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Check here for information about where to send your donation. - Mac OS X apps ranked by category - Using Graphic Converter for image management - Maximizing battery life under OS X 2003 - February - January 2002 - December - November - TidBITS - Apple WebMonkey - Great HTML authoring stuff WhatIsMyIP - Wherever you are, there you are... System Preferences Terminal Backup Internet Explorer (Classic)
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Screenshot tips for OS X Screenshot Hacks for Mac OS X
A useful tip for users of PDF Workflow AppleScript Info: "If you have experienced application crashes when running scripts from the PDF menu in print dialogs, John Welch suggests that you save the scripts as data-fork scripts. I just tried this and, so far, it seems to have eliminated the crashes on my machine." [AppleScript Info]
Apple offers computer recycling for U.S. customers Apple announced information about its new Apple Equipment Recycling for the U.S.:
There is more information about the program is offered on the page for Metech International, including the fact that the program costs $30 per machine, including shipping. There is also an FAQ with answers to critical questions such as what happens to your machine when you ship it (such as making sure that the products are actually recycled here in the U.S. and not shipped to China to be burned...). I have long advocated that manufacturers of all kinds of products should offer this kind of service. I will be adding a link to this service to the left-hand navigational section of Mac Net Journal. Discuss Mac recycling
You can also run Bochs for free under OS X Earlier this morning I pointed to the release of the program WinTel 1.0, a $30 program that bills itself as a simplified way to run the open source x86 emulator that can let you run Windows under OS X. Mike Cohen points out on the MacMegasite that there is really no need to pay $30. Bochs is free. Just follow some simple directions and you too can save $30.
WinTel 1.0 simplifies running Bochs on OS X OpenOSX releases WinTel 1.0
Slashdot: Five years later, Newton still going strong Slashdot readers look at the state of the Apple Newton on the fifth anniversary of its dismissal from the Apple lineup: Five years later, Newton still going strong. I never owned a Newton, though I had a serious interest in the last model before it was discontinued. The reason I wanted a Newton is similar to the reason that I opted for a tiny PowerBook 2400c and most recently ordered a new 12-inch PowerBook G4 this morning. It was extremely portable and powerful - the perfect combination for a writer on the go. Today my interests have branched out to digital photography and to some extent audio... Discuss Five years after the Newton
Recent notable software releases Here are some highlights from recent software releases for Mac OS X, as found on Macupdate:
Why are LCDs so picky about lighting? Macintouch has another interesting reader report underway, this time about the reasons that LCD monitors are so hard to read in sunlight: LCD viewability.
Soon to be the owner of a 12-inch PowerBook G4 After vacillating about which PowerBook to buy, this morning I put in an order for a 12-inch PowerBook G4 with 640 MB RAM, 60 GB hard disk, AirPort Extreme card, and three years of AppleCare coverage. The biggest surprise of my purchase: I broke down and took advantage of the special deal to buy Microsoft Office v.X for $199 if it is bought at the same time as the purchase of a new Mac. I need Office, or Word at least, to work on our book, Birding Washington. Expect updates as I receive the new machine and start using it as my full-time laptop. In case anyone is curious, the factors that led me to buy a 12-inch PowerBook G4 rather than a refurbished TiBook included price, access to new technology (AirPort Extreme and built-in Bluetooth), a solid-feeling keyboard on the 12-inch machine compared to the TiBook, and the sheer size of the machine. Yes, I would have loved a little more horsepower and that beautiful 15-inch LCD, but with the way I work and the biking and active outdoor conditions I expose my PowerBook to, the 12-inch machine just feels like a better fit. One real determining factor is that my favorite PowerBook that I have ever owned was a 2400c. That machine was also very small, and I was able to get used to the miniature keyboard and the lack of either a CD-ROM drive or a floppy drive. Heck, that machine didn't even have Ethernet built in. Let the adventure begin! Discuss
Have phone, will blog: A mobile blogging guide David Davies: Mobile blogging how-to guide. [Scripting News]
Spring application profiled in NY Times Robb Beal's unique Spring application and what motivated him to create the novel approach to organizing information - people, places, news, and products - on easy-to-create custom canvases on the Mac are featured in a New York Times article today from Paul Boutin: Turning the Desktop into a Meeting Place.
What I wonder is how many people have looked at and considered using Spring? Do you find the ideas behind it interesting? Or does the buzz about it seem overblown? Discuss
Charles Moore's FireWire warnings LowEndMac writer Charles Moore offers a cautionary tale about how he was burned by hot-swapping a FireWire device:
Have you ever run into hot-swapping problems with FireWire under Mac OS X? Discuss hot-swapping FireWire devices
QuickTime Broadcaster 1.0.1 posted MacDailyNews offers notes about the release of QuickTime Broadcaster 1.0.1:
Mister Rogers died today Sad to hear that Fred Rogers, best known to generations as Mister Rogers, died today after losing his battle with cancer.
Robb Beal: Apple astray Robb Beal, the president of UserCreations and creator of Spring, offers his take on yesterday's oft-quoted story with Apple CFO Fred Anderson commenting on how much new software Mac users can expect to see coming out of Apple in the coming months and year:
I am sure a lot of other developers for Mac OS X would agree, though I am not sure many would do so publically... Is Apple going astray?
Signs of hope...and spring!
Sometimes the posts on Mac Net Journal can sound pretty critical - problems with computers and software mixed with cynical notes about developments in the Mac world along with a dash of political commentary. But just to show there are some signs of the positive in the world, it is nice to step out into the front yard with my digital camera in hand for a few photos documenting the change of the seasons. Spring has sprung! The shot above shows a couple of the dozens of colorful crocus blooms bursting onto the scene in full color right now. Add the views of these blooms to the handful of blooms opening on our forsythia bush next to the front porch, the grape hyacinth blooming in the yard, the bright yellows, blacks, and whites of the Goldfinches coming to the bird feeders and bird bath, and the majestic Red-tailed Hawk circling high overhead earlier this afternoon and there are plenty of reasons for optimism! Discuss Spring has sprung
Big Cat 1.0 arrives Brent Simmons just keeps on creating great software for Mac OS X:
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A buying quandry: Weighing PowerBook options After putting it off for the last week or so, it has become painfully obvious that it's time to buy a new PowerBook. I need a new machine in order to let Natalie use my 400 MHz Pismo PowerBook with its 1 GB of RAM because her Pismo is dead. It works as long as we don't touch it, but despite my unplugging and re-plugging in the video cables, my running disk utilities, and my experimenting with every combination I can think of to try and isolate the problem, it just looks like the video connection and maybe more on her machine's motherboard are damaged. If we pick up and move the machine around while it is running, the screen goes blank and won't wake without a forced restart. And this morning the machine locked up while I was running DiskWarrior from the CD in yet another last-ditch attempt to try to explain the problems away. Now the next step in the adventure is to decide which PowerBook to buy as a replacement for my Pismo. I have narrowed my choices to the top-of-the-line 12-inch PowerBook and the soon-to-be-redesigned 15-inch PowerBook. Apple is selling refurbished versions of the 15-inch machine for very reasonable prices, but I still have reservations about how well a 15-inch machine would hold up to the way I need to lug my laptop around - bike rides across town and weekend-long trips across the state in our car on those birding weekends. I went to the local CompUSA store a few hours ago to finally get my hands on and play with a 12-inch PowerBook and compare it side-by-side with the TiBook. Plenty of other people have written about the shortcomings of the 12-inch PowerBook (it gets hot, no Level 3 cache, etc.) but no one can dispute that the 12-inch PowerBook is a rugged machine. It isn't as fast and doesn't have that big, beautiful 15-inch screen, but it looks and feels like it will hold up to years of use in rugged conditions and not require 24/7 kid glove treatment to keep working. The 15-inch machine is definitely faster and I love its display, but it is heavy and awkward by comparison even to my current Pismo PowerBook. And so I keep going back and forth. Buy a current machine with built in Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme and take a hit on the Level 3 cache and lower memory capability? Or buy a machine that is being phased out for a new model? Whatever decision I make, this will be my only computer other than older backup machines for the next three or four years... Discuss PowerBook quandry
Group aims to cut the flow of electronics waste Recyclers Pledge to Cut E-Waste
AirPort Extreme Base Station firmware updated New AxBS Firmware
iDisk utility for Windows XP iDisk Utility for Windows XP released by Apple
Security flaws in QuickTime Streaming Server eWeek notes problems in version 4.1.2 of the Darwin Streaming Server and version 4.1.1 of the QuickTime Streaming Server that could give attackers and ability to run code on remote machines. If you are running these versions, it's time for an upgrade. Fixes for the problems with the QuickTime and Darwin streaming servers are part of the Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.4 that was released yesterday.
Huevos 1.1 adds searching via hotkeys Huevos 1.1 The main change since 1.0 is that you don't have to use the mouse at all - you can bring Huevos to the front via a hotkey, and you can set command keys for your search engines. The up and down arrow keys also navigate through the search engines popup menu. And so it has a new tagline: "Search anytime. No mouse required." [ranchero.com]
Remotely control your Mac with AppleScript and Java Controlling Your Mac with AppleScript and Java
Calling it like it is: What was free is gonna cost ya now Many Mac news sites reported the appearance of the new TextWrangler app from Bare Bones Software this morning, but MacNN cuts right to the chase with their headline: Bare Bones Software axes BBEdit Lite. In other words, you can now grab the TextWrangler application today for $49 more than the free BBEdit Lite yesterday. Presto chango! I am not trying to take a shot at the folks from Bare Bones Software with this. They have to make a living, and apparently it would cost them more to freeze the freeware BBEdit Lite at its current version than to kill it. But I do think the Bare Bones people could have been a little more up front about the fact that TextWrangler is a replacement for BBEdit Lite. Instead of making a comparison showing what new features users of the BBEdit Lite will get by paying $49 for TextWrangler, they offer a side-by-side comparison of TextWrangler and the $179 BBEdit application. I own a license for BBEdit 6.5 and may update to 7.0 sometime soon here. It is an excellent program with many HTML coding tools and much more that was never included in BBEdit Lite. Read carefully and you will see that TextWrangler also leaves out HTML editing tools, even though it caters to other types of coders. Even though I am a big fan of BBEdit, the way that Bare Bones Software is spinning its new application - essentially BBEdit Lite with a new icon and startup screen from what I can tell - simply has to be pointed out. Discuss TextWrangler
Recent notable software releases Here are some highlights from recent OS X software releases, as found on Macupdate:
Use PDF Workflow to convert anything to PalmDoc format AppleScript: Convert anything to PalmDoc format
TextWrangler, a new text editor from Bare Bones Software TextWrangler is the newest text editor from Bare Bones Software, the makers of the powerful BBEdit text editor. It appears that TextWrangler is meant to fill a niche as a kind of simplified BBEdit. It lets users compose and modify plain text documents, it offers a spell checker, and it can work with Unicode files and most non-Roman single-byte files. TextWrangler 1.0 is a $49 application. This seems like an odd move for the same company that already makes an excellent text editor like BBEdit. TextWrangler also offers some features that would appeal to the same kind of power users who would normally buy BBEdit - syntax coloring, support for Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions, etc. But I guess the move makes sense since the formerly free BBEdit Lite has been discontinued... Discuss TextWrangler 1.0
Where should Omni Group take OmniOutliner? One of the folks at The Omni Group in Seattle asks members of the OmniOutliner email list where the app should go next? If you are interested, join the list and offer some suggestions...
Tonya Engst reviews StickyBrain TidBITS' Tonya Engst takes a look at the clipping organizer tool StickyBrain and how it works for her in Stuck on StickyBrain: Info-Clutter Organizer Extraordinaire. It's interesting to see this article appear in TidBITS this week since I have been reading about StickyBrain so much on a long-dead but suddenly active email list I belong to, for the loyal users of the Classic information manager IdeaKeeper. Many members of that list for the IK application that never really made the leap to OS X have been mentioning StickyBrain as one of the apps that serves as a substitute for IK under OS X. If you are interested in this kind of information manager tool, it would be worthwhile to read through the posts on the IdeaKeeper list. Especially useful is this post by Matthew McNatt that points to many of the information manager choices under Mac OS X. For what it is worth, I tried StickyBrain in an earlier version and didn't find it powerful enough for what I do. Instead, today I use Tinderbox to carry out the task of holding text clippings, outlines, and much more... Discuss Information managers
Use your Bluetooth phone to control your Mac There is a lot of buzz today about a beta app that lets you use a Bluetooth equipped Sony Ericcson phone in combination with a Bluetooth equipped Mac to do all kinds of cool things - control your iTunes and much more using the phone as a remote control of sorts:
This all sounds interesting enough, but what caught my attention was an email on the Powerlist (from O'Grady's PowerPage). The email, written by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, says that the Woz has been using the beta software with his phone and Mac today and it works pretty well. That sounds like a pretty ringing endorsement...no pun intended... Discuss Sony Ericcson Clicker
And which country poses the biggest threat? Here we go again with world news that points out the folly of the Bush Administration's obsession of fighting a war with Iraq while the U.S. is directly threatened by the very real and present danger of North Korea:
And yet the march toward war continues, while the U.S. refuses to directly negotiate with North Korea. Maybe it is just my imagination, but would the threats from North Korea get more attention if it was the East Coast targeted by nuclear missiles instead of the West Coast? On a somewhat related note, Adam Engst makes some eloquent points about the pending war with Iraq in TidBITS tonight: A Personal Statement on War in Iraq.
Apple offers Mac OS X Server 10.2.4 Apple Mac OS X Server updated to 10.2.4
Are AirPort Extreme Base Stations really ready for prime time? Extreme Problems This all gets me to wondering. Are you using an AirPort Extreme Base Station yet? Are you having problems? And how about those buying AirPort Extreme-equipped machines finding that their laptops are working with older 802.11b base stations? Since I may face buying a new PowerBook soon, I would sure like to know that a 12-inch PowerBook G4 equiped with an AirPort Extreme card is going to work just fine with my SMC wireless base station... Discuss Extreme problems?
Birding on a sunny Pacific Northwest weekend
With sunny weather yesterday, Natalie and I capped a weekend of continued book research with a 284-mile trip to find birds along the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula. In all, we saw 58 species yesterday, ending the day when three Black Oystercatcher like the one in the photo above flew in to feed as the sun set over the John Wayne Marina in Sequim, Wash. During our trip we ventured west of Port Angeles for visits to the Salt Creek Recreation Area along the Strait of Juan de Fuca and a drive deep into the Olympic National Park along the Elwha River. What a cold and sunny Sunday! Discuss birding the northern Olympic Peninsula
AppleScript Info: A new trick for Script Menu New Trick for Script Menu
Apple rumors abound, but there could be some truth there There are a lot of rumors of pending Apple developments this week. The popular rumor this morning is that a new version of the Safari Web browser will offer tabbed browsing as an option. This would be an excellent development for anyone working with limited screen real estate. The other popular rumor is that a new iPod will be unveiled sometime this week. This rumor makes some sense, since a source mentioned last week that he had received a tip about a meeting with Apple reps about new products. What I want to hear is the announcement of a new 15-inch PowerBook G4. Last night Natalie's Pismo starting having its screen problems once again, after about a week of no problems at all. If I have to buy a new PowerBook today, due to budget considerations and the current lineup of PowerBooks, I would have to pick the 12-inch PowerBook G4. Even with its limitations (no Level 3 backside cache, no DVI video connection, etc.) it would be a big step up from my circa 1999 Pismo PowerBook... Discuss Rumors and PowerBook problems
DSL costs could be rising If your broadband connection to the Internet come via a DSL line, CNET points out that this week's moves by the FCC could spell higher prices...
Cool! Apple's installer works better with OS X 10.2.4 It looks like an undocumented feature of Mac OS X 10.2.4 is that the installer for Apple apps can now install updates in the folders where you want the applications to live, rather than the default Applications folder at the root level of your installation.
I didn't even think about it, but I have Safari in an Applications folder under my user directory and it updated automatically in place as well... Discuss Updater improvements Update: As has since been pointed out by others, the Safari update actually came out before OS X 10.2.4, but it does appear that with the new system update Apple is making more of an effort to find where you are installing standard Apple apps and to update them where they currently live on your machine.
CNET: Apple aims to hush Power Macs Apple aims to hush recent Power Macs
Is shareware dead? The folks at Unsanity are offering an argument today that shareware is dead. Do you think the age of shareware products is drawing to a close? Do you care? Discuss
Some good news: The dying Pismo lives, for now... Earlier this week I mentioned that Natalie's Pismo PowerBook was suffering from some odd problems with the LCD that I couldn't fix. Apparently my latest step to unplug and then plug back in the video cable has fixed something, because since I did that her PowerBook has worked without any more video problems! Now the other oddity I need to figure out with her machine is why it fails to automatically connect to our AirPort connection when it is restarted. I have to switch location files in the Apple menu in order to get a good connection, even though it shows an IP address that should work when I check the network preferences... Discuss
Yep....hate can even exist in a Mac weblog It is always interesting to see who reads Mac Net Journal, even when the person in question doesn't have the guts to make his hateful comments in public. Here is an email I received from someone named Albert. I am not posting his email address because I am sure he wouldn't want people to flood his mail with equally helpful comments. Albert writes:
Thanks Albert. Insightful stuff.
Photo corruption case points out iPhoto's fatal flaws In the iPhoto reader report on Macintouch a reader offers an interesting account of how hundreds of JPEG files in his very large collection of images in iPhoto are now showing up as corrupt files, even though he had previously been able to work with them, edit them, print them, etc. The post reminds me of how I used to see occassional file corruption problems when I would import images from my Nikon CoolPix 950 into an older version of iPhoto last year. On a handful of occassions an image file would be incomplete, apparently, and when I would import it into iPhoto it would crash the program. The only way to get iPhoto to run again was to find the damaged file using the Finder and then delete it. Then iPhoto would run once again. Why mention this? Because I have never had a corrupt file come from my digital camera when I was using the Finder, GraphicCoverter, and now iView Media Pro to work with my image files. It seems like an odd coincidence. This file corruption problem is just another instance where the fundamental shortcomings of Apple's approach to image management through iPhoto are exposed. With many image management programs, the user stores the images in whatever style they want and then the image management program creates catalogs of those files in their pre-existing file structure without forcing the user to create a huge database to contain their images. In my case working with iView Media Pro, I store my images in a simple structure with a folder for each year which then holds a folder for each month. From there I can create a catalog that shows all of my files from a given year, or from a given month, or from any other criteria I want using keywords in the image management program. To do this same thing in iPhoto I would have to create a new database for each month. The alternative of putting all of my image assets into one huge iPhoto database simply doesn't work because the app runs slower as more images are added. Apple would have been wiser to choose to separate the file structure from the iPhoto application in its development of an image management app. Taking that step and creating a simplified way to let users load their photos into a file structure on the one hand and then to create custom views of those images on the other hand would have created a much more stable and sustainable approach to image management, especially for photo hobbyists and photo pros who work with thousands of images each year. Discuss iPhoto shortcomings
A critical bug for some audio users with Mac OS X 10.2.4 If you use FireWire to do high-end audio work under Mac OS X, you should take a look at the OS X reader reaport on Macintouch today that offers critical news for users of the Presonus Firestation...
Spring 1.2 upgrade released Spring 1.2 is a major update to the visual desktop creation tool from UserCreations. Users of the $21.95 application can now create pages with visual news headlines updated through RSS, direct dragging of Amazon product icons to Spring documents, use in-place visual filtering and create visual bookmark collections that can be traded with other users. In addition, this new version offers dragging and dropping of headlines from NetNewsWire. For more information about Spring 1.2 check the UserCreations Web site. You can also look back at a Mac Net Journal interview with UserCreations president and Spring creator Robb Beal posted after the release of Spring 1.0 in December, 2002.
Is there any environmental law that Bush won't kill? While the obsession to rush to war abroad continues, it is impossible to listen to the news these days without hearing about the efforts of the Bush Administration to completely rewrite environmental laws across the country. Clean air, clean water, forestry laws...they are all under attack. Today's local news on NPR offers items about a reconsideration of listing for the Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet as threatened species. Such a delisting would help revive logging of old growth forests if the species are suddenly found to have recovered. Part of the justification offered for reconsidering the status of Spotted Owls is a report by a forest industry administrator that he once saw a Spotted Owl in his back yard in Olympia, Wash. Odd...I know people who have been birding for years who have not seen a Spotted Owl, and those who do want to see Spotted Owls know that they have to go to specific locations in the old growth forests of the Olympic Peninsula to find the reclusive birds. Of course, a logging industry exec wouldn't have any ulterior motive for claiming he saw a Spotted Owl in his suburban yard, and of course he would be an expert at identifying owl species and he would have no problem telling the difference between the much more likely Barred Owl and the reclusive Spotted Owl. Of course... For the record, I have been birding for many years and last year I drove more than 16,000 mailes and spent countless hours in the wild while doing research for our upcoming book, Birding Washington. In all, I saw 264 species of birds in Washington state last year. I have never seen a Northern Spotted Owl... Discuss Rewriting environmental laws
iPhoto Librarian 1.2 iPhoto Librarian 1.2
Back in dial up land It's a painful day here in Mac Net Journal land, as for the second time in 24 hours my cable modem connection is not working and I am forced to work with a dial up Internet connection until the cable connection returns. So much for always on... Update: Around 8:50 a.m. my cable connection started working again...fingers crossed.
Roxio Toast vs. OS X for CD burning This evening I spent some time doing some long overdo burning of backup CDs of my digital image files from 2002. I have been doing this sort of thing ever since buying an expansion bay CD-RW burner for my aging Pismo PowerBook, and since I have always run OS X on this machine since buying it in 2000, I have always done this part of my backup routine using the CD burning facilities built into the OS X Finder application. It normally works pretty well, but it is quite slow going through the process - insert CD and format it for data and give it a name, copy files from their location in the Pictures folder in my User folder (which can take quite a while), then click on the CD image and go to the File menu and choose Burn CD. All in all, with this old G3 machine, this whole process can take 20 minutes or more. Things are different now. A couple of months ago I bought a copy of Roxio Toast 5 Titanium, which offers much more robust CD burning options under OS X. I picked up the software because it works so well with my image manager, iView Media Pro, and it also works great for copying CDs and other administrative chores. But today was the first time I found out how much faster it is to burn a backup CD of my image files with Toast. I just drag the folder containing a month's worth of images to the window in Toast, insert the blank CD and name it, and click record. It takes about half as long to burn and verify the CD in Toast as it does using the old method with the OS X Finder's CD burning options. Sure, I had to pay to get Toast. But it won't take many times of creating these archival CDs before this program pays for itself. After all, it saves time, the most precious commodity any of us have... Discuss CD burning speed
A quick follow up on OpenOffice.org Shortly after installing OS X 10.2.4 I mentioned that OpenOffice.org stopped working for me. Yesterday I took the few minutes to run the OOo installer again and after doing so I am having no problems at all with the program. Excellent!
An early look at the 17-inch PowerBook G4 PowerBook Central offers a couple of reader reviews of the pre-production 17-inch PowerBook G4 models that are on the sales floors in some Apple Stores this week. The hands-on reviews offer some interesting information and impressions, and they also offer some clues about why these machines are not available just yet. Have you seen the 17-inch PowerBook G4 in person? If so, where? And what do you think of it? Discuss
Another viewpoint on MS buying Virtual PC Glenn Fleishman offers an insightful tidbit in writing about the news that Microsoft is buying Virtual PC from Connectix. His thought - this could be an escape plan for MS:
Now MS owns Virtual PC too I am not sure what to think of the news, reported fully on MacCentral this afternoon, that Microsoft has acquired Virtual PC from Connectix. Although MS is trying to spin this as a move to improve their services for Apple users, but I think there is more to it. For one, it sends a message to Apple that they need to be careful not to piss off MS or it could pull Virtual PC off the market and force people who rely on it to buy Windows machines. At the very least I would expect to see the price of Virtual PC to take a leap to a higher level soon. What do you think? Discuss
Ranchero updates Huevos search app Apparently Brent Simmons at Ranchero Software isn't busy enough with releasing new beta versions of NetNewsWire and NetNewsWire Lite over the last day or so, and so this morning he is offering a new beta version of Huevos, his Internet searching application. Huevos 1.1b3 has a reconfigured Preferences window, configurable command keys for search engines, a couple of URL encoding fixes and more. Huevos is open source software and as such, it is also freeware.
Today's notable software releases Here are some highlights as found this morning on Macupdate:
Things to consider before buying a 12-inch PowerBook G4 One of the best ways to get a feel for the reality behind the hype for new computers and peripherals is to read the Weblogs of those on the front line of installing the equipment in real-world situations. New York-based Damien Barrett offers a reality check about the 12-inch PowerBook G4, using his experiences in setting up three of the new machines for his clients. In short, each machine has had problems... Discuss 12-inch PowerBook issues
NetNewsWire Lite updated NetNewsWire Lite 1.0.3b2 One frequently-requested change is that the Lite version should no longer send a bogus referer. Done. [ranchero.com]
TidBITS on multiple clipboard apps for OS X Matt Neuburg does an excellent job summing up the three major contender applications that offer Multiple Clipboards on Mac OS X in his latest TidBITS article. He takes a look at PTHPasteboard, Keyboard Maestro, and CopyPaste X. I have used the freeware PTHPasteboard as well as CopyPaste, and I rely on CopyPaste exclusively now... Discuss Multiple clipboard apps
An update about the pending DiskWarrior 3.0 Mac Night Owl offers a sneak peek at the enhancements that will be available soon in DiskWarrior 3.0, the first fully OS X native version of the excellent disk repair utility from Alsoft.
NoteTaker 1.1 offers major enhancements NoteTaker 1.1 is a major update to the $69.95 note taking, organizing, outlining, and research tool from AquaMinds. Among the new features in the update, NoteTaker can now export notebook content in OPML format and RTF now supports Word outline views. There are also new keyboard controls for outlining, enhanced in-line Web page viewing, better template and printing controls, better find and replace, and more. The biggest new feature is one-button exporting of notebooks in HTML format, which allows users to create custom Web sites and publish their content in just a few minutes. I am spending time really digging into NoteTaker this week. Expect a review soon, once I get the chance to fully put it through its paces. Dig through the much-improved NoteTaker Web site for examples of how the program is being used so far and for sample templates...
Recent notable software releases Here are some highlights from recent commercial, shareware and freeware software releases noted on Macupdate:
More Pismo problems Well, Natalie had another problem with her machine tonight that required my forcing it to shut down and then to reset the power manager before it would start again. Along the way since this crash I have re-seated the 128 MB RAM card in the top RAM slot and later I shut the machine down and disconnected and then re-seated the video cable. If this doesn't help the situation, my next step is to try some voodoo and sacrifice a chicken or something to reboot the machine once again. Needless to say, this is getting ridiculous. I am seriously considering a new PowerBook, even though the perfect machine doesn't really exist at this point... Discuss
A must read for Radio users Radio: How to backup and restore your weblog. [Scripting News]
Backyard bird counting Today is the last day of the four-day Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual survey done by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with the help of thousands of people across the U.S. I did my bird count an hour ago, adding 13 species from our yard to the list for Tacoma, Washington, U.S.A. The most notable species: A Bald Eagle flying high over the house during a sunbreak, and a few minutes later a Cooper's Hawk hunting high in the air about a block away. I wrote more about the other birds I found and I am working right now to update my Equinox Project blog with photos and notes from this weekend's trip in Eastern Washington...
OS X 10.2.4 adds PDF options Mac OS X Update to v.10.2.4 includes new PDF Workflow options
A faltering Pismo PowerBook I have a question for those out there using older PowerBooks. Over the last few days my wife's 400MHz Pismo PowerBook with 256 MB of RAM has started having some serious LCD problems. Her problems started last week when her power adapter started failing, and her machine went into forced sleep a couple of times before we figured out for sure that the problem was the adapter. The LCD problems cropped up once we had hooked up a functioning power adapter. At random times when she is working the LCD goes dark, but you can see a very faint ghost of an image on the screen. Once the LCD goes into this state, the only way to return it to normal is to do a forced reboot (Ctrl-Apple-Power button). So far to deal with this problem I have made sure her machine is running the latest version of OS X 10.2.4 and tonight we did a reset of the power manager, but I am curious if anyone else with an aging Pismo has seen these kinds of symptoms with their machines? Any tips would be appreciated... Discuss
A wintery birding weekend
Natalie and I headed back on the road and to the Waterville Plateau area in central Washington state this weekend, doing more research for our upcoming book, Birding Washington. Despite the rainfall on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, it was an excellent weekend! The wildlife highlight, despite all of the great birds we saw, was watching a coyote make a dash through the snow at a pair of ducks in small Foster Creek outside Bridgeport, Wash. It looked like the lone coyote was actually running away from us since we had parked the car to look down into trees along the creekside where Sharp-tailed Grouse can be seen. We continued to watch as the coyote scrambled up a steep, snow-covered hillside and then stood at the top of the hill, looking back across the draw and straight at us. The photo above was taken Sunday morning. I stepped out of the car and quickly set up our spotting scope and focused on a Rough-legged Hawk that was on a telephone poll just a short distance away, but as put my digital camera up to the eye piece, the hawk took off. A couple of great landscape shots of the remaining snow and a bright red barn in the distance were my consolation prize... Discuss
O'Reilly starts a new series about FileMaker Pro O'Reilly Networks starts a new series of articles today about the popular cross-platform database program, FileMaker Pro:
Worthwhile reading: OS X 10.2.4 reader report on Macintouch Macintouch once again has an excellent reader report underway, this time covering the fixes and shortcomings of yesterday's update to OS X 10.2.4. How is the new update treating you? On my PowerBook the update has worked flawlessly with one major exception - OpenOffice.org now crashes on startup every time I try to start it... Discuss OS X 10.2.4 reactions
Tinderbox 1.2.3 offers speed improvements and more One of the software updates I missed during my insane work day yesterday was the release of a new and improved version of Tinderbox, the program I use to write and publish Mac Net Journal. Tinderbox 1.2.3 adds mouse wheel support, new actions and stamps for setting prototypes more quickly, new HTML export options, and speed and infrastructure improvements under the hood. I downloaded and started using the new version last night and so far it lives up to its billing. It feels faster even on my aging Pismo PowerBook. Excellent!
Undocumented AppleScript changes in OS X 10.2.4 OS X 10.2.4: AppleScript related changes noted
Good...Apple releases OS X 10.2.4 I see that Apple has released OS X 10.2.4 this afternoon, offering a number of enhancements and fixes. Grab it from Software Update in your System Preferences. I would write more about it but I am too exhausted. I started listening to a financial earnings call at 8 a.m. Pacific Time and I just finished writing the damned thing up. Seven hours of drudgery and repetitive stress. Nap time.......
Do you ever get a slight shock from your PowerBook? I have been noticing something troublesome about my aging Pismo PowerBook lately. Sometimes when I get up from working with the machine while sitting in my chair in the livingroom, when I hold onto the laptop and go to set it down I get a small shock from the machine. It feels like small voltage leaking out along the sides of the machine and to ground through me. Has anyone else ever felt this sort of thing? Just how worried should I be? I don't feel the problem while working with the machine, but it is definitely there from time to time when I am holding the sides of the Pismo before setting it down... Discuss Shocking PowerBook
A nice walk...
Rather than going for a run this afternoon, I put on my boots and walked down to Puget Gulch with my binoculars and camera. What an excellent afternoon for a walk! I must have seen at least six Anna's Hummingbirds chasing each other around the neighborhood, as the little flying bundles of energy are entering their mating season. And to top off the walk I snapped the shot above, looking at the reflection of a tree against the blue sky as seen through the lens of a mud puddle. Discuss
Apple releases another new version of X11 Apple's X11 Beta 0.2.1 offers bug fixes and a few enhancements from yesterday's release of X11. This version is a 41.8 MB download... Discuss X11 Beta 0.2.1
Recent notable software releases Here are a few highlights from the recent releases noted on Macupdate:
Amidst the gloom and doom, it looks like spring outside Sunshine and temperatures reaching toward 50 degrees offer a source of positive energy in a day clouded by the continuous line of military transport planes flying overhead on their way to nearby McChord Air Force Base, to pack up soldiers and send them to whatever lies ahead in the Middle East. I feel the urge for a jog later this afternoon, and maybe some photography around the neighborhood... Discuss Sunshine!
Congrats to Apple on offering a Safari update I need to give credit to Apple for offering a new release of Safari, but I have to say I am underwhelmed on what more than a month worth of work on the browser has resulted in so far. All of the sites that didn't work with my previous version of Safari remain unusable in the new version. My online banking won't work, a secure page I need to access in my work with Lycos that uses a self-signed security certificate won't work either. Hopefully another release will be coming soon with even more improvements... Discuss Safari
Scripting examples for working with Transmit 2 Panic: Example scripts for Transmit 2
Safari Update 2-12-03 I spoke too soon earlier today with my mention that Safari has not been updated in more than a month... Apple has released an update to its Safari Web browser this morning, bringing it to version Safari 1.0 Beta v60 (0.8.2). The release notes for the 2.4 MB update, which can be grabbed by visiting Software Update in your System Preferences application under OS X, read as follows:
Sobering news for those on the U.S. West Coast I was already aware of the likelihood that North Korea could be targeting the U.S. West Coast with ballistic missiles, but CNN says that CIA Director George Tenet has confirmed the fact, along with news that it is likely that North Korea has produced as many as two plutonium-based nuclear weapons. Now tell me, which country is the biggest direct threat to the United States? Iraq, which may or may not have the "weapons of mass destruction" that the Bush Administration claims, or North Korea, which is openly threatening the U.S. and has an untested missile capable to delivering nuclear weapons in a direct attack on the U.S.? Discuss Missile threat
Safari quirks There are some quirks about Safari that make me wonder what is going on with this program. For one, why does Safari eat up RAM and never give it up without restarting the app every day? One of the first things I advise current Safari users to do is to remember to quit and then restart Safari daily in order to keep its RAM use in check. I also wonder why there are times that some keyboard shortcuts refuse to work? Working on my PowerBook, I most often use the Command-left arrow key combination to go Back through Web pages I am viewing, but sometimes that keyboard shortcut refuses to work with Safari while the more standard Command -[ shortcut seems to work 100% of the time. Hopefully some of these and other major inconsistencies in Safari will be addressed in a new update soon. Safari 1.0 Beta v.51 was released on Jan. 10 and there have been no updates since that time... Discuss Safari quirks
Trying to write a script for use with Mail.app? If you are trying to figure out how to write scripts for use with the rules in Mail.app, check out the following note from AppleScript Info:
A top 10 list of keyboard shortcuts for Safari MacDailyNews offers a useful list of its Top ten Safari keyboard and mouse shortcuts.
NetNewsWire 1.0 ships After months of beta testing and coding, Brent Simmons' excellent RSS newsreader NetNewsWire is shipping! The full-featured version of NNW features Weblog posting and editing, a built-in outliner for organizing posts (and which I use to hold posts for later review), as well as all of the RSS newsreading features offered in the free version of NetNewsWire Lite. NNW 1.0 has an introductory price of $29.95, and it will be regularly priced at $39.95. Way to go Brent!
And now Mozilla crashes on startup too Now Mozilla 1.3b joins the latest versions of Chimera holding the distinction of being Web browsers that won't even start up on my PowerBook 2000 FireWire (Pismo) with 1 GB of RAM running OS X 10.2.3. My previous version of Mozilla was working this morning, but so far Mozilla 1.3b is two-for-two in crashing on startup on my machine... Discuss Mozilla 1.3b
TEKKA: An intelligent new site TEKKA is a new Web magazine "about enjoying new media and creating beautiful software" that comes from Mark Bernstein of Eastgate Systems and Tinderbox fame. The approach of TEKKA is right on the mark. It targets intelligent readers with articles that won't insult them with fluff. Articles in this first issue offer a wide range of ideas, from book reviews, a look at on-screen typography, the implications of satellite TV and an investigation of why there isn't more architecture in Information Architecture. Check the TEKKA site to check out the article titles and to get a better feel for the magazine. Yearly subscriptions are $50. My money is already on the way!
Apple: Digital photography and color management An article and QuickTime movie on Apple's site offers a step-by-step look at Digital Photography and Color Management and the digital workflow using ColorSync.
Mozilla 1.3b for Mac OS X A new beta release of the Mozilla Web browser is available for OS X today. Check the Mozilla.org site to download the new version, or check the release notes. This release doesn't have any whopping new changes that I can see, but it does claim improvements in junk mail filtering in the mail client, better image auto-sizing, and more.
Exchange integration planned for new Office release Office for Macs to get Exchange update
Is Microsoft muscling in on Userland? Writing on his Scripting News blog, Dave Winer says:
Is Microsoft trying to muscle in on programs like Radio Userland? This could be interesting... Discuss MS and Userland
What can you do with Konfabulator? New Mac Tool Is Kon-Fabulous
NetNewsWire 1.0fc1 NetNewsWire 1.0fc1
Apple details the WWDC due in May Apple: Worldwide Developers Conference 2003
Why mention politics on MNJ? Some people are making pointed remarks about my mention of political matters on the pages of MNJ over the last few days. I won't apologize for pointing out the follies and dangerous policy desires coming out of the U.S. executive branch. Some directly relate to the Internet, and thereby indirectly affect Mac users. But even more so, all of the political news I mention here is important to be aware of and to talk about no matter what your political persuasion. I think debate and talk about these issues is good for the country and it is good for people around the world who read MNJ to see that people do think and talk about the things that the American goverment does. And so I will continue to include a few political posts here. MNJ is a Mac news site, and Mac news dominates the daily posts here. But there is a real person behind the scenes writing the articles and digging around the Net for the most useful news. Sometimes I will make comments on life, sometimes I include notes about other projects I am doing, sometimes I post photos, and sometimes I will comment on the crazy things going on in the world around me. That's the nature of Mac Net Journal. Discuss
When will a new 15-inch PowerBook hit the streets? Now Apple has rolled out an improved Xserve, better iMacs, and better eMacs since last month's Macworld Expo in San Francisco, but there are a lot of prospective PowerBook owners waiting for word about one glaringly overlooked upgrade: a new 15-inch PowerBook that will integrate AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, and other new technologies already available in the 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks. When will the new 15-inch machines arrive? Discuss
A great free AppleScript resource The Little Page of AppleScripts
This is not a complete list so make sure to visit the site for details on all of the powerful code that's available. [AppleScript Info]
Apple releases a new beta of X11 Apple has rolled out the second beta version of X11, the XWindows system for Mac OS X. New in this version of the free software is support for Gnome and KDE hints, improved window handling, support for Mac OS X's International keyboard mapping and more. Check the X11 for Mac OS X page for complete details and to grab the new version. It is a 41.8 MB download... Discuss X11 beta 2
CNET adds its voice on Patriot II CNET columnist Declan McCullagh offers a perspective piece on what he calls Ashcroft's worrisome spy plans. In the article he looks at how the Domestic Security Enhancement Act would affect Internet users - giving the FBI and local police the ability to eavesdrop on what Web sites you visit, what you search for on Google, etc., and offering the ability to serve secret subpoenas on people on the whim of a computer crime... Discuss More on Patriot II
Reminder: Use Ask MNJ? to get answers to Mac questions Just as a simple reminder, if you have a Mac OS X question or even a general question about how to get the most out of your Mac, click the Ask MNJ? button to the left and let's talk!
Notable software releases Here are some highlights from the most recent OS X software releases, as found on Macupdate:
Apple irks international iPhoto users International users of Apple's iPhoto software have had enough of being treated like second citizens. Some users have organized an International iPhoto Day of Action to lobby Apple for full access to the iPhoto features that those in North America take for granted. As it stands now, international iPhoto users cannot order prints or hard-bound photo albums through iPhoto. Macworld UK has a complete story on the movement and those behind the it... Discuss International iPhoto
An Xserve upgrade and new Xserve RAID unveiled by Apple Apple Upgrades Xserve, Intros Xserve RAID
Another look at the new 12-inch PowerBook The New 12" PowerBook: Slick And Sexy, But Not Without Its Faults
NetNewsWire 1.0b19 NetNewsWire 1.0b19 At this point we're looking for deal-stopper bugs only. [ranchero.com]
Transcript: Bill Moyers helps reveal Patriot II Since it is one of the top links on Daypop today, webloggers at least are pointing out the revelations about the leaked documents in the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, since they are pointing to a Bill Moyers interview with Chuck Lewis, Executive Director of the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity, that reveals details of the plan. But it is going to take more than talk to wipe this draconian civil rights grab from being pushed through once the Shrub gets the war he is dead set on creating in Iraq. It is time to start lobbying your representatives and senators now, before the war starts and before government officials pass this thing in the fear that follows... Discuss
Domestic Security Enhancement Act It looks like it is time to start paying even more dilligent attention to what the crazies in the Bush Administration are planning to force down the throats of the American people.
Rumblings about a new power grab to add to the uprecedented powers taken in the USA Patriot Act were also written about yesterday on Slashdot. Is there any truth to this? Is it just a hoax to deflect attention from other matters? With the current state of things in the U.S. it is hard to tell. But it is clear that after giving up so many of our rights in the knee-jerk reaction to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, those of us in the U.S. cannot afford to sit idly by while Bush and Ashcroft create their own Orwellian world... Discuss Patriot II
NetNewsWire 1.0b18 released NetNewsWire 1.0b18 fixes a bunch of different bugs, including weblog editor bugs and news reading bugs. See the change notes for the whole scoop. [inessential.com]
I had my doubts, but OpenOffice looks viable Until reading the easy instructions for installing OpenOffice and X11 under OS X last night, I was pretty convinced that this approach to bringing an alternative suite of office apps to the Mac would face a hard battle. But now that I followed the directions and have everything set up, it actually feels like a good solution for opening and creating Word-compatible .doc files. I still think there is a ways to go before everyday Mac users will opt for running XWindows and an open source office suite to get compatibility with Microsoft Office apps, but for the more technically savvy, this is a good option. I will write more about my thoughts on OpenOffice as I start to use it for writing our book Birding Washington in the coming weeks and months... Discuss OpenOffice
A limit on how many buddies you can have in iChat According to a new Apple Knowledge Base article, due to apparent limitations in the AOL chat server software, you can only store 150 buddy names in your iChat buddy list. Some users have apparently been able to push the limit up to 190 buddies, but the long and the short of the situation is that once you start seeing odd behavior when you add new buddies to iChat, check the number of buddies you have in the list. You may need to remove a buddy in order to add a new buddy...
How to run OpenOffice on your OS X machine X11 and OpenOffice on Mac OS X
A dramatic account of the Columbia descent Space Flight offers a dramatic account of how events progressed during the final moments before the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas. Warning: I definitely found this a chilling account. It deals with the facts as they are known today, but it does offer a glimpse of the Air Force photo that appears to show damage to the left wing of the spacecraft...
Budget of the United States for FY2004 is now online The Budget of the United States Government for FY 2004 is now available via GPO Access at: http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget...
A how-to guide for replacing a Pismo LCD Macintouch recently noted a useful page with instructions for do-it-yourselfers like me who may need at some point to replace a damaged LCD in a Pismo PowerBook. This is the kind of resource that makes the Internet so useful. Can you imagine how hard it would be to find this information without the Net? No way... As with most self-repair directions, use at your own risk... Discuss
NetNewsWire 1.0b16 NetNewsWire 1.0b16 fixes just a few bugs. The most important fix is that up and down arrow key navigation is smoother for feeds with lots of unread headlines. This beta doesn't fix any weblog editing bugs. The next beta will focus on the weblog editor. See the change notes for more details. [inessential.com]
Panic updates Transmit FTP client Transmit X 2.3 fixes some bugs and offers better support of Rendezvous in the $24.95 FTP program. Other enhancements include a configurable "Double Click Action" that lets users determine what will happen when a file is double-clicked and new icons in the Go menu. This update also improves Japanese language support.
NovaMind: Thought processing for OS X NovaMind is an OS X application that can be used to create Mind Maps to help you organize your ideas. A $59 program, it can also integrate with programs such as an outliner to offer a new way to view outlines in a more visual format. I have not taken a real close look at this app yet, and it looks like there could be some crossover with its functionality with TinderBox and OmniGraffle, but even so it looks interesting...
An interview with Greymatter creator, Noah Grey WriteTheWeb has been reborn within the last week or so, and today the site offers a Q&A interview with Greymatter creator Noah Grey. Grey talks about what led |
