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Monday, June 10, 2002 |
A great Puget Sound sunset
Following the solar eclipse earlier in the night that was slightly marred by high clouds that started to obscure the already partially obscured disc of the sun, I figured it is fitting to go up on our roof and shoot a photo of the great sunset. From our rooftop I can see the outlines of the Olympic Mountains to the west, and when I set up the digital camera just right I can catch the tops of the trees and avoid showing the rooftops of the single family homes in our part of town - nothing but sun shine and brightly colored wispy clouds.
Before you start thinking it is too beautiful up here in the Pacific Northwest, let me assure you that it rains all the time. Really...it does. So you don't want to move here. Really. (I think I may have a hard time selling that line if I keep posting photos from around this area...)
9:05:10 PM 
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Silk updated to 1.1b2
Unsanity has updated its freeware font smoothing application Silk 1.1b2, fixing a couple of bugs that caused problems with the version released last week.
I am still using Silk in conjunction with Mozilla, and it makes it easier for me to use Mozilla as my main browser. But I do have to admit...I didn't use Mozilla at all this last weekend. It was an all OmniWeb weekend. That OmniWeb spell checking still rocks, and it is the biggest hole in using Mozilla as a browser for writing Weblog posts...
8:11:59 PM
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Consider this essential OS X reading
If you haven't made the move to OS X yet and the thought of making the move intimidates you, consider Adam Engst's Avoiding Trouble in the Move to Mac OS X, Part 1 required reading. The long-time publisher of TidBITS digs into the pitfalls and offers tips for side-stepping problems along the road from OS 9.x to OS X.
7:55:07 PM
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Apple rolls out Webmail Beta II
MacCentral notes that Apple has introduces Webmail Beta II, a redesign of the Webmail capabilities that are a new part of the iTools suite that is available to any Mac user. If you need a Web interface for your email when you are on the road, this may be another option.
I cannot stress enough though, don't rely on free email services for critical mail. Free email is worth what you pay for it...
7:41:16 PM
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Blogroots breaks down Weblog tools
Dave Winer: "Hats off to the Blogroots people. Look at how they break down weblog management tools. You can see that Radio is doing something new. Thanks for noticing. And Manila and Movable Type are comparable. We see it the same way." [Scripting News]
7:33:28 PM
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Are you watching the solar eclipse?
If you are on the U.S. West Coast and you want to see the partial solar eclipse, go outside now. Over the next 30 minutes or so the show will be at its peak. To view it, you could do what I have done. Take two sheets of paper. Punch a pin hole in one sheet of paper, then go outside and hold it in the sun with your back to the sun. Hold the piece of paper with the pinhole in front of the other piece of paper and project the image of the sun onto the second, shaded piece of paper. The eclipse is at more than 50 percent right now in Tacoma, Wash.
6:01:08 PM
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The apparent death of my Epson ink jet printer
It looks like the Espon Stylus 740 printer that Natalie and I use sparingly is dying. It still prints, but when I run it through the head cleaning routine it barely prints out black and no color print shows on the test page at all. If I then run it through the cleaning utility, as I have done 50-100 times now, the next test strip prints even worse. No color, black and white print not really readable - even with new cartridges.
Does anyone have any good tips for reviving an aging Epson printer? Send me your comments using the Comment link...
3:06:37 PM
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OS X software updates continue to pour in
The pace of updated OS X software that seemed to be on the upswing last week continues to speed along today. Here are a few of the highlights:
- QuicKeys X 1.5.2 - An update to the $79.95 OS X macro utility.
- LaunchBar 3.2.1 - Update to the keyboard-based file and application launching utility. LaunchBar is a $39 shareware program for a business license or $19.95 for non-commercial use.
- Check MacUpdate's OS X page for more useful software updates.
12:11:23 PM
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Audacity: A freeware audio editor for OS X
Audacity 1.0.0 is a freeware audio editing application for OS X, with the ability to record, mix and edit CD-quality audio. The developers of this program also offer a less-stable beta version, Audacity 1.1.0.
10:45:03 AM
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Fire multi-chat client updated to version 0.31a
Fire 0.31a (Updated 6/10/02) - This ranks at the top of my multi-protocol chat client list for one reason - it handles buddy chat and the current version of Proteus doesn't. Fire works with AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber and IRC.New features in 0.31a include a redesigned buddy list, a new buddy info window, and the ability to work with more than one account for each given chat service. There are also tons of bug fixes, detailed on the Fire features page.
This and other OS X software information can be found on my ongoing story, OS X applications ranked by category
9:33:45 AM
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PhotoPress 1.0.2 optimizes paper use
MacCentral notes this morning that A Sharp has released PhotoPress 1.0.2, a program that serves as a way to optimize photos for printing - to save your expensive photo paper by printing multiple shots on each page. PhotoPress 1.0.2 is a $22.95 shareware application.
9:12:21 AM
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A Mozilla oddity
Why is it that my digital photos that look fine on IE or OmniWeb can look odd on Mozilla and Chimera? Especially with photos that have fine gradual color changes, like in the sky between blue sky and clouds, there is a kind of pixelated haze with some images when I look at them with Mozilla rather than with any of the other Mac Web browsers. So far I haven't been able to get to the bottom of it...
7:41:47 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Rob McNair-Huff.
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