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- Mac OS X apps ranked by category - Politics - Using Graphic Converter for image management
- Maximizing battery life under OS X 2003
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2002
- December - November - TidBITS - Apple - Macintouch laptop battery report - Apple - WebMonkey - Great HTML authoring stuff... - WhatIsMyIP - Wherever you are, there you are... - TinyURL - Turn big ugly URLs into cute little ones... - rob at whiterabbits.com - rmchuff - Eudora - Fire - BBEdit - Mozilla - Internet Explorer - Transmit - iTunes - VNCthing - Terminal
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MNJ Politics RSS Here is a collection of link to sites maintained by people who have mentioned that they read MNJ:
- Dan Hon - An imaginary place in a reactionary time 
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A year-end look at Mac Net Journal As the new year rapidly approaches (and it may already be here for some MNJ readers), this is a good time to look back on a few numbers for Mac Net Journal in 2003 - a year in which more than 7.8 million hits were registered for the site with 5.9 million distinct page visits. In December most MNJ readers checked the site in the middle of the day and although the RSS feed for the site has 40% of the total hits, 5% of readers click straight to the MNJ Web page to read the news. Thanks to all of the MNJ readers for making donations to support the site over the last year. Here is to an excellent 2004 and bigger and better things ahead!
A sneak peak at OmniWeb 5 OmniWeb 5 isn't due in beta form for more than a month, but The Omni Group is offering a few teasers on a new Web page for the upcoming browser...
Apple PowerBook G4 Trade-in Program Apple Offering PowerBook G4 Trade-in Program - Apple Offering PowerBook G4 Trade-in Program: I don't know whether to be more miffed that I missed this because I bought my new AlBook too early, or because my 667 MHz G4 TiBook doesn't qualify due to buying it as a BTO from the Apple Store. Via Al. [Backup Brain] O'Grady's PowerPage offers more details...
Snow in Puget Sound Country For the first time in nearly two years there is snow on the ground and still falling from the sky here at about the 320-foot elevation level in Tacoma. There is about 2.5 inches of the white stuff on the ground now, and it looks like we could indeed see 3 inches or more before morning if it keeps falling like it is right now. White rain...cool!
A Macworld wish list The writers at the MacDevCenter offer their Macworld wish list today, offering some interesting ideas along the way. My single wish: That Apple work to make its beta testing program more vigorous to make the chances better that the company will escape from software update embarassments that plagued incremental updates such as Mac OS X 10.2.8 (the first version) and Mac OS X 10.3.2. The latter remains on my list of software updates to avoid. Why? Just read a few of the notes on the reader reports on Macintouch about problems users are experiencing under this pre-Christmas software update bomb. We're still waiting for a fix, Apple...
iBook owners plan Macworld protest Dead iBook Owners Take Protest To Macworld Show - Faithful Apple users plan to put Quality Control issues center stage at the MacWorld show in San Francisco next week, to highlight a problem that Apple refuses to acknowledge. By Andrew Orlowski (The Register via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
The best Mail-to-Eudora conversion tool The results of yesterday's discussion about tools for moving an email archive from Mail.app to Eudora included mention of an AppleScript that will convert Mail.app mailboxes into Eudora format. Excellent! You can download it and try it here. I can't attest to its capabilities, but if I needed to make the switch I would definitely give it a try...
Terrorists toting almanacs? I am so happy to hear that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has grown so sophisticated that it can offer stellar alerts like the one that leaked out today - to be on the lookout of people carrying almanacs. Boing Boing has a post about this tonight. What's next? Everyone with a phone book is a suspect because terrorists may use phone books to research their targets? I sure feel safe...
Doug Miller on the Tinderbox learning curve Doug Miller continues to do some great writing about Tinderbox, including today's post about the learning curve associated with the powerful Mac application...
An iPod Battery FAQ Owners of new and old iPods may benefit from checking out the iPod Battery FAQ. Hopefully it will clear up some of the faulty messages floating around about the batteries on the spendy audio players...
Getting an AirCard to run with a PowerBook Macs Only! points to a hack to get a Sierra Wireless AirCard 750 to work with a PowerBook on T-Mobile service for a wireless connection to the Net. This could be useful for PowerBook users who have an open PC Card slot...
The best way to move from Mail to Eudora? For the second time in the last month an MNJ reader has asked for advice for the best way to move their mail from Apple's Mail.app to Eudora. I don't know of a simple tool for everyday users to complete this task. Do you? Discuss
Recovery! Finally... Christmas Eve is a blur, and I spent all of Christmas Day sitting in a chair and watching movies, but today I finally feel human enough to dial in to do some work on my Mac and check email. At its worst the flu that arrived in my body in full force on Tuesday had my temperature spiking first to 103.2 degrees F as we were driving down to Natalie's parents' place and then again on Xmas Eve it spiked to 103.6 degrees F. Luckily I coaxed it down enough to avoid a trip to hospital for the holiday! Back in recovery mode now, and even though I am still under the weather, I got to see about 40 bird species, including great looks at White-tailed Kites and a Black Phoebe at the Julia Butler Hansen Reserve for the Columbia White-tailed Deer this afternoon. It's good to be back!
Perfect timing...a flu for Christmas It's a bit too early to tell how bad this will get, but this morning I woke up early feeling sore. As the day wore on I started getting chills, and now I have a temperature of 101 degrees. I guess the Christmas visits will be postponed for me this year...
Limited MNJ updates through the holidays Over the next few days I will be here, there, and everywhere, and often working with slow or no Internet access, and so updates to Mac Net Journal will be limited over the holidays. I want to wish all MNJ readers a happy holiday season and to thank many of you who have donated to help keep this site alive for another year. Here's looking to an even better 2004!
Silent Night 1.1 fixes fan problems from OS X 10.3.2 Silent Night 1.1 is a 96k freeware application that restores the system defaults that control the fan behavior on certain PowerBooks to the settings found under Mac OS X 10.3.1. The result is that the fan that runs non-stop on my 12-inch PowerBook G4 under Mac OS X 10.3.2 is no longer running full time after applying this application's simple fix. It remains to be seen how Apple will respond to the arrival of this application and whether it will be seen as a threat to void the warrantee on your PowerBook. So far, it fixes my problem and I can hear my music without sounding like I am in a wind tunnel. Excellent!
Nisus Writer Express 1.1.1 released Nisus Writer Express 1.1.1 offers many fixes - Nisus Software today announced the release of Nisus Writer Express 1.1.1, the latest update to the company's Mac OS X word processor... [MacMinute.com]
An Apple security update Apple has released another update, this time unveiling Security Update 2003-12-19. Here are the release notes:
New Wacom tablet drivers Wacom updates tablet drivers for Mac OS X - "Wacom Technology has posted a driver update for its various lines of pen tablets. The new version 4.78-3 fixes issues found in previous releases and is a final release candidate. It's available now for Mac OS X," David Nagel reports for DigitalProducer.com. "The new tablet driver is now available in two versions, one specifically for the Graphire3 line of tablets... [MacDailyNews]
Video, meet iPod Apple seeking video iPod developer
On the benefits of reading weblogs on the Web For all of the convenience and features that make newsreaders like NetNewsWire so indespensible for reading weblogs, the best of the newsreaders simply can't live up to the experience of reading attractively formated posts on the Web. Doug Miller's Doing Something Different is one example. He has an interesting post from yesterday about specific examples of how people are using Tinderbox, and rather than read it in NNW I clicked to his Web site to read it there. There is personality in the fonts and presentation offered on the Web that simply can't come across in the rendered version of plain text in NNW... Discuss
Dissing Nisus Writer Express I agreed with the author of the review of Nisus Writer Express in the current issue of Macworld, in many cases, but I thought he too thoroughly dismissed the program at the end of the review.
Good news for Camino users Camino 0.8 Roadmap - Mike Pinkerton has announced a roadmap for Camino 0.8, which he hopes to release in March. [MacMegasite]
The fan glitch continues The problems with fans running nearly all of the time for first generation 12-inch PowerBook G4 machines that have been updated to Mac OS X 10.3.2 appears to be pretty widespread, and so far the only reliable suggestion I have found to limit the fan noise is to set your computer's processor speed to reduced or to avoid using too many applications at once on the affected machine. In my case, I can trigger the fan to run simply by having NetNewsWire check for new news in the background while I am Web browsing or downloading email. Still digging... Related links:
Apple updates: DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro, LiveType Apple releases DVD Studio Pro update - Apple has released DVD Studio Pro 2.0.3, an updated version of its professional DVD authoring software... [MacMinute.com] MacMinute also noted that Final Cut Pro and LiveType were updated today...
Developers get a new version of Xcode Apple releases Xcode 1.1 Update - Apple has released Xcode 1.1 Update which provides overall stability and performance enhancements to Xcode IDE, as well as improvements to debugging, workflow, the Xcode build system and CodeSense. It is recommended that all Xcode users install this update, according to Apple. Xcode 1.1 Update is available via the Software Update Pane of Mac OS X System Preferences. [MacDailyNews]
Do not install Mac OS X 10.3.2 Owners of first generation 12-inch PowerBook G4s are advised not to install Mac OS X 10.3.2 until Apple resolves a problem caused by the update with this particular machine. The update causes the PowerBook's fan to run non-stop while on AC power, and so far no workaround has been found to address the problem.
More pre-Xmas updates from Apple: iTunes 4.2 In an effort to see how many times they can get Mac OS X users to reboot their machines within 24 hours, Apple has rolled out yet another software update, this time bumping iTunes up to version 4.2. New in this version is the ability for AOL users to access iTunes and the iTunes Music Store, and the ability to share music between Macs and Windows machines on the same subnet...
One bad side effect of Mac OS X 10.3.2 The most annoying side effect of Mac OS X 10.3.2 on my 12-inch PowerBook G4 is that my machine's fan is running a lot more - nearly all of the time when I have the machine plugged into the AC. Are others seeing this? Is Apple finally admitting that this machine runs hot enough to cook an egg on some parts of its surface? Discuss
QuickTime 6.5 In its third software update in the last 24 hours, Apple has released a new version of QuickTime this morning:
The QuickTime update is an 18.2MB download and you will be required to restart your Mac after installing it...
NetNewsWire 1.0.7b7 Ranchero has released a new beta version of its NetNewsWire newsreader application, offering a number of bug fixes.
Mac OS X 10.3.2 released On the heels of the battery update earlier today, Apple has rolled out a major update to Panther with Mac OS X 10.3.2. Here are the release notes for the non-dialup friendly 38.2MB update that will require another restart after it is installed:
I am doing a backup of my user folder and installing this update tonight. How is it working for you? Discuss
Battery Update 1.1 released Apple has released an update that promises to improve battery management for users of PowerBooks and iBooks who are running Mac OS X 10.2 and later. Here are the release notes for Battery Update 1.1, a 520k download available through the Software Update panel in your System Preferences app:
A restart will be required after installing the update...
An amazing tribute to flight 
On this 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight there is a group of local pilots around Tacoma, Washington putting on an amazing tribute to the first flight. Over the last hour between 14 and 20 private planes, all different models ranging from a bi-plane and a pair of World War II fighters to Cessnas and experimental planes have been flying alternately in formations and in a progression over Commencement Bay, with more planes joining the display on nearly every pass by my house.
Pain in the butt connectivity problems this morning As I have been plodding along and trying to get work done this morning, off-and-on problems with my cable Internet service is driving me nuts. Hopefully this will be resolved soon and I will be securely back online before the day is done...
Apple's discussions area revamped Apple Discussions support area gets revamped - The Discussions section of Apple's Support Web site has gotten a major overhaul worthy of note. The area provides Mac users with a place to exchange information and questions about the use of their Apple products. Apple's Discussions Staff noted that the new Web site went up late Tuesday afternoon. [MacCentral]
Gift making with my Mac Today I am combining a number of Mac tools to create custom calendars for friends and family as Christmas gifts. I guess if they are reading I just blew the surprise. But I just wanted to offer a few details about how I am creating these calendars that combine a simple calendar printed on 8.5 x 11 inch lunar blue Astrobrights cover stock from Wausau (found at a local Office Depot store) with 5 x 7 digital photo prints produced on the Canon S900 photo printer here in my home office. Selecting and editing the photos from my archive of about 9,000 digital photos and hundreds of slides - few of which are scanned so far - from the last few years of book research and accompanying photography is the biggest time taker. I still have a ton of these to print, and as I mentioned in a post yesterday I am using the abilities of Portraits & Prints from Econ Technologies to make the most of my stash of photo paper, fitting two 5 x 7 inch prints on each 8.5 x 11 inch page. The next step in the process was to figure out how to create a calendar grid for each page. I am printing the grid on the bottom half of the 8.5 x 11 inch card stock we are using as paper for the project and then using clear photo corners to attach each 5 x 7 print to the page. The advantage of this is that our friends and family can take the prints off the page and use them however they like once each month is done. Rather than creating the calendar grids for each month in 2004 by hand, I instead printed out grids from Personal Organizer 4.5.0, the Personal Information Manager program I use from Chronos. I just changed the setting to use a white background for each month and set the size of my calendar grid, then changed the margins for the printed page to bump the calendar to the bottom half of the printed page. Now I will face some assembly time to attach photos to each calendar page, and Natalie and I will punch holes through the monthly pages to bind them with string and we will have attractive, customized gifts all made possible with the use of a Mac, and printer, a supply of ink for the inkjet, and a little time. I should note that we thought about printing the calendars directly on photo paper, but that would have eliminated the ability to easily reuse the prints as well as made it nearly impossible to write on the calendars and actually use them as something other than wall hangings. Are you using your Mac to create gifts this holiday season? Discuss
An excellent discussion of digital cameras and Mac OS X Macintouch has a great reader report underway about digital cameras and Mac OS X, including tips for getting around problems and recommendations of a few folks' favorite cameras in various price ranges...
Problems with iTunes and the Gracenote CDDB MacFixIt and a few MNJ readers have noted a new problem with iTunes and the Gracenote CD Database (CDDB) that can cause iTunes to crash when it searches for the track names of some CDs. I attempted to play a Christmas CD on my machine a few minutes ago and confirmed that iTunes stopped playing the mp3 stream I was listening to when I inserted the CD and iTunes began searching the Gracenote CDDB for the track names of the CD. The problem didn't crash iTunes but it did lock up the application, forcing me to force quit it. The problem also slowed a printing job I had running in the background, though it didn't appear to cause any other problems for my overall system. Stay tuned here, to the related story on MacFixIt, and to this thread on the Apple Discussion forums for news of any kind of fix or workaround. In the short term the only way to play some CDs in iTunes is to turn off automatic lookups of track names on the Gracenote CDDB. To do so, disable the Connect to Internet when needed item under the General preferences area in iTunes preferences... Discuss Update: At 10:50 a.m. Pacific Time I was able to get iTunes to grab the track names from the CDDB for another CD I am ripping to AAC format, A Winter's Solstice from Windham Hill...
Using Portraits & Prints to make the most of printing Anyone who has worked with digital photos and tried to print them on their own photo printer has seen how wasteful the process can be. Most off-the-shelf photo editing programs offer a wealth of printing options, but no real options for the way the final print will be layed out on a page. As a result, without the intervention of other software, printing a standard 4 x 6 photo could take an entire 8.5 x 11 inch piece of photo paper and force you to cut away a lot of wasted paper around your treasured photo. Portraits & Prints from Econ Technologies helps eliminate the waste, and now that I have started playing with the newest version I can see that the $20 cost of this shareware program could pay for itself in no time at all. The idea behind Portraits & Prints is simple: Let's say you have one 4 x 6 photo that you want to appear four different times in a simple grid on each sheet of photo paper. Just open the photo in this program, click the layout tab to select the proper grid, edit the image with the simple editing tools available in the program - if you haven't already done this in Photoshop or GraphicConverter or iPhoto - and then click the Print icon. You can also mix different images and sizes into the templates, and if the templates included in the program are not quite what you are looking for then you can use the $10 Template Maker application to create your own layouts. So far I have just scratched the surface of what can be done with this simple program, but it may be worth a try to home photo hobbyists and others who need to make the most of their costly photo paper.
Delays in posting today Apologies for the lack of posts early today. I renewed my license for Tinderbox this morning when I started using the new version that arrived yesterday and I took a while to get the license code that would allow me to get back in business with the program. All is well now!
Apple Remote Desktop updated Apple updates Remote Desktop - Apple on Tuesday released an update to the Apple Remote Desktop client software to bring it to version 1.2.4. The new version is available for download through the Software Update System Preferences pane. [MacCentral]
Tinderbox 2.1 released Better handling of antialiased text, new configuration options, more customizable HTML export options, and better image importing are among the highlights in Tinderbox 2.1. The update to the information management application that doubles as an outliner, a Weblogging tool, a knowledge manager, and an all around writing tool is free for current license holders. Tinderbox is a $145 application that is currently only available for Mac users. Eastgate Systems, which just marked its 20 year anniversary as a company, plans to release a Windows version of the program next year...
Apple updates G5 firmware Apple releases G5 firmware update - Apple on Monday released Power Mac G5 Firmware Update 5.1.4 via the Mac OS X Software Update preference panel... [MacMinute.com]
Another note on Saddam's capture Although I am happy to see that Saddam Hussein can now face the music for his years of tyranny, I can't help but feel that the world would have been much better off if the Iraqi people had taken care of Saddam on their own, without the loss of hundreds of American soldiers' lives. We will spend years untangling the mess created by a war that, while laudible in that it removed a tyrant, failed to live up to the criteria used to justify it in the first place...
Details about WWDC 2004 in San Francisco Apple has posted a page with details about the 2004 Worldwide Developer's Conference, which will be held June 28-July 2 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco...
The complete 2003 Macintouch Reader Choice Poll The complete 2003 Macintouch Reader Choice Poll offers some interesting insights into what the site's readers think of Apple and third-party products for the Mac OS X platform. If you are still shopping for the holidays, this could be a useful resource... What would you add to the list? Discuss
Feeling the squeeze of international outsourcing This morning I was hit by the reality of international outsourcing, although in a minor way. I had been looking forward to a modest increase in the pay rate for the financial writing I do - the first pay increase in two years of doing this work - but that increase was rescinded today when the client company sent down an edict: Since we are competing with a company that covers the U.S. financial market with writers in India, we have to drop back to our former pay rate. I guess I should look at this as a positive, since at least we were not eliminated from the work flow by the underpaid folks in India... Discuss
Ejecting CDs from a slot-loading drive Eject stuck CDs using open firmware - I had a CD get stuck in my slot-loading superdrive Aluminum Powerbook, running 10.3. The CD became unresponsive and not recognized by my computer at all! Here is the fix: Hold Control-Command-Option-Eject Button... [Mac OS X Hints]
iCal To Do items in OmniOutliner Export iCal To Do items to OmniOutliner - Robert Black: "iCal's doesn't allow me to print a simple list of all my To Dos as an outline (with no calendar info), so I wrote this Applescript to export all my To Dos into a new outline in OmniOutliner. Each calendar has any associated To Dos indented beneath it." [Studio Log]
Saddam capture a Net news win Net delivers early news of Hussein's capture - Americans log onto the Internet to learn about the capture of the deposed Iraqi leader because the news broke after most of the nation's newspapers had gone to print. [CNET News.com]
The capture of Saddam It's a good Sunday morning to wake up and tune into the news via NetNewsWire and read about the capture, finally, of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Better yet is seeing the video footage of Iraqis dancing in the streets and waving flags in response to the capture. Now if only the U.S. could capitalize on closing this chapter in Iraq by winning more partners and turning over the rebuilding of Iraq to the United Nations rather than piling the cost of the repair on the backs of American taxpayers - many of whom will rejoice in seeing Saddam face the music but who did not agree with the invasion of Iraq in the first place... Related links:
Two big-time caveats to Panther's fax capabilities Apple offers details about two major shortcomings of Panther's built-in fax sending and receiving capbilities, including a note that some multi-purpose fax/printer/scanner devices may not be able to receive faxes sent from within Panther, and another that offers tips for how to create an important folder in your system that is critical to receiving faxes correctly.
Digging into OmniOutliner Giles Turnbull digs into the many things you can do with OmniOutliner in an article on the MacDevCenter. I have written quite a bit about how useful I found OmniOutliner to be during my two-year project writing Birding Washington. Sure, I could have done the same kind of work in the outliner in AppleWorks or the copy of Brainforest I have on my Mac and my Palm, but OmniOutliner simply offered a better feature set and better workflow than the others. If I were to start writing another book today, I would seriously consider using OmniOutliner. Of course, I haven't even started up OmniOutliner since Nov. 18, when we finished our book. Tinderbox serves as my writing and outlining workspace more these days...
Mac-related Christmas ideas TidBITS offers a special issue with reader suggestions for holiday gifts. Even if you are done with your shopping, there are some gems in this issue.
What is the best non-Word processor? What is the best non-Word processor for professional writing? OpenOffice.org? Nisus Writer Express? Mariner Write? What have you used and what works best? Discuss
Skinning the Panther Wired takes a look at Unsanity's Shape Shifter program and what it could mean for Mac OS X...
Praise for Page Sender Mac Night Owl follows up on a story about the shortcomings of Panther's fax features with a favorable look at Page Sender...
A quick tip for right-wing religious zealots The surest way the religious community can turn off people is to spam their email inboxes with notes about the coming of the judgement day and whether the email recipient wants to go to hell. I am seeing a growing number of emails trying to save my soul, but those kinds of spams end up in the same mailbox with others who want to save me money on some non-existant great deal, make my penis bigger, enlarge my breasts, and clean out my colon. Garbage in, garbage out. On a happier note, it is just a few more days until the Winter Solstice!
Using AppleScript to create Palm memos from selected text MacOSXHints has a good tip this morning about using an AppleScript to help create Palm Desktop memos from selected text in other Mac OS X applications...
Speaking of Apple bugs... Damien Barrett is investigating what sounds like a serious bug in Panther. He's still digging... Update: At least one MNJ reader has commented via email that it could be argued the case in point is not a bug at all.
AppleScript: The definitive guide O'Reilly releases 'AppleScript: The Definitive Guide' - O'Reilly has announced the release of "AppleScript: The Definitive Guide" (US$39.95), a new book by Matt Neuburg that "not only teaches how the AppleScript language works, but shows readers how to use it in all sorts of contexts -- in everyday scripts to process automation, as well as in AppleScript Studio, in Cocoa, in CGI scripts, and in combination with Perl and Ruby..... [MacMinute.com]
A friend notes a Panther Finder bug My friend John contacted me a couple of days ago about a Finder bug under Panther that he was seeing when working with digital images in folders. Get Info wouldn't reflect the real size of the folder when he would delete some images. Apparently, it is a known bug. John talks about it in this discussion...
A resolution to my mobile phone question After spending too much time weighing features and trying to figure out which phone would work best with my Mac, I opted for the easy solution - a new Samsung mobile phone from Verizon that offers a better calling plan than I had with AT&T Wireless. The phone has no build in camera, no Bluetooth, no MP3 player, no real PIM features beyond the simple features I had on my previous phone, but Verizon's coverage in Washington state beats AT&T and the phone is four years more modern than the Nokia it replaces. Fewer bells and whistles, but it simply works. Sometimes simplicity wins... I should mention that I was pretty motivated to dump AT&T Wireless as my mobile phone service provider. A few months ago I wrote about their quarterly earnings call which I listened to as part of my financial writing. AT&T's executives were cutting employees from the payroll in hopes of winning a stupid business performance award while letting stockholders know that they couldn't afford to offer dividends in spite of the savings. I was also sickened hearing the company executives lauding about "rightsizing" departments in the company in order to have a better chance to attain the artificial business metrics they sought. Not that I think Verizon is necessarily any better, but I had enough hearing the execs from AT&T inflating their egos and personal compensation while they put thousands of people out of work... Discuss Other Mac mobile phone links for today:
The sad truth...contemplating a Windows machine Work demands are forcing me to consider buying a Windows machine for the first time in years. One contract I work on requires daily use of a PC - I use an ancient Windows 98 laptop to do this now - and the financial writing work I do is branching into new assignments that will require the use of a Windows XP machine. My quandry is whether to buy a Windows machine or to run the risk of trying something like Virtual PC. Emulation may work for the financial writing work I need to do, but I am not sure it would work as well as needed for the other contract work I do. I am leaning toward buying an inexpensive Windows desktop, since I could find something workable for as little as $500. Discuss
SpamSieve 2.1 released SpamSieve 2.1 adds Apple Mail POP support - Michael Tsai has released SpamSieve 2.1, an update to his Bayesian spam filtering utility for popular e-mail clients such as Apple Mail, Mailsmith, Entourage, PowerMail, and Eudora 6... [MacMinute.com]
Turning a PowerBook into a WiFi repeater Macslash has a discussion today about Making WiFi Repeaters With Single AirPort Cards...
Now Up-To-Date & Contact updated Now Up-To-Date & Contact gains Panther support - Now Software on Tuesday announced the release of Now Up-To-date & Contact v4.5.1, an update to their calendar and contact maker for Macintosh. The new version includes performance enhancements and feature updates, and has been thoroughly testing with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther," according to its developers. [MacCentral]
10 dream technologies Paul Boutin writes about the 10 technologies that have changed the way we live. It makes for interesting reading and something to ponder and debate on this Monday...
MacPAD to simplify software updates MacPAD aims to automate, simplify software updates - MacPAD, a file format developed by a consortium of developers and released via the Mac shareware tracking site MacShareware.net, aims to ease the burden for programmers. MacPAD -- which functions similarly to PAD on the Windows platform -- automatically sends out updates whenever a new version is released. [MacCentral]
Blocking spam from your Mac Blocking Spam from my Mac - I've been using the Mac version of Mailblocks for about six weeks now to consolidate a half dozen e-mail accounts into one and then to isolate the spam and keep it from cluttering my inbox. I've reported before that I was optimistic. Now I can flat out say, it's a keeper. I signed up for the full program. It's been very effective. I lchecked this morning and it has now intercepted 10,596 spam messages from my various accounts. Used with OS X Mail and SpamSieve, it's the best solution I've found. [Mac-Mike.com]
An ironing board with a view  Sometimes we find the oddest things alongside the road during our bird watching trips across Washington. This afternoon, along a back road near the Columbia River at Vantage, I couldn't help but laugh out loud to see an ironing board set up and ready for use at the foot of a talus slope that trails down from the most dramatic mountain in the area. It was ready made for an art photo...too odd to be true.
Flash back to Dec. 2001  I found this image from two years ago on my Equinox Project weblog, and it could just as easily be taken today. Water defines December in Western Washington...
A security update for Safari Security update offers Safari cookies fix - Apple on Friday released Security Update 2003-12-05. The new update is available for download through the Software Update system preferences pane. [MacCentral] Of course, you don't have to worry about this bug and security fix if you use something other than the default Web browser for Mac OS X. Since I use Camino as my main browser, I have no problem...
A hard lesson to learn I am starting to warm up and dry off from spending the last hour standing in the rain and discussing a proposal by a group of residents in one of Tacoma's neighborhoods that wants to remove at least 10 Douglas fir trees, some of which are more than 100 years old and in excess of 100-feet tall, in order to create a better view of Commencement Bay for their personal enjoyment and, in the case of some who aim to sell their homes soon, their own financial gain. The representative from the neighborhood who was floating the proposal has balls, since he set up this talk and overview of the trees in question with leaders from the Tahoma Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, and a habitat restoration group called the Puget Creek Restoration Society that works on the park property that contains the trees. The fellow had to know that the groups represented would not favor such a grab of public space and public resources for personal gain, but he kept forging ahead, no matter how or what we said to point out the shortcomings of his proposal. After an hour of talking about the issue my blunt filter shut down and I told the fellow point-blank that his proposal was arrogant and selfish, and that there was no way or no amount of money that could compensate or repair the damage to the park environment that would be done by cutting down some of the largest fir trees in the north end of the city just to create a better view. The fellow plodded on and couldn't understand that there couldn't be a compromise that would create a win-win situation from his proposal. It is a hard lesson to learn, but it boils down to the fact that money can't buy - or fix - everything. And sometimes private wants have to lose to the public will. Discuss
PDF2Office could be a powerful tool As more and more companies and organizations present information in PDF documents, it becomes harder to extract quotes and pertinent information for storage in whatever information management tools you use. PDF2Office sounds like it could help bridge the gap between information that is locked in a PDF file and the need to use that information in dynamic and searchable ways. The program isn't cheap though - weighing in at $99 until March 2004, when the price will rise to $129...
Do you use Exposé? One of the most talked about features of Panther when it arrived in October was Exposé - the tool that displays all of the active program windows on your machine with one click of a button or a predefined gesture of your mouse. It is one of those "wow" features that Apple occassionally rolls into its OS or hardware, which reminded me of the first time I brought home my Quadra 660AV and played with voice recognition to control the new Mac back in 1993. It was cool, fun to play with, and for a short while it seemed like just the reason that Apple is such a great computer maker. But over time the novelty wore off, and now, years later, I barely use voice recognition at all, if ever. The same goes for Exposé. It's cool, but in my workflow, not particularly useful. Are you using Exposé? What is it helping you do that you either couldn't do before or how is it making your workflow more efficient? Discuss
AppleScripts add scrapbook feature to Safari A set of AppleScripts to create a scrapbook in Safari - When you want to save a page, simply click on "Add to Scrapbook" script. The page is saved as HTML and a bookmark pointing to the file is created in bookmark folder "SCRAPBOOK." The file can be retrieved and viewed in Safari by clicking on the bookmark in the usual way. [Studio Log]
Integrating NetNewsWire and a blogroll Maintaining a Blogroll with NetNewsWire - Peter Rukavina combines NetNewsWire's AppleScript-ability with PHP running on his server to automate his blogroll. [ranchero.com]
A sign of what AppleWorks is worth Interesting to note today that dealMac lists an all-time low price for AppleWorks 6, even though it is bundled with FaxSTF and PCalc2, for just $5. That is about what the application is worth to me these days. It's nice to have in a pinch, but since it has barely been updated since the arrival of Mac OS X, AppleWorks is growing very long in the tooth... Discuss
Macintouch readers on color laser printers Macintouch has a reader report about options for color laser printers. Meanwhile, it is about time I order new toner for my Samsung laser printer, black-and-white, which ran out of toner in the middle of printing out the pages of our Birding Washington book last month...
Notable software updates There have been a few notable software releases over the last day, including new versions of GraphicConverter, Kensington MouseWorks, Timbuktu, and SiteSucker. Here are the details:
ChronoSync 2.0 released ChronoSync updated to version 2.0 - ChronoSync, the automated synchronization and backup application for Mac OS X, gets mounting, rules, analysis, notification, scheduling, and speed improvements. ChronoSync is flexible enough to handle the simplest to the most complex synchronizations. Go to www.econtechnologies.com to download the demo and try it. Buy ChronoSync before December 15, 2003 for a special price of $20. This saves you $10 off the regular price of $30! [MacMegasite]
Another reason not to be a Windows user Wired News offers another good reason for using a Mac rather than a Windows box:
Collaborative editing with Rendezvous If you are looking to get the most out of Apple's Rendezvous networking technology you should check out Wei-Meng Lee's article on the MacDevCenter: Collaborative Editing with Rendezvous.
Eudora 6.0.2 fixes problems for Panther users Eudora 6.0.2 deals with problems introduced with the arrival of Panther in October. The Attach button will now work, using MX records shouldn't cause a crash, and the application will stop wasting processor cycles checking for a valid network connection every minute. Here are the release notes for this free update for current license holders of Eudora 6.x...
Eddy award winners Brent Simmons of NetNewsWire fame notes that his excellent newsreader and weblog tool won an Eddy award, along with other winners:
iPod as a digital photographer's best friend Derrick Story takes a look at using an iPod as a storage device for digital photography in iPod as digital photographer's best friend.
A workaround for OS X DHCP security problems Apple explains who is vulnerable (not many) and what can be done about the problem, as noted below by MacCentral:
Early notice of the Nikon D70 digital SLR camera Nikon announces D70 digital SLR camera - Nikon Inc. on Wednesday announced development of its D70, a new digital SLR camera expected to hit stores in spring 2004. A lot of technical details about the camera were left out of Nikon's announcement, but the company noted that the D70 will accept interchangeable lenses. The camera body uses a Nikon F lens mount and sports Nikon's DX format sensor, so it's compatible with all AF Nikkor lenses. [MacCentral]
How to support Mac Net Journal Mac Net Journal is a publication supported by readers through direct donations and advertising clicks. If you find MNJ a useful site, please visit the Web page and click to send a donation using either PayPal, Amazon, or by finding out how to send a check to support the site. Every little bit helps!
Birding Washington on Amazon It's odd to see that Amazon already shows our Birding Washington book in its listings. We were not aware of the targeted page count or release date for the book, but according to Amazon, Birding Washington will be a 304-page book arriving in July 2004. Why is it odd to see the book listed? Because we just finished the text and maps for the book exactly two weeks ago... Discuss
Soundtrack 1.1 from Apple Apple releases Soundtrack 1.1 - Apple today released Soundtrack 1.1, an updated version of its royalty-free music production tool... [MacMinute.com]
A new version of OSXvnc Versiontracker notes a new version of OSXvnc, the virtual network computing server that lets you control a Mac remotely...
Another outliner article from Ted Goranson Ted Goranson continues his in-depth look at outliners on the About This Particular Macintosh site, this time focussing on Outliner Use Patterns...
A short list of important software I need to update I spent a few minutes this morning making note of the programs I use every day that are now not current shipping versions, and what it will cost to get them current. Here is the short list:
There are other programs that Natalie and I use a lot that we still haven't migrated from Classic, such as FileMaker and Quicken. There is really no excuse for not upgrading FileMaker yet, but with Quicken I remain skeptical that I even want to upgrade it. I may just migrate my financial data to a spreadsheet... Discuss
Derek Miller on the need to use Microsoft Word Getting beneath the skin of a design - Get in deep to the aura of the iPod, via the New York Times Magazine. Also, I'm beginning to think that professional writers like me who have to use Microsoft Word every day are less like experts than practitioners of aikido. We don't master Word so much as we know how to dodge its attacks, and turn the program's own negative energy back against itself to bend it to our will. Which is not the way a program should be. [Penmachine words music comment]
An ouch for the world environment Russia Kills Kyoto - Putin Aide Rules Out Russian Approval of Kyoto Protocol MOSCOW (AP) -- A senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia cannot ratify the Kyoto Protocol limiting greenhouse gas emissions, dealing a mortal blow to the pact that required Russia's ratification to take effect. [The Agonist]
A new Tinderbox on the way Mark Bernstein notes: 'tis the season - We're hard at work, putting the finishing touches on Tinderbox 2.1 and polishing Tekka 4, Long, long winter nights. [Mark Bernstein] I look forward to seeing what Mark plans to roll into Tinderbox 2.1!
A useful FAQ update for AppleScript fans macscripter's appleScript faq - MacScripter's AppleScript FAQ section has undergone a massive update. Julio J. Sancho (aka JJ) has re-organized the categories, updated the contents, and unified the FAQs overall appearance. Plus, JJ has added many important new AppleScript FAQs. MacScripter's AppleScript FAQ section is a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions based on a simple Q&A format. The FAQs are indexed and split into several sub-categories. [Studio Log]
WorkStrip - an interesting OS X add-on Workstrip 3.0 from Softchaos appears to replace some of the best features of a program called OneClick that I used to use under Mac OS 9.x. The program offers a work strip reminiscent of the Control Strip under Classic. The strip includes user-configurable workspaces that can represent a client or project, and once a workspace is set up you can open applications and files needed for the project with one click. It seems like the program has some potential, not just as another way to manage which apps and files you are using at a given time but as an intelligent launcher. I may have to dig into it. Check the product tour for WorkStrip for more. The program costs $37.
Slashdot bans NetNewsWire readers Dan Schafer notes: Slashdot Bans NetNewsWire Readers - The SlashDot RSS feed has banned my reader from grabbing its headlines. Digging a bit, I find their policy is that anything other than twice-hourly feed requests is considered abuse. The language on their FAQ on the subject is typical /. arrogance. I noticed this with my Slashdot feed on Friday, and I would have mentioned it earlier, if only Slashdot was actually relevant...
On Radical Simplicity The weblog How to Save the World offers an intriguing article about a new book by Jim Merkel called Radical Simplicity. Interesting reading for a rainy Pacific Northwest afternoon...
An ode to the iPod In case you missed it: Rob Walker's... - In case you missed it: Rob Walker's New York Times Magazine profile of the Apple iPod is a great piece of technology writing. [Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment]
On choosing a new mobile phone It is time that I face up to the facts - my ancient Nokia phone that I use with service from AT&T is just not working well anymore. It sometimes shuts off at random, even in the middle of a call, and the replacement battery for the phone only fits decently if I keep the phone in the cheap plastic holder that works with the belt clip I purchased a year or so ago. The display fades out constantly, forcing me to sqeeze the phone now and then to ensure it is still running. Simply put, it is time to donate this thing and get something new. The problem is, I hate choosing something like this. There are a few parameters that make choosing a mobile phone tough for Natalie and I. We venture into the hinterlands regularly on birding trips and we would prefer a phone that will work well in a wide range of locations, which seems to rule out many mobile phone networks. I recall an ancient Motorola flip phone that I once used to make a phone call from inside the crater of Mt. St. Helens, where I was on one of four trips I made into the steaming volcano with a geologist in the 1990s. I doubt that my current AT&T phone could make that call, and despite all of their cool bells and whistles, I wonder if the newest phones from AT&T could even handle placing a call from the tourist buildings and visitors center at Mt. St. Helens. Given that I may just need to give up on the idea of a new phone that will work everywhere, I have been taking a look at the Nokia 3650 or the Sony Ericsson T610, both of which would work well with Mac OS X and the built-in Bluetooth in my 12-inch PowerBook G4, but I am still fence sitting. I am not even dead-set on sticking with AT&T as my carrier, although it appears that they have the best network coverage here in the Pacific Northwest. Can anyone offer any advice? What mobile phone has worked well for you? Discuss
Running a PowerBook on alternative power MacSlash has an interesting discussion about running a PowerBook on emergency power sources...
JunkMatcher - another spam killing tool for Mail Beta: JunkMatcher 0.52 - JunkMatcher augments Mac OS X Mail's statistically-trained spam filter with a pattern-matching spam filter. [MacInTouch] |
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