While Java remains an important tool for the Enterprise, its fate on the personal computer for home users is all but sealed. Preamble There was a time, when Macs were competing tooth and nail against PCs when software developers, enammored by the Mac but aware of the business prospects in the PC world, wanted an…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
Why 90% of What You Read About Apple is Crap
Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985) was an American science fiction writer who, amongst his many achievements, also noted that “ninety percent of everything is crap.” Coined as “Sturgeon's Law”, it applies to fiction, but has come to be applied to most anything else. From what I've been reading, it also applies to current day writing about Apple.…
Nav Clock: Awesome iOS App for Time, Location & Weather
Sometimes an app is so nicely done for a particular discipline that it becomes, perhaps, the quintessential app of its kind. Nav Clock is one of those in my opinion. No pilot, astronomer, photographer, journalist, hiker or anyone interested in time and weather should be without it. Nav Clock was one of the earliest apps…
Naming Apple Products is a Fine Art
There is definitely an art to naming products — as any Microsoft or Apple executive knows. Today, we learned about some candidate names Apple had for what we now call the iPhone, thanks to an article at 9to5 Mac. Some seemed oh-so rational at the time and now seem, well, just crazy. Candidate names for…
Yahoo, Marissa Mayer & Understanding Work at Home
There are several working theories about why Marissa Mayer no longer allows Yahoo employees to work at home. In any case, in principle, working at home is very doable for these kinds of technical jobs. I worked out of a home office for Apple, and I have some thoughts on the whole affair. The fundamental…
Uninstall or Disable Java on a Mac
You can run Java apps in two ways. The first is to run Java applets inside your Web browser with a plug-in. The second is to run native Java apps on your Mac. With the grave security concerns about Java these days, you may be thinking about how to remove or disable both of those…
Worry About Facebook, Not Skynet
It requires a clear, articulate presentation to properly enumerate the perils of Facebook. A CNN author, who has quit Facebook, has done just that. He tells a story that's worse than you ever could have thought. Preamble You won't find me on Facebook. You might find someone with the same name there. There are several…
Clarm for iOS: Time, Weather, Alarm & Calamity
Clarm for iOS is a Universal app that features date, time, weather and alarms, all overlaid on drop-dead gorgeous photographic backgrounds. However, for a beautiful and simple app, it also has a few serious weaknesses. The first thing to notice about this app is that it has the option to use gorgeous built-in photographic backgrounds…
An iPad Veteran Evaluates an Amazon Kindle Fire HD
First off, this is my blog at TMO, a place where I write about anything I think would be interesting to our readers. What follows is not a review of the Kindle Fire HD. I won't be showing comparison charts. Instead, my observations are based on my technical background and experience with iPads, but naturally…
We've Changed and Grown. Apple's iOS Hasn't
Last week, I got carried away with my preamble and didn't have time or room for the week's technical news debris. So, after a short preamble, I have a lot, the very best, to get caught up on. Preamble Is it time for an interface overhaul in iOS? I am one of those who thinks…
Convert PDF files (on Mac) to MOBI/EPUB for iPad
Occasionally, it may be desirable to convert a PDF file to the MOBI for EPUB format for use on an iPad (or even an iPhone) with, say, the Kindle Reader or iBooks. Here's how to do the conversion on a Mac and load the document onto your iPad or iPhone. First, why might one want…
MyScript Calculator for iOS is Indistinguishable from Magic
MyScript Calculator for iOS from Vision Objects is an app that accepts cursive input of mathematical expressions, converts to text and then computes the answer. It's an amazing app. Best of all, it's free. Arthur C. Clarke, the legendary science fiction writer, developed three laws, observations about technology. The third law states, “Any sufficiently advanced…
NewerTech Pad Protector for iPad mini: Luxurious Leather
Newer Technology has just introduced (5 Jan 2013) a full leather folio case for the iPad mini. There is no inner plastic shell that needs to be clipped on; instead, a small flap keeps the iPad in place. A magnet enables sleep/wake, and there are two landscape orientations. A screen protector is included. This case…
Microsoft Sold Less than 900,000 Surface Tablets Last Qtr
While Apple sold 22.9 million iPads in the Christmas quarter, Microsoft shipped only about 900,000. After returns, the sell-through might have been as little as 680,000 according to NPD and IHS. In contrast, in the first quarter of iPad sales in 2010, deeper in the recession, Apple sold 3.27 million. Recent reports from IHS iSuppli…
Failing Drive? SMARTReporter is a Great Diagnostic Utility
Every hard disk has a Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology system buit-in, called S.M.A.R.T. It reports on the health and pending failure of a rotating disk system. If you've received an alert in Apple's Disk Utility app, but are not certain what's going on and want more information, SmartReporter can provide a wealth of information…
Discover Art Museums with Art Alert for iOS
There are apps that help you find restaurants or movies to your liking and even apps that help you find apps. But a really worthy use of an iDevice is Art Alert, an app that helps you find art museums anywhere you may be traveling. Art Alert is from the same company, Open Door Networks,…
The Rotten Apple Flu: How to Get it & How to Cure it
In a celebrity culture, Tim Cook has committed the cardinal sin. He's failed to adequately entertain us. The result? Writers who follow Apple have the Rotten Apple Flu and are grousing for bucks. That's why there's so much negative writing about Apple. This Rotten Apple Flu exists not because Apple products have changed or Apple…
What Mac Users Need to Know About the Java Security Update
The recent Java security update has some minor implications for the average Mac user. Here's what you need to know in terms of making sure your Mac is secure, how to verify that your update worked, and how to make sure native Java apps developed for Java 6 will still work. _________________ Very briefly, what…
Oracle Releases Java 7 Update 11 in Response to Vulnerability
Oracle has released Java 7 Update 11 of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to address a security vulnerability discovered last week. The latest version of Java 7 can be downloaded directly from Oracle. As described last week, in light of the newly discovered vulnerability, Apple remotely disabled previous versions via its Xprotect mechanism. On Sunday,…
The Internet is Already Altering Human Evolution
As Internet technologies rapidly morph and develop, the human interaction with the Internet has to change as well. At first, that means the adoption of certain technologies. In the early days, it was browsers and email, then personal habits and work strategies, then apps and tablets, and then, perhaps, intelligent agents to help us leverage…
OS X 10.8: Turning off Notification Center (Permanently)
The Notification Center in Mountain Lion can be a life saver or, for some, it can be an annoyance. For those who need to, this TMO Quick Tip explains how to kill it for good. Previously, Melissa Holt explained how to disable the Notification Center temporarily, in several different ways. She also noted that if…
What's the Difference Between an iPad and a Coffee Table?
At CES this week, there have been several unveilings of 20 to 27-inch, Windows 8 tablets. The idea behind these tablets seems to be the classic coffee table book, artwork, video and board games. Will these new, giant tablets really appeal to consumers? First and foremost, current tablets have made the grade because they are…
Mozilla Releases Firefox 18 with Retina Display Support
On Tuesday, Mozilla released Firefox 18 for Mac, Windows, Linux and Android. The new version brings Retina display support for Macs and a new JavaScript compiler called “IonMonkey” that Mozilla says will speed up Web apps and games by 25 percent. Also included, according to Mozilla are: performance enhancements in tab switching, better imaging with…
Manage Your Bills Smartly With Chronicle 5
Keeping track of and paying bills can be a chore. Chronicle 5, for OS X, can turn a chore into fun and help you get well organized. With a time-ordered list, visible calendar as well as payment reminders, it's a great tool to get your bills under control in 2013. For me, paying bills has…