word processor and data repository where people could WYSIWYG create documents, save them to a password protected server space and access, edit, save, and print these files from anywhere there is an internet connection. That would be a definite Word killer and be the logical step forward towards virtual self-storage. As a writer and educator, I'd find such a program to be the great killer app for which I have been waiting. *cross-posted on Sample the Web.

How to Clean your 12-inch's Slot-load Drive...

Accelerate Your Macintosh has the 411 on how to clean out the slot-loading combo- / Super-drive on your 12-inch (although the instructions are for doing so on a 15-inch TiBook). Compressed air is the key. Just make sure when attempting this cleaning solution that you do not shake or tilt the can and use short quick blasts. Don't want to gum up the works with that cold condensation that can occur otherwise...

8/23/2004

Tommy has a 3650

Tommy, the junior host on the Casino has a 3650! Who cares?!

Virex 7.5

If you have, .mac, then you can log in to your account and download the update to Virex 7.5 for free.

8/22/2004

Help me get a Free iPod mini...

Hello, everyone, I've been trying the FreeiPods.com kick for a while now. I have over 15 people who have signed up under me, but only one has completed the offer. That means I need four more people to complete offers to get a free iPod mini for Kristin. Here's my referral link: http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=7147546 If you have a pet, there's a 50% off offer on $20 minimum purchases of supplies for your pet, which is the offer I completed. Thanks!

8/19/2004

Ogg Vorbis for your 3650... reblog...

I just realized as I was typing the title to this entry and Safari "remembered" it that I have actually already blogged about this. However, I had forgotten about it, so maybe you have too, so here it is: OggPlay for Series 60 will let you play Ogg Vorbis files on your 3650. w0rd...

8/18/2004

The Problem with the iTMS DRM...

I've written another article for AppleMatters, The Problem with the iTMS DRM. Check it out.

8/17/2004

Prepping for a new 12-inch...

I told you that I wouldn't have this 12-inch for more than 6 months! In any case, there's an upgrade plan in the works to move up from my 1Ghz wonder to the new top-of-the-line 12-inch. Kristin will be inheriting my current machine, but at that point we will be selling the 12-inch that gave birth to this site: the 867MHz Combo-Drive model, so if you want to own a piece of internet history (HA!), stay tuned and I'll eventually post the specs and the ebay auction for that little honey. Any extremely rich fans of the site who wish to flat out buy it for an exorbitant fee and don't wish to be soiled by the banal commonality of ebay, craigslist, or any auction that isn't Sotheby's, please feel free to have your personal assistant email me (c k s 3 at mac dot com) directly with your offers. In the meantime, I have to start a comprehensive list of all the items I currently have installed on this 12-inch to help prepare for the upgrade and switcheroo. Making this list has been waiting in the queue on my to-do list for a while, but this will actually make me produce it and, once produced, the list should be easily maintained. I will even post an online version of my list of "must have" software. In any case, stay tuned...

8/15/2004

Sample the Web is back...

I've relaunched Sample the Web, the weblog which I maintained before this one. Just to let you know, I realize a blog named 3650 and a 12-inch cannot last too long due to the technologies involved. Eventually, the content here will trickle away (probably when I upgrade my cellphone), and at that time, the majority of my posts will migrate over to Sample the Web . I'll give prior warning though, as well as a final post pointing to Sample the Web. In the meantime, many of my non-3650-and-a-12-inch specific posts which would normally creep in here will be emerging over there. It is hosted with cornerhost, maintained via GreyMatter, and I even have an RSS feed for the site. Check it out. Note: For the three or four of you who used to read the old Sample the Web (either the Radio Userland version or the home-rolled .mac iteration), I'll eventually move the archives over to the new space.

8/14/2004

Share Internet over Bluetooth with your 6600!

Well, my Share2Blue2th scripts plain old never worked with the Nokia 6600, but someone has finally figured out a nice alternative. Check out SlamSlash for the how-to. Thanks to Speedy for pointing this out to me.

8/12/2004

Use Cocktail to Scan for Corrupt Preferences...

File this little tidbit under I didn't know you could do THAT!:

Preferences Scan Tip for OS X Cocktail - I've used Cocktail for some time as a GUI utility for doing OS X maintenance tasks without using the terminal (cache cleaning, running maint. scripts, and more) but I didn't realize it also could scan preference files. (i.e. for corrupt prefs files).
"Cocktail 3.4.9 is fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.5.
To scan preferences:
launch Cocktail
choose Specifications from Window pulldown menu
click the Advanced tab
choose Preference Files from the popup button
Regards,
Kristofer Szymanski
http://www.macosxcocktail.com"
It still doesn't appear to be able to delete corrupted prefs from the app that i can tell, but posting this as a FYI to any other user that may not be aware of the feature.

The above is from Accelerate Your Mac News. Pretty useful tip.

8/11/2004

Stream MPEG4 Apple Lossless over AirTunes

Streaming Apple Lossless over AirTunes is now possible thanks to Jon Lech Johansen:

Reversing AirTunes
I've released JustePort, a tool which lets you stream MPEG4 Apple Lossless files to your AirPort Express.

I really need to get an Airport Express. Maybe three of them...

SpamSieve

After testing it out for the last several weeks, I've purchased SpamSieve. It really works much better than Mail.app's default Spam-filtering. I've found it to be much more effective at catching the spam without any false catches than other spam filters I've used in the past (like JunkMatcher Central). If you are having a spam problem, and you haven't tried it yet, then go download the demo and give it a whirl.

Trager Courier Laptop Brief

The Powerpage has a review of the Trager Courier Laptop Brief, which looks promising for any of you who are currently shopping for a new bag for your 12-inch.

AppleMatters article on Chess...

I wrote an article on AppleMatters about the different options available for those of you who would like to play chess on your Mac. Go check it out.

8/10/2004

We're drowning in updates: Java 1.4.2 Update 1...

Java 1.4.2 Update 1 (does this mean there is a second one lurking out there?) is available via Software Update now (26.4MB):

Java 1.4.2 Update 1 provides support for JDK 1.4.2_05, improved behavior for applets in Safari, and increased stability for desktop Java applications.
The system will be updated to Java 1.4.2 Update 1. If the system currently has Java 1.4.1, it will be removed.
For more details on this update, please visit: http://www.apple.com/java/

Lock and *yawn* load...

iSync 1.5 available via Software Update

Just ran Software Update and found that Apple has released iSync 1.5 (6.6MB):

iSync lets you manage your contacts, calendars, To Do lists, and Safari bookmarks across multiple Mac OS X computers and devices (such as an iSync-compatible mobile phone, Palm OS device, or iPod), so you always have your most current information with you. To sync a Palm OS device, you need to install the iSync Palm Conduit version 1.2 or later.
iSync 1.5 adds support for more devices such as the latest Sony Ericsson and Motorola phones. For more information about supported devices and connectivity requirements, visit www.apple.com/isync.
Before you install iSync 1.5, you must install iCal 1.5.2 or later. To download the latest version of iCal, visit www.apple.com/ical, or use Software Update (in System Preferences) to install the latest version.
If you are using Mac OS X version 10.3 and plan to synchronize a Bluetooth mobile phone, you need to have Bluetooth version 1.5 or later installed. To download the latest version, use Software Update (in System Preferences). If you have an earlier version of Mac OS X, visit www.apple.com/isync to download the appropriate Bluetooth version.

Lock and load (oh, I hope this doesn't break Share2Blue2th; I don't have the time to code right now...)!

Apple Production Suite...

Now that Motion is shipping, Apple has bundled all their high-end graphics and video editing apps into a Production Suite. I want this...

Talks for Series 60

If you happen to be blind or just happen to prefer having things read to you, you might want to check out Talks for Series 60. I saw mention of this on MobileWhack, and it should work with the 3650, as they have a picture of the 3660 on the Talks website.

BlueTooth HID support in 10.3.5...

Well, this is a tantalizing piece of news. The 10.3.5 update includes support for HID profiles, which basically allow you to control your Mac's mouse and certain Mac keys that are mapped to your phone's controls. It appears to work automatically with a few of the newer phones out there, although not yet with the 3650. Just need someone to hack us together an HID profile for the phone, though... Any takers?

8/09/2004

10.3.5 Update and Security Update available via Software Update...

Here come the updates! Launch Software Update now to download 10.3.5 (22.9MB):

The 10.3.5 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther" and is recommended for all users. Key enhancements include:
improved support for NTFS formatted volumes
improves reliability for user logins and mounting of home directories in a networked environment
updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
improved Bluetooth compatibility for Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse and Bluetooth phones
additional FireWire and USB device compatibility
improved font management
updated Mail and Image Capture applications
improved compatibility for third party applications
previous standalone security updates
For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25791 For detailed information on Security Updates, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

and as an added bonus, there's Security Update 2004-08-09 (5.3MB):

Security Update 2004-08-09 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components: libpng (Portable Network Graphics) For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

Throw caution to the wind and download now! Lock and load...

Newsflash: Cable Security for your 12-inch...

Newsflash: Cable locks only secure until someone with cable cutters walks up. Most of you probably already knew this. Lesson to be learned: don't waste your money on security gadgets; don't leave your 12-inch unattended.

Lifestyle services for your 3650...

If you happen to have your 3650 signed up on Cingular Wireless or Virgin Mobile USA (do either of these carriers work with the 3650?), then you can set up fake rescue calls to save you from social events where you do not really want to remain. I'm sure this service will trickle out to the other providers eventually, but I'm also sure that once it trickles out enough and becomes any sort of a prevalent phenomenon, people are going to start being able to spot these fake calls, and they will loathe you for using them.

8/08/2004

Guard your 3650's Bluetooth

Check out this post over at Backup Brain:

We love using Bluetooth; with the help of iSync, it's extremely handy to sync our address books wirelessly between our Macs and mobile phones. But Security Cavities Ail Bluetooth discusses the problems you can have with your Bluetooth-enabled phone, if you're not smart about using it. Speakers at the recent Black Hat and DefCon security and hacker conferences in Las Vegas demonstrated how they can sneak into mobile phones and suck out phone books and other data. The key is that these phones, from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola, are vulnerable if they are left in discoverable mode. So turn it off when you're not using it. Our Sony Ericsson phones have cute blue lights that flash while Bluetooth is active, which reminds us to turn Bluetooth off. We save battery life by turning it off, too. Posted by Tom Negrino at 04:19 PM Link

Something to keep in mind, although according to the chart on this page, the 3650 isn't one of the known vulnerable models.

Bye-bye, Livejournal...

File this under the perils of blogging: I made a local archive and then deleted my four-year-old LiveJournal today. Due mainly to the success of this site, and the inability to prevent the search engines from spidering the livejournal, I can no longer count on it as a pseudo-private space in the public that will only be read by the dozen or so friends that have known about it for quite some time. All of them (should) know about this site as well, so there won't be any lost contact. Just a more publicly-prepared version of me. In any case, I wish I didn't have to do it, but recent comments on the site made me realize that it was for the best. It's saddening though. I've had my livejournal since I moved to New York. It was a definite outlet for me, as well as a nice point of contact with my long distance friends who know me well and know how to take my ranting. Back to our regularly-scheduled tech news...

8/05/2004

CyberDuck

Get CyberDuck. It's a good free OS X FTP client that I have been using on a new site that I am working on and which will soon be announced (nothing too fancy, mind you, so don't get overly excited). However, if you're just accessing your iDisk, Goliath is the way to go...

Airport Express Hotel Report...

Interesting write-up over at the Powerpage about the real world experiences of hooking an Airport Express into a hotel's ethernet connection.

8/03/2004

Stand for Safari: Get it.

Check this post over at hicksdesign out:

I’ve recently discovered another plug-in for Safari, called Stand. I can't tell you a whole lot of detail about it, as the site is written in Japanese. What I can tell you is that its free, and it allows you to do the following slick actions:
Allow syntax colouring in viewed source (no control over colours used though)
Specify a font and size for viewed source (I like this – I have a thing about using Lucida Grande for source view).
Search your bookmarks and history (very nice, although I tend to use Quicksilver to find bookmarks quickly, this is even faster).
Specify that all links to a ’_blank’ target open in a new tab instead of a new window. This is nice.
Save tab layouts as workspaces alá Omniweb.
Assign categories, colour labels and comments to new bookmarks
Create search shortcuts (as in Sogudi and Saft)
‘Site Alteration’. This allows you some basic preferences on a per site basis, such as what encoding to use, and whether images, pop-ups, plug-ins or javascript are to be allowed.
Remove favicons.
Set a time delay for auto-closing the downloads window after completion.
It also seems to add ‘Copy Link HTML Tag’ command to the context menu when ctrl-clicking links. (I’ve only just noticed this though, so it could’ve been there all along!)

Don't let the Japanese scare you. Stand rules. Get it now. Install by dragging the Stand folder into ~/Library/InputManagers/ and closing then relaunching Safari. This makes Bloglines open links in tabs and the highlighted HTML in source mode is great for blogging. h00t!

.Mac stuff...

The Cult of Mac blog at Wired reports:

Apple's .Mac email now supports aliases:

"You can use email aliases instead of your .Mac email address to keep your .Mac account private (such as when purchasing online) or to easily recognize and organize incoming emails from various sources. Simply deactivate or delete an email alias to keep unwanted email from arriving in your Inbox.

Now, this is undoubtedly cool, however, when you take into account things like this, which are true, and all too common, then who cares? .Mac needs some serious bug killing before they go slapping on new features, imho.

8/02/2004

I'm sure there's much to blog...

...however, I am pooped. Friday was flower girl dresses, tuxes, and then The Village (which I enjoyed) followed by sushi for dinner. Fun day, but busy. I spent all day Saturday finishing up painting the bedroom (looks nice), and yesterday was Kristin's surprise bridal shower, so it was go go go the entire weekend. Today is the most monday-like monday this year, and I am despising it and not feeling like (nor having the time to) blog much here. IceRocket looks interesting, but why does every single search engine besides Google totally ignore my livejournal's "DON'T INDEX ME" headers?

7/28/2004

100GB Pocket-Rocket...

If you have $500 to spare, you might want to getthis 100GB rocket for your pocket with USB/Firewire 400/800 connectivity. And its brushed metal niceness matches your 12-inch!

This Warping Thing; A Rant: Why don't Apple Consumers Complain More?

Read MacFixIt's latest about the warping aluminum powerbooks. This is mind-boggling:

Not a show-stopper The good news is that despite all the reports we've received of "warping" with PowerBook G4 units, we have yet to receive a report of this "warping" being serious enough to adversely affect the functionality of the PowerBook (e.g., optical drives not accepting or ejecting discs, keyboards malfunctioning, etc.) In fact, some users even seem to be happy that this slight wobble on the desk is their only problem. Reader Aled B writes: "Doesn't bother me too much though, minor irritation - it's a great little machine otherwise! Used to suffer sleep of death issues with 1GHz TiBook until I decided to sell and get a G5 2GHz DP and this brilliant 12" PowerBook as a side-kick. It's the best PowerBook I've ever had. My brother has the 15" 1.5GHz PowerBook and that's just as good. Best range of PowerBooks ever! I'll settle for a little wobble over a random sleep of death any-day." That being said, a number of users have expressed dissatisfaction with such warping given the cost of these units.

Well, I for one think that the "number of users" remains too low and too quiet in their "expressed dissatisfaction." It is unconscionable to me that Apple continues to crank out defective machines (albeit very powerful and very nice in every other respect), which continue to exhibit these problems and continue to sell at their high prices and NO ONE is interrupting the entire process to say "Hang on a minute..." It seems to be a production flaw that affects a large percentage of the ALBooks. But, my current 12-inch doesn't wobble. It doesn't warp. It stays flat. When I had one that did wobble and warp, I walked into the Apple Store and complained and complained and complained as loudly and politely as possible until the manager replaced the machine (and then I made them open up the box and test the next one WHICH ALSO WOBBLED, so I demanded yet another). If everybody who suffered from this problem did what I did and complained and pushed Apple, then Apple would be forced to address this issue. Unfortunately, too many people out there are happy enough with their great new Powerbook and overlook this horrible problem, which means next time I update my machine, I may have to go through the several hours of complaining yet AGAIN to get my factory defective wobbling 'book, replaced with a nice, properly level model. //rant off...

AcidSearch

Jason points to a new Safari search tool, which would seem to trump Safari Keywords (my Safari search tool of choice) in the ease of use department: When you navigate to a new searchable site that you want to add to Safari's search bar, simply go to AcidSearch, Edit Search Channels, New Channel, and AcidSearch "automatically adds the correct search syntax to the URL field. Feel free to change the name of the Channel and its location on the list." Check it out...

Marathon!

Creative Bits is fast becoming one of my favorite new reads, as things like Marathon, one of my favorite pre-OS X Mac games, are constantly being mentioned, reminding me of free cool stuff that is out there that I can stuff in my Mac for a rainy day...

7/27/2004

Bloglines...

So, in the spirit of less is more—or perhaps some other spirit of which I remain unawares—I've ditched my news reader, NetNewsWire Lite, in favor of Bloglines. This post made me think of it (although I arrived there from another link which I cannot remember... sorry, whoever!). In any case, now I'm all web-based, reading RSS feeds in Safari without bothering with Tiger, thanks to Bloglines. If I get sick of it and switch back, I'll let you know. As an added bonus, there's a nice long "Regular Reading" blogroll at the bottom of the sidebar now. Check it out to see the 96 blogs to which I am subscribed (it's identical to the OPML MySubscriptions file also linked in the sidebar). w0rd...

New Konfabulator with Konsposé Only Widget level...

Ripping back from Apple's Dashboard, Konfabulator 1.7.1 has these two little notable tweaks amidst a bunch of bug fixes:

Added Konsposé Only Widget level (see Release Notes), Added preference panel to gear menu with options for setting the Konsposé key and whether to use a simpler Konsposé for slower machines.

Coolness. Lock and load, everybody!

Make your iPod into a Universal Remote...

This is a very cool hack. Turns your iPod into a universal remote. Although, I must say, I really like the Phillips Universal Remote that I bought from Best Buy not that long ago. It actually controls EVERYTHING I have in my collection....

This Warping thing: The Return of the Warp...

MacFixIt is reporting on yet more warping 12-inchers coming out of the newest line of the machines. Class-action lawsuit anyone? How many production lines of the 12-inchers have been plagued with this problem now? My first ALbook was severely warped. I continue to see postings over at 12inchPowerbooks Yahoo!Groups about this issue. Apple, would you fix this already? I wouldn't mind a few ounces of a reinforced steel rod added to the design if it meant these machines would be guaranteed wobble-free, would you?

RadTek Cases for your 12-inch

Ted Leung mentioned these MacTruck cases from RadTech this morning, which look to be pretty cool. I mentioned them to Jason, and he said he had just bought one, along with one of these. Pretty cool...if you're into cases... Also, two side notes: one, sorry for the sparseness in my OCD posting as of late. We're painting the bedroom at the apartment and it is eating up much of my former blog time. Two: I misspelled Motorola on purpose in the below post.

Why Motorolla?

In case you hadn't heard:

We had no idea: Getting iTunes onto Motorola cellphones
They definitely pulled this rabbit out of the hat: yesterday, the news leaked of the V3, then Motorola announced that their upcoming phones with USB and Bluetooth will be able to pull music off of iTunes. It’s a bit of a blow to the iPod’n’Tunes pundits defending Apple’s hardware-first business model, but hey, they’re going where the money is. And besides, a $700 cellphone is so their style.[Via Phone Scoop]
[engadget.com]

Ok. But why moto? What happened to the SE partnership of Macworld Keynote 2 years past? I bet they release an updated iSync later today...(actually, this was jason's observation, but I agree...)

7/26/2004

Secure Email

I just wanted to note that my .mac email is secure. If the email comes from me, it will be signed with a THAWTE sig and include the HABEAS headers. I am only pointing this out, because I myself have been receiving both spam with my email as the masked sender address and bounced emails notifying me that spam and or viruses are being sent out from my worm infested PC (only thing is that I am only ever running a squeaky clean worm-free Mac). So, in any case, if you ever receive an email from my address without a sig / HABEAS headers, chances are it isn't from me...

7/24/2004

FreeiPod.com Pyramid scheme...REPORT...

Well, it's been about a week and so far 13 people have signed up from my link, but none of them have completed any of the offers *cough HINT HINT cough*, so I still don't know if I this free iPod is a real deal or a gimmick...

7/23/2004

PowerPage brainstorm: Powerbook Power over Firewire...

This is brilliant:

Power Your 'Book With FireWire
How about this for the next PowerBook: Apple replaces the traditional power port with a FireWire port and allows charging of the PowerBook over FireWire.

Then include an Airport Express with Firewire port for charging with every 12-inch sold. Great. Do it, Apple. Now!

I'm testing MacJournal (no relation to the magazine) as a possible means of posting to this site...

7/22/2004

Gentoo Linux 12-inch...installed...

So I just installed Gentoo Mac OS X. Time to play...

Well, wake him up then!

The Gimp.app has been updated. Go wake him up.

7/20/2004

Get a handle on your 12-inch...

Check out these carbon fiber handles for your 12-inch. I'm tempted to get one of these, just so the muggers will be better able to spot me walking down the street...

iPod Update available via Software Update...

Sure, yesterday a bunch of people reported that this was available, but did you really think I was going to manually navigate somewhere and click and wait for a download? Heck, no! In any case, the newest iPod Update is available via Software Update:

Read Before You Install iPod Updater iPod Updater 2004-07-15 includes iPod Software 3.0 for use with iPods with a Click Wheel. iPod Updater 2004-07-15 also includes the latest software versions for iPod mini and the third generation iPod. With iPod Software 3.0, you can:
Shuffle Songs with one click (using the Shuffle Songs item in the main menu)
Create multiple On-The-Go playlists
Delete songs from On-The-Go playlists
Select reading playback speed for audiobooks
Hear audible click user interface feedback in headphones
Charge via USB connection
Enjoy improved playback performance
For more information about iPod, go to http://www.apple.com/support/ipod. iPod Updater 2004-07-15 contains the same software versions as iPod Updater 2004-04-28 for all other iPod models. iPod 3.0 Software is not compatible with other models of iPod, including original scroll wheel and touch wheel iPods, and iPod mini. iPod Software 2.2 and iPod Software 1.2 should not be used with iPod with Click Wheel.

Lock and load (although you might want to check this out first.)

Salling Clicker 2.2

Clicker 2.2 has been released. Check it out.

7/19/2004

9-11 Hearings on iTMS

Here's something cool: the iTMS is hosting the 9-11 hearings and they are free for downloading to your computer / your iPod (although they are still DRM'ed, so you cannot play them on your 3650).

Whip Antenna for 12-inch

Macminute reports on the Whip Antenna from QuickerTek:

By adding this 5dbi Whip Antenna to your 12-inch PowerBook, increase the signal strength up to 50%, and increase the line-of-sight distance by an average of 250 yards. This new antenna is a user-installable kit - although it can be tricky working within the small spaces of the 12-inch PowerBook. Give yourself plenty of time and you'll get it done.

I'd like to give one of these suckers a test run...

James Duncan Davidson on the Airport Express...

Hear hear! This is spot on:

Very nice. And it's a nice touch for those of us that are going to be lugging these things all over the world with us. Now, there's only one more thing that the Airport Express needs... a plug in for a laptop. That way road warriors only have to carry one brick with them.

Or even better yet, wouldn't it be cool if every laptop power supply just happened to be a base station? I don't know how possible it would be to squish a Airport Base Station into a 65W power supply, but it'd be damn cool. After all, a Powerbook power supply is US$79. The Airport Express is US$129. Hrmmm... Give it a year or so and it might just be feasible.

Anyway, click here for the full hands-on report. I wonder if the Apple Store up near work has these in stock yet...

7/18/2004

In case you hadn't heard...

New iPods tomorrow. Don't see the evidence in the article itself? Well, how about this picture:

Is it just me, or does Steve look CRAZY in this pic?

7/17/2004

FreeiPod.com Pyramid scheme...

Hey, everyone! If you are interested in getting a free iPod (and helping me to get a free iPod mini for Kristin), follow this link to FreeiPods.com and participate in one of the items / services linked to there. Since I have a pet parrot, I bought him some toys on the Pet Meds link on the page. Now I just have to get 5 other people to participate to get my free iPod and every person who participates only needs to get 5 more people to participate to get themselves a free iPod. Spread the word, word...

FreeiPod.com Pyramid scheme...

7/16/2004

Back in the saddle..

Testing. How do I do this? This is Google. I think the blogger folks may have fixed the Safari incompatibility. Huzzah! I can post again!

Does it work with Firefox?

Can I post via Firefox with the new, crappier, less compatible Blogger interface? Update: Ahsa, it works in Firefox at least, but still, why is Safari support broken and why does every report I try to make via the Blogger support page fail? In any case, in all earnestness, Blogger, please fix this. I just realized that the NEW AND IMPROVED spell check function doesn't work in Firefox. Please, give us a choice between the old system and the new system, for compatibility and start providing us with warning of these traumatic changes. If you do not, then I will no longer be one of the ones powering Blogger. I will be moving on to other waters...

Dear Blogger: You stink. I cannot post anything with HTML because you changed your format without any warning and it no longer works with Safari...

Testing the "New" Blogger System today...

7/15/2004

Something screwy in blogger land...

Education

This is very off topic, but I just agreed to teach an intro English class at a nearby college starting this Fall. It will be good to get back into the classroom and I am excited. Now, do I go a traditional route, or do I make it a paperless classroom with online discussion, collaboration, office hours, and course materials?

7/14/2004

Kerry: Mac user...

Check it:

John Kerry Uses A PowerBookIn a photo taken by Diana Walker, for Time magazine, John Kerry is seen using an Apple PowerBook. It looks to be a 15-inch Titanium model. The caption says "From his study in the family's Pittsburgh, Pa., home, Kerry phones Edwards to officially invite the North Carolina Senator to be his running mate."
Read more...
Support Powerpage.org by shopping at Amazon.com!
[PowerPage.org]

7/13/2004

FuzzyClock

A while back, someone mentioned FuzzyClock to me, and I was fuzzy on why on earth someone would want it. But then the other day, something persuaded me to install it and actually play around with it. I just removed the default clock from my menu bar and FuzzyClock is in full swing. I especially like that "Hacker" is one of the supported languages. ;-)

The only thing more boringly slow than running Windoze Update on a PeeCee...

...is running Windoze Update on a Virtual PeeCee running on a 12-inch Powerbook with only 384MB of RAM and fifteen or so different multitasking jobs going on at the same time... ugh.

DisplayWatcher...

If you regularly plug your 12-inch into an external monitor, you might want to check out DisplayWatcher, which I saw mentioned by Ted Leung. Looks pretty cool. I never use an external monitor, but am wondering if I could trick this into working with Desktop Manager to automatically set up my virtual monitors the way I want every time I launch Desktop Manager. That would be the hotness! Also, as a side note, a new version of Desktop Manager was just released which supports sticky windows (setting a window to travel with you to whatever desktop you want). Very cool for tracking that iChat convo across multiple screens and tasks...

7/12/2004

SIPphone: My search for a viable VOIP option continues...

I just downloaded the new Mac OS X client for SIPphone. I'd tried the beta in the past and it continually crashed on me. This one is up and working and I just placed a test call on it. The network is a bit sluggish today, so that may be the reason for these difficulties, but my test call had a slight delay (much like talking on a digital cellphone a year or so ago), and slight break up. I'll test it again when I get home. I also went ahead and purchased $10 worth of talk time for VOIP to actual phone line connectivity. I might have to give Jason a call in London later to test it out. I wonder if this will work nicely with my bluetooth headset and my 12-inch. If the performance is at all better than iChatAV, then it is worth playing around with. If not, eh, at least I only blew $10 on the deal... Note: The softphone used by SIPphone is the same used by Vonage, so it should give me an idea of what that service would be like on the 12-inch as well...

Tracking Hard Drive Hogs...

O'Grady's PowerPage has a cool write up about OmniDiskSweeper and Disk Inventory X. I just downloaded Disk Inventory X (which is free under GPL) and am running a scan now to see what space wasters are crowding my drive.

Why is Mac OS X better?

Well, here's a really good answer.

Fair use = free speech

Another good one from BoingBoing today: Fair use = free speech. Read it if you have been scratching your head at all whenever I have mentioned fair use in any of my longish rants about DRM and why it is evil and unlawful.

12" Lemons; Pass it on...

I saw this at BoingBoing, and as I myself received a wobbling first gen Powerbook which was only replaced after much too much time spent arguing with a manager at the White Plains Apple Store, I thought I'd pass this along:

Apple sells Matt Webb a lemon, then treats him like crap
Matt Webb bought a 12" Powerbook and got a lemon. He's spent over a month calling Apple, trying to get it fixed, getting ignored, getting promises broken, not having his calls returned, getting the machine returned still broken, sending it back again. This is outrageous: Apple UK needs to do a better job if it plans on retaining customers.
It's happened again. Same problems as last time. mutt can't make temporary files, the computer won't shut down cleanly, then it won't boot (stays at the grey Apple screen) DiskWarrior can't repair it (and it freezes in Target Disk mode). If I go into verbose mode on book, the errors are:
Load of /sbin/mach_init, errno 2, trying /etc/mach_init Load of /etc/mach_init failed, errno 2
The hardware check, on the original CDs, comes back fine.
Coincidentally, it's after about 11 days of usage (again), and after the hard drive has got 45Gb of data on it (again).
I called tech support. Very helpful guy in the Danish tech support call centre. He says the next thing they'll ask me to do is reinstall.
Hang on, I've been here before.
I'm not going through this again.
I know this story. This is the one where I spend days doing what tech support ask, send my computer off, Apple hang onto it for months and send it back, still broken.
Link(via Plasticbag) [Boing Boing Blog]

Spread the word. Maybe we'll actually be able to shame Apple into helping this guy out (and maybe in the process get them to be a little more responsive overall to these types of complaints and be more careful about eradicating the production line problems which tend to plague their portables: warped 12-inchers, spotty screened 15-inchers, cracking boards on iBooks, etc, etc).

7/11/2004

Color Coding Mail.app Email

Cool tip:

Mail app: Color code your messages
If you want to color code your messages in the Mail app just press Apple-Shift-C to bring up the color palette. Select any color and you're done.
[Creative Bits]

Release your inner organize-ator with color-coded goodness!

7/10/2004

Hacked Site Redux: SPAM...

Yesterday, I thought someone might have hacked my site, until my brain kicked in and I realized that somebody's random SPAM machine simply deciphered my mail to post email address for the site. At least that is my current guess. SPAM is the devil.

7/09/2004

AddressBookToCSV

AddressBookToCSV allows you to export your Mac's Address Book into the proper format for importing to Gmail. Friggin' cool! Found it mentioned here.

Hacked Site?

What the hell? Look at this:

Cecilia Cheung

Cecilia Cheung2>
Cecilia Cheung [3650 and a 12-inch]

Just got this in my RSS feed for my site and never posted it and I have no idea where it came from. I just changed my password in case, but I am hoping it is some sort of Blogger error and not a security hole. Anybody have any ideas what this could be? ANYONE AT BLOGGER PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT! I tried to send a message regarding this issue, but your web form wouldn't post citing an internal error.

getTunes

Hack to download music form any shared iTunes playlist:

iTunes 4.6 MP3 Sharing
You can now use iTunes 4.6's sharing abilities to download music from anyone's shared iTunes playlist. getTunes is a Mac OS X application that can download music from Windows or Mac Rendezvous-shared music libraries. Simply incredible.Read more...
Support Powerpage.org by shopping at Amazon.com!
[PowerPage.org]

Wonder how long this will last before Apple smashes it to teeny little bits...

Psst! Pass it on...

Check it:

Get the vote out!
No, not for November.
For Firefox. The Mozilla.org folks have started a campaign to increase the visibility of Firefox. I think that this will be an interesting experiment on expanding the reach of an open source project via "marketing volunteers".
Even if you don't care about open source anything, at least go vote so that we can start ignoring all the IE related security alerts. And tell your friends and family, too. [Ted Leung on the air]

It's a good cause. Firefox is the hotness...

Tigerize Panther

I just wrote a short article called "Tigerize Panther" for AppleMatters and it is up on their site. Here's the direct link to the article (actually, it is a link to the comments page as there doesn't seem to be any permalink option on the post). Here's a snippet:

I'm going to quickly run you through some online freeware / shareware / donationware, that you can load up on your current Mac running Panther to replicate some of the functionality, albeit not the full look and feel, of Tiger. I'll organize the list so that it corresponds to the features list on Apple's Tiger Preview page, and keep in mind this is my list. It is not meant to be comprehensive. It's just what I know to be best, no matter what you say. ;-b

Check it out.

7/08/2004

PalmOne Shows Mac love...

PalmOne has a Mac-oriented page on their site now, for all you Palmers out there...

btchat

Rael has a find over at MobileWhack: btChat, a bluetooth-based instant messaging system. Pretty cool, although I don't really see the need. One use I can think of is for chatting at conferences, but as most have WiFI, I'd rather type it out on my 12-inch's keyboard. Otherwise, it kind of reminds me of passing notes in class and I could easily do that just by writing a Note on my 3650 and then sending that via bluetooth to a friend. I guess it does help you chat with people whose handle you don't know tho... Although for everybody to be using this, it would have to be one MEGA-G33K conference. w0rd.

pollas.dk losing the love for the 3650...

Say it ain't so... Anders Pollas of pollas.dk uses both a 3650 and a 12-inch, but:

While I’m still in newfound love with my 12” Powerbook, I’m starting to get sick and tired of my Nokia 3650. It’s butt-ugly but that I knew when I bought it. What I didn’t know was that even though it takes a 128MB card, once you store more than 2MB of data on it, the phone goes slo-mo. Saving images from the camera takes a good 30 seconds, it often needs rebooting (these phones are _not_ computers, damnit) and quite often strange error messages pop up for no apparent reason. I guess it could benefit from a firmware upgrade, but I don’t really feel like paying to get my phone to do what it was supposed to do in the first place… On top of that, I’ll lose my settings.

Okay, these are legitimate concerns, which have, of late, had me lusting after P800s and 900s and mysterious things called "SideKicks." In any case, here's some pointers to avoid these difficulties (and to help recuperate from a memory weak 3650):

This one is preventative: Install everything that you can on the removable MMC card. The phone's sparse megabytes of onboard memory is all it has for thinking and if it has too much there, it starts to slow down and turn dumb.
If you've already made the mistake of sticking too much on the phone's internal memory, install Fexplorer on the memory card, and use this to move everything you can over to the MMC card. Alternately, un-install (via Menu-->Tools-->Manager-->Options-->Remove)and reinstall everything to the MMC.
If you have done all of this and still are having problems, you are going to need to update the Firmware. However, if you first go to Menu-->Extras-->Memory, and then choose Options-->Backup phone mem., you can backup everything to your MMC card, then run the firmware update and then restore for this backup to retain all your old settings. h00t!

Hopefully, this will help whoever it was that was cursing me in the comments for recommending Frozen Bubble. (My comments have been wonky recently and won't let me access them, even tho they show up in my email's inbox). Good luck.

PDF and Word Browser Plugins...

This is the coolest! For the longest time, I have used and loved Shubert-it's PDF Browser Plugin, which has just been updated and allows you to seamlessly integrate PDFs in your web browsing experience (if you're on broadband that is); today, I come to find that along with the PDF Browser update, there is also a Word Browser Plugin that "displays a text only preview of Word documents within your web browser." And, they are both free. Get 'em while they're hot!

Drool... I want this handheld scanner...

Check out this NYTimes article (free reg required; use this to avoid the hassle). I hope it works with a Mac. This would make research SO much easier... UPDATE: Actually bothered to look up the DocuPen's site and read the FAQ:

• Is the DocuPen compatible with MACs? The DocuPen handheld scanner is currently hardware compatible with MACs, However, the current version of the bundled software does not include the MAC driver support. We are currently working to developing the MAC drivers. Once released, current PC users will have access to the new MAC drivers free of cost. Also, please sign up for Planon's E-newsletter to receive news of when the MAC version will be released first hand.

If anybody out there has any real world experience with this on their Mac, please comment below or shoot me an email. I want to know the details...

Hack #55: Share Your Mac's Net Connection with a Bluetooth Phone

I was checking my referrer logs and tripped across this: Hack #55: Share Your Mac's Net Connection with a Bluetooth Phone, a walk through of how my Share2Blue2th scripts came about, written by yours truly. Don't forget to pick up your copy of Mac OS X Panther Hacks for more hackable goodness...

Get Your London On!

I normally think that screensavers are the devil, but as London is my favorite city in the world (if only it cost less and were located in the USA), I thought I'd point out this new free London Screensaver, consisting of 10 high resolution B&W photos of the magical place.

iChatAV vs. PithHelmet

I love PithHelmet! However, I just discovered that it is the reason my iSight hasn't been sending a signal as of late. Not really PithHelmet so much as the SIMBL installation that PithHelmet requires. Fortunately, there is a solution:

iChat AV conflict with PithHelmet
MacFixIt reader John Stansbury has found that this SIMBL file can also conflict with iChat AV, interfering with video chats: "It wasn't until I went to the Apple Discussions that I found the solution in this post. It goes on to detail how to remove the SIMBL Folder from /Library/InputManagers/ (or ~/Library/InputManagers/) and replace it with the new SIMBL at http://culater.net/dl/files/SIMBL-0.4.tbz. That way, PithHelmet version 0.7.3 (http://culater.net/software/PithHelmet/PithHelmet.php) now works and so does iChat AV." [MacFixIt]

7/07/2004

Foofbags for your 12-inch...

Check it out:

Crafty laptop sleeves
Foofbags are Powerbook/iBook sleeves handsewn out of fun-fur and fleece. Link(Thanks, Dirtymouse!)
[Boing Boing Blog]

I'm more into the solid black formal case, but these bags might interest some of you.

FairKeys

Jon Lech Johansen has just released FairKeys: "...a tool which lets you retrieve your FairPlay keys from Apple's servers." It requires MonoFramework to be installed, but easy to follow instructions for OS X users are provided. This will help with the multiple keys on multiple machines dilemma that can occur.

Cecilia Cheung2> Cecilia Cheung

7/06/2004

Hacking Quartz and Desktop Manager...

I saw this over at /., which mentions this rather interesting interview with Rich Wareham of Desktop Manager. I then went to check out Desktop Manager, and after running it for 5 minutes, I am hooked. This thing is great for my itty-bitty 12" screen. I have the Desktop Manager window set to auto-hide under the upper right hand corner of my menu bar, and the Desktop Manager menu and pager hidden. In any case, download it now and check it out. Also, read the interview for some interesting developer goodness...

WiFi VOIP Phone...

This VOIP WiFi phone sounds really cool. If Vonage or my current cable company comes out with a branded version of this that I can move my current number to, then I'm sold. This would solve the problem I currently have that prevents me from hooking Vonage into my apartment's home system (the cable runs on one side of the apartment, whereas the phone lines run on the other with no meeting place between the two).

More on Konfab vs. Dashboard...

On today's Daring Fireball, John Gruber takes some time off from posting about membership drives to somewhat back off from his earlier rather harsh treatment of the Konfabulator and Dashboard "controversy." He still retains the unwarranted and condescending tone towards the "post-WWDC peanut gallery," which smacks of contradiction, considering that he isn't part of Apple, nor part of Konfabulator group, and his opinion on this matter is being linked to all over the place, so in essence he is one of the loudest members of the "peanut gallery." The controversy itself, hype or not, is evidence in itself for Apple's PR people (and Steve Jobs) handling the Dashboard announcement poorly. How could they have avoided it? Dunno. I agree that their product is not the same as Konfabulator and therefore buying Konfabulator makes no real sense. But there has to be some sort of happy medium between that extreme and the extreme we were all presented with, a rather blatant non-mention of Konfabulator alongside an equally blatant use of the term "widget," all the while describing the Dashboard platform's functionality in the following manner: "Widgets are mini-applications written in JavaScript that are designed for fun as well as function", which then necessitated the following clearing-of-the-murky-waters by Hyatt:

They are Web pages, plain and simple (with extra features thrown in for added measure). Apple's own web site says "build your own widgets using the JavaScript language", but that's sort of misleading. The widgets are HTML+CSS+JS. They are not some JS-only thing.

And Apple still hasn't corrected this 'misleading" comment on their Dashboard page. Misleading? Yes. Made to sound exactly like Konfabulator's widget platform? Yes. Why? Either to stir up the current "controversy" in the spirit of any press is good press (stupid) or to gun directly for and appeal to Konfabulator's current user base (stupid and evil*). Bad PR either way. *note that this isn't evil because it is trying to outshoot the competition. That's good business. It is evil because of the way Apple touts itself as the hero of the independent developer and then pulls this big fish little fish act whenever they damn well please. Contradiction of the Apple image. Bad PR.

7/05/2004

Powerbook KBarticle...

This KBarticle is pretty tightly packed with links and it's only part one. Check it out.

7/03/2004

Panther via PearPC on an Athlon laptop...

Matt Croydon has Panther running via PearPC on his Athlon XP 2500+ laptop. This is the first real-world example of someone I actually know about using this emulator, rather than just installing it and going NEAT and moving on. Really cool. Also, check out Matt's site. I used to be a regular reader, but somehow he slipped out of my RSS feedlist and I had incorrectly assumed that he had gone on blog-sabbatical. Anyway, the feed is back up and running, so I'll be relaying his cool finds, which he has on a regular basis. Like, for instance, this bit about Python for the Series 60. Cool stuff all around. Hi, Matt!

7/02/2004

Mac OS X Panther Hacks: Got my Copy!

I received my copy of Mac OS X Panther Hacks

this afternoon. Close to 600 pages of fun-filled hacking to play around with while we wait for Tiger. Congratulations to Rael Dornfest & James Duncan Davidson on putting this thing together, and thanks for letting me be a part of it. I contributed thirteen hacks to the book and it is cool to see the finished product: my work nicely edited and arranged amidst the work of so many others who worked hard to make this an interesting, useful, and good book. I sort of skimmed through the whole thing this afternoon, ego-browsing for all of my hacks, but along the way I found myself pausing at many of the other hacks with a "Wow!" and a "Cool!" and a surprised "I didn't know you could do that!", all the while making notes to myself to check these ideas out later. Really good stuff from a lot of good people that covers the gamut. However, I am an extremely vain person at heart and just want to point out for you all, my gentle readers, that that C.K.-goodness that you know so well can be found in Hacks #8, 11, 12, 27 (with the help of Hadley Stern), 28, 29, 31, 38, 42, 50 (with lots of help from Rael), 55, 79, and 85. ;-) Go get your copy now. UPDATE: MacDevCenter has three preview hacks from the book posted by Rael.

PithHelmet BETA report...

Just wanted to report back that I downgraded from the PithHelmet Beta that I installed earlier today. I'm running 0.7.3 now. For some reason, the beta was blocking cookies from Gmail and I couldn't access my Gmail account and I couldn't figure out how to disable the cookie blocking, so I had to ditch it. Other than that, it was pretty cool.

Safari Security Hole...

Actually, it isn't just Safari, it's almost every web browser out there worth its salt. MacFixIt has a breakdown of the situation. I wonder if Shiira is vulnerable?

PithHelmet Update...

PithHelmet 0.7.3 is fresh off the press. Ad-blocking and content filtering goodness for Safari. If you are feeling brave, there is a beta of version 2.0, which I am about to install on my machine. If you want to find out more about PithHelmet and other ad-blockers for your Mac, make sure you pick up a copy of Mac OS X Panther Hacks and read my article on the subject.

7/01/2004

Warner/Chappell support stripping DRM?

This, if true, is awesome.

Six Degrees: A prettier Zoe...

My friend, Jason, recently pointed me toward Six Degrees 2.0 and said I should check it out. There is a free lite version of the software if you want to give it a test run. I've only been playing around with it for a little while, but for the most part, it is a cleaner, prettier version of Zoe, which I have been using for months now (I also wrote an article about Zoe for Mac OS X Panther Hacks). In addition to the "Google your email" functionality of Zoe, 6 Degrees 2.0 provides a to-do list and project management capabilities, although the lite version only allows one sample project. Looks interesting. Six Degrees is not open source, so I'd prefer that Zoe continue to develop with an improved user interface and "get prettier" along the way. But, for now anyway, I am going to switch to using Six Degrees 2.0 lite for a while. If it proves to be more functional than Zoe and not just easier to look at and use, then I may spring for the personal version and I'll post about it here. UPDATE: Ok. After tinkering some more I discovered that you cannot reply to all, reply, or forward your email directly from within Six Degrees 2.0 in the lite version. Also, the lite version only allows you to have 4 items in your to-do list. Not nearly enough for the next 5 minutes, let alone my entire day. And since the buy-in price is $99, you might want to go the Zoe route. It sure ain't as pretty, but there's nothing stopping you from designing a better style sheet for the Zoe web interface.

Rendezvous for everyone!

Ted Leung blogs about the new cross-platform availability of Rendezvous. I think that one of the best things that could come from this would be Windows and Linux variants of SubEthaEdit that are compatible with SubEthaEdit, so we can all start working more effectively together despite our platform differences...

6/30/2004

Konfabulator vs Dashboard

Check out this remix of the "controversy" surrounding Dashboard and Konfabulator. Interesting take on things, though a bit too dismissive. "Peanut gallery"? I mean, come on. Here's why I don't like Apple's Dashboard move in relation to Konfabulator. Apple has for years complained about or pointed to the way that Windoze copies the Mac. Everybody in the Mac community complains whenever a new iMac-like PeeCee comes out, or another iPod want-to-be hits the market. It is most evident in their banner at WWDC, proclaiming 'Redmond, start your photocopiers,' which Arlo Rose remixes as "Cupertino, start your photocopiers!' on the Konfabulator home page. What the above linked rant largely overlooks and dismisses in Apple's actions is not only the hypocrisy that "Cupertino, start your photocopiers!" so ironically and clearly points out, but the design of it. Not the code design, but the look. Apple computers has a large stake in the design industry and lots of people who work in design like the look and feel of Apple not just for the Macintosh platform and the technological ease of it all, but because of the look and feel of the products. Who knows more about design and can better support design than someone who exhibits fantastic design? Now, with that in mind, hold a screenshot of Dashboard up against a screenshot of Konfabulator and tell me that they are not knowingly ripping off Konfab's design. Sure, the code is accomplished in entirely different ways and implemented differently, but on the surface it is a rip off. Just as Windoze remixes of Mac technologies are rip offs even though the code is entirely different. What makes it even more obvious is the way that the Apple press surrounding Dashboard's release is totally gunning for Konfabulator's current user base. Why call them widgets to the public when the developer documentation is different? Why say they are java-based (something Konfabulator is known for) and then have a Safari developer provide his clarification later? They want Konfab's customers, and it is obvious, and it is backfiring a bit on them. Sure, everybody copies everybody, but when it is big guys squashing little guys and in such an obvious play (all the time claiming that they love the little guys), it sucks. Bad move, Apple.

Frozen Bubble for your 3650...

Russell Beattie makes a good find for Symbian 60 users in the form of a nice free game for your 3650: Frozen Bubble. Unfortunately, Russ forgot the link, but a quick Google search turned up this. Pretty cool.

Hey, C.K., where you been all day?

Installing XP in VPC 6. Talk about slowing down your workflow.... ugh...

6/29/2004

Get your Keynote here...

If you are interested, Apple has posted the Keynote. Watch it, and then go ahead and buy a better Dashboard replacement today!

6/28/2004

Update from Talking Panda

I received a nice reply from Bob Ippolito, the developer behind Talking Panda:

CK, All of your existing Notes are stored in a numbered Notes backup folder on your iPod. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations of the iPod (there are scalability and nesting level issues), we made the decision to "take over" the Notes reader rather than attempt to integrate with existing notes. As you can see, we've made a special notice on our page hoping to make this decision more clear due to your input. We'll definitely be talking to Apple about upgrading the iPod firmware to better support our application in the future, but this is the "state of the art" as far as the iPod goes. I apologize for the response latency today, but I (the developer responsible for the installer) am currently attending WWDC and do not have constant internet access while sessions are going on. Bob Ippolito Talking Panda

Hopefully, Apple will continue to expand the possibilities of the Notes function on the iPod. Thanks, Bob!

Flash Lite for the 3650?

Macromedia has announced Flash Lite for Mobile Phones, but I can't find any info on whether it will be available for the 3650. The Nokia link takes you to a developer page discussing the Communicator 9200. Hazy. Try again later.

Save the iPod

Just received the following email:

Hey CK,

This is a pretty important story. There's a bill up right now that could mean serious legal troubles for future iPods, so we just launched savetheipod.com. It would be awesome if you could post about it to your iPod blog.

Thanks a ton for your time,
Holmes

A new Senate bill (S. 2560 - "The INDUCE Act") would make businesses liable for customers who use their product to make unauthorized copies. Legal experts say this bill would give the big record companies grounds to sue Apple for selling the Apple iPod. People need to act right now to save the iPod:

www.savetheipod.com

Today, activists from freeculture.org will be on the ground at WWDC in San Francisco passing out "Save the iPod" stickers. But we need everyone to get involved. At savetheipod.com you can fax your senator, and send op-ed letters to local papers. Do it now!

Apple computer gave the major record labels the iTunes Music Store, quite possibly their best chance for survival on the internet. You'd think they would be gratetful. But now the major labels, along with Hollywood, are pushing for legislation that would give them the power to bully hardware manufacturers and software designers. The major labels say the law is aimed at p2p companies, but the legal language they're pushing is much broader than that.

The labels have not promised that they won't sue hardware manufacturers. Two decades ago, Hollywood sued Sony for making the Betamax VCR, and the INDUCE Act would make lawsuits like that possible again. This threat needs to be taken seriously.

Read more at: savetheipod.com

For legal information on how this new bill threatens Apple and the iPod see the EFF: http://www.eff.org/IP/Apple_Complaint.php

Usually, I would file this under "The Sky is Falling," but the way things have been going politically as of late, I fear that Chicken Little may be right.... *x-posted on my iPod blog...

WARNING: Don't install Talking Panda... [UPDATE]

Alright, I just had a bad experience. This post over at Gizmodo pointed me to Talking Panda, a really cool language guide complete with audio built for the iPod's Notes feature. The problem? Well, installing the guide erased ALL OF MY NOTES without any warning or indication that it would, replacing my entire Notes folder with the Japanese demo. Supremely uncool. Here's the email I just sent them regarding this issue:

Hiya, I just downloaded the demo of your Japanese book and was going to recommend it to my readers, because it really is a great idea. However, the installer to your program just erased all the Notes I had stored in my Notes folder on my iPod which really really sucks. You should probably fix it so that the book installs in a folder inside the Notes folder rather than simply replacing everything inside the Notes folder. Otherwise, it will make it extremely impractical and hazardous for many users. Let me know when you've fixed this error. --C.K.

If you never use your Notes folder, though, go check it out. UPDATE: Okay, I discovered thanks to comments here that there was actually a backup folder of my Notes made on the iPod during installation. However, I have not heard back from the developers and there is no documentation of this backup in the form of a read me or on their website (only evidently in the installer itself, which I clicked thru). So, at the least, better documentation is needed. BUT, this still cripples my iPod's Notes functionality when on the go. I can either have Talking Panda, or I can have my Notes. I suppose I could drag the backed up Notes over to the Notes folder and have them all mixed up with Talking Panda, but that is extremely messy. I hope they revise the software so that it installs in a folder inside the Notes folder rather than becoming a Notes folder hog, as it currently is.

But can I watch TV on it....

The new Apple displays are pretty and all, wall-mountable too, but all I really want to know is if I can watch TV on it. Please tell me someone is developing a box that can make one of these puppies my sleek, aluminum TV!

WWDC 2004 Announcements... Not so live coverage...

I'm in a chat, and reading the live coverage via MacMerc, MacCentral, MacRumors, and trying to get Think Secret to load. Looks like MacRumors is the only site with auto-reload of their pages (although only every 3 minutes), so I am spending more time there. Here's what's happened so far:

New all aluminum 23" display, new 30" display, new 20" display ($1,299); all with DVI connections, two USB 2.0 ports and 2 Firewire ports (ADC connection is gone! YES!)
Fully 64-bit Tiger coming in "first half of 2005" with iTunes-like search-ability, calling it "Spotlight." Translation of "first half": a year from today (my guess).

New Safari RSS reader, which is searchable (cool!).
Core Image/ Video—processes in graphics processor (GPU), not the CPU.
New .mac stuff—Sync multiple macs, new control panel.
Dashboard—"exposé for widgets"; so they're screwing over the Konfabulator guys? That sucks... pics; see here for more on why Apple sometimes sucks like all the other big companies pushing people around...
Automater—visual scripting (applescript 4 dummies); here's a pic somebody posted in the chat...
iChat will handle multiple AV chats simultaneously; 10 audio, 3 video (and lots of spinning beachballs of death, I would imagine...)

And it is over. That was anti-climactic. And no free downloads available today. AND they totally screwed over the Konfabulator team. Bad karma, Apple. Bad show.