Mac Net Journal

Erik Hanberg is debating whether to buy the next update to Microsoft Office on his Mac or to opt for another solution. I say go for it! I have written four books and lived without Office on my Mac since 2000.

How? I have used a variety of tools over the years - Nisus Writer, OpenOffice.org and others - but my main tool now is the latest version of NeoOffice. With this program loaded, I don't miss anything from Microsoft Office. I can use track changes without any problems, which is the main differentiator between other tools and Microsoft Word. Meanwhile, I can use a tool like Google Docs for simple opening, saving, sharing and minor editing of documents.

Yes, I do use Office at work, where the entire work environment is Windows-based. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. But I have so far avoided forking over hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office on my last three Apple laptops. It can be done!

Dan Frakes' take on the MacBook Air
Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 1:10 PM

Dan Frakes offers a good, balanced review of the tradeoffs involved in the creation of the MacBook Air. Yes, it is a niche machine. But it may be just the ticket for hard core travellers or those who are willing to compromise some functionality in trade for lower weight.

When you read Dan's piece, note the good content in the comments that follow the article. What a difference 24 hours makes in terms of mellowing the response to a new product like this.

Thoughts on the MacBook Air and more
Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 10:36 PM

It's been a long day, but it wouldn't be right to go without making comments about today's Apple announcements. Here is my short list of highlights:

Like everyone else, I was impressed with what I heard about the MacBook Air. Some people have quibbled about the fact that the battery is built into the machine and not easily accessible, but I don't see this as a deal breaker. Some will surely also see difficulty with the lack of ports, the built in speakers, etc. But I find the machine intriguing for its light weight and relative computing power. My wife is likely to get one later this year to replace her aging iBook G4.

The Time Capsule is confusing to me. I can do automatic wireless backups by connecting a hard drive to my Airport Extreme base station and schedule nightly backups using SuperDuper and get more flexibility than the Time Capsule offers. Still, the 1TB version looks interesting, and it does work with Time Machine - a program that I still haven't even tried simply because I don't sit around with my MacBook Pro connected to an external hard drive all of the time.

I will have to give the new movie rentals through the iTunes Store a try soon. I currently subscribe to NetFlix, and this may be the ticket to get rid of that monthly bill. But it is too early to tell what the movie selection will look like through the new online rental service compared to the variety I can see through NetFlix.

My only disappointment of the keynote address was the relative lack of updates for the iPhone. Yes, there is a software update, but I was hoping for a memory boost for the iPhone before buying one in March. No luck yet, but there are a few weeks left before I will buy...

Glenn Fleishman's picks for Apple to roll out tomorrow
Monday, January 14, 2008, 10:18 AM

Glenn Fleishman offers his picks for what Apple will unveil or announce tomorrow during the Macworld Expo keynote address by Steve Jobs. One of his predictions - the announcement of a 3G iPhone - would put a chill on me buying a new iPhone in March as I have been planning since the device launched last June. We'll see what really happens...

And the predictions for Macworld Expo roll on
Wednesday, January 9, 2008, 7:10 PM

Wired offers its predictions for what will be unveiled next week at Macworld. The highlights: iTunes movie rentals, HD content and some kind of light notebook or tablet computer. Two out of those three appeal to me. I still haven't jumped on the HD or even the big screen LCD or plasma TV bandwagon yet, so HD content is outside my interest.

One thing I am definitely interested in is seeing whether Apple gives a bump to the iPhone with a 16GB version. The iPod Touch has a 16GB version, so maybe they can shoehorn 16GB into the iPhone. Maybe, maybe not...

NetNewsWire for free?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008, 7:03 PM

Brent Simmons announced today that the newest version of his excellent RSS reader, NetNewsWire, is now free. Now I can stop feeling guilty about paying for the program many years ago and then benefiting from updates without any more payment ever since.

A flooded RSS feed reader - a whole lotta nothing
Monday, January 7, 2008, 6:00 PM

If you follow a lot of technology Web sites through an RSS reader, like I do, then you too are dealing with a flood of duplicate articles about the latest flash-in-the-pan electronics from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I tend to watch these with less and less interest each year. One reason is that as I get older I am less inclined to waste dollars on gadets that I will use for two weeks and then abandon - or at least I hope I am. Another reason is that only a fool would spend their cash on the latest gadgets at CES without waiting to see what Apple will unveil next week in San Francisco at Macworld Expo.

And so I wait...

Is Twitter more a distraction than useful?
Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 9:11 PM

Glenn Fleishman begs the question about the usefulness of Twitter tonight with his most recent TidBITS piece - Conversions of a Twitter revert. As a casual Twitter user, I can understand Glenn's perspective. But I am not throwing in the towel on Twitter just yet. Compared to play things like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter is full of usefulness.

How am I using Twitter? I use it to write about tidbits of life and things that I encounter online that are not really worthy of full-fledged posts on Mac Net Journal. It is a middle road between the time investment of writing pieces on MNJ and the posts I refer to on my Google Reader feed that shows the most recent items in the left sidebar on this site. It's an efficient way to say something without completely breaking from the flow of other things I am doing throughout the day.

How might I use Twitter in the future? Well, I see other potential uses for the community that can be created on Twitter. Some organizations are using it as a platform for breaking news or as a way to communicate with remote teams, and it may be useful as a communications tool for my regular daytime work. It could provide another way for people to subscribe and follow what is happening on a topical basis from trusted sources, something smaller and more personal than RSS feeds. The trick is finding those trusted sources.

I am still waiting to see what happens with Twitter as a platform before commiting real resources to it. But so far I am enjoying the experiment.

My first bird of 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 9:18 PM

Although we didn't go birding today, we still observed our normal New Years Day tradition of noting the first bird that we see or hear to start the year. I didn't hear my first bird until around 10 a.m., when I took our new puppy outside and heard one of the many calls of a Dark-eyed Junco, closely followed by seeing and hearing an Anna's Hummingbird.

In past years my first bird species of the year has varied widely, from the aforementioned hummingbird to a European Starling, a Common Raven and a Northern Flicker. The idea with noting the first bird of the year is that the species holds a special focus for the coming year. My first bird this year is very common in the Pacific Northwest, where it is most commonly known as an Oregon Junco. But I will see what new tidbits I can learn about this common species during 2008. If past years are any indication, it is likely to be the first of more than 200 bird species that I will see in Washington state this year. I have seen more than 200 species of birds in my home state each year since the year 2000.

On to another birding year!

Adding Flickr, Twitter feed links to Mac Net Journal
Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 1:50 PM

Over the last few months I have been playing around with microblogging and photos more, outside of what I a have written about on Mac Net Journal. So today I added a couple of links to the left sidebar on MNJ to point to my new Flickr photo page and to my page on Twitter. Nothing major, but it is about time to freshen things up a bit on MNJ.

I guess there are some benefits to not feeling well enough to go bird watching today, as I have the last few years on New Years Day...

Funny...computer glitch changes Seattle fireworks show
Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 12:48 PM

Apparently Seattle's New Years fireworks didn't go quite as planned. According to the Seattle PI, a computer error forced the company doing the fireworks show to detonate everything manually. And of course, all of the speculation is about which operating system was running on the computer that caused the problems with the show...

Welcome to 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 10:24 AM

Welcome to the New Year from the Pacific Northwest. What lies ahead this year? Well, I look forward to hearing what emerges at Macworld Expo this month in San Francisco. I also look forward to finally switching to an iPhone when my two-year contract with Verizon ends in March. We'll see what else lies ahead.

Meanwhile, I open 2008 with a new extended life battery in my MacBook Pro - which looks like it may give me 3 hours of battery life rather than the two hours tops that I saw with the original Apple battery. I'll keep testing it in the coming week.

Another thing that will happen in the fall of 2008 is I will mark a decade of writing and publishing Mac Net Journal as a blog. More on that as the anniversary date approaches.

Happy New Year!