Category Archive » Apple and Mac OSX

Having some copyright fun with GarageBand.
[ January 29, 2004 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Many of us older nerds have played with MIDI files before and played them on our old crappy computers and enjoyed popular songs played out in the style of childish muzak. On the Mac, Quicktime Instruments (a plugin) did a better job than that old Amiga at playing these files, but GarageBand improves on that be several orders of magnitude. Here's how to have some MIDI fun in GarageBand...

1. Use a Mac that is pretty fast (because GarageBand is kind of a pig)
2. Go download Dent du Midi
3. Find a MIDI file of a song you like, in my case, I used Google to find a MIDI file of the old "Popcorn" song by Hot Butter. There's plenty of files out there.
4. Install Dent du Midi, open it and drag and drop the MIDI file you downloaded onto the Dent du Midi window. Look on the desktop for a folder with the name of the MIDI file with "-GB" attached to the end.
5. Start a new song in GarageBand and drag the .aif files onto the GarageBand window (dragging the hole folder won't work).
6. Start applying instruments to the various tracks and have butchering your old favorites into bloody mess.

<sarcasm>
Hey Kids! Now you can violate copyrights in a new way! Releasing your own remix of old one hit wonders (or even new classics like the Simpsons theme) may be annoying to the original copyright holder due to the quality of the output you can achieve with GarageBand. So, get that Eurythmics groove going again and record you own voice over your own mix, edit the ID3 tags to look like the real thing, and upload it to Usenet (using Unison of course) and make it available on Kazaa (with your PC)!

Better yet, why not just steal the baseline from one song, the drums from another, and the keyboards from another and just sequence them together with zero effort in GarageBand. No one will be able to tell when you distort the hell out of everything so you can call it your own and sell it on your very own website!
</sarcasm>

Spin faster Mr Bono.


Are five minute compositions worth anything?
[ January 26, 2004 | Permalink | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I was at the Apple Store (in meatspace, not online) and was tooling around with GarageBand on a dual proc 1.8gz G5. Loading loops was taking longer on that machine than my G4, so I thought that was weird, but even more weird, and kind of amusing was that Terminal was, in a way, disabled on the machine. They had stuffed the file into a password protected archive which made it hard for me to scp my GarageBand file to my host (instead of being evil and rf -rm'ing the filesystem in Terminal).

I had been noodling around in GarageBand for about 5 minutes and came up with a set of loops and arrangement I liked and wanted to keep the file, so I just downloaded Transmit, connected to the host, uploaded the .band file, disconnected, cleared my connection from the 'recent connections' list, trashed the app and the .band file and walked away (after setting the music to play in a loop on the machine). It's WAY too easy.


Yeah, GarageBand is cool.
[ January 23, 2004 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Being the Mac dweeb that I am, I of course am playing with GarageBand and have a few opinions to share ("opinions are like assholes..."). Primarily, it's an interesting application for non-musicians like myself who want to fool themselves into thinking they created some music. Without ever playing an instrument, you can fake it enough where your wife will believe that you created the music coming out of the speakers, and that can be pretty satisfying in itself.

Really though, GarageBand is a grokkable composition and arrangement application offering you some flexibility in modifying, tweaking and embellishing the (MANY) loops provided for you. And you can add in your own noodling with a keyboard and microphone, but I'm inept and will mercifully keep my talent out of the ears of others. And again, in spite of that, I was able to fool my wife into believing that I created the music and she was actually interested in knowing how I did it. I don't think i want to show her because the bloom will be off the rose at that point, and I think that might be the Achilles heel of this application for the masses out there (ie, I don't see any Billboard hits coming out of this app, but who knows...)

What I'll really be looking at when I use the app and when I hear the songs created by GarageBand users is the compositional quality and arrangement skills of the song and author. Lots of electronic music out there is anchored in composition with a veneer of beeps, twitters and synth chords (a delicious collection to be sure) so, I figure that I'll be able to use GarageBand for a long while without missing out on the creative process that is solely based on loops arrangement (in my musically untalented case, maybe not yours). There's enough value in that for me to justify the price of iLife 04 (of which GarageBand is a part).

In terms of user interface, I utterly loathe the wooden UI elements surrounding the main application. It's cheesy, ugly and matches nothing else in the Mac OSX software pantheon, and the brushed metal theme on other iLife apps don't fill me with dreams of derivative experimentation (like Kaleidoscope did for some reason). Luckily though, the app is simple enough to allow for this multiple document interface paradigm (I loathe that word more than any other). Adding in tracks and fiddling with output levels and timing is pretty straightforward, but the process of importing loops or other sounds is completely undocumented (afaict).

After using offline help (and failing) and online help I was able to figure out how to import loops into GarageBand thru drag and drop. Just drag a folder of loops onto the loops area of the window and it will import them. However, it won't highlight that area when you are dragging the folder over it, so you have no indication that you are doing the right thing. There is widespread absence of contextual hinting in the app's UI...

• There are zero contextual menus in the app
• Tooltips are non-existent, and there are several buttons in the app that are completely new to me and new to Apple iApps
• Selecting a track will subtly highlight the instrument in the track and un-grey out the loops that may be in the track. This needs to be made more obvious.
• Like I said before, droppable region hinting isn't there and the Help application shows no info when you search for 'import'.

The only hinting that I can see is a line appearing in the main composition window when you drag a loop into the area (the line shows where, in time, that loop will start). So called "Real Instruments" and "Software Instruments" can only be dragged onto certain types of effects filters so the line will only show up if you are making a new track by the drag and drop action, of if the loops is compatible with the effect defined in a track you have already created. It's annoying (to me, the neophyte) that there is this compatibility issue in there when it comes to loops and effects.

Still though, it's a fun application to use and it passes the 'wake up' test for me, which works like the following...

• When I wake up in the morning, do I think about the application and feel motivated to get out of bed and use it?
• When I use the app, does it make me think differently about things?

When the answer is "yes" to both questions, I get excited.


$50 extra.
[ January 06, 2004 | Permalink | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Apple says that for fifty extra dollars, you can get a way better portable music player than you typical flash memory based unit. Well, for fifty extra dollars over this new iPod mini, you can almost quadruple the amount of storage (from 4 gigs to 15 gigs) with a less-than-modest increase in size. Essentially, the difference is $50, 2 ounces and 11 gigabytes. Somehow Apple has managed to make something less expensive and make it more of a luxury item.


MSFT employee fired for posting pic of G5's.
[ October 29, 2003 | Permalink | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Firing him will generate more bad press than his blog posting would have. I would never of heard of this unless the news of his release from MSFT was put on the various Mac news sites. Everyone is going to see this story today, but I'm going to post about it here anyway.

Now really, it seems to me that MSFT must need to buy some Macs so they can be sure their Mac software actually runs, right? What's the harm in showing a pallette of G5's (some of them knocked over) on a truck? If they poster didn't say it was at Microsoft building, you would be able to tell.

Where I work, we have a Standards of Business Conduct thing that you agree to work there, which I read carefully, and it suggests that giving away corporate secrets will get you into trouble. That's why I didn't post pics of AOL's blogging system while it was in beta, and why I don't make all of the corporate logos available for download in vector format. Those would be obvious violations of trust between me and the company that feeds my family.

IMHO, a picture of a pallette of G5's being delivered to a company that writes Mac software is not grounds for removal. But who knows, this guy could be a major asshole who was on a 'work performance plan' and the company was looking for an excuse. Who knows. I don't, but the whole thing is pretty crazy.


MSFT iTunes FUD (or 'How I Didn't Learn to Stop Worrying and Love iTunes')
[ October 21, 2003 | Permalink | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Dave Fester, General Manager of the Windows Digital Media Division has a few things to say about the iPod and iTunes on the PC (and what a coincidence, the article was posted the day before Apple announced iTunes for PC). Even though he looks sprightly and offers you a high rez portrait of himself (oh joy!), he is less than enthusiastic about one more digital media application being written for his platform. Here's a quick look at the FUD...

iTunes will still remain a closed system, where iPod owners cannot access content from other services.

Nice FUD buddy. The last time I checked (which is every day for the last several months) I was able to put music on my iPod from non-iTunes based music services (eg, eMusic, MP3.com). Don't take my word for it though, just look at Apple's tech specs page for the device...

Audio formats supported:

• Mac: AAC (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 Variable Bit Rate (VBR), WAV, AIFF, Audible
• Windows: MP3 (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 Variable Bit Rate (VBR), WAV, Audible

WMA is of course missing. <sarcasm>WMA, that really open file format that lets you do whatever you want with the music you bought.</sarcasm> What he really meant was that iTunes and the iPod do not work with BuyMusic.com, Napster or the other WMA specific music services currently being offered in the marketplace. IMHO, that's a good thing.

Additionally, users of iTunes are limited to music from Apple's Music Store.

Now, that's true, but only if you limit the scope of that statement to "in terms of buying music and putting it on your iPod without leaving one application" then it is indeed true that users of "iTunes are limited to music from Apple's Music Store." But, again, the last time I checked, music that I bought at eMusic.com, and downloaded off of MP3.com can be placed on my iPod using iTunes.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a drawback for Windows users, who expect choice in music services, choice in devices, and choice in music from a wide-variety of music services to burn to a CD or put on a portable device.

The last time I checked the flexibility offered by paid music download services that use WMA for the format, none of them match the iTunes service (10 burns per playlist, files can be on multiple machines, etc). Some only let you stream the music. And others only allow one CD to be burned. If you take a look at BuyMusic.com which uses WMA you'll notice that "BuyMusic's terms of sale also shut out several major digital music players from receiving downloads." More precisely...

The company specifies that devices are allowed to store digital music files and play them back in analog form but must not be able to transfer them on to other electronic devices. For example, consumers with an Archos device, an iPod competitor, would not be able download music, because that system allows them to transfer music to other devices. -C|net

Why isn't Mr. Fester complaining about BuyMusic.com's obvious lack of 'wide-variety' of support for portable devices? Oh yeah, they are WMA based. Ok, more on iTunes and music devices...

Lastly, if you use Apple's music store along with iTunes, you don't have the ability of using the over 40 different Windows Media-compatible portable music devices.

Is he trying to say that the iTunes application breaks all other music players? I'm guessing he meant to say something like 'syncing to a Rio doesn't work in iTunes' but the actual statement is kind of odd and FUD-like. I'll assume he's not being smarmy and meant the more benign interpretation, and I'll simply say, 'so what?' I own an iPod for a few good reasons, and one of them is the integration with iTunes and my Mac. 750,000 PC users have bought iPods for their own reasons. iTunes integration can now be added to that list.

The bottom line is that Apple brought iTunes to the PC to sell more iPods. God forbid they make iTunes work with the iPod and any MP3, ACC, VBR MP3, WAV or Audible file that you might have, regardless of where you got it (and if you are like me, you don't care that WMA and other DRM based music file formats aren't supported).

[I've been on a real tear with the Apple/Mac postings recently, and MacSurfer has been linking to those posts. Thanks for the links and thanks for visiting.]


The battle for default browser status.
[ October 16, 2003 | Permalink | 15 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Being a web developer, I download all of the browsers I can get and use them and come to various opinions about their utility, speed, compatibility and that intangible 'like it or hate it' quality. For the last month or two, Safari and Mozilla have been taking turns as my 'love it' browser, and I now keep them both running at all times.

Safari is my most often used browser for a few simple reasons...

• It's pretty fast.
• It has tabbed brosing.
• I want to support the mothership.
• The bookmarks handling is great.
• The Google search is small and always there for me.

But there is one huge disadvantage in Safari that I'm not sure affects many other people. The JavaScript engine is very slow. Simple JavaScript is nicely handled and the engine is pretty good in terms of standards compatibilitiy, but when the going gets tough and there's lots of heavy JavaScript to deal with, Safari bogs down. I have one page in particular that I use daily that is a great example. but that's on an intranet site and you can get there from the Internet. Mozilla handles that same page perfectly, and extremely quickly.

Mozilla's advanages are...

• Fast parsing/rendering.
• Fast JavaScript handling.
• Standards compliancy.
• JavaScript Debugger, JavaScript Console and the Dom Inspector

Unfortunately, it's not an Apple browser (which is not a good reason to say it's disadvantaged, but for some reason I put it in there), has an unnessesarily chunky UI (why are the tabs so huge?) and has an email client embedded (I would migrate to Firebird but there's no DOM Inspector or JavaScript debugger, and it's still pretty buggy).

I think Safari is better for casual browsing and Mozilla is better for working. (Dis)Agree?


Why did I buy an iPod?
[ October 11, 2003 | Permalink | 15 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

With so many portable digital music players out there, why did I pick the iPod? Let me count the ways...

1. It's pretty small.
2. It's a firewire hard drive.
3. You can install OSX on it and boot from it, so I can bring your environment with you anywhere.
4. I'm a Mac zealot, I admit it.
5. It's a light weight PDA, and all I really need is a lightweight PDA instead of a PocketPC (shudder) or even a Zire.
• I can export from my corporate calendar system over to iCal and pump that on the iPod
• I use Apple's Mail application, and add people to the Address Book a lot, and having all of those contacts in my pocket helps when I'm on call.
6. I have a Mac at work and Mac at home, and only one bookmarks file.
7. Oh yeah, I listen to music, a lot. (Several hours a day).
8. My car has an auxillary input in it, and I can plug my iPod into it.
9. The user interface and HCI elements of the iPod work well for me, and this post at Daring Fireball made me realize that...
• You can scroll through long lists with an iPod using one continuous circular motion with your thumb; with a DJ-like scroll wheel (on the recently announced Dell Digital Jukebox), you're forced to scroll in short strokes, picking up your thumb each time, repeatedly, which wastes half your effort.
10. I had $250 in gift certificates to the Apple store, so a mere $50 out of my pocket put 10 gigs into my pocket.

OS X for system administration.
[ October 09, 2003 | Permalink | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

The rumor around my office is that we're going to buy a site license (for our department anyway) of Mac OS X 10.3 (aka, Panther) due to the large amount of system administrators doing their SA work on OSX machines. In case that rumor doesn't pan out, and we don't get a site license, I plan on buying Panther myself.

The important thing is this, Panther is going to be expensive ($130), but everyone around here wants it (except for the Linux guys) and no one wants to pirate it. That's pretty good news for Apple I think, and I can't wait for the 24th to roll around. I'm most lookng forward to Exposé.

[I've been pretty busy recently with real life stuff. I hope to return to regular blogging volume soon.]


A good MacOSX RSS feed.
[ September 29, 2003 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Over the weekend, Apple improved their RSS feed for the OSX downloads page (and perhaps improved other feeds?). The feed now contains a full description of the application download instead of a simple subject line. You can subscribe to that feed here. There's also a "Hot Downloads" RSS feed here.


iPod Notes are the coolest extra.
[ September 17, 2003 | Permalink | 8 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

There are several 'extras' on the iPod including a Calendar thingy, some contacts handling and other junk like Solitaire (which I won while on my beach vacation a few weeks back). The notes functionality is cool too, but what makes it VERY cool, or more to the point, usable and helpful, is the 'clipboard to iPod note' AppleScript.

The script does what it claims to do. It takes whatever text is in the clipboard, and smashes it into a text note, and dumps that onto your iPod. If the text is more than 4k in size (the max size of an iPod note is 4k for some reason) it will automagically split it up into the number of files it needs to cover the data, and links them together, and copies them all to the iPod.

It does a pretty good job at getting the text parsed and written out in a useful way. Tables of data lose their formatting of course, but not in a horribly unuseable way, and the auto linking of long text blobs is extremely helpful.


Application Switching can be a Killer App.
[ June 25, 2003 | Permalink | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I will be waiting for Panther like small furry animal, and will no doubt give Apple another $129 the night the OS comes out (only dorks buy software midnight). Mostly because I want to use Exposé. Application switching has always been a problem in Windowed GUI's, and maybe Apple has a solution.

for the past couple of years, I have been using various system utilities to deal with application switching. I like command-tabbing over to other apps, but I don't like the clutter. I typically run with 6 to 10 applications open at any time, and those windows add up. ASM offered a pretty flexible solution for hiding applications on switch. So, when I go to BBEdit from Safari, the browser will get hidden, and BBEdit will be un-hidden, which keeps the screen clean. ASM let(s) you choose applications that will be hidden in various ways...

• Hide this app when switching away from it.
• Never hide this app when switching away from it.
• Don't hide the other app when switching to this app.
• Always hide the other app when switching to this one.
• etc.

This allows us to keep a few apps visible at all times, while forcing other apps to hide as you move from one to the next. I assign the Finder to never be hidden, and to never make the previous app hide. the same goes with my instant messenger and other system monitor tools. I push all of these over to the second monitor.

Now, some of you Windows users may be thinking "that sounds sort of like SDI." And you are right, in a twisted way, I am emulating a Windows GUI paradigm; Single Document Interface. This is used in the current AOL clients for windows, and used to be used in Photoshop, but I don't know if that's the case anymore. Anyway, the idea is that ne master window contains all of the other windows for the given app, so when I click on the task bar for another SDI app, it fills the screen.

The vital difference between my SDI and MSFT's si that there is no containing window. the windows float over the Desktop and Finder windows. This makes drag and drop possible from the Finder to the currently selected app, and makes entering IMG tags in BBEdit SO MUCH EASIER.

Now, go have a look at Exposé and see how it might be useful way of dealing with window clutter and application switching. And think about how many shareware application switchers (here, here and here) may be rendered useless, or at least, less attractive.


WWDC post mortem.
[ June 25, 2003 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I was, of course, disappointed by Steve's keynote at Apple's world wide Developers conference. Why? Because I read the rumors sites often and had built up insane expectations based on scraps of half truths that were floating out there. Here's my grandest delusion...

A while back there were rumors that 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 ghz G5 processors were sent by IBM thru a purchase order from Apple to a Taiwanese manufacturer called Foxconn. They actually make Apple's stuff. Now, flash forward a week or two and consider Apple's leaked G5 tower details. they mentioned 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 ghz processors. Where did the 1.4's go?

Another rumor was floating around that Apple's retail outlets had been receiving pallettes of the new product, and there were two box sizes. One big, one less big, which meant to me, tower and Powerbooks. G5s are not better than G4s at wattage dissipation (42 watts in the 1.8 ghz G5 vs. 30 watts in the 1 ghz G4), so only the 1.4s can be in those supposed "Powerbook boxes." But that was bunk.

There was no Powerbook announcement, but I still assume one is coming soon. The current crop of Powerbooks are getting old (8 months old in some cases, and Apple's typical Powerbook refresh cycle is 6 months). So, perhaps G5 Powerbooks will eventually show up, and if they do, they will be just as hot as the G4 tiBooks, and I'll buy one anyway.


Worst Kept Secret Ever.
[ June 20, 2003 | Permalink | 8 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

The rampant speculation that Apple is about to release new hardware based on the IBM PowerPC 970 (aka the G5) processor has been confirmed, sort of. Yesterday, one of the graphic images that Apple uses in the product pages got mixed up, and the file that shows the specs for the G5 was put out on Apple.com.

Stevie Boy Blue has been a pretty notorious secret keeper, and lawsuits have been the result of leaked secrets before. This time though, pretty much everyone knew the G5's were coming. IBM said they were, and rumors leaked Apple's manufacturer that large quantities of processors were in hand and machines were being made. Others have seen the pallette coming into various apple store with notes not to open them until the announcements happens.

It's pretty hysterical that the actual details were leaked by Apple. Who ever made the mistake is going to get ripped a new asshole. My thanks got out to him/her though, because it makes the buying decision easier to make (ie, don't buy a G4 and wait a week and buy a G5). Here's what was leaked...

• 1.6GHz, 1.8GHz, or Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5 Processors
• Up to 1 GHz processor bus
• Up to 8GB of DDR SDRAM
• Fast Serial ATA hard drives
• AGP 8x Pro3 PCI or PCI-X expansion slots
• One FW800, two FW400 ports
• Bluetooth & Airport Extreme ready
• Optical and analog audio in and out

The max amount of RAM seems pretty huge to me, but the real story is that the 1.6's and 1.8's are single processor units. My guess is that the dual proc 2.0 ghz's are going to be in the $3k range, and the low end will be around $1800, but that's just a guess. At any rate, I think it's a mistake to buy a single processor unit these days. Because...

The PowerPC 970, on the other hand, is designed from the ground up with multi processing in mind--IBM intends to see the 970 used in 4-way or higher desktop SMP systems.

I'm dreaming of ultra fast DV to MPEG conversions, and iMovie transitions previews and rendering. /drool


Pent up demand.
[ June 10, 2003 | Permalink | 5 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

It seems to me that Apple always has "pent up demand" when it comes to new hardware (except for the Performa Christmas disaster). This update cycle will be a classic pent up demand bonanza if the rumors are true...

Apple Computer Inc. is nearing the release of desktop systems featuring IBM's 64-bit PowerPC 970 chip, sources report?but a 64-bit version of Mac OS X may lag behind by a month or two.

Looprumors had this to say back in May...

We received word that two large shipments of Power PC 970 processors went to Foxconn in Taiwan, under a purchase order from Apple computer. Twenty thousand 1.4Ghz PPC 970's and forty thousand 1.6Ghz PPC 970's have already arrived in their hands. IBM's inventory contains fifty thousand 1.8 Ghz PPC 970's, of which forty thousand are destined for Foxconn tomorrow (Wednesday).

So, it certainly seems as though there are rumors covering the supply chain, which has always been Apple's problem, along with slow ass Motorola G4 processors. I kind of think it's cute how Moto is attempting to make a better G4 and sell that to Apple. My guess is that Apple actually uses it in future iBooks (if it's a low enough wattage). But really, who cares. All that matters is that the G5's do come out, are available in volume, and that Panther is a true 64 bit operating system. Assuming all of that falls into place, I expect G5's to be a hot commodity.


Mac websites roundup.
[ May 29, 2003 | Permalink | 10 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Eric emailed me about Mac software yesterday after an iBook compulsion buy (good for you!). He hasn't been a Mac user since System 7 ruled the roost, so there is no doubt he meant it when he had no clue what the good current apps are. Here's a few resources to get up to speed...

Useful Mac

Useful Mac is a tight list of good software for Mac OSX. The site doesn't try to be a listing of all Mac software, or attempt to sell stuff to you, etc. They just list what's good, in a nicely organized UI, and for the most part, I agree with most of their choices.

VersionTracker.com

VersionTracker does try to be a listing of everything in the Mac software universe, and pretty much catches all of it. If a new rev of something comes out, they know of it. My only complaint is the use of window.status code to show you one url, but the href over to another, and then use window.location to load the URL you thought you were going to get in the first place.

MacNN.com

A long time ago I used to be a daily Macintouch.com reader, but for some reason, I switched over to MacNN a while back. The site just feels more like a news site to me, and has less ancillary data/info associated with the articles. It's sort of like the USA Today of Mac news sites.

LoopRumors.com

There are many Mac rumors sites out there, and they tend to snipe at each other, speculate wildly, and report normal (well known) news. These folks seem to keep it clean, and usually keeps things up to date. SpyMac.com is another one to check out.

Dev Tools, Dev Tool, Dev Tools!

It's an absolute must to install the Dev Tools for Mac OSX. All of the goodies like cvs and scp are in there (not to mention gcc3). You can download the Dev Tools from the Apple Developer site (you have to register, but can do so without paying out any cash). I also have an extra Dev Tools CD that I got at the O'Reilly Tech conference, so if anyone wants that, I'll be happy to mail it out.

That list should at least get anyone started. If anyone has anything add, please do.


myPod.
[ April 30, 2003 | Permalink | 15 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Being the well renowned Apple-phile in my family, I was assumed to buy an iPod as soon as it was announced. They were/are after all, pretty cool little devices. But being the well seasoned Apple-phile, I knew the prices were going to be totally out of control and I was right about that, wasn't I. Being the possessions interloper that I am, I managed to receive a few Apple Store gift certificates totalling $250, but that still was $150 away from the 10 gig model at the time

The recent announcement that Apple has revamped the iPod line and made the 10 gig model $300 means that I can spend $50 and get a sweet ass new iPod with the cool little controls, lighter weight, and smoother edges. I can hardly wait until Friday to go buy one (and get a free tshirt, hehehe).

In somewhat related news, Apple is "[attempting] to patent [an] iPod-like 'scroll-disk' mouse" for use on the desktop. TheRegister notes...

Another benefit the applications cites is that the user doesn't need to take his or her finger off the disk to continue scrolling - "ie. the disc can be rotated through 360 degrees of rotation without stopping" - unlike a scroll-wheel, which forces you to continually pull your finger off the wheel if you want to go beyond whatever arc of the wheel is exposed.

This isn't really a big deal to me at all, based on the fact that computers are pretty smart and can be programmed to see how fast I am scrolling the scrollwheel and match that on screen. I don't see the benefit in racing thru a doc, but I do the benefit when slowly scrolling thru a doc, or attempting to finely control the movement thru a menu. The scrollwheel doesn't click into place, but allows for that analog style of input that makes modern video game controllers so awesome.

Consider the methods of use of this iPod like mouse wheel thing. Would you have to hold it in your hand, or can you cup it like a normal mouse. I tend to race back and forth between the mouse and keyboard a lot, and adding in an extra step of 'picking up' and 'putting down' would be pretty crappy HCI. The physical implementation is inherently different on a mouse than on an iPod and I'll be interested to see what they come up with. In the meantime, I'm buying myPod.


I want to Sync, not import.
[ April 09, 2003 | Permalink | 9 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Is it me, or can you not export your bookmarks from Safari? It's possible to back up your bookmarks file by going to this file path...

/Users/your_user_name/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist

...but I'd like to have a mechanism in the broswer to export this to (X)HTML or RDF or even RSS.

Apple's PLIST format is XML, and parseable, and transformable. So ultimately, what I really want is for someone (even Apple) to write something that can transform my Safari bookmarks into the format Mac IE5 reads and into the format that Camino reads (and vide versa).

Some sort of cronable job would be optimal where all of my bookmarks would be sync'd between my browsers, which would require transformations from and to each format. This avoids exporting, and then importing, which is time consuming. I can't even imagine writing the diff code.

Not even the Camino authors have Safari bookmark imports working yet, so maybe I'm asking for a bit much...

Note that, although it initially shows you Internet Explorer's bookmarks, you can import bookmarks from OmniWeb, iCab, Mozilla, Netscape, and Camino itself. Safari bookmarks cannot yet be imported.

One can wish, can't he?


osOpinion declares Dvorak is an idiot.
[ April 03, 2003 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

To wit...

For nearly as long as I can remember, people have been predicting that Apple would switch to Intel processors. John Dvorak's prediction that Apple would switch within the next 12 to 18 months is unusual only in that he sees Apple going to Itanium rather than x86 chips.

But just like all the forecasters that came before him, Dvorak has it wrong. It would be a boldly stupid move for Apple to try to switch to Itanium, for a number of reasons.

I've never read anything Dvorak has written (which admittedly is not much) that I thought was on the mark, well thought out, and not intended to incite me somehow. I swear he must only be digging for click-thrus, whereas the osOpinion people attempt to provide reasoned analytics in their articles.

In the osOpinion article, they make this extremely important remark...

Assuming that the Mac faithful are willing to undergo another migration -- and there are plenty of Mac fans who would probably stick with Apple through anything -- what about the third-party software vendors? Vendors are going to be less tolerant of yet another radical shift so soon after the switch to OS X.

And you can point to Quark for a good example. Even now, years after I started using OSX, Quark has yet to release an OSX native XPress. Never mind the service companies who have investments in PowerPC based hardware. Getting them to migrate their software is a challenge, hardware migration is another one, and we don't need any more Mac challenges right now. The slow processor problem can be mitigated by IBM, but has to be done RIGHT NOW and CHEAPLY. An Itanium switch addresses neither of those needs.

But who cares about any of that when you can get involved with another Mac/PC holy war.


The Economist on Sony (and Apple).
[ February 28, 2003 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Part of my college education was sitting in far too many poli-sci classes listening to, and participating in, discussions about European security, international trade, and Green Party politics (bleh). Most of it bored me to tears, except for the reading assignments that involved The Economist. It's a good rag.

Now, The Economist discusses things like Sony's "Life after PlayStation 2." It's an excellent read and includes such hist as...

• "people walking around with an iPod and an Apple PowerBook look much cooler than those equipped with a Clie and a Vaio notebook"
• "With so many consumer-electronics, software and other technology firms co-operating to forge an alternative to Microsoft, it will be hard for Sony alone to gain control of the living room."
• "If its [Sony's] desire to protect itself against piracy messes up its other plans, firms such as Apple will continue to design the devices that Sony ought to be making."

Also, the article has a cool pie chart in it that looks more like a donut chart than a pie chart. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, donut chart.....
[via MacCentral]


Fools rush in.
[ February 24, 2003 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Out of the many Apple related articles recently published, only one dares to say something smart. All of the others are unsubstantiated or plainly ignorant...

The good...

• Job No. 1 for Apple: Find a Parade and Get in Front of It - by Tiernan Ray
  

  The gauntlet has been thrown down. When David Stutz, a former product line manager at Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), fired off a version of his resignation letter last week, arguing that Microsoft must innovate, it was a wake-up call to packaged software vendors: Decide how you'll bring value to free software, or face extinction.

The bad...

• [title missing] - By ???
  
  The article has been removed from their site due to the lack wit writing no doubt.

The unsubstantiated...

• Wanted: A Portable Desktop Replacement That Really Is - By Jason Brooks

It's not that I wasn't charmed by the littlest Apple. The 12-inch PowerBook is beautifully made, and although I've yet to see the Lindows Mobile PC up close, I can't imagine it cutting a more striking figure than the Apple unit does. What's more, the G4-driven PowerBook certainly packs a greater performance punch than does the Lindows Mobile, which is powered by a 933MHz C3 chip from Via that's built for low power and low heat, but not for speed.

Then why do you want the Lindows box?

I bought REM's "Document", will I buy Apple's?
[ January 28, 2003 | Permalink | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Back in the day, cassettes were the compact music format of choice, REM was still college rock, and Document was an album title. Today, it's the next great hope that Apple will be able to shed the MSFT life support system called Word.

MacWhispers, a Mac rumors site that I've never heard of is saying apple will release an app (suite?) called Document meant to supplant the aforementioned productivity app I have bought and caused two employers to buy (I know, I suck). A month ago I would have thought this was a crazy idea and that MacWhispers ultra low posting count (i mean c'mon, the post number is 0000009, and doesn't under the same domain name as the home page) but Safari makes me believe that Apple is doing everything it can to dump the MSFT.

Who knows. I don't use Word all that often anyway. The big question is if they make this app, will they sell it, or give it away?


MSFT fictional FUD means something.
[ October 14, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

This most recent FUD attempt from MSFT is especially tickling due to its transparency and bafoonery. And since they pulled it down, you'll have to see it in cache form at Google. Now, look at the girl, and try to imagine if she would actually write out documentation in her story about switching. Oh wait, she isn't even real. She's clip art! How embarrassing for this young perdy lady to be pimped out like this.

Anyway, a slashdot poster made a good point...

You just missed the entire point of this article. Microsoft knows they're not going to convince hardcore Apple users to switch. This copy of Apple's switch campaign, is for MS users who might be tempted to switch. If a user is considering switching to Apple, then sees that some other people are switching from Apple to MS, the user might very well decide to stay right where he is. The theory of course, is that a user who is easily persuaded to try Apple could be easily persuaded not to try Apple; get it?

This is the real story.


Mac Linux merger? Fat f'ing chance.
[ October 14, 2002 | Permalink | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Article titles like "Apple-Linux merger powers 'Mac' switch" make for good headlines to grab page views, but that title is baseless. One of the arguments made is that Apple will 'go Intel' and thus make Linux apps more likely to appear on the Mac (and vice versa?). But, not only does the processor have very little to do with porting POSIX compliant apps, but Apple ain't goin' Intel. Period.

Basing some grandiose notion on a red herring is sad, especially when you write an article that makes a huge point, and utterly fails to stay with that point much less prove it with baseless punditry.

Fortunately, one good point was made (but has nothing to do with the main point of the article)...

A new wave of open-source applications may also appear, said Brent Simmons, a Seattle Macintosh developer: "You're looking at applications offering ways to interact and network without going through the browser." Examples: Watson and Sherlock 3 for the Mac, which pull down information in an OS X environment specifically tailored to end users without drawing on a browser.

Case in point: NetNewsWire Lite.


C'mon, switch.
[ October 14, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I work with a guy who uses Mac OS 9 and uses several applications to make it more unix like. He has a Mac OS 9 native VIM editor, a SSH terminal application and a few other apps. Sounds like the ideal person to switch to Mac OSX, right? Wrong. The file system under OSX is so different from the Linux file systems that he is used to that he shuns the switch (but he uses Os 9? Yeah.). Maybe now he'll have reason to go for it.

If you're one of the many Unix developers drawn to Mac OS X for its BSD core, you'll find yourself in surprisingly unfamiliar territory. Even if you're an experienced Mac user, Mac OS X is unlike earlier Macs, and it's radically different from the Unix you've used before, too.

Go O'Reilly.


Build your own Mac.
[ October 09, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Steve sent me this link to a guide for building your own Mac today. Apple's hardware prices are still outrageous, and building my own machine would be fun, but I have doubts that Jaguar would install on a home brew.


Apple on DRM: mum's the word.
[ October 02, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

As Dan Gilmore notes, Apple hasn't made a commitment to Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in their hardware (yet?). Microsoft has been conspicuously pushing DRM as an 'innovation' that consumers should love, but it's not the consumer that DRM wants to help out. Apple has a history of being user and customer centric, and a non-DRM play might not last.

Congress has been consistently pushing to pass laws making built-in DRM technology the law (eg, the DMCA and SSSCA), and if that happens, and Apple needs to build DRM into OSX, then they will have to pay Microsoft. Why? Because MSFT owns patents for DRM in operating systems (patent number 6,330,670).

The part of the SSSCA that scares me is this...

It is unlawful to manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide or otherwise traffic in any interactive digital device that does not include and utilize certified security technologies that adhere to the security systems standards adopted under section

I haven't taken a very close look at SSSCA2 yet, but it contains the same language I just cited. There are implications for the Linux world here too folks.


Apple slices.
[ September 30, 2002 | Permalink | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

What does iSynch matter to a non dot mac user who has no Bluetooth phone or iPod? I suppose it's time to buy that SonyErricson phone.

extremetech.com talks about BSD and it's impact on the world. Mac OSX users should find this interesting since that OS is heavily based on BSD technologies. [ via arstechnica.com ]

Apple apparently has one of the worst executive boards on the face of the earth. Heh. My Mac seems to work ok for building web apps with Perl hackers and CVS repositories and graphics deliverables. As long as the Apple board continues to suck the way we are told they are sucking, then I think I'll be a Mac user for good long time.

Even though the time to sign up for a dot mac subscription has been extended, I still don't think I'll sign up. I just haven't seen anything that I can't live without. If they released iBlog that published thru dot mac, then I'd prolly go for it (because InMyExperience.com is costing me $30/month to run, and a dot mac subscription would be $50 for a year)

Apple standing on a cliff.
[ September 19, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Apple has been keeping an x86 (read: Intel) version of OSX up to date for a while now. eWeek says this has been going on since the early days of OSX and adds...

Build numbers keep pace with those of their pre-release PowerPC counterparts; for example, Apple is internally running a complete, x86-compatible version of Jaguar, a k a Mac OS X 10.2, which shipped last week.

Imagine what chaos would ensue if a copy of this was leaked to the public. Would Apple be able to prevent users from buying non Apple hardware? What would the driver compatability scene look like? Would product manufacturers develop drivers for x86 OSX? Imagine the chaos.


Xbox hax0ring on Mac OSX.
[ September 16, 2002 | Permalink | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

It's not exactly easy, and there are many required tools to do this, but...

Using this tutorial, we will cover the basics of burning working ISO images with toast titanium and Mac os X, we will cover extracting and packing ISO files using xboxisomaker, and we will cover connecting to the XBOX using FlashFXP and evolution X.

I don't have a modded Xbox, and I'm guessing that some DMCA implications come into play when following the instructions. However, I love the hax0r entrepreneurialism in the tutorial and can't resist linking to it.


In OSX, write your app in the language you like.
[ September 16, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Two recent developments in the OSX software world make me believe lots of good stuff is on the way. The first is Camel Bones "is a framework that allows many types of Cocoa programs to be written entirely in Perl". So, you don't have to write your app in Objective C (or Java); you can write all the logic in Perl and wrap it up in sheep's clothing. If you are a Ruby coder, you can look like a sheep too.

The salient language agnosticism of OSX makes me hopeful that more and more applications written by individuals or small teams of people will emerge. Why would I be hopeful of that? Well, IMHO, small groups of people make the most innovative, timely and bloat free software, instead of 38 meg application binaries. This was true of Quicktime which was originally written by five developers. NetNewsWire is written by one guy.


Transmit 2.0 beta looks good, very good.
[ September 13, 2002 | Permalink | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I was a lucky Mac user today and got in on the private beta test of the next version of Transmit. Back in the day, I bought Transmit when it's name was Transit (no "m") because I liked it so much (I was a reformed Fetch user). The short story for this new version is that it's cocoa native, has a much improved tool bar, and can show unix file permissions inline. That's great stuff, and so far, no crashes. Here's a few more vital features in the new version...

• The icon is cool (ok, this isn't vital, but it's cool)
• native long filename support
• significantly more flexible interface
• supports fully secure and encrypted FTP connections to via SFTP/SSH
• You can queue downloads
• There's a built in text editor, but BBEdit it ain't (but it's still nice to have)

There's a lot more in there, but who knows how long the beta test will last, so you may have to wait a while to get the goodies.


Preview lots of stuff.
[ September 04, 2002 | Permalink | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Ok, here's the last OSX related post for the week. I don't know if this is a Jaguar thing, but file previews are pretty robust in Column View. To the right is the preview for an MP3, and it doesn't just play the first 5 seconds, it plays the whole track, or you can instantly fast forward to a part of the track. None of this requires an application to load, the preview shows up almost instantly. Awesome.

You'd have to guess that lots and lots of QuickTime junk is loaded up to have the audio preview be available so quickly, and is that why this OS requires I have 256 megs to run smoothly? Thank goodness I have half a gig.


OSX TechNote tells all.
[ September 04, 2002 | Permalink | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Apple releases TechNotes pretty much everyday about their hardware and software. This tech note covers a boat load of info about OSX and it's most recent incarnation, Jaguar. Apple says there are 150 new features in Jaguar, but I'd argue that a lot of the items below are more compelling features than new fonts. Here's the top 20 (my comments are in parenthesis)...

• The Ruby scripting language is now installed with Mac OS X.
• Python 2.1.1 is now installed with Mac OS X. (install your DevTools folks)
• The bash command shell is now installed with Mac OS X (version 2.05a.0(1)-release)
• With Mac OS X 10.2, when one process opens a file with write access, it will have exclusive write access. If another application tries to open the same file with write access it will fail. (isn't this a really basic thing to do?)
• Help Tags are the primary method for providing context sensitive help in Mac OS X. They are the Mac OS X replacement for the older Balloon Help technology.
• Removed the limit of 5 hierarchical menus on-screen at once. (finally)
• In some circumstances, clicking on a window with an active sheet brought the window to the front, but didn't activate it (clicking on the sheet would activate the window). We now activate the window regardless of where the window was clicked.
• Users can now use cmd-shift-` to send keyboard focus to a drawer. Previously, it was only possible to do so by clicking on a drawer.
• Supplemented the "disktool" command line tool (which was always intended as a test tool) with a more user-oriented "diskutil" command line tool.
• A number of performance and stability enhancements have been incorporated into the implementation of NFS provided with Mac OS X 10.2
• SMB browsing is only supported on the local subnet. (um, ok)
• Problems with DNS lookups via Airport have been corrected.
• True Type font files with the extension '.ttf' are now recognized in Mac OS X. (is this to say that PC formatted ttf works on OSX?)
• Added hooks for 3rd party font activation. (This is important because Adobe Type Manager does not yet exist for OSX).
• The TWAIN consortium's libraries have been added to the system in the form of a framework and may be accessed from applications. (Sweet, get on it Adobe)
• Added horizontal scroll wheel support. (heh, weird)
• Uninterruptible power supplies are now supported.
• Previous 1K restriction to the length of URLs that can be passed to Launch Services have been removed. Now URLs can be of any size. (Is this good or bad?)
• It is now possible to configure the DHCP server (via properties in the "/config/dhcp" NetInfo node) to hand out addresses only to clients with known MAC addresses.
• SNMP support has been added to Mac OS X 10.2.

A few points about Apple's opening of Rendezvous.
[ September 03, 2002 | Permalink | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

The new version of Mac OSX has a zero config networking technology called Rendezvous. I won't both to describe it at all since there's plenty of info about it on the web, and this is old news, so I'll try to say something insightful (in a half-assed way). Here's what C|net reported...

The technology, which is built into the new version 10.2 of Mac OS X, can be used to simplify network printing, file sharing and other communications tasks. Apple uses Rendezvous in its iChat program to allow people to see a list of other people on their local computer network who they might want to chat with. It has also pledged to add the technology by early next year to iTunes, which will allow Mac owners to stream music files stored on other Macs on the same network.

There is really nothing different about this than gnutella networks (as fart as RIAA is concerned). the fact that Apple wants to make it easy for anyone to share their playlist has got to get RIAA's lawyers salivating, and Apple is not that stupid to walk into a lawsuit. So, what's the business plan here?

Consider for a moment that iTunes+Rendezvous is set up to allow streaming of data and not copying of data (like the Real One format). So, if I'm using iTunes on my corporate network and other Rendezvous enabled users are on the network, they could 'tune me in.' That's cool, but do I now own RIAA and ASCAP funds for being a broadcaster?

Ok, never mind that, because it's not the really scary part of the equation. What's nuts is that open sourced (or shared sourced) Rendezvous technology will lead to a new Napster. What I really mean to say is, Napster was EASY to use, and an Apple derivative technology based on easy of use (remember it's zero config tech) will get adopted.


At the Apple store.
[ August 25, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I'm at the apple store after the Jaguar buying orgy from the other night. there must have been about 600+ people in line to buy Jaguar, and makes me believe that there must have been a few switchers in the crowd.

But who cares, all I want now is this huge 22" inch display I'm looking at tight now.

/me drools.


A Haxie idea.
[ August 22, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Unsanity makes these things called 'haxies' for Mac OSX. They are certainly more than a hack in most cases, but not full applications either, so I suppose haxie is cute name to call them. Well, I have an idea for them, an idea that if implemented, I would gladly throw down a Jackson.

I'm a tiBook user, and run most of my life off of that machine, and usually do that in multi-head mode. AOL put this huge ass 22" ViewSonic on my desk and I just plug that into the VGA port, and blammo, there's massive amounts of desktop space, and I use all of it. The tiBook alone is 1152 x 786 and I run the ViewSonic at 1280 x 1024 (I know, I could boost the res, but I like to read from the screen without straining).

The tiBook screen gets reserved for applications that I keep open all day and provide ongoing, and somewhat static, service. This includes Audion (music), Adium (instant massaging), and Terminal which is not really static, but I like having it up at all times. Up at all times you ask? Aren't they like that all the time? Well, no.

ASM is an application switching menu, and I use it for one specific bit of functionality, hiding applications on switch. So, if I have the previously mentioned apps running, and let's say Internet Explorer, Photoshop and BBedit as well, I like to hide other applications when a new one comes to the foreground. It keeps the window clutter to a minimum, which is important, because I usually have about 10 apps open.

Now, here's where it gets good, I exclude Audion, Adium and Terminal (and the Finder) from the hiding-on-switching function. So they remain ever present and visible, and the dock behavior falls in line with the hiding behavior (which you set in ASM). I want to hide the dock when an app comes forward and hides other apps.

I don't want any of the other functionality of ASM, and I don't like the start up bug it has had in every version that I have used. Keyboard Maestro has some of this functionality, but it isn't a PreferencesPane, and runs as an application that installs a daemon, and then you quit the app (bleh). So, Unsanity please step in here, and make a small, OS integrated, targeted hack like you always do. There's $20 in it for you.


OSX [Jaguar build 6C106] looks good.
[ August 04, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I have been playing around with the next version of Mac OSX, code named Jaguar, this weekend. The version I've been using is 6C106 and is a bit behind the golden master version 6C115. I have noticed a few bugs (FruitMenu and ASM are going to need an update), but here's a few bright notes...

Overall performance is much improved. Quartz Extreme is the marketing term for unloading the video tasks to the video card. Most of us are used to the concept in gaming where newer faster video cards are a way of life for making the games playable. What Nvidia does for gaming, Jaguar does for exverything else. Of course, the card you actually have in your machine makes a difference, but I'm delighted to report that a 500mhz tiBook, with its 16 meg card sees a marked improvement, system wide, in performance.

Sherlock is not the 'find' interface anymore. You might think this is a bad thing, but I deplore having to open an application to simply find a file. Command-f (at least in the build I'm using) maps to a simple Finder window with a search interface. Key strokes are not lost as the window opens like they are when Sherlock is opening. So, command-f, start typing and hit return makes for a super fast way to find a file.

Sherlock 3 is pretty cool. But so is Watson, which deserves credit for being ahead of the curve.

The Sharing control panel includes a firewall interface. I consider myself to be a Mac power user who is comfortable with a command line. But, having an ultra simple and straight forward Firewall interface is awesome.

Command-tab is more of a toggle now. It used to be that command-tab'ing would always step you thru the open applications in a linear fashion. BBEdit munkies like myself would have to command-tab-tab-tab, etc until you go to the browser, and do it again to get back to BBEdit. Now, if you command-tab, it selects the app you were in last before stepping forward. This means fewer keystrokes.


A PVR for the rest of us.
[ July 17, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

A Mac applications maker is going to release a Personal Video Recorded (a Tivo basically) for the Mac (OSX) this week. Instead of being a do-it-all set top box like Tivo, or the salient Moxi box, this recorder will use your Mac in conjunction with a simple RF receiver. I think if I had an eMac and lived in a dorm, this would be perfect. I bet this part is going to horrify some copyright holders somewhere...

In order to save programs onto VideoCDs, you will need a CD burner and Roxio’s Toast 5 Titanium CD recording software (not included with EyeTV).

Like to watch episodes of Alias? Collect and trade them all!


$100?
[ July 17, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

C'mon, $100 for an annual iTools subscription is way out of hand. $50 is something I can deal with, but triple digits is just nuts. I think what's even more odd is that the Cognitive Psych wonks down at Apple central didn't even try the $99.95 price to avoid a triple digit jaw dropper. Anyway, kick ass new iTools features better be announced today, and may adverts never see the light of day at iTools WebMail.


Winterspeak owns.
[ July 16, 2002 | Permalink | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I felt that I had to write something about this article at ZDnet (want the C|net UI instead?) discussing MSFT's misgivings over sales rates of Office for OSX. I had a weird feeling of thinking how stupid I thought MSFT was, but couldn't come up with something more eloquent than that to say. Luckily, this is the web and I can just link to someone else making more sense than me. Winterspeak owns and FUD blows.


Audion is more User Centric than iTunes.
[ July 15, 2002 | Permalink | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Audion is the dark horse of Mac OS MP3 players. SoundJam got more advertising than audion, and was then swallowed up by Apple and contorted into iTunes. Now, iTunes gets all the press, but Audion remains the superior player. Here's why...

The over all interface

iTunes gives you two interfaces, one big, one small (minimized). Many folks have lauded the big iTunes interface for allowing a single screen interaction architecture (you can do everything without going thru multiple screens). I agree, that's a good thing, but it forces the interface to be big, if forces a full screen of buttons, lists, and chrome elements.

Audio on the other hand is skinnable, tight and simple. The main interface is an MP3 player, and nothing more. It allows you to organize your playlist(s) and view info about the currently playing track. If you want to do other stuff, you bring up the console. While audio does not allow access to most/all functions from one screen, it doesn't bury those functions. Everything is still easily accessible and lets the main interface remain simple. simple is good. Simple = minimal interface.

User Centricity

Like I mentioned before, Audion is skinnable, iTunes is not. Score one for Audion. There are many good skins out there for Audion, and they are all free, so score another for audion. Also, because audion's main interface is simple, the skins can be uber small which is great when you keep the player up all day while you work.

Audio can link a playlist to a directory, so when you put new MP3's into a directory, the playlist updates. Very cool.

There's even a cross fading interface allowing you to mix tracks like a turntablist.

I could go on an on with this list, but Panic already has, so why repeat it here?

Speed

I wish I had real data for this, but all I can offer is anecdotal evidence. I've run both iTunes and audion for long periods of time, and Audion feels like it sucks up less CPU cycles than iTunes. I've done some quasi-scientific analysis in top in the Terminal, and my best guess is that Audion takes up about a third fewer cycles than iTunes. Panic claims the new 3.0 version now takes even less CPU time than the 2.x versions. Less is more.

ID3 tag editing.

Audion 2.x and iTunes both pale in comparison to MP3 Rage when it comes to editing ID3 tags in MP3s. End of story.

Price

iTunes is free, but Audion is worth the cost, if you get my meaning. You get more flexibility and less brushed metal, plain and simple.

In completely unrelated news, the Dell guy got spanked by the Screen Actor's Guild. Bahahaahahahahaa!


Compiling, installing and using mod_mp3 on Mac OSX (Part 2 of 2)
[ July 09, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBack | TB URL ]

RSS::Lite makes mod_mp3 come alive.

In the previous article, we got mod_mp3 installed on OSX, and viewed the results in the browser. Now we'll take some time to explore one of the output formats that mod_mp3 offers and how to leverage it to create a more usable and informative front end for the user. The warnings from yesterday's article apply to today's guide...

Warning #1: If you plan on following this guide, you do so at your own risk, and with no help from me outside of this article (read: I offer ZERO support). There is no warranty, explicit or implied. You are on your own if you screw your machine up by imitating what I outline in this article. Part of this article involves enabling 'root' and using it to do things like compile software, move files around, and change the mode of arbitrary files. It's VERY easy to nuke your machine by issuing commands from the root account if you don't think before you type!

Warning #2: What we are trying to accomplish here is to use Mac OSX as an MP3 file server for a home network (which is it's intended use in my own home), however, I will only be covering the mod_mp3 and web application layer, not the network.

Warning #3: Using this guide as a method of violating copyrights is expressly condemned. I have a large CD collection at home, and it sucks to swap the CD's all the time, so I made something that can house a lot of music, and allow easy access from any machine that can access the server. This article is being provided as a learning exercise for me (ie, technical writing) and for you (Mac OSX users who want to do fool around with the goodies underneath Aqua).

Ok, now that the warnings are over, let's get hacking. [more...]


Compiling, installing and using mod_mp3 on Mac OSX (Part 1 of 2)
[ July 08, 2002 | Permalink | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Mac OSX has a Unix underbelly that provides ample opportunity to practice more advanced computing than was available in Mac OS9. Web servers, current and standard Perl installs, shell scripting and most other Unix-like tools are now available to the 'rest of us' in our own secure environments. This article/guide intends to guide the OSX user thru the compilation, installation and configuration of mod_mp3.

This article/guide assumes a basic understanding of all of the following...

• Mac OSX
• The Unix command line
• Apache

If you don't have a basic understanding of those things, you should ;) Getting the basics down isn't a big deal if you have access to a machine that supports all of the above. My environment is Mac OSX 10.1.5 with all of the latest upgrades, patches, etc. This stuff will work on Linux, OpenBSD,. etc, but I'm using OSX, and I'll be noting directory paths and processes specifically for OSX users. Linux geeks should be more than able to extrapolate what they need to do within their own environments. Windows users are S.O.L. in more ways than one.

Warning #1: If you plan on following this guide, you do so at your own risk, and with no help from me outside of this article (read: I offer ZERO support). There is no warranty, explicit or implied. You are on your own if you screw your machine up by imitating what I outline in this article. Part of this article involves enabling 'root' and using it to do things like compile software, move files around, and change the mode of arbitrary files. It's VERY easy to nuke your machine by issuing commands from the root account if you don't think before you type!

Warning #2: What we are trying to accomplish here is to use Mac OSX as an MP3 file server for a home network (which is it's intended use in my own home), however, I will only be covering the mod_mp3 and web application layer, not the network.

Warning #3: Using this guide as a method of violating copyrights is expressly condemned. I have a large CD collection at home, and it sucks to swap the CD's all the time, so I made something that can house a lot of music, and allow easy access from any machine that can access the server. This article is being provided as a learning exercise for me (ie, technical writing) and for you (Mac OSX users who want to do fool around with the goodies underneath Aqua).

Ok, now that the warnings are over, let's get hacking. [more...]


Coming up next week...
[ July 03, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Next week I'll be publishing a two part series on installing, configuring and using mod_mp3 on a Mac OSX based machine. Day one (probably Monday) will focus on compiling and installing mod_mp3, and then day two will focus on coding a usable front end. I'm also going to try to get TrackBack implemented and integrated by then, so wish me luck (and please have a safe 4th of July).

In the meantime, consider this quote from a c|net article today...

Kay also questioned how many Mac OS X 10.1 users would move to Jaguar, although he did see a good market for those on the older system, Mac OS 9.

What kind of crack is this guy smoking? OS9 users are looking at OSX, and all versions of it, as the big upgrade in the sky. Anyone who has done the OSX upgrade from MacOS 8 or 9 is chomping at the bit for ANY upgrade they can get (remember how dog ass slow 10.0 was?). And I think I'm hallucinating when I see quotes like this...

Kay was unenthusiastic about the Jaguar release, contending that Apple's OS updates come too frequently.

Too frequently? IMHO, too damn slow! I've been using OSX since the beta test, and based on the original road map, I should be using 10.5 by now. I'm willing to bet if these updates, especially the upgrade from 10.0 to 10.1 were more spread out, Apple would have seriously damaged the rate of OSX uptake (because, again, 10.0 was god ass slow). Dollars to donuts says this guy isn't an OSX user.


Going Mac makes some noise.
[ July 02, 2002 | Permalink | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Wow, lots of articles, reasons and rants recently about the Mac platform and switching to it...

• Article: Wall Street Journal: Transferring Windows Stuff When You Switch to a Mac
• Rant: The Register: Monday night at the Single's Club? Apple's Real People
• Reason: MS security patch EULA gives Billg admin privileges on your box.
• Rant?: macboy.com: Switch Gates
• RANT: Dvorak: Mac Versus PC—Offensive Advertising
• Reason: Oreilly.net: John C Dvorak on Switching by James Davidson
• Reasons: Apple - Switch - Why Switch
• Reason: eweek: For Plug-and-Play, I Pick the Apple
• Reason: CERT Advisory CA-2002-19 Buffer Overflow in Multiple DNS Resolver Libraries
• All of the above: Slashdot | Wall Street Journal: Mac vs. PC

Assassinate Spam on OSX.
[ June 14, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

The folks who wrote MoveableType (the blogging software running this blog) have written up a guide on installing SpamAssasin on OSX. But, this guide isn't for folks who have never started up Terminal before. You'll be doing CPAN installs, crontabbing and some light editing (probably in vi).


Browser wars? Browser onslaught.
[ June 13, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Sometimes people argue against using MacOS(X) using a lack of software as their corner stone argument. While this may be true (there is, as a side effect, much less crap software for MacOS(X) than their is for Windows) it isn't true when it comes to web browsers. I have seven different browsers installed on my machine...

Chimera...

...is based on Mozilla, but endeavors to be a web browser, not a catch all Internet client that reads email, edits pages, dice onions and walk your dog. It rips out the XUL interface and replaces it with native Aqua widget calls. Version 0.3 was released last week and has been far more stab;e than the 0.2 series (imho). The view-source-in-a-tab thing is awesome.

Mozilla...

...is where the good display engine is coming from. Too bad it wants to do too much and slows way down compared to Chimera. (Anecdotal evidence only, real numbers would be cool).

Internet Explorer...

...starts up in about three seconds, doesn't crash (too much), supports standards pretty well, and often hangs when one window opens another. It's a workhorse browser, but I can't wait to replace it.

Opera...

...is one step behind on MacOSX in terms of the version. Windows users get version 6.0 while we're back in the 5's (and just barely). I rarely use this browser.

Omniweb...

...looks great, and is fat, but doesn't really adhere to the standards. People pay for it though, so it must have something going for it, and the Omni Group is completely dedicated to Mac based development.

Netscape 6.x...

...was a disaster. A commercial product based on Mozilla 0.9.4 (read: beta) code was not a good idea, so I'm not going to provide a link to it in fear that any more people will download it. On the other hand, Netscape 7 will be a good thing, someday soon.

iCab...

...has a following due to it's small size. But I NEVER use it, and never see it in my server logs.

I sincerely believe that integrated solutions are a great thing, and that bloatware is like a shadow in the morning; faint at first, and inevitable as time goes by. Applications need to keep focused on the solutions they present without causing new problems to be solved, which is what Chimera intends to do.

The Web Standards Project has a breakdown of these browsers' compliance with standards. Their conclusions should weigh heavily with users, but they won't, so it's up to us.


Your MacOSX dev tools need to be current.
[ June 03, 2002 | Permalink | 9 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

Even MacOSX users can install and run mod_mp3 (which is an MP3 server mod that piggy backs on the Apache server). The maintainers even make OSX specific downloads available, but they are, of course, several versions behind (and are pre-compiled). So, when trying to compile the current version for OSX (with better ID3 support), I ran into this error...

/usr/bin/ld: /usr/lib/libSystem.dylib load command 6 unknown cmd field

That error is suggested to be a problem with my DevTools installation, and more to the point, old DevTools on an up to date OSX installation. Now, why would I have old DevTools on top of the latest version of the OS? Well, I bought OSX 10.0 which came with the 10.0 (zero!) DevTools. System upgrades do NOT include the tools update. You have to download it separately from Apple, which can be done pretty simply...

• Go to http://connect.apple.com
• Register for the free account
• click "Download Software" (on the left)
• click "Mac OS X" (on the left)
• click the appropriate Download button

The file I need is over 200 megs in size, and I don't even know if it's going help me successfully compile mod_mp3 version 0.37. The things we do to get software installed can be pretty damn silly. And configuring it can be even worse.


Give me my portable, or give me death.
[ May 19, 2002 | Permalink | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

When responding to a question about what sort of machine to buy for web design work, someone on the WebDesign List wrote:

> I used a Powerbook (Lombard, not G4 model) during 3 months during a stint
> overseas and frankly, unless you are absolutely anal-retentive about exact
> color hues and the such (let's face it, total control on the web is an
> absolute oxymoron) it will do the job for you. If budget allows, you might
> want to compliment your laptop with an independent display

This is how I worked (as a Senior Interface Developer for an ebiz-web-app-consulting-custom-solutions-b2c-b2b company) for a couple of years. Having a Powerbook with a monitor attached to it makes for lots of extra desktop space which is vital for apps like Dreamweaver (which I actually don't use) and Adobe Illustrator.

Having a CRT and an LCD to view the site on allows me to make sure the site is looking good under both environments and being able to change the bit depth on each display, independently, allows me to catch most/all display environments.

Add in VirtualPC, and I can test multiple PC environments because I can set up as many virtual PC's as I want and install whatever OS's are important to me (based on the project in hand and the environment the end user will be in).

Just do yourself a favor and get the fastest Powerbook you can afford, and load up on the RAM. I've got a tiBook (550mhz with a half gig of ram) and it's still too slow (but when have you ever had a machine that was fast enough?).


Apple misplaces its focus.
[ May 08, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

The Apple World Wide Developers Conference started yesterday with the usual keynote from Steve Jobs. The most noteworthy things about the keynote were the announced death of MacOS 9 and the next revision of Mac OSX code named Jaguar. I won't go into the details here since they are covered quite well in many other places. But I will mention the irony of the Jaguar name.

First, I am sure the name Jaguar is supposed to elicit a feeling of speed and power. It sounds cool, but when I hear Jaguar, I think of the often maligned British Automaker with a widespread reputation of being unreliable and costly to own. Note: I find Mac OSX to be reliable. in fact, I find it to be VERY reliable in day to day work, with uptimes typically 10 times longer than what I experience in any version of classic MacOS. But the costly-to-own part is spot on, and SPEED is a major issue.

Why is that when I drag a window around the screen that my CPU utilization routinely spikes to 70% or more? Why is Jaguar slated to have many very cool looking new features in lieu of performance optimizations? I mean, iChat looks cool, but I have real work to do.


Fear and Loathing in OS land.
[ April 03, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBack | TB URL ]

I see more and more of these non-scientific survey's covering the Mac/Windows divide, and they always show more people willing to give up their WinTel boxes. But, the retail (and market share) numbers never materialize.

I'm beginning to wonder if there are more and more people out there who are getting tired of the bug-fix-as-service-pack business model coming out of Redmond (read: pay for fixes to bugs that shouldn't have been released in the first place). These folks get to use surveys as a way of complaining without having to give up their Windows habit or actually spend their hard earned money on over priced hardware.


Begging for market share.
[ February 20, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments ]

I think it's interesting that in article after article, tech writers complain that Apple isn't winning market share. Typically these authors complain and then get bombarded with responses from the Mac Zealots about why Apple/MacOS is great and shouldn't pander to the Intel masses. One argument about the single digit market share is the ratio BMW enjoys in the automobile market. Apple owns more of the personal computer market than BMW owns in the car biz. That sounds cool, but doesn't really mean too much.

What does really mean something is the aggregate message of these articles. They want Apple to survive. Usually the tone of the articles are written in a complaining tone, and I'm guessing it's because the OS they have been using is taking over their lives and is emptying their wallets. They want a viable alternative, and so do I.


Show me the buttons.
[ February 04, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments ]

Don't let the Wintel press lie to you, Mac OS is a multi-button-mouse OS. In OS9 you had to take an extra step on your own and install some third party software and buy a new mouse to get multi-button functionality. That is mostly true in Mac OS X if you want to fully leverage the capability. You don't need the software, but you still need the mouse.

Out of the box, you can plug any multi-button mouse into your USB port and it works as expected. You can go a step further though. USB Overdrive is now available for OS X and is the best solution for controlling modern input devices, even those from MicroSoft. This one bit of software does the job of the wildly assorted device drivers (dll's) that you find in Windows, but thru one interface and one code library.


Define your context.
[ January 30, 2002 | Permalink | 0 Comments ]

When reading this article by David Coursey, keep in mind the context under which the comments are made. It's certainly not from a world where the Mac is the universal OS and Windows is a nagging reality. It's the new context that Coursey is dealing with which is using Mac OS X full time after a lifetime of Windows. If you didn't know that, you might think he's another, run of the mill, Mac zealot.

Anyway, It sounds like he's feeling the pain of having weak software support. Welcome to club, Dave.


Once you go Mac, do you go back?
[ January 17, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments ]

David Coursey is trying an experiment in working in Mac OS for the next month. I think adoption of Mac OS full time is very unlikely for a few reasons. The most important reason being that he has a high level of comfort in a different look-and-feel, a different widget set, and a different computing attitude (Windows = Windows centric; Mac OS = user centric).

Raskin talks about automaticity in his excellent book 'The Humane Interface' and notes its importance in adoption of a given system. When you drive a car, you don't think in terms of 'raise right foot off of accelerator by contracting the muscles in the abdomen and thigh.' You don't think about it at all, it's automatic, you just do it. Coursey has a career of automaticity to fight when he wants to do something as simple as close a window. For a while, he'll have to conciously think about where to click the mouse to close that window.

Coursey says "In theory, a Windows user ought to be able to get along quite well with a Mac." Which is, imho, just plain wrong in terms of battling the automaticity issue and another, more important, issue.

Transpose the words 'Windows' and 'Mac' in that sentence and that would be true when it comes to getting the OS's to play nice together. The Windows OS has become the most proprietary OS on earth. It refuses to open a Mac formatted disk without installing 3rd party software. But, the Mac OS has been able to open PC disks for years, without any after market software installs. This is just one of many examples. The Mac OS (and more to the point OSX) is probably the most flexible OS when trying to work with other OS's. I have been able to find ways to pry open just about any file ever sent to me (other than encrypted files for which I don't have the password. I'm not a kr@k3r.) But, I digress.

Coursey is in for more problems when his reliance on specific software that is not available on Mac OS becomes a clear and present danger to his work flow (which he talks about). On a given OS (Mac, Windows, Linux, OS2/Warp) you find and exploit software that is available to you when it becomes necessary. Changing your OS is like going to another country. You have to learn the local customs, the dialect, where the local market is and how to say "when is lunch?" I wonder if a month will be long enough for Coursey to become fluent in Mac OS.

I think the most interesting thing we can learn from this experiment is how Coursey manages to find his way in a different OS and how that experience changes his views of his native OS. I guess we'll have to check back in a month.


Raising expecatations can be dangerous.
[ January 06, 2002 | Permalink | 1 Comments ]

A large part of the Macintosh experience is the Apple experience, which has had its ups and downs to say the least. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be an Up day with the hype machine saying things like "Beyond the rumors sites, way beyond." Which will be hard to live up to since the rumors swirling include a triple merger between Apple, Be and Palm, a new hand held, flat panel iMacs, GigaWire, new versions of Adobe and Macromedia apps and G4 speed bumps.

At the last MacWorld, disappointment was the theme with no new product announcements in spite of rampant rumors. Based on their own hype, if Stevie boy doesn't pull thru tomorrow, there's going to be a mutiny.


OSX and XP, splitting hairs.
[ December 28, 2001 | Permalink | 2 Comments ]

c|net posted an operating system deathmatch comparing OSX and XP. It was a tie, but the point about the user centricity of OSX kept coming up. XP was found to be MSFT centric because of its ".Net agenda, [and] Passport-pushiness". As far as I am concerned, user centricity wins.


Mac OSX is like chocolate and peanut butter.
[ December 13, 2001 | Permalink | 0 Comments ]

Boston.com is carrying a story about the chief FreeBSD geek wanting to work for Apple on OSX. I like this press coverage way more than the stories several years about the 'beleaguered computer maker.'

Anyway, the point made in the story about why OSX might be great is like the old Reese's peanut butter cup commercials where people kept getting their chocolate in someone else's peanut butter, or vice versa. It may seem odd at first, but when you experience it, you will probably like it. The folks at Panic.com are probably more precise in their analysis that OSX "is a floor wax and a desert topping."

The beauty is that I can run Apache and/or Tomcat along with a full and current distribution of Perl (this is the floor wax part) and run Adobe Illustrator at the same time (which is the desert topping).