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.

.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...

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/

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.

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.

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...

What Apple is Missing

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

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.

Mac OS X for the Traveler, Part 3

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

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?

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.

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...

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!

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.

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.